Chapter 297: Joaquin Academy (1)

The gods—or rather, the deified sea beings—mounted a fierce resistance.

They weren’t called gods for nothing. Their attacks were, quite literally, on a universal scale.

〈Fool! Do you really think you can annihilate us with nothing but human desire?〉

Jupiter roared at me. Where there had once been a handsome face, now only the green head of an octopus remained.

“Yes. It’s possible.”

I responded briefly and drew Murasame and Eternal Frost. Amid the sashimis exploding in the abyss, a flash sparkled.

Slash!

A blade of light extended and split the horizon of the abyss vertically. With a single slash, dozens of gods were sliced in half—left and right, top and bottom—and vanished.

They seemed to resist, but it was useless. My sashimi is a blade that cuts through everything. Being a god doesn’t make you an exception.

Whoosh…

Jupiter created a moon the size of a soccer ball in his right hand and a sun in his left. Then, in front of his chest, he smashed the two orbs together as if performing a hand seal.

○
●

Energy formed from the union of yin and yang—opposing attributes—a darkness that absorbed even light. The process of creating a black hole. But this was on an entirely different level from what Kuarne had generated.

Ruuuumble…

The abyss itself warped, twisting the trajectory of my blade. That’s how he managed to dodge it by a hair. Although several of his dangling beard-like tentacles were cut off.

〈How is it possible that you’re stronger now than in the past? You gave up your divinity and chose mere humanity! When we created this world, no such causality existed!〉

Jupiter glared at me, his eyes burning. He was the only god who had survived my cuts.

The others were either sliced apart or absorbed and reduced to stardust.

The number of gods had dwindled drastically. From thousands, only about twenty remained. Those left stood behind Jupiter with murderous eyes.

〈God of the Sword, we know you’re from another universe. Is that why you’re so strong? Because you come from a place we don’t understand? Is our vision that limited? Tell us—if we left this world, could we become as strong as you?〉

Even now, they continued to show their insatiable greed.

‘So predictable it’s laughable.’

As Lycan once said, these beings were incarnations of greed, yet curiously incapable of lying. In that, they were oddly sincere.

But they were missing the point. Their mistake wasn’t in not knowing who I was or where I came from.

“Do you know what your real problem is?”

I said, looking at my blade. Suddenly, the wavy texture of the sashimi seemed beautiful. I had given myself completely to this beauty.

“You can’t be satisfied with what you have.”

I looked at them again.

“You always look for causes outside yourselves. Strong because I’m from the outside? Don’t be ridiculous. Do you even know what kind of life I’ve lived?”

My past life was hell. My whole story was one of suffering and violence. I was born between two individuals so repulsive I’m disgusted to call them parents.

Since no one at home fed me, I started begging as soon as I could walk. With no clothes, I rummaged through used clothing bins to cover myself. Even that was often torn by the hands of my “parents.”

A father who beat me like a dog whenever he drank. A mother, always high, who ignored me completely.

I had parents, sure, but I was no different from an orphan. My home wasn’t a shelter, it was hell.

And it’s not like school or society were any kinder.

The kids mocked me, called me trash, and avoided me. The adults were indifferent. Maybe they even saw me as a nuisance, though they never showed it outright.

Still, I never complained. I always believed that someday night would end and dawn would come. I held on to hope and kept fighting to live.

But for a child barely entering adolescence, that burden was too much. There were times I nearly gave up.

‘Why me?’

That question haunted me constantly. And some might’ve said things like.

“At least you didn’t starve to death,” or “Be grateful you were born in Korea.”

Happiness and misery are relative. To some, maybe my life wasn’t all that miserable.

After all, every year there are news stories of parents who kill or abandon their children.

Compared to that, at least mine didn’t kill me. They could be seen as better people.

— Or so some might think.

But from my point of view, that’s absolute garbage.

They didn’t kill my body, but they murdered my spirit.

I survived through sheer willpower, with no help from anyone.

And that desperate resolve led me to the boss.

‘Live as a human.’

That’s what he repeated to me over and over.

‘Life is a chain of suffering, it’s true. But that doesn’t mean you should give up being human. Coming from an unhappy family doesn’t absolve you of your actions.’

Maybe those words were his own reflection or self-critique.

‘Remember when you asked why I took you in? It was because you looked like you were on the edge. I honestly thought you might stab someone. And frankly, I wouldn’t care if some random kid stabbed someone—just not near my shop. That’s the truth.’

Like the gods, my master also only spoke the truth.

‘But I don’t regret it. Quite the opposite.’

Only, the weight of his truth was different.

The gods can’t help but speak the truth. My master chooses not to lie. That single-letter difference is like heaven and earth.

‘I’m proud I helped you live as a human.’

My master was a hero from an ancient era. A man who walked paths of violence and death. A human forced to return countless times because of duty.

And in the end, he ended up in an unfamiliar world. He must have wandered the Earth for decades, searching for someone who could put an end to his mission.

Now I understand his gruff, cynical attitude. His life was probably harsher than mine.

‘The day I reached out my hand to you…’

My master saw his own reflection in me.

‘…Was the proudest and most satisfying day of my life.’

He taught me to wield a sword and offered me warmth. He helped me become human. He gave me a home and a place to make friends.

‘Humanity.’

That’s the source of my strength.

〈It seems you have no intention of telling us.〉

Jupiter’s eyes darkened. He turned his head slightly. The gods, sensing his chilling gaze, shivered. It seemed they were exchanging a silent agreement.

Moments later, all the gods except Jupiter nodded silently. It was their way of saying they would follow him.

〈We shall correct our past mistakes here and now.〉

Jupiter spread his arms. In the center of his palms, black holes emerged. The next instant, those holes began spinning, sucking in the other gods.

Whirl…!

As the number of gods diminished, Jupiter’s body grew immensely. Even if I looked up, all I could see was the dark silhouette of his octopus head.

Shine.

From that colossal shadow, a single red point glowed. A still and silent gaze.

〈For the first time, the Aesir gods have united as one.〉

So spoke Jupiter. Every time he opened his mouth, he exhaled a thick purple mist. The sashimis of light caught in that poisonous fog slowly dissolved. Billions of wishes snuffed out like candles.

〈There is no hope left.〉

He declared proudly. And I couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

“No.”

It might sound ridiculous, but I couldn’t think of a better response.

“There’s still one blade left.”

A pure light enveloped Murasame. I just want to wipe out these damned gods and go home. Back to the academy where everyone’s waiting. That’s my wish—and my humanity.

“And thank you.”

I slowly raised my sashimi. I infused no emotion or technique into the sword. Raising and lowering it is merely a means to an end.

“Thanks to you, you’ve saved me a lot of cuts.”

A brilliant red line traced from Jupiter’s shoulder to his side. In my eyes, I could already see his death.

And my sashimi was the sword to deliver it. Past, present, and future fused in my mind.

The causes became clear, and the sword moved with a single purpose.

“Cut.”

Just as Jupiter swung his massive arm, my sashimi cut diagonally.

The final blow. The hand of a god and the sword of a human crossed paths. The birth and end of a universe exploded in unison.

***

“Hey.”

Someone tapped me on the shoulder. I opened my eyes. I turned my gaze slightly.

“Congratulations.”

That was the first thing the person who woke me said. Maybe because my vision was unfocused, I couldn’t see their face. I tried to respond, but no sound came out.

“Just listen, while lying down.”

Ah, I’m lying down. But this really wasn’t the time to be relaxing like this—damn it. I couldn’t remember what had happened. The timelines in my head were all fragmented.

‘Damn it.’

As I bit my lower lip, the guy covered my eyes with his hand before speaking. I felt the roughness of calluses. Judging by their placement, it was a hand used to wielding a sword.

“Kang Geom-Ma, you just broke a chain of evil that was affecting an entire world… no, an entire timeline.”

His voice had a cheerful tone. He kept talking.

“It was something impossible. In numbers, hmm… using Earth terms, it’s like being struck by lightning. But not just once—being hit 7.6 sextillion times. Something like that. Honestly, I’m not good with numbers. But the point is, you saved an entire timeline.”

My lips were dry. I wanted to say something, ask something, but not even a whisper came out.

“Enough talk. Let’s get to the point.”

“……?”

“I’m going to give you a choice.”

A clear energy descended from my forehead to my brain. My mind cleared. The broken pieces of cause and effect came together.

Now I could observe all worlds without the limits of dimension. I had reached the truth. And I immediately knew who was speaking to me.

I opened my mouth. He spoke for me.

“You are me.”

“You are me.”

A literal resonance. A strange experience. It was as if two people shared the same brain.

He removed his hand from my eyes. Now I could clearly see his face, along with a message in front of me.

[G.M. offers you two choices.]

A proposal from my future self to my past self.

[1. Will you rule as a foreign God, controlling all existence from above?]

[2. Or will you remain human and return to Joaquin Academy?]