Chapter 171

I’ve arrived at the bottom.

Common sense would suggest I should’ve landed on the water surface, but instead, all I see is the broken remains of the Main Hall of Cheonma Church.

Looking up, there’s a hole in the half-collapsed structure. Lowering my gaze again, I check the surroundings.

It’s cold here, with faint whiffs of burnt smell lingering in the air. This place… it’s where Cheonma died.

Maybe I’ll see Cheonma here.

Since I recognize the location instantly, I head toward it. But he’s not here. Just an empty ruin marked by a black streak behind where his body once lay.

Nothing interesting around either.

Far off, I can see a white fortress and, on the opposite side, a house. Figuring I might as well explore this strange place, I move toward them, but debris blocks the way. When I try to touch it, my hand just meets the wall—can’t pass through.

Guess that means I can’t go there.

So, let’s head for the tower then.

I keep walking. Maybe if I walk far enough, I’ll find the house from the second world again.

Following what looks like a path, I take step after step.

Clomp clomp.

Comparing my pace to how I remember things, it feels so different now. At this rate, it’ll take forever.

Walking along, I’m reminded of how much stronger I was back when I was Choseol.

And then there’s a door standing alone. Behind it should be a cliff, but when I open it, there’s a cylindrical space glowing with a pale yellow light.

This is the entrance to Kunlun.

A narrow corridor floats in the middle. As I step inside, I pause and look back. Far away, another door connected to some other place appears. The sides are sealed off.

It suddenly dawns on me—I won’t see Soo-oh here.

Of course.

That’s right.

With renewed determination, I continue forward. Normally, passing through this door should lead to Kunlun, but nothing about this space has been normal so far.

Instead of Kunlun’s interior, there’s a small door at the end of the tunnel.

Opening it reveals something truly bizarre.

A distorted sphere hangs suspended in midair, and the sky above is filled with objects caught mid-fall, frozen in time.

Like a snapshot of the last moments with the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign, everything is frozen.

Curious if anyone else will appear, I scan the area. Thinking about how Tungkesuni appeared twice before, maybe the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign will show up again.

But no one comes.

Instead, I notice a girl sitting on a crumbling pavilion not too far from the sphere.

She looks older than me now, with long purple hair. A figure I’ve never actually seen because… well, she’s using the body I used until my final moments.

None other than Choseol.

I approach her.

“Hello.”

“Yes, hello.”

Her tone oddly mirrors mine. Or maybe… could this not be Choseol but me?

While contemplating this, she stares blankly at me. Deciding silence won’t get us anywhere, I point to the distant castle.

“I’m trying to get over there. Do you know the way?”

She stands up and walks toward the twisted space, grabbing onto the void as if pulling back a curtain to reveal a locked door.

Choseol glances at me, reaches into her chest, and pulls out a key.

Approaching me, she takes my arm, places the key in my palm, and gently closes my fingers around it.

I clutch the key.

Most people I meet here are weird. They act unlike themselves. No warmth, no light. Likely just illusions.

Daegon and the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign were unsettling, but they’re transcendent beings, so who knows?

Maybe it’s because the memories are too vast…

As I think this, Choseol suddenly hugs me.

Though devoid of warmth, her soft bosom presses against me briefly before letting go.

She taps my shoulder twice, then walks past me without looking back, vanishing as soon as she crosses the barrier I couldn’t.

Examining the key, I notice engraved letters spelling “warmth.”

Now I have three keys: one with its word erased, one labeled “anger,” and this new one labeled “warmth.”

Shall we try them in order?

The erased-word key doesn’t fit, even though there’s clearly a slot. It seems like it doesn’t belong here.

So, I insert the anger key.

It clicks open immediately. Once inserted, the key can’t be removed—it melds perfectly into the lock.

Normally, shouldn’t the next key follow? Recall Tisah giving me the first key, saying it was needed to overcome a wall. That key labeled “despair” turned out to be for starting a train instead.

Is this place governed by rules or am I missing something? Either way, let’s keep moving forward.

Opening the door, I step inside.

It’s the platform where I first arrived.

Only the direction of the tracks has changed. The route I took coming here from the first world is gone, replaced by a track leading into a cliffside tunnel.

I climb aboard the steam locomotive again.

No one greets me this time. Guess I need to head to the engine room and turn the key again.

Speaking of which, how’s the passenger car? Earlier, Eunjai blocked my way.

Grasping the handle to the passenger car door, I twist it. It won’t budge. Checking for a keyhole, there isn’t one.

Is this object simply non-interactive?

Reluctantly, I return to the engine room. Nothing’s changed since last time.

Except the key that should’ve been locked in is missing, and the lock is sealed again.

I try inserting the unnamed key. Nope. The warmth key fits instead.

A comically exaggerated car ignition sound plays, and the train starts moving again.

Still no sensation of inertia. Entering the tunnel, we emerge shortly after into the ruins of a temple.

This is where I was summoned.

In this unnatural setting, a platform and steam locomotive sit where only cylindrical walls existed before. Coal fills the train, confirming it’s a steam engine, though it emits neither steam nor sound. Is it really a steam engine, or is my memory lacking someone who’s ridden one?

In a dreamlike world, perhaps unknown concepts cannot manifest.

Once the train fully stops, I enter the passenger car via the platform door. Surprisingly, it opens easily.

Inside, rows of chairs fill the empty compartment. Searching for anything unusual yields nothing. Opening the rear door reveals the tracks the train came from.

Nothing more to see here.

Stepping off the train, sunlight streams through a circular hole in the ceiling, revealing a massive shadow.

A 7.5-meter fishman towers above me, extending a hand downward.

Its expressionless face suggests intent. Trusting it, I climb onto its palm, and it lifts me high.

Recalling Victoria helping me ascend earlier, I step off its hand, prompting the fishman to sit cross-legged like a child.

Leaving it behind, I move forward.

What originally required descending a hill and walking along the coast to reach the port now shows the port immediately after the hill. It’s strangely compressed, showing only the dock.

Looks like I’m supposed to wait for a ship.

Standing at the dock, a ship approaches directly toward me.

Oddly, it doesn’t slow down, barreling straight toward the platform.

Will it hit me?

The ship crashes into the platform but instead of harming me, it crumples, revealing a door inside.

Who’s the director here?

Despite being warped, the door opens smoothly when pulled.

Expecting Bern City, surprisingly, a royal castle appears. Even more shockingly, Aurora’s bedroom is visible.

Indeed, Aurora lies in the large bed within.

What will Aurora say upon waking?

Approaching her, she doesn’t stir, even when shaken. Though breathing, she lacks warmth or light like everyone else here.

Scanning the surroundings…

All doors so far have pointed toward the castle. If no castle is visible, this must be it. Peering out the window confirms a distant castle.

Following the only rule thus far, there’s a door. Opening it leads inside.

It’s Victoria’s bedroom. Victoria sleeps soundly in the bed, her blanket askew, the room messy.

Unconsciously tidying up, I cover her with the blanket.

The castle seen so far is visible through the window. Time to head that way.

Opening the window leads not to the Royal Academy as expected, but to a tall, unnaturally black wall.

It’s pitch black, like the darkest paint, devoid of depth.

Beyond the wall, a white castle looms.

Standing near the wall…

A girl with a long skull-topped cane grins eerily.

Tungkesuni.

She glares at me from her position by the wall.

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