Chapter 423: Somewhere Beyond

Chapter 423: Somewhere Beyond

'Hello, this is Egostic!'

'...Stardus. You can do it.'

'With this...The debt is paid.'

'Stardus. Didn't I always tell you, you're the only hero I have.'

'...I understand, and I will never leave you again. I will always be by your side, if that is what you want.'

'Kuluk... Kuluk, kuluk. Ha... Ha ha...'

'...Ha ha. Ss, Stardus.'

...Please.

Be happy till the end.

Shin Haru opened her eyes on the bed, burying her face in the pillowcase.

Her eyes were watery.

Wiping away the tears that had fallen as she slept, Stardus sat up, her blonde hair hanging down.

... For the last three months, since Egostic's death, she was always like this.

She couldn't sleep properly.

She'd lie down and think of him.

When she dreamed, she saw him.

It had become a habit to wake up red-eyed, always without sleep.

She missed Egostic.

She couldn't believe he was gone, couldn't accept it.

She couldn't go on with her life without him.

So.

She...everyone, including her, decided to bring him back, even if it took everything she had. And finally, the moment had come when it would pay off.

Finally, today was the day.

'...Yes.'

I can do this.

When he comes back, I'll see him again.

With that resolve Stardus opened the door and left.

The place she was currently staying was a room in the mansion of Egostic, a room that had been given to her by the members of the Egostream.

As she stepped out into the hallway.

"...Ah. Sister."

Han Seo-Eun greeted her in her pajamas, red-eyed from crying in her sleep.

Seeing her like that, Stardus smiled bitterly and greeted her.

...Han Seo-Eun.

Stardus hadn't known much about Han Seo-Eun until now, other than that she was a hacker under the umbrella of Egostic.

Recently, she'd gotten to know her well, living with her.

She's a tic-tac-toe on the outside, but she's got a heart of gold on the inside.

...And she, too. She relied on Egostic as much as she did. They had known each other since childhood.

That's why Han Seo-Eun was the one who suffered the most....so much so that I've slept with her.

"In my dreams, I always see you... "I always see you in my dreams..." she'd say in the early hours of the morning, and Stardus would wipe away her tears and comfort her.

In fact, the situation was similar for everyone else.

...So, she could tell, living with them all, how much they all relied Egostic....and how broken they are without him.

She knew she had to get him back, unconditionally and finally, today came.

"Seo-eun, are you ready?"

"...Yes. In a few minutes, we'll all wash up and get ready."

After answering Stardus' question with a determined expression, Seo-Eun said, "Yes." And with that, she started walking.

A few moments later everyone was gathered in the conference room.

There, Seo-eun stood in front of a blackboard and declared.

"Today, we are going to the other side."

The time had come.

***

Bringing Egostic back to life....It didn't make sense to resurrect someone who was already dead, and of course it had never happened.

However, their persistence succeeded in forcing them to formulate a plan for the resurrection of Egostic.

And it began with a small discovery.

"...That's strange."

After the destruction of the Sun God, everyone's powers are gradually diminishing.

Celeste realized that her powers weren't diminishing, but rather growing stronger and it wasn't just her, it was Stardus as well.

Even if Eun-woo is not weakened, because her power is not related to the Sun God, why is Stardus' power growing stronger?

To solve that question, they searched through the information left by Egostic and the ancient texts.

In doing so, they were able to come to one conclusion.

"...Perhaps. With the death of a god, the godhead is being passed on to their successor."

That's right. The power of the entire Godhead was being transferred to the one who had the largest share of the Godhead.

...though they didn't know how this would play out or what direction it would take.

Apart from that, Celeste, who had taken over the Godhead, revealed a fact.

"...For some reason, I can sense the presence of those with the power of the sun around me."

That's right, the presence of those with the power of the Sun God.

Perhaps it was the ability of those with the greatest share of the Godhead, to sense the divided power

It was the same for Stardus, who seems to have inherited the godhead of the stars.

Surely a soul with the power of the stars could be felt in the Underworld?

When that fact was revealed, the atmosphere became hopeful.

"...Of course, Haru, it's still going to be hard."

While looking at the paper, Haru said that with a somber expression.

For one thing, the Underworld will gather all the souls that have ever lived in the world.

Among them, obviously, there must also be those who have already died, who died with the power of the stars in ancient times.

There were even a few more that Celeste knew of, including Ex Machina.

In the Underworld, then, which must be vast, how do you sift through all those souls and find each one with the power of the stars?

At that question Stardus replied, unconcerned.

"We'll see."

I'll try, then, and I can't say I'm afraid.

If there was any chance of saving Egostic, I had to try anything.

Still, it wasn't all bad.

"I, I asked my father..."

Eun-woo met with the Moon God.

...After learning how to get to the other side, she had time to ask a few more questions.

What she found out.

'....The Underworld is a space I created. There is no concept of time there. Perhaps, even if you return to reality after being there, time will not have passed.'

That is, time in the Underworld does not share time with time in reality.

This means that it doesn't matter how long you spend exploring.

Of course, it wasn't all good news.

"...And, the Moon God said, the Star God..."

"The Star God... probably gave him more power and disappeared in the process of blocking the Sun God.'

The story is that the Star God disappeared after exhausting all her power.

...However, this was something Stardus had expected, so it was less of a shock. If the Star God had never been destroyed in the first place, Stardus would not have continued to grow in power.

Anyway, the plan for their Egostic resurrection went something like this.

Travel to the Underworld, use Stardus' powers to find Egostic.

Amplify his Godhead with the power of Stardus, and summon him to this world in the form of a descent.

And finally, after finding out how to go to the Underworld.

Atlas, Katana, Association, etc... After secretly helping those who knew what they were doing, all preparations were completed.

The time had finally come.

On top of a giant magic circle, all the members of the Egostream stood with determined faces.

"Alright. You've heard the plan, right? We're all going to enter the Underworld in a few minutes."

In front of the magic circle Lee Soobin was reading the documents.

The magic circle to the Underworld was created by Eun-woo after receiving the plans from the Moon God.......Everyone, except for a few who were waiting for the order, were standing on the magic circle, waiting for the next moment.

For we do not know what lies beyond.

For now, all who are capable will go together, to prepare for any possible danger.

"All right. You all have the rocks I gave you, and if you break them with your hands, you will return to reality."

Just before leaving, Seo-Eun was also giving them a final briefing.

In their hands, was a moonstone with a small magic circle, it was the key to returning to this world, containing the power of Eun-woo.

'...Remember. The magic circle to the other world utilizes the magic power of this world to the extreme, so you only have one chance to activate it. Once you return to this world, you can never go back.'

It was also something that Stardus would never use until the very end, until she found Egostic. And so it was.

"...Let's go."

Stardus nodded, still in his suit.

"Sigh...!!"

Baek Eun-woo sat down in front of the magic circle, and energized it.

The magic circle began to activate on an unprecedented scale and with a stomach-churning sensation everyone's eyes were turned upside down.

"Kuluk. Kuluk."

"Is everyone okay? ...Ah. This is the place..."

"Haha. Moon magic is not easy. ...Then, this is..."

With a chilling feeling the group, including Stardus, realized that they had arrived somewhere, in what appeared to be an empty cave.

...Upon arrival, they checked their bodies and realized that they didn't feel very different. Their clothes were the same as they had been wearing.

Except....somehow, they felt lighter.

According to the Moon God... they must have all arrived in spirit.

"...Let's go."

With that, everyone calmed down and decided to walk forward.

After walking for a long time they finally reached the end of the cave.

"...Wow."

They finally reached the top of the cliff and what lay beneath the cliff was overwhelming.

It was a wide-open plain that stretched to the horizon.

Under the black sky, on such an open plain....countless people were standing, filling the plain.

And they stretched out in all directions, on such a scale that it was impossible to tell how far they went.

"...All of them, all of them are spirits."

Looking at the scene Lee Soo-bin muttered.

Choi Se-hee looked at the scenery with her eyes and said,

"...There doesn't seem to be much danger, but...It would take thousands of years to search through all those things. Stardus, do you feel anything?"

At Choi Se-hee's words Stardus stood on the cliff with her eyes closed.

"...I can feel it."

Stardus said calmly.

The others looked at her nervously, then quickly turned to her with excitement.

"Really?"

"Really? You can feel him?"

"...Stardus. Is it real, where, where can you feel it...?"

At their reactions Stardus slowly opened her eyes, shook her head, and said.

"...I can feel it, but there are so many of them, and I don't even know who exactly is Egostic but..."

Stardus, clenched her fists as she looked out over the horizon.

"Surely, he's around here somewhere."

"We'll find him, I'm sure."

Even if it takes hundreds or thousands of years we'll find Da-in.

Stardus was sure of it.