“I am not going back.”
“Why?”
“I cannot stay together with you non-humans.”
Surha raised her eyebrows. “You always say that.”
“[Rupture] abandoned humanity.”
“No, that’s not true. We fight for humanity. Only we fight for humanity.”
“Wrong. You use humans as your tools. [Rupture] is done for after the Great Disappearance. You have no purpose or goals anymore.”
“Hmph.”
Surha became silent and then continued, “But you are in no place to say that.”
Her voice contained traces of anger as she continued, “You were the one of those who planned the Great Disappearance.”
“…That is not true.”
“Well, it didn’t work out the way you intended, but you didn’t stop it. No, you just watched it happen.”
“…”
“Still, I thank you for that. I’m here because of you.”
Chunghuh did not answer but stared at Surha’s face. There was a young girl who was the survivor of the Great Disappearance in his memory.
“Oh, and did you know that there are still some who try to become Awakeners with the method you taught? They are kids who have no talent or background.”
“…”
“They kill each other, again and again, only to become stronger.”
“…”
“And after killing hundreds of their friends, they forget the reason why they were trying to become strong. And after more killing and swinging swords, they forget who they are. Only a tiny amount of them survive. That’s when they get the first keyword [Disassemble].”
“…That was the wrong keyword.”
“You still say that? What do you know about Awakeners when you aren’t even one?”
“I know because I have seen those who have achieved the 3rd step with the method I taught.”
“No, you don’t. You are a coward.”
The world around Chunghuh began to turn white. It was his own world. It was a threat.
“You and your world are still the same.” Surha spoke sarcastically. “You’re too scared to even draw anything in your newly-made world.”
At that moment, thousands of lightning bolts rained down, destroying Chunghuh’s world. It was Surha’s world taking over. Chunghuh smelled the distinct smell of blood from all around.
There were mountains of corpses and blood.
Chunghuh knew where this world was derived from. It was from the place of the Great Disappearance.
“How do you like my world? It’s the outcome of your teachings.”
Chunghuh took a step back. He had taken huge amounts of damage just through the destruction of his world. Chunghuh gritted his teeth.
“I heard you became a captain. Are you at the 3rd step now?”
“3rd? Do you think I’m just at the 3rd?”
Powerful energy began pressuring Chunghuh, forcing him to kneel. His face turned pale. Surha’s power had indeed passed the 3rd step.
“Teacher, you shouldn’t pretend you’re a dead one when you are not. Come back to [Rupture].”
“…”
“You know too well that nothing can be changed in <Chaos>. Even if you go into the <Depth>, or hell, or get to the top of Tree of Imagery, this world will not change.”
Chunghuh turned to Surha at those words.
“It can change.”
“What?”
“This world can change.”
Surha frowned. But at that moment, a man appeared from the weird building. Surha quickly deactivated her world. It was Jaehwan who had appeared. He walked up to the control panel to manage the time scale. He then glanced for a second at the place where Surha and Chunghuh were and then walked back into the tower.
“Is it him?”
“…”
“Did he change you?”
Chunghuh did not answer. He quietly rose up and said, “Give me that beer.”
Surha handed over the bottle and Chunghuh began drinking. They didn’t say a word, but Surha could read Chunghuh’s expression. She couldn’t believe there was something still left in Chunghuh to make him change this much.
“Let me ask you again. Why are you here?”
“To kill you.”
Chunghuh looked at Surha. She was a woman with no emotion.
“Then do it.”
“No, I changed my mind.”
Surha turned towards Carpediem.
“I think it will get interesting.”
“…Are you trying to interfere with our plan?”
“Interfere?” Surha scoffed. “You will fail. Just like how you failed 900 years ago in <Chaos>, and 700 years ago in the <Great Lands>.”
“No.”
It was a firm but definitive answer. Surha, the 2nd Captain of [Rupture], couldn’t accept how the old man who had felt despair more than anyone in a thousand years had found new hope.
“[Rupture] will have eyes on you all.”
Then she disappeared. Chunghuh was left alone with the bottle of beer left by Surha.
“…This is good beer.”
Cayman couldn’t guess how much time had passed since he started training. But after continuous stabbing and countless duels with Jaehwan, he reached it. After passing through the 2nd keyword [Understanding], he had arrived at the 3rd step. His spirit was reborn. He couldn’t remember how many times he stabbed, but he had now reached it. He had succeeded in creating his own world.
“Congratulations.”
Jaehwan was in front of him as he opened his eyes. He then felt the unfathomable power of Jaehwan that he couldn’t feel before.
‘I can’t even measure how strong he is.’
According to Chunghuh, Jaehwan was also a 3rd step Awakener. However, Cayman knew there was a huge wall between Jaehwan and himself. Cayman was unsure as to how strong he had become.
“Did I really become stronger?”
“Yes.”
“But two years is not enough time to…”
“Two years? Do you really think it has only been two years?”
Cayman became confused.
“The 2nd floor has a different time scale than the 1st floor.”
“T-then how many years has passed?”
Jaehwan did not answer the question but instead tapped on Cayman’s shoulder.
“It’s time to test out your power.”