novelraw Chapter 50 50: Suhyeon’s Dilemma
Chapter 50 50: Suhyeon’s Dilemma
⚠️ Warning: This chapter contains intense and disturbing scenes. Read with caution.
📌 Note: Once you finish reading, check the comments; there you will find an important message about future updates.
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A body lay on the ground, breathing with difficulty, each inhalation a desperate gasp.
"WHAT HAPPENED?!" he shouted as he sat up suddenly, coughing violently. A jet of blood shot out of his mouth and splattered against the damp floor.
Splosh! Plop! Plac!
The sticky echo of the blood made him shudder. He clutched at his shirt, trembling, body curled up, every muscle tense and aching.
"So… I lost…" he murmured with a broken voice, letting out a bitter smile, loaded with helplessness. Blood soaked his still-wet lips.
"Did I really lose?" he whispered, incredulous, with a thread of voice that barely held on.
"It can't be… no, no, I don't want to go back to being like before!" he screamed, desperate. His trembling hands dug into his hair, pulling it hard as if he wanted to rip it out by the roots.
"It can't be… it can't be…!" he panted, eyes wide open, glowing red from the pooled blood, madness about to erupt.
His breathing turned chaotic, and suddenly a guttural scream tore out of his throat:
"WAS EVERYTHING I DID IN VAIN?!!!"
The veins in his neck and temples bulged violently, his skin covered in both dry and fresh blood. His sanity was slipping through his fingers.
"No! No! I won't go back to being that miserable trash! I won't allow it!" he shrieked, slamming his bloody fists against the floor, leaving red streaks on the wood.
A broken laugh, almost inhuman, mixed with sobs and bloody retches:
"Ha… haha… hahaha… vanity? Is that what I am? A fucking joke?"
His gaze was no longer human, but that of someone on the verge of breaking, consumed by despair and rage.
Suddenly, the air in front of him tore open like old paper. A black hole appeared out of nowhere, swallowing the faint light of the room.
Choyun blinked, incredulous. And then he saw it.
"You… YOU!!" his voice trembled, mixing rage and fear. "Why did you do this to me?!"
The figure that emerged from the portal was no longer the god-card he knew. This time it twisted, adopting a human form, but distorted, covered in a darkness that seemed to drip from the air itself.
Choyun staggered back, panting, eyes bulging.
"NO, NO, NOOOO!!! GET AWAY, GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU DAMN THING!!!"
His screams had no effect. Something invisible grabbed him and dragged him forward, as if an unseen chain pierced his chest.
"NOOO, WAIT—!!!"
He never finished. The entity stretched out its hand and covered his mouth, lifting him like a ragdoll. Choyun kicked and struggled, but it was useless.
The creature's empty eyes seemed to devour his soul.
"[Too much noise… shut up for a while.]" The voice was an icy whisper, full of contempt, without roars or shouts.
"[Right now, you only serve one purpose.]"
Immediately, the darkness wrapped around him like living serpents, coiling around his body. He thrashed, trying to break free, but every movement dragged him deeper into that viscous abyss.
The black shroud covered him completely, barely leaving his silhouette visible. With an indifferent gesture, the entity let him drop to the ground like waste.
The dark smoke seeped into his skin, penetrating every vein and breath. Choyun writhed for an instant, then went still, trapped by the darkness.
His gaze turned empty, his breathing heavy and slow, almost inhuman. Slowly, he lifted his head toward the being.
The shadows dispersed enough to reveal his transformation: his pupils burned with an intense, pure red.
"[Perfect. Listen carefully.]" said the entity, with a cold, wide smile. "[You want to take revenge on Suhyeon, don't you?]"
"That's right." Choyun replied, his voice hoarse, tainted with madness that no longer fully belonged to him.
"[I want you to kill someone; if you do… you will regain the system.]"
"HAHAHA! This will be fun, so fun!" he shouted, eyes gleaming as if something new had ignited within him. His laughter burst out, nervous and triumphant, while a new smile spread across his face.
Two days after the encounter with the entity, Choyun walked alone through deserted streets. Every shadow seemed to follow him, every step echoed in the silence. The memory of the orders he'd received still gripped him like a fist to the chest.
"Suhyeon… Suhyeon," he murmured, with a twisted smile that never reached his eyes. "It's time."
The air in front of Suhyeon's house vibrated, as if reality itself trembled. A black portal emerged from nowhere, sucking away the light and warmth of the street. Choyun stepped through without hesitation, landing softly into the darkness of the home.
He stopped for a moment, listening: the washing machine buzzed, something sizzled in the kitchen, and the television murmured in the living room.
"What a lovely family you have, Suhyeon," he whispered, with a twisted smile, his eyes filled with a dark desire that glimmered within.
Suddenly he lunged into the living room. Dahyun was hurled against the sofa, slamming her head hard.
"Ahhh." Dahyun whimpered as pain shot through her back. His arms rained down on her without pause, making bones crack and flesh tear.
"HAHAHAHA!!!" Choyun laughed, savoring every terrified whimper. When Dahyun fell unconscious, a plate flew and struck the back of his head, splitting a cut that left a red line across the dust.
"DIE, BASTARD!!!" shouted Suhyeon's mother, hurling plates furiously. One split his head, leaving a crimson line sliding down his neck. Choyun showed no reaction.
He grabbed her arm and slammed a fist into her stomach; he heard her ribs groan as the air was ripped from her lungs.
"Damn bitch!" he exclaimed, eyes blazing with madness. Then he slashed several shallow cuts all over her body, tearing skin and leaving burning scrapes.
"Ahhh, nooo, stop, stop!" she whimpered, panting, as blood poured from her wounds.
"Shut up!" said Choyun, pulling out a roll of black tape from his pocket and slapping it over her mouth. Saliva mixed with blood, splattering even more across her face.
He took a chair, placed her on top of it, and tied her tightly. Her limbs trembled; her drained body could barely move.
Choyun stared at her, with a twisted smile, like an executioner enjoying another's suffering.
Then his eyes suddenly gleamed: he had found something in her pocket. A phone.
"Well, well…" he murmured, lifting his face with that twisted smile. The blood on his hands mixed with scraps of torn skin and bruises. "I just thought of something really fun… and it looks like I won't have to wait long."
A heavy silence filled the room. Mother and daughter barely breathed, drained, defenseless. Each second increased the sensation of imminent horror.
In that instant, as if time itself stopped, the tension exploded:
"Do you want to talk to your son, huh?" said Choyun, as his bloody fingers ripped the tape from the mother's mouth.
"Go on then. Say something nice."
Plash!
His mother let out a muffled cry, trembling, her breath cut short. Her cracked, dry lips bled, yet still searched for words.
"S-Suhyeon… run…!" she whimpered, gasping.
"Quickly, please!" she sobbed with a broken throat.
"Take Dahyun, save her… don't look back… don't stop…"
Her words came out in pieces, barely sustained by what air she had left.
Suhyeon tried to say something… but just then…
The mother tried to continue, lips trembling, body fighting against fever and blood loss. She wanted to say something important, one last whisper of love.
"I lo—"
But there was no time.
Shhk!
The knife came down in a dry arc. Silent, precise, lethal.
Crack!
The head fell to the floor like a ripe fruit. It rolled once, twice… and stopped, staring at him.
Her eyes still open, blood dripping from her mouth and pooling on the floor.
She died loving him. Even when everything failed, she believed in him. That faith… now bled out.
And he… couldn't save her, not even speak to her one last time.
A fountain of blood gushed from her neck, staining furniture, floor, and Choyun.
His face was instantly drenched in red. Chest, arms… everything.
And he… simply laughed.
"HAHAHAHAHA! God, she was so annoying!" he shouted, spreading his arms, letting the blood bathe him.
"She talked too much! I was sick of it already!"
Her head still lay on the floor, motionless. Blood slowly slid over his shoes, he didn't even blink.
His throat tightened on its own, as if his body tried to scream something he couldn't.
With accelerated breathing, madness in his eyes, Choyun looked at him directly.
"And now what, king of Gangbuk? Where's your greatness, your power, your strategy? Look at me!"
He pointed at his chest with both thumbs, splattering blood across the dining room.
"Here I am! And I did it without a system, without allies, without zones, without anything!"
"ONLY WITH HATE!"
He laughed again.
—
[System]: Your potential is beginning to overflow.
—
—
[System]: Congratulations, you have Awakened.
—
In a single motion, Suhyeon grabbed Choyun's head and smashed it against the floor. Everything crunched: jaw, nose, teeth. He sat on top of him and began hammering without mercy, blow after blow.
The punches fell like spears, ripping skin, breaking bones, tearing flesh and spilling red liquid everywhere. Choyun could barely scream; his face was already unrecognizable: swollen eyes, split lips, skin hanging in scraps here and there.
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
On the outside, Suhyeon showed nothing. His expression was cold, expressionless, as if none of this mattered. But inside… he burned.
Between the blows, memories surfaced in fleeting flashes:
"Dahyun… your laughter… the way you got mad when you broke something and then we laughed together… mom… your hands always warm… I promised to protect you… and I failed…"
Each crunch tore at his chest, each whimper pierced him, each splash of blood burning him from the inside.
Tears streamed down his cheeks, mixing with the hemoglobin that now covered his face, but no one could notice. Not a blink, not a gesture betrayed his torment.
"Mom… I remember when you hugged me after every exam, even when I had bad grades…" murmured Suhyeon through clenched teeth.
"Dahyun… your laugh when you accidentally broke my things… how you scolded me, but then we laughed together…"
Choyun writhed, tried to cover himself, to move, to protect himself… but it was useless. Each blow stripped more than flesh: it stripped away humanity.
"Mom… Dahyun… I remember that summer afternoon, when Dahyun chased me through the garden with a hose, soaking me head to toe. You laughed, mom, as you tried to reach us with the towel, and then you hugged us, laughing at how ridiculous we looked. I felt safe, complete… with you by my side. I had never been so happy."
He writhed and whimpered, his shattered teeth gleaming through the blood, his eyes full of terror searching Suhyeon, begging without being able to form words.
"I… I promised… to protect you… and I couldn't…" thought Suhyeon, as his fist kept striking without stopping.
Suhyeon remained there, hitting without blinking, his expression unmoving. Invisible tears still slid down his cheeks as he destroyed Choyun.
The dining room was chaos: blood everywhere, scraps of flesh and skin stuck to the floor, fragments of teeth and bones. And he sat on him, breathing steadily, while inside everything burned in silence.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
"Mom… Dahyun… now… no one else will suffer… no one else will suffer because of him…" murmured Suhyeon, while his mind clung to those happy memories, turning them into fuel for the fury consuming him.
And though Klaus didn't notice, every memory and experience of Suhyeon's body was seeping into him, like underground rivers shaping his thoughts and reactions. Every shared laugh with Dahyun, every warm embrace from his mother, every little joke, every tear… all of it was part of him now.
But suddenly, time stopped. Everything disappeared into absolute silence.
In the middle of that stillness, two entities appeared with human-like bodies: one of dense darkness that seemed to absorb the light around it, and another radiant, with a brilliance that hurt the eyes.
They stood in front of Suhyeon and Choyun, their presences filling the room with a palpable, almost unbearable energy.
"[What are you doing here, Dangun?]" asked Yeomna, in a faint voice filled with distrust and contained fury. His eyes scanned the dark figure floating before them, evaluating every movement.
"[Yeomna… you're complete trash. Stop making the boy suffer, just for your own benefit,]" replied Dangun, his voice deep and grave, resonating as if it came from many places at once. The light of his body made Yeomna's darkness appear even more intense.
"[So it seems I wasn't mistaken… it was you who sent him. Tell me, why did you do it?]" said Yeomna, with furrowed brows and clenched lips, showing both anger and a trace of fear.
"[If you really want to know… fine. I'll tell you,]" said Dangun, pronouncing something that Yeomna didn't fully comprehend.
Yeomna's body froze, his eyes widened like saucers, and a shiver ran down his spine. His expression transformed, reflecting deep terror.
"[Liar, that can't happen, of all people… why him?]" muttered Yeomna, shaken. If what he had just realized was true, then he was in serious trouble.
"[I only tried to warn you before it was too late. But you've ruined it enough already… still, there's a solution. Let's make the boy return in time and do his job, you've done enough in the human world. You're lucky nothing's happened to you.]"
Yeomna swallowed and lowered his head for a moment. What once was confidence now dissolved: his shoulders slumped slightly, his hands trembled, and his gaze darted side to side.
"[Fine… I'll do it…]" he murmured. His voice sounded weak, dragged down by fear.
"[Then I'm leaving. I leave everything in your hands,]" exclaimed Dangun, this time more serious, before vanishing in a blur.
With a sharp snap, space twisted abruptly. Everything spun, folded, and rushed forward at an impossible speed. In an instant, Suhyeon was there again, right in front of his school entrance, ready to celebrate his conquest of Gangbuk.
"What… what happened?" murmured Suhyeon, blinking as the surroundings struck him with both familiarity and strangeness. He barely remembered seconds before, when he had been beating Choyun, and now he was in front of his school, as if nothing had happened.
Something inside him was different. His emotions had returned, with force. His face, once serious and hardened, now appeared more alive, clearer, as if awakening from a long slumber.
"What's happening to me…?" he whispered again, as he felt a strange warmth in his chest and saw unexpected tears rolling down his cheeks, soft, uncontrollable, evidence that something inside him had changed forever.
"No, now's not the time to think about myself!!!" he shouted to himself, immediately turning toward his car. He started the engine and sped off toward his old home.
"Mom, Dahyun!!! Please, please… be safe!!!" he screamed this time, unable to hold back the tears, soaking his shirt as he rushed at full speed.
Minutes later, Suhyeon got out of the car and ran toward the door of his home. He threw it open and what he saw left him stunned, with a mix of relief and joy.
His sister was sitting on the couch, legs crossed, watching TV while biting into a chocolate bar, and his mother, in the back, was preparing lunch.
"Mom… Dahyun… you're safe…" whispered Suhyeon, falling to his knees and wiping away the tears that wouldn't stop flowing. The emotion overwhelmed him, a deep relief that made him tremble inside.
At the sound of the door opening, both of them quickly turned and were shocked to see Suhyeon on his knees, sobbing uncontrollably.
Without hesitation, they ran to him, hugging him tightly, filled with worry.
"Brother, what happened? Why are you like this?" asked Dahyun, leaving behind her usual attitude. Seeing her brother so vulnerable filled her with fear and anguish.
"Mom… Mom… I love you, Dahyun, I love you. I was such a fool…" murmured Suhyeon with a broken voice, overwhelmed by emotion.
"Suhyeon, son… everything's fine, we're here with you," replied his mother warmly, stroking his hair as she comforted him.
He squeezed his eyelids shut, wiping away the tears.
He blinked once: everything was fine.
He blinked again: they were still the same, smiling, looking at him with tenderness.
But with one final blink… the world shattered.
He saw them.
On his mother's arms and legs appeared long, deep scars, impossible scars. On her neck, a huge gash, open, as if it still oozed from the blade that had once killed her.
Suhyeon's heart stopped.
Slowly, he turned his gaze toward Dahyun… and felt an indescribable chill crawl down his back. A wide, grotesque scar crossed his sister's head from side to side, like a wound that should never have existed.
Suhyeon stepped back, lips trembling.
"What… what is this? What happened to you? Your scars!" he exclaimed with a broken voice, pointing at them, unable to look away.
Mother and Dahyun looked at each other, confused, before letting out a nervous laugh.
"What are you talking about, son?" asked his mother tenderly. "We don't have any scars."
Dahyun frowned, tilting her head.
"Brother, are you okay? There's nothing here…"
They saw nothing. They smiled, hugged him, comforted him as if everything were in order.
But Suhyeon could no longer move. He only trembled, eyes wide open, grasping a truth that tore him apart in silence:
Time had gone back.
Yes, they were alive.
But the scars of tragedy would never disappear.