ReLife Player

[Changing Futures (4)]

Behind him, the Kraken threw down everything he could find, destroying it as he went.

To get off the bridge, I had to climb a mountain of scrap metal, where monsters lurked in the empty spaces, their eyes glowing.

How much longer would he have to run?

The look of despair on the people’s faces thickened.

«Don’t stand still, run away-! Climb the mountain somehow! If you want to live, climb the mountain!»

«When the hell is help coming!»

«You’re wrong, it’s over!»

Time was cruel. Even with thousands of lives on the line, time passed too slowly. At best, ten minutes had passed since the Kraken had been reported.

Hearing the players’ reports, Eunha kicked at the rubble on the floor. Wiping the soot from his face with the back of his arm, he estimated how much more time he had to buy.

Before the regression, the Twelve had been dispatched to the scene half an hour after the Kraken’s appearance.

He now had about 20 minutes left.

That’s twice as long as he’d been on the run.

I wonder if I can keep this up.

I shook my head.

The way out was completely blocked. Even if the players summoned their remaining strength, they wouldn’t be able to protect the people until the time limit.

Even if they somehow managed to keep the monsters at bay, that was it. Since no one could take on the Kraken, running away from it wasn’t easy either.

Yes, unless someone grabbed the Kraken by the ankles.

And if you die, no questions are asked.

In order to survive, someone had to die.

And he was the only one who could risk death here.

«huhh….»

It was a decision I had made from the beginning.

He would give his life to protect his family.

Eunha took a long breath, then exhaled slowly. Repeating the breath calmly, he released the little tension he had left.

«…Whoa.»

He then pulled out a pair of scissors and a paring knife from the bag he was wearing.

Away from his parents’ eyes, he checked the sharpness of the blades, then sized up the distance between him and the Kraken.

«Dad. Mom.»

Slowly. Very slowly.

So that his body could adjust to the mana manifestation.

Little by little, Eunha drew the mana that had melted into his body outward. It flowed out like a thin thread, coiling around him like a snake.

«Twenty minutes, twenty minutes.»

«Eunha, what are you talking about….»

The father was speechless as he looked at Eunha wrapped in mana.

He paused for a moment at his son’s strength.

«Until then, stay with the players. Don’t try to climb that mountain, don’t try to turn back. Just stay here and hold on.»

«Eunha, what are you doing….»

«Eunha?»

Euna, who had been sobbing while clinging to her father, looked up. Her tear-streaked face was unable to hide the anxiety in her eyes as she realized something.

«Noona will protect them. Can you?»

Eunha smiled softly.

She was the only one he could trust if he disappeared. Her mastery of mana would allow her to protect their family even if the players couldn’t help them.

So please,

«Twenty minutes.»

Please.

«Eunha, where are you going?»

Eunha ignored his sister’s reaching hand and turned his back.

He imbued the mana that had been floating aimlessly with an image. It wriggled like a living creature, permeating his entire body.

One step turned into two.

Two steps turned into four.

Each step increased the distance he traveled.

Ten thousand steps.

It was a chi kung technique, moving forward as if wrinkling the sky.

After his regression, he gritted his teeth and endured the pain it inflicted on his body.

His mana was not as high as it had been before the regression.

A body that had yet to overcome the elements.

The slightest lapse in concentration could twist the molten mana into a thread, causing him to lose a limb.

He knew the risk, yet he continued on.

A twisted limb was better than death.

«Eunha–!»

«No Eunha!!!»

«No Eunha, No–!!!»

I couldn’t hear my family calling out to me anymore.

In a few steps, he reached the middle of the bridge and leaped over the monsters who had noticed his presence and were charging at him.

«Kid, where are you going!!!»

«Stop the kid!»

It was only a matter of moments before he ran past the remaining players at the end of the bridge.

Ignoring them, Eunha stabbed the scissors into the eyes of the monster blocking his path.

Kiek!

The mana-coated blade sliced through the most delicate of eyeballs.

No mercy.

Recalling his player’s maxim, he cut off the monster’s breath before it could struggle.

From that moment on.

The monsters, those undead beings that kill whatever they encounter, had come back to life.

He didn’t stop for a moment.

He swung the blade as far as he could see, never forgetting the feel of it in his hand.

The distance was too much for a child’s body. He clicked his tongue and plunged in as deep as he could, piecing together the disparate sensations before and after the regression.

The same was true after he leapt over the steel beams in the sky.

Taking a fall to minimize his damage, Eunha stomped the ground as his instincts screamed.

He ducked and zigzagged to dodge a flying harpoon, then stabbed the cutter he held in his left hand and put his weight behind it.

Kee, eek.

He slammed the monster to the ground and ran over it, slicing from the bottom up.

He paid no attention to the corpse that had been sliced in half from the front.

How long had it taken?

No more than a few minutes.

He could no longer see the spot where he had left his family.

Before he knew it, he was facing the Kraken.

Not surprisingly, the Kraken was intrigued.

It was looking him up and down, scanning him from top to bottom.

It was watching him with a gaze that could not be mistaken.

It was too subtle for him not to recognize. Snorting hard, he closed the distance between them at a thousand paces.

The kraken swung its legs at him as he leapt in front of it.

«Boom…!»

A blow from the air.

Swaying as best he could, he deflected the blow, then swung his arm back and plunged the knife in. With that, he soared through the air, landing just out of the creature’s line of sight.

The scissors were already tattered from the journey. Using his strength, he snapped the scissors in half and plunged them into the creature’s head.

As he hung on with his weight, the scissors drew a line downward.

He couldn’t give up now, so he used the recoil of his body to plunge the other blade in. I switched hands like I was climbing a rock wall and attacked the creature’s head.

The kraken swayed back and forth. It didn’t hesitate to hit itself in the head with its legs. The sensation of the claws piercing his skin startled him.

«Shit!»

As much as I wanted to hold on, I could only do so much with my stationery shears.

One blade was bent beyond repair.

Eunha threw the pair of scissors away and jumped.

He didn’t care if his hands were raw. He landed on a railroad bridge pole, slapped himself on the head, and watched in disbelief as the Kraken fell backwards.

Not yet…!

He couldn’t tell how much time had passed.

But he couldn’t detect any sign of the Twelve.

«Ha, ha, ha…. My body is too young….»

My mana was running low.

It was hard enough to stand.

He tried to buy himself some time, even with his body covered in abrasions.

And just then.

«Fuck….»

It was too sudden.

The bridge, no longer able to withstand the impact, began to collapse.

Falling under the bridge, he was forced to make an improbable leap.

Dodging debris falling overhead, he leapt onto the bridge, using the nearly submerged rubble as a springboard.

His feet barely touched the ground.

«Ha…!»

The body of the car loomed in front of me as if it had been waiting for me.

I couldn’t avoid it. My legs wouldn’t move.

My mana was almost zero.

I was powerless to block the flying body.

And yet─.

«─Do something, please!!!!»

An unfamiliar yet familiar sensation.

He couldn’t tell where the power came from.

It wasn’t necessary to know now.

All that mattered was that the power that must have been at the bottom was exploding.

What must have been a tiny amount of mana was leaking out as it swelled.

I thrust my remaining scissor blade forward.

The mana that had been fluttering around with nowhere to go began to converge on a single point.

«Aaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!»

Once was enough.

Once was enough for a life of hell.

«I will-!»

Even with this one body.

«This time, I will─!»

I will protect them!

Like a hailstorm.

The force drawn from the tiny amount of mana cut through the body.

«Haahaha….»

My head felt dizzy.

My mana was depleted.

As if it were a lie, the strength vanished from his body.

I lost control of my body as I fell forward.

I hit my forehead on the floor.

My vision blurred, but I felt no impact.

I couldn’t feel my body.

I can’t lose my mind here!

If I lose my mind, all my efforts will be for naught.

I didn’t want to give in. I didn’t want to taste helplessness anymore.

When I opened my eyes again, I didn’t have the courage to face the transformed world.

So just a little bit.

Just a little longer!

I am a monster that kills as it comes, a monster that wields a sword to kill, a monster that won’t die.

I’ll use whatever means at my disposal!

Even if it means sacrificing someone else!

«…Not yet. Not yet…!»

Crawl if your legs won’t move.

If you don’t have a weapon, bite it.

«As it is…, it will end.»

I vowed as I was reborn.

This time, I would protect it.

This time, I would get it.

I mean, I’m going to-!

«This is it!»

His legs curled like whips, falling over his head.

«Not yet, not yet…!»

Death was right in front of him.

The death he had wanted so badly in the past.

He had denied himself that death.

Now, more than ever, he craved life.

«I, I…!»

I want to live. With my family.

I want to be happy.

I want to live happily.

I don’t want to die here.

I can’t die like this.

So, so…

He sought a miracle at the edge of death.

The miracle he had so despised.

But the miracle was…

…decided,

It’s now or never,

Yes, the miracle was…

«Leave my little brother alone!!»

The world.

«No….»

It was dyed white.