“That you still don’t know the guardian spirit’s name… it makes no sense. The deadline will be… half a year. That should be enough.”
“…Ah…”
“Of course, getting the answer directly from the guardian spirit will be invalid. I’ll allow one hint… just one. After all the time you’ve spent together, you shouldn’t need more.”
Raven looked up, unenthusiastic.
[The guardian spirit ??? glares at Death.]
“…My guardian spirit seems to really hate this idea.”
If it’s so suppressed by Death’s aura that it can barely share its senses, and yet still manages to send a message—
From the very beginning, it had refused to tell him its name. It only identified itself as an ancestor and asked to be called “Hyung.” It always dodged the question, insisting a title was enough.
So it surely didn’t like this bet at all…
“But since I already accepted, that doesn’t matter.”
“Well, that’s true…”
He had accepted the bet. At this point, there was no option but to win.
Raven silently watched the icy hand that touched his chest lightly after snapping its fingers. A dry laugh escaped his lips.
His bright green eyes, devoid of the slightest trace of life, sank into themselves with a mocking expression aimed at himself.
“I forgot my own name long ago, and now I’m supposed to find out someone else’s.”
“Calling the guardian spirit ‘someone else’? He might be hurt to hear that. And it’s not such a bad bet. Honestly, aren’t you curious? After all this time together, why has he never told you his name?”
“…”
“Why he cares so much about you, what he really is, what his goal is… Surely, at least once, you’ve wondered.”
“Cut it out with the provocations.”
It was true that those questions had haunted him more than once, and still did, but he wasn’t about to show that Death’s words were getting to him. After all, it was Death who should be distrusted—not the spirit that had helped him all this time.
And besides, that wasn’t what mattered right now. He closed his eyes slowly and replied with reluctance.
“Half a year, from now. Understood.”
It was time to prepare to return to the outside world.
Raven raised a hand and pressed hard against the edge of his aching eye. The subtle tremble in his hand clearly transferred to the sensitive skin around it.
“Anything else you need to do?”
“Hmm?”
“Was that everything?”
…He had spent too long inside the portal.
It felt like his eyes were burning. No, like his entire body was on fire. The searing pain that enveloped him forced him to slide a hand down his arm, trying to make sure his body was still whole.
And then, as if drawn out by that pain, an old, nearly forgotten memory began to slowly surface in his mind.
“Why aren’t you answering?”
“…I don’t know.”
Clenching his fist tightly, trying to ignore that phantom pain that seemed to grow stronger, Raven noticed Death letting out a subtle laugh and adopting a relaxed posture.
“Maybe there was something more… or maybe not. I need to think about it a bit.”
“…”
…So now he throws my earlier joke back at me like this.
The stress that had been slowly accumulating exploded in a brief moment of irritation. Raven slowly opened his eyes and suppressed his emotions.
At least here, he couldn’t lose control so easily.
“Is that so? Well, I can’t waste time sitting around either… So while we’re at it, why don’t we talk about something else?”
There was a topic he wanted to bring up before they parted.
“Ever since you mentioned the bet, I’ve been thinking… Don’t you think you went a little overboard giving me an ‘immortal, eternal life’?”
When he first heard it, he’d been completely speechless.
“You were the one who, afraid I might someday wish to live, imposed all kinds of conditions.”
Then, he remembered the dream he had that day.
Though it was brief, Raven clearly remembered how things had gone afterward.
Contrary to what one might expect, thinking that a simple human wish would be dismissed as trivial, Death responded positively. Though that didn’t mean the contract had been easy to establish.
“You want to extend your life until you’ve completed your revenge? And what would count as fulfilling that revenge?”
“Ah, I see. Even if you find your target, if you don’t kill him, then the revenge never ends. In other words, you’re asking for an indefinite life extension. And the price is your soul after death… So until you choose to die, I can’t do anything. Cunning and shameless as a fox.”
“Then I’ll add a condition. I’ll make you finish everything quickly and wish to die. I’ll impose conditions that keep you from clinging to life.”
“Eventually, you’ll beg me to let you die.”
And now he says this.
“You talk nonsense—and too much of it.”
Even if it was hypothetical, including “wasting time” as a possibility in that theory was still insulting. Raven let out a disbelieving laugh and toyed with his dagger.
“How about I make something clear, so you won’t pester me about this again for a while?”
“…”
“Hey, I—”
Crash!
The sentence was cut off.
Death, his gaze lifeless, looked down at the decapitated body and then up—at the monster holding Raven’s head in its jaws.
Gruuuh…
No one noticed when it approached, but there it was, a monster happily chewing Raven’s head.
The silence that followed was short.
“—I hate monsters.”
Pof.
Raven’s body moved and drove a dagger deep into the monster’s eye.
The head the monster had swallowed had already turned to dust, passed through the creature’s body, and reassembled in its original place—fully restored.
As if he had never died, Raven, now completely healed, climbed onto the monster’s back as it writhed in pain and pushed the dagger in deeper. Then he pulled out another and drove it into the hilt of the first, forcing it into the brain.
KRAAAHH!
A horrid shriek and near-convulsive spasms shook the monster. Its sharp claws brushed dangerously close to Raven’s body, but he didn’t flinch.
In a dry voice, he continued speaking.
“I hate portals even more.”
More than these monsters that dared to bite his head, he despised the portals that allowed such creatures to seep, even if slightly, into the surface world. Add to that the resentment of having lost part of his sight, part of his soul, and nearly his entire life, and the disgust only grew.
Still clinging to the hilt of the dagger with one hand, he reached for another at his waist with the other and pulled it out.
“But what I hate most, more than anything…”
Clack, crack, stab!
“…is myself.”
Because I was the one who opened that portal. And that’s why I loathe myself.
In the end, all the hatred comes back to me. Only those who love themselves can wish to continue living. Raven had lost that right long ago.
And the one who sealed that fate was none other than Death.
“So—”
After repeating several stabs, he left the monster’s body completely destroyed and pointed his dagger at Death. Whether from pain or emotion, his hand trembled, the tip of the blade quivering slightly.
“I will never want to live, so don’t try to test me. That is disgustingly unpleasant.”
“…Fine.”
Death nodded.
He hesitated a bit, as humans do, fragile and ever-changing…
“But I’m glad you haven’t changed your mind.”
After all, the world that had barely managed to reach stability after a thousand years of chaos could not withstand further upheaval.
That’s why Raven had to remain steadfast in his resolve. If he truly began to wish for life, the world would shift again.
As the one who extended his life, Death bore the responsibility of watching over him.
‘Though from what I see, I won’t have to worry for now.’
An almost imperceptible smile appeared on Death’s face.
It wasn’t a smile anyone would feel comfortable seeing, and Raven, frowning in visible irritation, rubbed the spot on his neck where his head had been ripped off, then rotated his neck from side to side. The pain was still vivid.
But if it helped dull the burn and the memories of the past, then maybe it was a small mercy.
He let out a sigh and waved his hand in annoyance.
“I almost died because of you. Don’t you think it’s about time you left?”
Death’s energy was so overwhelming that Raven hadn’t noticed the monster’s presence. If he had missed it, it was only natural the guardian spirit, also suppressed by that aura, couldn’t react either.
On the surface, where living beings fear death precisely because they are alive, Death was an absolute entity.
‘I have to close the portal.’
He had thought Death had a reason for speaking here, which was why he hadn’t destroyed the core yet, but even that had its limits.
He couldn’t leave the portal open forever, and every second spent in that place only fueled his desire to leave. Exhausted, Raven slowly lowered his gaze.
Fortunately, Death didn’t seem intent on dragging out the farewell either. He nodded and spoke.
“Then I’ll say just one more thing.”
“What now…?”
“That collar around your neck.”
Tap, tap.
He tapped his own neck twice with his fingers, then pointed to Raven’s.
“It’s not a ‘dog collar.’ It has a more elegant name: a ‘choker.’ It’s essential for keeping your soul bound to your body. You should know that.”
Death pointed precisely at the small gem embedded in the center of the collar.
Raven silently brought his hand to his neck and touched the red stone.
…Of course he knew. Both symbolically and physically, the collar had to be placed at the neck—the midpoint between the brain and the heart, the two most important parts of the human body—to keep the soul anchored. And to prevent it from accidentally detaching, it was shaped that way.
Calling it a “dog collar” had just been a malicious provocation.
“So petty.”
Raven clicked his tongue and grabbed the portal’s core.
He was about to crush it when Death’s voice rang out behind him.
“Oh, right.”
As if just remembering, he said it with an incredibly casual tone.
“Looks like you’re back in action… so I thought I’d assign you a few ‘errands’ again.”
“……”
“I’ll tell you where to collect the next soul.”
***
After hearing it all, Raven broke the portal’s core without saying a word.
And only upon returning to the surface did he understand why Death had followed him into the depths to speak with him.
“…Ha… what the hell is that?”
If they had waited to talk after returning to the surface, too much time might have passed…
Or the conversation might have been cut short halfway through.
“Why is there a person here…?”
The first thing he saw upon emerging was a boy—no, a young man—being chased by a monster.
***
“Altair, I’m asking this out of pure curiosity.”
“…?”
“What exactly is the reason you want to kill the master?”
Ah.
The hand that had been softly gliding across the open journal on his lap stopped.
But only for a moment. Then it resumed slowly caressing the cover, and Raven’s first disciple gave a crooked smile.
“Because he was the one who opened the era of the portals.”
“…!”
The greatest criminal in human history. The one who unleashed the portal catastrophe and opened a new era marked by them.
That… was his master.
“The me from the past was still me. How stupid was I to follow someone like that and call him master?”
Because of the portals, he had lost everything.
Even so, this journal contained nothing but affection for that master, and Altair forced down the rising curiosity he felt, lowering his gaze coldly.
Then he recalled the words written at the end of the journal.
[Warning to my future self, who has lost his memory.]
The handwriting was undoubtedly his own. And yet, he had no memory of writing it.
[Don’t harm the master.]
Why…?
[You’ll definitely regret it.]
Why had his past self forgiven the man who had been his enemy?
He couldn’t understand. His eyes, filled with irritation and rage, gleamed with murderous intent.
──In this world where humanity walks, there exists a reverse side known as the ‘Abyss,’ a place without a sun and with three moons in the sky.
Because its entrances are extremely rare and located only at specific points, it is not a place of free passage. And for that, in a way, it’s a relief.
That place is home to all kinds of dangerous monsters, and humanity already has its hands full trying to stop and eliminate those that pass through to the surface.
The only upside was that the ‘magic stones’ dropped by the monsters had endless uses.
As ritual offerings, high-value decorations, exquisite gems… and even as energy sources for creating ‘portals’ that made transportation easier.
But the trouble began with those portals.
A lunatic decided to use them to connect the surface to the Abyss.
The monsters, as if waiting for that very opportunity, surged onto the surface, spreading chaos among unsuspecting humans.
The earth was stained with blood, innocent villages wiped from the map without survivors.
And because the stones used to create the portals came from the Abyss and were infused with its energy, spontaneous new portals began appearing on the surface, repeatedly linking back to the Abyss.
Humanity, recognizing the scale of the disaster, decided to distinguish them from ordinary portals and gave them a new name: Gates.
And the ‘madman’ who opened the first Gate…
“He had to survive.”
Because of that incident, he placed upon himself a chain that still binds him.