Proof of a Miracle (4)
There was a boy.
He was a boy who admired heroes on television, in comics, and in movies.
An ordinary boy, just like any other.
By luck, the world was a place where heroes could live.
It was a world where one could wield powers unattainable by humans and realize things that had once existed only in imagination.
It would be a lie to say he hadn't dreamed.
The boy wanted to become a hero.
An awakener.
A human qualified to transcend humanity.
He vaguely thought that, someday, with the passage of time, he would naturally become one.
After all, he had always been overflowing with talent, and lived as if he were the protagonist of the world.
But reality was different.
No opportunity was given to the boy, and so he became a young man.
So swiftly that he had no time to even realize the pain of his first failure.
He came to understand reality, came to know the world, and chose to walk another path.
This too was not something particularly unique.
If he could not be a hero, then he would become someone who could help heroes.
He believed that would bring him satisfaction.
"There's no way I could be satisfied."
Eyes that could no longer distinguish even colors gazed in the monochrome world, fixed upon one person.
"Compromise can never be satisfaction. That's why I chose this path."
Call him a villain, if you wish.
Even if he became a notorious murderer, forever reviled and remembered with disgraceful nicknames, he would still choose this moment.
"I have lived my whole life to realize my dream."
There was no regret in that, and he didn't think it was wrong.
Clenching his fist, with the blazing heart of the sun at his back, he threw a punch at the man approaching.
As their fists collided, sparks flew in all directions.
In the scorching heat, breathing fire-like breaths, the two men swung their fists at each other.
Aiming for each other's heads, chests, and abdomens.
Exchanging punches, again and again.
In this fight, there was no divine power, no near-omnipotence.
It was the most primal kind of battle.
A combat form learned by humans upon first opening their eyes to the world.
The most basic, instinctual form of combat.
Clenching two fists, striking at the opponent.
KWAANG!!!
Jin Su-hyuk's fist struck Jung-woo's head.
The impact was so intense it made his mind reel, but Jung-woo's eyes remained fixed on Jin Su-hyuk.
Magic power, demonic energy, and desire spread out.
Within the waves of power that clashed countless times, Jung-woo felt it.
He couldn't help but feel it.
What was contained within this strength, in the end, was all of Jin Su-hyuk.
And so, he understood.
Twisted as he was, that man was earnest in pursuing this dream.
He staked everything on a self-righteous, stubborn dream.
Jung-woo, though he found it amusing, felt a small empathy for that determination.
'I wanted to be a hero too.'
There was a time when he thought, someday, he would awaken and become a wonderful hero.
Just like Jin Su-hyuk.
Jung-woo, too, was someone who had compromised.
He found no satisfaction, and that thirst did not vanish even after joining the greatest agency founded by the one he respected most.
Jung-woo had good intuition.
Ever since childhood, he often sensed things that ordinary people couldn't.
Maybe that's why he believed it.
That someday, he could become someone special.
But even the chance was never given.
"Ordinary people..."
As if reading Jung-woo's thoughts, Jin Su-hyuk spoke.
"They don't even know the bitterness."
The pain that comes when one gives up on their dream and compromises with reality.
"They can't even recognize it. They're pressed down by the weight of reality, struggling just to break free."
Fists clashed again. Both men staggered, but neither retreated.
Not a single step back, not away from each other.
"And so, they compromise with the world, trying to escape the weight of reality. And when they do escape, all they feel is relief."
Sadness comes only after finding repose.
When chased by reality, forgetting one's old dreams and running and running, only to stop from exhaustion.
Only then does one finally gain the leisure to look back on the dream.
"Now, it's time for that to change."
In the history of humanity, there were several singularities.
Each time, the world changed greatly and advanced into a new era.
For Jin Su-hyuk, today was precisely that day.
"... Yeah."
Jung-woo gazed at Jin Su-hyuk and nodded in agreement.
Perhaps because of the scorching heat, the man before his eyes seemed distorted.
Color had vanished, and like a child's doodle, black and white lines tangled wildly to form a human shape.
He couldn't even see the light shining behind the man.
"As you said, the world will change today."
The blaze the man had kindled had already become a raging flame.
The world would inevitably change.
If so, Jung-woo's choice was already set.
"But you know..."
He certainly did have much in common with Jin Su-hyuk.
Chasing similar dreams in the past, making the same choices.
If he hadn't been pulled into the rift, Jin Su-hyuk might have been his future.
"The protagonist is not you."
No, if he hadn't met her, that surely would have become true.
But he had met her.
He had been granted a new life, able to live anew.
Thrown into another world, meeting many people, and seeing a new world.
And, there, he had certainly realized his dream.
He wanted to survive.
Jung-woo's wish, which began from there, eventually became the salvation of the world.
And it was also the salvation of the human Park Jung-woo.
For in that way, he was able to become a hero.
"We are... hunters, after all."
At that moment, color returned to the monochrome world.
A golden thread still connected to Jung-woo became linked to a mighty source of desire.
The demon god's heart, and the wishes of the world.
"... What is that."
Jin Su-hyuk muttered blankly as he saw this.
The space, which would have sent an ordinary human flying out if struck by a falling comet, changed.
It had certainly been a colorless, white world.
But now, something was different.
The golden thread touching Jung-woo's body.
That suddenly, now, was connected somewhere entirely different.
"How did you, by what means!!"
It was something impossible.
There was only one wish connected to Jung-woo.
The wish manifested first in this world.
With just a single strand of desire, countless wishes began tying themselves to his body.
"You found Estella's wish among so many desires?"
Countless wishes touched the demon god's heart.
To find Estella's wish among them was an impossible task.
"If you connected that to your body now... there's no way you can survive. Impossible!"
Jin Su-hyuk's body had been specially made to withstand these wishes.
A divine body created with the Demon King's remains and countless lives fused by divine art.
But Jung-woo's body was that of an ordinary human.
No matter how much he had been modified, and even if he had the Demon King's heart, he was still human.
He could not possibly withstand this weight with just a wish to not die.
"It's a miracle-like magic."
Fairy Tale.
Ah-yeon had named her Conceptualization Technique that way.
It was truly magic that suited the name.
For it was the one and only magic passed down by a fairy.
"And this amount of wishes isn't even that heavy."
His body felt as if it would burst at any moment.
The filled wishes, and Ah-yeon's magic, were burning Jung-woo's back.
He was surely dying.
No, perhaps he was already dead.
Even so, he would not die.
As long as his wish, the wish that she had fulfilled for him, continued, he would never die.
"It's just a bit heavier than last time."
Jung-woo's feet stepped forward, slowly.
One step.
And another.
His steps became a run.
With the heart of the demon god at his back, he charged at Jin Su-hyuk.
He raised his arm.
A golden thread was coiled around the shattered human arm.
Countless wishes entwined around the golden thread and wrapped around his arm.
"Jin Su-hyuk."
His opponent neither dodged nor retreated from it.
Standing as if he were a shield, he blocked the punch with his whole body.
All the power stretched from the demon god's heart was imbued in him, making him seem like a giant fortress.
Jung-woo clenched his fist toward him.
The eyes of the two men met in midair.
He was a man full of self-righteousness.
And an arrogant man.
A foolish human who wanted to become a singularity himself.
He knew.
He knew, but Jung-woo didn't bother to deny it.
"You're nothing, after all."
What was needed wasn't words.
It was proof.
"Park... Jung-woo!!!!!!"
What he had denied to all Jin Su-hyuk wanted to achieve—this new era would become a stronger criticism than anything. He tried to achieve everything, but dying having achieved nothing had to be his end.
【────!!!!】
A roar echoed.
With an outcry to match, Jung-woo's fist shattered both of Jin Su-hyuk's arms.
Piercing through his chest, the fist that had endured so long smashed into the demon god's heart that Jin Su-hyuk had protected.
Crack.
The demon god's heart, which had been emitting light, lost its brilliance.
But that light was not extinguished.
It entangled, seeking to be reborn in a new form.
Jung-woo perfectly controlled this immense power.
He suppressed it so that magic could be manifested.
The Demon King's heart he had, the experiences he had gone through, made it possible.
He heard countless desires.
Perhaps they were the voices that Ah-yeon, and Estella, had heard.
And, among them, he heard a familiar voice.
【I want to become a mage.】
That was a wish already fulfilled.
It was also a wish about to be fulfilled from now on.
Swish.
The heart, now devoid of light, was a giant skein of thread.
The tangled strands of desire unwound around Jung-woo, beginning to shine.
So much that it filled the falling comet with white.
"..."
Having lost both arms and with his chest pierced by Jung-woo,
Jin Su-hyuk watched with hollow eyes.
The sight of his dream vanishing just before it could be reached.
And the dazzling, multicolored magic beyond the white world.
"... Beautiful."
Ironically, that was Jin Su-hyuk's final word.
***
Jung-woo had never truly believed in destiny.
It always seemed as though the path he had to walk was already set.
No matter what he did, it felt like he was dancing in the palm of someone's hand.
But now, it was different.
At some point, that thought had changed.
'Come to think of it.'
Maybe it was from the moment he met her.
From three years ago, from when he met the woman who turned his life upside down.
"What are you doing! Grab my hand!!"
When he lifted his head, he saw a woman reaching out to him.
Ah-yeon, having spotted him falling from the comet, was flying toward him.
"... I don't think I can grab it."
"Why not!"
"I have no strength."
Jung-woo might not have been able to die, but that didn't mean his stamina was infinite.
Suppressing the demon god's heart from bursting until the magic was manifested was not an easy feat.
It was a strength that could incinerate the entire world.
It was a miracle in itself that Jung-woo had managed to suppress that power alone.
'At this point, even a miracle is on bargain sale.'
If he looked up at the sky, there was another miracle there.
A multicolored magic array.
As the comet burst, the spread-out threads painted a giant magic array across the burning sky.
A massive magic array drawn over the entire sky of Earth—it was truly a spectacle.
"There, I got you."
After fumbling for Jung-woo's wavering hand several times, Ah-yeon finally managed to grab hold of it.
At that moment, the gravity pulling them downward flipped upward, and in an instant, they shot upward.
"Look!"
Soaring skyward, clutching Jung-woo's hand, Ah-yeon shouted as she gazed at the sky filled with magic.
"Amazing, isn't it?"
"... Yeah. Though I did it."
"I delivered the magic, so it's half-and-half."
The magic spread across the world was simply beautiful.
Nothing visible seemed to happen.
But both Jung-woo and Ah-yeon knew what kind of magic it was.
It was a spark.
And a possibility.
"Do you think the world will change?"
Ah-yeon asked as she watched it.
Jung-woo smiled wryly in response to her question.
"A little."
"I hope it's in a positive direction."
"Who knows."
He thought it arrogant for one person to decide the world's fate.
It was self-righteous and might even end up setting limits.
Humanity would change eventually.
Whether for good or ill, certainly.
"Our relationship as well?"
"Huh?"
At the rather out-of-the-blue question, Jung-woo looked at her with a puzzled face. Ah-yeon quickly averted her gaze, as if realizing she'd made a slip. But from her perspective, it wasn't an out-of-the-blue statement.
'I really should fix this impulsive streak.'
By linking desires, she could somewhat sense and know his thoughts and feelings.
So it wasn't a baseless remark.
If she had to explain herself, that was it.
The mood was good, too.
Looking at the beautifully shining magic array in the sky, an impulse surged up.
'But still!'
She was curious.
Until now, Jung-woo had never particularly shown affection for anyone.
The closest person to him had always been Estella, and it was her previous life.
Of course she would wonder.
Now that all was over!
At the very least, whether he meant Estella or herself...
"... I don't know what you're misunderstanding."
Staring at Ah-yeon, who was glaring at him as if to interrogate him, Jung-woo let out a slight chuckle.
"It's been you from the beginning."
In fact, Jung-woo thought Ah-yeon probably already knew.
If she had regained Estella's memories, she couldn't not know.
"It's always been you."
Thinking about it, it was obvious.
The very reason Jung-woo had resolved to return to this world in the first place was to let Ah-yeon know he was safe.
"... Then..."
At those words from Jung-woo—
"You should've told me sooner!!"
Ah-yeon shouted, her voice filled with grievance.
Because, truly, all her past worries suddenly felt so foolish.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
That's quite a cute conversation while falling.
2 chapters left.
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