Chapter 360: Chapter 360

TL: Zimmings

***

Not going back was not in the option in the first place.

Adrian, I had no intention of leaving you even if I’m happy.

Even if I will be sad, I won’t throw away everything I’ve worked hard on.

Adrian, just before collapsing completely, looked at me.

I laughed while crying.

“You told me not to cry, but you make me cry the most.”

“…….”

“Because your love is overwhelming.”

He grabbed my cheek with his half-collapsed hand. His eyes trembled.

“Are you okay with me being broken like this?”

His voice was miserable.

I tried not to cry and forcibly pulled the corners of my trembling mouth.

“Yes.”

“I won’t last long. Maybe this will be the last time we meet.”

“It doesn’t matter what happens.”

“…….”

“Anything is fine with you.”

I raised him up, who had a hideous crack on his skin.

Adrian followed me silently.

His palms were wet instead of his eyes, since it was now damaged and he was unable to cry. “Let’s go.”

“…The door won’t open. Leblaine, I can’t even open the door of god’s space anymore.”

“Then you can find another way. There’s definitely an exit somewhere. We’ve always found a passage even at dead ends.”

I dragged him and walked through the god’s space.

Adrian came after me carefully.

God’s space was different from what I saw in the future. Rather than being wrapped in light, I had to walk in the dark leaning against the weak light leaking from Adrian.

We talked a lot while walking in the dark.

He asked, and I answered.

“Does your family allow you to go to the temple on the day of the beginning?”

“My family always trusts me. Just like you do.”

Or I asked and he answered.

“What have you been doing?”

“Looking at you.”

“How long have you been wasting time alone?”

“As much as I love you.”

“You’re good at talking about embarrassing things.”

“Because I knew that time we spent together was so precious that I couldn’t waste it with my pride or shyness.”

We’ve talked a lot.

I missed him and it felt heartbreaking when I remembered about forgetting him.

He wanted to see me so much, and it feels sad knowing him watching me forget about him.

The time for us to talk was extremely precious.

Like he said, I couldn’t waste this time with my pride or shyness, so I had no choice but to take out the sincerity hidden in my heart, wrap it up in the prettiest words and present it.

I knew it.

I actually knew best that he wouldn’t last long.

Maybe we can’t cross the passage together, or his body may break completely before crossing the passage.

While walking together, his body parts broke one by one.

I grabbed his hand several times to check, and the sound of my breath became rough because I was holding back tears…….

I held his hands and reduced my stride for him who was too overwhelmed to walk.

Soon after, I saw the door in front of me.

He finally lost his sight and asked me over and over again.

“Is it still far?”

“Yes.”

“Is there a door?”

“Yes, in front of us.”

“Can we really go back?”

That door doesn’t shine.

We won’t be able to go back.

But I answered.

“Yes.”

If we can’t go back, let’s walk together all our lives.

Even if I hover in the darkness all my life, I can stand it if it’s with you.

I’m a good liar, so…….

‘A little longer.’

Stay a little longer… please.

“Adrian, actually, when I was four years old, my heart trembled when I saw you in the temple.”

“I see.”

“I lied because I knew you would become a crown prince, but when I think back, I think you were too handsome.”

“……Yes.”

I can’t hear his voice gradually.

I stubbornly looked forward and walked with Adrian.

The hand I grabbed was getting smaller little by little. I felt his debris scattered on the road we passed by without seeing it.

“I know you’ve been liking me for a very long time.”

“…….”

“The reason why I was more bothered with you than other boys might be because I actually had you in my heart.”

“…….”

You seeped into my heart. So that I have no choice but to hug you in the end.

I stood in front of the door and confessed with Adrian, who was no longer able to answer.

“So Adrian, so I…I like you.”

He hugged me from behind.

You, who always took a step forward on behalf of me, were braver than me at the last minute.

Soon after, I heard the sound of dust being scattered.

The hand that hugged me disappeared,

Left alone, I sobbed with my face down on my knees.

I sat down and cried like a child. I didn’t have the confidence to look back.

I couldn’t bear to look back on you, who lived for me all your life, break because of me and still loved me in the end.

Then, the space began to twist.

I raised my head in a hurry.

‘Is this place collapsing?’

There is no god in this world.

In the future, Serga maintains the world, but this parallel world has disappeared, since Adrian, the pillar had disappeared.

The ‘world that shouldn’t exist’ created by Adrian finally collapsed.

Boom-!!

A loud crack entered my ears.

At that moment, a new white shining door opened next to the dark door.

From there, Serga walked out.

I stared blankly at Serga.

The light emitted from his body shined like a star in the sky.

‘Seventy one star.’

Then, his back was shining, and even the debris that came from Adrian rose to the sky.

‘Seventy two… … no way.’

My body started to glow brightly.

Then Serga opened his mouth.

“Last pioneer.”

It was the first time he called me a pioneer.

Serga looked at me.

“If I grant your wish, what will you give me?”

“If I grant your wish, what will you give me?”

That’s what I always said to the devils.

Many sentences of ‘what ifs’ came to my mind,

The 72 stars became pillars of light, and I slowly raised myself.

“All my powers, all my opportunities, all my strength.”

Serga looked at me quietly.

“Even if you have to pay a terrible price for that?”

“…….”

“Even if it’s more heartbreaking, desperate, and more painful than the path I’ve taken so far.”

“…….”

“Even if your wish only come true in the end?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m a strong kid who never gives up on my life.”

When I smiled with a face full of tears, Serga smiled.

“You have found your answer.”

“…….”

“As you saved me and my children, this time we will save you.”

72 pillars permeated the god’s space.

The dark door and the glowing door overlapped and became one door.

[Go, Leblaine.]

I started running to the door.

My small hands and short legs grew little by little.

While running, I changed from a child to a full-fledged adult.

The exit appeared in front of me.

With my eyes closed, I ran towards the light.

And when I open my eyes… … .

I was in the middle of the forest.

***

It’s a familiar forest.

‘It’s Dubblede’s territory.’

It’s the mountain where Mom and Reina died. I quickly approached the cliff and looked down the mountain.

‘It’s Dubblede’s territory, but what’s that flag?’

It was a flag I’ve never seen before.

Anxiety began to creep in.

‘Have I come to another parallel world?’

No! I can’t go back like this!

I quickly went down the mountain to check.

As I lived in Dubblede’s territory for a long time, it did not take long to descend because I was familiar with geography.

There was a temple under the mountain, and there were a lot of people.

‘What is the temple?’

I grabbed an old man passing by and asked.

“Isn’t this Dubblede’s territory?”

“Dubblede… Oh! They’ve become independent!”

“Independent?”

“Yes! It has been three years since the disappeared princess defeated the evil god and they’ve became independent!”

“3 years…….”

It’s been 3 years?

So, it’s not a parallel world but a future that exists?

The old man clicked his tongue.

“Did you live in the corner of a mountain? Your face is a mess too……. If you need help, why don’t you go there? Just in time, people came from the imperial palace because it was the Day of the Sky Festival. This country doesn’t reject outsiders.”

I looked in the direction pointed by the old man.

There were many women dressed nicely.

Seeing the person in front of me, I narrowed my forehead.

“…Reina?”

What?

Dubblede is independent, why is Reina there?

“Did Dubblede become independent and I come to a parallel world where Reina lives? Did they have such a dream-like parallel world?

“There are no parallel worlds anymore.”

“……!”

The voice behind my back hardened my body.

Slowly, I turned my head.

The person smiled brightly…

“I’ve been waiting for so long.”

“…….”

“My baby.”

“Mom…….”

Tears fell from mymother’s eyes.

My mother, who hugged me tightly cried.

Behind her back, I heard a a familiar voice.

The person who walked to us…….

“Hello, Adrian.”

“…Leblaine.”

[What is your wish?]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

‘Serga fulfilled my wish.’

My first and last wish as a pioneer.

A world where I have not lost my loved ones.