Chapter 421 - The Story Of Those Left Behind
# The War Has Ended
The war was over.
The Sun God, who had declared humanity's extinction, finally transformed into light and vanished, and the procession of fallen angels that had filled the sky naturally evaporated.
Humanity's victory against a god, fighting and ultimately winning.
And so.
At last, peace finally came to Earth.
All angels disappeared, and perhaps as a consequence of the Sun God's death—the one who had bestowed supernatural abilities—the powers of heroes and villains gradually began to weaken.
The world was slowly returning to normal.
...Of course.
That didn't mean the entire world immediately turned into a festival atmosphere.
Many cities had collapsed during the war against the angels, and there were numerous sacrifices.
Everyone had witnessed the war against the Sun God.
The whole world had watched from shelters as heroes fought to save humanity.
...And they had all seen what fate befell one of those who saved humanity.
["...Haha. S-Stardust..."]
["No... please... why... how could this, sob, no..."]
On the twilight wasteland that had become ruins.
There, a woman sobbing while holding a man.
...And that man, who sacrificed himself to defeat the god.
Egostic, the villain from the Republic of Korea who led the front line in the war against the Sun God.
...Through the surviving camera floating in the sky.
Everyone witnessed how, after sacrificing himself to save the world and taking his final breath,
he turned to black ashes and scattered away in the arms of Stardust, another hero who had fought against the god.
And so the war ended.
...Naturally, heroes are born at the end of wars.
It's more effective to make heroes out of the dead than the living.
Egostic—his real name, Da-in—
would be remembered by everyone in the world as someone who sacrificed himself for this world.
Along with this, after the world stabilized somewhat and recovered,
memorial processions for him were absolutely overwhelming.
["...Following the good news, we have sad news. During the battle against the god, our country's S-class villain Egostic, who led the war representing Kathedal until the end and fought for the world, has died. Our broadcast will continue with a special feature on the life of Egostic, who, despite being a villain, never caused casualties and instead saved the country with everyone's support, and ultimately saved the world before departing..."]
["Next news. The International Hero Association has exceptionally appointed Egostic as an S-class hero. The International Association stated, 'When remembering his life's actions and heroic end, there is absolutely no reason not to call him a hero,' explaining, 'Egostic, despite being a villain, was more heroic than anyone. The Association will forever remember him as a hero,' as they bestowed the hero title upon him."]
["Thus, he who was jokingly called a hero among the public, finally came to be called a hero after his death..."]
Beyond this.
Everyone who knew him and had been acquainted with him expressed their condolences.
Japan's representative Katana, China's representative Li Xiaopeng, the ruler of the Atlantic Atlas, German villain Highkin, French villain Isabel, Korean Hero Association Director Park Jun-ho, A-class hero Shadow Walker, all heroes from Yu-seong Group PMC... Particularly, some individuals reportedly couldn't believe the news of his death and wept openly.
...Especially.
*
[Stop bullshitting Stop bullshitting Stop bullshitting Stop bullshitting Stop bullshitting Stop bullshitting Stop bullshitting]
[This is a dream, right? This is a dream, right? This is a dream, right? This is a dream, right? This is a dream, right? This is a dream, right?]
[Like if you're just gonna follow him and die lolololol Like if you're just gonna follow him and die lolololol Like if you're just gonna follow him and die lolololol]
[Just opened a bottle of soju because this is so fucking awful. Does this make any sense?]
[Fucking bring him back to life you crazy bastards I mean what the fuck is this shit why the fuck did you kill our Mango just when he was finally going to live happily fuck this shitty world]
[Like if you think the world ending would be better than Mango dying lolololololol fuck]
[Seriously, did anyone else feel like they couldn't breathe when Egostic fell? Everything just went dark for me]
[Stop bullshitting there's no way our Mango would die from something like that he'll definitely resurrect like Jesus within 3 days fuck he definitely will]
[Fuck do something you're not supposed to do at a funeral everyone will be shocked when he resurrects right now]
*
The community that most passionately supported Egostic and followed him like a fan cafe was in absolute chaos.
Hundreds of posts were being uploaded every few seconds, making normal functioning impossible.
Most of these posts either refused to believe Egostic's death, lamented the world, or suggested ways to resurrect him—making normal conversation impossible.
In this situation.
...Eventually, people began to notice something strange.
Come to think of it.
Those who had been closest to Egostic in life.
The members of the villain alliance Egostream that he had established,
The hero Stardust who had witnessed his final moments,
Celeste, who had been the head of Kathedal to which he belonged,
And Lee Seol-ah, the chairwoman of Yu-seong Group who had cooperated with the response headquarters.
...They had all disappeared.
And, though people didn't know,
They were all gathered in the living room of Da-in's large mansion.
"Seriously, stop this!! What the hell is going on!!!"
Choi Se-hee, with tears in her eyes, grabbing Stardust by the collar and shaking her.
And while she did so, Stardust just stared blankly, tears streaming down her face.
After the incident.
...Without even realizing it, they had all gathered at Egostic's former home, searching for something.
"Haha... it's a lie, right? Right? Da-in dying, that doesn't make sense..."
Seo Ja-young, who always wore an inscrutable expression, was now slumped on the sofa with lifeless eyes, her head drooping as she muttered those words.
"What do we do... sob. D-Death Knight is gone too..."
"Eun-wol, what did you say? Death Knight?"
"Yes... I-I think because he was contracted with Da-in and released from the ring's seal, sob... since Da-in died, he's been sealed, sealed again... sob."
"...Ah."
Eun-wol, holding the ring with trembling hands and sobbing, and Lee Ha-yul, looking at her in a daze.
...Of course, the fact that Death Knight was sealed again meant that Da-in was truly dead with no possibility of return.
"No... Da-in, no..."
Lee Su-bin, who had always led them calmly, had long since lost consciousness and collapsed.
"...It's my fault, sob... it's my fault. Ah, aah..."
And beside her, Celeste was also biting her nails and muttering incomprehensible words with reddened eyes.
At the kitchen table, Lee Seol-ah was silently drinking several bottles of wine she had produced from somewhere.
...The spirit watched their appearance with a troubled expression.
They all looked like broken dolls with their strings cut.
...In truth, though they weren't consciously aware of it,
they had all been mentally and emotionally heavily dependent on Egostic.
Essentially, Egostic had saved and gifted them their lives.
A life without him was something they had never even imagined.
Therefore, at the moment when it became certain that Egostic had truly died without even leaving a body behind,
...they all collapsed.
To the point where they lost all meaning in life.
And while they were in that state.
"...Everyone, what, are you all doing!!!"
Someone shouted at them.
With short white hair and eyes reddened like the others, but clearly standing on her feet and shouting at everyone.
Han Seo-eun.
...Although her voice was tearful, she began to speak clearly to everyone.
"...Is this, is crying all we can do? Will crying bring back our dead brother, sniff...?!"
"Then, what should we do..."
"We should look! For a way to save him!! He must have... prepared for this situation and left something behind... None of you have been to his room, right?"
Saying that, she wiped her eyes with her hood sleeve.
Han Seo-eun shouted to everyone with a determined expression.
"First, let's search his room."
"......"
And so.
A few minutes later, they were all gathered in Da-in's room.
Before long, they really found something.
"Look! I found something here!!!"
"Really?"
And it was.
...A record of the original story knowledge that Da-in had known before,
created for those left behind after his death to save the world.
The Egostream Emergency Response Manual, set to be unsealed after Egostic's death.
"...! Look at it right now!!"
And they quickly gathered around the desk and began to flip through the diary.
They were able to see quite a lot of information,
But most of it was about what to do if Egostic died during the main story.
What the others should do if Egostic died during the Moon Cult arc, what the remaining people should do if he died during the Great Escape...
It was a manual created with consideration so that those left behind could survive in a world without him.
...And the women weren't particularly interested in that right now.
The final Sun God arc was already over anyway.
To begin with, they weren't interested in a world without him.
As they quickly turned the pages,
...they finally found something.
"...Found it! Unnie, I found it...!!"
"What? Really...?!!"
[How to Resurrect the Dead.]
Yes.
The manual actually contained information on how to resurrect the dead.
Seeing that sentence written in Egostic's handwriting,
they began to read the page with trembling hands, filled with hope.
...And only then.
They found something strange.
[First. How to Resurrect Stardust.]
[If Stardust has died, it means the story has completely deviated from the main stream. Stardust is the hero who will save this world, so she must be revived. The method to revive her is as follows. First, since Stardust is the Star God's devotee, her body would have vanished upon death. In this case, a ripple in the timeline would occur...]
[Second. How to Resurrect the Moon Priestess Baek Eunwol.]
[If Baek Eunwol has died, only her body would have perished while her soul would likely be with the Moon God. However, to resurrect her, a magic circle capable of communicating with the Moon God would be needed. The first material required is a substance called moonstone...]
[Third. How to Resurrect Celeste.]
[Since Celeste is the Sun God's devotee, there must surely be a way to revive her. I don't know the exact method, but these three approaches are likely. First, using the Sun God's relics...]
Precisely.
The methods to resurrect the dead only covered Stardust, Baek Eunwol, and Celeste—these three special cases who were divine devotees.
And nowhere was there any mention of Egostic himself.
...Feeling their hearts pound with anxiety, they hurriedly turned the pages.
And at the very end.
...they finally found what they were looking for.
Unlike everything before.
As if Egostic was speaking to them directly.
In a conversational style.
*
[Extra.]
[In Case of My Death.]
[Well... I guess the very fact that you're reading this book means I'm dead? Haha.]
[I don't know exactly how I died, but well, I hope it was a worthwhile death. Anyway, let me tell you something.]
[First... I should talk about the afterlife. Souls exist in this world. That means the afterlife exists too. Yes. There's an actual place where souls gather after people die. And this afterlife is managed by the Moon God, the god of space.]
[However... the problem is that this afterlife itself was built very long ago, as a collaboration of the three gods, so entry or management is probably impossible. As far as I know, even the Moon God only takes responsibility but doesn't handle the details. Especially, even if you somehow enter the afterlife, all the souls of everyone who has ever died are gathered in one place, so finding a specific soul would be impossible. Even if you could somehow create a body using divine power, finding a soul would be harder than finding a specific grain of sand on a beach.]
[...And, I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but since I'm from another world, I'm not even sure if my soul would be in this world's afterlife. Haha.]
[So... you understand.]
[Bringing me back to life is impossible.]
[So, forget about me and live your new lives. You have that strength. Rely on each other, okay? I believe in the power you all possess.]
[...Of course, I would have preferred if you never read this at all. Haha.]
[Live well. ...Okay? After defeating the Sun God, I hope you'll burn this book and each live your own lives. That's what I want. Can you grant my wish? I'll be counting on you.]
[Well... yes. Goodbye.]
*
"...Ah."
As Egostic's writing ended.
...Only a heavy silence lingered in the room.
Only then did they realize.
That bringing Egostic back was impossible.
As overwhelming despair descended upon everyone,
"...No."
At the desk.
...A quiet, tearful voice was heard.
"We can do it."
"...Seo-eun?"
"Here, sob. Here, even brother said it, right? That there's an afterlife. That souls are there. So... so..."
Clench
At the desk.
Han Seo-eun, with her fist clenched and reddened eyes, spoke with sincere words in front of everyone who was in despair.
"Even if it takes years, decades... even if hundreds of years pass. We just need to find brother's soul. Even if his soul went to another world, then we just need to go to that other world and bring him back..."
Bang
With those words, Han Seo-eun slammed the desk in front of her.
Then, looking at everyone, she declared with wavering eyes.
"We can find him again. Our brother."
It was.
A statement filled with certainty.