Ranker Who Lives Twice

Breakfast was delicious. Mixed grain rice, braised mackerel, seasoned root vegetables, fermented napa cabbage kimchi, soybean paste stew…

Jeong-woo grumbled and complained about having to get up from bed and being forced to eat breakfast, but, all the while, he was shoveling food into his mouth. Their mother's culinary skill was quite famous, as Rhea's dishes were even well known amongst Yeon-woo and Jeong-woo's schoolmates.

Yeon-woo's father was crestfallen at the thought of not being able to use the computer, so he took out some of his frustration on the soybean paste stew in front of him, swishing it wildly with his spoon. However, he was soon scolded once more by Rhea.

In the meantime, Yeon-woo just quietly ate. "…" He wanted to soak up as much of this daily life as possible. He chewed the food his mother made him and listened to the random conversations around the breakfast table. And then…

"Huh? Ugh! Where did the time go! Mom, I'll get up first!"

"Take your packed lunch! Didn't you say that your school's cafeteria is being remodeled and that lunch won't be served!"

"Oh right. I forgot. Thanks, Mom!" Jeong-woo urgently glanced at the clock before putting his bag on his shoulder and running to the front door.

"I'll go too, honey. I'm expecting a business associate to visit this morning."

"Alright, have a good day."

"So, because of the business associate, I need access…"

"No. Moreover, if you secretly bring a LAN cable from work, understand that your allowance for next month will secretly disappear."

Yeon-woo's father drooped his shoulders in front of his mother's soulless smile and biting words.

"Ugh! Why is every day so crazy?" After seeing everyone off, Rhea returned to the kitchen, sat down across from Yeon-woo, and then sighed. "How great would it be if everyone was as courageous as you and did their job well?"

"I know, right." Yeon-woo smiled softly in reply, then quietly put down his spoon. His rice bowl and the side dishes on the table had become empty.

"You've already finished eating breakfast?"

"It was delicious."

"You've finished everything. You must be stuffed full. You didn't feel forced to eat, right?"

"Absolutely not."

"Alright. That's good. It's good that it suits your taste." His mother still had a warm expression on her face. While Yeon-woo was looking at her silently, Rhea asked him a question. "Are you going to leave now?"

"…" Rhea's words carried many questions beyond its simple interpretation. For a short time, Yeon-woo did not answer, then he nodded his head heavily. Although he had been caught up in the fantasy at first, he knew it was not reality. Yeon-woo knew exactly who he was. "This place can also become a 'dream' depending on how I set my mind."

Yeon-woo had gone through many 'dreams' while fighting with various egos in the darkness, so he had already relived several lives. Some of them were based on real lives, while others were just fantasies or imaginations. But when one was in them, they were all real.

Countless 'dreams' existed in the darkness, and each 'dream' represented a new world. Anything could happen in those dreams, and as far as one was concerned, everything one experienced within a dream was reality. It was the same case for Yeon-woo right now. Even if this scenario was a fantasy created by the Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young, it was a world reconstructed based on Yeon-woo's happiest memories.

In reality, around this time in Yeon-woo's life, his mother was already in the hospital and his father had long ago gone missing, so the atmosphere in the house was depressed. Yeon-woo's wish to return to a 'peaceful daily life', which he had yearned for and kept in the heart at that time, was what was materialized.

Of course, this could have become his reality and another replay of his 'dream' depending on Yeon-woo's actions. That was the power of the darkness. For a being who is in a deep state of sleep, a 'dream' could be something that could appear at any time and recreate any scenario.

"It's okay if you decide you want to go back. Also, no one will fault you for staying a bit longer and enjoying this iteration. It wouldn't hurt to enjoy life a little before going back, no?"

However…

"I'm sorry." Yeon-woo calmly shook his head. "What I want…is not a 'dream'. What I want is reality."

"Is that so? I guess that's too bad. I wanted to spend more time talking with my son." A faint smile formed on the corner of Rhea's lips.

"It won't take long for that to become reality, mother."

"Okay. Take your time. Don't rush too much. Don't get hurt."

Sss. Little by little, a static noise began to creep into the mother's appearance, creating a digitized shaking of sorts. The fantasy world shook.

But, strangely, his mother maintained her bright smile. "I'll be waiting here."

Crack! Boom! The world surrounding Yeon-woo shattered like glass.

[You have successfully completed the sub-quest (Illusion of the Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young)!]

[Current progress: 4/8]

[The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young quietly expresses concerns about the choice you made in the fantasy.]

[The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young says it understands the answer you just gave.]

The vestige thoughts emanating from the Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young were full of positivity towards Yeon-woo.

It learned that Yeon-woo's answer to 'losing his name', and all that entailed, was truthful. The fact that Yeon-woo pushed away the greatest wish that he longed for, even though it was right in front of him, and returned to his original path illustrated Yeon-woo's determination and firm resolve to plow forward.

Who. Is.

Next.

The Resident of the Border looked at the approving Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young before blinking his eyes and turning to the other gods. While he was considering who should go next…

Sss. A hazy mist slowly rose in front of Yeon-woo and the Resident of the Border. It was an existence that had no form at all.

['Nameless Mist' comes forward.]

Not. Personal.

Just. Confirmation. No. Bad. Intentions.

['Nameless Mist' states that it just wants to know whether your claim as its father is valid.]

['Nameless Mist' says it wants to know what the Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young saw in him.]

The Resident of the Border pondered for a moment… The Resident of the Border wondered if he should call upon the Nameless Mist next.

The Nameless Mist was the most secretive of all the beings of Night. Since the absence of a name also meant that its existence had not been established, everything related to it was unclear. The Nameless Mist possessed its own will, but even that was vague at best. It was questionable whether it was truly alive.

However, for that same reason, the Nameless Mist was fundamentally the closest to chaos and in resembling the beginning of Night. In other words, the Nameless Mist most closely resembled the Dull-Witted Father amongst the Eight Gods of Disorder. Having this natural disposition, Nameless Mist showed blind and unconditional loyalty towards its father. Conversely, this also meant that it was the most hostile towards Yeon-woo, who claimed to be his father.

This was also the point of concern for the Resident of the Border. Now, although they were collectively conducting an evaluation to determine whether Yeon-woo could really be called their father, it was still not proper to show any form of malice. The Resident of the Border was concerned that the Nameless Mist may be swept away by its emotions and possibly act irrationally.

Not all divine beings were rational. Rather, the beings of Night usually acted emotionally or got swept up by impulses because their thoughts were not standardized. In other words, they did not share a common basis of understanding. This could be seen in the Crawling Chaos, who had always made the Resident of the Borders life tough.

Among the eight gods, the Crawling Chaos had accumulated the most knowledge and was aware of Day… But the Crawling Chaos could not give up his impulsive habit of moving out of curiosity. Thus, the Crawling Chaos ended up being devoured by Yeon-woo.

The Nameless Mist was even more unbearably impulsive in this regard, so there was a high possibility that it could show malice towards Yeon-woo. However…

[The 'Nameless Mist' asks if its rights have been taken away.]

Fine.

You. Go. Next.

The Nameless Mist had never expressed its opinion to this extent, so the Resident of the Border had no choice but to take a step back and allow the Nameless Mist to be the next god to conduct its evaluation.

Eventually, a fog filled Yeon-woo's surroundings. The fifth test began.

[The sub quest of 'Nameless Mist' begins!]

***

[Sub Quest / Pieces of Nameless Mist]

[Description: Nameless Mist is a being composed of numerous fragments that have been dismantled like droplets in a fine mist. The divine name 'Nameless Mist' was given temporarily by beings who have observed its existence. It cannot be said to be the real name that defines Nameless Mist.

From this point forward, you are to give a name to 'Nameless Mist'.]

This time around, the world surrounding Yeon-woo was a place wherein time and order seemed illogical and impossible to understand.

A man was seen crossing the street while holding his young daughter's hand. An old man, watching this scene from afar, suddenly screamed and fell dead.

While a boy was playing with his friends, a small sparrow flew over and grabbed the boy by the head and kidnapped him. The boy was soon seen with amputated limbs. The boy's corpse laughed merrily as if it was infinitely happy.

A dragon killed by a zombie, a revenge story of a nine-headed man, an elf who was doing push-ups with five-meter-long arms…

All these observations were hard to comprehend. No, it seemed like the stories were made so that they would be completely impossible to understand. However…

'Is this… Is this all part of the Nameless Mist?' Yeon-woo could somehow feel the divine power of the Nameless Mist in all things. They were fragmented forces without form.

These. Are. All.

My. Story.

My. Legacy.

As if it read Yeon-woo's thoughts, the Nameless Mist's vestige thoughts echoed in Yeon-woo's mind.

Yeon-woo lifted his head up. The randomly thrown out vestige thoughts gradually merged into one.

『These are the stories of beings who vanished in vain once their 'dream' reached their end. They were not able to join the absolute dream. Reality. Truth. All these comprise what I am.』

Not all of the 'dreams' dreamt by the Black King became worlds and created universes. It was just like the finiteness of dreams that mortal creatures dreamt every time they slept. Those dreams would become established and end within a finite period.

Some of the Black King's 'dreams' end before they even begin, and sometimes they progress without a hitch before abruptly coming to an end. There were many dreams that felt illogical because a foundational baseline was never established. Whenever this happened, the beings within those worlds cried out from insufferable pain.

Those 'dreams' would quickly fall apart and disappear as ephemeral illusions. The leftover things were shaken back and forth and piled up upon each other, layer by layer. They mixed with each other while calling out in different voices. It was very easy for these waste products to be put together since they had no shape to begin with whatsoever.

These things formed a cluster and gradually began to express one intention. That expression became the Nameless Mist. A mixture of garbage that did not have a name in the first place. The reason it was referred to as a mist was because it had no established form.

It was born with the Black King and existed like a parasite, wholly dependent on the Black King. It showed blind allegiance to the Black King because it could also be called an alter ego, a fragmented piece, or a remnant shadow. But, in actuality, the existence wanted to have a name. It always lived quietly, but at the same time, it had a longing. It… No, 'they' longed to become complete. Thus…

『Give me a name that will unite me and all who comprise me. If you are my real father… No, if you can be called our father, you are more than capable of giving me a name.』

"How can I name you?"

『Our father created us and gave us life. Thus, if you are him, you should know how to name me. What father doesn't know how to give his offspring a name?』

Yeon-woo replied with a snort. "If that's the case, it's easy." One corner of his lips curled up. "I'm pretty good at naming things."