End of Illusion World

The third dungeon containing golems and curses is where the field test takes place. The candidates for the first round of the exam gathered in the hall where the dimensional portal to the dungeon was connected.

Among the twenty participants, Cail stood out for his unique appearance with blood-red eyes and black hair. For the umpteenth time, a strange feeling of absurdity filled his heart with how he didn't recognize the people around him other than Eire at all. He was like a puppet playing and following the setting.

However, that feeling soon disappeared as quickly as it came as if a certain entity did not want him to realize. Cail blinked his eyes while listening to the instructor's explanation of the passing points of this field test.

He had to be able to get out of the dungeon before three days passed to pass, if he exceeded the deadline then he would be eliminated. Cail set the ultimate goal of getting out of the dungeon by any means possible in his mind.

At his side, Eire narrowed his eyes at the instructor. The graduation criteria made sense, but his intuition felt something was wrong. This made him worry that this illusory world might be coming to an end.

Especially since the field test was not teamwork but an individual test, Eire glanced at Cail beside him and thought that this would be the worst situation where he could not protect him.

Feeling Eire's gaze filled with complicated emotions, Cail turned his head and tilted his head towards him.

"Eire, is something wrong?" Eire was always like this, secretly worried about him so Cail couldn't help but notice a problem.

Eire was reluctant to tell him because it could put Cail in danger. So, he said something else instead that suited his heart,

"I'm just worried because it's an individual exam. I can't protect you."

Cail was stunned at the honest answer, for a moment he did not know how to reply. Finally, after organizing things in his mind, Cail sneered, "I'm not that weak for you to protect, heh!"

He elbowed Eire's arm then turned his attention to the instructor who had finihed his speech. The instructor called one by one the students to enter the portal. Cail's turn came after the count of 30.

"Take care," Eire said as he watched him leave.

Cail waved his hand in return and followed the instructor's directions to enter the magical portal with brilliant blue energy engulfing him.

***

Cail opened his eyes only to see a cave ceiling filled with stalactites sparkling like blue crystals. He was lying on his back while below him was a cold frozen pool. It was clear that this dungeon was different from what he expected.

"This is not a golem dungeon ...." Cail came to the preliminary conclusion that he was transferred to a place that did not match his field exam.

Perhaps it had been planned by the instructor to trap him in an unfamiliar dungeon. There was no point in dwelling on that possibility, so Cail began to analyze the environment and moved from his position.

What he did not expect was for him to feel familiar with this new place he had just come to. Cail hallucinated for a moment when he saw the end of the cave illuminated by a mystical blue light. He seemed to see a sight that made his soul tremble, something that affected him more than his own disappointing memories.

His body moved instinctively to the origin of the blue light, soon he found a large lake where the ceiling opened up and revealed a brilliant blue moon directly reflected on the surface of the lake.

Deg!

Cail widened his eyes towards the realization of his written exam question. The blue moon was in the sky and the reality lake was its reflection, so what was he supposed to see?

He stared at the clear blue water of the lake reflecting the light from the blue moon. He moved closer to the edge of the lake and got a better look at the reflection. Somehow something inside him screamed at him not to look at it, yet something else stronger pulled him to notice the reflection.

His red eyes reflected a different scene. It was neither the lake, nor the blue moon, but him. Cail froze before he reacted violently trying to move away. However, a white hand appeared from the bottom of the lake pulling his leg and dragging him down.

'No!' Cail exclaimed as he kicked the hand with all his might to shake it off, but he failed to break free from its grasp.

At that moment, he heard a voice that stunned him.

"Don't you want to start over?"

The voice resembled his own, yet it was not Cail who said it, but something below the lake, the owner of the hand that wanted to drag him away.

Only then did he notice that the reflection of his own shadow in the lake did not seem right. The shadow was moving on its own and that was what was speaking.

"How pitiful for you to live in a world of illusion. Weren't you determined to end all your suffering? However, you ended up stuck here, Yoo Han."

Deg!

Cail widened his eyes as he felt something break inside him. It was his memory seal. He clutched his head and fell over groaning in pain. His mouth opened and closed and his red eyes bulged.

All sorts of things appeared in his mind, from unfamiliar foreign memories to him finally understanding who he was. After a moment of enlightenment, Cail looked back at his smiling reflection.

"How was it? Do you want to live in this false illusion or repeat everything?"

Cail was silent for a long time before responding, "I... want to go back."

The shadow laughed. "Good choice. Come here!"

It extended its hand from beneath the surface of the lake. When Cail was about to grab it, his hand was suddenly caught by someone and he was carried away from the lake.

Cail caught a glimpse of a blue butterfly that flew past him towards the lake, then it emitted a powerful light that caused the shadows on the lake to disappear.

"Nooo!" he shouted involuntarily.

"Yoo Han," called the person who brought him.

The voice was so familiar and it was impossible for Cail not to recognize it after his memories were forcibly awakened by the shadow. He just realized that he was in the arms of that person, the one who brought him into this illusory world, Rui.

"Big brother ...." Cail returned his call while holding back his emotions.

"I'm here." Rui who was holding him whispered, "Don't leave me." His tone seemed to be filled with helplessness as if he was begging Cail.

Cail swallowed the bitterness in his heart as he said, "Big brother, the illusory world can't last long. After all, I should already be dead, right? Why are you so stubborn to keep me in this world?"

Rui tightened his embrace, burying Cail's small figure into his side. "No, you're still alive. I will keep you alive. So, Yoo Han, stay here, okay?"

Cail's expression became complicated, he realized that his current situation could not be saved. He could only live in an illusory world and his soul was getting weaker. However, Rui did not want him to leave because once he left his protection, then the Tower of Desire would devour his soul.

The only solution was provided by his shadow in the lake, Cail had a certain guess about the shadow's identity. So, he made his choice in favor of Rui. His soul might be saved, but Rui must have paid an unimaginable price to save him.

By turning back time and redoing everything, then he would find a way to break free from the Tower of Desire with Rui.

"Big brother, I can't last long here. Even now, I feel the strong pull of the Tower of Desire. So, big brother, let's redo everything, let's meet again in a different timeline," he pleaded as he prepared himself to pay the price.

Rui released his embrace and looked at Cail's small figure with a gaze that contained conflicting emotions. He seemed to be thinking the same thing so he did not immediately refuse. However, Rui knew something that Cail did not know about repeating time.

That meant that their entire existence would depend on 'time' and they could be erased. This price could be paid with something else: soul fragments.

Cail might choose the latter, but Rui could not let him decide that.

Thus, Rui hugged him once more while whispering, "Alright." He did not say his intention to pay the price with his soul fragment so that Cail could be free.

"Yoo Han, I will always find you in any timeline, so goodbye for now, and see you until our next meeting," he said without waiting for Cail's response, he immediately stopped the illusory world.

In an instant, cracks spread around him and silence and darkness arose as a result. Rui covered Cail and secretly extracted his soul to help him safely pass through the River of Time.

Watching the small figure in his arms slowly disappear into a mass of light and follow the current of 'time', Rui closed his eyes.

"Sorry, Rui. I failed to fulfill my promise." Someone suddenly appeared behind him, it was Jaehwan who was supposed to protect Cail and not let him find the Lake of Reality.

"It was inevitable, after all I also wanted to redo everything and save him completely. Let's go, if we take too long, he might get lonely there," replied Rui who moved to stand with his back to Jaehwan.

"What about that child and the few people you kept here?" Jaehwan remembered Eire and some other existences.

"They can follow if they want, if not, they can still stay in this dark room."

Jaehwan shuddered. This was the same as forcing them to come with him.

"This will be a new journey and perhaps a similar story," he commented as he watched Rui open the River of Time gate.

The light of Cail's soul entered the gate followed by him, the last being Jaehwan who waited for the remaining people to enter. He looked back, towards the pitch darkness where it was impossible to survive except for entities like Rui.

He noticed that the white-haired boy was also looking back. Then, soon the other followed.

Jaehwan took out a golden quill from his pocket as he wailed. "I have to write the same story again."

***