Chapter 41

Soowon, drenched from head to toe, collapsed and shivered. However, upon closer inspection, it turned out to be someone who only resembled her in build and eye color. Chahaya's strength drained from her body.

"Hey! Are you crazy?!"

Yeongil, who had finally caught up, shouted at the man. The man's sunken eyes showed no sign of life, as if he hadn't eaten for days.

"Are you a low-level? Even so... throwing your body around like that, what are you going to do?"

Gangsan took off his leather jacket and draped it over the man's back. The man, surrounded by the three, stared blankly before screaming like a banshee.

"...Don't interfere!"

The man, who had been on the verge of death, somehow found the strength to kick off the ground and run. Boom! A bolt of lightning struck the sky, spreading like a net. The man's entire body, thrown into the black wall, vanished without a trace.

The three, who had saved a person from jumping off a bridge, were left speechless when he jumped again.

"There's a rumor that low-levels jump into the black wall to commit suicide..."

It seems to be true, Gangsan said softly.

"It's because of the rumors. If you pass through there, you can return to where you originally lived. It's better to try something than to starve to death."

Yeongil looked down at his hand, then rubbed his stubbly beard.

"But it's not completely impossible... The contents of the U-gwangseok also transferred to the inside, right?"

Yeongil's eyes sparkled.

"Mr. Sam, the shell was shattered by the boss, though."

Chahaya, unwilling to listen any longer, shattered any remaining hope.

"But I took it out again... Hey! Chahaya!"

Yeongil exclaimed, thinking he had a good idea. He pulled out the Matarai from Chahaya's side and gripped the handle, aiming the sword at Chahaya.

"Our bodies are straddling the nether. If we put a part of our body into the black wall and pull it out, it should be fine, right?"

"What about it?"

Chahaya frowned, a rare expression.

"I'll go in and come back. If it doesn't work, you can pull me out from outside, okay?"

"Jumping into the Han River to measure the temperature would be more normal, you know?"

"Son, just think of it as entering with an oxygen tank."

Yeongil tore the bottom of his T-shirt and wrapped it around the handle and his hand. He then poured Cosmo into his hand, generating a grip strength that could not be broken even by a weight of nearly 10 tons. He made Chahaya hold the ricasso, the junction between the blade and the handle.

"It's fine, I won't do it."

Chahaya firmly let go of the smooth, round ricasso.

"Don't we need to find out something? Do you want to keep living here? I need to see my wife and rabbit-like kids."

"We're not married yet."

"Then we need to go back and get married. If you don't help, I'll go alone. Coming to the nether was already an impossible task, and the light under the lamp might be dark. The black wall could be a passage back. We might have come through the black wall."

"That's true..."

Gangsan was being swayed by Yeongil's words.

"Gangsan, the brave one goes to Korea. Should I tell you to go in? I'll go."

"Seo Gangsan, you step back, and Yeongil."

Persuading Chahaya wouldn't be easy, Yeongil sensed.

"Chahaya... Isn't it strange that the deputy guild leader hasn't shown up? He's so striking, yet no one knows where he is. So, the deputy guild leader might have... gone back."

Yeongil pointed at the black wall and then gave the ricasso back to Chahaya. Chahaya stood there, unresponsive, seemingly affected by the mention of Soowon.

"Brother, I know Soowon well. He's not that impulsive."

"I'm not being impulsive either. Look, if something goes wrong, you can pull me out. I'm going, trusting you, son."

"Brother Yeongil, are you really okay?"

Gangsan asked, worried.

"I was here even when you guys weren't."

He traced his left shoulder with his hand.

"If this is the way back, you have to give me all your wealth. You have to treat me like a hero for life. And Chahaya, what's there to worry about with you around?"

Yeongil was tense but trusted Chahaya.

"Brother, just don't do it."

Chahaya bluntly told Yeongil.

"Why are you putting your life on the line for me?"

"Hey, you're the strongest here. Who else can I rely on? Kid, do you know why I believe in God? I need something to lean on. Here, the only thing I can lean on is you."

Chahaya looked at the ricasso in his hand and shook his head, about to let go.

"Chahaya! If you let go, you'll be the one who killed me!"

Yeongil threw himself into the black wall without waiting for a response. Damn! Chahaya, not wanting to lose the sword, was dragged to the edge of the black wall. Gangsan, shouting "Brother!" grabbed Chahaya's waist. Boom! Another bolt of lightning struck overhead.

Yeongil's hand, gripping the handle, was visible but gradually being pulled into the black wall. The feeling of the black wall pulling everything in was strangely familiar to Chahaya. The stench emanating from the black wall made him want to vomit.

Gangsan, who had pulled out the sword, tried to use Cosmo to pierce the wall. As soon as his red sword energy touched the black wall, it was sucked in like crazy.

"Seo Gangsan! Use Cosmo!"

Chahaya instinctively shouted. Gangsan, stepping back, staggered, having lost more than half of the energy he had just released.

Chahaya firmly planted his feet on the ground to avoid touching the black wall. The asphalt cracked and split, and his veins bulged with the immense pressure from the black wall that had swallowed Yeongil.

The ricasso slipped, and the scabbard came off. Ignoring the cuts on his hand, Chahaya gripped the blade and the round edge again.

Crack! The asphalt split again, and Chahaya, using all his strength, pulled out the Matarai. His veins bulged as if they would burst. He threw the sword to the other side of the black wall, and Yeongil, who was holding the handle, was also pulled out.

Ha, Chahaya, panting, wiped the rainwater from his face. Seeing Yeongil, who was now naked, struggling to stand, Gangsan ran over. The rain was so heavy that it was hard to open his eyes.

"Seo Gangsan, stop!"

Gangsan, standing between Chahaya and Yeongil, was frozen, unable to move. At that moment, the handle in Yeongil's hand crumbled like the stone he had broken. Clang, the blade without the handle fell to the ground.

"Brother Yeongil."

When Chahaya called him, Yeongil turned his head. On Yeongil's cheek, where it shouldn't have been, was a purple eye. His shoulder blades had human legs, and his calves had human arms. It was a bizarre sight, as if multiple bodies had been combined. Even Gangsan gasped in horror.

Kyeok, kak! Kyeok!

Yeongil, convulsing, made strange sounds. Crack, the sound of bones breaking came from Yeongil, who had bent backward. Yeongil, using the feet on his back and the hands on his calves, started to crawl like an animal.

Chahaya quickly raised the Matarai. However, with the rain, his bleeding hand was unusually slippery. When he lost the handleless sword, Gangsan, shouting "Brother!" threw his own sword. Chahaya caught it and plunged it into Yeongil's back. Kyeek! Kyeek! Yeongil, screaming like a mutant, thrashed his limbs.

Struggling to free himself from the sword embedded in the asphalt, the sword shook violently. Chahaya, gripping the Matarai again, plunged it into Yeongil's back a second time. Yeongil, immobilized like a specimen, thrashed his limbs and screamed.

Blood, mixed with rain, flowed over the asphalt, and Chahaya and Gangsan stood in front of Yeongil, facing the heavy rain. Is this really Yeongil? The face, turned upside down, was unfamiliar.

"Healer, I'll bring one. Brother Yeongil! Wait! I'll bring Jang Kyungmin, Jang Kyungmin!"

Gangsan, in a panic, stumbled away. The umbrella he had brought rolled into the alley, and plop, the foreign body attached to Yeongil fell to the ground. A clear liquid, possibly vitreous humor, flowed from the torn cheek, and a small stone the size of a pearl fell from the end. Chahaya picked up the stone, which had rolled to his feet.

It was a U-gwangseok, small but condensed with immense mass.

Yeongil's body, convulsing like it was electrocuted, went limp. Chahaya pulled out the swords from Yeongil's back one by one. Using Cosmo, he stopped the bleeding from the wounds, but Yeongil's breath was fading.

Before Jang Kyungmin arrived, Chahaya threw the fallen arms and legs into the black wall. In this uncertain situation, it would be better for Jang Kyungmin not to know.

Jang Kyungmin, who was forcibly brought in by Gangsan, refused to heal until the end. Chahaya, without a word, cut Jang Kyungmin's throat halfway. Threatening to kill him if he didn't heal, Jang Kyungmin started to heal himself.

"How can you expect me to bring back someone who's already dead?"

Jang Kyungmin, healing Yeongil's internal injuries and regenerating the skin that had been torn apart, said that the breath was already gone. Chahaya placed the pale Yeongil in the back seat.

"Can we at least give him a proper funeral?"

Without a word, Chahaya took the steering wheel, and Gangsan sat in the passenger seat. Jang Kyungmin tried to get in, but there was no room. Jang Kyungmin, holding the umbrella stuck in the alley, also gave the middle finger.

"Next time, will you help me even if a knife is at my throat?"

He shouted, but the car was already gone.

Not long after Yeongil's death, a gate appeared at the intersection.

Gangsan suspected that the gate had appeared after countless sacrifices from the Mansheng species.

Because, as Chahaya had said, the black wall seemed to be consuming the Cosmo of the Mansheng species.