The World after the Fall

Chapter 95: Path of the Depth (4)

'His spiritual energy is…'

Jaehwan's spirit was enormous, beyond Sirwen's imagination. The number of memories rushing through her mind was just too much.

"Ugh…"

She tried to keep herself together. If she didn't focus, she could end up trapped within Jaehwan's spirit or be traumatized for the rest of her life.

After a while of trying to fight her way against the waves of memories, a powerful feeling struck her. A feeling of being connected.

When she opened her eyes, she was in a vast space. A dark space with countless stars. She shook in excitement. It was a feeling that she had not felt before.

'So, the other [Nightmares] were right.'

She wasn't too fond of the words that [Nightmares] used to describe the feeling of being connected. The 'feeling better than sex', or 'pleasure beyond imagination'… it all felt too racy and vulgar to her.

But this. This was much more than any of those explanations.

'So, this is the inside of an Awakener.'

In the vast space, countless stars each told their stories. Sirwen carefully avoided being sucked into their gravities and traveled through the space.

'I can't go too far or else I will fall into an [Uncanny] state. I'll just find the memories of my Godfather and get out of here.'

[Squeeze] also posed a danger. It was, after all, learning directly of another's world in the most intimate way. It wasn't uncommon that a [Nightmare] would fall in love with the target after [Squeeze] was done.

'…I don't want to fall in love with this fool.'

Her breathing became heavy and her body began to heat up. Her world was colliding with Jaehwan's. It was like mating. A feeling more powerful than any sexual desire. Sirwen fought hard against those feelings and searched.

'Godfather… please… huh?"

Then, she found it. A star that seemed to have been created recently that held a very similar feeling.

It was Mulack's energy.

Sirwen quickly approached, and surges of memory flashed at her.

'Ah…!'

Her eyes became teary. She was almost there.

'He's there!'

Mulack Armelt. One of the 13 great [Master Artisans]. The one who created legendary towers even before the age of 1000, and created even more to follow. She clearly remembered how bright her Godfather was. He even acted as if he knew the future. That's why Sirwen couldn't understand. Mulack was great in every way, whether it was making a tower or physical might. Even if it was in the <Depths>, no one should've been able to harm Mulack.

Yet he disappeared, without leaving a word to his goddaughter.

'Mulack!'

Sirwen finally found a trace.

Yet, why? She couldn't approach any further. It was as if she was swimming in the sea, against the strongest tides. She then looked beyond and saw meteors flying in her direction.

'Waaaaah!'

A few particles struck her, and Sirwen was swept away. Mulack's memory disappeared from her sight, her body swept away by the sea of meteors. Then, after a while, she felt that she had stopped in a place where there was gravity. She was inside a certain star.

"….Dammit! Dammit!"

She knew.

'I'm in the [Uncanny].'

The place of unconsciousness. Mulack once told her that all hallucination skills were created with the [Uncanny] as its motivation.

'I need to find a Pathfinder.'

There was only one way to escape. The only consciousness that existed within the space, was the one who knew the way out. It was called Pathfinder. Sirwen quickly looked around. She was standing in a certain city and there were countless people walking by.

'Wait- this place…'

She knew this world. It was a famous world amongst [Nightmares]. She directly copied the fashion fromc from this world. It was a place most visited by [Nightmares] through the root of the Tree of Imagery. It was the world that was not found by [Cultivators] for a long time because [Nightmares] had been protecting it from being found.

'World 294, Earth.'

[Uncanny] always formed with the target's homeworld as its motive.

'I see… so he was from Earth.'

She then heard people whispering.

"Did she just drop from the sky?"

"No way!"

At least she was wearing clothes that weren't weird in World 294.

'Let's act calm.'

The ruler of [Uncanny] was the unconsciousness itself. If she was found to be a being from outside, the world would turn against her and start attacking her to eradicate the uninvited guest.

She then mixed into the crowd.

"Ugh, I can't get any jobs, man…"

"Are there any unemployment benefits or something?"

People spoke of living.

"I can't even pay my school loans."

"Yeah. Well, I still have to finish school, so…"

People spoke of schools.

"Hey, she's so hot!"

"Damn, that girl's cute!"

People spoke of Sirwen.

Through all sorts of discussions, Sirwen quickly assessed what this 'Earth' was like. It was then-

"Move away!"

There was a boy in a baseball cap. It seemed like he was running away from something. As he ran past, Sirwen saw his face and was shocked. It looked like the person she knew.

"Wait… ?!"