Ranker Who Lives Twice

'In order for this 'dream' to continue for a longer period… I need to gather all the darkness fragments that have been scattered throughout the universe." There was only one reason why Yeon-woo decided to delay his battle with Sage and return to this world. Although he was on a mission to find his brother's missing soul, Yeon-woo also wanted to 'clean up' everything so that his brother and his family could live in peace after everything was said and done.

With that in mind, Yeon-woo's priority was very simple: gather all the darkness before it becomes unstable and acts unpredictably. Of course, he knew that this would cause another social shock for Earth's people, just like the chaos that ensued after the day of the beginning.

Various intelligent beings, including Earthlings, perceived the gates in many ways. There were places where beings could not withstand a gate break and perished under the subsequent monster wave. On the other hand, there were also places where people overcame a gate break and tried to coexist. Moreover, there were even places where beings prospered anew through warfare. Earth was one of the few places where the latter was the case.

Thus, it was clear that the industrial and political forces, who depended on the gates to justify and continue their pursuits, would be frustrated by the sudden disappearance of the gates once Yeon-woo gathered the fragmented darkness, even if the average citizen would welcome the development. However, Yeon-woo had no other option. No one knew that the fragments of darkness could never be truly utilized by ordinary intelligent beings. Rather, the darkness would eventually consume them. By destroying the framework of the world and blurring the laws and providence that had barely been established and naturalized after the creation of the universe, the darkness would slowly bring chaos once more. If that were to happen, the distinction between Day and Night would become blurred, and the boundary with the universe and the otherworld would also become blurred, causing everything to return to the 'dream'…

Essentially, everything would just flow towards complete chaos. Thus, Yeon-woo wanted to gather all the fragments of darkness. So, at this moment, in this place, Yeon-woo was not acting as 'human Cha Yeon-woo' but as 'Cha Yeon-woo's ego'.

Sss. Yeon-woo ordered the darkness to return to their original places… And soon, the darkness started moving.

***

"Hey, what's this?"

"The player system is over…?"

While staring blankly at Yeon-woo, the Hell Hound players suddenly opened their eyes wide with surprise when they saw a message appear in the center of their retina. Their eyes had widened due to the message window's content.

[All player support has been suspended by order of the system's high administrator.]

[The player system is shutting down.]

[All applied blessings and protections are canceled.]

Along with the message…

Sss.

"Ugh!"

"No…!"

The players expressed shock when they saw their shadows flickering uncontrollably. Since the day of the beginning, they had experienced many miracles and anomalies, but it was the first time they had seen their own shadows wildly dance.

No, to be precise, the 'data' connected to the shadows was shaking. All the magic effects that were given as rewards or placed onto artifacts and the skills gained after clearing objectives in the gates were shaking.

Whoosh! First, the Hell Hound players' shadows were torn off and sucked into Yeon-woo.

Starting from there… Sss! Sss! All throughout Earth… On each planet and civilization… The shadows from different universes increasingly gathered together. The fragments of darkness that had scattered everywhere while Yeon-woo was asleep, every place that the system could reach, began to be recovered. The gates closed, and their trials stopped operating. Players in the dungeon were forcibly released outside, and all effects applied to them returned to Yeon-woo.

Although it was not possible to recover the power that each god and demon gave to their apostles or the abilities that the players had personally learned and developed while training, the further acquisition or development of such skills and abilities were no longer possible. Those skill and ability trees had been firmly shut.

"Wow…!" Sesha stared blankly at Yeon-woo. It was a majestic scene to behold. All the shadows of the entire universe seemed to be flocking toward Yeon-woo.

Moreover, using draconic eyes, Sesha was able to observe Yeon-woo's true body. The sight of a giant dragon standing endlessly tall and slowly swallowing the shadows made her heart pound.

Yeon-woo was sucking in the numerous shadows that rushed in like tsunami waves while carrying the darkness. No one in the world could perform such a miracle. This was her uncle, so Sesha felt proud. On the other hand, the gods of Olympus and the players were all in a daze.

Then, when the march of shadows, which had occurred at a fierce speed, was all over…

"…"

"…"

『…』

『…』

There remained only deep silence. The moment seemed like it would last forever, as many people had gone blank and were in a dazed stupor. However, Sesha knew that all this happened in a matter of a few seconds. The second hand of Sesha's wristwatch had only moved a few ticks. For Yeon-woo to have done such an incredible thing in a matter of a few seconds illustrated just how great Yeon-woo was.

While she continued observing Yeon-woo. Sesha could tell that her uncle, after retrieving all the things given to the players and beings by the system, seemed dissatisfied. She asked, "Uncle, what's wrong?"

"I wasn't able to retrieve everything."

"Huh…?" Sesha's eyes grew into large circles. Even after Yeon-woo's almighty appearance and action, she couldn't believe that there were places where the darkness could not be retrieved.

"It seems like there are some people using tricks."

For some reason, Sesha thought that Yeon-woo's eyes had sharply narrowed. It was as if Yeon-woo had met an enemy. His expression bordered on the cynical.

In truth, Yeon-woo was thoroughly irritated. 'You dare to play with darkness without my permission, huh?' Yeon-woo did not know if he should call them brave or just plain idiotic.

They had suffered through the danger and fear of death when the Tower collapsed… They had also realized the overpowering force of Night through firsthand experience… Even after overcoming all those tribulations, Yeon-woo was surprised that these beings were still covetous of the darkness.

Quite a few transcendent societies were trying to privatize the fragments of darkness and coveting the power of the Black King. However, in one way, their actions were quite natural. Gods and demons feared the Black King, but they were jealous of his power, so they coveted it. Though the gods and demons disdained the otherworld gods, it was probably quite natural for them to wish to obtain at least some of the Black King's powers.

'I wondered why so many eyes were looking at Earth after the Tower's collapse… It was all because of this.' As Yeon-woo gently raised his head, messages popped up in his mind one after another.

[All the gods of <Memphis> are avoiding your gaze.]

[The godly society, <Dilmun>, whose members were observing you, all lower their heads at once.]

…

[The demonic society <Jie Sect>, whose members were measuring you up just a moment ago, have all become thoroughly busy with some sudden, urgent matters.]

…

All these gods and demons were probably profusely sweating. Since Yeon-woo had awakened, they did not know what would happen to them. Haven't many of them already suffered under Yeon-woo's hands?

"The African Sahara, South American Andes, the Middle Eastern steppes, Antarctica, South Pacific… I couldn't retrieve the darkness from these areas. Do all these places share something in common?" Yeon-woo momentarily sneered at the desperate gazes of the transcendents, ignored them all, and looked back at Sesha while asking his question aloud.

Even in each universe, there were many places where the darkness was not retrieved, but on Earth, where the body of the Black King was sleeping, there were many more such places. Five places in total.

Sesha tilted her head and considered each place, then nodded heavily. "The places you spoke of are the five magic regions."

"Magic regions?"

"Yes." Sesha nodded and explained what the five magic regions were to Yeon-woo, who was not yet familiar with the recently changed common sense and knowledge of Earth.

***

The five magic regions… When the day of the beginning brought destruction and disaster to Earth, and when human civilization was on the brink of extinction, the introduction and utilization of the system had given people hope and light. The five magic regions represented the forbidden areas that humanity was unable to bring back into its control, even with the system's help.

The Sahara Desert itself had become a dungeon as the gate there was not properly managed, allowing a full force gate break to occur. The Andes Mountains were taken over by Vimalacitra, who had swept away everything that caught his eye and had brought complete chaos onto the land.

The Middle Eastern steppe area was home to a magic wind that could not be contained and resulted in numerous victims.

Due to Antarctica's year-round blizzards and bleak landscape filled with icebergs and snowfields, no one knew exactly what was happening in that area.

Numerous casualties arose in the South Pacific archipelago region, but the exact reasons were unknown.

"Among these five regions, we know what happened in the Sahara and Andes. The Sahara situation happened because a gate wasn't properly managed, leading to a full-on gate break. The Andes has been made inaccessible due to Vimalacitra." Sesha explained calmly, "However, for the remaining three regions, the exact reasons are still unknown. Whenever an investigation team is dispatched to those regions, they either disappear without a word or come back dead…" Sesha let her words trail off.

The players on Earth had a short history, so their limitations were clear. However, these standards did not fit Yeon-woo. It was clear that there was probably something Yeon-woo already noticed about each of the five regions.

"I guess I should have expected it." Just as Sesha expected, Yeon-woo seemed to already know what was going on. "They probably devoured or killed all of the people they saw."

Yeon-woo lightly clicked his tongue before narrowing his eyes. 'If they're coveting something that they shouldn't, I guess I'll need to correct that bad habit.' It seemed that he would have to do some housekeeping on Earth before moving on to the otherworld.

"I guess I've let things go on too long without doing anything." Although Yeon-woo was muttering to himself, his words would be terrifying to anyone else who heard them. Yeon-woo looked back at Sesha. "Sesha."

"Yes, Uncle."

"I have work to do right now. Can I leave the rest to you?"

Sesha stared into Yeon-woo's eyes for a moment without saying a word. She could see the firm belief in Yeon-woo's eyes. Seeing this, Sesha had no choice but to laugh. "What are you talking about? I'm only sixteen."

"If I thought of you as a child, I would not have asked."

Sesha pouted her lips. "Mom and dad have to learn from you. They always treat me like a child. The only person I can trust is you."

"They trust you more than I do. They're just worried."

With a bashful smile, Sesha responded, "I'll try. I don't know if I'll do well. I just need to follow what you always do, right?"

Yeon-woo momentarily flinched at the word 'always', but he quietly nodded. "As you please."

"Then, it shouldn't be difficult at all."

"Then I'll leave the rest to you. I need to finish something else first."

Whoosh! Yeon-woo left a few ambiguous words before disappearing. And the place he left for Sesha to handle…

Sesha quickly turned her gaze towards the Hell Hound members, who all flinched unconsciously. Sesha was smiling brightly like she had done when speaking with Yeon-woo. However, though she looked the same as when she appeared in the media, her expression exuded a strangely ominous…

"Everyone."

"…?"

"…?"

"…?"

"Unless you're dumb, you know where you stand, right?"

"…!"

"…!"

"…!"

"Have you all come to a decision?"

Of course, they did. The Hell Hound members only had one choice.