Resurrection Chapter 53 - Nothing Went Wrong, Did It?

Light flowed toward him, and his body parts, torn and scattered in all directions, gathered inside the glowing cocoon. The time it took for the cocoon to disappear had shortened, so Heesoo hyung was revived in an instant and reappeared.

By that time, all of Heesoo hyung’s equipment had burned away, leaving nothing behind. Only his weapon, the greatsword, remained intact; he was stark naked.

His naked form, rising from the scattered ashes, was flawless and perfect. The experience points that accumulated each time he died and was revived were making his body stronger and stronger.

I swallowed my dry saliva and hoped that this time, Heesoo hyung would finally defeat the archdemon. Having died and been revived ten times and even acquiring a new title, I expected that something might be different.

This time, Heesoo hyung lasted for nearly ten minutes.

That was all.

Heesoo hyung died again.

It was the eleventh time.

👑

With a blank stare, I looked back on the words I had said.

‘It’s not with baseless confidence that I say I’ll make Heesoo hyung the savior of this world. Don’t be surprised. I actually… have a revival skill.’

Heesoo hyung, who had shown little reaction to my passionate speech, showed a faint curiosity at the mention of a revival skill. He looked at me with eyes full of doubt, and I, happy to have made eye contact with him, said,

‘That’s right! The skill everyone thought didn’t exist, the skill that can bring the dead back to life. I have that, Resurrection.’

‘…Is that really true?’

‘You don’t think I’d lie about something like this, do you? I have Resurrection, and it’s going to make Heesoo hyung reach the max level. Even if you die and come back to life, your experience is preserved, and you can be revived again and again no matter how many times you die, so you can level up in a short amount of time! Then it’s not just some wild fantasy for Heesoo hyung to defeat the Black King and save the world. Heesoo hyung can really become the savior!’

The words I had spouted back then were remarks made without any consideration for the pain Heesoo hyung would have to endure, dying and being revived countless times until he reached the max level.

Of course, in my own way, I thought I knew. That’s why I chose Heesoo hyung and no one else. Because I thought only Heesoo hyung, who had been a holy warrior, could overcome numerous adversities and hardships to reach the max level.

I believed that no one else but him could endure such a sacrifice for the sake of saving the world, something that had nothing to do with personal glory.

My belief that no one but Heesoo hyung could withstand the ordeal of resurrection remained unchanged even now. It’s just that I had never considered the specific nature of the ordeal Heesoo hyung would have to face.

No matter how strong Heesoo hyung is, this is too much.

There couldn’t possibly be anyone in the world who could endure the pain of being burned, having their limbs torn apart, and their body crushed dozens of times, only to be revived and die again.

Sitting in a daze, I watched Heesoo hyung fighting fiercely on the other side of the pillar of fire.

Nearly an hour had already passed since he was revived. The time he could hold out against the Scorching Archdemon was gradually getting longer. Since he had already surpassed level 60, it was, in a way, a given.

However, the longer he held out, the more pain he seemed to have to endure. When he was first trapped in the prison of fire with the archdemon, he was killed instantly in a single blow, without even a fight. The pain was probably brief.

But as Heesoo hyung grew stronger with each revival, he had to endure the agony of his skin burning and his bones being crushed by the mace. He endured and endured while suffering all sorts of torment, only to die in the end.

“Kraaaaaaah!”

Heesoo hyung’s desperate scream jolted me out of my daze. His left arm was torn off and flew through the air. The left arm hit a pillar of fire, turned into a ball of fire, and fell to the ground, and Heesoo hyung gushed blood like water from below his left shoulder.

His right arm, holding the greatsword, was trembling. It looked like a struggle just to hold the sword, which was meant to be wielded with two hands, with only one.

In fact, the very act of standing was a miracle.

His right eye had popped out earlier, and his ear was half torn and tattered. His ribs must have been all broken from being kicked, and the ankle of his left foot was twisted at a strange angle. Not only was his entire body a mess of ash and blood, but patches of his flesh were melted and oozing fluid.

I shed more tears, though I thought I had none left to cry.

The tears continuously blurred my vision of Heesoo hyung, but I still saw him aiming his greatsword at the Scorching Archdemon even in that state.

Even the Scorching Archdemon must have felt a sense of respect for Heesoo hyung’s fighting spirit. Instead of attacking Heesoo hyung mercilessly as it had been, the archdemon, for some reason, just stared at him.

However, it was clear that even that silence wasn’t of much help to Heesoo hyung. As if the sudden lull was painful, Heesoo hyung’s whole body trembled violently.

“…”

I realized that Heesoo hyung, standing there and enduring, was letting out a groan he himself wasn’t even aware of. The faint, barely audible groan was almost like a sob.

It was excruciating to just stand there and listen to that sound. I wanted to do something, anything, to alleviate his pain or heal his wounds, but just as Teleport didn’t work on Heesoo hyung who was targeted by the archdemon, no outside help was allowed. Only Resurrection was possible because it was a skill used after Heesoo hyung’s death.

Even though I could save Heesoo hyung with the revival skill that was thought to be impossible, I was plagued by a terrible sense of powerlessness. The fairy dust had miraculously increased my MP recovery speed, and the time Heesoo hyung could hold out was gradually getting longer, to the point where I could now revive him without potions, but it didn’t matter.

The fact that I was the one who had driven Heesoo hyung to this state was agonizing. Overcome with shame, I covered my face with both hands. Simply closing my eyes wasn’t enough to turn away from Heesoo hyung’s pain, so I rubbed the ash on my hands onto my eyelids and covered my eyes with my hands. I groaned like an animal, wishing I would go blind.

From behind me, Min Gongchan spoke in a troubled voice.

“Do you understand now? What you are demanding of Seo Heesoo…”

“Ugh… ughk…”

“This is just the beginning. Much more pain awaits Seo Heesoo until he reaches the max level.”

“Ugh… ughhhk…”

“It’s all because of you, Kim Yitae.”

Each and every one of Min Gongchan’s words, which I had previously dismissed, now pierced my ears like daggers. Feeling as if my heart was being hacked to pieces, I shot up from my spot and lunged at Min Gongchan.

“Aaaaaaaargh!”

I punched Min Gongchan in the face and knocked him down. I rained punches on Min Gongchan, who had fallen onto the ash, breaking his nose and drawing blood, while spewing curses.

“Bastard! This… this is all your fault! This was your goal from the beginning! Your goal was to trap Heesoo hyung, and me, in a trap!”

Min Gongchan couldn’t deny it. He didn’t resist either. He just took it, as if to say I could do as I pleased if it would soothe my feelings even a little.

Because he was an ordinary person, Min Gongchan’s face was completely smashed after just a few punches. As I felt the bones shatter under my fist, the Golden Emperor, apparently deciding it had gone too far, sent a message to stop me.

—The Golden Emperor tells you to calm down. He warns that if you continue, you will kill Min Gongchan.

“Die… die, you fucking asshole! Die, die!”

—The Golden Emperor points out, just who is this anger directed at? If it is anger toward yourself, he sighs deeply and says that’s enough.

The Golden Emperor was right. The one I wanted to hit was myself. I wished someone would hit me like this. I hoped that by doing so, I could bear even a hundredth of the pain Heesoo hyung had to endure.

Of course, it was just a futile delusion. My punches were nothing more than a meaningless outlet for my anger. Min Gongchan had simply made me realize a reality I didn’t know.

Seeing my tear-stained face, Min Gongchan moved his busted lips and spoke unclearly.

“Do you want Seo Heesoo to go through all that to grant your wish?”

I silently shook my head. The tears that had pooled on my chin scattered around.

Whether it bothered him or not, Min Gongchan, who hadn’t lifted a finger while being beaten, raised his hand. With that hand, he wiped away the tears streaming down my chin.

“Give up on Seo Heesoo now. Give up on wanting to save the world, too. You can’t create a savior through resurrection. Such a thing doesn’t exist.”

I could no longer argue with Min Gongchan’s words. It was impossible to make Heesoo hyung reach the max level. The pain Heesoo hyung had to endure was one thing, but I didn’t have the confidence to watch it. For the sake of no one else but myself, I had to take back my request for Heesoo hyung to become the savior.

I was on the verge of saying I would give up.

Just then.

「An enemy, but… I respect you! I will… at least… the power of fire…! If you would back down… I will acknowledge it…!」