Chapter 14 : Aftermath

rd POV

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM*

(Something like this : https://tenor.com/1qB7.gif)

A massive purple and dense energy shot out of Hajin's gun in the form of a big beam of light, although in this case, it was not light, but darkness.

It hit the butterfly sappling, and without even having the chance to resist, the monster was erased from existence. The beam continued to travel through the island, disintegrating whatever that came into its path and didn't even left a single atom behind. It erased the entire part of the island that was in its direction. Thankfully, no living person was in that direction.

The sky began to darken, Nothing survived. The only thing left was the burned blakish land that was below the attack. Even when it didn't come into direct contact with it, the attack power and the heat emanating from the attack itself was too great.

However, the attackd didn't stop there. It continued to travel and split apart the ocean on a few kilometers.

(I don't own this gif)

The sea waves had stopped at one place, not filling the empty space as if something was preventing it from doing so. In truth, this was due to spatial flunctuations of the attack. Even with such a small output value set by the creator, the damage was not small at all.

After a few seconds, which seemed like an eternity to the ones that were watching, the water finally began to fill up as the people were trying to comprehend what had just happened. those being Hajin, Rachel, Seung-Ah and the other proctors that were watching from a distance, and boss, who was using Jain's camouflage to hide her presence.

[... That was more than I had expected. It seems that the particles and structures in this world and lower than average. But I guess, since the planet itself wasn't destroyed, its still fine, right?]

No need to say, but all of these people, without any exceptions, were extremely bewildered. At the same time, a golden light started to shine near Hajin's shoulder. It was Evandel in her seed form, who had suddenly started shinning.

The seed jumped from his shoulder, went to Rachel, and hid behind her back. It seemed that it was scared of that blakish energy, but it also seemed to be interested in it.

Thankfully, no one noticed Evandel, except of course, Hajin and Rachel herself. Hajin because he was very close to Evandel, and Rachel because she had felt something hit her back. Rachel quickly put the seed in her pocket and looked at Hajin.

"...."

"...."

Silence. That was all there was, except for the sound of the disturbed sea waves and the rushing winds due to thermal flunctuations, no sound could be heard. No one dared to say something in that situation.

"... Hajin..." Rachel was the first to break the silence.

"...Y-yes." Hajin replied. He tried to sound firm but couldn't help but shudder in his answer.

"W-w-what was that...?" Rachel asked, shuddering even more. Fear and confusion were obvious in her eyes.

"...I don't know..." He replied.

"...but how-" She was cutted by Hajin who said;

"I just don't know..."

"Okay... is this a power of yours...?"

"I guess...? Though, its not exactly mine. And niether can I use it freely."

Rachel stopped and began to think what he said. She reached the conclusion that it was probably something related to that gift of his, and that it needed certain conditions to be activated.

"So... you could only do t-that because of the situation or some special condition?"

"... You can say that."

"...Should I ask?"

"I would appreciate it if you don't. I myself am confused right now, so I don't have the answer for that."

"Okay... than what is this?"

"Hmm?" He looked at Rachel's hands who were open and holding a hand-sized seed that was glowing brightly.

"Oh? It has grown bigger. Seems like it's about to hatch. It just needs a little more energy."

"Umm, What's about to hatch? Wasn't this seed supposed to be a pet? Or is something wrong?"

"Well... its not exactly a pet, neither is it a seed... its more like an egg, but not a monster or animal egg."

"Than... whose egg is it?"

"...Its complicated. The egg is a monster but at the same time, its not. Its something above that. But telling that now is dangerous, I don't want unnecessary people to know about that."

"Well... Okay..."

We stayed silent for some time. After which, a shout came. Drones started to appear on the sky and some instructors were rushing towards us.

"Are you okay?!" An instructor asked while still running towards us.

After that, the instructor asked us some questions that if we were okay and what had happened here. Some proctors also rushed towards the sleeping students who were laying on the ground to check if they were alive or not.

Everything went smoothly and no one talked about the power. It seemed that they had decided to keep silent about it. But it probably wasn't for long, once this exam was over, they'd probably question Hajin of what that power was. After all, the only thing the fog hid was Evandel and the blocked view from the satellites that were stationary above the island in the space.

But the ones that were on the island, specially people like Seung-Ah and Boss, had seen it clearly. They knew who caused it, however, for the sake that no incident occured while the cadets were boarding the ship, they decided to keep silent.

After everyone had boarded, the instructor checked the number of cadets and collected our watches to inspect our scores. After which the ship started moving towards its destination.

*After they had arrived at Cube*

After arriving back, everyone went back to their dorms. Since the final exams were over, there was a month long break for the cadets after which the second year would start.

The cadets were preparing for their holidays. Some planned to go back to their hometown to meet their parents, while some thought of hunting some monsters to make money or look for a job in advance.

The tourist club also had plans to go somewhere. After some thoughts, they decided to go to England since there, a major event would take place in some days.

Meanwhile, in a closed room at an unknown place in cube, there was a blacked hair boy that seemed to be in his teens, sitting on a chair across one side of the table. He had black hair and black eyes with a glint of silver.

This was our MC, Kim Hajin...

Across the table, a brown haired lady was sitting on another chair. She seemed to be in her mid to late 20s. Besides her, a tall man with black hair was standing, he had a scar on his face.

These people were Seung-Ah and Instructor Park.

What was this situation? Well, lets see a little into Hajin's recent activities...

Flashback

Hajin had just arrived back to his dorm room. As soon as he got in his room, he threw the bag onto the sofa. It contained the camping stuff he used in the exam. He took out Evandel's seed from his pocket and caressed it. He than put it on the table in a basket and went into the bathroom.

After bathing, he laid on the bed and closed his eyes. He began thinking something...

Kim Hajin's POV

Finally, everything is over. Now I can finally rest a little. Well, it's not like I really can. I probably still need to do a lot of things, there's also the part of the story where we go to England. That will happen in a few days, probably. I need to finish everything I have to do before I go there.

And there's also the thing on the island. I probably would be called any moment now for investigation and questioning. They won't really harm me, but they sure will be annoying to deal with.

Rumors have already started to spread of my use of that skill on the island. Most of the cadets probably know about it already. There's no way that such an obvious amount of damage would just be ignored by them.

Rumors also started to spread that a black hourse was among the cadets, someone that hadn't shown his true power yet and was hiding it. They were probably talking about me.

[Hey, don't forget our deal too.]

And of course, there's the thing with Rachel too. She has already seen Evandel and knows about her quite a lot. And because of the recent interactions, Evandel also seemed attached to her.

I just hope things won't turn out bad when she meets Evandel. If she meets Evandel and finds that she is her daughter, she would most likely be very surprised. Not to mention that Evandel would probably look a lot like her mother.

I just hope this won't get too complicated and for things to be resoved without many issues. I know there will be some issues, and avoiding them completely is impossible, but I want to at least avoid the more dangerous ones.

[Oh, and one more thing. I have a suggestion for you]

Hmm? What is it now?

[While you go to the questioning table in front of the cube staff, you should probably ask for permission for Evandel as well.]

...Huh?

[What I mean is, I don't want Evandel to stay in the room 24/7 or for most of her time. Even if she won't be human, she would still be a kid. And a kid should have a certain level of freedom when it comes to going outside. I think you should ask from the cube staff that they allow you to keep Evandel.]

Huh? How would I do that?! And telling the instructors is dangerous, what if rumors go out of cube?!

[... Well, you can always threaten them. If you want, I could do it for you.]

Do it why!? And How?!

[Well... as you said, the cube instructors probably won't keep shut. And this news reaching England's royal family is the least of our worries. If they come to know, they would probably hide it. And Rachel could do something as well. But if news went out to the common people, there'll probably be an uproar.]

[So to avoid it, I suggest that either you threaten the cube management in some way or leave me to do that. As for how, well, you can just threaten them using 'our' [Nihility Collapse]. Everyone fears great power. And if death is in front of them, they'll probably keep shut.]

But how do I do that? I don't even know how to threaten a normal person using such means, how would I threaten the entire staff?!

[Hmm, If you can't do it, I can do it for you.]

...How?

[Well, I can possess your body and take your place while the meeting is going on. That way, I can threaten them easily. And although I myself have never done it, I have seen it multiple times being done right in front of me. And I can use Nothingness energy more effeciently in your body compared to your own self. So there won't be any danger for it going berserk as well. Of course, I wouldn't do it if you don't want to.]

Well... that's one way to do it. Okay than... I leave it to you. I just hope I won't regret it...

[Oh believe me, you won't. You will probably thank me in the future.]

[Oh, and also, one more thing. I suggest feeding Evandel some lower level nothingness energy as well. if she feeds on it, she can get related powers, and if that happens, it would be a lot usefull in the future.]

Hmm, I guess that's also possible. But won't it damage her body. I mean, she would have a child's body... probably. So won't it be dangerous.

[Hm? No, it won't. Remember that we're using lower level nothingness energy, which is weaker than even your sealed nothingness. And she needs to mature to use it effeciently, which would probably take decades if not centuries.]

...how will it even be useful if it takes so long to be able to use?! Won't the story end before that time is reached?!

[And?]

like... there's no point in giving her turn null if it takes that long. After all, the story will reach its end, and I'll go back. Even if I remain, I won't be alive for long enough. Humans can't live for several centuries...

[And who said you're human?]

'...'

[You see, the moment you acquired my ability. The nothingness energy can't be used by a mere mortal body with a mortal brain. So, the moment you acquired the ability, you lost the ability to have a limited lifespan. Your body was reconstructed to be able to regenerate to a certain extent, however, you will still feel pain if you do so]

...But you never said that before! And living an eternal life is a curse if you don't have a family to support you. Your mind will just break from living so long. I didn't sign for this, I don't want to live an eternal life! It's not like I have a family here either... My family is in my original world! And even if I had a family, they would eventually die, and I would have to see their death with my own eyes...

[Well, yes. Its true that living eternally can be a cursed, but it can also be a blessing to those who have something to stay with. I myself am an immortal who has lived for who knows how much. I lost count after several eons.]

[Although I sometimes become bored, that's not all of the time. And unlike other beings like me, I have a family. A family that will accompany me for all of eternity. I have an indefinite amount of life, and an indefinite amount of things to experience, Universes to visit and much more.]

...

[You may think that 'what about me? I don't have any of that'. Well, you don't have it 'currently'. But you will eventually become like me, comparable to other immortal beings. Although... you won't reach me, after all, I'm the strongest out of them, stronger than the being you call "co-author". The co-author is just an interdimensional being and the strongest in the Multiverse. But what about beyond that? Every multiverse has a handler that takes care of regulating the multiverse and the universes in it. But there are higher beings beyond that, beings governing over higher dimensions. Than there are beings who govern over the several infinite sized sections of the Omniverse, my loyal subordinates who I can call my family, along with my children and wives.]

[You will also have all that. You will have a family. A family that will stay with you for as long as you live. You currently only have the witch Evandel... or I guess it should be fairy Evandel instead?]

[Oh, and by the way, anyone that will join your family in the future, or if anyone you consider someone as your family, human or not, will become immortal just like you. Their souls would take an evoluting step into the next level and will be prepared to be able to live eternally without getting bored or loosing one's mind. So you don't have to worry about that.]

...

But what about my mom and dad? They are not in this world. If they become immortal because I consider them family, than they won't be able to live eternally with just the two of them alone. They were originally human, and humans are greedy by nature. They won't be satisfied with just the two of them.

[Oh, don't worry about that. Once the story ends, you will be able to meet them. Although the co-author would have done something else, but since I have intervened in your life, he can't do anything now. You were originally supposed to be given a choice of staying here or going back, but now with me here, you can do anything. You can also go to other universes or come to mine if you and your family ever get bored.]

...Well, thanks, I guess...?

[No need for that, you have given me what i wanted.]

Well, okay. Anyways, we should discuss this matter further another time. Once the time comes, Rachel needs to know this too...

[Oya? So you consider Rachel to be a future family member? How are you sure Rachel will accept you?]

...Acceptance or not, she's still Evandel's mother figure, and her biological mother. And Evandel seems to already be attached to her. Even if she doesn't like me or even hate me, I can't let Evandel be sad. Now that I know that I will stay in this world, I don't plan to make any bad relationships betweem family members. And I also don't want Evandel to be sad...

'I don't want Evandel to be sad and not be able to meet her mother. If I have to live for eternity while seeing her sad face and expression, I'd rather die than let that happen.' I thought internally, and unknown to be, my expression had become unusually serious.

[You don't need to worry about that

...What do you mean I don't have to worry about it?

[You'll realize it in the future.]

*Ring*

...Well, whatever. I can't win an arguement with you anyways.And it looks like its time to meet the instructors...

[A wise choice]

Hajin's POV END

Flashback End

"So, Cadet Hajin, care to explain what happened back on the island?" Seung-Ah questioned. She had closed eyes and a smile on her face that didn't reach her eyes. It was obvious that she had suffered some mental damage.

After the exam, Seung-Ah had to explain to the higher ups of what had happened on the Island. Why there was a fog suddenly covering the island, and why there was such a huge crater on one side of the island. Even the water near it was not left normal. It still had signs of that negative energy left. The water molecules were not acting normal and the water life near it had died.

But miraclously, they hadn't come to the surface. It seemed that anything that had touched that energy but had come in contact with the infected water had been erased. It was logic-defying.

They were even more bewildered that a mere Cadet did that. A cadet that had a ranking in the 400s nonetheless. Even more, that cadet was orginally a swordsman with a ranking in the 900s. He had went from 900s to around 400s in a matter of months, something that was not possible in such a short amount of time unless one was knowingly holding back.

Furhtermore, the cadet was originally a swordsman. And he had switched to a gun at the start of cube's first year. And the same cadet, who had an average written score before, started a 1st position streak from the 2nd exam till now. According to the teachers, his answers were perfect without any fualt, it was liek they were written by a veteran hero who had fought monsters for several decades. It was obvious that he was holding back before, but why? And why devide to reveal of of it

Needless to say, they couldn't believe that this was all done by a mere cadet. But for the time being, they decided to keep it a secret and cover it up. If word got out that this was the result of a cadet's power, a catastrophe would occure. All the guilds would raid cube just to get their hands on that person. After all, the power shown was not something a cadet should have.

"And also explain what that power was, and why you have it." Instructor park added.

"I don't have a choice in this situation?" Hajin asked with an akward expression while scratching his cheeks.

"Well, you can just be silent about it and we won't have any rights to interfere, but I won'd recommend that. Rumors about you have already started, and they're only getting worse. If rumors were to get out, the big guilds won't leave you. And we won't interfere at that time as well than. Even if you have power, I don't think you are someone to comiit mass genocide, however, there's no garuntee that the other sides won't." Instructor Park explained.

"Furthermore, if you share your information with us, we'll garuntee you protection until you graduate, and a promise to prevent rumors from getting out. And if you want to, you could also join Essence of the Straight right when you graduate, and we could garuntee you protection under our name as well. Of course, that is if you want to. We won't force you. And we "can't" either because we, theEssence of the Straight, has a neutrality contract with Cube." Seung-Ah added. As always, she didn't leave the chance to scout Hajin before others as well.

"Ah, I'm not interested in joining any of the guild. Although, I don't mind receiving protection until I graduate, I would actually appreciate if you do so. I don't have any plans of giving up my freedom, maybe I'll just start my own guild?" Seung-Ah's expression stiffened when she heard what Hajin said. She didn't like any of the lines, but it's not like she can do much either.

" Although, if the need really arises in the future, than there's only one guild I would jion, and even that is because I have a weak spot for the future guild master of that guild. Something I can't do anything to ignore." Hajin added.

"Oh? And who might that person be?" Seung-Ah asked in amusement. She already had a wild guess for who it was, but just to be sure.

"That's a secret." Hajin answered instantly.

"Well, it's your choice. But leaving that aside, shouldn't we get started on the original purpose of this secret meeting?"

"Mm, I don't mind. So... where should I start from?"

"Please explain what the power and energy was first." Seung-Ah replied back. Her expression had stiffened since she had gone to the main topic of their meeting here.

"Hmm, I guess you could call it my other gift?" he answered. "It's a gift I recently acquired. Although, I can't say how because that's a personal secret, sorry."

"No need to appologize, we understand, after all, if it was so easy, acquiring that power wouldn't have been immpossible as well. But, I have a question. How long can you use that power? Or, to be more specific, is there a limit to it."

"Hm? Not really. Although, I have to fullfill certain conditions to be able to use it. But once those are done, I can use it however I want. I can use it to create, or to destroy." Hajin said.

"..." Both the people listenning were silent. They couldn't believe that such an overpowered gift existed. Wasn't the world biased?! 'Oh right, it was.' Seung-Ah thought. After all, nothing is fair in this world. Equality doesn't exist. We may be of equality to a higher being, but from Human perspective, no one is equal. That's just how humans preceive it.

"Okay... and, can you like, s-spam that p-power." Seung-Ah asked further, trying her best to swallow what she was hearing.

"Well, not exactly. Even the energy back than was super surpressed, I need to keep the output within limit or the energy would go berserk and erase everything, and I mean EVERYTHING." Hajin replied, emphasizing the last word. It was obviously a warning.

"But, I doubt that will happen. After all, I'm not alone. I have someone who keeps my energy in control so nothing bad will happen."

*Gulp*

Seung-Ah and Instructor Park gulped. They couldn't even imagine it, nor did they want to imagine it. That destructive result was not his full power?! Bullshit!

But they didn't had a choice. It's not like they know something of it, and Hajin is the only one who can tell them. And they can't see any profit for Hajin to lie to them except for manipulating them to overestimating his powers. But that doubt quickly washed away when they remembered the previous result. The damage wasn't limited to just the island, No, it was far more. But they didn't want to think about it and get another headache.

"Well leaving that aside, now for the more important question. Now that you have this... power... how do you plan to use it? Would you abuse it?" Seung-Ah didn't want to ask, but she forced herself to. Instructor Park noded, indicating that he wanted to ask the same. But Hajin's next answer relieved them from those worries.

"No. I won't. I don't plan to commit mass genocide or something like that. I just want to enjoy this life." Hajin smiled and said.

Seung-Ah and the instructor's expression softened. They were glad that this person was not some idiot psycopath that didn't listen to anyone cause destruction.

"Of course, that doesn't mean I won't use it no matter what. If the situation calls for it, or if someone forces me to do so, I won't hesitate to do it. I have people to protect, and I don't plan to let others that mess with me get off that easily." Hajin said with a firm voice.

"That's understandable. We won't stop you if someone else proved you intentionally, but we do hope that you will try to hold back your anger and think logically."

"Well, I will try. But I can't garuntee that."

"Oh, and speaking of people to protect, I have something to ask of you. Specifically, a request."

"Hmm? What is it? If its resonable, we'll try our best to fillfill your request."

"Well, its not exactly my request, but someone else's."

"... What do you mean by that?" Seung-Ah titled her head. She couldn't imagine someone being able to force this person to ask a favor.

"Well, do you remember when I said that I had someone who managed my power? Well, it's like a consciousness i gained when I obtained the gift. It's like a representaiton of my powers, having its own consciousness."

"And he told me to ask this of you. Though, I don't have the courage to ask that, so I'll that to him..."

"...?"

"I mean, it's not something normal. Although its within your powers to be able to do, its rather... unique."

"And, anything I say after this, it's not me, but the consciousness inside me. So, I hope you try to hold back your surprise. Although I told him to not do something reckless, I can't garuntee that he won't do it at all."

"... Okay." They both noded in affirmation. It's not like they had a choice, if its someone that represents that broken ability, it must be someone extremely power.

Hajin also noded. Than he thought to himself, 'Okay, it's time, Just don't do something too reckless.'

[Don't worry, I won't. Of course, but if they get out of hand, I won't sit still.]

'Ugh, that's exaclty the reason I'm so worried. I know very well that they'll be surprised and try to do something.'

[Don't worry about that, I'll handle it "Perfectly" if something goes out of hand.]

'Fine. Just don't overdo it.'

[Of course.]

Hajin closed his eyes and opened them again and opened them after some time. But unlike before, his eyes had turned Golden with galaxy shaped Spirals in place of the pupuls. His aura completely changed and an overwhelming atmosphere engulfed the the entire room.

Hajin, who was now someone else, quickly surpressed his aura from leaving the room and reaching beyond. He didn't want a global crisis.

"Well, should we get started?" The being asked in a beautiful but still overwhelming voice that wasn't so male but not so female either.

*Gulp*

The other two people in the room swallowed. It wasn't everyday that you feel such a powerful aura.

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Word Count : 4595