The World After the Fall

"Wait."

As he stared at Surha, he realized his guess was correct. He had to ask the next question, "Then, has he overcome [Seclusion]? Can he see [Big Brother] like the Master?"

Yoo Surha did not answer, but it was an act of agreement. And the silence made Kashim furious.

"Did you see it?! Did you see that he saw Big Brother yourself?!"

"…Why are you so infuriated?"

"Because it's nonsense! I saw him too, and he was so weak to consider that he can overcome [Seclusion]. Maybe you were mistaken…"

Kashim wasn't sure why he was so infuriated at the moment. He was talking a lot, which wasn't like him at all, and he felt like he was trying to deny something.

"You believe that nonsense that some fool jabbered about and will leave Rupture…!"

"Kashim."

After Kashim faced Surha's cold stare, he became silent.

"If I saw something in my [Premonition], will you believe me?"

"What?"

"If I say I saw the Master killing all of you, and the man you call a fool was fighting to save us- will you believe me?"

Kashim felt his heart sink. He asked back in a shaking voice, "T-that's impossible. It's a joke, right?"

Surha did not answer but just smiled coldly. Kashim then realized she was indeed lying. But it didn't matter if what she said was a lie.

"Poor man. You won't believe me even if I say the truth."

Yoo Surha then turned and walked away, fully confident as if she was walking toward the God she trusted. And after some time…

"Captain Kashim."

"Oh, yeah."

Kashim came back to his senses at Yoonhwan's call. Surha had already disappeared. He then looked down at the document in his hands. The title of it was this:

-Project - Depth Invasion

It had been days since Jaehwan's group arrived at the place of the Long Living race. Their village was protected by larger trees than the other areas, with huge hot springs scattered around. It seemed that most of these people usually spent their entire day within the springs or at small bungalows built in front of the springs. As guests, Jaehwan's group was assigned one of those small bungalows, but there was one who wasn't treated as a guest.

"…Why am I treated like this?"

Karavan, who was naked and had a scrubbing towel in his hand, shouted. Jaehwan looked at him in sympathy and spoke.

"They said you are a criminal, not a guest."

"Criminal? I didn't do anything wrong!"

"They said that you were in violation of not being naked."

"What kind of crime is that?"

Karavan then shook his head and shouted as he scrubbed one of the warriors who just came out of the springs.

"I am Karavan, Vicegerent of Ignis! I'm not here to scrub your back! My hand exists to use [Hell Flame] and…"

[Nas. Sorel. Hatan.]

"Yes, sir. Heh heh. How does it feel? You want this place scrubbed too?"

Karavan quickly stopped shouting at the warrior's words and smiled. He couldn't understand those people's words so he had no choice but guessed that they were trying to threaten him and act accordingly. But the words that Jaehwan heard actually meant this.

'Your hand. It's hot and feels good.'

So, the Vicegerent of the god of flame was now a scrubbing servant.

"Dammit, can you ask around and find someone who can restore my link?"

Even if Karavan had been powerful, there was no way for him to defeat even one of these people without Ignis' assistance. These people easily had over a million in world power.

"Dammit…!"

Karavan was now even crying due to humiliation. His fiery hand was now more like a fiery scrubber. And because the world was full of unfairness, there was one who was enjoying the best time of his life.

It was Runald.

"Jaehwan! This… this place is like heaven!"

Runald was also crying, but it was a different kind of tears. He was looking at the beautiful women of the Long Living race who were naked and sitting nearby in the hot springs. Runald now even had a runny nose from the excitement.

"Ah-ah… Andersen was right! She said there is a naked heaven somewhere in this world…!"

Everyone was submerged in the hot springs and the steam covered most of the silhouettes, but these women all seemed to be in very good shape.

"T-they are all naked, right? They're naked! All of them! Hahaha!"

One of them noticed Runald's attention and winked at him. It was a heart-stopping wink.

"OH MY!!"

Then, after a while, the woman who had been exchanging glances with Runald stood up. She certainly was in very good shape, Jaehwan thought as he looked at her body. Someone in World 294 said 'Life is a tragedy when seen close-up, but a comedy in a long-shot.'

Step by step, the woman walked closer to Runald.

"W-what?! What is that, Jaehwan?!"

Runald's tragedy began.

"W-why! How come she has 'that' between her legs?!"

Runald was so shocked that his jaw was shaking. Yet it was understandable as the woman had something huge dangling between her legs. She smiled and talked to Runald.

[Nas. Arkama.]

Runald quickly ran to Jaehwan.

"W-What did she just say? She said something bad, right?"

"She said she's glad to meet you."

Jaehwan lied. What she really meant was...

'You, you have a cute thing.'

Runald then asked back.

"A-are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"But why is she following me?"

Soon, Runald had been captured by the many beautiful women, and they began their show of friendship towards Runald.

"W-we must get out of here fast!"

Jaehwan also had no intention to waste time, but he had a purpose. During the time they had been here, Jaehwan had already asked a few questions.

"Take me to your leader."

[La. Mir. Tus.]

'There is always time for everything.'

"Who are you people? What's up with this? Are you followers of Geshtalt?"

[Ouroboros.]

'We are Geshtalt.'

'We are not Geshtalt.'

The reply came in two different meanings to Jaehwan. These people were Geshtalt, but not Geshtalt. Jaehwan wasn't sure what it meant. But even when he kept asking, the answer wasn't clear. The only thing he could do now was to wait.

Jaehwan decided to relax and wait. He then stood up and started practicing stabbing. He didn't have to do this, but it calmed him. And after he repeated about a thousand times, someone came to him.

[Nas. Hirmu. Shurukan.]

'You do interesting training.'

It was a warrior named Ra-hamad, the one who had brought Jaehwan here. He continued before Jaehwan could answer.

[Aikamu.]

'But it's useless.'

Jaehwan felt offended, but then he had the strength to make a point. Jaehwan thought.

'How did they get so strong?'

If looked at with common sense, these people were weird perverts who walked around naked. However, they had world powers that could allow them to easily overpower most high-ranking Gods.

After a long time, Jaehwan finally finished his ten thousandth stab.

The day had turned dark. Runald, who had been having a good time with the women, had fallen asleep and Karavan, who had been scrubbing all day, was also lying down and resting.

[Nas. Ankar?]

'Are you done?'

Ra-hamad was still beside Jaehwan. He had been watching Jaehwan training the entire time. However, the number of spectators had increased. Jaehwan sheathed his swords back into his scabbards and answered, "Yeah."

Ra-hamad then stood up. He spoke.

[Ra. Ankar. Dou.]

'Let's go. The leader is waiting for you.'