Free Web NovelA memory that had begun from one enormous being.
That being’s body had split apart into countless tiny fragments.
In other words.
Even if the beginning of these memories had undoubtedly belonged to that being.
It did not necessarily mean all of these memories belonged solely to it. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
‘My origin.’
No.
Not only Shin Youngjun.
‘The origin of... every life that survived in this world.’
Those who should originally have perished in the devastated world.
That enormous being had used its own flesh as nourishment, granting them the vitality needed to survive in this world.
Every life upon this land.
Not only humans, but even tiny insects and weeds by the roadside.
All contained traces of that being’s flesh melted within them.
And.
The memories continued even after Shin Youngjun was born.
He lived an ordinary life and grew older.
He underwent his physical examination and enlisted in the military.
Then time passed...
And as his discharge neared.
Crackle.......
Within those memories.
A scene appeared that did not exist in Shin Youngjun’s own memories.
Craaack.......
The world’s barrier.
Once shattered, then barely restored over an unimaginably long period of time, that barrier was far too fragile.
Perhaps because of that.
Craack.......
Tiny cracks were forming across it.
As the world’s barrier crumbled.
The scenery beyond it began to reveal itself.
And only after seeing that scenery did he finally realize it.
‘Back then, I thought nobody had noticed.’
But that was not true.
‘The thing inside me....’
The power that existed within everyone’s bodies.
‘It knew.’
That power had already sensed this change.
From the very beginning.
This power had been spread throughout the world in preparation for that moment.
Crack.......
And then.
The shifted perspective looked beyond the world itself.
What existed there—
Craaaaaaaaaack......!
Gnawing away at the world’s barrier.
Was a countless swarm of insects.
And.
The moment he saw them, Youngjun’s eyes widened in shock.
‘...Zombies.’
Because those insects looked unbearably familiar.
Crack!
Soon enough.
The barrier of the world, eaten away by those creatures, was pierced through.
The instant the hole opened.
The difference in pressure between outside and inside.
Caused every kind of power and malice drifting through outer space to come flooding into the world like an explosion.
And.
One being who had feared precisely this situation.
The power that being had scattered throughout the world—
[You have awakened.]
Finally.
Began fulfilling its role.
***
“Khhk...!”
The replay of the memories ended.
And his vision returned to reality.
Shin Youngjun was drenched in cold sweat as he gasped for breath.
“Did you see it?”
Watching him, Lee Haein spoke.
The moment he heard her voice, Shin Youngjun realized something.
“This is the proof I spoke of. Proof that can grant faith.”
Until now.
He had experienced similar situations before, seeing fragments of others’ memories.
However.
Strictly speaking, those had been closer to lingering thoughts.
Ordinary humans would never have been able to see such memories.
The reason Shin Youngjun could see them was because his divine power reacted to those lingering thoughts and read them.
In other words.
‘Those who never awakened divine power probably couldn’t see them.’
Even so.
Lee Haein had brought him here.
And not only that—judging from the traces left behind, it seemed others had witnessed similar memories in this place before as well.
The reason that was possible was simple.
‘What this place reveals isn’t a memory left behind within another being’s lingering thoughts.’
A power that had originally been one.
A power that split into countless branches over endless time, granting vitality to the world.
The mercy of a being that worried for its children even as it faded away itself.
A memory that began from that being.
And had continued for ages within the bodies of all living things.
This place merely awakened those memories.
Rather than reading another being’s memories.
It was reading memories already united within one’s own body.
There was no need for assistance from powers like divine power.
“I have survived until now and even spoken with those monsters before. Yet none of them ever experienced anything as strange as awakening.”
“.......”
“I only understood the reason after discovering this place.”
Luca’s words resurfaced in his mind.
The system existed to create someone capable of reaching level 99.
“The system is a contingency left behind by that being.”
For a world left behind after its protector disappeared.
‘To create a new protector....’
That was the purpose of this power.
The moment he realized that.
He felt like he might burst into tears.
The destruction that had suddenly descended upon the world.
Originally, there should have been no possible way to overcome it.
The only reason humanity had survived at all was because of this power.
But at the same time.
The destruction that had descended upon this world.
It was also proof that its protector had truly vanished forever.
A final nail driven into that truth.
“When Your Holiness first spoke of it, I truly could not help but be shocked.”
From her experience.
Those who saw the being atop that altar usually perceived it in the image of whatever god they personally believed in.
The deity of their religion.
The native gods of their homeland.
Or the forms of famous gods from ancient myths.
That was what most people saw.
But Shin Youngjun had been different.
“You said that the god appeared to you as a rotting corpse.”
Nobody would normally imagine a god in such a form.
Why such an image existed within Shin Youngjun’s mind was beyond even her ability to guess.
And yet she could not help but be astonished.
“Because that description captured that being’s condition more accurately than anything else.”
A god that had already experienced death long ago.
He was the first person who had come this close to grasping its true nature.
Hearing that, Shin Youngjun stopped walking and stared blankly toward the altar.
A god already dead.
Staring silently at the corpse lying there, he bit down on his lip. freёwebnovel.com
At the miserable state of the being that should originally have become this world’s protector, he found himself speechless.
“As for the true nature of the system... even I only had suspicions. I was never certain.”
Watching him, Lee Haein continued.
“I led people while lacking certainty myself. I told them that this system was proof of a great being watching over us... because empty bravado like that was the only way to give hope to people drowning in despair.”
“I see.”
At those words.
A bitter smile appeared on Shin Youngjun’s face.
The mental collapse of humanity had been something he resolved through cooking.
And he could roughly imagine how much torment she must have endured trying to solve the same problem herself.
However.
“But one day....”
Her words did not end there.
“I began hearing a small voice.”
“...?”
At that, Shin Youngjun lifted his head and looked at her.
“I followed that voice’s guidance underground and discovered this chamber. Only then did I learn what had happened to our god... and what the system truly was.”
Without caring about the expression on Shin Youngjun’s face.
She calmly continued speaking.
“When I first witnessed those memories, I also felt despair. I realized the system truly was the god we should worship... but that very god was already dead.”
“...Yeah.”
“I had no idea how to explain such a truth even to those who shared my faith. In the end, I would have to tell them that we had no choice but to survive through our own strength.... Honestly, lying to them might have been easier.”
That was understandable.
Because her gaze was not directed toward Shin Youngjun standing beside her.
“But.”
It remained fixed only on the altar deep within the chamber.
And the being lying atop it.
“I soon realized that I had been mistaken.”
Splash.
Resuming her halted steps, she walked deeper into the room.
“Some time after arriving here, I realized something. The being upon that altar is merely one fragment of the remains that being scattered throughout the world. I do not know exactly why, but it is a remnant that failed to melt into the earth and remained behind.”
At those words.
Shin Youngjun also looked toward it.
[Ingredient Appraisal (Enhanced)]
[Fragment of an Ancient Divinity]
Just as he could use [Appraisal] to view information about others.
Lee Haein also possessed a power allowing her to partially perceive such information.
That was likely how she had deduced its identity.
“Once I realized that much... it became easy to guess the identity of the voice that guided me here.”
And.
That was the part Shin Youngjun could not help finding shocking.
‘A voice guided her here?’
According to the memories he had just witnessed.
That being had died long ago.
Then who exactly had guided her to this place?
“Facing death, it sacrificed its own life and scattered itself across the world... yet some remnants failed to dissolve into other living beings and remained behind.”
And.
Lee Haein already seemed to possess the answer.
“In other words... though only a tiny fragment, a portion of that being still remains intact.”
Her eyes suddenly shone brightly.
Then, standing before the altar before either of them realized it, she spread both arms wide and declared:
“That being personally guided me here!”
And.
While Shin Youngjun was still struggling to process her words—
[Have you come.]
—Have... you come....
Before his eyes appeared.
A small rectangular window.
And.
[My children.]
—My... children.
A trembling voice echoed in resonance with that window.
***
[My children.]
—My... children.
A small rectangular window floating before his eyes.
And a voice that sounded as though it were struggling just to read the words inside it.
“...What?”
Hearing that voice, Shin Youngjun blankly parted his lips.
His expression looked so utterly caught off guard that, for a moment, he almost seemed foolish.
“It seems even Your Holiness is shocked.”
Yet.
Watching him, Lee Haein merely nodded as though she understood.
“As you witnessed through the memories within yourself, the creator of this world exhausted most of its power fighting an unknown and enormous evil.”
“...Exhausted?”
“Yes. Even after suffering such tremendous loss, that being still left behind fragments of itself for the sake of its children. How compassionate it truly was.”
Exhausted.
Yes, that part was important.
“But it did not vanish completely.”
That meant.
Even if that being had diminished.
It had not disappeared entirely.
“It shattered its own body apart... yet some fragments failed to melt into the earth and remained behind. I do not know why, but there are likely similar fragments scattered throughout the world.”
“.......”
“Ahh, I am certain you understand what this means as well.”
She clasped her hands together as she spoke.
“That being may have experienced death, but it was not completely annihilated!”
A god that had experienced death.
Yet beings that great.
Sometimes even death itself did not mean true extinction.
“Even if only tiny fragments remained, it endured throughout the ages!”
Yes.
Even if it had died, if it still remained without being erased—
“Then bringing about that being’s resurrection... is also possible.”
Stories of gods returning from death.
Were, after all, astonishingly common.
