Chapter 408 - Raid Aftermath

Pitch-black darkness.

In that inky darkness, I was asleep.

Next to an ember that seemed about to extinguish, burning away.

A flame burning precariously, as if the end was near.

How long could that flame burn like that?

How long could it maintain that faint light?

I think I had such thoughts vaguely.

And then.

It's time to wake up now.

Perhaps, I thought I heard such a voice.

***

"...ther. Brother? Are... awake?"

"...in? Da-in. You... hey."

"Here... doctor! Qui..."

Ugh. What's this noise?

Somewhere I couldn't even guess.

...Somehow, feeling like I'd had a deep sleep, I opened my eyes with a groggy feeling to the noisy sounds coming from around me.

"Oh!!! Brother's awake!!"

As I painfully opened my eyes feeling that bright light, what I finally saw was.

"Egostic!! sniff You finally woke up..."

"...I told you. Egostic would wake up."

"Brother!!! Huaaaaaang. Thank goodness, sniff. Thank goodness..."

"Da-in... You're awake. Are you feeling alright?"

Stardus, sobbing beside me while holding my hand.

...Celeste, with an indifferent expression, but visibly relieved.

Seo-eun, crying loudly on my chest while looking at me.

Su-bin, looking at me with a tired expression full of dark circles.

"Da-in. Finally... really, really thank goodness."

"You brat, you finally woke up. I... thought you wouldn't wake up, you idiot..."

Ha-yul, also with a tired expression, giving me a faint smile.

...And Choi Se-hee, looking down at me with an angry face while sobbing.

"What's going on with everyone... ugh."

As I looked up at them like that, I tried to get up from my place but immediately lay back down due to the intense pain I felt in my body.

"Brother! Don't push yourself, don't move your body! When is the doctor coming?"

"Egostic... I'm so relieved, sniff."

Lying in bed like that, looking at the white-surrounded walls and people's expressions, I finally remembered.

Ah. I collapsed.

"...The patient woke up? Let me see!"

After that, hearing the doctors rushing in, I rubbed my eyes.

...It seemed like there would be a lot to hear.

***

"...What? It's been a week since I collapsed?"

"That's what I'm saying."

After I woke up.

After receiving a simple examination from the doctors, I was told that apart from my body being a bit weakened, I was fine.

And the most shocking thing I heard was that I had been collapsed for a week.

After I coughed up blood and collapsed, they say there was chaos for a while because I wouldn't wake up no matter what they did.

...Especially, somehow this information leaked outside and caused a commotion throughout the Republic of Korea.

Of course, that wasn't what I was curious about.

"...The angels, they all disappeared?"

"Yeah. After I took down what looked like their king, they all turned into light and disappeared."

What happened to the large-scale angel attack.

Fortunately, after Stardus defeated their boss, who looked like a white Buddha statue, they all burst into light and disappeared.

Because it was a surprise all-out attack, everyone suffered severe damage... but it was fortunate that it ended there.

By the way, Seo-eun's one-line review of the monster resembling a white Buddha statue that she showed me was like this.

"...Hmm."

Who on earth is this?

Even I, who could be called a true fan who had practically memorized the original work, couldn't identify this being.

...The Buddha-like appearance made sense since this world's setting was influenced by the Three Gods religion of sun, moon, and stars.

But that doesn't mean I had seen such a being in the original work.

"...."

Therefore, this naturally gave me a deep concern.

The all-out attack of angels that wasn't in the original work.

...And even a new Sun God monster that wasn't in the original.

Clearly, things were going differently from the original work.

But one thing I was curious about.

'...Is this even possible?'

How did they do it?

As far as I knew, in the original work, the Sun God had already used his power to its limit for his attack.

That's why he could be defeated by Stardus in the ending scene.

...Of course, by then the world had already been destroyed, so it was essentially the Sun God's victory.

'Well, in the original work, the Sun God didn't exactly die but disappeared after using almost all his power...'

Of course, that was essentially a defeat too, but anyway.

In the original work, when the Sun God acknowledged defeat and retreated, he said he had been using his power to its limit continuously.

In other words, if he could have done this, he would have done it in the original work too.

'Of course, one could think that he gathered his power for an all-out attack since the angel attacks had stopped for a while...'

In fact, everyone seemed to think that way now.

...But I, knowing the original work, thought differently alone.

Saving and gathering power to release this much?

No. This wasn't the scale of attack that could be explained by gathering power for a few days. It was clearly an offensive that surpassed the original work.

The number of angels that came this one time was probably more than the number that would have come steadily during this period according to the original work. And that king archangel also looked really strong.

Then how on earth did the Sun God produce power beyond his limit?

...Is there some factor different from the original work? Did he hide his power? Did someone else support him? Or...

As I was sitting on the hospital bed with a serious face, pondering questions without answers.

"...Da-in. You're thinking about work again, aren't you?"

Then I heard such a stern voice.

When I raised my head, awakened from my thoughts, Su-bin with a rare stern expression was approaching me saying such words.

"...No. Patients need to rest. Come on. Don't think about anything and lie down on the bed."

"Uh, just a moment..."

"Quickly."

And so, pushed by Su-bin who gently pressed on my shoulders, I was forced back onto the hospital bed.

...I heard that while I was collapsed, Su-bin had nursed me by my side all day for a week.

Perhaps because of that, it was difficult to disobey Su-bin's words.

Eventually, as I leaned back on the soft bed, a voice of agreement came from beside me.

"...Lee Su-bin is right. Patients need to rest."

Right next to my pillow, Stardus was sitting in a chair, nodding her head.

She had also come continuously when not doing hero work while I was collapsed.

I felt a bit sorry for causing so much worry to everyone. Especially since there were many who depended on me.

"The others said they'll come right after work."

Anyway, as I leaned back and lay down on the bed, Seo-eun, still with red eyes, tapped on her smartphone and told me that.

"Hmph. If Egostic has recovered, they should come right away. I don't know what they're doing."

And Celeste, wearing her saintess outfit with her arms crossed, muttered as if she found it unsatisfactory.

Looking at her, I suddenly realized something.

...Come to think of it, everyone is gathered in one place now?

Stardus sitting next to me, massaging my arm.

Celeste standing nearby, and Seo-eun and Su-bin in front. And Ha-yul dozing off in the chair in front.

By the way, Ha-yul had tried his best to heal me using his healing ability but it didn't work at all, so he had a hard time. Still, thanks to him, there might not be any visible external injuries.

Anyway, looking at the women naturally gathered together, I felt hopeful. Had they all become friends while I was collapsed?

"Da-in. Even if Da-in looks fine on the outside, you're not on the inside. I can guarantee that, having been by your side for the past few years."

"...You're strangely emphasizing 'few years'?"

"Ha. What use is seeing someone for a few years? What matters is how close you've been recently."

"Yes, that's true too. But the fact is that I've lived in the same house with Da-in longer than any of you. Haha."

...Or not?

I broke into a cold sweat watching Su-bin who answered with a bright smile. ...Right. Su-bin wasn't the type to back down either.

...Still, even though they were glaring at each other with fire in their eyes, they definitely seemed closer than before. After all, when physical distance decreases, psychological distance tends to decrease too. If they gradually become friends like this, they'll all be able to live well even without me.

As I was thinking about that, Seo-eun, who had put down her phone, opened her mouth.

"...Anyway. Brother, stop thinking about world affairs for a moment and let's talk about your body. What kind of ability did you use? I saw something like black spider webs flying."

"Ah."

That day.

At Seo-eun's words, I quietly thought about the day of the all-out attack.

...The attack itself was definitely unlucky.

Just when there were no heroes nearby, in just about three minutes. It happened really suddenly.

Still, they say other heroes came to rescue us just a few minutes after I collapsed, but it was already over by then.

...Of course, it was partly my fault for lack of preparation.

First of all, I was complacent because of the existence of teleportation. Even if angels appeared, teleporting would end it.

And for all other situations, I could either summon Halo, my bodyguard, or handle it with Behemoth. The problem was that I absolutely wouldn't summon Halo in front of angels because I didn't know what would happen to Halo, who was the leader of angels in the original work, if he came into contact with angels... and Behemoth was now more like a bulletproof vest concept, so it wasn't much help against hundreds of angels.

Anyway, in that situation, I had reached out my hand to try to use psychokinesis to save Seo-eun and Su-bin.

...For some reason, instead of psychokinesis, black light came out of my body.

The black light I had seen once before, on the day I heard Stardus's true feelings.

...Could this be my new power awakened to counter the Sun God?

However.

'......'

That feeling of my life force being drained in real time when using the ability.

When I thought about it, it felt quite... dangerous.

Especially since I coughed up black blood afterward. They say the amount was alarming. I really thought I was going to die too.

Still, isn't it good that I've gained a new power? I think I'll need to use it a lot in the future!

I summarized this and explained it to those in front of me.

After my explanation ended.

"....."

After a moment of silence, Seo-eun muttered with dead eyes.

"Brother. Don't leave this hospital until the Sun God comes."

What, why?

As I protested in disbelief, the women behind me nodded in agreement rather than denying it.

...It was truly unfair.

And so, regardless of my wishes.

I was confined.