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Chapter 220:
Chapter 220:
Chapter 220:
Chapter 220
As the sun burned and set with the edge of the sunset, a clear moon rose in the sky.
The dazzling moon and the stars that illuminated its surroundings looked down at the world.
The citys glow, which did not want to lose to the silver light of the sky, was brilliant even in the darkness.
Yu-hyun looked outside with a sunken gaze from inside the dark room where the lights were off.
Is it about to start?
Today was the day that Genesis had recommended.
The day when the earths limits were loosened, and the influence of the hybrid system expanded.
Even those who pretended to be indifferent did not wander outside today and stayed at home.
Everyone whispered together about what the change that those divine beings spoke of would be.
Those who did not want change worried.
Those who were fed up with the current world hoped.
Well, I told everyone to go to bed early.
Yu-hyun, who belonged to the Celestial Corporation, also had a hard time guessing the level of change that would soon happen.
He didnt know if it would happen right after midnight. Or if it would slowly welcome the change.
Since there was no answer even if he worried, Yu-hyun decided to ignore it.
As the night deepened, and even the atmosphere of the world settled in the quiet darkness.
The change began.
Ironically, the first ones to notice the change were not those who were awake with anticipation, but the collectors who were asleep.
They each had a dream.
A dream of a past that was farther than their own past.
The origin of the story they gained when they awakened as collectors.
Kang Hye-rim was one of them.
What is this?
She dragged her body tired from training and fell into a deep sleep.
The worlds change or whatever, it was none of her concern right now.
The her in her dream was standing in a place she had never seen before.
It was on top of an uneven and ominous wall. Outside the wall, darkness was thickly laid out like it was contained in a bowl.
Torches flared up between the darkness. Soldiers in armor appeared and disappeared like mirages near the torches.
It was a sight she had never seen before, but it felt strangely familiar.
Is thisthe past of my story?
Kang Hye-rim knew that this was a dream, and that everything she saw was from a distant past.
The manifestation of a story.
The scene unfolding now was a phenomenon where her story reflected like a mirror through her dreams under the influence of the hybrid system.
It feels so familiar.
It wasnt her past, but it felt like it was hers.
Kang Hye-rim borrowed the eyes of one warrior and looked down at the wall below.
She, who had been lying still, moved soon after.
Pahat.
There was no need to open the gate. Her body, which lightly kicked off from above the wall, fell straight down below the wall.
She landed silently at a height where an ordinary persons legs would have broken.
Countless tents and torches.
The thick darkness and tens of thousands of enemy soldiers swarming inside it.
Kang Hye-rim drew her sword.
She ran towards the enemy lines that surrounded the castle in the dark.
She didnt need any armor. She didnt need any shield.
All she had in her hand was a sword that was no different from her own self. That was more than enough.
Wha, what?!
Tha, thats the enemy!
The enemy soldiers who were guarding the perimeter didnt even have time to scream before the sword flashed.
Their heads flew in the air with their mouths agape in horror.
Before their blood could touch the ground, Kang Hye-rim had disappeared from that spot.
She was already moving towards her next target.
She cut down everything that blocked her way. She was not a wolf that preyed on a flock of sheep.
She was a sword. A sword that pierced through all enemies.
Thats how Kang Hye-rim succeeded in breaking through the siege of Yeojin, and returned with reinforcements from outside, defeating the Yeojin army.
The soldiers of the castle who survived the brink of death praised her name.
But she had no intention of stopping. The cheers of the people didnt even touch her lonely heart.
She didnt care about the commendation from her superior, or the huge reward.
The only thing that moved her heart was swinging her sword. That was the origin and the reason of her life as a sword wielder.
And so she left, holding her sword, looking for another enemy.
There was no will in the tip of her sword.
She was the sword itself.
[There is no will in a sword.]
A voice spoke to her. It didnt take long for her to realize that it was the original owner of this story.
The mans voice was powerful yet calm.
[A sword without will will eventually go astray. A sword that has nothing left to cut will not stop. Sooner or later, it will point its end at the world.]
His end was exactly like that.
The man eventually participated in a conspiracy and failed, and his remaining life ended in exile.
[Those who wield a sword must make a choice at their end.]
A choice? What do you mean by that?
[Will you cut the world? Or will you be cut by the world?]
Cutting the world, and being cut by the world.
Why did those words resonate so deeply in her chest?
It felt like someone was not talking to her, but rather asking herself in her mind.
Everything felt real in this dream.
The sword in her hand spread to her whole body.
She felt like she became a sword herself.
The last voice echoed in her ears.
[The moment of choice will come to those who are without a master. At that moment, you must make a decision. No one can avoid it.]
The choice is inevitable.
Kang Hye-rim woke up from her dream with that voice.
Haa. Haa.
The moment when she was fighting with Yeojins soldiers just before was still vivid in front of her eyes.
Kang Hye-rim unconsciously clenched and unclenched her empty hand.
She felt uncomfortable without holding a sword.
Kang Hye-rim grabbed the Saladin longsword that was placed next to her bed.
Then, her discomfort disappeared as if it was washed away.
Since she had already grabbed a sword.
Kang Hye-rim closed her eyes and focused her energy.
The blade started to form a connection with her mind.
Huh?
Kang Hye-rim opened her eyes wide.
Until yesterday, I had failed repeatedly to control my brain power.
No matter how many times I tried, I could only grasp a faint glimpse of success. But now, at this moment, it was perfectly displayed.
***
I was not the only one who experienced a dramatic change.
The people who fell asleep, especially the collectors who had their own unique stories embedded in their traits, all had a similar experience.
They dreamed.
They dreamed of the historical figures who had pursued their goals in the past.
Some had one dream, while others had three.
Gu Seo-yoon was no exception.
What is this?
She had a strange dream.
Under the barrier, there was a red army.
They were all Russian elites who swore loyalty to her.
In her dream, she was the supreme leader who commanded that red army.
Gu Seo-yoon knew that it was the influence of her trait.
She could judge the situation objectively and did not immerse herself or get swayed by the dream.
What confused her was what happened next.
Why is this happening all of a sudden
The snowy scenery of Moscow disappeared, and a ruined city took its place.
No, could this still be called a city?
The world that was so damaged that it was hard to find any traces of its original form was like a toy that the gods had played with and discarded.
The sky that was visible through the clouds that endlessly thundered was blood-red.
The dead land emitted an endless stench.
Gu Seo-yoon did not know that this was the world after the apocalypse. But strangely, it felt familiar as if she had experienced it before.
Gu Seo-yoon belatedly realized that she was with other people.
Who are these people
The one who led the group was a man in a red coat.
She could only see his back, so she could not see his face, but it was clear that he was the leader of the group.
On both sides of Gu Seo-yoon were a blue-haired woman in armor and a brown-skinned woman who covered her face with something like a white turban.
And, the last remaining person was standing at the very back of the group.
The Gu Seo-yoon in the dream looked at him. The real Gu Seo-yoon who borrowed her sight could see his face.
Huh?
Her eyes widened when she saw him.
It was because he looked familiar.
Kang Yu-hyun Teller?
He was Kang Yu-hyun, whom she had seen from afar at the academy entrance ceremony.
He was wearing different clothes than his black suit, but his appearance was the same.
She could recognize him right away.
Why is he here
He was not suited for combat.
He had no weapons or plausible armor.
Yu-hyun stood at the back of the group and took in the scenery of the destroyed world.
His eyes were cold and sharp, as if they were dead but also piercing through the world.
He had always seen things differently from others.
The Gu Seo-yoon in the dream did not understand his behavior.
She was not the only one, so were the two women who called each other sisters.
The only one who tolerated and left him alone was the man whom she admired most in her dream.
Yes, thats right. I often clashed with him No, wait, this is strange. Im sure I saw him for the first time then, but what is this And who is the man standing in front of me? The leader of the group? Why cant I remember his name?
Gu Seo-yoon was confused.
At that moment, the man in the red coat spoke.
Lets go.
Without waiting for an answer, he moved first. In front of him was a horrible monster that seemed to have gathered all the despair of the world into one.
A dark and shapeless mass of flesh.
It made her feel sick just by looking at it.
The girl in her dream followed the leader to fight the monster.
Thats where Gu Seo-yoons dream ended.
***
The Middle East, known as the powder keg of the world, was a place where war never ceased before the Day of Ideological Integration.
In a place where all kinds of religions, ideologies, and races collided, gunfire never stopped for a day, and with the intervention of the United States, the world situation reached a critical point.
The powerless and innocent people died in the midst of the fighting.
Ironically, the Middle East, where those who praised God more than anyone else stayed, earned a bad reputation as the land abandoned by God.
As time passed, the Day of Ideological Integration came.
Now, the people of the earth could confirm the existence of God.
The same was true for the Middle East.
After the Day of Ideological Integration, the Middle East seemed to regain its past glory.
The believers who realized that the mythical beings existed praised them more than anyone else and became more fanatic.
Islam, which showed the end of madness, was even more so.
The land blessed by God.
Or the land where God descended.
The Middle East was the origin of Abrahamic religions, so it washed away its past stigma of being forsaken by God.
However, proving Gods existence did not mean ending the conflict.
The fundamental cause remained, and the fight intensified.
They called the same being by different names and claimed that their name was right, that they were their God.
Since God existed, their martyrdom also gained a justification.
Moreover, besides Abrahamic religions, Iranian religions that originated from Persia also praised their gods existence and fueled this conflict.
Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, and Mithraism revived with tremendous momentum.
After the Day of Ideological Integration, the Middle East regained Gods blessing but fell into a deeper abyss of hell before its peace lasted even a few days.
Small-scale skirmishes broke out everywhere.
The collectors who gained power became asymmetric forces in these small fights.
Ten years passed like that.
Underneath the scorching heat that never stopped shining.
The place where bones were weathered and mixed with sand was still a land where conflict never ceased.
And God did not listen to their stories.
Hey. Where did Arash go?
An Arab soldier who maintained the front line asked his neighbor.
After collectors appeared, snipers who threatened enemies were not simply good at handling guns in this changed world.
Ironically, in this new world, bows transformed into much more dangerous weapons than sniper rifles.
Arash they were talking about was also one of those honorable believers who handled such bows.
How would I know? I dont know what hes doing or where he is.
Theyre going to make a move. We need Arash to step up and put a hole in the heads of those treacherous infidels.
They dont even know Arashs real name.
They call him Arash, after the legendary archer of Persian mythology.
But he wasnt the real Arash, that was just a nickname they gave him.
They didnt care about his true identity.
All they cared about was his skill, which was comparable to the mythical Arash.
He could snipe enemies with a bow from over 3.2km away. How could he not be a reincarnated hero?
And that wasnt even his limit. He could probably blow off the heads of enemies beyond 4km if he wanted to.
One man instilled fear in the enemies and held back hundreds of them.
The Collectors were not called asymmetric forces for nothing.
Hell show up somewhere and take down the enemies.
Yeah. All we have to do is hold this position.
But unfortunately, the Arash they were desperately looking for was no longer there.
He. No, she who was called Arash.
Her name was Jamila.
Jamila was a girl who was born in a war-torn world, who couldnt forget the names of her father and grandfather.
She awakened as a Collector and dominated the border conflict zone with a single bow, becoming a terror to her enemies.
She had a dream last night.
About her trait, which gave her immense power with a bow. A
bout the origin of that power.
And then, she had another dream.
A dream of fighting with unfamiliar comrades in a ruined world.
Jamila was curious about it.
Where did her power come from?
And who was the man in the red coat that she chose to follow in a world abandoned by the gods?
Jamila, who was called the God Bow in the end of the world.
She headed to Korea as soon as she woke up from her dream.