Resurrection Chapter 11 - Me? Kim Yitae!

Due to everything happening so nonchalantly, I could not immediately grasp the situation. It was only after seeing the tip of the machete protruding from Heesoo’s back and his paling profile that I realized what was happening.

“Heesoo hyung!”

I screamed as if it were a cry of anguish, reaching out toward Heesoo hyung. I intended to grab him and teleport immediately. However, Team A, which had been lined up around me, was faster.

Before I knew it, the guys who had cunningly surrounded me grabbed my body and pulled me back. At the same time, they kicked my magic sword, sending it flying far away.

Kim Mina locked my head tightly in a headlock under her armpit, while the others twisted my hands behind my back. Completely immobilized, I shouted.

“Heesoo hyung! Hyung, Heesoo hyung―!”

Ignoring my desperate cries, Yoon Younghyun violently twisted the machete he had thrust into Heesoo hyung’s stomach upward. Heesoo hyung’s body convulsed, his face turning deathly pale. Standing close to him, Yoon Younghyun muttered bitterly.

“…I didn’t want to kill you in front of Yitae sunbae.”

“….”

Heesoo hyung did not let out a single scream. Perhaps he did, but I might not have heard it. A ringing tinnitus―eeeee―echoed in my ears, and the sounds of the world grew distant.

Amid the disorienting noise, I stared at Heesoo hyung with wide eyes. Heesoo hyung was looking back at me. His expression, a mix of shock and confusion, carried a trace of a plea.

As our eyes met, my heart began to pound loudly. Blood rushed through my veins with excitement and horror, my face flushing and my breathing becoming rapid.

My entire body felt as if it were burning with an unidentifiable pain. It was as if the one pierced by the machete in the jungle was not Heesoo hyung, but me.

Yoon Younghyun lifted the machete upward with tremendous force. Heesoo hyung’s chest split open, blood gushing out in waves. Splattered by the fountain of blood, Yoon Younghyun murmured.

“To seize this opportunity, Seo Heesoo, you’re still too strong.”

“…Ugh.”

Heesoo hyung let out a faint groan and weakly lowered his eyelids. Watching the scene frozen in place, I thrashed about like a madman.

“Yoon Younghyun! What the hell are you doing, aagh, aaaaaaagh!”

I screamed and flailed, but Kim Mina’s sturdy biceps firmly held my head. The other hands restraining me were equally unyielding. Losing all reason, I roared like a beast.

“Let me go! I said let go! You bastard! I’ll kill you all! I’ll kill you all!”

Yoon Younghyun must have resolved to finish the job thoroughly. Even after Heesoo hyung’s head slumped, he did not release the weapon for some time. He shook Heesoo hyung, who was impaled like a fish on a harpoon, several times to ensure he bled sufficiently. Only then did he pull the weapon from Heesoo hyung’s body.

Thud!

Heesoo hyung’s corpse collapsed to the ground, and Yoon Younghyun crouched down to check his pulse. After carefully doing so for a while and confirming that Heesoo hyung’s breathing had stopped, he stood up. Then, looking at me crying a torrent of tears, he spoke in a tone that suggested he was deeply sorry.

“You must hate me right now, but I didn’t accept the contract to kill Seo Heesoo just because I was crazed for money. If Yitae sunbae and Seo Heesoo hadn’t shown up here today, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Uuuugh, aaaaaaaagh!”

Yoon Younghyun’s rambling words barely registered in my ears. However, unlike the shocked onlookers, Kang Cheoljun’s oddly calm demeanor caught my attention. He sighed and said something I couldn’t comprehend.

“So the intelligence was true. Someone’s been recklessly putting out contracts to kill Seo Heesoo.”

Yoon Younghyun countered with a question.

“Then you must know why I took the contract to kill him.”

“I heard the story, but I couldn’t believe it was true…”

As they muttered among themselves, Younghyun suddenly turned to look at me. Despite having killed Heesoo hyung, he spoke with a pitying expression, as if he felt sorry for me.

“Seo Heesoo is dead. Let’s give up and go back.”

He gestured with his chin to Kim Mina, and the arm squeezing my head tightened. As the pressure on my temples made my head throb and my vision darken, I realized they intended to knock me out and drag me away in preparation for retaliation. I resorted to my final option.

“Your Majesty! Help me, come to me right now!”

I called out to the Golden Emperor, and an immediate response came.

―The Golden Emperor answers your call.

Following the brief message, an excruciating pain tore through my body. A tremendous energy surged within me, exploding outward.

Boom!

A torrent of golden light burst forth, causing Kim Mina to lose her grip and fly sideways. The others restraining me from behind met the same fate.

I was free, but I couldn’t rejoice in that fact. The unbearable pain consuming my entire body prevented it.

In contrast, my outward expression was emotionless. The one controlling my body now was not the pain-stricken me.

It was none other than my god, the Golden Emperor.

Seeing the immense energy radiating from my entire body, Yoon Younghyun shouted in shock.

“Yitae sunbae, could it be…!”

Even Kang Cheoljun recoiled in alarm.

“Is that possession?!”

The Golden Emperor, descended into a lowly human body, did not deign to converse with beings lesser than insects. He simply fulfilled my desires.

When he extended his hand to the side, the magic sword, which had been flung far away, flew back into his grasp. He swung the sword lightly, as if wielding a mere reed.

Swooooosh!

Boom!

A storm-like wave of energy swept through, sending everything around flying. The already scarce ruins crumbled completely, and overgrown grass fell, screaming.

Naturally, Yoon Younghyun, Kang Cheoljun, Team A members, and the terrified onlookers were blown several meters away, tumbling to the ground. Only Heesoo hyung’s corpse, lying on the ground, remained untouched.

The Golden Emperor, emanating a shimmering golden aura, walked toward Heesoo hyung. The grass beneath his feet, unable to withstand the immense energy, turned to black ash and scattered.

After taking a few steps, the Golden Emperor looked down at Heesoo hyung, now reduced to a mere lump of flesh. Without any complex casting, he softly chanted.

“Resurrection.”

👑

How long had I been trapped here…?

I couldn’t remember.

Based on my senses, it felt like a moment, yet also like an eternity.

Whether it was a second ago, a minute ago, or an hour ago, the past is irreversible once it has passed. If so, whether I was trapped here for a night, a year, or several years didn’t matter.

Seo Heesoo raised the worn-out greatsword.

The cave entrance, caked with blood, bodily fluids, flesh, and brain matter, was once again growing noisy. It was undoubtedly monsters rushing in, craving his blood and flesh.

This demon lair endlessly produced monsters. Like respawns in a game, no matter how many he killed, they kept coming.

Fortunately, the narrow cave where Seo Heesoo was could not accommodate larger monsters. If the swarming beasts outside could attack him, even someone like him wouldn’t have survived.

In truth, it was hard to believe he was still alive. It had been a long time since he ran out of water and food, and even the extreme hunger and thirst had faded.

Yet he was still alive and still fighting. Thanks to that, he viscerally understood that an Awakener’s vitality surpassed that of a human.

Among those who became Awakeners in the old era, none had died of natural causes. Once integrated into the Awakener system, aging slowed significantly.

Seo Heesoo was also an old-generation Awakener, awakened before the end of the Western calendar. By age, he was nearing fifty, but his appearance remained that of someone in their twenties.

Because of this, some believed Awakeners were immortal. However, in reality, their average lifespan was shorter than that of ordinary people. Most didn’t survive past their thirties, and some died as early as their teens.

This was because, once chosen as a god’s apostle as an Awakener, there was no avoiding battles with monsters. Even if one wasn’t a hunter, the system forced Awakeners to risk their lives in dungeons.

In the face of monsters’ brutal and overwhelming power, an Awakener’s remarkable vitality was as fragile as a fly’s life. Even Seo Heesoo, once a holy warrior, was no exception. If he left this cave, massive beasts would swallow him whole.

If only that would bring relief, why was he hiding in this cramped cave, struggling to survive…?

He had sinned and fallen. Even the goddess had abandoned him, and the title of holy warrior had vanished.

Above all, he had lost his faith. He could no longer be just, nor did he want to be. All that remained was an empty shell, and he didn’t know what he was living for.

Yet why was he still struggling to survive?