Chapter 42: (an unknown era) 1,987,999 Years Befor Zero : The bittersweetness of eternity [4]

The sound of crashing waves became a natural source of relaxation for Van, who now sat on the sand beneath a sea of stars.

His gray eyes, reflecting the roar of the water and rows of dozens of Artium as large as hills, now looked like the eyes of a dead fish.

Van exhaled, smoke escaping from his mouth, which was now beginning to be covered by a thick beard that had already reached his waist.

Van scratched his itchy forehead. Behind him, his hair sprawled across the beach for dozens of meters, its total length now exceeding the height of the Hell Gate.

There was no sound except the crashing waves and the faint sizzle of the cigarette between Van’s fingers.

Hundreds of empty cigarette packs were scattered around him, their contents long gone and never cleaned up.

Not far from Van, an empty trolley sat waiting to be filled again.

Van held his forehead, which constantly felt as though thousands of needles were stabbing into it.

He didn’t notice when his cigarette had burned down far enough to scorch his finger.

He only realized it when the regenerative smoke coming from his finger became thicker than the cigarette smoke.

Van sighed, rubbing his face with both palms, which were covered in the smell of cigarette smoke.

His body, which was now beginning to lose muscle mass, also reeked of cigarettes.

Van slowly tried to stand.

All his bones creaked as if screaming, even though all he had done was stand up like a normal person.

He began walking toward the trolley with unsteady steps, the endless pain in his head making it difficult to move properly.

He almost crashed into the trolley after losing his train of thought for a moment.

Another sigh escaped him when his dead-fish eyes found nothing inside the trolley basket.

Van shifted his gaze toward the cliff, where rows of supermarkets and malls lined the area, shining as brightly as the sea of stars above his head.

He then slowly walked toward them, dragging his long golden hair behind him with every step like the body of a snake.

Van entered the dark forest wearing nothing but his shorts and no footwear.

Whatever was on his mind, it never occurred to him to fly and shorten the journey.

The sound of the waves grew farther and farther away as he walked deeper into the darkness of the forest.

Now, the only sound he could hear was his hair dragging across the ground.

He didn’t even notice that his golden hair was beginning to become stained with dirt.

Van was immediately greeted by an uphill road when he emerged from the embrace of the forest.

He slowly walked uphill, his steps becoming increasingly unsteady because dragging his long hair behind him required more and more energy.

But the expression on his face said otherwise.

He looked as though he simply didn’t care.

Eventually, he reached the top of the cliff, sweat pouring from his body and his breathing becoming irregular.

He began passing rows of supermarkets and shops selling all kinds of things.

He even stopped occasionally at some of them, such as a shop selling jet skis, even though there was no seller there inviting him inside.

Van stared at the longest jet ski for quite some time.

His mind began forming thoughts about using it, but those thoughts disappeared in an instant, and he continued walking.

Among the rows of supermarkets, he finally chose a convenience store.

He came out with nothing but a pack of cigarettes in his hand.

Van began wandering around while lighting a cigarette.

His steps stopped when he found himself standing directly in front of a mall.

He didn’t step onto the carpet in front of the mall, which had a sensor that opened the automatic doors.

He remained some distance away from the entrance.

Yet, from the corner of his eye, he saw the doors open by themselves.

Van turned around.

He stared at the mall entrance, which remained open for quite some time before finally closing automatically.

Even so, Van felt nothing.

His heart didn’t beat faster because of the unknown.

Instead, curiosity made his feet carry him inside the mall.

He dragged his golden hair behind him, its length now reaching dozens of meters.

The fresh breeze from the air conditioning greeted the bare skin of his body, which was covered only by his shorts.

Van’s face, hidden beneath his thick beard, was reflected on the mall floor, which was so shiny that it looked as though it were cleaned every day.

As Van walked barefoot, he began leaving dirty footprints across the mall floor.

He smoked his cigarette while walking around the various shops.

Sometimes he stopped just to look at something on display before eventually continuing without trying it.

He walked toward the food court, where natural aromas continued to caress his nose even though there were no sellers cooking any food.

But Van didn’t stop, even though his stomach urged him to taste some of it.

He continued wandering across the mall floor.

He then went up to another floor and walked around once.

He continued doing the same thing until he eventually found himself on an escalator leading to the highest floor, where a cinema and other entertainment areas were located.

His hair sprawled behind him as though it were waiting in line to ride the escalator.

As soon as he reached the floor he was heading toward, Van began wandering around again while smoking his cigarette.

Interest finally appeared in his gray eyes, which had previously looked like those of a dead fish, when he saw the various games available.

But that interest was buried again every time he exhaled cigarette smoke.

His vision began to fade as his stomach continued rumbling.

His ears rang as he walked past a photobooth.

Amid all that discomfort, a woman’s voice reached his ears.

It was the first sound his ears had heard besides the dragging of Van’s hair.

Van’s eyes widened.

He immediately opened the photobooth curtain, only to be greeted by emptiness.

Van’s breathing became irregular, followed by cold sweat.

He finally tried sitting inside the photobooth.

The screen in front of him began capturing his figure, leaving Van silent for a while.

He then followed the instructions displayed on the screen before the sound of camera shutters and flashes of light repeatedly covered his body.

Several photos were stitched together into a single strip before finally coming out by themselves.

Van tried looking at the photos.

He could no longer recognize himself.

His eyes were closed in every photo because the flash had startled him, as though he had never taken a photo of himself before.

The pain inside Van’s head intensified, continuing to spin relentlessly.

He tried taking another photo of himself, but his hand stopped when he reached for the screen.

He saw dozens of photos stored inside the photobooth.

Van furrowed his brows as though he didn’t recognize the people in them.

He stood frozen for some time before finally realizing that they were photos of himself and Elena.

Van caressed the beard covering almost his entire face and the body that had lost its muscle mass.

Something inside his heart was touched when he saw his former self.

His heart began beating rapidly.

Slowly, Elena’s voice began haunting the mind that Van had kept tightly locked away.

Van covered both his ears, trying to block Elena’s voice.

But for some reason, her voice sounded even closer, as though she were whispering directly into his ears.

"Seriously? This is a serious conversation..."

"I still remember back then, when the meeting between the races happened... which happened to take place in the elf palace."

"That’s why I’m here... our lord gave me a mission to take Artium that can counteract the contamination of the cursed black liquid..."

"For that... come with me for a moment... I mean, I’m borrowing you because you’re strong too... you’ll definitely become famous there."

"Then I’ll ask for immortality as a reward for carrying out this task..."

Van, who had remained calm until then, finally made a sound.

He began screaming inside the cramped photobooth, roughly scratching his face as Elena’s voice continued haunting him.

Van hurriedly left the photobooth.

He fell several times before finally jumping from the highest floor of the mall.

Both of his legs broke upon landing.

Regenerative smoke began pouring from them, but it needed time to reconnect his bones.

Van didn’t stay still.

He crawled using his dozens-of-meters-long hair, gritting his teeth as he moved, making him look like a snake.

As soon as both his legs recovered, he immediately stood up, sweat pouring from every pore of his body.

He left the mall and ran toward the back.

He ran past rows of illuminated shops, heading all the way to the very back, where the rows of shops ended.

He stopped in front of a simple building that was completely dark.

Van tried opening its wooden door.

The door creaked, and dust immediately welcomed him.

Inside were various shelves filled with books that had not been arranged neatly.

Some were scattered across the floor.

There were also several cameras that were strangely free of dust.

Van walked inside and sat at the only table at the end of the room.

He began checking the cameras one by one.

He looked through many photos he had taken in the past and played many videos he had recorded.

He began reading the books until one particular book caught his attention.

Written on its cover were the words:

Project Happy Ending.

Then, when Van began reading the first page, he found many questions written by himself.

Questions that continued pushing the imagination of Van, which had been covered in dust for quite some time.

What if I make a barrier from Artium when I fail to prevent Seagate from opening?

Then build a settlement inside it?

Then I become the king?

Good grief, that sounds cool.