Ranker Who Lives Twice

[You have entered 'Li's Tomb.']

[Connection to the outer world will be cut off.]

[Defenses are released.]

[Blessings are released.]

[Graces are released.]

…

[You are in a new environment.]

…

Ssssss. Yeon-woo felt as if his physical body was shaken up from the moment he entered the tomb. At first, he ignored it, thinking it was a silly joke, but he soon realized his attempts to break through didn't work here.

[You cannot be protected by the system.]

[Your existence is denied.]

[Your existence is denied.]

Yeon-woo had power over all the powers of the system, and he had experienced most dreams, but none of that worked here. His polymorphed form, his Giant Demonic Divine Dragon Body, and his connection to the Black King were all disconnected, only leaving behind the existence called "Cha Yeon-woo."

'This feels a bit unpleasant.' For a moment, Yeon-woo wondered just how he could describe this experience. And after a short moment of contemplation, he reached an apt word: disbandment.

'What's going on?' Everything that made up Yeon-woo was falling off one by one. The fact that he was the Alternative Ego of the Black King, the fact that he was the king of dragons, the fact that he was the leader of Olympus… Death King, Shadow King, Hoarder, and his appearance when he entered the Tower… As if his clothes were being removed layer by layer, all the legends that comprised his existence fell off one by one and disappeared. Along with them, his divinity and holiness naturally disappeared as well. All that remained was…

'Me before I entered the Tower.' Yeon-woo looked down at his palms. His hands were covered in scars and burns. They were injuries that had disappeared after he became a god and his body was newly formed, injuries made from his time running rampant in Africa. He'd returned to his original state.

'Or…not.' Then, Yeon-woo felt his legend as "Cain" that was weakly holding on being snipped off as well. He seemed to have become shorter as well. The outfit he had on wasn't the black coat he frequently wore either, but was made up of a white shirt and striped pants… It was his school uniform.

With that, Yeon-woo instinctively knew that he most likely had a very young face without even looking into a mirror. He was, again, the young high school senior Yeon-woo who had become rebellious after his brother went missing and his mother fell very sick.

'How suffocating.' Powerlessness filled Yeon-woo. His body felt extremely heavy. The senses that spread through the entire universe were all gone. It was absolutely suffocating, as if someone was tightening their hand around his neck.

Was this how the gods, who roamed multiple universes and worlds, felt when they were trapped in the limited space of the heavenly world? Yeon-woo felt like he was in prison.

Whoosh! Just then, a cave appeared in front of Yeon-woo. It revealed a long twisted path in front of him and was connected to countless other caves, resembling an ant's nest. Just as he wondered what he was expected to do after being stolen of all his power and dropped inside a weird cave, a system message popped up to seemingly answer his question.

Ding!

[A hidden quest (Only One Me) has been created!]

[Hidden Quest / Only One Me]

[Description: The tomb that you are currently in is a secretive place that has been passed down from the beginning of the beginning. In the tomb lies the one who created "light" for the first time before the wheel started spinning and dreams began.

This is why everything in this location is returned to its original state. You also must have returned to your original state after entering. However, do not feel wronged or confused by this situation. Rather, this is an opportunity for you to place down everything you've achieved so far and take a break instead.

Now that you have this chance, why don't you have peace of mind and reminisce about the memories of the past?]

[Time Limit: -]

[Qualifications: Entrants of 'Li's Tomb']

[Conditions for success:

1. In this place are countless other participants who resemble you.

2. Eliminate or ally yourself with them.

3. Safely escape the maze.]

[Rewards: ???]

Just when Yeon-woo was wondering what kind of bullcrap this was, a hard voice resounded from behind. "Excuse me, young man. Do you know where this is?"

Yeon-woo reflectively turned around and laughed in disbelief. He could see a familiar face, a face just some years older than him, on a man standing there. From the short-cut hair to the military uniform, the man was obviously him from back when he was Cain. 'I don't know who created this stage, but this is a nasty hobby they have.'

However, unlike Yeon-woo, soldier Yeon-woo seemed quite taken aback. Unless he was a fool, there was no way he wouldn't have noticed that the Yeon-woo standing in front of him was a younger version of himself.

'But does he have no memories past that? I guess he only has his identity as a soldier.' Yeon-woo thought to himself. It appeared parts of the legends that were cut off had combined to create another individual being.

'Then that means…' Yeon-woo knew what he needed to do here.

"S-Sir… What is this place?" Thinking his voice sounded very young and unfamiliar, Yeon-woo pretended to be fearful as he trembled. He chose to act like this after thinking of how he would've acted if he was his high school self.

'I'm weakest here anyway.' Yeon-woo didn't even think about fighting the soldier Yeon-woo. He could hold his ground in fights at this age too, but that was only when throwing fists with other high-schoolers his age. There was no way he could defeat soldier Yeon-woo, who was very fit and led a special unit in the military. Moreover, if all the legends that were snipped off had created their own identities, there was nothing he could do here with how powerless he was. The weak needed to work together.

'Reminisce? Is that what this is?' Yeon-woo scoffed, recalling the description of the quest. Then, his gaze turned serious. 'Fortunately, even though I was crazy when I was a soldier, I wasn't crazy to the point of touching a young civilian.'

Rather, Yeon-woo had always tried to protect civilians as a soldier. That had been the cause of many fights with his higher-ups back then too. He was often threatened when terrorists hid among civilians. Still, he wasn't able to touch civilians because of his longing for his missing brother and dead mother.

"…ah." And just as Yeon-woo thought, soldier Yeon-woo tried to approach and calm him down despite his own sense of wariness. "Don't worry too much. I don't know who kidnapped us here, but I'll make sure you get out of here no matter what."

Soldier Yeon-woo even took off the bomber jacket he was wearing and handed it to Yeon-woo. "The cave's cold, isn't it? Wear this for now."

"T-Thank you." Yeon-woo gingerly accepted the jacket and hung it over his soldiers. Then, he thought, 'So this guy thinks we were kidnapped.'

No, soldier Yeon-woo could be trying to deceive Yeon-woo as well. Saying the wrong information and checking how others reacted was a habit he already had when he was a soldier. The phrase "distrust in others" was probably what made up his identity from back then.

"Thank you. It's a relief I was able to meet you. I had no idea where this was…" Yeon-woo pretended not to notice soldier Yeon-woo's bait and looked around.

"First, young man, let's look for an exit instead of just standing around like this."

"Huh? Oh, okay!" Yeon-woo nodded, pretending to be taken aback, and began to follow soldier Yeon-woo.

The cave looked just as complicated as an ant's nest, just as Yeon-woo had thought. Thankfully, it was just long and winding. There didn't seem to be any traps in particular.

"Do you have memories of how you got here?" Soldier Yeon-woo looked around at his surroundings warily while glancing at Yeon-woo from the corner of his eye.

Yeon-woo didn't miss how soldier Yeon-woo's hand lightly rested on his leather belt. Knowing soldier Yeon-woo was probably preparing to pull out the sword that was located there if anything happened, Yeon-woo replied politely, "I don't know. I was hanging out at an internet cafe with my friends… I was leaving when I suddenly became dizzy and this is where I was. What about you, sir?"

"Me? I'm a soldier, as you can probably tell. I was just training when I suddenly got here. I have no idea what happened."

'He's lying.' Yeon-woo had already seen the epaulet on soldier Yeon-woo's shoulder. It was a mark only given to the UN's Multinational Forces. The guy was clearly "Cain" from Africa. He probably had no intention of telling the truth to an unfamiliar high schooler with the same face as him.

'Then should I toss some bait too?'

"So you don't know either. Ha… I want to see my mom." Yeon-woo's shoulders drooped as he pretended to be on the verge of tears.

Soldier Yeon-woo's eyes brightened momentarily. "Your mother?"

"Yes. But… Actually, she's really sick."

Soldier Yeon-woo's eyes flashed again.

'He took the bait.'

"Oh no…! If you don't mind me asking, can I ask why she's sick? My mother was also very sick too. I was wondering if we have anything in common."

"I'm not sure either. The doctor said something, but I didn't understand what he said because I'm not exactly smart. Something about an undiscovered incurable disease…"

"That might be it."

Yeon-woo raised his head to look at soldier Yeon-woo. "What do you mean?"

"My mother also suffered from an undiscovered illness. That might be why we were kidnapped here."

"W-What does that have to do with this?"

"Most undiscovered illnesses are passed down through genetics. If this is an illness that isn't well known, they might be trying to gather people with these genes to do experiments."

"I-Isn't that stuff that only happens in movies?"

"There are lots of crazy people with money in this world. If there was someone among them who has the same illness as our mothers, they might be willing to do anything."

"T-T-That's…!"

"And don't you think we resemble each other quite a bit?"

"Y-Yes!"

"I might be stretching it a bit, but that could have something to do with this too."

"Ah…!" Yeon-woo responded to soldier Yeon-woo's "logic" while trying to hold in his laughter.

'He's really trying to have me make weird speculations.' Since high-schoolers of this age had wild imaginations, it was easy to trick them, but Yeon-woo thought that soldier Yeon-woo was just too much. 'Well, I think I've appealed my foolishness to him enough. His guard is slightly lower now, and he probably thinks I'm dependent on him.'

Since Yeon-woo continued to act reliant on him, soldier Yeon-woo's gaze seemed to be softening a bit, despite the fact that he still appeared to be a little suspicious.

'Isn't it about time for another Cha Yeon-woo to appear now?' Having walked on for quite a distance, Yeon-woo started to wonder about this question. His senses were so dulled that he couldn't feel anything. He felt beyond frustrated. Just then…

"Stop."

Yeon-woo stopped in his tracks as soldier Yeon-woo ordered. He could feel in his gut that something big was behind this corner. Was it the Shadow King? Or Death King…? If it was him when he had transcended, he'd be done before he could do anything. What could he do?

"Wait here for a moment. I'll go see what it is." Soldier Yeon-woo didn't even wait to listen to Yeon-woo's response and peeked behind the corner. Then, he spoke in a surprised voice that was very unlike himself. "Dammit! What is that? It's not like we're in some game or anything."

Yeon-woo tiptoed and peeked behind the corner without soldier Yeon-woo's permission. Then, he laughed in disbelief. Filling up a giant and lofty pace was…a sleeping dragon. He could see the Giant Demonic Divine Dragon, his real body shrunken to a mini version. Of course, even if it was a mini, it had a massive body that was hundreds of meters wide.

'…I feel like I met the final boss from the beginning.'

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