DB Vol 1 Part 1

What do people regret most when facing death? Unfulfilled dreams? The foolishness of not avoiding death? Longing left unexpressed to loved ones?

“I should have… died sooner. It’s so peaceful. Why did I think enduring meant winning? I thought if I held on, despite everyone hating and tormenting me, I would win…”

The man said this with a smile. Won-woo, watching him, couldn’t bring himself to smile. The man was seriously injured, his entire body covered in blood. His face was pale, drained of color, and his breathing was weak. It was clear that without immediate treatment, he wouldn’t last long. But in the middle of this polluted land crawling with monsters, proper treatment was out of the question.

This wasn’t just the man’s problem. Won-woo was also bleeding from his side due to an unexpected monster attack. Yet, amidst this absurd situation, the most maddening thing was something else entirely.

The man before him had the same face as his own. No, he was exactly himself.

The man who claimed everyone hated him was chillingly identical to Won-woo. He reached out toward Won-woo’s face.

“It’s strange. I can see myself.”

It must be time to die, he mumbled. Ah, yes. In your eyes too, I look exactly like you?

“But you look strong.”

“Because I am strong.”

“Espers are strong. But you’re a guide, aren’t you? And a D-rank at that… the lowest, without any ability.”

“What does rank matter? I’ve awakened as a ‘Purifier’, so it doesn’t matter.”

“What’s that? Is it strong?”

What do you mean, a Purifier is a Purifier.

Won-woo, not knowing how to explain something so obvious, just nodded vaguely.

“The strongest.”

“More than Espers?”

Won-woo almost laughed at the absurdity of the situation. How long had it been since they’d won the long battle against the Espers and ended the war? What was the point in comparing to Espers who were all dead and gone?

“Yes, stronger than Espers.”

He answered half-heartedly and looked around. Monster corpses were strewn all around them. Why were there so many monsters that should have been eradicated from Earth? Where was this place?

About ten minutes ago, he had stopped when a strange fog obscured his vision, then carefully stepped into it. And after just a few steps, he encountered a completely different world. A place that seemed like another world where monsters still existed.

And the man who looked like himself in this world exclaimed in admiration towards Won-woo.

“I’m amazing, aren’t I?”

I’m not you. He couldn’t bring himself to say these firm words. Because this person who looked exactly like him seemed about to die at any moment. So he was willing to go along with whatever delusions he had. But the next words were difficult to ignore and move past.

“I’m glad. Although it’s a life I’ve ruined, you should be able to endure well.”

“I’m not you, so your life has nothing to do with me.”

Won-woo firmly pointed out the dying man’s delusion, but he smiled as if he hadn’t heard and continued to express his wishes.

“Still, I did my best. Really.”

“…”

“So I have no regrets. Even if everyone wished for my death, it’s okay now.”

His pale face smiled faintly. It was a familiar face he saw in the mirror every day, but that smile was unfamiliar.

“If it’s okay, hang on a little longer. Live and show everyone that you’re alright.”

“The one who wanted my death the most was me.”

A smile spread across the pale face again. This time, Won-woo couldn’t tell him to live. That smile in the face of death couldn’t have looked happier. And then he whispered to Won-woo as if to comfort him.

“It’s okay.”

What’s okay about this? Won-woo swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue. Captivated by those eyes where life was fading, he couldn’t do anything. In Won-woo’s ears, a voice identical to his own was heard. That faint voice was comforting him.

“If it’s hard, you can let go. You don’t have to struggle. You don’t need to suffer fighting loneliness. If you want to cry, cry. And if your heart pulls you towards someone, you can just run to them. It’s all okay, Ji Won-woo.”

His name, which he had never told, flowed from the man’s lips. Ji Won-woo. But he realized that the man was saying his own name. The comfort offered by someone on the brink of death wrapped around his heart like a chill. The man with the same face and the same name slowly closed his eyes as he gazed at Won-woo.

“It’s enough that I’m the one who wants death.”

No more words came out. The motionless face finally looked peaceful, as if a heavy burden had been lifted. Won-woo just held his breath and looked around again. The ground was vibrating and rumbling. Monsters were approaching again.

***

Unexpected accidents were common at monster farms. No matter how many safety measures and warning systems were in place, monsters would unexpectedly emerge from rapidly grown fruits. Only Espers could deal with the monsters, and an Esper from the East Center had been dispatched for this mission.

The problem was that a single guide had fallen right in the middle of the farm due to a teleportation portal malfunction. This was clearly a matter serious enough to warrant a Level 3 alert, but none of the officials at the operation camp seemed particularly alarmed.

“It’s been half a day since he disappeared. He’s probably dead by now.”

Someone’s nonchalant comment was met with a similar response.

“If he weren’t dead, it would be troublesome. He’s from the Ji family that controls all the Guides.”

“Ha, what does it matter if he’s from the Ji family? He’s just a useless D-rank loser.”

“True, his family members are all B-rank Guides or above. If someone without ability came to the center just riding on their family name, they should at least not get in the way. Shit, he’s ruining the whole operation by himself. Even when dying, he’s being trash. What a nuisance.”

Yeah, a piece of trash. Another voice chimed in with a sneer.

“That’s why he dared to chase after the top A-rank Esper, just believing in his family name.”

“Right, didn’t he even stalk him?”

Due to the operation being suspended for the rescue, there were about a dozen people in the tent set up at the farm entrance. Most of them listened to this slander with a smile. Only Han Seona, the deputy team leader of Support Team 2, couldn’t stand it and left the tent. Whether the target of their mockery was Ji Won-woo or not, she hated how they trampled on the weak like cigarette butts.

But she didn’t have the will to stop them either. In the Esper society, where rank was determined by power, mocking the weak was the norm. Even though Seona was an Esper and quite familiar with this culture, their ridicule towards Ji Won-woo was particularly unpleasant. It was even more so because the target was a Guide.

Espers obsess over Guides and act as if they’d give their liver and gall when needed, but if the guide was deemed useless, they would chew them up like gum. They might as well just ignore him. She had come outside to avoid hearing the mockery about Ji Won-woo, but it seemed today was Ji Won-woo’s day.

“The rescue team is probably just looking for Ji Won-woo’s corpse anyway, so why should we waste our time? Let’s just resume the operation and finish it quickly.”

“It’s not as easy as you say. Oh, wait. Deputy Team Leader Han, over here.”

Seona looked at the man in his forties who called her and nodded in greeting as she approached. He was the person in charge of this operation.

“Let me introduce you. This is Team Leader Yu Geon-young from Head Team 3. Team Leader Yoo, this is Han Seona, who recently became the deputy team leader of Support Team 2.”

Yoo Geon-young, in his late 20s, briefly looked Seona over and asked,

“Are you A-rank?”

“…No, I’m B-rank.”

Hmph. Yoo Geon-young silently twisted his lips and then turned his gaze away. He then suggested to the person in charge, sounding annoyed,

“The operation is too delayed. How long are we going to just keep blocking monsters? Please deploy the entire extermination team quickly.”

The person in charge looked troubled at his request. Even Han Seona, listening from the side, found it absurd. Head Team 3 was the team Ji Won-woo belonged to. Yet the team leader wants to abandon the search for his missing team member and just proceed with monster extermination. In that process, the missing person could easily get caught up and killed.

“Team Leader Yoo, there’s still a missing person inside. Speaking of which, Deputy Team Leader Han, please take your team members to support the search party now.”

“Support the search? We should clear out the monsters first.”

Yoo Geon-young interrupted, bristling. The person in charge sighed as he looked at him.

“If we make a mistake, Guide Ji Won-woo could also die…”

“Damn it, he’s probably already been torn apart by monsters. What are you worried about?”

Han Seona turned away, not wanting to hear more, but Yoo Geon-young didn’t care about a deputy team leader from a supporting department.

“Let’s just clear them all out while we have the time. Do you know how valuable our lives are? Isn’t it a bigger loss to waste time like this?”

The person in charge sympathized with his words, but the Ji family was involved in this matter. Even if Ji Won-woo was an outcast from the family, they couldn’t announce his death without a body.

“If there’s a financial loss, we can compensate later…”

The person in charge’s placating words were interrupted by someone’s shout.

“Huh?! J-Ji Won-woo?”

At the sound of the name, both the person in charge and Geon-young turned their heads simultaneously. What? Did they find his body? Others were also drawn to the commotion and began to gather quickly at the farm entrance. However, none of them had high expectations. They probably just found some personal belongings, or at most, pieces of a corpse.

However, when the entrance came into view, everyone stopped as if on cue. Their gazes, frozen as if even their breathing had stopped, were focused on one point. Someone was slowly, trudging out through the entrance. He was covered in blood, pressing his injured side with his hand. It was Ji Won-woo, whom everyone had assumed dead.