121 – The Beginning of Salvation – Taejin, Lesha & Ersia
“Heo-eok, hee-eok, hee-eok.”
A deep breath that causes the chest to swell greatly. It didn’t feel like waking up from a nightmare, but rather like being forced to wake up from a sweet dream.
I looked at the calendar with big numbers written on it.
“July 23rd… ?!”
It was that day when I fell asleep after reading [Hidden Peace Academy Settings], Which I obtained after two days of being unemployed.
“Well, what is it? Real dream… Wouldn’t it be?”
I quickly got up and looked at the mirror on the wall.
The bottom was broken, but it was enough to show off a shabby face.
What was reflected in the broken mirror was not Han Tae-jin with brilliant black hair and a sophisticated face, but Choi Su-han with messy brown hair and a gloomy face.
A face covered in sweat from the midsummer.
“Oh no….”
In a narrow room with only a fan and no air conditioner, there was only stuffy heat and a bundle of tissues.
The reason why I was so obsessed with novels.
Among them, the reason why I fell in love with the novel [Hidden Peace Academy].
All… It was to forget this damn reality for a moment.
The main character in the novel, who grew up and enjoyed popularity and wealth through a hidden piece that others did not have, gave me a catharsis that I could never experience.
That’s why I was passionate about it, and that’s why I longed for it.
So again.
I was happy.
The life I lived as the character Han Tae-jin gave me a big scoop of catharsis that I had never tasted before, and that catharsis made my brain, which was suffering from a sense of defeat, bloom.
But.
“No, this is not it. It’s just an illusion.”
What is now reflected in the mirror is a sweaty face.
The word ‘shameless’ fits better than the face, revealing how sad his life was.
ㅡ Wow!
He slapped the cheek with his right hand.
The sweat-soaked skin made a scratchy sound, and soon an intense pain spread.
In my mouth, I could feel the mild taste of blood.
The shaking vision gradually stops vibrating.
It is not broken.
Really….
Could it really have been just a dream? ?
“No. It can’t be.”
I resolutely drew a line.
The events of the world depicted clearly in the novel were clearly not a passing dream.
ㅡ Come on!
I ran out of the house in a hurry.
The muggy heat penetrates my skin.
The vivid senses made me mistake reality for another reality, but I kept my spirits up and ran.
But.
“Damn… ! Zenzaang-!!”
I was just breathing, nothing had changed.
The stuffy heat constricts my entire body, and my back is soaked with cold sweat.
“Heo Eok… ! Heo-eok… ! Lesha-!! Nayeon-ah-!!”
It stopped running and cried out two names.
People passing by around me look at me like I’m crazy and avoid me.
The only thing I could hear was the sound of the train that interrupted my sweet sleep.
I opened the [Hidden Peace Academy Settings Book] That I was holding tightly in my hand.
And.
Like reciting a spell.
“Wow, if I’m possessed, I’m the real main character, eat it. How many Hidden Peace are there?”
I repeated the words I muttered to myself before I was possessed.
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I closed my eyes.
And it took off.
The train that has not yet passed is rattling past.
“Wow! If I am possessed, the real protagonist will be eaten! Eat. How many hidden pieces are there!”
I repeated it again.
I closed my eyes.
And it popped up again.
But.
The ordeal shows no signs of ending.
“Heo Eok… ! Heo-eok… ! Oh, no. “This can’t be happening-!!”
Her head is dizzy and her heart is racing.
I try to deny it, saying that it is just an ordeal, but the scorching sun denies that denial.
Even though I know, I have no choice but to suffer helplessly.
Even though I know, I have no choice but to fall into a panic.
As Ersia said, the last ordeal that even he himself was not aware of was beginning.
#
‘Huh?’
“Are you here? This assignment ended pretty quickly.”
What, what?
I remember exactly the moment I entered the tower… Why is her mother’s voice heard?
“Why are you standing so quietly?”
“Uh, oh my… ?”
When she lifted her head and looked up, she saw her mother sitting with a lofty figure.
Two horns rising above the golden crown.
A wagging tail.
It was definitely my mother, and this was the palace.
“Eh… ? Suddenly? What is this… ?”
“Why are you doing that?”
What is it?
What is this all of a sudden?
No, I’m sure I just entered the tower, but why can I see my mother and the palace when the blackout is lifted?
‘This situation… This is the situation when she returned home after fulfilling her duties… ?’
What happened?
Have I failed my duty?
“Oh, oh my. How did this happen… ?”
“Come to your senses. “Isn’t it true that he returned because he successfully completed the duty given to him by the summoner?”
“Yes… ?”
But, I don’t even remember fighting the illusion boss named God Rachel?
Of course, it is said that partial memory loss or distortion may occur as an aftereffect of interplanetary travel, but I have never experienced such a thing before and the part I lost was too great to be considered partial memory loss.
Furthermore, if you had ‘succeeded’ in your duty and returned, you should have received compensation accordingly.
But now my hands are empty.
There was no information imprinted on my mind.
That is.
“… Poetry, failure… Did you?”
My mouth opened wide.
I never even thought that I would fail in my duty.
Of course, the difficulty of the duties is higher than that of lower-level succubi, but I have never failed before and I believed that with Taejin, there would be no possibility of failure.
But.
“No, that’s ridiculous. This is not “This isn’t-!!”
No, no, no.
An echo, almost like a scream, echoes from the corners of the magnificent palace.
“… What? Are you saying that you, who will become the next queen of the succubus, have failed in your duty? It can’t be. “My blood flows through you.”
Her mother’s words don’t fall on deaf ears.
No, this cannot happen.
My hands and feet are shaking, my knees are numb, and my mind turns completely white.
My legs gave out and I fell down.
“Failure? I? I failed… ?”
ㅡSlap!
I hit my left cheek harshly.
A numbing pain.
ㅡSlap!
I hit my right cheek harshly.
A numbing pain.
“Be, Bersha. “Why are you doing that?”
Failure in one’s duty means losing in a life-and-death struggle with the illusion leader.
It will be soon.
“Tae, Taejin… !!”
It would mean death.
Lesha cried out to the high ceiling of the palace.
I vaguely heard of it when I was kidnapped by Choi Do-han.
Ersia has been regressing for quite a few episodes.
Therefore, there will be no eternal death, but Taejin was possessed by some kind of incident in this episode.
In other words, it meant that the possession could be released in the next episode.
“Oh my!”
Calling her mother, she hurried up the stairs to the seat of power.
“Keep your body straight. Bersha. Why are you doing this?”
Her mother reprimanded her, but her mind was filled with Taejin.
“Everyone, I have to go back… !”
She had to go back.
Whether Taejin remains as Taejin, or the planet Earth has entered the path of destruction.
I had to check.
“… Water once spilled cannot be put back. It’s a pity, but until the next summons, all you have to do is reflect on this failure as a teacher on the other hand and work hard.”
“Yeah, but I have to go! I couldn’t even say hello!”
“You mean to go against the providence? There is no way or reason to do so. Forget the past.”
“No way-!!”
I screamed.
How can I forget?
No, even if I forgot, I had to check whether Taejin was alive or not.
As a summoner, and as his woman.
“Uh huh. Did you lose your mind when you returned?”
“When I was young, my nanny once told me about it! There is an ancestor who migrated to a planet where he received the grace of the main god and fulfilled his duties!”
“… Ha, did that old woman fool around? It is an old story far away, and it is nothing but a mythical story without even a hypothesis, let alone evidence.”
“Ha, but…” !”
“Uh huh!! Can’t you be quiet!”
I don’t want to believe it.
It’s not a myth!
The nanny said she saw it herself!
It’s not a lie!
“It seems that our princess has a mental problem after returning. Hello-! Minister-!!”
“Yes. Your majesty.”
“Transport Princess Versha to the returnee treatment center and focus on her treatment until this nonsense ends!”
“Yes. All right.”
I hate poetry!
I’m going back!
I have to go back!
“Oh my god!!”
“Uh-huh! Not only is it not enough to fail in one’s duty, but to try to go against providence is to blaspheme the Lord! “Why don’t we hurry and transport him?”
No.
This is a dream.
It’s just an illusion.
It’s just a trial given by the tower!
Yes, Taejin was like that too!
You will need reason rather than emotion.
You have to be careful!
There was a reason why Ercia used the mental protection skill!
So this is just a trial of the tower!
I will wake up.
I will definitely break the ordeal for Taejin’s sake!
“Oh my god!!”
“Even if you can’t keep your morals, don’t behave in a disgraceful manner! “I am giving this command as the queen of the clan, not as your mother!”
“No! “I don’t like it-!!”
“Hurry and drag me away!”
“Yes! Your majesty!”
All I could do as I was captured and dragged away was to struggle through the ordeal.
#
“Hmm…. “That’s surprising.”
Is this because I had stronger confidence and faith in this episode than any other episode?
The ‘ordeal’ shown until the 52nd episode was different.
It was always the same.
Despair of failure in salvation.
Desolated earth, corpses piled up on the streets, dark clouds on the ground, black rain falling steadily.
I always experienced trials with the same scenery.
For me, the mission has always been more important than emotions.
But now.
“hahahahaha. That’s why I thought I was really going to die then.”
“I saved you. Know? Disciple?”
“Phew. “Are you still a priest?”
“Miss Ercia? Why are you losing your mind? Hurry up and listen. I don’t know if it will suit our apostle’s taste. Ho Ho.”
“Of all my mom’s dishes, this is the most delicious.”
… The dinner table that I promised one day is spread out in front of me.
Ordeals take on various forms.
Hunger and despair, sadness and bitterness, regret and remorse.
The most powerful trial among them was ‘happiness’.
It is to give you happiness that you cannot have, and to make a nasty mockery that you will never be able to enjoy this happiness.
The life of an apostle was always lonely.
The destiny of the planet is to carry out a grandiose mission, so I had no choice but to be lonely.
It didn’t hurt because I was lonely.
Because I’ve been living like that for the 52nd episode.
By purpose, by goal, by necessity, we built relationships and carried out our mission.
So it wasn’t hard, and I was able to overcome repeated sadness. Because it was quite difficult to restart the relationship with the colleagues who were together.
If emotions exceeded the mission, I would not have been able to spend the eternity of the 52nd episode bluntly, and I thought it was natural for a great cause.
But… It seems that the emotional valley has deepened quite a bit in this episode without even realizing it.
Well, Ersia has been shown several times during the 52nd episode, but all of them have been visible only to the subject of the mission, ‘Choi Do-han’.
In this episode, he appeared in front of everyone.
That event, which I did not attach much meaning to, had great meaning to me.
‘….’
White rice spreads fish fillet on top of my rice.
Lesha places a cup of alcohol in front of me.
Han Tae-jin smiles at me.
Park Na-yeon teases him by saying that he can’t get married if he can’t drink.
Han Yu-ra gets angry and says that she wants to drink too.
Kim Hye-seo drinks and enjoys solitude that is different from mine.
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After the end of the mission, this time to sit together and share unforgettable, brilliant adventures and stories was definitely a happiness I would never taste.
As an apostle of Eternity, I will leave them and take on another mission to rise to a higher level of existence, and I will walk a different path from them.
But it didn’t hurt.
The emotions that have been dulled by being cut and cut over the past 52 episodes do not respond to any scratches.
Just.
‘… ‘Good.’
I liked this moment.
This moment of completing a mission and chatting with colleagues who no longer have to lose their memories was definitely closer to a blessing than an ordeal.
It feels as if a happy ending has been decided.
They say trials always come in unexpected ways, but if they look like this, it might be quite unpleasant.
“Elsia! “Let’s toast!”
“Sister! “I like cider!”
“How much can a cosmic being drink?”
“Raise your glass.”
I raised my glass at Kim Hye-seo’s command.
And then he stood up.
The only people on this planet who can show ‘me’.
I was happy to be together, and I was happy to get a taste of the happy ending.
That’s why.
“Everyone, thank you so much.”
I greeted you with sincerity.
The glasses raised for the toast all wince.
Ordeals disguised as happiness only keep me here.
The sweet taste was enough.
I couldn’t stay for a long time because my dull heart was stronger than the sweet trials.
Han Tae-jin looked at me.
“… Also, can you see it?”
Instead of answering, she smiled and nodded her head.
Han Tae-jin followed me and smiled.
Afterwards, the sunken glass surfaced again.
“Then let’s toast!”
ㅡTa-da!
The cups, like the Holy Grail, clinked together, and happiness went beyond the cups and drenched us.
There is one phrase that I like the most among the proverbs of the human world.
‘If you can’t avoid it, enjoy it.’
Just as trials come in different forms, the ways to overcome them also come in different forms.
I was happy to be able to see my colleagues who had not lost their memories, even if only through the ordeal.
And I hope that this happiness will unfold to them.
I had to wake up.
Gulp, gulp.
I drank all the liquor in the glass without leaving a single drop behind, and then cast [Shake the glass on top of my head], Which I had always wanted to try.
It was the first time I tasted alcohol, even during the ordeal.
“”Hello, Ercia!””
It was a taste that was difficult to describe.
It tasted cooler than anything I’ve ever drunk.