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Chapter 135

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Eschatologist VII

9

I have witnessed the deaths of countless comrades. I have both overseen their deaths and observed their passing.

Is this not one of the reasons I was given the name "Undertaker"?

[PR/N: Doctor Jang is also known as the Undertaker.]

Yet, in retrospect, the death of the Sword Star—Emett Schopenhauer—always happened too quickly, too easily.

"Old man! Over there, the tentacles!"

"Huh?"

The Old Scho fought on the front lines like a dealer should. Therefore, he was bound to die earlier than me, who was a supporter.

If someone asked me to paint a picture of "Scho\'s death," I would depict one of two scenes.

One scene where he was torn into KFC-like pieces by the tentacles of the ten-legged beast. Or the scene where he collapsed as a headless Dullahan in the old Baekje Hospital café.

Either way, his death began too swiftly and ended too hastily.

Scho\'s final moments were never leisurely enough for him to leave me with any last words.

Even during the times when we mutually agreed to end a turn, it was the same. That death was not "game over," but merely a "continue" button, so there was no reason to leave any last words.

Thus.

This was the first time I truly witnessed the end of a friend.

"…A…dele…"

Splish. Splash.

Emett Schopenhauer crawled. Towards Koyori. Black, coal-colored blood oozed from his broken fingernails.

"…"

Seeing an old comrade in such a pitiful state, my sword hand hesitated, lost.

Should I strike down his neck immediately, so he could retain his final dignity? Or should I let Scho, even if just in a dream, see Lady Adele\'s face before he closed his eyes?

Clink, clank. My sword hovered somewhere between drawing and sheathing.

At either end of that small step lay dignity in reality and happiness in a dream.

"Shh."

Koyori\'s whisper was quicker than my sword.

"Leave it to me, Guild Leader."

"…"

Koyori closed one eye and gently placed a finger on her lips. She was smiling faintly.

There was a time when I really liked that smile. But now, I couldn’t trust Koyori.

Still, at that moment, I let go of my sword.

Was it because, after spending a week with Koyori, I had been subtly brainwashed?

Or was it because, as an undertaker, I instinctively felt that the person who could give Scho the proper funeral was not me but Koyori?

Under my silent gaze, Scho staggered as he crawled.

"A…dele…Adele…"

At last, his battered fingers touched Koyori\'s foot.

Splosh. The black blood Scho shed stained Koyori\'s shoe like ink. The viscous blood dripped down her loafers.

"Yes."

Koyori bent down. She gently held Scho\'s worn-out, coal-colored hand with her white-gloved hands.

"Emett."

"…"

Sho looked up with an expressionless face. Koyori smiled faintly.

"You\'ve done well, Emett."

"…"

"My goodness. You look so tired. Where have you been running around like this?"

"…, …"

"Yes. You sometimes get obsessed with the strangest things and never listen to anyone else. I\'m always worried about you."

"…"

"Are you okay? You mustn\'t push yourself too hard. You always need to think about your health."

Only the sound of Scho\'s labored breathing echoed in response.

Come to think of it, there aren\'t many beings with a fate as pitiable as that regressor.

His wife was a scholar. She was invited to an academic conference at a university in Korea. Scho followed his wife to this distant, unfamiliar land.

Scho had no real interest in this place. To the old man, the Korean Peninsula was nothing but a gray area that he had never given much thought to.

It was only a place that had some significance as a light overseas trip with his wife.

Now, having lost that wife, what meaning could this land possibly hold for Emett Schopenhauer?

I find it difficult to imagine the sorrow of those who have lost loved ones in a foreign land.

For Emett Schopenhauer, the only path left was to search for his beloved wife.

And that reunion could only happen in one of two ways. A brief phone call lasting mere seconds. Or a dreamlike vision in this void of unconsciousness.

"…"

"Yes, you."

Koyori knelt down. She gently embraced Scho.

"I love you too."

"…"

With a sigh, Scho\'s body crumbled.

His flesh turned into black fluid, and the fluid soon became coal ash that scattered. It took a long time. It seemed that Scho had a lot of flesh to turn into dust.

The pitch-black ashes were scattered over the distant ruins of the city.

Koyori remained kneeling, embracing the ashes.

That was Koyori\'s way of giving a human a funeral.

I parted my lips.

"…Was the old man smiling at the end?"

"Yes."

Koyori stood up with a grunt. She lightly brushed off the ashes clinging to her body.

As the powder scattered, the sounds of coughing and sneezing echoed. Koyori laughed sheepishly.

"Well, who knows? Perhaps he was having a happy dream. Which do you prefer, Guild Leader?"

"Which do you mean?"

"Would you prefer that he smiled in my arms? Or that, in the end, he realized that this was just a false comfort and regained his senses?"

"…"

I could only remain silent.

Koyori looked at me for a while.

Her long, curved smile seemed to be observing my heartbeat rather than my face.

I hoped she couldn’t hear my racing heart. It was a hope I thought was rationally justifiable.

Rumble...

At that moment, the ruins of the city roared, swallowing all the surrounding sounds and echoes.

Koyori looked up at the sky.

"Ah. The bad ending of this place has ended as well."

She clasped her hands behind her back.

"Really, I can finally breathe a little. Thank you, Guild Leader. Thanks to you, I feel a bit more at ease."

"...What do you mean?"

"Hahaha. Lately, there have been so many powerful nightmares here. I wouldn\'t have been able to handle even the likes of that Cheon Yohwa or the Puppeteer you took down last time."

"That\'s strange."

I furrowed my brows.

"For Cheon Yohwa or Hayul, you probably appeared as me. Wouldn\'t that have made it easier to overpower them mentally?"

"They said there couldn\'t be two Guildmasters in this world, so they left the puppet alone and tried to kill me instead."

"..."

"Well then."

With a clap, Koyori clapped her hands.

Suddenly, we found ourselves in the waiting room of Busan Station.

This was proof that the control of this unconscious world had passed to Koyori.

"You can leave whenever you\'re ready now. Before, I wasn\'t strong enough to help you, but now, if you sleep here and wake up, you\'ll be back in reality."

"..."

"Come here, Guildmaster."

Tap, tap.

Koyori sat on the bench and playfully patted her thigh, as if inviting me to rest my head on her lap.

"Hmm."

The idea that I could now return to reality...

It was a relief that I had somewhat conquered this "dream within a dream," this "world after the bad ending," this "parallel world."

However, there were many inconsistencies in Koyori\'s words.

If Koyori\'s intention from the beginning was to cooperate with me willingly, why did she eliminate the fairy from Tutorial 264?

Could it be that she removed the succubus in advance to make sure I had no choice but to rely on her, so that I would help her clean up the "bad endings"?

Most importantly...

"You. You\'re not just an illusion, are you?"

"Pardon?"

"A week ago, when you introduced yourself, you claimed to be nothing more than a manifestation of my fears and aversions, as if you were a separate entity from the real Koyori."

That\'s right.

Koyori definitely said this:

-Perhaps you could say that I\'m a manifestation of the Guildmaster\'s fears and aversions?

-Though it\'s very sad that your unconscious fear happened to manifest in my form.

But just now, Koyori had inadvertently confessed.

"Then how could you have almost died approaching Cheon Yohwa and Hayul? Before I entered this place, my fears wouldn\'t have taken concrete form, and you wouldn\'t have existed."

"..."

A soft "Hmm," "Hmm-" sound escaped from Koyori\'s lips.

After a while, her lips curled into a smile.

"That\'s strange."

She smiled as if she was genuinely puzzled.

"Guildmaster... Your \'memory\' is incredibly, really incredibly strong, isn\'t it?"

"..."

"Your memory isn\'t just exceptionally good, is it? Ah. Well, I guess that explains a lot."

"You..."

"I\'ll always be here, Guildmaster. For thousands of years, and even thousands of years to come."

Step.

Koyori walked closer.

"You helped me, so I\'ll help you too. You\'ve been living so hard that too much sediment has built up here."

"Sediment?"

"Yes. Think about it. Originally, you wouldn\'t have witnessed the \'Logout Game\' or faced your end, would you?"

"..."

"But you went ahead and saw it all, didn\'t you? The nightmare of humanity that should have ended at the Ten Clans, keeps growing and growing as you continue to move forward. All sorts of ends are piling up, really countless forms of endings. Ah."

Of course, Koyori continued.

"I\'m not blaming you, Guildmaster. I\'m just pointing out that the nightmares you\'ve witnessed are piling up continuously at the bottom of your unconscious, whether or not you realize it."

"..."

"When you stare into the abyss, the abyss also stares back into you. That\'s one of your favorite quotes, isn\'t it? Yes, you\'ve been nurturing such an abyss in your heart."

Step.

Koyori came even closer.

"So- I think it would be good if you occasionally came down here and cleaned things up regularly."

"Clean up."

"Yes. Like cleaning a house. When you return, I\'ll sometimes come out to greet you."

"...You\'re saying you\'re my collaborator?"

"Of course, Guildmaster. After all, I\'m one of your guild members, aren\'t I?"

"Then I suppose you could grant me a favor."

I spoke.

"Yori, please disappear from my dreams. That would be much better for my mental health."

"Hahaha."

Swoosh-

Koyori reached out her hand. Her palm gently covered my eyes.

A warm darkness.

"I\'m sorry, but that\'s not possible, Guildmaster."

A whisper, fragrant with the scent of apples, tickled my nose.

"Because we are already one, aren\'t we?"

Blackout.

10

There are epilogues.

The first epilogue.

Afterward, I safely returned to reality, just as Koyori had promised.

However, the fairies from Tutorial 264, who should have been surrounding my bed, were nowhere to be seen. For some reason, they were busy working at the casino instead.

It was truly bewildering. When I asked them why they weren\'t in the middle of performing the ritual to help me enter the unconscious world.

"Huh?"

The fairy from Tutorial 264, who should have had her head blown off in the dream, tilted her head curiously.

"What are you talking about, Secretary General? We can show humans the dreams they want, but we don\'t have the ability to take you to such a terrifying place."

"..."

"Dreams are meant to be enjoyed, not explored like some kind of ruin! We never received such orders from you, Secretary General, and even if we had, it would have been impossible to fulfill them!"

The fairy giggled.

It might have been my imagination, but I thought I could smell apples from somewhere.

11

The second epilogue.

Regardless of what the fairies said, one thing was certain—I had indeed managed to conquer, to some extent, the "dream within a dream," the "bad endings," and the "parallel world."

The effects of my conquest began to manifest the very next day.

First, testimonies began to appear on SGnet.

- Anonymous: Slept like a log this morning, feeling great, thumbs up if you did too, lol.

└ Anonymous: You too?? I used to have nightmares every night after visiting the Void, but today I slept like a baby, no lie.

└ LiteratureGirl: ? Same here, that’s so strange.

-[Yuldo Nation] Sword Maiden: Proper sleep is essential for rigorous training. Today, once again, I welcomed sleep in the correct posture to glimpse that lofty state of nothingness.

-[National Highway] Officer: Habits formed during wakefulness carry over into sleep. If you suffer from insomnia, take a step back and check if there’s anything in your daily routine that needs fixing.

-Anonymous: Screw everything else, I just wish I could always sleep as well as I did last night.

Similar phenomena must have occurred abroad as well.

As I always emphasize, mental health is extremely important for humans, and healthy sleep is a significant aspect of maintaining a healthy mind.

In that sense, I, Doctor Jang, feel I can congratulate myself for having contributed, however slightly, to the mental well-being of humanity.

“Good morning, Head of Administration.”

“Good morning, my ass. It\'s a shitty morning. Thanks to someone, I only got three hours of sleep, and I\'m about to lose it. But you look so damn happy, which is just great to see, isn\'t it...?”

“Ah.”

...Come to think of it, I hadn’t managed to conquer the bad ending of the person who needed healthy sleep the most.

Next time, I should start by finding Noh Doha in the unconscious world.

12

The third epilogue.

This final epilogue, in fact, is not something that actually happened in reality. It’s just a scene I, Doctor Jang, saw in a dream.

But you know how some dreams are.

So vivid that, upon reflection, it\'s hard to tell whether it was really a dream or reality.

In that dream, I was dreaming of Old Scho.

As dreams often do, the perspective was unclear.

Sometimes, I observed Old Scho from a third-person viewpoint.

At other times, I found myself briefly embodying him, enjoying the perspective of a first-person protagonist.

And beside me, Emett Schopenhauer, was Adele.

- …….

- …….

We spent a joyful day together.

Adele loved taking walks, and I loved walking alongside Adele.

- I know a good walking path.

- Really? How?

- Well, you\'ll see if you follow me.

I revealed a hidden walking course to Adele, who knew nothing of Korea’s geography.

I had spent my time during the turns finding good walking paths for moments like this. In Seoul, in Sejong, in Busan, I introduced my wife to the routes I had taken note of.

Adele was as delighted as if she had received a surprise gift.

- I didn\'t know you had such good taste!

Just hearing that made all the time I had spent researching feel worthwhile.

Then, as the day was drawing to a close.

We were sitting together on a bench when suddenly, off in the distance, beyond the blue hydrangeas and cypress trees, I saw a familiar face.

My friend. Doctor Jangwas standing with his back to a tree.

‘Ah.’

At that moment, I realized.

This sunset-drenched scene was a dream.

‘Yes. I remember. Before I died, I wished to see my wife again.’

I wanted to grow old with you.

I wanted to live with you.

I wanted to die with you, but I couldn\'t.

- Emett?

- …….

I held her hand tightly.

In the little time left, I whispered to Adele.

- You know, today was hard for me.

- Huh?

- After we parted ways, something really painful happened.

She was surprised and asked if I was okay.

I gazed at my wife’s face. As long as possible. As deeply as possible.

- Yes. But it’s okay.

I’m glad I survived until now.

For the first time, I thought that.

I was glad I had survived, even if it was more like an escape. Still, I was glad I didn’t completely disappear.

Because it allowed this moment to exist.

- Being with you makes everything okay.

I said.

- I love you.

And there, my dream ended.

It was just a dream, but I couldn’t help sitting in bed for a while afterward.

Was that dream entirely a fantasy created in my head?

Or did I briefly connect with a scene Old Scho really dreamed of, through some passage in the unconscious world?

Or perhaps… Could it be that the illusion Koyori showed me when she embraced the Sword Demon was that very dream?

‘Guild Leader, which do you hope it was?’

Suddenly, Koyori’s voice echoed in my mind.

‘Do you wish that person had smiled in my arms?’

‘Or would you rather they had woken up at the very end, dismissing it as false comfort?’

I smiled bitterly.

Yes. Though Old Scho may have fallen into monstrosity, I still hoped his end was peaceful.

If that dream was indeed the scene Koyori showed, I can’t help but acknowledge this one thing.

No matter what other end humanity might face, the end that comes in Koyori’s arms would be the most serene in the world.

- The End of the Eschatologists.