Chapter 3: The Mask of the Fallen Hero.

“Wait!”

“Stop! Wait!!”

Even though a familiar voice tapped his shoulder, Seo Jin didn’t turn around.

Then the sound of hurried footsteps chased him from behind.

Seo Jin finally stopped when someone grabbed his wrist.

“What are you going to do from now on! At least tell me!!”

A woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties.

Gentle eyes peered at Seo Jin from between her brown bobbed hair.

“Are you really just going to leave like this?! Leaving all the unit members behind? I understand how you feel, but still-“

“No one is blaming you-!”

“No.”

She was wrong.

“It’s my fault.”

He knew Seo Jin all too well.

The original Arcel,
The protagonist’s one and only mentor,
Wasn’t destined to die like this.

If it hadn’t been for him.

She was hope. For Seo Jin, and for everyone in this world.

Arcel’s abilities, which had grown faster than in the original story, were that much more outstanding.

Her reputation grew and grew, and she was finally called the best Aegis. The strongest shield.

Her shining presence became a belief for everyone.

A belief that they could drive out humanity’s nemesis and win.

Without knowing this would happen.

It was all Seo Jin’s fault.

If he hadn’t trusted in his shallow player knowledge and hadn’t interfered in the game’s development….

Arcel wouldn’t have died here.

She would have survived until the time of the main story and would have conveyed her upright ideals and precious teachings to the original protagonist.

‘But because of me….’

Everything was Seo Jin’s mistake. An irreversible mistake.

But if it was already spilled milk, even the time to fall into despair was a luxury.

He had to fix it somehow.

Because that’s the responsibility of someone who has made a mistake.

Arcel was a kind person.

Even the reason she fought was simply to protect people.

In fact, Arcel had saved many people so far. Regardless of the distinction between soldiers and civilians, regardless of ordinary soldiers and psychics, she never hesitated to lend a helping hand to those around her.

Therefore,

After she disappeared, Seo Jin couldn’t even dare to guess how far the future development would be twisted.

Arcel had saved not only countless psychics, but also the original protagonist of the game.

The child who received help from the ‘Aegis’ admired and aimed for them. Furthermore, she formed a master-disciple relationship with her and inherited her kind heart and upright will, and was finally able to become the protagonist of a miraculous victory.

All of that development was twisted by Seo Jin’s fault.

Because of his mistake, this world might be destroyed.

He had to fix it.

Seo Jin, who had only such a sense of responsibility, immediately applied for discharge from the Allied Forces.

Discharge was not difficult. He had accumulated enough merits so far, and his mandatory service period had long ended. He was already eligible for discharge.

It was also thanks to the fact that the attacks of mutant species had decreased in recent years.

But only Seo Jin knew. That all of this was just the calm before the storm. In just 5 years, the second great offensive of encroachment will begin.

At that time, more than half of humanity will die. The reason why the mutant species of encroachment had been quiet so far was simply the time it took to fully adapt to the Earth’s environment.

After fully completing their evolution, the entities would push the human territory to the brink with truly overwhelming power.

Knowing that would happen, Seo Jin had been struggling to create hopeful possibilities.

But the result he faced was the worst failure.

Where did it all go wrong?

In fact, worrying about it now was meaningless.

All that remained for Seo Jin was the duty to correct his mistakes.

Only a sense of responsibility for the distorted future.

“I designed it according to your specifications. Check it and take it.”

“Payment? Don’t get me wrong. Do you think I helped you because of money that isn’t even worth a penny?”

“If it wasn’t for Ciel, someone like you-“

“…People’s hearts haven’t changed, whether in the past or now-“

“Haa, if you’re done with your business, take that and disappear quickly.”

“It’s not difficult to register that……”

“What are you going to do going beyond the defense line when you’re not even a soldier anymore?”

“If you’re going to do something reckless…. Ah, wait! Where are you going!! Okay! I’ll do it!! Isn’t it enough if I do it, anyway!”

“Really, I don’t know what you’re thinking….”

“Be careful, because I’m worried.”

In general, disappearance in the contaminated area beyond the defense line was the same as death.

If there were troops who couldn’t return after time passed, it was usually better to give up. Because you don’t know what dangers are hidden. That was the Allied Forces’ directive itself.

But Arcel never turned away from people left in danger. It was a good deed that was possible because of her strong will and kind nature.

Many people were able to survive and return thanks to her in the past.

But now she is gone.
Even the actions that the original Arcel should have achieved have become impossible.

What she could have done,
The things she had accomplished…

He couldn’t let those possibilities disappear like this.

In a shabby, sloppy, terrible, and messed up way…

He had to continue the story.

From then on, Seo Jin focused on rescuing the missing people beyond the defense line.

It was like a duty that the original Arcel had left him.

If he turned a blind eye, all the people she had to save would die.

He couldn’t let that happen.

“R, rescue? Who?? How did you get here?!”

“Please!! There are still comrades inside-“

“Thank you… sob…. Thank you…..”

“Thank you so much. I’m alive thanks to you.”

Then he finally found her.

A girl found in the depths of the contaminated area beyond the defense line.

Clearly breathing even in a virus concentration where survival was impossible with a bare body, the moment he met the jewel-like blue eyes in the dirty face between her black hair…

Seo Jin was convinced.

There was no doubt.

That girl was the fusion body who had absorbed the essence of encroachment.

The protagonist of ‘Aegis Project’, Yunia.

“Let’s go together.”

The first words she should have said.

“I’ll protect you safely. I promise.”

He felt the warmth of her hand carefully grasping his outstretched palm after a long time.

That appearance was exactly the same as the scene he had seen in the game someday….

Seo Jin swallowed the guilt that tightened his heart once again, as he was used to.

He was disgusted again. With himself for clumsily stealing her role.

But he couldn’t turn back.
Neither the past mistakes nor the future lies.
Because he had to repay all the responsibilities himself.

The girl now was like a blank sheet of paper.

Because she had grown up as a test subject since she was young.

So she didn’t know anything about the world yet. She couldn’t help but be directly influenced by everything she would face in the future.

Pure white that could become good or evil, depending on the color it was dyed in.

Originally, Arcel, who had found the child during a mission, was destined to naturally pass on her kind nature and upright justice as a mentor, as a foster parent.

But Seo Jin was a far less adequate person compared to her, the real hero.

So he wore a mask.

While taking responsibility for and protecting the girl, he began to act out the personality and goodness of Arcel in his memory, as if reflecting it in a mirror.

But it was just hypocrisy at best.

Knowing how good Arcel was, how strong a human being she was. It was difficult to even imitate the ideals and justice she held.

Nevertheless, it was necessary.

A process to properly grow the girl as the savior of this world.

Seo Jin could only do his best.

As time passed, the promised time finally arrived.

“Sniff, sob…. hiccup…”

Seo Jin looked at his torn abdomen once and then turned back to her.

A beauty with disheveled ebony hair was supporting him, chewing her pretty lips messily and sobbing.

“Teacher…..”

He wondered when she had grown up like this. Her much more mature appearance than when he first met her was newly visible. Her emotions had become so much richer that the tears running down her cheeks were mixed with bloodstains and fell down in reddish drops.

But Seo Jin had no hand to wipe them away.

Because his right arm had already been torn off from the shoulder, and the more serious wounds all over his body were slowly cooling down, indicating an irreversible end.

In her sea-like eyes, which were desperately holding on to his body, there was a will that had never been seen before.

“I know. I’ll never give up…. sob…”

In those eyes looking at the teacher who sacrificed himself in her place, tears created by sadness were constantly flowing down. But she didn’t despair. Her most precious foster family and all the teachings that had been passed down so far were supporting her heart.

So-

“Thank you, teacher.”

A last farewell filled with sincerity.

The moment he heard those words, Seo Jin was finally able to feel relieved.

It was the same. It was no different from the lines he remembered.

He finally did it.

With years of effort, it seemed like he had put the twisted future back in its place.

Not perfectly, but at least similarly.

‘Just like this….’

As he released his strength, his body, which had forgotten even the pain, belatedly gushed out blood.

Then the girl was startled and hugged him.

“…. No… it can’t be! Teacher…!”

But Seo Jin no longer resisted the heavy eyelids.

Rather, he was feeling comfortable.

Because he could take off the mask created by responsibility and finally rest.

“A, aaah….”

Even the voice calling him with all her might-

Slowly beyond consciousness…

Slowly…

He sank.

In that way, Seo Jin fell into a deep sleep.

“……How about getting up now?”