Into the Creations 1144

Chapter 1144 – 1144. Savior Of The Academy

“Ryu Hana. Here, you said you wanted it, right? Take it.”

I held out the wrapped Vermilion Bird Sword to her.

“I can’t accept it.”

“Why? It’s the sword you wanted.”

“…It’s too expensive of a gift to just casually accept. And I can’t understand you. No matter how I think about it, this sword isn’t worth 30 billion. Even 10 billion is too much. I didn’t want to interfere in someone else’s business, so I kept quiet, but… you’ve been ripped off. You should go back and get a refund right now.”

30 billion.

She was talking about an absurdly large sum of money as if it were 3 million. It was a glimpse into her sense of money.

‘Well, if she used the power of the North Diamond Clan, 30 billion would be nothing.’

However, Ryu Hana doesn’t try to use the power of the North Diamond Clan. Not until she graduates from the Academy. She tries to live by her own strength.

“Do you think this sword is ordinary?”

“No. It’s not an ordinary sword if it’s C-rank. It’s probably a masterpiece. But it’s still not worth 30 billion.”

“You really don’t know the value of this sword. You have no eye for swords.”

“……”

Ryu Hana’s brow furrowed. She, who was more interested in swords than anyone else and was serious about them, reacted to my light provocation as if she had heard an insult to her parents.

“…Again. Show me the Vermilion Bird Sword again.”

“Well, that’s not difficult.”

I unwrapped the Vermilion Bird Sword. Ryu Hana examined the sword intently.

Ryu Hana had a good eye for swords. In the first place, it was Ryu Hana who discovered this sword first. She had been staring at it through the shop window.

“You can try holding it.”

“…Didn’t the weapon shop owner say that you couldn’t touch it because of the heat?”

“You’ll be fine.”

“……”

Ryu Hana hesitated, then grabbed the hilt of the sword. Ryu Hana’s eyes widened. Her mouth fell open, and her body trembled. She stared blankly into the air. I waited quietly for her.

‘With Ryu Hana’s trait, Sword Maiden (SS), no sword can reject Ryu Hana.’

It didn’t matter if it was a holy sword or a demonic sword.

“…Sung Yu-jin. You knew from the beginning. This sword… is worth more than 30 billion.”

“Can you reveal the true form of the Vermilion Bird Sword?”

“Yes. But…”

“What are you hesitating for? Start right now.”

“…This sword is yours. And you’ll get caught up in it?”

“I’m giving it to you as a gift. And I can’t even touch it anyway. Instead, can I watch the process of you being recognized by the sword?”

Ryu Hana slowly nodded. Then, she lifted the sword in her hand. As she raised her mana, the Vermilion Bird Sword reacted as if it had been waiting. Whirr. Flames wrapped around the blade and blazed. The flames briefly took the shape of a vermilion bird before returning to their original blaze.

The space in front of Ryu Hana distorted. The distorted space sucked Ryu Hana in. I quickly placed my hand on her shoulder. Ryu Hana and I were sucked into the space.

『You have entered a special dungeon, ???.』

I twitched my eyebrows as I looked at the notification window that appeared.

‘It’s different.’

It was different from what I knew.

If a special dungeon’s name had ??? attached to it, there was only one reason. The original dungeon had been altered.

‘Did it get altered because I went in with her? That’s a pain.’

•••

Ryu Hana and I stood on top of a building in Seoul, looking down below.

The night view of Seoul was slightly different from what we knew. The buildings that should have been tall were low, and some of the roads were closed. There were few people walking around. Seoul, which should have been full of life, had an eerie atmosphere.

“Is this… the past?”

“That’s right. It’s the past that’s been realized by the dungeon. Probably about 20 years ago? It could be 19 years ago or 21 years ago.”

I spoke vaguely, recalling the contents of the original work.

“Ryu Hana. You received the Vermilion Bird’s trial, right? What was it about?”

“…Finding an enemy and defeating them.”

“It won’t be hard to find them. The enemy will be looking for you too.”

“How do you know so much?”

“I’ve experienced something similar before.”

I wasn’t talking about the original game. In my first playthrough, I had taken all the Vermilion Bird Sword, Azure Dragon Spear, Black Tortoise Armor, and White Tiger Blade and forcibly awakened them to use them. Well, I didn’t use them for long. They were particularly difficult with me, so I used them as sacrifices for Ruin (S).

I also found out in my first playthrough that it was possible to come to this space with someone else.

“It might be annoying, but it won’t be difficult.”

“…Where are you going?”

“I have something to check. Oh, right. Just in case, I’ll tell you that the dungeon isn’t reality. It’s not even based on reality. It’s one of the parallel worlds that has been realized. You know about the parallel universe theory, right?”

“……A world of possibilities that might exist.”

“Simply put, it means that someone who lost in the presidential election could become president, and someone who died could be alive in this world. Whatever it is, it has nothing to do with us, so don’t be shaken.”

After giving Ryu Hana advice, I ran down the side of the rooftop to the ground. I landed lightly on the ground and walked onto the road.

Screeeeeech!

A car that was driving quickly braked when it saw me. I approached the stopped car.

I smashed the driver’s side window with my fist and forcibly opened the door.

“Aaaah! Who are you?!”

A salaryman with blood smeared on his face screamed. I grabbed him and dragged him out, throwing him onto the road.

“This car is mine now.”

I closed the driver’s side door. The man trembled in fear, his eyes darting around. Ignoring him, I stepped on the accelerator. I ignored the traffic lights and sped off. The road became chaotic because of me, and there were traffic accidents, but who cared? This was a dungeon, not reality.

Beep beep beep.

“Heh heh. Damn cop bastards.”

It had been a while since I had been in a chase in the city, so I started to get excited.

I tried to show off a flashy drift to the police by sharply turning the steering wheel, but I crashed the car into a utility pole.

“Haha. My mistake.”

It was okay. There were plenty of cars. I stopped a car that was driving and hijacked it. I stepped on the accelerator again and continued the chase.

The police sirens were loud.

“Get out right now if you don’t want to die!!”

A man was shouting in front of me, blocking the center of the road. A hero. This world was a world with heroes.

“No one can stop me.”

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Lightning struck the hero who was blocking my path. The hero couldn’t avoid the lightning and was hit directly. He didn’t die, but he staggered. I stepped on the accelerator as hard as I could and hit the hero with the car. The hero flew far away and rolled on the ground.

“Haha! You idiot!”

I summoned a bomb and threw it behind me. I couldn’t help but laugh as I watched the police car that was chasing me fly into the sky.

“Today is the day Seoul becomes a sea of fire!”

•••

I got out of the car. It was an alleyway full of houses, and I could hear the sound of a radio through an open window.

-This is an emergency news bulletin! Namsan Tower has been bombed! Namsan Tower is collapsing! The police are in chaos! Another breaking news report has come in! The police headquarters has been attacked! It is said that bombs are falling from the sky!

‘My stress is completely relieved.’

I chuckled and walked down the alleyway.

It was easy to shake off the heroes and police in the fiery chase. All I had to do was use a space-movement scroll.

‘Hmm?’

The place I found was Sung Hari’s house. To be exact, it was the house where Sung Hari and I lived together before I entered the Academy dormitory.

‘It wasn’t this old of a house.’

I could feel a presence in the house.

I opened the door and went inside. The door was locked. I broke the doorknob with force and went inside.

“……?”

“Wh, who are you?”

A middle-aged man and woman who were watching TV looked at me. I stared intently at their faces. I didn’t remember them. They were not related to Sung Hari. I looked around. It was an unfamiliar house.

-…We are looking for a terrorist! The exact identity has not yet been revealed, but if you see this face, please report it to the police immediately!

My face appeared on the TV.

The middle-aged people looked back and forth between the TV and my face, and their faces turned pale in an instant.

I turned around and went out the front door.

“Aaaaaaah!”

“Po, police! Police!!!”

Ignoring their flustered voices, I scratched my head.

‘Sung Hari said that she bought that house after I was born… Is this an era before I was born?’

Since it was one of the parallel worlds, it might be a world where I didn’t exist at all.

‘Ah, right. If I check the year, I can roughly calculate what Sung Hari is doing now.’

I turned back and went back into the house. I threatened the middle-aged couple and found out the time period.

‘Ha. I didn’t think it would be a time before Sung Hari even went to the Academy.’

I knew where I had to go.

•••

Jinryeong Family Estate.

I stopped as I looked at the Jinryeong Family Estate in front of me. The Jinryeong Family was one of the most prestigious and long-standing families in Korea. If I charged in now with my current skills, I would be subdued instead.

This dungeon was a fake dungeon that realized a parallel world, but my life was not fake.

I activated both the Spirit Eye and the Heavenly Eye at the same time.

I peered through the inside of the Jinryeong Family Estate. A barrier? It didn’t matter since I wasn’t going in directly. It wasn’t a barrier that was strong enough to block the Spirit Eye and Heavenly Eye.

‘There are still a lot of spirits. Sung Han-gu and Sung Myung-saeng are… sitting side by side watching TV.’

Sung Hari was not visible. It seemed like she wasn’t home.

I sat down on a nearby bench.

The reason I was looking for Sung Hari was to uncover the secret of my birth. Even if the background of this dungeon was a parallel world, if I was lucky, the things related to Sung Hari might not have changed.

However, from the moment I found out the year, I realized that it was a meaningless act.

‘It’s too far in the past. It’s before I was even born, let alone before Sung Hari entered the Academy.’

Even so, the reason I came to the Jinryeong Family Estate was just because I wanted to see Sung Hari once. In the end, I didn’t even get to meet that Sung Hari.

‘She’s somewhere else… Or maybe, this world is a world where Sung Hari doesn’t exist. Ryu Hana is doing well, right?’

According to the original work, Ryu Hana would be fighting herself. And she would win without much difficulty. Even in the original work, the difficulty was quite easy.

I suddenly looked around. Lower-level spirits gathered around me.

‘There are a lot of spirits because it’s near the Jinryeong Family Estate.’

They were drawn to my high spirit affinity.

I thought about chasing them away, but since they weren’t trying to harm me, I decided to leave them alone.

I thought of Mocha and Makina. This dungeon was a bit special, so I couldn’t summon Mocha and Makina.

‘The time outside the dungeon is probably stopped. To be precise, it’s flowing slowly as if it’s stopped.’

This dungeon was special enough that the axes of space and time were different.

‘Should I rest for a bit and then go on another rampage? Or maybe it wouldn’t be bad to find a beautiful woman and take her.’

I was pondering when I felt someone’s presence.

I raised my head and looked in the direction where I felt the presence. A woman was walking towards me under a street lamp. A black school uniform different from the Academy’s, black bobbed hair that barely reached her shoulders. Behind her back, something long and over 2m was hanging diagonally.

“Wow. There are a lot of kids gathered here. Are you a spirit user too, mister?”

She was short. Her chest was at a modest level. Her face still had some baby fat.

As soon as I saw her, I knew.

She was Sung Hari in her middle school days.