1 Last Moments

On a certain isolated island, sunlight shined through the gap between the colossal trees into the deep forest where roars of beasts could occasionally be heard from all sides.

Even though the sun was up, the soothing scent of the damp soil was still present in the air and the leaves were yet to be dried from the heavy rainfall that occurred yesterday.

At the east side of the island, a magnificent city could be seen standing. Buildings high enough to touch the sky and people wearing traditional clothes could be seen walking around in the market.

Outside the city, the forest which covered almost half of the island is occupied by deadly monsters and the area is off-limits for ordinary civilians.

In order to prevent monsters from entering the city, a protective barrier was set up by a renowned spirit master thousands of years ago.

With walls acting as a formidable fortress surrounding the city in addition to the barrier, the city was safe from any dangers that might harm its citizens.

Due to the monsoon being exceptionally long here, the land was named as Dew Island by the great ancestors who inhabited this island for the first time, and the city itself was called – The Pearl City.

On the Olive Mountain which is one of the coastal mountains located behind the city, a group of 3-5 people gathered near the edge of the cliff for some reason.

"Brother Sang-ho, are you sure about this? We won't get into trouble by doing this, right?" A young boy dressed in green said to the person standing beside him.

At a glance, they both looked to be fifteen-sixteen years of age. One had an average look and the other was handsome enough to attract a few young women by his alluring charm.

He had a tall figure and was wearing a sky-blue shirt made of silk with a peculiar badge attached to it at the right side of his chest. It had some sort of crest on it resembling a symbol of something. His short black hair looked neat and tidy.

The handsome young man looked at the boy with his brownish eyes filled with dominance and coldness before speaking.

"Don't you know who I am? Yet you ask such a stupid question. Just relax. Nothing will happen."

"Ah, yes! My apologies." The boy slightly bowed down and retreated a few steps back.

Meanwhile, the young man gazed down the cliff and shouted. "Sun-jae, hurry up! We don't have all day here."

"Yes! I'm trying." Then, a rugged voice came from below in response.

Upon closer look, a curly-haired young boy was hanging by the cliff with one end of the rope tied around his waist and the other end to a boulder on the cliff. Furthermore, he was climbing down the mountain using the steep slope as a foothold and approaching the area where a black-colored flower grew on the cliff.

"Sang-ho, this is going too far. What if he dies in the process? Are you going to take responsibility?" A young girl standing beside the handsome young man said out loud.

She had a supple and graceful figure. Her facial features were nothing but extraordinary. Her blue emerald eyes that looked like jewels and hair that was pure white as snow in the winter, the girl looked like a fairy that landed on this island from heaven. She was wearing a pink dress with a unique pendant around her neck and her smooth skin complimented her looks beautifully. Even though she was angry at the moment, she still looked cute to everyone present they were looking at her in a daze.

"Rest assured, Chae-rin. Even if something happens to him, no one will know about this incident. For now, let's just enjoy the show. Shall we?" he smiled cheerfully.

"Hmph! I really hate your twisted mindset. I'm leaving." She turned around and started walking away from them.

Upon seeing that, the young man flustered and gently grabbed her shoulder from the back before speaking. "Chae-rin, Where are you going?"

"I don't want to get dragged into this mess. I'm leaving. Enjoy your show by yourself." She removed his hand from her shoulder by force and took the path leading down the mountain.

"But-" Before he could say anything to stop her, she had already left the scene.

He sighed.

"Let's go. I lost interest."

"But what about that boy? Are we going to leave him like this?" one of the people among the group asked Sang-ho.

"Let him be. I'm sure he can find his way back up."

"But..."

"What? Are you going to defy me? I'm already in a bad mood because of Chae-rin. Don't make me vent it on you. It's my last warning." He glared at him with intimidating eyes.

The boy gulped nervously and replied. "Understood, brother."

Soon, everyone left the cliff leaving Sun-jae all alone.

Meanwhile, Sun-jae kept on climbing down the cliff until he reached the area where the flower was.

After a bit of struggle, he plucked it out and kept it in his own pocket safely.

"Hyung, I got the flower. Pull me up!" He shouted in the upward direction.

But no one answered from above.

He called out to them again. "Hello? Is there anyone up there? Please pull me up."

"…."

"Brother Sang-ho, please pull the rope up. It's already late now. My grandfather must be waiting at home. Please!"

Even though he pleaded to them for a while, no one responded.

Hence, out of frustration, he cussed at them.

"You sons of a bitches, stop joking around and pull me up!"

Yet, no one replied in return.

"Did they seriously leave without me? Those bastards... I'm gonna teach you all a lesson someday, just you wait!" he said out loud in anger.

With no choice left, Park Sun-jae grabbed the rope with both of his hands and started climbing the cliff little by little. Since it was a steep slope and it suddenly started raining, the foothold became a bit slippery to climb on. But he didn't give up and kept on climbing with all his strength.

Sometime later, he could almost see the view of the top and was soon to reach the edge of the cliff.

"Haha! Finally!" he grinned.

Unfortunately, his luck was not on his side.

Just when he was inches away from the edge of the cliff, the knot to the other end of the rope came undone and Sun-jae fell down the mountain. In a desperation of survival, he grabbed onto a small rock sticking out of the slope and held onto it.

"Help! Somebody help.I'm gonna fall off this cliff. Please help."

Park Sun-jae cried out for help as long as he could remember. However, not a single soul came by and helped him.

It was already nighttime and his face turned pale like a ghost with hands becoming numb and painful. When there was no energy left within his body to grab onto the rock, he bit his lips and let go of the rock he was holding onto for so long.

Thud!

Within a few seconds, his body hit the ground and blood started pouring out from his body. His temperature went down and he started feeling cold all of a sudden. In the last moments of his life, his entire experience in the past flashed before his eyes.

'What a pathetic life I've lived. It's so laughable. If only I was born with proper spiritual meridians, I could've lived my life differently. No one would have ever belittled me and my grandfather. His worries would've come to an end and he would have been proud of me as his grandson. Alas… I can't change my fate no matter how hard I try. Now that I'm dying, I'm regretting so much in life. Is this the end for me?' He thought to himself crying inwardly.

'But I don't want to die. I can't!'

"I want to live…." He uttered those last words and took his last breath.

Suddenly, the bracelet he was wearing with black ruby stone in it glow red in color. Some sort of rune letters, which were black in color came out of it and crawled onto his body before spreading everywhere like a parasite sticking to its host.

When his entire body was filled with these strange symbols, a black cloud-like smoke appeared beneath Sun-jae lifting him up as he levitated into the air.

Following that, the things around him stood still. It was as if the time itself had stopped.

The tides of the sea freeze before they could even clash onto the boulders near the shore, the sound of the wind could no longer be heard anymore and the clouds in the sky stopped moving even an inch except in one place.

The above clouds where Park Sun-jae was, dispersed resulting in a dark hole made at the center.

A few seconds later, a white pillar of light shot out from the sky through that hole before landing onto Sun-jae's body.

This phenomena lasted for a while, before the sky returned to its normal state and the pathway where the light was coming from, got completely closed off.

Meanwhile, Sun-jae who was still floating in the air glowed white and the rune letters on him disappeared along with the wounds he had on his body.

He was healed completely.

Sometime later, the white glow also dissipated from him and he fell on the surface as something unexpected happened.

Tu-thump! Tu-thump!

The Sun-jae who was thought to be dead... his heart started beating again.