I Don't Want This Reincarnation [1]

23

I used my ability on Kim Woo-jin while I calmed my breathing. Unlike Min Ah-rin, whose legs were already buried in the sand, Kim Woo-jin's body flew into the air.

"Hey, Han Yi-gyeol! You...!" Kim Woo-jin shouted with a distorted face.

I knew what he was going to say, but I didn't listen. I shook my head and walked over to Min Ah-rin.

"I-it... It's dangerous, Yi-gyeol-ssi."

When I got down on my knees and started digging in the sand, Min Ah-rin cried and pushed my shoulder. I didn't care and continued digging.

"I told you I would protect you," I said, as if I promised myself. I dug at the hot sand covering Min Ah-rin's body. Cold sweat dripped down my forehead.

The screams of the guild members that had been disturbing me gradually disappeared. The sand itself was devouring people at random as if it had become a monster.

"...Yi-gyeol-ssi."

Min Ah-rin was eaten up at a rapid pace as if to laugh at my crazy efforts to clear the sand. My arms and palms were burning.

"It's okay, Min Ah-rin-ssi."

Min Ah-rin didn't cry anymore. Her face was so calm that her tears had stopped. On the contrary, I was choked with extreme nervousness.

"Min Ah-rin-ssi won't die here. I know it. I mean..."

Min Ah-rin was one of the important figures around Ha Tae-heon. You couldn't just die in a place like this.

...surely, you couldn't.

Min Ah-rin, who heard my words, smiled faintly. I opened my mouth to say something more, but nothing came out. The terrible feeling that I had forgotten crept out and began to devour my reason.

With her statue-pale face and her closed eyes, Min Ah-rin disappeared into the sand. I couldn't believe what I saw before my eyes-empty, only sand. The surroundings were terrifyingly quiet.

It was then that I realized that no one was around.

"Kim Woo-jin..."

Kim Woo-jin, who floated in the air to avoid the sand, was also nowhere to be seen. I staggered to my feet and cried out loudly, "Kim Woo-jin!"

Where were you? You've been following me around so much that I got tired of it, but why did you disappear without saying a word at such an important time?

"Fuck!"

Negative emotions ran up my body from my toes, like the sand that swallowed people. I struggled to swallow my anger and tried to think rationally.

I looked down on the SS-grade gate too much. If I had known this would happen, yesterday, I would have come up with some countermeasures instead of laughing and talking. A heavy sense of regret overcame me.

「You alone ruined everything.」

I heard voices. I covered my eyes with trembling hands. The smell of disinfectant came from somewhere.

「You shameless son of a bitch...」

Hwiiing, the wind scattered the voice away. Stop it. This was not the time. I tried to somehow hold onto my splitting brain.

"Hah, hah..."

Think. There must be a way to solve it. It couldn't end like this. The boss didn't appear yet, so why...

"...Han Yi-gyeol?"

Taking a deep breath, I turned around, frightened by the familiar voice. There stood the missing Cheon Sa-yeon. In the middle of the desert where everyone had disappeared, Cheon Sa-yeon and I stood face to face.