Chapter 3
Dream (1)
...which meant it was asking him to choose.
Ju-heon slowly read through the options floating before him.
Staring at the crimson status window, he rubbed his forehead.
"Crow... is this your doing?"
"Bored?"
"Want me to give you more work?"
His secretary relic, the Three-Legged Crow, sounded flustered.
[Submission]Register humanity as a resource belonging to the relics.Humanity will become the relics' livestock and nourishment, but the world will enjoy greater prosperity and stronger power.The Majesty and their bloodline will be guaranteed freedom and receive the relics' eternal favor and protection.
[It was not me.]
I figured.
You enjoy messing with your master sometimes, but you'd never pull something like this.
So...
An unknown system was testing him as the Majesty.
Which meant—
It wanted to turn humanity into livestock for the relics.
Then came the next option.
[Massacre]Grants the Majesty the authority of [Erase].Personally eliminate criminals, enemies, and anyone you dislike to build your own utopia.
"...Disgusting."
At first glance, the offer seemed tempting.
But in the end, it was nothing more than an obvious invitation to slaughter humanity.
Then came the final choice.
Ju-heon curled the corner of his lips into a smile.
They pretend to offer three different paths...
But they're all the same.
No matter which one I choose... humanity ends.
[Neglect]Maintain the current world.Receive no protection from the relics.Humanity must survive every catastrophe on its own.
And this bastard...
...wanted to drag Ju-heon into becoming an accomplice to humanity's destruction.
Whoever you are...
You picked the wrong person.
This option was practically telling him to stand back and watch humanity perish.
"What meaning do Submission or Massacre have..."
"...in a world where my child is about to be born?"
Ju-heon's gaze turned ice cold.
Then—
He found himself somewhere else.
He couldn't tell exactly where.
There was no distinction between sky and earth.
Everything around him was silent.
Endlessly white.
Someone came running toward him.
"No more fighting."
"So get lost."
Tap.
Tap, tap.
The message chuckled mockingly.
[Postponing your decision? Very well. I believe you'll regret it.]
Light footsteps.
A little girl.
She had glossy black hair...
...and eyes that looked exactly like Irene's.
Perhaps three years old.
Beaming brightly, she ran straight into Ju-heon's arms without hesitation.
A prank?
Every option leads humanity to becoming livestock and eventual extinction.
What exactly is there to choose?
Ju-heon's heavy eyelids slowly closed.
When he opened them again...
...he was sitting in a completely unfamiliar place.
"Daddy!"
His body froze solid.
"...Daddy?"
Even so...
He never wanted to let go of the warmth in his arms.
Then...
He tilted his head slightly.
Something felt strange.
Whoosh!
"...We don't even have a child yet."
Then realization struck.
"A daughter?"
"So... you're our daughter!"
The little girl didn't answer.
Instead, she simply held his finger tightly and began walking.
Her tiny hand was soft.
Tender.
Warm.
A hand that had never once touched the harshness of the world.
The overwhelming sensation made Ju-heon instinctively realize...
This was a dream.
Without any conscious command from him—
Gungnir, his personal weapon, materialized out of thin air.
The Divine-Class spear was capable of piercing its target's heart even from the opposite side of the planet.
Yet...
The little girl climbed onto the terrifying weapon as if it were a merry-go-round, laughing joyfully.
The smile on her face—
It was exactly the same smile Irene wore whenever she saw something she truly adored.
More importantly...
She's handling a Divine-Class relic so effortlessly...
An ordinary human would collapse from exhaustion just by touching it.
Ju-heon quietly watched her laughter.
For the first time...
He desperately wished that smile could exist in the real world.
Then—
Her body began to fade.
Starting from her feet...
Then her fingertips...
She crumbled into fragments that scattered away like dust in the wind.
As though being dragged away by fate itself, the little girl spoke through tears.
"...What should I do?"
"...*&%#..."
"...They said I can't..."
...Is this what happiness feels like?
But only for a moment.
A single golden thread was pulled from the tip of the girl's finger.
Her eyes shook violently.
Bzzzt...
Static distorted her voice.
Most of her words were impossible to understand.
Except for one sentence that burned itself into his mind.
"Remember me."
"You have to be born..."
"...and protect Daddy..."
"Daddy...?"
It wasn't the joyful voice from before.
It was filled with terror.
The pure white world was instantly dyed black and crimson.
The little girl's body...
...began to shatter.
Her final cry was filled with sobs.
Before she could finish speaking—
She exploded into countless fragments.
At that instant—
Ju-heon felt as though a massive hole had been torn open in his chest.
Something precious...
Something irreplaceable...
Had been ripped away from him.
Everything else remained peaceful.
Everything...
Except Ju-heon.
The emptiness consumed him.
Then—
With blinding pain stabbing through his mind—
Ju-heon bolted upright.
"Gasp...!"
He panted heavily.
Cold sweat drenched his entire body.
His heart pounded violently.
It took several seconds before he could gather himself.
The next morning...
Ju-heon took Irene back to the hospital.
Seeing him insist on another examination after only one day, Irene laughed first.
"You're making me get another checkup?"
"Yeah."
"We already checked yesterday."
"...Just in case."
Domajul rubbed its face against Ju-heon's as it climbed onto the bed.
Beside him, Irene slept peacefully.
She smiled faintly and reached for Ju-heon's hand.
That couldn't have been just a dream.
"You want another examination because of that strange dream you had yesterday, don't you?"
"..."
"It was only a dream. They say pregnant women have all kinds of strange dreams."
But Ju-heon buried those thoughts.
Because Irene was smiling.
Because she said everything would be fine.
Inside the examination room, the doctor chuckled as he prepared the equipment.
Ju-heon said nothing.
I hope it was only a dream.
I hope Irene's right.
"Well, since you're already here, let's take another look. Everything will be fine."
Irene walked toward the reception desk first.
Ju-heon silently watched her from behind.
Something...
...continued to bother him.
The sensation still lingering in the palm of his hand.
"Heh heh, we already confirmed it yesterday. You're quite the worried father-to-be."
"...Just one more examination."
"Very well. I'm sure the baby will feel reassured seeing both Mom and Dad again."
Irene lay down on the examination bed.
The doctor placed the ultrasound probe against her abdomen.
The monitor flickered to life.
For a long moment...
The doctor said nothing.
Ju-heon's eyebrows twitched.
The doctor adjusted the probe.
He looked at the screen again.
Adjusted it once more.
Irene's smile slowly disappeared.
Ju-heon remained silent.
Instead, his gaze fixed sharply on the increasingly agitated doctor.
"What is it?"
The laughter had vanished from Irene's voice.
The doctor slowly lowered the probe.
"Please stay calm..."
"...and listen carefully."
"W-What's wrong?"
"...This is the first time we've ever encountered something like this."
"Medically..."
"...it's impossible to explain."
"...What?"
The doctor swallowed hard.
"...The baby..."
"...is gone."
"...What?"
"It was clearly visible yesterday."
"But now..."
"It's disappeared."
"It simply... isn't there anymore."
"Medically..."
"...there's no explanation for this."
The doctor's voice gradually faded from Ju-heon's ears.
Eventually, Irene left the examination room, barely able to stand.
She tightly gripped Ju-heon's arm.
Even after they returned home...
She was obviously struggling not to cry.
"I'm not crying."
"I know."
"I really am okay."
"...I know."
Ju-heon stared at her for a long time.
Then, as though struck by lightning...
He rushed into another room.
Opening a drawer, he took out a relic.
He then pulled Irene tightly into his arms.
In the living room sat the gift box they had bought the previous day after confirming the pregnancy.
Inside the opened box...
...was a tiny pair of baby shoes.
Shoes that would never be worn.
Ju-heon clenched his teeth.
Someone who loses their parents becomes an orphan.
Someone who loses their spouse becomes a widow or widower.
The world has words for every kind of loss.
But...
There is no word for someone who loses a child.
No language.
No culture.
Because no name can ever contain that kind of grief.
[Eileithyia's Thread (A-Rank / Consumable Relic)]
A relic left behind by the Goddess of Childbirth and Life.Connected to an unborn child and capable of sensing its condition.
This relic had a story behind it.
Not long ago...
Julian had stormed over to Ju-heon in a rage.
"Seo Ju-heon."
"What the hell is this?"
"What? Are you blind? It's a relic."
"That's not what I mean!"
"Why are you threatening a childbirth relic?!"
Julian glared at him.
Someone had reported that Ju-heon had been intimidating the Goddess of Childbirth's relic, demanding that it guarantee he would have a daughter.
Julian had been speechless for a while.
"...So you are aware of how insane that sounds."
"Does it have to be a daughter?"
"What are you, some hopeless daughter-obsessed father?"
"No."
"I'd be happy with a son too."
"Then what's the problem?"
"Nothing."
"But..."
Ju-heon answered with rare seriousness.
He looked genuinely afraid.
"If it's a daughter..."
"...maybe the world won't end."
"...Hah."
"If the kid takes after Irene, a son would be fine too."
"Irene's also a walking disaster."
"..."
"If my son takes after me..."
"...the world's doomed."
"..."
This apocalypse couple...
In the end, Julian confiscated the relic.
Well...
More accurately, he returned it later after making Ju-heon promise not to use it for threats.
But none of that mattered now.
Ju-heon activated the relic.
[Eileithyia's Thread Activated.]
[Searching for target...]
"...What?"
[The child cannot be born.]
[The target has moved elsewhere.]
Ju-heon slowly closed his eyes.
Please don't be dead.
Please...
'Moved elsewhere'?
[Search Complete.]
[Target Status: Alive.]
A fierce light flashed through Ju-heon's eyes.
His resolution to become a gentle father...
...didn't even last a single day.
But that couldn't be helped.
Because what he needed now...
...wasn't gentleness.
He exhaled heavily.
Alive.
That one word alone was enough.
But—
Someone touched my child.
That alone...
...was enough.
Then another thought refused to leave his mind.
[What a shame... A catastrophe has arrived.]
[It's unfortunate—and terrifying—but this was merely a preview.]
[Even greater disasters will continue to come.]
[You postponed your choice. Very well.]
[Though I believe you'll come to regret it.]
The message spoke with complete confidence.
As though it already knew exactly how humans would act.
Yesterday's crimson message...
If this isn't the work of some relic...
There's no other explanation.
So...
Was it your doing?
The crimson window appeared again.
[Even now, if you choose your policy as the Majesty...]
[Humanity can still be protected.]
[So choose one of the three options—]
Just as I thought.
The red message returned.
At the same time...
Ju-heon burst into laughter.
"You never even considered..."
"...that I'd choose a fourth option."
Ding!
"...Excuse me?"