As I fell and hit the ground, I felt no pain. All my senses returned to the space where Hamin was. The motionless shadows in every direction seemed to mock me, reprimanding me for not executing the plan and dealing with Hamin's actions. It all felt like an insult, yet Sihyun couldn't summon the anger. It was more accurate to say he had no spirit to do so.
The ground, which had roared just moments ago, now quieted down like a satisfied predator after finishing its meal.
"Hamin...?"
Sihyun called out the name of the boy who had vanished into the shadows. There was no response. No matter how much he wanted to believe, the events that had unfolded just seconds ago felt unreal. Everything seemed like a dream, and he almost wanted to pinch himself to check. But his hand, as if bound by a heavy weight, refused to move freely in this situation.
With unfocused eyes, Sihyun scanned the black ground. His lips quivered. They were already dry, and it felt like they might crack and make a crispy sound.
What just happened?
It was slow to realize, perhaps because it was unbelievable. No, because he didn't want to believe it. Reflecting on the events, Sihyun counted the numbers, from when the dark entities had surged from the ground and attacked him and Hamin. He let out a low groan. When he had planned to save Hamin, Hamin had also made a plan. A plan where only one person could survive.
They had tried to save each other, and one had failed. As Sihyun transformed into a failure in an instant, he bit his lip. His pale hand clenched the black ground. The last words the boy had said echoed in his ears.
"You yield the cool role, kid...."
He was a foolish lunatic.
Sihyun, who had been about to unleash all sorts of curses on the boy trapped under the shadows, suddenly stopped speaking. For several tens of seconds, he remained stunned. Then, slowly, he crawled back to where he and Hamin had been together.
Scritch, scritch.
His white hand scratched the shadowy ground. Although it had been soft and pliable moments ago, it now felt as hard as concrete. Yet Sihyun continued to scratch the ground, silently. He moved his hand, even though he knew Hamin wouldn't come out. To scratch or pinch him in this situation, when the weight of life lay heavily on his shoulders, was too much.
Each time he scratched the hard ground, a sharp pain shot through him. His fingertips and even his fingerprints were worn out, and his skin was scraped raw. Despite knowing that Hamin wouldn't emerge, Sihyun behaved as if possessed by a demon. A heavy wave washed over him. Losing someone wasn't new, but the feeling of loss and emptiness never became familiar, indicating it was a vicious curse.
"Hamin."
Sihyun, whose fingertips began to bleed, stopped his actions and stared at the silent ground. A hot, angry energy surged up to his throat, but tears didn't come. He gritted his teeth and picked up the staff he had laid down on the ground. Kugugu. The ground began to vibrate. It was as if the predators, satisfied after finishing their meal, were reacting again. Watching the shadows react again as if to finish their meal, Sihyun, with a twisted face, knelt and raised one knee.
"I'll come to save you."
It was natural that tears didn't come. No one had yet determined that Hamin was dead. The shadows hadn't recorded what happened to the swallowed human. They hadn't even confirmed if his heart had stopped. So, from the beginning, there was no need to cry.
He wasn't dead yet.
Even if it was just self-consolation, thinking that way gave him the strength to run again. Sihyun, who had been looking down at the ground where he had been with Hamin from above the protective barrier, got up from his place.
It was impossible for him to pull him out with his own strength. He needed to bring veteran Awakeners who had experienced the Shadow World and new reinforcements to find the exit.
With determination, Sihyun, gripping the staff tightly, forcibly tore his gaze away from the unwavering ground and turned his body. The ground began to sway and tremble. Before it was too late, Sihyun shook off his hesitation and slammed the ground. Although his body felt heavy, he forced himself to run. He ran as if he were forcing himself to think only about the fact that if his body was in pain, it meant he was alive. Even though his mind was filled with other thoughts, he ran compulsively.
Perhaps because he couldn't see the back of the person who had run ahead, it seemed like his running speed had slowed down.
After running for a while, a sweet taste filled his mouth. He didn't know how much time had passed, but seeing that his mana had recovered, he must have run quite a distance. The realization of this fact made his legs feel weak. Trembling, his toes began to shake. Although he knew that basic stamina didn't recover greatly with just a heal, Sihyun, who applied the heal to his staggering legs, forced his body back up. And then he ran.
In this world devoid of conversation, the only sounds were his own breath, the footsteps of the Irregulars pursuing them, and the sound of pushing them away using water. The surroundings were excessively silent.
Filling the silence with the sound of his footsteps, Sihyun's complexion grew paler and paler.
"...."
Driven by anger, he had initially run, and after his stamina dropped once, he ran with a desire to escape from the situation. But his human nature seemed unchanging. Despite thinking that he could somehow run to the exit and escape, his body grew tired quickly, and even with the heal, his legs refused to move.
Now, he accepted that he needed rest. Sihyun lifted himself onto the protective barrier. There was little space left to lie down. With no boy afraid of heights, there was no reason to create an unnecessarily large protective barrier.
In a way, it was fortunate that unnecessary mana consumption had decreased.
But surely that was the case.
"...What do you want to do if we get out of here?"
The weary demeanor was evident, yet unexpectedly, a clear voice echoed in his mind. He choked up, overwhelmed by sorrow. Why ask not to set a flag, why say such things? There was no outlet, so resentment and reproach piled up within. Kang Sihyun, lying as if dead due to lack of strength, crossed his arms and covered his face.
Left alone in the world that they could barely endure together, all sorts of thoughts flooded his mind. He even felt abandoned and wondered if they would both die here, or if shedding tears until exhaustion would lighten his heart. Yet, Kang Sihyun remained motionless, burdened by the weight of his responsibilities.
He had to live since he was sent to save himself.
He had promised to go save him, so he had to go, and they had to return together.
That was the signpost guiding Kang Sihyun to the exit.
Suppressing his emotions by piling sarcasm towards Hamin onto his empty heart, Kang Sihyun closed his eyes. As he closed his eyes and stopped thinking, the dark and quiet world ironically came as a comfort. Kang Sihyun, feeling emotions he hadn't felt in a long time, curled up his body.
As always,
Enduring sadness was always the lot of the one left behind.
***
"Haah, haah...."
Kang Sihyun, panting heavily, grimaced in distress. His breath reached his chin, and mechanically moving his feet, his strength was gradually diminishing. At this rate, he felt he would soon collapse again. Although he had rested enough and ran, his body was not functioning efficiently. Kang Sihyun, realizing the reason, lightly brushed his sore stomach.
He had been fasting for too long. Even if he tried to squeeze out energy, there was no strength left. During the possession, he endured for a week without eating, but then and now were different situations. Unlike then, when all he had to do was lie quietly under the blanket, now he was doing everything he could to survive with death looming ahead. Compared to then, the exhaustion was probably tens of times greater now.
Running while gasping for breath, Kang Sihyun, who was panting heavily, discarded various thoughts that surged into his mind and focused only on finding the exit. It had been over four days since he was trapped in this damn world. The recovery of the number of uses of the Copy skill proved it.
But still, it was despairing that no one came to find them.
"Kiaak!"
A giant centipede chasing him fiercely let out a cry. Kang Sihyun quickly rolled to the side. The venom the centipede spat fell where Kang Sihyun had been. If he had been hit, he would have been close to death.
As his physical condition deteriorated to its worst, mana recovery slowed down, and there was little mana left to use. He had to avoid the Irregulars without using mana as much as possible, so Kang Sihyun, who was battered, quickly got up and ran. In order to stop the chasing centipede without using mana, he even threw his shoes in the middle. Since it was a shadowy ground, running barefoot didn't cause much damage or pain.
After running for a while, the question of whether he could really escape kept swallowing Kang Sihyun. Each time, the cries of Hamin somewhere woke Kang Sihyun up, and he realized at some point that the Irregulars were no longer around him.
The persistent centipede chasing him was also nowhere to be seen, and the black ground no longer rippled. He felt a sense of unease. Wasn't it when the shadows emerged and attacked him and Hamin in such situations before?
Wondering if it would happen again, Kang Sihyun scanned his surroundings with a grim look.
One of the black spaces shimmered with an unusually dense purple light.
"......"
Thump, thump.
His heart began to beat rapidly. Much faster than usual. So fast that he felt he might die. Blood circulated rapidly throughout his body. From his toes to his fingertips, every cell felt alive, and Kang Sihyun, as if possessed, moved towards that space. Not running, but with slow steps, Kang Sihyun, with swollen feet, reached that space.
Swooosh.
A strange sound came from inside the space. With eyes flickering, Kang Sihyun, who had swallowed his breath, slowly reached out his hand towards the shimmering space.
Flash!
Light poured out.
In his blue eyes, which had only contained darkness for a long time, an intensely bright light was captured, almost blinding.
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