Chapter 5: Super human disease ha jin -woo (4)

The girl didn’t seem very old.

Her appearance was just as I’d first perceived it, overall doll-like.

Porcelain-white skin, a small, silent face devoid of expression, contrasting large eyes, bare feet, and hands without a single blemish.

Nevertheless, there was an undeniably surreal aura about her.

This was evident not only in how she had just crossed through the flames she’d created, and incinerated all the enemies with some kind of magic.

But also in her entire demeanor, which strongly suggested she wasn’t human.

Even more astonishing were her composure and attitude.

She had turned four humans into ashes without a hint of guilt, yet casually greeted me.

Even when I could have smashed her head in and killed her, she didn’t flinch.

It was one of two possibilities.

Either she was confident that she wouldn’t die if attacked.

Or she wouldn’t care if she were killed by me.

Both were chilling.

The possibility that her tiny frame, barely 130cm tall, could withstand my attack without issue and unleash firepower capable of instantly incinerating human bodies.

And the possibility that she was a fanatic who wouldn’t care about being murdered.

Both were unpleasant.

If there was any silver lining.

It was better than the Light Cult, who, based on a single prophecy, had casually killed other people who were in stasis, besides me.

‘…No, maybe not.’

‘Though they were burned to ashes and gone now, the hostility the adventurers showed towards the Dark Cult was genuine.’

‘So I need to be cautious.’

‘Because having those who worship an Incarnation said to destroy the world, and those who sow darkness upon it, as my allies, isn’t necessarily a good thing.’

As I still held out my mace, the small girl who introduced herself as Bertea looked at me.

Her eyes were devoid of emotion.

Except for a faint hint of goodwill towards me.

“I’m the Incarnation?”

At my question, Bertea nodded.

“Yes, Incarnation, you are the Incarnation of Darkness.”

She calmly affirmed it.

That I was indeed the Incarnation.

Honestly, it felt unfair, and I had no awareness of being an Incarnation.

I didn’t even know what that truly meant.

Only the unfair criticisms directed at me lingered in my mind.

‘They said a man would one day awaken from the labyrinth and end the world.’

A being to destroy the world.

They said that was me.

Although my power wasn’t quite at that level, having witnessed magic, it wasn’t entirely unbelievable.

The remaining questions were: what proof was there that I was indeed that Incarnation.

And what exactly was that Incarnation?

“What is this Incarnation of Darkness? They kept calling me that.”

The problem was that I didn’t know what it precisely meant.

I vaguely understood ‘Darkness’.

A being symbolizing chaos, fear, and adversity.

The religious group that worshipped it was the Dark Cult.

Clearly villains.

An Incarnation revered by such villains?

There was no way it could be a good guy.

That fact itself was unpleasant, but I couldn’t be sure.

Misunderstanding, misinterpretation, historical distortion.

It was common.

Considering history was always written by the victors.

It was like how I, once revered in my homeland, became a coward and a murderous lunatic who senselessly massacred the entire military after deserting.

So the answer I received wasn’t satisfying.

“Incarnation, you are the destined being to end the existing world and bring forth a world of darkness.”

I frowned, and Bertea gazed at me.

“So, I’m supposed to open a world of chaos, fear, and adversity?”

“Yes.”

“…Huh.”

A hollow laugh escaped me.

They were clearly the bad guys.

This wasn’t the first time I’d experienced something like this.

A world where good and evil were not just blurred, but everyone was practically evil.

It was like when I discovered that even my homeland, which I believed to be good, was actually evil.

I felt a sense of futility.

‘Is this what it’s like even after waking up?’

As I held my mace tighter with a wry smile.

“Incarnation.”

Bertea, that emotionless-faced fanatic, spoke to me.

“Incarnation, how do you perceive darkness?”

“Chaos, fear, adversity.”

“That’s what you’ve heard, I presume.

And it is indeed so.”

I frowned, wondering what she was getting at, and the small girl placed a hand over her chest.

GazIng at me with utterly hollow black eyes, she said this:

“However, that is merely the perception of the radical faction and outsiders.”

Hollowly, as if stating only facts.

She seemed too much like a fanatic to be trusted, but.

“There is no good or evil in darkness.

This individual, and the moderate faction, believe that chaos brings change, fear brings the courage to overcome, and adversity brings triumph and fruition.”

Only her voice carried conviction.

Though it wasn’t welcome, the statement that there was no good or evil resonated strongly.

“If it’s the radical faction and outsiders, then are you a moderate?”

“Yes.

This individual was once part of the moderate faction.”

“Once?”

As I forcibly kept the mace, which was about to lower, held up, the small girl nodded.

“All moderates, except for this individual, were murdered by the Light Cult and by the very brethren of our cult, who deserve to be called radicals.”

“…Really?”

I could have asked how to believe her, and I wanted to think it was just a persuasive tactic, but.

I couldn’t actually do that.

There was no hostility in her steady gaze towards me.

Her faint heartbeat was quiet.

She wasn’t lying, nor was she agitated.

More than anything, I wanted to believe her.

Because when I was lonely and bravely spoke, I would hope someone would believe me rather than be wary.

I slowly lowered my mace, and the flickering flames gradually subsided.

Though the situations were different, I knew well what it felt like to be left alone.

I hesitated, then opened my mouth.

“Nice to meet you.

I’m Ha Jin-woo.”

It’s hard to harbor hostility once you know someone’s name.

And I hoped the girl before me felt the same.

****

It was natural to feel hungry after intense activity.

The more nutrients expended, the more the body craved replenishment, especially if it was strenuous exercise on an empty stomach.

This was even more true if I had anticipated a welcoming ceremony before stasis and had been fasting.

If I had known there wouldn’t be a welcoming ceremony, I would have eaten something.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to wander around starving, searching for food.

“This individual has prepared food to sate the Incarnation’s hunger.”

“Thank you.”

“Some ingredients were taken from the labyrinth, and from the belongings of those foolish individuals who dared to oppose the Incarnation, but all ingredients were prepared with this individual’s utmost sincerity.”

“Alright, I’ll eat well.”

“Please do.”

The small girl who introduced herself as Bertea was an excellent cook.

She gathered sawdust, held it in her fist, and blew on it to start a fire.

She deftly handled a blade thicker than her forearm to slice ingredients and flipped flatbreads on a frying pan.

The meat was cut into optimal, substantial pieces, and perfectly cooked.

The vegetables, too, had such a wonderful aroma and taste that it was hard to believe they were simply grilled.

Looking at her appearance, she seemed young, but her demeanor gave me the conviction that her actual age was different.

This was evident just from her small hands and tiny frame, which somehow conveyed an adult sensibility.

Especially certain curves of her body.

If this was the future, then perhaps she was a descendant of genetically modified humans.

Even an ethnic group whose stature had been compressed for some reason.

But there were too many suspicious aspects for this to be future Earth.

For example, the prophecy.

The existence of Incarnations, Darkness, Light—to dismiss such things as mere rumors, I had seen direct evidence.

The fierce fire that worked in ways I’d never experienced, the bonds of light, the magic-like force that pushed my body—these were all evidence.

It was hard to believe, yet it wouldn’t be strange to believe such things existed.

If so, how?

A few hypotheses came to mind.

Most were absurd.

Novels and comics I had picked up and read in the past came to mind.

Absurd, but….

For now, that was the simplest way to explain the situation.

“These are tea leaves cultivated by the elves of Gangbuk-gu.”

I sipped the strangely bitter yet addictive tea poured by Bertea, then wrapped meat and vegetables in a flatbread and ate it.

Gangbuk-gu, elves.

I quietly chewed, not wanting to object, when suddenly Bertea called out to me.

“Incarnation.”

“Hm?”

“Are you not concerned that this individual might have poisoned the food?”

‘Huh?’

I stopped chewing and looked at her; her expression was hard to read.

‘What is it, what kind of expression is that?’

“…Did you poison it?”

“This individual is, under all circumstances, the Incarnation’s ally, and has not poisoned the Incarnation’s meal.”

“Then why say something like that?”

She didn’t answer.

Looking at the girl, who was quietly holding her hands together, I noticed her plate was already empty.

‘Why did she ask that, really?’

Puzzled but sensing she wouldn’t answer, I changed the subject.

“…It doesn’t matter since poison doesn’t affect me anyway, so I’ve rarely bothered to worry about it.”

Super-soldiers were fundamentally created with the goal of long-term operations and adaptation to extreme environments.

I, being among the most recently created, had the largest scope of improvement among them.

I could traverse radiation-contaminated zones where ordinary people couldn’t survive even with protective suits due to extremely high radiation accumulation, provided I had minimal precautions.

No biochemical weapon could inflict fatal damage on me.

I had almost never suspected someone of poisoning my food in my life.

Although I had worried about rat poison before my modifications….

Comparing the first 10 years of my life to the next 120, the latter would naturally have a greater impact.

So I finished the meal, leaving not a drop of juice.

“Hey.”

Bertea was sipping her tea, paying attention to me.

“Could you tell me more about the prophecy?”

Bertea tilted her head.

“Which part of the prophecy would you like to hear?”

“The prophecy itself.

Just the core parts if it’s long.”

“It’s not long.

As far as this individual knows, the prophecy consists of two sentences.”

‘Did they go around killing people based on just two sentences?’

I suppressed a sigh, and Bertea closed and then opened her eyes before speaking.

“He who earns the favor of Darkness, when he walks upon the fading world.

Beneath his footsteps, the world shall shatter.”

A strangely theatrical tone.

The content, which she had clearly heard and relayed, sounded ominous even to me, someone unfamiliar with prophecies.

‘The world shall shatter?’

‘That’s clearly a villain.’

“…This is what this individual has learned.

It is the prophecy passed down within the moderate faction.”

Bertea, perhaps noticing my expression, spoke in a soothing tone.

I read the faint emotions subtly present on her face.

“Are there multiple prophecies?”

“Affirmative.”

“Then this one must be relatively neutral, given it’s from the moderates?”

“…Affirmative.”

Even a neutral prophecy sounded like a villain’s.

Then what about the Light Cult’s prophecy, or the more famous ones among the public?

Considering that the Dark Cult, which would be the radical faction according to Bertea, was rampant.

How bad must my public perception be?

It was something I didn’t even need to ask.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

It occurred to me that their malice might not be inherently wrong, only misguided in its direction.

The soldier in me said:

‘If their malice is justified, shouldn’t you devote yourself to your duty as the Incarnation?’

‘So that their malice remains justified in the future.’

‘Be faithful to your role.’

On the other hand, the part of me that simply wanted to survive said:

‘Is there a need to waste your precious life on such a prophecy?’

‘That’s not your identity, and you can’t even know if it’s truly your role in the first place.’

‘So ignore the prophecy.’

‘Ignore the girl in front of you, and focus on living your own life.’

‘Isn’t it foolish to let go of an opportunity you’ve finally grasped?’

‘Leave the labyrinth, avoid the prophecy, and just run away.’

I suppressed both voices and slowly opened my eyes.

I collected my emotions with a sigh.

‘I shouldn’t be swayed.’

‘I decided not to be swayed by mere words or the gaze directed at me.’

‘For that, time is precious.’

‘Every day I live is worth a thousand gold pieces.’

‘A prophecy is just a prophecy.’

‘It’s not necessarily true, nor is it fate.’

‘Someone might claim that that, but.’

‘The prophecy was vague.’

‘At least by the standard of the prophecy I heard.’

‘There’s no guarantee that the title of Incarnation of Darkness definitively applies to me either.’

‘Even if it is me, whether I act according to that prophecy or not depends on my actions.’

‘My destiny is mine, and I am the master of my own destiny.’

‘I won’t run away.’

‘No matter how important the position of Incarnation of Darkness is, or how much meaning it holds in this inexplicable world.’

‘It does not constitute the core of my identity.’

I believed that.

“The prophecy doesn’t matter.”

Bertea seemed displeased, naturally, by my rejection of her religious beliefs, but.

“And I don’t care what people believe.”

I had always loved living.

Eating good food, seeing good things, and enjoying each day was enough.

Even as a child, when everyone else was rummaging through trash cans with empty stomachs, I loved exploring the dilapidated buildings lurking in the distance.

I liked imagining what had happened there, and who had been at the deserted office desks.

In the lightless underground, I felt excitement rather than fear about what I might encounter.

When I sought out unfamiliar places, my heart pounded with anticipation rather than anxiety.

So, if there was room for adventure in my life, nothing could be better.

“I’ll see it with my own eyes, and I’ll find out my role for myself.”

My smartphone and shotgun were probably somewhere else.

Considering that adventurers had frequented my bunker, and it was called the ‘Sanctuary of Darkness,’ they were definitely somewhere in this labyrinth.

I wanted to find them and explore the relics of my homeland that lay before me.

I wanted to become an adventurer, exploring the unknown lurking in the darkness.

“Bertea, could you tell me more about the labyrinth?”

It would definitely suit my aptitude better than being a soldier.