Beyond the Eternity

"Damnit. To think there was a golden meteorite here... What should we do? Can we really let this go?"

"Shut up. I'm thinking."

He was right. We'd be fools to let those people take the golden meteorite, but attacking them would be even worse—especially in our condition.

Soo Jinyoung was unconscious, and Park Joonhyuk was low on magic power. As for me, I didn't have enough strength to take all of them down. In addition, they looked prepared for a confrontation. Fighting under these conditions wasn't ideal. Was there another way?

My gaze shifted to the white-haired woman approaching the meteorite.

I had to assess her strength and weaknesses before making any decisions. Worst case scenario, we'd have to fight to claim the meteorite.

[Exclusive skill, Omniscient Wall has activated.]

[Information of this person cannot be extracted.]

[This person isn't registered in the character list.]

As expected, she wasn't a character. Was she also a reader like Park Joonhyuk or a normal person from the outside world?

"...!"

My heart skipped as the woman's eyes turned in our direction. I ducked behind cover.

Impossible. We were too far away for her to detect us. Did she use a sensory skill?

Regardless, that woman continued to stare this way.

[The exclusive skill, Sound Sensitivity has activated.]

I adjusted the sound frequency to eavesdrop on their conversation. The first voice was that of a soldier.

"Ma'am, is everything alright?"

"It's nothing. We're leaving."

"Pardon?"

"We'll head somewhere else. This is not the meteorite I need."

What? They were leaving?

I thought I didn't hear correctly. But they really began to move.

They turned around and headed back the way he came. It was a march that left no room for hesitation. Despite coming this far, all of them immediately turned around with a single command.

Was there any king that could maintain an army without disorder?

After a while, we stepped out of hiding. There was no trace of them left.

Even so, something about the situation felt off.

"I don't get it. Why would they leave? There's no sign of a trap, so did something come up? What do you think, should we proceed?"

No response.

"Joonhyuk?"

The place was quiet still.

I turned my head and saw Park Joonhyuk's pale face. What's up with that expression? It was the first time I was seeing him this way.

"Hello! Park Joonhyuk!"

"Huh?"

"What's wrong with you?"

"Ah, It's nothing. Just thinking about something."

Was that really it? It was hard to believe his words when he had such an expression.

... Hold on.

Now that I think about it, who exactly was that woman looking at? And was her hair colour almost similar to Park Joonhyuk?

I see. So that woman was related to Park Joonhyuk. Was it a relative? Her facial features was covered so it was difficult to tell if she was old or young. Even so, It was definitely someone related to Park Joonhyuk.

Yet, he didn't seem particularly pleased to see her.

"Anyway, let's go over there."

Park Joonhyuk walked towards meteorite. I sighed and followed after him.

I placed the unconsious Soo Jinyoung on the ground and began to examine the meteorite that those people left behind.

A golden meteorite.

It was a meteorite that could drop items ranging from S to SSS grade. However, that doesn't mean that the dropped item would be necessarily useful. In a way, It was similar to the black box since there was no way of knowing what would pop out.

Not many items could stand up against the Disaster of Ruin's Antimatter. An SSS-grade item would be ideal, but the odds were slim. Tch. I hated scenarios that relied purely on luck.

What if a low grade item comes out? Then what? There was even a chance the meteorite could release something dangerous, like a cursed item.

I massaged my temple. That very thought was enough to give me a headache.

[The constellations of the Miracle System are looking at the player Park Joonhyuk.]

The constellations of the <Miracle System>?

I turned my head and saw dozens of puppets created by Park Joonhyuk were gathering the corpses of the fallen monsters. While the puppets were burning the corpses, Park Joonhyuk was muttering a short prayer.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"You copied the novel and yet you don't know?"

"This bastard... are you trying to get good fortune from the angels? It's almost as if you have no fear."

Park Joonhyuk shrugged as If It was unimportant.

"Why should I be scared? It's not like they're going to do anything. As long as I follow the right steps, I can get good fortune regardless of how low my faith is. Honestly, Author-kun, you should've read the original work more carefully if you're going to plagiarize it. This is common sense."

"You..."

I was about to say something but a system message appeared before I could.

[The constellations of the Miracle System have bestowed the player Park Joonhyuk with small fortune.]

"Ha ha! Isn't this good?"

Park Joonhyuk looked as if he was about to burst from excitement. I stared at him for a moment before speaking.

"Hey, when are you doing to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?

"That woman."

"Oh, her? I think she might be someone I know, but I'm not sure."

"Yeah, I figured from the hair color."

"Why are you bothered about that?"

"What are you saying? It's natural that I would be bothered about something like that. Especially when the word 'reader' is casually thrown into the narrative."

"You don't have to worry about that. She's not a reader."

"She's not?"

Park Joonhyuk stratched the back of his head. "She's not a reader but she knows the contents of the narrative. To be precise, I told it to her."

"What? First, It was that man and now this. How many people did you tell about the story?"

"It was only the two of them okay! I just..." He paused before continuing. "I just needed to tell her something."

There was an awkward silence after he finished speaking. The current atmosphere prevented me from asking any further questions. Who was that woman and what was his relationship with her?

My desire to know more was pushed down by the urgency of the situation.

There was no need to worry about that woman any further. At the very least, that woman didn't seem like the type to use classified information recklessly and cause a disorder.

I placed my hand on the golden stone and asked.

"Are you ready?"

"Well, there's nothing else to do. So we just infuse mana in the meteorite, right?"

"That's about right."

"How much does it need though? Is it the same with the other stones?"

"It doesn't matter. Just infuse your mana into the stone."

"If you say so."

Park Joonhyuk placed his hand on the meteorite and both of us infused it with magic power at the same time. The stone received our combined magic power and begun to glow for a long time.

* * *

How long has it been now? The golden meteorite suddenly began to shake.

"Tch. It's about time."

After five hours of constantly pouring magic power into the stone, the meteorite finally began to crack.

We stepped back and the meteorite exploded.

I covered my face to protect my eyes from the blinding light. Eventually, the light died down and I lowered my hand.

My eyes widened.

"Isn't that...?"

Two full-body armored suits materialized in the spot where the meteorite was supposed to be. The suits, which were pitch black with subtle tones of gray, were sleek and slim-fitted as if designed for both speed and precision in combat.

It took me a moment to realise what had appeared infront of me.

[Exclusive skill, 𝕺𝖒𝖓𝖎𝖘𝖈𝖎𝖊𝖓𝖙 𝖂𝖆𝖑𝖑 has activated.]

+

[Item Information]

Name: Def.Antimatter (Prototype)

Rating: SS

Description: A powered suit crafted by a great scientist to defeat the Disaster who ended his world. It possesses multiple layers of 'Antimatter protection units' which absorbs antimatter and converts it into harmless energy. The absorption capacity is limited so caution is advised.

+

I laughed. I wasn't expecting an item like this but I suppose my luck was good this time around.

"Haha! What's this? Isn't this a perfect counter against that antimatter bastard?"

"Yeah. It's a jackpot."

"Don't steal my catchphrase, you thieving bastard!"

"Shut up. It was never yours to begin with! Haven't you heard of that video-game character with a red theme? I can't remember his name though. (I can't mention his name because of copyright laws)."

Park Joonhyuk smirked at my jab but didn't reply. He stared at the pitch black suits with greed and licked his lips.

I couldn't blame him. This wasn't just an SS grade item—it was potentially the key to defeating the Disaster of Ruin.

I quickly wore the suit and the suit adjusted itself to fit my body. Immediately, I could feel the weight, or rather, the absence of it. Park Joonhyuk sipped into the second suit with a smirk plastered on his face.

"It looks good on you."

"Naturally, anything worn by me would look good. Don't you know?"

"Well, It's good to be confident."

I could only smile wryly. It was then Park Joonhyuk turned his head and opened his mouth.

"By the way, It has been five hours yet that woman hasn't woken up."

I looked at the unconscious Soo Jinyoung and narrowed my eyes. It was indeed strange. Why hasn't she woken up yet? No, to begin with, why was she unconsious? Did she fight someone?

There were so many questions going off inside my head but the only person that could answer them was unconsious.

"Hey, Soo Jinyoung. Can you hear me?"

"...."

"Soo Jinyoung?"

"...."

Her eyes remained closed and her mouth did not move.

At that moment, I began to shake Soo Jinyoung and slap her cheeks. I thought she would wake up eventually, but she remained unconscious.

I don't understand. If she was injured, she would have automatically activated her recovery skill. So why wasn't she waking up? Was there something I was missing here?

Park Joonhyuk muttered. "Is she dead?"

"No, that can't be right. Give me a moment."

I hurriedly activated a skill.

[Exclusive skill, Black Box has activated.]

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[ « Soul Status » ]

Name: Soo Jinyoung

Age: 27

Main Attributes: Infinite Reincarnator (9th Turn) (Giant), Fallen Star (Myth)

Skills: Demon Dragon Eyes Lv. 8, Pheonix Flame Lv. 9, Seven Heavenly Swordsmanship Lv. 10, Mental Barrier Lv. 6, Beast Mode Lv. 6, Crowd Steps Lv...

Omitted.

Divine Authorities: Regeneration, Succession

Overall Stats: Physique Lv. 60, Strength Lv. 60, Agility Lv. 60, Magic Power Lv. 60.

....

*This character is currently in an abnormal condition.

*This character is infected by a parasitic organism.

+

I let out a sigh of relief. At the very least, she was still alive. But the fact she was unconsious did not change.

There was no problem with her overall stats. In fact, Soo Jinyoung have grown far much stronger than when I last saw her at the rooftop. She was probably stronger than Song Jaewon at the moment.

The problem was her abnormal status. She was in this condition because she was infected by a parasite. Parasite?

"Wait..."

Abruptly, truly abruptly, something oozed its way into my mind. There was only one creature that could put one of the strongest players in Seoul in such a state.

"This Idiot."

Soo Jinyoung faced the grade 4 Faceless One and got infected by a parasite in the process.