Old People Don’t Hold Hands - Chapter 147



Only Krnovel

Episode 147, The End of Hallucination (1)

As Inogen’s arm passed by.

One of the guys who had been quietly staring at us had his head blown off in an instant.

After that, it was natural for blood to spurt.

Still, Inogen paid no attention and continued to swing his arms.

“Whoa, whaaaaah… … !”

The scene where the monster attack they claimed was literally happening.

The first to react to this sight were outsiders who were completely unaware of the situation.

A woman who had already seen the shelter raid scene fell down screaming.

“Ugh, uh-uh, run, run away… … !”

The timid man, who had become quite friendly with Inogen, ran to the shutter and started knocking.

I was so panicked that I even forgot how to open the shutter.

In just a few minutes, Inogen was already able to deal with more than half of them.

Well then, I can’t just sit still either.

When you approach one of them and try to deal with him like Inogen.

Percussion!

Someone grabbed my wrist.

I thought one of them had grabbed me and tried to rebel… … .

The owner of the hand was not the Welcome Body, but Nowen.

Kwaaak.

Nowen looked at me and asked, holding my wrist with all his might.

“Declen. What are you doing!”

As he said this, Nowen’s gaze continued to waver as he looked at me.

As if I wanted to completely deny that I was the monster that the outsider spoke of.

“Really… … , are you monsters? Did you kill that child?”

I deliberately did not avoid his gaze when he asked me.

Rather, look at it carefully.

“no.”

He said this.

“Then, why… … .”

“You said you wanted to keep us all safe.”

“……yes.”

“So who do you think is really destroying our safety?”

“… … .”

Nowen was silent at my words.

Maybe because Nowen knows too.

That those guys kept holding me back.

But before long, Nowen said:

“But, DeClen, you’re the one who’s ruining our safety right now. Aren’t we all part of that?”

Nowen glanced at the illusionary being hidden behind him.

The bastard trembled as if he was deliberately begging for Nowen’s sympathy.

“Lee, leader… … !”

When I saw him groaning while looking at Nowen, I couldn’t help but laugh.

“If it’s all somehow, then that’s your justice.”

“… … Yes, I can’t give up on anyone.”

“As a leader, you would think that way.”

“… … That’s right. DeClen, if you stop now, you… … !”

As if he still didn’t want to give up on everyone, Nowen tried hard to persuade me.

“no.”

It wasn’t a matter of persuading or not.

Even if it wasn’t their welcome.

“… … ?”

At my words, Nowen frowned as if he was puzzled.

I roughly released the wrist that Nowen was holding.

I’m sorry it has come to this, but…

That’s not what justice is.

“Only by surviving can justice and all that be achieved.”

At least I feel like I should say this.

“… … .”

“If you carry something like that, who on earth would be able to survive?”

Of course, while playing EndWorld, I saw many adventurers trying to protect people from erosion.

Among them, there were characters like Nowen who were strong and had a strong sense of justice.

However, most adventurers who fought against monsters and tried to protect people ended up meeting a miserable end.

Because I can’t throw away even one of these pieces of trash like Nowen now.

So the conclusion is.

If you try to embrace everything by putting a frame like this, you will end up being destroyed.

“Weak humans and all, we have to cut out what we don’t need in order to survive.”

“Decklen, you… … .”

“Then let me ask you one more thing.”

“… … .”

“What is your name?”

“Well, I am from this place… … .”

Yeah, I guess you could call him a leader.

But, you know.

“Aside from that empty title of leader.”

“… … !”

At my words, Nowen opened his eyes wide.

An expression that seemed to have completely hit the nail on the head, as if he had never thought about it before.

While Nowen was showing his weakness, I grabbed the neck of the guy who was still flailing around cosplaying as the weak.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Ugh, ugh… … !”

I put all my strength into my hand and broke the bastard’s neck.

At the same time, Diana, Biella, and Inogen each took charge of dealing with the illusionists at the same time.

“Key, kick… … .”

Sensing that the end was near, the bastards smiled cleverly and fell down all at once.

As soon as the welcome body was completely dealt with, Nowen also fell to the floor unconscious.

“Inogen, take care of Mr. Nowen.”

“Tch… …, human. Do you think of me as a porter?”

As he said that, Inozen obediently lifted Nowen onto his shoulder.

If you look closely, it seems like he secretly enjoys being treated like this.

No… … , but it’s a dragon, so isn’t that right?

After I got to Nowen, I looked around the inside of the subway station.

A bleak landscape, literally as if a bloody wind was blowing.

Since I had been there for over a week, I had new feelings about it.

It was even more so when I saw an outsider trembling in fear as he watched us from the corner.

As I was quietly looking at the scenery, Biella approached me.

He stood next to me, mumbling, and carefully observed my expression.

“… … Sir, why did you take so long?”

… … Aha, that’s what I was wondering.

I thought Biella would follow my opinion without question, but it seems she was secretly curious.

“My relationship with Biella and Diana was a little different.”

“… … Huh? It was different? How and where?”

Biella hoped for a ‘family’ that she could rely on and protect.

Diana longed for a ‘home’ where she could comfortably rest her body.

It seems like both of them wanted a relationship that was for them… … .

Nowen was quite different.

Because you want a relationship that is not comfortable for yourself, but for others.

So unlike Diana and Biella’s, there was a sense of mission in Nowen’s relationship.

It is a sense of mission to protect this ‘everyone’ even if it means sacrificing oneself.

And I’ve seen countless characters like that while playing EndWorld.

These are heroes who sacrifice their lives solely for justice, without any consideration for their own safety.

… … First of all, the last character I raised, Geumdae, was also that type of character.

And usually, those guys were willing to give up anything they had for the sake of the mission.

So, in terms of our relationship with Nowen and the Welcome Body, we couldn’t be sure that we would have priority over them.

When I explained this part to Biella, she nodded quietly.

I touched the fingertips of Nowen, who was hanging on Inozen’s shoulder.

“This guy was a good guy too… … .”

It seems like my words reminded someone of something.

It wasn’t great enough to bring about justice or a sense of mission, but…

Wasn’t there another person with the same mindset who sacrificed himself for others?

When I quietly thought about that person’s face, I suddenly felt as if a cold wind was blowing, so I turned around.

A blizzard was already blowing behind the door where the shutter was open.

It seems that some of the outsiders opened the shutter and escaped… … .

Well, it doesn’t matter now.

After shaking off some of the body heat and coming out, the scenery outside was the same.

Now on a quiet and cold road where not a single person is visible.

Krr, krrr, krrrrr… … .

Even the occasional cry of a monster can be heard.

It means that everything remains the same and does not change… … .

So, I felt even more uncomfortable.

They said that if I destroy the illusionary body, I can escape the hallucination, but why doesn’t it end?

Hmm… … .

Does it finally end when Nowen wakes up?

Before I could finish asking these questions, I looked at Nowen.

Key, keyhihihi―!

The laughter I had heard before was heard again.

… … That’s the laughter I heard when I entered the Frost Queen’s coffin.

After that, the surrounding ground shook so much that it felt like it was going to collapse, and what we saw before our eyes was… … .

Krrrr, krrr, kirrrr—?

It was the guardian of the winter forest on the first floor, the chef.

“S, how is the Guardian here… …!”

Others looked at the chef with a slightly puzzled look.

I already knew this would happen.

The original erosion process was like this.

Normal monsters from the lower floors appear in large numbers, and then guardians and bosses appear.

This is the process of ending up being destroyed by high-rise monsters.

The blind man turned his head here and there and thumped his nose.

Kirur, ugh―?

He tilted his head for a moment as he looked at us, then started to charge.

“… … Damn it, Inozen!”

“Ah, I see. Human!”

As the chef rushed towards him, Inozen quickly rushed towards the chef, leaving Nowen on the ground.

He fought the bastard by swinging his arm that had transformed into the shape of a dragon.

… … Well, actually, it wasn’t even a battle.

He’s just a mid-boss on the first world line.

At Inogen level, it could have been easily defeated.

But if there’s a problem… … .

As the commotion started with the chef being arrested, goblins scattered all around started to gather towards where we were.

The moderately gathered goblins could be dealt with by the Inogen line… … .

The more commotion there is, the more they will come and increase their numbers.

“Mr. Biella!”

“Ugh, I got it. I got it… … !”

In the end, I had no choice but to use Biella’s hiding power to escape.

After that, I moved around here and there, trying to hold out until Nowen woke up.

Nowen finally opened his eyes and regained consciousness, but… … .

“What, what is this? Where am I… … .”

But the hallucinations did not end.

The cold and dark landscape of Seoul, still deserted, continued.

Occasionally, I would fight the guardians or bosses on the first and second floors, hoping to end the hallucinations.

Still, it was the same as before, no change occurred.

As this situation continued, I tried to talk to him again, hoping that there might be some welcome left.

They only come to the conclusion that all the illusions that had been influencing the party had disappeared.

Well, it’s not like we were hallucinating because everyone in the group had their memories intact and were all fine.

I thought it might be because of the location, so I tried to get out of the hallucination by moving to another place… … .

When I tried to leave a certain area, I couldn’t go any further.

It was as if an invisible curtain was blocking us in a circular shape.

So, the area where the hallucinations work is only the size of this neighborhood… … .

What else can we do in here?

A place I haven’t checked yet.

When I was quietly thinking about the candidates.

Diana, who had been thinking along with him, opened her mouth cautiously.

“… … Now that you mention it, Mr. Declen. You haven’t checked that place yet, have you?”

“… … Over there?”

Since then, Diana.

I opened my mouth about a space I had never thought of.

“… … This is the hole that was created here.”