Conquest Complete, So Why Is the Affection Dropping? - Chapter 63
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(Lurelia’s Birthday Bonus – Update 2/4 🎉)
♡ To all readers who purchased these chapters before my Birthday: I can’t express this enough – Thank you for your support. (*ˊᗜˋ*)/ᵗᑋᵃᐢᵏ ᵞᵒᵘ*
After leaping over the crumbling stairs and exiting through the castle gates, they could see pitch-black darkness covering the sky.
Instead of stars in the night sky, green-glowing 0s and 1s floated in the void, gradually eating away at the seaside scenery. Just like tiny fish nibbling away at their food.
Though half his vision was darkness, Kaint ran without hesitation toward the rear garden. Going down the tunnel enclosed in round glass, they quickly reached the underwater garden.
After entering the underwater garden, which had darkness instead of sky and sea above it, Kaint stopped in front of the central dome and set her down.
“Kaint?”
“This is the safest place.”
He climbed onto the small platform under the dome and moved an old key. The key that had been displayed there turned with a creaking sound, and the large and small whale-shaped sculptures placed around it began to move. Soon, a space opened up in the floor below.
The hollow underground space was a bunker just big enough for one person to hide in, barely.
“It’s the safest place, designed to be impenetrable from both sky and sea. In ancient language, they called it a bunker.”
“What? There was an ancient relic here, too?”
Shin Joo asked with a bewildered expression. Should he have told her about this relic that he thought would never need to be used? Kaint felt sorry for seemingly deceiving her intentionally.
“Go inside, Joo-ah. It’s a safe place that nothing can destroy. You should be able to avoid the world’s destruction here.”
“If it’s such a safe place, then you should be here too!”
As Kaint tried to close the door after lowering Shin Joo down, she wedged herself against the closing door and shouted toward him.
“Kaint. You come inside. I can just ■■■■, but you’ll be finished if ■■■■ happens!”
What was she trying to say? Though Kaint found it difficult to understand her words, grasping her intention wasn’t hard.
She probably had a way to escape this danger, so she was telling Kaint to enter the bunker instead.
“Shin Joo.”
She was indeed a kind person. One who never hesitated to sacrifice herself for the one she loved.
Someone like himself.
Perhaps that’s why she was so lovable.
“I am Kaint, guardian of the West and South.”
“Kaint!”
“Glory to God, peace to the people.”
There are no more people left to give peace to. But the god who bestows grace still exists.
“Kaint, listen to me! Please!”
She reached out to him with a tearful face.
Perhaps Shin Joo, being who she is, might not need a safe place at all.
But he couldn’t enter the bunker in her place.
“I will protect you.”
Because he was a man who always kept his promises.
“I am blessed with victory’s protection. Please allow me to fulfill my role as your guardian until the world’s end.”
“Kaint. I don’t need anything like that. This isn’t a war! It’s impossible to win against ■■■!”
“I told you I wanted to spend my life with you.”
She came back to keep her promise to him. She earnestly responded to his feelings, though he was merely an illusion, and stayed true to her promise with someone who would soon scatter into 0s and 1s.
Though it may be a short life, he could be with her until this heart stops and his breath ends.
If this isn’t God’s grace, then what is?
“Thank you for allowing me to keep my vow.”
Kaint stepped back and saluted her with perfect posture.
Wouldn’t it be unsightly to show fear of death or anxiety about the world’s destruction?
Before the woman he loved, he wanted to keep his back straight and maintain his dignity until the very end.
That was Kaint’s final desire.
“Joo-ah.”
I was happy to be able to love you.
Shin Joo’s face contorted with shock at hearing those words.
Ah, did I even finish what I was saying?
The tingling sensation that spread across his back soon turned his chest cold, and he felt his throat become empty.
His body was breaking apart into pieces and scattering.
I hope my body doesn’t break apart too grotesquely in front of her. I hope it wouldn’t look too horrific.
Her figure appeared blurry, as if he was looking through dust-covered glass. Even when he squinted, instead of becoming clearer, it only broke into more pieces like cracked glass.
‘When this illusory world is destroyed, what will happen to her who remains alone?’
Perhaps there’s a real world outside this illusory one, where she might continue living after this world’s destruction.
No, that must be the case.
It is said that when the world’s destruction approaches, God manifests in human form. After the destruction, she must remain in the world where she should exist in God’s form.
‘What kind of place is the real world she’ll return to?’
He had never imagined another world beyond this one. Kaint suddenly became curious, but there was no way to satisfy that curiosity.
Because even the last fragment of consciousness soon scattered into small 0s and 1s.
Game Over. You cannot continue playing.
Forced logout in 10 seconds.
***
“Ah, ugh…!”
I woke up screaming. My head was throbbing, and my vision was spinning, making me collapse back down instead of properly getting up.
The image of Kaint dissolving into 0s and 1s before my eyes was still vivid, and I rubbed my face while letting out ragged breaths. My hands felt foreign, as if they weren’t my own.
“What is this?”
They said it was a bad ending, but what kind of bad ending is this? Not only do they massacre all the NPCs in the game, but they also include an ending where they tear apart and kill a romance target right in front of you – are they in their right mind to put this in a dating game?
I spent a long time steadying my breathing before finally managing to get up again. My whole body ached from sleeping on the hard floor, and I felt nauseous to my core, as if my body had frozen.
I’d drunk cold water to settle my stomach, but that might have been a mistake – I ended up running to the bathroom and dry heaving. Only bile came up since I hadn’t eaten anything. I’m not sure if I should consider that fortunate.
“Haa… Haa…”
After rinsing my mouth and coming out, I could see dawn breaking through the window.
‘Did I fall asleep while gaming again?’
I checked the time on my phone and felt a bit dizzy. Two whole days had passed.
I definitely parted ways with my friend around dinner time and returned home. By the time I finished cleaning the house and preparing for bed, it was already night.
I thought I’d been dreaming through the night and woken up at dawn, but had I really been absorbed in the game for a full day?
‘No, did I even play the game? Or was it just a dream?’
I turned on the monitor and waited. Since it wasn’t actually turned off but had just gone into power-saving mode from lack of activity, the play screen appeared as soon as it lit up.
[Play time: 34.5 hours]
The previous record was 8.5 hours, so I really had been absorbed in the game for over a full day plus two hours. I’m not sure if I dreamed about playing the game or if I fell asleep while being too immersed and continued it in my dream.
Wiping the cold sweat that was still flowing from my forehead with the back of my hand, I scrolled up the screen.
[Permission settings are required for mobile phone synchronization. Please allow these permissions.]
Come to think of it, they said something about app synchronization, so I did the update. Looking at my phone, there were endless permission requests asking to access who knows what personal information.
‘They say all our personal information has been leaked long ago and sells for just 10 won overseas anyway, sigh. Take it all, take it!’
Like a true cool Korean who never reads the explanations, I pressed allow on everything and then noticed one notification in my messenger.
[Won Soo-young: Are you sleeping?]
When an old friend – not even an ex-boyfriend – sends a message at almost 2 AM, how exactly should one respond?
After pondering for a moment, I started typing a reply.
[Me: Is this really a game you made to sell? Or did you deliberately set out to fight a battle of wills with the players?]
…I was about to send that, but it seemed too confrontational, so I deleted the whole message and decided to write again.
[Me: Long time no see. I quit my job, so I’m free. Want to meet up sometime?]
Though suddenly asking to meet up was also abrupt, this much would be excusable between us. Besides, today was the weekend.
Sure enough, Soo-young seemed to agree, quickly sending back an OK signal.
[Won Soo-young: My health’s in the gutter these days, taking meds]
That means no alcohol, no caffeine, and no spicy foods.
So I should pick somewhere with easily digestible food and a good selection of teas.
Since I hadn’t eaten for a full day either, if I ate something too heavy, I might end up rushing to the hospital first thing in the morning with stomach pains, so the menu selection wasn’t too difficult.
[Me: How about bean sprout soup?]
[Won Soo-young: You really are like an old man]
[Me: If I were an old man, I would’ve already gone to protest in front of your company with the national flag]
[Won Soo-young: That would be great actually. Drop a meteor on the office too. So I don’t have to go to work tomorrow]
Seems like wishing for a meteor to strike the office so you don’t have to go to work tomorrow is the same across all professions.
However, since I didn’t have the power to summon meteors, I decided to ignore Soo-young’s request and just meet up for a meal.
