Dancing on the golden ashes

The first ray of sunlight hit my eyes, and my mind seemed to snap back into reality. Why am I outside? I could barely remember what had happened, the past few days seemed like a blur, a faint memory swallowed by a fog. But then, like a flood, everything rushed back in—every moment, every sound, every feeling. It was as if I had been drowning in darkness and the light had finally pierced through.

The overwhelming flood of memories brought a sharp pain to my head. I gasped, trying to steady myself. Then, the system message appeared before me, its mechanical tone cutting through the chaos of my thoughts.@@novelbin@@

[Welcome back Lee Gaon]

[Congratulations!]

[You had successfully evolved into the Soul Deity]

[Reward: New passive: Soul Control - User can now easily control and store souls without devouring them]

[A special condition had been reached]

[The user now has become the elite of the system]

[Reward: A new ability has been granted]

[Devour - User can now devour almost anything they can imagine as long as the power level is sufficient]

[Your soul energy has been greatly enhanced, reaching peak purity]

[All your stats have been boosted by five times]

[New quest received: A special request from the creator - kill ten demigod-level monsters]

I felt different, like something inside me had broken free. The world felt entirely new, and I could almost sense the divide between this reality and the one I had once known. I had transcended, yes, but in some ways, it felt like I was only halfway there. My evolution wasn't even close to finished—there was still more to come, and I could only wonder how far the system would push me.

And then, something else hit me. Demigod monsters? The beast that had torn through the city—could it really have been a demigod? It didn't seem possible. But wait…

I suddenly snapped back to the present, and panic surged through me. Why was I outside? The ground felt like rubble beneath me, and the silence that enveloped the area sent a cold shiver down my spine. The faint whispers of the past—the bustle of life—were gone. Where was everyone?

It was then that everything came crashing back. I remembered it all—the monster, the explosion, the deadly shockwave. I had died before the battle had even started. I had left everyone else to fight without me. They had been depending on me, and I had failed them.

The enormity of it hit me. I doomed them.

As my mind finally focused on the world in front of me, I saw the horrible truth. The ground, once bustling with life, was now covered in rubble. No sound, no life. Just silence and death. A sea of black souls floated eerily over the devastation—souls of those who had been lost. I was the only one left. The only one alive.

"No..." My voice cracked, barely a whisper. My heart ached, my chest tightened. The agony was unbearable. It felt as though every blade of pain was twisting in my heart. I couldn't feel a single living aura. It was just emptiness.

Why? Why was I the only one left? Why did I survive?

The tears came, flooding my eyes, rushing down my face without my control. My chest felt hollow, like the world had been ripped away. I touched my cheeks, feeling the hot, salty streaks of sorrow. It was too much. Experience tales with My Virtual Library Empire

I collapsed, the weight of the world pressing down on me, and the bitter realization set in—they're gone. All of them. Malrang, Eun-woo, Seong-hoon, the others...

"They're all dead..." I whispered, but the words didn't feel real. They tasted like ash in my mouth.

"Hahaha..." My laugh came out broken, frantic. I felt like I was losing my grip on reality. "This is a dream. It has to be. The creator is messing with me. There's no way… no way they would die. They were so powerful... they never gave up… I won't believe it! I refuse to believe it!"

I screamed, the raw emotion ripping through me, but even as I shouted, I knew deep down—this wasn't a dream. This was real. The city was gone. They were gone. The truth was too painful, too final.

The winds whispered, the souls hovered, and the world felt impossibly still, as if everything had stopped—except for the pain, the regret, the crushing guilt. The silence screamed louder than any battle ever could.

And I was left standing alone in the ruins of my failure.

I walked through the ruins, my steps heavy, my mind blank. The once-mighty city was now just a memory, a broken shell of what it had been. The souls that lingered around me brushed against my feet, almost as if they were trying to reach out to me, to tell me something. I could feel their sorrow, their last regrets, their pain. Their lives had been taken too soon, and I could almost hear their unspoken wish to have lived just a little longer. They didn't want to die. And yet, I couldn't escape the overwhelming sense that I had failed them.

Their sorrow became my sorrow. It intertwined with my own guilt, sinking deeper and deeper, becoming a part of me. But what I didn't feel—what I couldn't feel—was hate. Not from them. Not a single soul blamed me for their deaths. They didn't see me as the one who brought this upon them. To them, it was simply the cost of living in a world of power and conflict. But in my heart, there was no escaping the truth. I was the villain. I had sworn to protect them, to ensure their safety. But look at where I was now. The city was gone, and not a single person remained. Not even the ones who had trusted me, who had stood by me.

I couldn't deny it anymore. What good is strength if you can't even save the ones you care about? What was all this power for if I couldn't use it when it mattered most? Good job, Gaon. You fucked up again. Now you're truly alone. And they're gone. All of them.

I felt the bitterness in my own mind, like poison seeping through my thoughts. It was hard to fight it, but I knew deep down that I had failed them, failed myself. You're alone now. Don't you like it? Don't you enjoy it?

No... I don't! I recoiled, shaking my head as if I could rid myself of the poisonous thoughts. I had loved them. All of them. They weren't just my friends. The people here had been my strength. They had been my drive, the very reason I kept pushing myself forward. Without them, without their belief in me, without their hope… I… I don't know who I am anymore.

The other voice in my mind, the one that spoke the cruel truth, laughed coldly. You've always been alone, haven't you? It's better that way. You don't have to worry about losing anyone anymore. You can grow stronger without fear. Alone.

I stopped walking, standing still in the wreckage of my life. I closed my eyes tightly, trying to drown out the voice that seemed to echo with truth, and yet the pain of it burned through my chest. I'm not alone... But the words felt empty. I was surrounded by black soul orbs, drifting toward me like they wanted to cling to me, like they hoped to stay with me forever.

But could I really let them? Could I keep carrying the weight of their souls when I couldn't even save them in the first place?

I couldn't answer. I couldn't even breathe without the sharp sting of loss.

And in that moment, I realized: it wasn't just them who had died. It was me. The person I used to be, the one who cared, the one who fought to protect... she was gone too.

And in her place? Just this shell, surrounded by shadows, alone with the weight of her own failure.

The world around me felt colder as I spoke those words, like the very air itself acknowledged the weight of my resolve. I stood amidst the desolation, surrounded by the souls of the fallen, their whispers filling my ears, their unspoken pain pressing into my heart. But I had no time for sympathy anymore. No time for regrets. This is the price I must pay.

With a deep breath, I felt my energy surge, as if the very essence of those who had perished fueled my determination, and for the first time in what felt like forever, I could feel my resolve sharpening. I wasn't going to let this be the end. I would break the chains that held me, the chains of guilt, of regret, of the failure that weighed me down.

"Time for me to move on," I whispered to myself, and yet the words felt louder, echoing in my mind. "Time for me to break this damn world. This place... it's no better than the one I came from. If this world is a cage, then I will destroy it. If it's full of illusions, then I will burn it away."

I felt my hair shift in the wind, crimson strands catching the light, as if they, too, had been painted by the blood of those who died. Was it really blood? Or was it just another mark of my sin? I didn't know. I didn't care. I was no longer the person I used to be. I had ascended past that, or maybe... I had fallen further than I ever imagined possible.

"Let it be a reminder. Let it be the reflection of my sin," I said softly, my voice carrying a weight that was both freeing and suffocating. "I will carry this with me forever. Every soul, every life lost, every person who trusted me... I'll carry their memory. And I will make sure this world never forgets."

The souls flooded into me, swirling with a grace I hadn't expected. For a moment, the very air around me shimmered, as though the laws of reality bent and warped in my presence. I didn't devour them this time. No, I didn't want to. Instead, they found their place inside me, but not in the way they had before. This time, they settled into a new space within me—one that defied the very laws of this plane. A realm of sorts, within me, where their existence no longer had to adhere to the cruel logic of the world outside.