The World after the Fall

The door of the Gate closed in front of them, and Jaehwan and Runald stared at it silently. After a while, Runald spoke.

"Hah, stuck up."

Jaehwan raised his eyebrow curiously from the sudden change in Runald's attitude.

"Adults are all like that. They can't live their own life properly, and they still want to lecture you."

"…"

"What's up with all that lecturing? Do this, don't do that… Maybe he doesn't know that those kinds of lectures are forcing his 'unique world' on others."

Those were very sarcastic words to be coming from a 14 or 15-year-old boy. Jaehwan looked at Runald silently, and Runald thought that he had made a big mistake and looked down as his face darkened.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know the Captain would be like that. It's common knowledge not to mess with other God's [Settings] in <Depth>."

"Don't mind it."

Runald brightened up a little.

"Oh, and you know how to talk."

"…Hehe, thank you. But, you don't know how to talk, do you?"

Jaehwan then felt he would have no chance of winning by talking to this boy. He also thought that the boy would at least do his part through his talking skill.

'Oh, but I still have a useless one.'

[…?]

'You haven't proved that you're useful, have you?'

[What? You got through the Gate, thanks to me!]

'Huh? Let's make it clear. It was because of you that I almost couldn't go through the Gate.'

[Hell no! If it wasn't because of me, you would've ended up in <Caspion> jail.]

With Andersen's words, the main gate of the portal opened. It was another door from the small door Jaehwan and Runald had walked out of. There were lines of people walking through the portal, but they had cuffs on their hands and were escorted by Gatekeepers.

'Why put me in jail?'

[There are countless reasons that they can put you in jail. For example… your unique world.]

'What about my unique world?'

[It's bad.]

Andersen's voice came from the sky. Jaehwan turned towards the voice, and in the sky where there had been nothing, something was there. It was only in Jaehwan's sky.

[That eye.]

The Eye of Asura, in the middle of the <Depth>. Andersen was pointing at the eye.

'What about the eye?'

[That's supposed to be <Big Brother>, right?]

Jaehwan looked at the eye. His world wasn't created with any kind of meaning. It was his consciousness and his will that created it. He didn't even know the existence of <Big Brother> when he created this world after all.

[Anything that makes fun of, or contains complaints about <Big Brother>, is forbidden. They are like Gods among Gods. The Emperor of Gods. And you just made them out to be a disgusting eyeball. It's crazy.]

It seemed that respect for differences wasn't much after all. There was no freedom of speech here.

[But that's not the only problem.]

'What now?'

[You are an illegal God.]

'Illegal God?'

[It's what we call a God who is not recorded in <Big Brother>'s records. You usually automatically get recorded once you become a God, but you're different. The Gods of <Big Brother> never accepts 'your kind' to be a God.]

<Big Brother> did not accept 'his kind' to be a God?

Jaehwan couldn't understand what Andersen was talking about. He wanted to ask further, but a group of people walked past Jaehwan.

"MOVE! QUICKLY!"

"THE GODS ARE WAITING!"

"MOVE OR I'LL SEND YOU TO THE LABOR CAMP!"

People were being whipped as they walked hopelessly, and Jaehwan met eyes with one of them. In that second, Jaehwan felt shocked as he read the feelings of that man.

Fear.

It wasn't the fear of death or the unclear future that lay ahead. It was a fear that Jaehwan was familiar with.

Fear of being alone.

Jaehwan once read this from Runald's eyes a while ago. But it wasn't because of the fear that made Jaehwan shocked. As the man walked together with the group, Jaehwan stared at him for a long time.

It had been a long time since he was this shocked.

'But how?'

He even forgot what he was talking about with Andersen. At that moment, Jaehwan was barely able to open his mouth to ask.

"…What are they?"

"Who? Oh, them…" Runald answered, "I think they are from a Fishing Spot. It must've been a large Fishing Spot, especially with that many people. They are being put into a prison cell until they get sold in the auction house."

It was a casual explanation, as if it was a common occurrence. Jaehwan asked again.

"Fishing Spot?"

"Yeah. Uh…"

Runald explained how a Fishing Spot worked. 'Fishing' was a way to increase the number of Followers. Andersen jumped in.

[Hey, I know it might sound inhumane to you, but there's no other way. These new spirits that were just fished out, need to find a God.]

Andersen continued carefully as she checked to see if Jaehwan was upset.

[If we don't do that, they go crazy and become the Lost Ones. The <Depth> isn't a place to be without a God.]

Andersen knew that Jaehwan still had a 'human' heart and that humans reacted sensitively to the treatment of their own. She was afraid that Jaehwan would be angry at the treatment his fellow humans were receiving. However, he wasn't angry. He asked something different.

"The Fishing Spot, where is it connected to? <Great Lands>?"

[No, the <Distant Lands> mostly. I think it's linked directly to the <Roots>. They are all from there. There aren't any that come from <Chaos> like you.]

"What kind of spirits are fished up, mostly?"

[Most are wandering spirits from the <Distant Lands>. And sometimes…]

"Sometimes?"

[Sometimes there are spirits who died in the Tower of Nightmares.]

Tower of Nightmares!

Jaehwan's mouth opened and closed. Andersen asked as she felt Jaehwan's mind was shaken.

[Why? Is there a problem?]

The man who was dragged away. Jaehwan knew his face.

He was not to be found here.

It was when Jaehwan was in the Tower of Nightmares, he had a friend who followed him to the end. The man who 'faked' going back to the past so Jaehwan could leave him without guilt. The man who was so hopeful and bright, that he got the nickname, 'Smile Knight'. Jaehwan still remembered his name.

'Why are you here, Yoonhwan…'