Chapter 43: (an unknown era) 1,976,999 Years Befor Zero : The bittersweetness of eternity [5]

Aurora moved out from the highest point of the Gate of Hell like smoke coming out of a chimney, dancing beneath the icy ceiling and spreading throughout the entire tropical forest located beneath Antarctica.

On the surface of the Gate of Hell, which was engraved with strange symbols, traces of modern graffiti could be seen, already beginning to fade.

Meanwhile, the vandal of the Gate of Hell now stood facing the gate with an upright body wrapped in a white shirt and white pants. Unfortunately, he wore no footwear, revealing his feet that had begun to be covered by patches of dirt.

The vandal was Van, whose golden hair now had a length exceeding the height of the Gate of Hell, which stood dozens of meters tall. He stood in an area that had also become the home of hundreds of wooden statues that were now no longer recognizable.

Even his beard had already reached his thighs and was almost reaching his knees.

He did not move as he stared at the Gate of Hell. There was no wind trying to push him, and there was no sound becoming the background of the scene.

Van’s back looked sturdy. Far behind him, exactly at the border between the forest and the open area where Van stood, there were four demon figures silently watching Van in their various poses.

They could not move, they did not speak to each other, they only stared at Van in silence.

Day and night were never noticed changing in the place where Van was. He did not know how long he had been standing facing the Gate of Hell. He did not know how long his hair and beard had gone without being cut.

The sweat covering his body and white shirt was the only silent witness that knew how long Van had not moved and had only stared at the Gate of Hell.

Then, as time began flowing farther without being noticed, one more witness was added.

Van’s legs began to tremble.

But his gray eyes never trembled like his body, which had protested against what he was doing since who knew when.

After a longer period of time passed, the sweat covering his body began to change into cold sweat. Both of his knees began thirsting for rest.

His body began trembling more violently, making him occasionally hear ringing in his ears along with the sound of his stomach continuously chirping.

His breathing began sounding loud along with his chest continuously rising and falling quickly.

But Van still tried to keep his gaze on the Gate of Hell as if they were in a competition about who would blink first.

Van’s footing began to become unsteady some time later. He almost fell but still tried to remain standing. His throat felt hot, making him feel like he wanted to scratch it hard.

His lips slowly trembled. His head began shaking violently, and slowly his head lowered.

During that transition, Van’s vision turned white. His control over his hearing was taken away and replaced by a louder ringing sound.

Van’s body slowly fell without him realizing it.

He fell sideways, causing part of his white shirt and pants to become stained.

He began curling up like a snail wanting to enter its shell.

He began rubbing both of his legs against the ground like an anxious person.

Van hugged himself as his white vision now turned blurry while his ears were still ringing.

A choking sound began to be heard. The sound continued repeating until finally the sound of crying could be heard at the Gate of Hell.

Tears wet the left cheek of Van that was touching the ground, and the ground also received water from every drop of Van’s tears.

Van opened and closed his trembling mouth repeatedly. No words were created at that moment. His mouth could not interpret what he was thinking.

His thoughts continued spinning until his brain felt as if it were being stabbed because Van kept digging through his memories. He continued trying to remember and began creating doubt within himself.

Doubt about whether he had really lived through those memories or whether they were only his imagination.

Throughout those doubts, Van’s crying accompanied him until both of his eyes became red and his supply of voice was exhausted.

His tears began drying as if they would never come out again.

But his mind instead became wilder until it became his lullaby.

Van’s eyelids began feeling heavy. His body began feeling comfortable lying on the ground, and his thoughts began calming down one by one.

He began closing his eyes, and darkness began taking over his vision.

Van felt comfortable being tossed around inside the darkness. But as that comfort grew stronger, something else was born.

Something in the form of a simple question.

A question that made him able to hear his voice again when pronouncing the letters, even if it was only inside his mind.

’What am I doing here?’

’Why am I here?’

’How long have I been here?’

...

One question attracted another question, and the other questions made Van’s memories begin arranging his memories with greater precision.

Van’s body, which had previously become calm and was about to rest, was now forced to work again.

The ringing in his ears slowly disappeared. His eyelids slowly opened and revealed the Gate of Hell.

His heart slowly began beating rapidly, and an uncomfortable feeling about the place where he was lying now appeared.

Van then lay on his back, his gaze now shifting toward the dancing aurora and the thick layer of ice.

His memories that had begun to arrange themselves finally brought forth a new question.

’Where is the blue sky? Where did everyone else go?’

Van exhaled his tired breath for the first time after such a long time.

His body slowly began rising. He did not need a grand purpose. He did not hesitate when he tried to stand again.

Van glanced at the Gate of Hell. He pointed at it repeatedly as if telling it not to do anything strange.

He then looked at the layer of ice and the dancing aurora.

His body slowly lifted from the ground, his golden hair, which was dozens of meters long, also rising.

Van slowly began flying toward the aurora. He looked like a golden dragon trying to pierce through the aurora.

Meanwhile, the four demons who saw Van suddenly fly did not say anything. Instead, in the reflection of their eyes that could not move like statues, they looked as if they were enthusiastically cheering Van on.

The wind that Van collided with began fluttering his dirty white shirt and pants.

After some time, Van was finally caressed by the dance of the aurora, but he was not mesmerized. He pierced through the dancing aurora quickly without looking back.

Van took a deep breath. His gray eyes slowly began glowing. He began looking at the layer of ice with the eyes of a predator.

A burst of hot steam instantly came out from Van’s entire body.

His golden hair, which was dozens of meters long, now began burning. His beard also caught fire, and his entire body was finally devoured by flames.

The golden dragon now turned into a blazing red dragon.

Van clenched his right fist. He then punched the layer of ice with all the strength he currently had.

The layer of ice trembled, but Van’s fist mark only scratched the layer slightly.

Van continued punching repeatedly, causing the sound of impacts to be heard again and again.

Slowly, cracks began appearing every time he punched with his flaming fist. Sometimes he also slammed his fire-covered head against the layer of ice several times.

His desperate screams began echoing along with the cracks that grew larger and larger.

In the end, Van burned away all of his flames and concentrated them on his right hand, leaving only his hair and beard still burning with fire.

Van then punched with his final punch.

An explosion of sound occurred, followed by cracks that began connecting with one another.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ice layer, darkness covered the view along with an ice storm raging. The only thing visible was the silhouette of a tall mountain.

But a crack began to sound and became an opponent to the roar of the storm.

The crack began releasing hot steam, and not long afterward, an explosion was created that sent the dozens-of-meters-thick layer of ice flying into the dark sky.

A hole was created because of it.

And a hand could be seen coming out of the hole and gripping the layer of ice.

The hand began gripping the ice tightly. It then lifted Van’s body with all its strength.

The darkness was slowly driven away as Van’s burning hair and beard began becoming an unnatural source of light.

Van began standing in the middle of the snowstorm and darkness. His white shirt and white pants had now disappeared, leaving only his charred underwear.

Van exhaled. Cold smoke billowed out, but he himself did not feel the cold.

He began looking around before finally running in one direction.

Van’s steps continued being tested by the pressure of the wind and darkness, but he was accompanied by his burning hair and beard, which melted the ice every time he stepped.

Van continued running. He did not stop, he did not look back, he did not wear proper clothing.

He only wore charred underwear, with his burning hair and beard, to cross the snowy field, the fierce storm, and the darkness of Antarctica.

He began climbing several hills. He left footprints with every step. He began daring to challenge the icy mountains.

But with every step, his mind continued being eroded. His body, adapting because his potential was still strong, continued running in the middle of the storm, but his mind was beginning to reach its limit.

At the top of a mountain, he finally stumbled.

He rolled down, and his body began becoming wrapped in his burning hair.

He looked like a ball of fire falling from the top of an ice mountain.

Van finally stopped rolling when his body crashed into a rock.

Smoke from the melting snow could still be seen while his hair and beard were still burning.

He only lay on his back like a mummy covered in fire.

His gaze was only fixed on the dark sky covered by the storm.

His burning hair was the only reason Van was not buried. And it was also the reason he heard the sound of thousands of footsteps beginning to approach him.

Van blinked several times. He slowly began sitting up and moved aside the fiery hair wrapped around him. He also began hearing strange sounds greeting his ears besides the sound of the storm.

Van began turning toward the source of the sound.

He then saw a flock of penguins huddling close to one another to keep each other warm.

Van even saw smaller penguins inside the embrace of their parents.

Van’s ears twitched because he could hear thousands of penguins talking to one another while discussing his burning hair and beard.

Van’s gray eyes slowly began finding their life again.

A faint smile was created behind his burning beard.

He could finally hear his voice again when he tried speaking after being silent for such a long time.

"Ahh...turns out I haven’t socialized enough."