Chapter 33: (an unknown era) 1,999,999 Years Before Zero : shit!!

The sun was fully painted above the ice field on the surface of the frozen sea. Its light illuminated everything but did not bring warmth; instead, it made the cold vapor on the surface of the ice even more visible.

The sound of footsteps could be heard on top of the frozen sea. The sound came from the pair of sandals Van wore as he walked across the icy savanna where he was completely alone.

With every step, his golden hair swayed, and whenever the wind blew against him, his white T-shirt clung to his body.

He did not walk while looking ahead because there were no obstacles blocking his way.

He walked while scratching his pen across a small notebook.

No one asked him to talk, no one greeted him anymore, and no one asked what interesting thing Van had today.

Sometimes he stopped in the middle of his walk because he lost the words he wanted to write. Sometimes he squatted while looking around because his steps had not yet reached the main landmass of Antarctica.

Van sighed while looking at the sun, which was the only thing watching him.

"Oii!! Is the gate of hell really in Antarctica?!"

The sun did not answer Van’s random question, but it continued watching him as Van started walking again like a stalker.

Van pinched the air, making the phone given to him by the old man appear, along with a chocolate-flavored ice pop to stuff into his mouth.

Finally, another voice could be heard, a voice as flat and as cold as the ice Van was stepping on with his sandals.

"Walk straight for 1,500 kilometers..."

Van sighed, his breath releasing cold mist.

"Good grief..."

He finally decided to fly beneath the sun toward the place indicated by his phone while snacking on the chocolate-flavored ice pop.

His golden hair fluttered like a flag while his gray eyes only reflected the white snow that never seemed to end.

He repeatedly sighed and scratched the back of his neck that was neither itchy nor warm.

His flying speed slowed when the cold voice of his phone began announcing that the distance was getting smaller.

Van blinked several times. He floated while spinning in the air.

In the reflection of his gray eyes, there was nothing but white and cone-shaped ice mountains.

"Huh?"

Van looked down and narrowed his eyes, searching carefully so he would not miss anything.

"Where’s the gate of hell?"

Van finally tried to descend. His flip-flops now touched the actual mainland of Antarctica. He was at the exact center of Antarctica.

Van looked around while pinching the air to take out a camera. He took a selfie in the middle of his confusion. He did not want to miss being the first human to stand in the middle of Antarctica.

The voice of his phone continued echoing as soon as Van walked one meter away from where he had previously stood.

"Walk 1 meter to the east..."

Van tried another direction several times out of curiosity.

"Walk 1 meter to the west..."

"Walk 1 meter to the south..."

"Walk 1 meter to the north..."

Van scratched his forehead and finally stood at the point where he had landed before. His yellow shorts were extremely contrasting against the sea of white ice covering the Antarctic land.

Van looked down at where his feet were standing.

"There’s no way, right? Did the old man tell me to guard a buried gate?!"

"Shit!! What’s the point of guarding a buried gate...?"

Van slowly floated upward. He then created an invisible giant that immediately shook the Antarctic ground.

The giant crouched down and scratched the Antarctic soil like a child playing with sand because his mother wasn’t watching him.

Roaring sounds could be heard repeatedly while Van became the documentation team for an Antarctic excavation project.

"Keep it up, bigboy!!"

Van kept taking pictures and recording videos of his invisible giant’s actions, even though the only thing visible through the camera lens was Antarctic soil being excavated by itself.

He even repeatedly took selfies until finally the invisible giant’s hand touched something hard. The giant repeatedly punched it, causing thunderous rumbling, but the hard object did not move even slightly.

Van dismissed his invisible giant. He finally entered the hole that had been created while taking pictures, then landed on solid ice that had blocked even the invisible giant’s punches.

Van finally crouched and stroked the solid ice blocking him. His forehead furrowed.

"There’s nothing... no electric shock... my fingers aren’t freezing either..."

Van rubbed his chin. He began creating a drilling machine from his invisible space and immediately pressed it against the solid ice.

The place where he stood trembled, but the solid ice was not scratched even slightly by the tip of the drill.

Van then created dozens of swords that stabbed it one after another, but once again, even the layer of ice was not scratched in the slightest.

Van clicked his tongue.

"I don’t like this..." He sighed as he crouched down. "...damn old man, if there’s a barrier this solid... what’s the point of guarding it?"

Van scratched his forehead.

"He didn’t even tell me what the gate looks like... what the surroundings are like, whether there’s only ice... or anything else." Van rubbed his face. "Good grief... I should’ve asked."

Van remained silent for quite some time, simply staring at his own reflection from the solid ice beneath him. His mind raced, thinking of ways to destroy the ice barrier, along with his curiosity about what the gate of hell looked like.

After quite some time, he finally decided.

"Beluga..."

From the ice wall, a lump slowly emerged and immediately exploded, and Beluga came out from there along with the gold and diamond jewelry covering his entire body.

Beluga smiled broadly. He opened his mouth and shouted.

"Beluga has arrived!! Beluga is ready—"

Beluga’s words stopped when a cold wind blew against him, making his body tremble.

"Shit!! Where is this?!"

Van chuckled and pointed toward the solid ice he was standing on, which reflected both of them.

"Oi, Beluga... you like ice, right? Eat this ice..."

Beluga, who was hugging himself with his flippers, glanced toward the ice Van pointed at and clicked his tongue.

"If that is a request... the payment will be very expensive..."

Van blinked several times while Beluga approached the ice. He stroked the ice with his flipper, which was trembling from the cold.

Van, seeing that, tried to approach and crouched beside Beluga, who appeared to be analyzing something.

"Do you know what this ice barrier is?"

Beluga lowered his gold-and-diamond-coated glasses.

"I don’t know... but one thing is certain, the price will be very expensive—"

Beluga’s words were cut off when Van hit him on the head.

"You crazy whale!"

Beluga did not allow himself to simply receive the hit. He immediately retaliated with his tail. In the end, the two of them fought each other inside the hole.

After some time, the two finally calmed down. Van sighed and fixed his messy hair.

"How much is the price?"

Beluga glanced at Van while picking up his fallen jewelry. He clicked his tongue.

"500 days of bad luck... consecutively."

Van stared blankly at Beluga. He dug his finger into his ear to make sure he had not heard incorrectly.

"Are you serious? Or am I the crazy one?"

Beluga raised both flippers while Van sat on the ice barrier that served as his footing. He also leaned against the ice wall while looking at the light above the hole.

Van fell silent again, but this time Beluga’s whistling while wiping his jewelry accompanied him.

’500 days of bad luck? And consecutively...? That’s basically suicide... if it manages to open, the gate of hell could open in the middle of those damn unlucky days...’

Van bit his lip. The bright light slowly dimmed, and darkness covered them until finally the aurora appeared, slightly illuminating the two of them inside the hole.

Van’s mouth opened slightly. After some time, he finally looked at Beluga, who was still busy wiping his jewelry even though daytime had already changed into night.

"Oi..." Van pointed toward the ice where he was sitting. "...what if there’s a weak point in this barrier? Is there one? Don’t answer immediately! Check first and tell me the price..."

Beluga removed his sunglasses. He stared at the ice floor while narrowing his eyes. After some time, he nodded.

"There is..."

Van’s gray eyes widened.

"What’s the price?"

Beluga stared at Van for quite some time, as if measuring the appropriate price he could take from Van.

"Hmm... your heart."

Van chuckled and finally stood up.

"Do you know that the prices for these exchanges are getting weirder?"

Beluga raised both flippers. While floating, he finally pointed at one particular spot.

"Try it without being able to regenerate... that would certainly be more interesting..."

Van smiled faintly. Blood came out of his mouth, but smoke immediately followed it.

He kissed his fingernail, raised his hand, and pointed at the sky with his index finger.

"Thank the old man for showing me that potential... ahh, but I’m still pissed off, damn old man!! If he had told me everything in detail, I wouldn’t have to lose my heart!!"

Van created a giant spike that immediately struck the point Beluga had previously indicated.

Meanwhile, above, on the icy land where Van’s hole was located, the invisible giant appeared again beneath the sea of stars and dancing auroras.

This time, he held a gigantic hammer. He raised it with both hands and slammed it against the tip of the giant spike protruding from the hole.

The sound of impact became the background noise to the dance of the aurora.

The sound continued to echo repeatedly.

Meanwhile, inside the hole, Van and Beluga clung to the ice wall because every time the invisible giant hammered the earth, their bodies shook violently.

Van gritted his teeth. He was afraid that he might accidentally be hit by the invisible giant’s attack.

But his fear eventually turned into excitement when he saw the ice that had previously been solid now beginning to become scratched and cracked.

Van laughed loudly. He wrapped his arm around Beluga and began cheering for the invisible giant.

"Keep it up, bigboy—"

Van’s words were muffled by the ice floor collapsing, causing Van to fall downward together with Beluga.

Van did not have time to think about floating because of the sudden incident, but he still managed to close his eyes as a natural reflex.

A gust of wind touched Van’s skin, making him open his eyes while his body was still falling downward.

His gray eyes widened. He was falling into a cavity beneath the Antarctic land.

His skin was suddenly caressed by the aurora that he passed through as he fell, but Van did not have time to realize it.

Reflected in his gray eyes was a vast green forest filled with various strange plants, while he was falling directly toward a gigantic gate.

Van blinked several times because he saw something small in front of the gate.

He tried slowing his body down, but the closer he got to the forest ground, the more clearly he could see the small things.

They were several demons standing in front of the gate of hell.

"Shit..."