The World Does Not Exist for ■■

Translator: FenrirTL
Editor: ford53
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< Chapter 5: A Coincidence for the Protagonist >

Click-clack, click-clack…

The sound of something climbing the stairs was heard.

Click-clack, click-clack…

Could this be what the footsteps of hell sounded like? With every step, a thick scent of blood and the smell of burning flesh arose.

‘…Ah.’

The moment the sound of its footsteps ceased, Dung Beetle instinctively realized that it had reached the summit.

“Awaken.”

Its voice resonated, sweet yet familiar.

Dung Beetle slowly opened his eyes.

The first thing that caught his sight was a massive stepped pyramid.

‘…A prison?’

However, looking up at the pyramid, Dung Beetle first thought of a prison.

The pyramid was built not of ordinary stone and dirt, but of iron bars and steel plates.

“Dung Beetle.”

While he was momentarily lost in thought,

a voice calling him from the top of the pyramid could be heard.

“Finally, we face each other.”

Dung Beetle lifted his head to look at the summit. At the top, filled with iron bars, a shadow with human form looked down on him.

It stood there, dressed in a gown revealing a feminine figure akin to a lady’s shadow, adopting an alluring pose on the top of the pyramid.

Dung Beetle wanted to ask what on earth was happening, but he couldn’t open his mouth.

He had no mouth.

As if only that was allowed in this world, all of his body except for his eyes, nose, and ears was covered in shadow.

‘Is this… really a dream?’

A pyramid made of iron bars, that thing dressed to tempt…

Everything was a shadow of imagination, a metaphor of memory that could not exist in reality.

Yet, even upon realizing it was a dream, Dung Beetle could not wake up.

Because this was not his dream.

“I know you have much you want to say. However, I will not allow it.”

It looked down at Dung Beetle, laughing silently.

The pyramid shook violently as if trying to block out the sound of its laughter, but it remained utterly motionless.

“Today, you are merely to watch and listen. That is the duty given to you.”

The shaking of the pyramid grew more intense. Even Dung Beetle, below the pyramid, felt as if his bones were trembling.

But the next moment, when it pulled something out from beneath it, the pyramid suddenly became silent as the dead.

“Do you know how long I have waited for this day? For an interminable time, I have awaited the day you would offer sacrifices to me directly.”

What it had taken out were two corpses. One with its tongue bitten off and limp, and another with its head smashed.

Dung Beetle swallowed hard upon seeing the corpses. They were all too familiar to him.

How could he forget? They were the first people he had killed.

“Since it is the first, it is unique, and I shall joyously commemorate today.”

With a joyful shout, it threw the corpses it was holding down the pyramid.

The corpses tumbled down the iron bar and steel plate stairs. Thud, thud. Metal sounded, and long trails of blood formed on the pyramid.

And the moment the corpses hit the bottom, like shadows, they disappeared beneath the pyramid.

It was an unbelievable sight. Dung Beetle racked his brain wildly, trying to understand the situation.

How had that which was sealed away brought him into this dream, and why was it calling the cleaners he had killed sacrifices…

Why was all this happening?

“Oh, don’t pretend you don’t know. You were expecting this, weren’t you?”

It whispered as if reading Dung Beetle’s mind.

“How could a beheaded corpse come back to life?”

“Why would an ordinary human, not a superhuman, survive being shot and be perfectly fine? How could he walk for kilometers with a person who had passed out and reach the warehouse?”

“The answer is only one, Dung Beetle.”

Despite the height difference between the pyramid’s base and its peak, its voice shook Dung Beetle’s ears as clearly as if it were right beside him.

“It is I. I am the one who reached out beyond the seal to revive you. I gave you a body that would not die even if shot, and I granted you inexhaustible stamina.”

The dream world made of the pyramid and darkness trembled.

If the voice that Dung Beetle had heard in reality was like the sound of wind, now it was as massive as a typhoon.

Dung Beetle was tormented by the urge to block his ears.

‘…Why? Wasn’t your goal to break the seal by killing me?’

He couldn’t utter those words out loud. He couldn’t speak at all in this place.

But even if his mouth was sealed, his eyes could still move. With eyes that couldn’t form words, Dung Beetle looked at it.

Why did you revive me?

It did not respond. It wasn’t Dung Beetle’s turn to speak, but its own.

“Wasn’t it enjoyable?”

“Killing the cleaners who insulted your colleagues.”

“Burning the manager who sold you out.”

Dung Beetle recalled the revenge he had exacted just yesterday. There was no joy there.

Revenge was a continuation of pain. The pain of losing comrades, and the pain of the enemies.

‘No, I didn’t take revenge out of such despicable emotions. I…’

“Did you enjoy it?”

It declared so and then waved its arm grandly.

Following its arm, the darkness surged, and hidden things beneath the pyramid were revealed.

Whoosh!

A blazing pile of corpses.

Beneath the pyramid’s steps, a colossal amount of corpses burned, emitting smoke.

Dung Beetle inadvertently examined the corpses and then widened his eyes upon recognizing a familiar face.

The manager… that disgusting human being who had sold him and his colleagues out was burning amidst the flames.

Could it be, all the corpses from last night’s warehouse fire were here in this dream?

Feeling an ominous premonition, Dung Beetle looked back up to the top of the pyramid. That thing, which had risen from its place, spread its arms wide and shouted.

“Enjoyment. That is all I wish for, and the reason I have chosen you. Through you, I shall take pleasure.”

“I will enjoy everything you eat, drink, obtain, and feel.”

“And every life you take, every destruction you cause… I will accept as a sacrifice.”

As it spoke with a voice full of delight, it extended its hand towards the ground below. The earth quaked, and from beneath the burning corpses, shadows erupted.

The shadow, like mud in a nightmare, began to swallow everything around it.

No exceptions. Corpses, fire, and even the pyramid’s iron bars.

The shadow grew in size, devouring all the fire and corpses it touched.

Boom!

The shadow had swelled to the point where it could engulf the entire pyramid.

“Two cleaners, 987 corpses, and one soul that cursed you as it burned to death…”

With another wave of its hand, the irregularly swelling shadow moved at its gesture.

It was an overwhelming, dreamlike sight.

The vast shadow stretched out like a snake, enveloping the pyramid. The sight of the shadow flowing back towards the top of the pyramid felt utterly surreal.

Zing! Zing!

As if resisting the shadow, the pyramid violently shook. But like prey caught by a snake, the pyramid could not fend it off.

“Joyously, I shall accept the first sacrifice you have prepared.”

Upon its declaration, the shadow began to be sucked rapidly into its hand.

Roar!

The shadow was like a tsunami crashing into a dam. The iron bars at the top of the pyramid, which had been holding fast, could not last long.

Starting with the sound of breaking steel, the iron bars were crushed, snapped, and swept away by the shadow.

Eventually, when it had absorbed all the shadow, the top of the pyramid was hollowed out as if it had been hit by artillery.

“Ah, what sweet deaths these are.”

From the top of the pyramid, now only a remnant, it spoke with a satisfied voice.

“Be expectant, my chosen one. I am not like the base gods of this world who only desire, for I shall give a corresponding reward for every sacrifice.”

Click-clack, click-clack.

Just like when climbing the pyramid, it began to descend the steps with ease.

One step at a time… with each step it took, an unprecedented power pressed down on Dung Beetle’s body, and when it stood before Dung Beetle…

He was forced to kneel on the ground, unable to even lift his head.

He desperately tried to raise his head, but all he could see was the hem of a dress made of darkness.

“Dung Beetle, my chosen one.”

It reached out its hand and placed it atop Dung Beetle’s head. The touch was gentle, yet the difference in their being was overwhelmingly vast.

Dung Beetle clenched his teeth to withstand the pressure weighing down on his head.

“As a reward for your sacrifices, I shall bestow upon you what you need most.”

Immediately afterward, something poured down onto Dung Beetle’s head.

Swoosh…

Accompanied by the strange sound of sudden rainfall, the shadow flowed down like a waterfall.

“Talent. Talent that no human could ever dare to touch. I shall grant you talent to achieve revenge and reap even more lives.”

‘I don’t need… such talent… Not necessary!’

“Use the body and talent I have bestowed upon you to take your revenge to your heart’s content. Offer me the lives of the Cleaners Guild, the Necromancers, and the Players.”

The last of its voice sounded like a whisper. Was it because it whispered? No, that wasn’t it.

It was proof that Dung Beetle’s consciousness could not withstand the pressure and was awakening from the dream.

“Ah, we don’t have much time, and I’ve gotten too carried away.”

It then lowered the hand on his head further down, stroking Dung Beetle’s cheek.

“My chosen one, let me give you my name lastly. Next time, call me by my name, not as ‘it’.”

Its touch turned into a sticky darkness like melted sugar, running down his cheek.

“Mignium. That is the name you alone must serve.”

With those words, Dung Beetle passed out as if fainting and woke from the dream.

On the slopes of Mount MacArthur, overlooking the city of Incheon.

Ugh.

Dung Beetle awoke from his sleep with a retch. From his stomach, which had eaten nothing for a day, came gusts of air and gastric juices.

“Haah… Haah…”

After suffering from dry heaving for a while, Dung Beetle finally managed to catch his breath.

But his mind was still hazy.

He clung to the sensation of floating somewhere between reality and dream, and fumbled around his surroundings.

After groping for a while, he found a water bottle placed at a distance.

With shaky hands, he opened the cap and guzzled the water. It burned his throat like fire.

“…Sss…”

Even after downing a whole bottle of water, his insides were far from calm.

It was an issue of the mind rather than the body.

The truth he had faced in the dream was just that shocking. Sacrifices, the chosen one, and…

Mignium.

Dung Beetle recalled what he had seen and heard in the dream and crushed the water bottle.

There wasn’t much he could understand.

The fact that Mignium, who had tried to kill him, had revived him instead was already far beyond his comprehension.

‘Why exactly?’

Why had the calamity that the angel had warned of… revived and chosen him?

Out of pity, or inherent goodness? It couldn’t be.

From Mignium in the dream, who absorbed corpses and souls, not a trace of benevolence could be felt.

Mignium was undeniably evil. If that’s not evil, then what is?

But… did that provide a reason to reject the power Mignium had given?

Evil beings were already in abundance on Earth.

The Player who had led him to his death was one of them, the Earth’s corporations exploiting Asha beyond the dimensional gates, the corrupt politicians, weren’t they?

Could Dung Beetle be certain that Mignium sealed within him was more evil than they were?

Maybe the angel had deceived him…

‘…Enough.’

Feeling that he had crossed a line, Dung Beetle cut off his thoughts. This kind of tail-chasing was meaningless.

‘It’s useless to ponder on it alone… it’s an unsolvable problem.’

It was a matter of capability before faith.

No matter how much he doubted, he could not discern the true intentions of the angel or the reason why Mignium had chosen him.

Therefore, Dung Beetle pushed all his confusion to the back of his mind and focused on one unwavering truth.

Revenge.

He desired revenge. Against everything that had led his colleagues, who were like family to him, to death.

Neither Mignium nor the angel mattered. The burning desire for revenge was his alone.

The Cleaners Guild that had sold out his colleagues, the Player who had swung the sword for a level up, and the Necromancers and Korean government that the manager had revealed before his death.

Before getting revenge on them, the angel’s admonishment and Mignium’s temptation… they were all secondary.

‘It’s just the beginning.’

Having reached that point in his thoughts, Dung Beetle slapped his cheeks, then looked to his side.

“Right, my brothers?”

Right next to where he had been lying were nine graves, lined up neatly.

During the past day, he had moved the bodies of his colleagues one by one to the mountainside and made the graves.

Graves that even a regular person would have struggled to carry a single body to, let alone nine, up the mountainside, where he had dug the earth and built the mounds without a funeral.

There were no grave markers or memorial tablets for the graves made without ceremony.

They were graves known to, and remembered by, Dung Beetle alone.

They at least had a good view of the city below, If you could call it fortunate,.

Dung Beetle spent a moment looking at the graves and then got up. He felt if he didn’t leave now, he might never be able to.

Holding back the surge of emotions inside, he bit his lower lip.

“I will definitely return… after I have avenged you.”

The sorrow was long, but the resolve was brief.

Dung Beetle bowed deeply towards the graves and turned his back, descending the mountain.

He looked back several times while going down, but he did not stop.

Under the chillingly bright moonlight, the nine graves cast long shadows behind Dung Beetle’s back.