Chapter 25: I am a fool

“You’re here again!”

“…!”

There was a middle-aged man’s voice and Dohyuk stopped. It was right about where the cave was funneling into a giant room. There was a man in rags kneeling down.

“C-come, you trash!”

The voice was shaking.

“D-Don’t hesitate! A-are you af-afraid of me? COME!”

“…”

Something was weird. It seemed like the man wasn’t strong or anything. Dohyuk walked up and the man turned back. When the man faced Dohyuk, he gasped.

“Yoo- Yoo Dohyuk?”

Dohyuk would’ve attacked right at that moment since everyone knew him, but-

“D-don’t come to me!”

The man shouted, “Y-you’ll die! NO!”

It was a warning. The man was worried about Dohyuk as he then pulled his rags off. Dohyuk gasped. It was the most saddening and terrifying sight. The man was covered by a green being. It was devouring the man’s flesh.

“This… this is called ‘Waving Jade’…. If this touches a living being… it eats and increases in number…”

That’s when Dohyuk realized what happened to those who went in.

“Then how did you…?”

“I have a Nature… regeneration and… resistance against such thing…”

The man then knelt down again. The green thing was moving toward the man’s chest and face. The right eye was already whitened and puss was coming out from it.

“L-long time n-no see… B-but it’s… good that.. I got to se-see you be-before I died…”

“Do you know…”

Me? Dohyuk wasn’t able to ask the last part. It was a foolish question.

“Of-of course. Y-you saved… my da-daughter and m-myself.”

“Me?” Dohyuk mumbled.

“Of course- of- of course.”

The man began telling the story of a hero that he remembered.

The man’s name was Jo Mingu. On his 8th day, he met Dohyuk. This was when he and the others realized they had to kill each other to survive. But they were still being put off by the moral standards. That’s when Dohyuk met them. It was when the stronger people were forming a group.

“Y-you were… g-great even then… Yo-you didn’t oppress.. an-any one.”

Dohyuk was a logical leader.

-This is not a world you can survive with just power. There’s no weak Nature. If we help each other, we can increase our chances of survival.

Mingu was a weak-minded man from the beginning.

“If-if it wasn’t- for you… I would-would have died.”

It was Dohyuk who gave Mingu a job to do. He was able to utilize his Nature to determine which food was safe to eat.

“I-it was going to be okay… if- if it wasn’t- for those-those d-dogs…”

“…?”

Dohyuk’s group grew and they acquired safe shelter and food to survive. However, they became a target. A few of the other groups joined forces to attack Dohyuk’s group, but Dohyuk did not fail.

“I… I saw-saw it for the first time. Wh-when you killed others- with anger.”

Dohyuk was victorious, but there were some who died. Many who fought against the attackers died, mostly those young ones who did not have enough power.

-Assh*les.

That was what Dohyuk said, and when night came again, Dohyuk spoke to his friends.

-I’ll be back. I need to do this.

He came back the next day covered in blood. None of it was his. Dohyuk then said,

-We’ll live here. I won’t force you to follow me.

There weren’t many who followed him, but Mingu wasn’t one of them.

“I-It wasn’t be-because I didn’t trust you… I just-just… didn’t have a reason… to l-live…”

His daughter died in the ambush. She fought against the enemy to save her father and died fighting. It was enough of a motive for suicide. That was why Mingu came to this place, to the Mine of the Green.

It was the cavern that everyone avoided due to the human-eating monster.

“I… I was fool… so I didn’t have courage… to kill myself… in power enough to … my regeneration Nature.”

He threw himself against the green monsters. But even these green monsters couldn’t overcome Mingu’s nature as he spent his time in agony. That’s when he touched the core of these monsters. The gem that was within this mine. When absorbed, the monsters became silent. That’s when Mingu earned his second Nature.

[Man of the Green]

It was a unique nature that could be obtained without killing others.

Mingu earned his second life.

“I… I am a f-fool… survived because of luck…”

Even with the ‘power’ from the second Nature, he lived in guilt until he died.

“…”

Dohyuk looked behind. There was a small area that the green monsters did not dare to go near. There was the figure of human lying down.

“It’s… it’s my daughter…”

It was his everything. Just like last time, Mingu came to this place the first and gave the core gem to his daughter. He would not come out of this cave alive as the green was eating away most of his body parts. When his daughter woke up, he would be dead. But that was okay. That was why he stood, blocking the entryway from any invaders to protect his daughter. The pain of being eaten alive did not matter to him.

Mingu kneeled against Dohyuk.

“I-I’m sorry… But-… even-even for you… I-I can’t let you… go I n…”

“…”

“B-but, you can stay until ni-night comes…”

“…”

Dohyuk didn’t move. It was not good to go in, other than risking the danger of being attacked by those monsters. It was a wiser choice to stay here until night. He couldn’t speak.

“…”

“Dohyuk…?”

Dohyuk quietly moved to the wall at the corridor and sat down. Maybe he was just relieved. Mingu was first ‘human’ he had met after the world changed. Kill, lie, steal, and fight… all who faced him had those intentions.

“I-I’m not sure if-if it will …”

Mingu mentioned, “I-I heard that you-you do not re-remember anything.”

“…Yes.” Dohyuk looked up.

“I-I don’t know everything about y-you.. but…”

Mingu had survived alone after he got his second Nature and died when Dohyuk began earning the name of the Great Emperor.

“Wait, you don’t have any memories after you died?”

“N-no.”

Mingu shook his head.

“It-it feels like I was in l-long slumber… A-and I he-heard a voice.”

“Voice?”

“V-voice of a god.”

Mingu did not know how he knew; he just knew.

“I-it said it would give us a s-second chance… all o-others th-than Phenomenal N-Nine would get the 2nd c-chance.”

And he was back.

“I h-had to hide wi-with my daughter. But e-even if I had time… I doubt we w-would have spoken to the o-others.”

Dohyuk nodded.

“A-anyway… g-go find Han Jaehun.”

“…Han Jaehun?”

It was a name he did not recognize. Mingu then became confused.

“I-It’s weird… t-two of you were l-like o-old friends.”

Han Jaehun was always with Dohyuk, and he was very powerful.

“A-and I-I heard rumor… after I left… that J-Jaehun had died in b-battle… to s-save you.”

“…”

“H-he should be around… if h-he’s alive. And…”

Mingu frowned. Maybe it was because of the pain? Or maybe he was just making up the memory.

“G-gaiter…”

“Gaiter? You mean the one you put up on the legs?”

“Y-Yes,” Mingu nodded. Then, his one ear that had been damaged by the green dropped to the ground.

“Only… AA Item… within… th-this region… You had it…. And…”

Dohyuk felt the vibration from his pocket. It wasn’t the compass. It was the bag he got from Kim Eunho. It was vibrating. Dohyuk took out whatever was inside.

<<Shell of the Bind(1/2) – B>>

-Durability : 7/10

[Like married couples, these shells choose their lifetime mates. It was used as a magical communication tool that allowed carriers to talk across long distances. Durability goes down when the message distance is farther. It cannot work when it reaches a certain range.]

Dohyuk then placed it against his ear.

“It’s me.”

There was a grainy, distorted voice. It was hard to make out the gender.

“What happened,” the voice asked. Dohyuk then read the description and thought about what Eunho said and spoke.

“I’m in the cave.”

“Did you get it? What about the disposables? If it’s not enough, stay there. I’ll go to you.”

He couldn’t stay quiet so Dohyuk decided to ask something else.

“Everything okay there?”

“I have good news.”

Even through the distorted sound, it was easy to tell that the person on the other side was excited.

“We got Yoo Dohyuk’s gaiter.”

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