(Point de vue: Yun Seo)
The fire crackled softly in our hearts.
Nobody was talking to each other.
Jun Ho stood guard, sitting against the entrance.
Jae was still asleep.
Her face remained tense despite the pill.
Even in his sleep…
As for me, I remained fixed on ji-yunwoo's persistent gaze.
My knees were drawn up against my chest.
For a second, I could forget the cries of suffering coming from the tower.
I was finally feeling tired.
My eyelids were getting heavy.
Terribly heavy.
I resisted for a few seconds.
Then...
Sleep overtook me.
…
A smell.
Odd.
A smell of burning metal.
The charred flesh did not sting the nostrils.
I slowly opened my eyes.
Around me...
The cave was gone.
I jumped up abruptly, narrowly missing breaking my jaw on a rock.
There was only...
Only a vast black plain.
The sky no longer existed; they formed a uniform red with the earth.
This vaulted red extended everywhere, crisscrossed by long, luminous fissures that pulsed slowly, like the beating of a gigantic heart.
I knew this place.
My whole body tensed up.
Non...
Not yet...
I wanted to back away but my shoes were stuck to the burning surface of the ground.
My legs gave out on me.
Chains are gripping my ankle.
The metal bit deeply into my skin.
– AAHHHHHHH!
– I SWEAR, I PAID!
Each movement opened new wounds.
I slowly lowered my eyes.
My wrists.
My ankles.
My neck.
Chains.
Again.
Always.
A voice echoed behind me.
- Standing.
I didn't need to turn around.
I knew that voice.
My body obeys even before my mind decides to.
I got up and faced him despite the pain.
The chains tethered me to the ground and my skin swelled in the heat.
– I'm in pain
A laugh erupted.
Distant.
Then another one.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
They were all laughing.
I didn't dare raise my head, it wasn't even because of the chains that forced me to.
I knew what was around me.
I preferred not to look at them.
I simply stared at the ground.
Breathe.
To wait for.
Supporter.
…
A thorn suddenly pierced my left arm.
I gritted my teeth.
– HUM MMMMPH
Something awoke within me.
Just because I escaped it doesn't mean I can't relive it.
I bit my lip until it bled.
Voices were whispering near my ear.
– Don't play the saint.
I instinctively lowered my eyes.
On my wrist.
The four characters that made up my name...
They disappeared.
One by one.
As if erased.
I wanted to hold them back.
Impossible.
In their place...
Another name appeared.
This.
No.
Not that.
– I don't want to sign it anymore
This figure stood in the darkness.
I could only make out long black hair.
And two impossibly calm eyes.
I couldn't see his face.
I had never succeeded.
His voice remained perfectly calm.
- From now on...
You will answer for that name.
I meant to say no.
I wanted to scream.
My body remained motionless.
My mouth opened.
The words came out despite myself.
- Yes…
No, don't make the same mistake again.
Tears flowed immediately.
For what...
Why was I answering?
Why was I so stupid…
– HHAAAAA AHHHHHH
Another burn.
I fell to my knees, unable to breathe.
I instinctively put my hand to my heart.
Something was pulsing.
The voice resumed.
Still as calm as ever.
– You wanted to go out, go ahead, you're free.
I was trembling.
Yes.
I wanted to go out.
At any price.
I couldn't stand that place anymore.
The chains.
The screams.
The days that never ended.
I simply wanted to...
Let it all stop.
That was the price
But even before protesting, the whole world cracked.
The chains disappeared.
The red plain collapsed.
And I fell.
A huge void.
- ha !!!
I woke up with a start.
A hand pressed against my chest.
My breathing was uncontrollable.
My forehead and collar were wet.
This is my cave.
Jae.
Jun Ho.
Everything had returned.
I slowly lowered my gaze to my wrist.
I closed my eyes.
A murmur escaped my lips before I could stop it.
– My name is…
Lie Han…
Silence answered me.
No one had heard me.
I slowly raised my head and met Ji-Yunwoo's gaze once more.
Didn't he sleep?
He too was looking at his watch with a strange seriousness.
I had the impression of seeing the same emptiness in his eyes.
The same...
That of the ignorant like me.