Chapter 78: Destiny

"My love... come back to me..."

In complete darkness, Rin could still hear those words, as if someone kept repeating them over and over.

He couldn’t move. He couldn’t see. He couldn’t speak. No matter how hard he tried...

Until—

RESET!

"Se... Senpai... S-SENPAIIII!!"

"Guah! Wh-what’s happening?"

Rin opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was a computer monitor.

His desk was a complete disaster. Energy drink cans and coffee cups occupied more than half of it, while papers were scattered everywhere.

"What happened?"

"UAAAAH, SENPAI!! I THOUGHT YOU DIED!!"

"What?"

Rin stared at the young man in confusion.

"I’ve been trying to wake you up for more than five minutes! You didn’t react at all! I was going to call an ambulance if you didn’t wake up!"

The noisy young man was Rin’s kohai, Jin Huo, a twenty-year-old intern at the company.

And the person responsible for training him... was Rin.

"Okay, okay..." Rin rubbed his temples. "I’ve been taking too many shifts lately. That’s probably why. I just fell asleep for a little while. It’s fine. You can go."

A sudden headache struck him. Rin winced.

"Maybe... I really should stop drinking so much coffee and energy drinks."

He looked at the mountain of cans and cups covering his desk. Then his eyes moved toward the monitor. A web novel was open on the screen.

"Right. I remember now."

He leaned closer.

"I was reading the latest Chapter of Betrayal. Damn it, I completely forgot."

He glanced at the clock.

"I should read it quickly and go home. It’s already late."

The clock showed 11:01 PM.

Almost midnight. Rin clicked on the latest Chapter and began reading.

After losing his half of Kaelith, he fell into absolute despair.

After searching around the ruins for days, there was no trace of the one he loved.

His mind descended into complete chaos.

He began killing the people he considered the main culprits.

From his brothers-in-arms to the Divine Knights.

And as his final act, he ascended to Heaven itself...

Only to kill their so-called God.

And that was how Kaelith received his name.

Calamity.

"It’s their fault. Their fault. Their fault."

Kaelith repeated the words again and again. Madness slowly carved its way into his heart.

He even began summoning people from other worlds, searching for... HIM.

But unfortunately, none of those summoned people were the person Kaelith wanted. So he decapitated them all.

For hundreds of years. Thousands of years.

Kaelith destroyed cities. Kingdoms. Worlds. All in order to find him.

Not even the heavens could stop him.

"If you can’t come to me...Then I’ll come to you."

That was what Kaelith kept thinking. His eyes were red. His entire body was covered in blood.

Until, finally, a God spoke to him.

"I can bring him back to you."

Kaelith looked at him.

"But you will have to die."

Kaelith didn’t even think twice.

"Yes."

He wanted to see him. Even if it was only for one second.

That would be enough. The God succeeded in summoning him.

And for the first time in thousands of years, Kaelith’s gentle voice could be heard within the world filled with fire.

"You’re late this time..."

And so Kaelith, known as the Calamity, died after seeing the face of his beloved one last time.

The End!

After Rin finished reading the final Chapter, he started crying hysterically, as if his entire world had been destroyed.

"Kaelith, why?! Why are you so stupid?! What’s so great about love?! WHY?!"

Those were the only words Rin could get out through his tears, even though he didn’t completely understand why he felt this way.

For seven whole minutes, he cried without stopping. By the end, his eyes looked like two American donuts, swollen beyond belief.

"Woahhh, Senpai, are you okay?"

"Hm?"

Rin tried to look at his kohai. With his swollen eyes, he could barely see him. Everything looked like a fog.

"Ah... yeah."

He wiped his face.

"I just read the final Chapter of my favorite book... and the main character died."

"You must have really liked the main character if you cried this much."

"Liked him?"

Rin whispered the words.

"I think..."

He swallowed.

"I think I loved Kaelith."

Jin Huo stared at him.

"I’m jealous. Is that how all readers feel?"

"Hm?"

"Nothing."

Jin Huo looked at the time.

"Anyway, Senpai, it’s late. We should go home. Tomorrow is the weekend, and we finally have some time off."

"Home..."

Rin looked toward the window.

"Yeah. We should go."

As they walked toward the station to catch a bus home, Rin couldn’t stop thinking about the tragic ending of the book.

Did the author really have to be that cruel to Kaelith?

They even made him kill his own good friends...

"Senpai?"

"Hm? What is it?"

"What is the name of the book?"

Jin Huo looked at him.

"I want to read it too. It left such a big impact on me. If it can make you cry like that, I want to give it a chance."

"Betrayal!"

Rin looked at him seriously.

"Listen to me. The first forty Chapters are going to seem strange, but trust me, it gets interesting after Chapter forty. Give it a try and tell me what you think!"

"Of course! I’ll look at it tomorrow and tell you my opinion!"

They reached the point where their paths separated.

"I go this way, Senpai. See you Monday. I hope you have a gentle weekend."

"Huh?"

Jin Huo blinked.

"I mean... a peaceful weekend."

Rin laughed.

"Same to you, Jin Huo."

When he finally arrived home, Rin threw himself onto the couch as if he hadn’t been there in an eternity.

He made himself some instant ramen and turned on the TV, trying to watch a drama. But his mind kept returning to the final Chapter.

He opened one canned beer. Then another. And another. Before he knew it, Rin was drunk.

"Why did the author have to be so cruel?!" Rin argued with his cactus.

"I mean, what’s so wrong about loving someone?! Authorrrr, please let them stay together! Kaelith didn’t deserve that!"

And before he even realized it, Rin had fallen asleep on the floor beside his cactus.

If the cactus could talk, it probably would have said:

"Master, please stop arguing with me when you’re drunk..."

The next day came.

When Rin finally woke up, it was already 10:30 PM.

"Fuck!!"

Rin sat up.

"I slept that much?! I lost an entire day of my weekend sleeping like I was in a coma?!"

He grabbed his phone. Then he saw the messages from Jin Huo.

Senpai, did you read the side story??? It’s completely insane!!!!

"Side story?"

Rin frowned.

"What is he talking about?"

He struggled to get up. And if you’re wondering why... Well, sleeping on the floor for that many hours isn’t exactly good for your back.

Please sleep in a bed.

After taking a shower and brushing his teeth, Rin made himself a jasmine tea and opened his laptop.

The time was already 11:01 PM.

Almost midnight. Rin clicked on Betrayal.

There was a new tab. A side story. The title was:

Destiny

"What is this supposed to be?"

The description was very short:

Before the heavens and earth were created, love did not exist.

Therefore, someone from among humanity was chosen to become the God of Love.

But the World was strict.

Love had to exist between different sexes.

Never the same.

But love can never be stopped by such prejudices.

Rin stared at the description.

"Woah..."

He smiled.

"The author really outdid himself this time."

He clicked on the story.

"I’ll give it a chance."

Destiny

"I choose you. You will be my other half from now and for eternity."

"Are you sure, my love? Is my love all that you desire? Are you certain that I am the one you want?"

"Yes. If you stand beside me, we can overcome everything together."

The Chosen of the Gods, the future God of Love...Nir Eel had chosen Erys, the son of a fallen God of War.

The people judged them. They persecuted them. They hated them.

Erys, being the son of a fallen God, had fallen into disgrace. He had been sold to Nir Eel’s family. And from there began their love story.

Only... The World did not agree.

So, on the day Nir Eel was supposed to ascend into the heavens among the Gods and take Erys with him... he was betrayed.

Erys never appeared. Nir Eel fell into despair.

And the one who saved him was... The World.

But the truth was different. Erys had been imprisoned in the Infinite Prison of the World, from which he could never escape.

His hatred continued to grow. Until the World cursed him, simply so that it could show him the truth.

"The one you love will forget you. He will live with someone else, and you will watch for eternity. And whenever he makes the wrong choice, he will die and return again... until the voice of the World accepts it."

Rin’s eyes widened. He continued reading.

Nir Eel’s mother was the younger sister of the Goddess of Time.

Although she was human, she possessed divine powers. And when she discovered the truth, she took a piece of Erys’s soul and gave it a name... Kaelith.

"Stay beside him for eternity, Erys... No... Kaelith. No matter how difficult it becomes, and no matter how much time passes... stay beside him."

Chained and covered in blood, Erys whispered:

"Finally, you’re here... You’re late."

A powerful light suddenly blinded Rin. He instinctively closed his eyes.

"What—?!"

For a moment, everything disappeared. Then he opened his eyes.

And Rin froze. A man stood directly in front of him.

He was covered in blood. His blade was stained with dried blood. The flames surrounding him rose into the darkness as though Hell itself had broken through into the world.

The man slowly turned. He looked directly at Rin. And with a gentle voice, he said:

"You’re here..."

A tear slid down Rin’s cheek.

He didn’t understand why. He didn’t understand the pain suddenly filling his chest. He didn’t understand why the man’s voice felt like something he had been waiting for.

The man looked at him.

And softly repeated:

"You’re late..."