It was a night where rain fell heavily and thunder struck continuously.
I settled on top of a building that had been abandoned since the destruction 10 years ago. With a camouflage covering over my body, I peeped into the Winchester’s 9x scope.
By this world’s standard, Winchester 777 is a weapon from the future. It was a weapon capable of automatically calculating the wind direction, speed, planetary rotation, as well as the zero point adjustment according to the distance. It also means that the sniper no longer had to do detailed manipulations while operating it.
“Site C7, ready to fire.”
-Already? Hey, You are too fast. I haven’t even arrived yet!
-Lee Seong-soo, hurry up! You’re Yoo Seodam’s senior, how could you be slower than him?
-Wait a minute, Captain. I told you it was because Yoo Seodam is just too fast!
The person called ‘Lee Seong-soo’ on the radio was a man who took the role of sniper in this world. Befitting the concept of firearms and a destroyed world, his shooting abilities were quite excellent. I dare to say that his talent was at least at S rank level. Moreover, using his special ability ‘Emotional Empathy’, to determine his target’s next movement, he was able to showcase a highly accurate predictive shot.
He’s way better than me. Fortunately, I was able to perform at a similar level to him thanks to the aid of the ether science equipment from the mid 21st century as well as my S rank body.
-Are you ready?
-Yes.
-Then let’s get started.
It’s been a month since I joined Kim Ha-soo’s group.
I’ve wandered around hunting monsters together with him and his group in order to earn ‘coins’ for the sake of mankind’s future.
-Start shooting!
As I heard Kim Ha-soo’s order, I pulled the trigger. Seconds later, a hole was drilled in the forehead of a giant monster which was moving from one building to another.
….Boom!
Explosion erupted from the bullet that was lodged inside the monster’s forehead. However, it wasn’t only once. Explosion after explosion erupted inside the monster’s head thanks to the bullet shot by Lee Seong-soo from the distance. His bullet was also enchanted by magic, and the effect was great.
-Good!
-Attack now!
In most ecosystems, a monster’s weakness has always been on its head or heart. But on rare occasions, there were monsters that deviate from the norm. Those monsters could still move even when its head or heart was cut off.
But there’s no need to panic. It just means that its weakness was somewhere else. Hunters just had to calmly find its weakness and launch another attack.
In the vicinity of the monster, I could see members of the Special Forces move while firing flames or releasing lightning. Someone bound the monster’s body with a lightning rope, while others hit its chest with firearms and cannon.
Even if it was a monster that didn’t have ether coating its skin, S rank monster is still an S rank monster. They are unbelievably strong and tough to beat.
Only after barrages of joint attacks, the monster started to falter.
Kung, kuoong…!
The monster slowly began to step backwards.
Once the soldiers saw it, their attacks intensified further in excitement.
-Aracelli! Hit that bastard!
Seconds later, a light flashed from above and pierced the monster’s skull. Although it didn’t die immediately as its weakness was not its head, the monster whose head had completely burned and melted was unable to make a proper judgment anymore.
Nevertheless, the monster kept struggling as it blocked every attack coming from the front without backing down.
I furrowed my brows at the spectacle. Something feels weird.
I clenched the Winchester harder just before the giant fell to the floor.
Kuung…!!
-Yahoooo!
-We finally kill it!
-That damn monster! We scoured the entire city just to kill it.
When the monster fell, the soldiers cheered. It was understandable. In the first place, it took us almost three days to prepare for the ambush and lure one of those S rank monsters out.
But, I still felt that something was out of place.
“Please wait. I don’t think it’s over yet.”
-What are you saying?
-This is its territory, so there are no other monsters here. You can rest assured now.
“No, that’s not it. The action it took at the last minute… I think it was trying to protect something-” And, in most cases, there’s only one reason that guarantees such action. “-There seems to be an offspring nearby.”
That moment.
-Oaaaaaahhhhhh!!
A bloody scream echoed from the distance.
It was the voice of the sniper, Lee Seong-soo.
-Lee Seong-soo! What’s the matter?!?! Answer me! Lee Seong-soo!!
Kim Ha-soo’s urgent voice rang over the radio. But there was no answer from Lee Seong-soo except for his unending scream. Then Kim Ha-soo hurriedly ran towards where Lee Seong-soo was with a superhuman speed.
When the soldiers arrived where Kim Seong-soo was, they couldn’t help but look terrible.
It was unavoidable, because there was a body of a 3m monster, presumably the offspring of the monster we fought earlier, as well as… Lee Seong-soo, whose body was cut off in half under his thigh.
Kim Ha-soo was holding Lee Seong-soo’s body with a dark expression.
“Ah, uh, ah…!”
Lee Seong-soo opened his eyes and tried to hold Kim Ha-soo with his left hand, but he soon realized that his left arm had disappeared.
“Hey, Lee Seong-soo! Wake up, Lee Seong-soo!!”
“I’m…I’m o—keukkk!”
Other soldiers were busy laying emergency treatment kits on the floor and injecting a few shots of morphine in Lee Seong-soo’s body. But it seemed to be too late.
“……Captain. There is already no hope for me. I’m bleeding too much.”
“Dammit! You can’t! You can’t die like this…”
Kim Ha-soo looked at Lee Seong-soo with red eyes as if he was obsessed. Meanwhile, Lee Seong-soo’s eyes were already losing its focus. There was not much time left for him.
“Captain. This is a noble sacrifice…. Through this Lee Seong-soo’s sacrifice, you will move forward-”
“Shut up! There will be no more sacrifice. I will never lose anyone, anymore. I will never let you guys be sacrificed for my goals.”
Suddenly, Kim Ha-soo waved his hands in the air. Then, something golden, brilliant and translucent appeared. The soldiers gasped as they witnessed the scene.
“Ca…captain! Don’t tell me you are thinking about buying a ‘nano-recovery agent’… Please no! All the coins you’ve collected so far will be blown away if you do that!”
“…..Then, are you saying that Lee Seong-soo’s life is less important than the coins?”
“No, but weren’t we supposed to collect coins to achieve our dream? Coins were made by our sacrifice! It’s yours, but it’s also ours!”
Then Kim Ha-soo’s hand paused for a moment, before saying in a low growl.
“Everyone, I apologize. But, right now, I’ll make my judgement as a captain. These coins, which we all collected together, will be used to save Lee Seong-soo’s life.”
After that, without hesitation, Kim Ha-soo purchased a nano-recovery agent and injected it within Lee Seong-soo’s body.
To my surprise, Lee Seong-soo’s lost limbs slowly started to regenerate. At that incredible sight, I shared the amazed feeling with the rest of the soldiers who opened their mouths like a fish while kneeling.
“Cough! Cough!”
“Lee Seong-soo! Are you okay?”
“Sir, Lieutenant Lee Seong-soo reporting sir!”
When Lee Seong-soo finally opened his eyes, Kim Ha-soo hurriedly tried to hold him. However, with his left arm, he pushed Kim Ha-soo away.
“Captain… It’s burdensome, so please step back a little….”
Meanwhile, his gaze was directed to Kim Ha-soo’s hand.
Lee Seong-soo realized that the coins they had gathered so far had been used to buy a nano-recovery agent to save his life. He came back to life from the boundary of death.
Lee Seong-soo suddenly shed tears when he thought about it.
“Damn, damn… I’m sorry, Captain. Sorry. I’m sorry… Thank you so much. Really, really… Thank you very much…”
Lee Seong-soo kept crying for a while, and we didn’t say anything and let him be.
And I looked up to the sky.
[Probability limit has been exceeded.]
[The complete episode ‘Can A World Be Destroyed Twice (1)’ begins.]
* * *
That night.
Just like everyday, the rain is falling.
However, together with the rain, a horde of demons appeared above the Jay Company’s fortress.
It was not real demons by any means, it was just a flying monster… However, its overwhelming majesty made them look like a demon.
“It’s an aerial strike!!”
“Haste Pace!” (T/N it’s the hangul..)
“All industrial facilities will be converted to defensive systems! Announcing emergency martial law!”
“To all residents, please evacuate to the underground shelter!”
Wheeing-!
The sirens rang and the fortress soldiers moved quickly in unison.
“….it’s a little bit too much, isn’t it?”
Who would believe that all the dark clouds that cover the sky are monsters?
Obviously, the fortress has a defence system against flying monsters in place. However, they don’t have nearly enough to deal with so many monsters…
“I can’t believe it.”
Kim Ha-soo looked at the sky with wide eyes.
“Is God really trying to abandon the world?”
Otherwise, there is no way God would bestow such despair towards humans.
-Interceptor missiles! launch!
Fwooooshhh~!! Fwoooshh~!!
Numerous explosions went off in the sky, causing hundreds or thousands of monster bodies to fall to the ground. But in less than a second, a new batch of monsters filled the vacancy left behind by its dead comrades. It was truly an endless wave of monsters.
They were clearly aiming for the fortress because of its dense population compared to other areas.
‘It’s over.’
Kim Ha-soo said to himself.
‘We can’t win.’
He was aware that those monsters weren’t something he could fight with the current level of soldiers and weapons they possessed.
‘If so….’
Before his eyes, a golden translucent window appeared.
It was the golden carriage.
An awakening ability that allows its user to purchase all civilization heritage from the past, present and future.
“From now on, I……”
The moment he tried to buy something from the Shop Window, someone grabbed Kim Ha-soo’s hand and stopped him.
“Don’t do it!”
“..!!!! What are you doing!”
That someone was none other than Aracelli. Her hair was completely soaked and stuck to her shoulders and neck as she was running without even wearing a raincoat.
“Please don’t use the Shop Window anymore! If you use it, it will only accelerate the destruction.”
“What kind of nonsense are you spewing? Go away. I’m too busy to hear your nonsense. You’re not sexy today, Lieutenant Aracelli”
“Ah, nooooo…!”
Aracelli used her magic to stop Kim Ha-soo, but she was a step late as Kim Ha-soo only needed a simple hand gesture to purchase things from his shop window.
Hwaahak! Flash!
Suddenly, a cannon with a sleek shape was summoned on the outer wall of the fortress.
It was a particle accelerator cannon. An amalgamation of future science and technology.
“Fire it.”
When Kim Ha-soo gave his order, the soldiers instinctively learned how to use the weapon from a distant future as if they were possessed. Then, they manipulated the particle accelerator.
…..Flash!!
Five pure white flashes split the sky, rendering anything on its path into nothing.
-Good! It works! Great… Uh.. Captain?
-….What is that?
However, the cheer did not last long.
“Ah.”
It was because the dark clouds suddenly began to move.
Kim Ha-soo was aware of the fact that all those dark clouds were seeds of monsters created by beings called ‘Colony’. Anything struck by the seeds of monsters which fell from the sky, whether it was living things or non-living things, would evolve faster than normal. Humans were the only exception to this.
-Captain…… The dark clouds opened their eyes.
It was by no means a metaphor.
Red eyes began to appear from the dark clouds that filled the night sky. The entity that sowed the seeds of the monster itself had turned into a monster.
Kim Ha-soo looked at the sky with trembling eyes, then as he remembered something, he looked at the ground once again. His gaze was directed towards Aracelli who was sitting down on the floor as she looked at the dark clouds with bleak eyes.
He grabbed Aracelli’s shoulder and asked.
“Did you…… did you know that the situation would turn out like this?”
Kim ha-soo gulped. For a long time, he had felt something strange.
Whenever he bought something from the Shop Window, the situation that forced him to use his newly purchased item always happened soon after.
When he purchased a futuristic flamethrower, a monster that could only be defeated by fire appeared the very next day. And when he purchased a futuristic hydraulic cutter, a monster that must be knocked down by a hydraulic cutter appeared the very next day. It was as if the Shop Window and the appearance of a monster were connected.
However, he wasn’t aware that it was all the works of ‘Probability’. A flow of the world that Protagonists had to follow.
Even when he didn’t know, if the same thing keeps repeating until the end of the world… wouldn’t he naturally notice something is strange?
“Please, tell me. Please…. Just what in the world is going on?”
Kim Ha-soo knew that it was stupid to cling onto Aracelli, who had only been around him for a mere 1 month. But for some reason, he believed that she seemed to know something.
“….Every time you use that Shop Window ability of yours, you are draining the very ‘essence’ of this world.”
“What?”
Aracelli raised her head and directly confronted Kim Ha-soo’s gaze with her clear blue eyes.
“I heard that on the day of destruction, all the military in this world also disappeared. The question is, Where did they all disappear to? Why, on the day of destruction, did the army disappear and at the same time the Shop Window manifested in you? Have you ever thought about the reasons why it was given to you in the first place?”
“That’s…..”
“Actually….”
Aracelli stood up.
“I, no, we came here to kill you. Because if you keep draining the source of this world, the end of this world will soon manifest itself. Just like what is happening right now.”
“What are you talking about….. The world had already met its end…”
“You are wrong. The world has not ended yet. Civilization has indeed perished. However, humanity has yet to go extinct. Humanity will eventually rise, and someday regain its civilization. In other words, there is still a chance to revive a world that had been destroyed.”
Aracelli stopped to take breath before continuing.
“The true meaning of ‘end’ is…. There is literally nothing left. Monsters, humans, and the world itself.”
She said in a cold voice.
“Everything disappears.”
Kim Ha-soo fell to his knees. He stared at Aracelli who was blankly looking at the sky.
“Then… what am I supposed to do…? If I don’t use the Shop Window from now on…”
“It’s already too late…. I’m really sorry. Just by being alive, you continuously eat away at the ‘essence’ of the world.”
Kim Ha-soo felt bitter. He couldn’t believe it.
In the first place, how could he believe that the world would only be able to live if he died?
Until now, he had lived with only one conviction, it was to save the world.
“…You will probably survive until the end. The world will reject your death until all your loved one dies and turn into dust.”
Surviving until the end was everyone’s wish in a destroyed world… However, for Kim Ha-soo, who wanted to save everyone, it was nothing but a cruel curse.
“It doesn’t matter whether your words were true or not—”
He still didn’t fully believe her words. No one could simply accept it just because they had heard a word like that.”–However… It was indeed just as you said. The more I use the Shop Window, the more terribly the world changes… I’ve been through it all along, and it has become like this. So I’m sure.”
He realized he could no longer use the Shop Window. The moment he brings something new, he’s sure that another demon will appear.
If so, in this moment when even the sky was hostile to humanity. The sexiest option Kim Ha-soo could choose to save his loved ones…
“…It looks like there is only one way.”
(P/N that felt bitter…)