Lee Sungmin couldn’t help but doubt his ears at that moment.
In this kind of situation, it made absolutely zero sense for Kim Jonghyun to suggest such a thing to him.
‘Colleague? Me? Why?’
Questions bombarded Lee Sungmin’s mind one after another.
Kim Jonghyun continued to talk, looking down on the table, full of untouched food.
“Are you flustered?”
“Of course.”
Kim Jonghyun shrugged at Lee Sungmin’s answer.
“Just because you’re someone who knows me, doesn’t mean I would ask anybody willy-nilly to be my colleague. Are…Are you perhaps reluctant because I’ve killed thousands of people? Is that why?….”
Kim Jonghyun then mouthed some words that made Lee Sungmin flinch. It couldn’t be helped.
Lee Sungmin felt a deep sense of alienation when he saw Kim Jonghyun smile as he mouthed those words without a bit of remorse.
Lee Sungmin had lived for a long time and had met several different kinds of people.
However, it was the first time he had truly felt so flustered and confused about a single person. He, himself, had killed people and knew that some things couldn’t stop bloodshed. But Kim Jonghyun had done more than just killing a few dozen people. It wasn’t even hundreds- but tens of thousands.
The setting was not even justified by war. It was nothing but indiscriminate slaughter.
Nevertheless, Kim Jonghyun was smiling, referring to his actions as ‘something that couldn’t be helped’.
[He’s not a human anymore.]
Heoju muttered with a cold tone. Kim Jonghyun’s way of thinking was too far gone to be considered human anymore, even for a monstrous yokai like Heoju.
Lee Sungmin was also unstable after the Trial of Time and experiencing thousands of years in solitude, but he was not nearly as corrupted in his thinking as Kim Jonghyun was.
“Why do you want me to be your colleague?”
“Because I think our understanding of the world and relationship with each other is somewhat consistent.”
Kim Jonghyun spoke, widening his arms in a grandiose gesture.
“But it’s too early to say for sure. That’s because I don’t know what your aim is in all of this.”
“Stopping the Apocalypse. That’s my aim.”
Lee Sungmin answered. Kim Jonghyun’s eyes narrowed at Lee Sungmin’s reply.
“The Apocalypse?”
“And you.”
“That’s why we have the same understanding.”
Kim Jonghyun laughed heartily. The food was getting cold and Kim Jonghyun swung his hand lightly. Warm air circulated around the table, and the slightly cooled foods were reheated.
“I, too, aim to prevent the Apocalypse. Gladly, you and I have a consensus on that, isn’t there anything bad about being colleagues and adding strength to each other?”
“You killed tens of thousands of people to stop the Apocalypse. Also, the Vampire Queen, herself, stated that you are the First Catastrophe in bringing forth the Apocalypse.”
“Do you seriously unconditionally believe what the Vampire Queen says? She is a monster who has lived for nearly a thousand years. Do you know what the future she even wants is like? The future she wants is where the Predator of Massacre is unleashed in this world and slaughters everything in its path. Why would she say I’m the First Catastrophe of the Apocalypse? Those who want to stop the Apocalypse would take those words for granted and come to kill me obviously.”
“Just because you die, won’t change the future she wants.”
Kim Jonghyun smiled at Lee Sungmin’s brutal statement.
It was true.
Geniella and Kim Jonghyun were not allies. Their goals and wants were completely different from each other.
“Did I get in the way of her plans?”’
Was Kim Jonghyun’s plans disturbing her goal? Kim Jonghyun had no choice but to think this might have been the case at that point.
Kim Jonghyun caressed his chin. It was Geniella who was able to see the future and orchestrate the events as she intended them to come along.
Of course, Kim Jonghyun had decided to strike a deal with Volander long before Geniella had even suggested such a thing.
‘I see… she wanted me to cause this ruckus in the South and intended for this all to happen. Even from the time I was busy assimilating into this half-devil body, she protected me only because she intended for this all to happen.’
Was it that she didn’t want him to act any further and thus had spread rumors to Lee Sungmin that he was the first Catastrophe?
‘No… if she wanted to kill me, she wouldn’t do it like this. If I truly interfered with her plans, then she would have come down by herself and killed me already.’
However, Geniella was still in the North. Kim Jonghyun deduced this information while noticing these strange things.
“You came here because you heard about what I might become from Geniella. The reason why Geniella told you about me…… huhu, I see. No matter what I do, my actions won’t affect her future.’
Kim Jonghyun smiled brightly.
“Do you know what I’m trying to do here”?
“I don’t.”
“I wanted to change myself into a complete Devil back in the North by collecting the souls of those several humans.”
“I know it failed. And that failure has actually benefited you.”
“Geniella told you more than I thought she would.”
Kim Jonghyun let out a slight expression of surprise. Geniella did not ever directly tell Kim Jonghyun that failing to become a complete Devil was actually beneficial. However, Kim Jonghyun was now well aware that his failure had actually been quite the positive outcome.
He had learned about this in his travels to the South as he became more familiar with his own power.
“How much do you know about this world?”
Kim Jonghyun asked.
“The large and wide world of Eria…. Why does this world constantly bring over transmigrators from different worlds? One thing we know is that, the thing we call the ‘status window’, is a privilege given only to us transmigrators. It helps us grow comfortably and easily. It makes it easy to learn martial arts and magic if we so desire, but why? Why is that the case, do you think?”
“…What are you trying to say?””
“This world is nothing but a huge laboratory and breeding ground.”
Kim Jonghyun raised his finger and pointed to the ceiling.
“Someone is getting what they want from us outside of this world. Countless people living in this huge world. Martial arts and magic coexist, and moderately controlled technology is developing through us. But who, why and for what?”Kim Jonghyun smiled and continued.
“The world is a giant mixture of several forms of martial arts and magical techniques and sciences. Even if it’s a martial art technique or magical spell model with the same name, the content is different depending on the different dimension the individual transmigrated from. The funny thing is, they’re actually still quite similar to each other…… but in detail, it’s very little different. Over the long years, these techniques and spells have been worked with, developed, complemented one another and are near the perfection of said technique’s craft. Yes, this world is like that. Living in this world, we devote our lives to completing these things, and through the status window, we learn it easily, develop it, and move forward with our lives.”
Lee Sungmin listened to Kim Jonghyun in silence. Kim Jonghyun’s laughter was growing louder and louder.
“That’s why this world is nothing but a giant breeding ground and an experimental laboratory. The only thing is that all of us are nothing but the lab rats in this place. I believe the ending, or the apocalypse rather, is just the sweeping of these useless lab rats now that our use and purpose here is finished. Obviously the ones who wanted us here are done with their research and are simply going through the motions of sweeping us under the rug. We are nothing but mice that have finished our experiments.”
Lee Sungmin listened quietly to this rather daunting and ominous explanation of Kim Jonghyun’s. To Kim Jonghyun, it seemed that someone had placed all these people here for a reason. And now that the individuals who had placed them here, had gotten what they wanted, they no longer had a use for them and created the Apocalypse.
This conjecture created a disgusted feeling of helplessness and frustration inside Lee Sungmin’s heart.
It wasn’t an easy explanation to accept. However, Sima Ryunju and Abel had shared similar stories and conjectures with Lee Sungmin in the past, and he felt as if he couldn’t just turn a blind eye to this.
“It’s impossible to stop it normally, since the creators of this world have thrown it away… at least under normal circumstances that is…..”
“Are you saying there’s a way for you to stop it?”
“Yes.”
Kim Jonghyun smiled broadly.
“I’m going to connect this world to the Demonic Realm.”
“… What?”
“That will solve the end that has been set in stone. The reason why this world cannot escape from its horrid and sad ending is because it has already been destined to be so in the large cosmos of fate here. But you know, What if you connect this world to another Realm or dimension? What if that connection is not just one way, but a two way symbiotic connection? Then, the fate of the dreadful world cannot be completed or fulfilled since it would be connected to another fate. Just as this world has the apocalypse as the end, the demon Realm has its own ending as well.”
Kim Jonghyun’s voice grew more and more excited as he continued to speak.“Eria is a world that brings people in from all over these different realms and dimensions, but there are plenty of realms and dimensions that do not summon others like this one. The Demon Realm is such a place. There is usually only one real or true ‘Devil’ in any kind of magical dimension. But the Demonic Realm is a Realm that has multiple of these titled Devils that are true transcendents. No matter how destined the Apocalypse is to arrive, it will not be able to triumph over multiple Transcendent beings that are true Transcendents. Not just martial artists or magicians that have surpassed their human limits. These are real Devils in the land of the Demonic Realm.”
“That… that’s crazy.”
Lee Sungmin replied to Kim Jonghyun’s proposal with uncertainty.
“What do you know about Devils and Demons?”
“Devils and Demons?”
Kim Jonghyun tilted his head at Lee Sungmin’s reply of confusion.
“Maybe this will be easier to explain to you. The Demon Realm is ruled by titled Demons, known as Devils, and under them, there are powerful demons and sub-demons. The Devils from the Demon Realm assign lower-level Demons that are close to becoming titled ‘Devils’ to become different dimensions in order to expand their influence. Their purpose is to eventually raid the dimension and colonize it.”
But there were already plenty of Devils interested in Eria. Kim Jonghyun lifted the wine glass in his hand. He looked at the red liquid refracting the dim light through the glass and then turned his eyes back to Lee Sungmin.
“Would you like a drink?”
“….No.”
“Hmm… It’s a pretty good wine though…. Well, this is not that important. Anyway, there is no direct link in Eria to the Demon Realm. There are Devils that oversee this realm and dimension and there are also Dark Wizards and several undead. That being said, the channel to the Demon Realm has never been completely established. I’m going to completely expand that link and connect this world and the Demon Realm completely.
“After that?”
“The world will not fall to the Apocalypse.”
Kim Jonghyun poured some more wine into the wine glass.
“……what happens to the world if it’s connected to the Demon Realm though?”
“Well, I won’t even know until it happens. It’s probably going to be an interesting world, that much is for sure. The Demons will come and travel between the dimensions freely, and maybe the Devils will come forward themselves. For them, this world will be a huge chunk of land without a definitive ruler. They may compete for who will rule this world. There’s definitely a good possibility that a lot of people will die, but at least it’s not the Apocalypse, right?… ahahah!”
“You don’t see a problem with that?”
It was then that Lee Sungmin truly felt like he understood just what kind of person Kim Jonghyun had become.
He was not a half-monster that struggled with maintaining his sanity like Lee Sungmin. No. His reasoning and logic had fundamentally been shifted.
It was possible that Kim Jonghyun was always such a person, and that Lee Sungmin truly did not know or dig into his personality in the past to know it.
If Kim Jognhyun connected the Demon Realm and Eria, even if the Apocalypse did not come, Eria would face a terrible and vicious fate that would be equivalent or even worse than the Apocalypse.
What Kim Jonghyun was trying to do would be considered ridiculous to anybody who knew of his true intentions. Demons and high-level Transcendents like Devils would be able to traverse the world of Eria freely without any kind of restrictions.
“You’re crazy.”
What Kim Jonghyun wanted to do was not to stop the Apocalypse. He was trying to bring a new catastrophe comparable to that of the Apocalypse.
“Do you think I’m not right in my thinking?””
Kim Jonghyun asked as he noticed Lee Sungmin’s words.
“Why do you think I’m saying this to you? Why do you think I’m asking you of all people, to become my colleague? I would never ask anybody else for this kind of thing, I’m sure you know of that. Why do you think the Apostles of the End are not intervening while we have been conversing so freely about the Apocalypse?”
Lee Sungmin couldn’t answer.
“The Apostles of the End are nothing but a system that maintains the order of this world. A system for controlling the lab rats in the laboratory so that they do not learn of their fate. The truth of this world is only known to a very small number of individuals, and those individuals are the Gods and Devils that oversee us. We, as lab rats, are not allowed to know of our fates unless they find pity with us or if we amuse them.”
But now, this system, the ‘Apostles of the End’ were not intervening with this conversation.
“I failed to become a complete Devil, but that didn’t mean what I was trying to do became meaningless. Because I succeeded in becoming a half-devil of sorts, I was able to know the truth of this world. It’s similar to you. I don’t know why, but you were granted a similar level to me. In other words, we can know the truth of this world and converse about it freely.”
[I’m actually buying this idiot’s words.]
Heoju spoke with laughter.
[This explanation he is giving relates to the power inherited by your master. In his last moments in this world, he had completely transcended his status as a human and reached a level beyond the Realm of Transcendence. I don’t know how he did it, and he probably does not know either, but he reached a level that was incomparable and not even allowed to exist in this world….But you also inherited that level. Even if you can’t handle that power as it is right now or reach that level, you’ve gained that potential, so you’ve technically reached the same ceiling of a ‘True Transcendent’.]
“There’s no ‘future’ for this world.”
Kim Jonghyun continued to talk.
“There is no future for any kind of being here that hasn’t become a ‘True Transcendent’. Even those beings who call themselves martial artists of the Transcendent Realm, are not ‘True Transcendents’ and will not have a future here. Only Gods, Devils, The Queen of Fairies, the Spirit Queen and others like them will be able to exist here. Only beings who are able to wield the power to shed their own fates, will survive.”
Taking the wine glass to his lips, Kim Jonghyun closed his eyes. After a brief sip, he continued.
“Human beings in this world have been prohibited and limited from reaching such possibilities. If you go beyond that rule and transcend humans in a way that is not allowed, you will be deprived of that transcendence by the owner of the breeding ground.”
‘Ah.’
Lee Sungmin’s shoulders trembled slightly. The fight between Sima Ryunju, Wolhu and Musin had definitely been odd. Sima Ryunju, who had been overwhelming the two of his opponents during the entire fight, lost his strength at some point for some reason.
Heoju had similar thoughts and wonders. He couldn’t understand how even he, at the prime of his power, had fallen to mere humans when he had been able to hunt dragons. Just how was such a death possible?
“In the end, no matter how strong the human beings in this world become, they are ultimately humans, so they are bound to be powerless to those with a higher class. But as I tried and experimented, I turned that fate around and became a half-devil. But at the end of the day, even if I have gained such a level, I will be banished from staying here because of the world’s laws if I had completed my transformation.”
If Kim Jonghyun had become a complete devil, he would have been deported from this world by the so-called ‘owner of the breeding ground’. What about Lee Sungmin’s master, Sima Ryunju? No, he chose to leave the world at the last minute.
The case was different from Kim Jonghyun’s particular case.
“What’s the point of this world? In this breeding ground, humans whose possibilities have been limited are bound to be killed when the time comes for them to be killed if they gain power that is beyond their limit of power as ‘breeding mice’.”
Kim Jonghyun raised himself up. He reached out to Lee Sungmin as he approached him.
“If we connect this world to the Demon Realm, the Apocalypse will not come to pass. There is no guarantee that we will gain back the possibility of being able to fully transcend our statuses, but at least the worst will not come to be.”
Lee Sungmin lowered Kim Jonghyun’s hand forcefully as he tried to rest it on Lee Sungmin’s shoulders.
After a brief period of awkward silence, Lee Sungmin asked Kim Jonghyun.
“Are you a human being?”
“Ha ha, you’re asking something weird. I’m not a human being. I’m closer to being a devil obviously.”
Kim Jonghyun replied with a smile.
That answer was enough for Lee Sungmin.