Chapter 58
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[You have selected ‘The Final Fortress: Hermadion.’]
[Chapter 11, The Final Fortress: Hermadion ▼]
The moment of destruction comes for everyone.
And now, Hermadion remains as the Empire’s final bastion.
Over 90% of the Empire’s territory has been devastated into blackened land,
and the survivors have fled to Hermadion, where the harshest winter exists.
Now, the Belgiman Empire endures with only Hermadion remaining.
This place is a great castle, a great stronghold… Hermadion.
You are in the position of helping Hermadion endure.
For one month, defend Hermadion.
Which post will you take?
[〉 Outer Wall
[〉 Inner Wall
[〉 Recon Unit
[〉 Medical Corps
[〉 Forge
※ Posts may change depending on progression.
—
Lee Hoin and I selected the Outer Wall.
—
[You have selected ‘Outer Wall.’]
[You have become a guard stationed at the Outer Wall.]
[The narrator’s negligence may well be the beginning of all destruction.]
[It is night. The time when your senses must be most alert.]
[Synchronization: 1%]
—
When I opened my eyes, we were standing inside a large hall. There were many people besides Lee Hoin and me. Even though we hadn’t lined up ourselves, we were already standing in formation.
At the front platform stood a tall, well-built middle-aged woman with brown hair tinged with gray. Anyone could tell from her presence alone… ‘I’m in charge here.’ She lifted her tired eyes and checked the document in her hands.
‘Hermadion…’
It was a merit-based system. Strength and capability came first, no matter what.
Even if someone had been a beggar scavenging in the back alleys just yesterday, if they proved themselves, they would immediately rise to a high position.
In a place constantly worn down by siege after siege, where both people and talent were continually filtered, this kind of radical personnel system was almost inevitable. Growing old here simply meant you had survived. That saying fits perfectly.
I recognized that character.
—
[You have encountered a character from ‘The Ruined World.’]
[‘Johanna Wolf’ has been added to the ‘Character Encyclopedia.’ Only actions up to the current chapters are recorded.]
[Johanna Wolf of ‘The Ruined World’ (World’s □□□)]
Importance: 4/5
□□□: 0/5
<Records>
This is a character whose actions are only confirmed in certain chapters.
Search for a chapter below to track their actions.
—
Johanna Wolf.
The reason her importance was high was simple. She escaped this world, her own world. Normally, that was unprecedented.
There are several ways to escape a world. It’s not impossible.
First, to die. Quite literally, to have your story taken away and the final page of it marked with “died.”
Second, to become a ‘Third Party.’ To transcend entirely and become something beyond.
Third, to cross into another world through an open passage like this one and be assimilated there.
Fourth, to become an agent of a ‘Third Party.’
There were these methods. And they all had one thing in common.
‘To be recorded as dead in the world you originally belonged to.’
The moment one became an agent, they were no longer someone belonging to their original world, but someone belonging to the new world of the ‘Third Party.’ Thus, all their records were transferred, and in their original world, they were marked as “dead.”
A ‘Third Party’ transcends the world entirely, so the world itself revolves around them. Rather, the world becomes subordinate to the ‘Third Party.’
And Johanna was none of these.
More precisely, by the first method, she was recorded as “dead” in her original world… but in reality, she did not die.
In that sense, Johanna’s escape was… peculiar.
‘Her world recognized her as dead.’
But she herself left without dying. Without losing her story. Of course, she did lose her physical body.
The way Johanna escaped was, surprisingly, simple… and somewhat of a loophole.
‘Becoming someone’s summoned creature. And then…’
That person broke the contract the moment they left the world. A summoned creature that is no longer a summoned creature should naturally disappear, but she did not.
Instead, she devoured the story of her former contractor and became an ‘existence.’ Now she was known as Johanna, but…
‘From the moment she took on someone else’s story…’
She used that person’s name. And as a seasoned veteran, she rampaged through the apocalypse. She never quite became Sa Jaeheon’s companion, but if he called, she wouldn’t ignore him either.
—
“Those with titles are important. If you die, the world I’ve newly obtained will collapse. So… you must live.”
—
With that belief.
I quietly scanned the hall.
Johanna wasn’t the only one I was looking for.
A small-framed girl with short hair. The chances of her being here were low. If it were her, she would’ve volunteered for the medical corps instead.
Still… just in case.
Maybe there were other characters I knew here besides her.
Just as I was about to look around…
Johanna set down her documents and opened her mouth.
“Nice to meet you, hatchlings. This is your grave, or the ashes from which you will crawl out alive.”
Her voice wasn’t loud, but it resonated powerfully. Not just her voice, her towering height of over two meters was intimidating enough that no one dared oppose her.
Even those who had been standing absentmindedly snapped into attention at her words.
‘They’ve probably adapted to these worlds by now.’
When entering an event, resisting was no different from throwing away your life.
‘Johanna isn’t an agent or a guide, so she won’t kill you if you behave… but still.’
Honestly, would you want to pick a fight with a muscular giant over two meters tall? Not me. If you want to get torn in half, go ahead.
“As you know, I will explain again. This place, Hermadion, is the Belgiman Empire’s final fortress… the last blue ember. If we fall, the Empire falls. No, the human race falls. The ground you stand on is that kind of place.”
Johanna stepped forward from the platform.
“You will be sacrificed. While others sleep, you will stand atop the walls, staring into the unseen darkness, offering your youth. Day and night, you will fight off the grotesque monsters pushing in, losing limbs in the process.”
With sharp eyes, she scanned the lined-up ranks. Among them were true inhabitants of this world… and others like Lee Hoin and me who had entered through the passage.
She didn’t distinguish between them. She probably recognized it, but she was a major NPC of this world.
She was the Outer Wall commander. And she fought personally. After all, this world was under real threat, and as a general of Hermadion, she had her role to fulfill.
“You may give your lives in vain. The comrade who fought beside you yesterday may have their limbs torn apart and meet a miserable end before your eyes today.”
She calmly listed the things we would witness on the outer wall.
The deaths of comrades. The constant threat to life. Things that had been close to Johanna throughout her life.
“But.”
She stopped.
Standing firm, she looked down at those in formation from the center. She met each person’s gaze… briefly, even mine.
“Hessel remembers your sacrifice.”
Hessel… the record hall at the center of Hermadion. It recorded everything: when and where monsters attacked, how they were repelled, the number of casualties, and the wounded. A place where records were written without pause.
The history of Hermadion, and the clearest proof that it still lived.
It was cold and impersonal, recording even countless deaths as mere numbers. And yet, Johanna said…
“Hessel, Hermadion, and I, Johanna Wolf, remember every moment of your youth.”
As if mourning the young people stationed on the outer wall, their lives flickering like candles in the wind, and at the same time making a vow for their sake.
“How you stay awake, what emotions fill you as you stare beyond the walls, what thoughts you carry as you fight the monsters, what kind of lives you have lived, what your names are.”
It was a resonance.
Because she wasn’t telling us to devote ourselves…
She made it so we couldn’t help but devote ourselves.
“I remember everything. I do not forget. What I can give in return for your sacrifice is a record close to eternity. Memory. As one who stands at the very core of Hermadion, I will not let your sacrifice be in vain.”
Beside me, Lee Hoin clenched his fist tightly.
“I will always be grateful for your sacrifice. I will rejoice more than anyone in your survival. If you take up arms, I will bleed at the very front. So–”
Johanna’s voice rang out.
“Live. Do not die. Do not lose to the harsh winter. Do not be consumed by the darkness. Do not become intoxicated by blood and slaughter.”
Become human willingly, and take up your weapon willingly. Not for Hermadion, but for yourself.
—
[Synchronization: 5%]
—
…Damn it.
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