Chapter 127 - Memory Garden 4 (1/2)
Yoon Taewoo desperately stopped Woohyuk.
‘I remember. You were always this kind of person.’
Someone who cared more about others than himself.
After he would be discharged, he said he would become a philanthropist.
”I'm sorry.”
”Huh? What…”
Yoon Taewoo couldn't keep up.
Woohyuk struck a vital spot on his nape with a chop.
'I don't want to see you die again.'
This was just a world of images unfolded by the advanced magic circle, but it still mattered to him.
'Even if he doesn't die, he will only interfere with Kim Jinwoo’s subjugation.'
This imaginary world has a high level of implementation, so even if he didn’t actually take damage, there was the possibility that he would receive mental damage.
Therefore, he had to be careful not to be shot and eliminate all the unnecessary variables as much as possible.
As Woohyuk came out of the dormitory with his sword, Kim Jinwoo, who was standing in the hallway, pointed a muzzle at him from a distance.
“Sergeant Chun.”
Kim Jinwoo called Woohyuk in a somewhat trembling voice.
The appearance of someone who had always been kind to him seemed to have created an inner conflict.
But Woohyuk already knew that it wouldn't last long.
“There’s this thought I always had whenever I saw you.”
“…That I’m pitiful? That it’s painful to watch? Yes, you must have. Sergeant Chun did everything well and everyone liked you. That is why I must have looked like a wounded lamb, who only desired a single compliment.”
For Kim Jinwoo, Woohyuk was the object of longing.
A good leader that was just and recognized by all.
But he could never be like that. Kim Jinwoo was frustrated because the gap that could not be filled was so immense.
As a result, the newly sprouted emotion in his heart was anger.
It was a feeling of contempt for him who had enjoyed everything unlike himself.
“Yes, those were the thoughts I had in the past. But now, the greatest feeling I have is regret.”
“Regret? That you shouldn’t have been kind to a scumbag like me? Haha… Indeed, Sergeant Chun is always innocent. You have always been exemplary in military life.”
“No, that’s wrong.”
He regretted not giving Kim Jinwoo cold and harsh advice at least once.
He had only acted kind towards him, but that didn’t give any practical help or advice.
At Woohyuk's reminiscent words, Kim Jinwoo laughed.
“You finally realized your hypocrisy. Yes, that is correct. Your very existence was a pain to me. I wouldn't have been so desperate if you had gotten mad at me like the other seniors.”
It was painful for him to have Woohyuk watch all of his shortcomings.
So he had decided to destroy everything.
Everything, including his own idol.
“Anyway, you've gone down the wrong path, so now there is only one thing I can do.”
“Try stopping me if you can! I will never fall until I kill all the hypocrites in this unit!”
Kim Jinwoo's eyes were colored with madness.
He started firing the K2 rifle at Woohyuk.
Bang bang bang bang!
Empty cartridges constantly fell on the stone floor.
It was an urgent situation.
However, Woohyuk walked toward Kim Jinwoo with a casual expression.
His demonic energy was protecting him from the bullets.
”Die! Die already, motherfucker!”
“You didn't have to target your anger towards innocent bystanders by expressing your suppressed emotions like this.”
Click. Click.
The 5.56mm caliber bullets loaded in the K2 rifle had run out.
When Kim Jinwoo urgently tried to replace the magazine, Woohyuk's hand flew over and grabbed him by the neck.
“Argh… ! Urgh... !”
“I can't even remember how many times I’ve killed you like this now. But I never forgot to say this to you at the last moment.”
‘You have to keep surviving using that courage to commit suicide of yours.’
After whispering that, Woohyuk put strength in his hand.
Crack.
With a broken neck, Kim Jinwoo's body was drooping like a marionette with broken threads.
'I will try my best not to let my vassals end up like you.'
A victim who couldn’t escape from his own mindset and brought destruction to everyone around him. Someone who brought misfortune to others.
Woohyuk had realized the dangers of it through the last shooting incident.
Because of this, he always raised his vassals firmly and gave cold and harsh advices only.
'This should be enough.'
The reason why this imaginary world had suddenly unfolded was to attack his own psychological weakness.
The first attempt had now failed.
It was difficult to predict how many more trauma attacks would come to him in the future.
After waiting for a while, a flash covered his vision again, and the surrounding landscape changed.
”What are you thinking about?”
He was inside a small hut.
There was only a woman with light blue hair hugging him from behind.
Lucretia.
Woohyuk opened his mouth, feeling her warmth.
”Nothing.”
”Tch… You’re lying…”
Lucretia stuck even closer to him.
“In truth, I was imagining where and what you were doing.”
”What do you mean? I’m here right now.”
“This time we must have arrived at our destination on schedule. And you must be working as a priestess for the Pope.”
Lucretia was a priestess of the Holy Apherian Empire.
On her way back home with her colleagues from her mission, she clashed with a criminal organization called the Crimson Crow.
Her life was threatened, but she managed to escape alive with Woohyuk’s help.
Later, she fell in love with him, quit being a priestess, and set up a home for the two of them in the forest on the edge of the Croa Principality.
The current scene was a recreation of the situation at that time.
“…You’re scaring me. Stop saying such weird things.”
“You cannot be with me.”
Although the Crimson Crow were killed in advance, he had countless other enemies.
They would try to target his weakness.
Therefore, it was safer for Lutretia to be working under the Pope.
“…You promised you’d protect me for the rest of your life.”