IDSEGI Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Through the pitch-black darkness, a memory flickered past.

Something long-forgotten began to draw closer.

What is that?

Light seeped into the darkness, and then an image began to play.

On the screen, I saw myself in the distance, struggling up a mountain. I was nothing more than a spectator to the scene.

“Ihan…”

I stopped in front of a cave, calling his name over and over before stepping inside. That was when I realized—this was a memory from my first life, after Ihan had died.

Darkness. Nothing but darkness. I couldn’t see a thing. I didn’t know if I was deep underground or just below the surface. I didn’t know if I was going the right way or wandering into the wrong path.

None of it mattered. So long as I could die.

That was when I heard a sound beside me. I turned my head—and a thin gleam of color flashed. On the jagged limestone wall, a single, massive eye appeared.

“Ah!”

I fell back hard onto the ground. Was it a monster? The eye on the wall blinked. The sight was so bizarre and unsettling that my body froze. I had never heard of a monster like this.

“It’s been a long time since anyone came here. Welcome, human.”

I was more shocked than I had been moments ago. I had never heard of a monster that could communicate. Not a single monster in this world could speak human language.

Monsters existed solely to devour people. They couldn’t be tamed, couldn’t be reasoned with.

Which meant this creature was either a very rare aberration—

Or it wasn’t a monster at all.

“Wh… who are you?”

My voice shook violently. And not just my voice—my whole body trembled, overwhelmed by the sheer presence of this unknown being.

A rabbit before a lion? A mouse before a snake?

No. It was something else.

This was fear beyond instinct. A dread not embedded in human genes, which meant this creature was something humanity had never once encountered before.

It was nothing but a single eye, yet it spoke freely.

“Who am I?”

The eye in front of me suddenly appeared to my left.

“I am the shadow in the darkness.”

When I spun around, it had already shifted to the floor.

“Some call me a demon.”

To the right,

“Others call me the mire.”

Up to the ceiling,

“But I call myself… fate.”

The eye returned to the front, curving into a crescent shape.

“Your fate is amusing. Born under nothing but misfortune. Oh my, how pitiful! How entertaining!”

Was it because I had come ready to die, or because I was so terrified that I’d lost my fear altogether? I slowly stood and faced the eye.

“Fate… is that your name?”

The eye let out a thin hum and blinked.

“A name? Oh… I’ve never thought about that before.”

The eye shrank until it was so small it looked like a black speck. That, too, was eerie—how something could appear so black even in total darkness.

What was it? The blackest of blacks. No—blackness itself, given form.

The speck whispered in the smallest voice.

“No one’s ever asked me that.”

The strangely plaintive tone made me falter, and in that instant, the eye expanded until it filled the entire wall.

“Yes, I’ve thought of something! You’ll give me a name.”

I stepped back, but the eye moved instantly behind me. No matter where I went, I couldn’t escape it.

My teeth chattered, my legs shook, but I dug my toes into the ground. If this was death, I would face it.

I really must have lost my fear.

“If I give you a name, what will you do for me?”

“That depends on how much I like the name you give me.”

I had no intention of leaving here alive. I had come to die, so my wish was simple—

For it to kill me.

That would be an easy thing for this one-eyed being.

After a brief moment of thought, I raised my head to meet its gaze.

“How about… ‘Shadow’?”

“Shadow, huh.”

The eye narrowed, as if unimpressed. But then, a booming laugh echoed through the cave.

“Haha! I like it. Shadow! Shadow, you say. Good!”

The terrible, grating voice—like metal scratching across a chalkboard—echoed through the cave as though it might bring the whole place down.

“Now, I should give you a reward. Hmm… what should it be? Despair? Or hope? Or perhaps despair disguised as hope?”

The single eye closed briefly, as if lost in thought, then snapped open again.

“I’ve decided! The perfect gift for you. This will be fun—it’s been a while.”

The laughter that rang out felt like it could tear my eardrums. The moment I covered my ears to block out the noise, a long stalactite dropped close enough to graze my face.

I realized I’d almost died right there, and instead of relief, regret welled up.
It would have been better if it had just killed me.

The eye motioned toward the fallen stalactite.

“Pick that up. Kill me, and I’ll grant your wish. Say, immense wealth… or unparalleled honor.”

“I’m not interested in that. And besides, I doubt I could kill you with my strength.”

“Hmm, then I have another offer. If you kill me, I’ll grant any wish you want—but if you can at least wound me, I’ll turn back time to before your lover died. Now that’s tempting, isn’t it?”

A faint glimmer of hope flickered in my otherwise dead eyes.

“H-how? Can you really do that?”

“I don’t lie. Only weak humans who can’t win resort to lies.”

The eye dropped another stalactite. This time, I truly would have died had I not moved.

“Now pick it up! Entertain me.”

After a brief hesitation, I picked up the stalactite. Its tip was sharp—if I aimed well, I might be able to at least scratch it.

If there was even the slightest chance of bringing Ihan back…
That alone made it worth trying.

I readied my stance, pointing the tip toward the eye. I had to aim for the pupil—but it moved so quickly I’d need a plan. Predict where it would be and strike preemptively, perhaps.

“Haaah!”

I let out a loud shout, hoping to break its focus for even a moment. Pretending to step forward, I suddenly twisted my body and stabbed at the right-hand wall. But the eye was already on the ceiling, looking down at me.

I repeated the tactic again and again. There wasn’t much else I could do—how could I hit something I couldn’t even graze? I could only wait for the right moment when it let its guard down.

If I could make it pause even briefly…

I rushed forward, then deliberately fell to the ground. The eye cackled at the sight.

“What are you doing? Putting on a show for yourself?”

I sprang to my feet, reset my stance, then took a step forward—this time flinging the handful of dirt I’d grabbed when I fell toward the wall. As expected, before the dirt even hit, the eye had moved to another wall.

“Yaaawn. Boring. You’re too weak. I don’t even want to touch you for fear you’ll break.”

The moment it blinked in boredom, I turned on my phone flashlight and aimed it at it.

“Tch!”

It squinted, and in that moment, I threw another handful of dirt and lunged to drive the stalactite into its pupil.

Or so I thought.

“Not bad thinking… but nowhere near enough to beat me.”

It was already on another wall, blinking drowsily. The faint moisture in its eye told me it was actually on the verge of falling asleep from boredom.

That was how weak I was in its eyes.

“I’m tired of this. I’ll just kill you.”

The cave shook violently, stalactites crashing down. I moved as fast as I could, but I wasn’t an Esper—I couldn’t dodge them all. A sharp spike slammed into the arm shielding my head, another grazing my leg.

“Kh…!”

I bit my lip until it bled, trying to stifle a scream, but groans still slipped out between my teeth. My arm had been gouged deep enough to expose bone, and with a stalactite lodged in my foot, walking was nearly impossible.

My vision spun. The number of falling stalactites was decreasing, but my body was too battered to dodge even those. If I collapsed here, one would pierce my back, and that would be the end.

Until I brought Ihan back, I couldn’t die—not if there was even a shred of hope.

Then an idea flashed through my mind.

Yes. Maybe…

Gathering every last ounce of strength, I used the stalactite as a cane, dragging my foot as I staggered toward the center. Even in that short distance, two more sharp spikes embedded themselves—one in my arm, one in my foot.

I no longer had the strength to scream. Only then could I pick up the phone I’d dropped earlier.

The eye smirked.

“You think doing the same thing will change anything? Give up.”

With trembling hands, I set the phone on the floor, flashlight aimed forward. The beam dimly lit the cave.

And then—I stabbed hard at the long shadow cast at my feet.

“Graaagh!”

Blood poured from the eye on the wall. It darted wildly from wall to wall, shaking the cave in agony. I grinned through clenched teeth.

“You… ngh… said it yourself, didn’t you? You’re… a shadow.”

Demon, mire, fate—all were names given to it by others. But shadow—that was what it had called itself. Not something someone else named it, but what it was.

A deep laugh rumbled, and the cave began to collapse.

“Khahahah! Good. I’ll keep my promise.”

The eye looked perfectly fine again, as if the wound had never happened. As the cave fell apart, darkness engulfed me, chewing me to pieces.

My limbs were torn and crushed until my breathing stopped.

* * *

My body shook. Someone was calling my name desperately, breathing into my mouth, pressing on my chest over and over.

At last, I coughed up all the water in my lungs and opened my eyes.

And the only thought in my head— I can go back.

Back to before the imprint.