Chapter 247

Chapter 247
## Chapter 247

**Endgame**

The Specter of the Night had abruptly pulled back her veil.

As the phantom figure who had identified herself as ‘Isabella’ started to dissolve into nothingness, Randolph could only knit his brows in confusion. The logic of the moment escaped him.

Isabella.

The woman stepping out from the spectral gloom was the exact image of the person etched in his mind. She was the devoted follower who had placed her absolute faith in him—a soul tempered and hardened by countless tribulations. She was the living testament to Randolph’s own history, present since the very dawn of his consciousness.

Yet, as he looked at her, he realized her gaze was fixed on someone else entirely.

“Whom are you searching for right now…?”

“……”

Isabella’s lips parted.

He didn’t actually hear the name she whispered, yet he felt a sudden, intuitive certainty about whose identity she was invoking. It was the specific name that had been systematically purged and scrubbed from his own mind—three syllables that triggered a violent wave of instinctual loathing.

More than anything, he felt a surge of indignation.

“…It was decreed that I had to discard that name to reach fulfillment. I was told I would achieve absolute perfection! That title is nothing but a falsehood, a heavy chain, a defect in my being. Why are you sacrificing your very existence for the sake of that shadow?”

That specific ‘name’ was meant to stay buried. To Randolph, names were merely anchors; having cast them off, he felt a profound sense of liberation. He felt as though he had finally shattered his ceiling and ascended beyond all restrictions.

Given that newfound freedom, he couldn’t fathom why this woman would choose total erasure for the sake of a forgotten ghost instead of standing by him. No matter how he analyzed it, the choice seemed irrational.

“It is me you should see. Look at me! I am Randolph. Were you not watching? I crushed the Heavenly Demon with power beyond measure! Such a feat would have been impossible for the man I used to be!”

He gnashed his teeth, his lips trembling with a mixture of rage and desperation.

“That other person is a hollow fraud. He is a recluse who destroys others for trivial amusement, devoid of any real passion. He isn’t the champion you imagine him to be. There is nothing dignified or grand about him…!”

“……You are wrong.”

As she continued to fade into the ether, Isabella finally met his frantic gaze. Her voice was calm as she interrupted his tirade.

“Could you endure a thousand consecutive failures for someone else and still refuse to turn back?”

“Of course. Isabella, you belong to me. For your sake, I would—!”

“Could you lay down your life for me?”

“……”

Die for her?

The question caught him off guard. He couldn’t grasp what she was hinting at. It seemed nonsensical to ask for such a sacrifice when she was already in the middle of being unmade.

Seeing his hesitation, a faint, knowing smile touched Isabella’s lips.

*As I thought, he is not the same.*

The man she knew and the man standing before her were worlds apart. Their fundamental natures were irreconcilable.

That other man felt the weight of grief even for those he didn’t know. He was the type to throw himself into the fire just to reach a closed-off heart. He never wavered, even when his own life was the price of admission.

“How could I ever feel malice toward someone who never stops fighting for me? Someone who treats his own life as a disposable gift if it means helping another? How could I?”

How could she possibly hate him? Why had she ever felt such bitterness?

He was the savior she had yearned for throughout her existence. Even if she had claimed ignorance or played the part of the amnesiac, she realized now that her resentment was misplaced.

She saw it clearly now: even when he knew she held a grudge against him, he had remained a steady presence. He had forced a smile, offered comfort, and guided her toward a future.

But she also realized the depth of his secret terror. He must have lived every single day in agony, fearing that the world would abandon him if the mask ever slipped. Despite that fear, he had never stopped searching—for her, for Isaac, for Valte. He was on a perpetual journey of silent penance.

He was such a tragic, precious soul.

“……How could I possibly forget you?”

Even as I depart from this world, I will carry you with me. I will remember your name and the kindness of your spirit. Please, cast away your anxiety. I don’t want you to ache on my account ever again.

“……”

With those silent, final thoughts, Isabella’s form evaporated entirely.

【The identity of the ‘Specter of the Night’ has been revealed; she is now annihilated.】

【Ownership of the ‘most precious things’ held by the ‘Specter of the Night’ has been shifted.】

【‘Copper Coin’ and ‘Park Hyunmyeong’s Soul’ have been successfully transferred.】

【Offensive Power and Vitality have increased by 50 units each.】

【Two ‘Specters of the Night’ remain.】

【If all Specters are eradicated, ‘Night’ shall no longer descend.】

【A Specter of the Night may also be erased through defeat in a ‘Star Expedition Duel.’】

She was gone, leaving no physical evidence she had ever existed. Her erasure was absolute.

“……”

Normally, there was no mechanism to retrieve a ‘most precious thing’ from a Specter without killing them. Isabella had bypassed the rules by choosing her own destruction and forcing the items into his possession.

“I…… I won’t accept this.”

Memories began to bubble to the surface—the very things he had discarded. Randolph clutched his head, thrashing in a desperate attempt to force them back down. Collapsed on the dirt and shaking with pain, he forced a name out from the depths of his soul.

“I… reject… you, Park Hyunmyeong!”

“What is this noise?”

A familiar, grating voice cut through his agony.

It was the Heavenly Demon. Somehow, the creature had defied death and returned.

“I finally feel truly awakened. It feels as though I’ve finally shed the limitations of being ‘human.’ This is the true potential of the ‘fragment’!”

The entity was no longer recognizable as a person. His physique had swollen into a massive, muscular mountain. His skin was a dark, obsidian-like crust, resembling a jagged shell, and his facial features had morphed into a beastly, rhinoceros-like visage.

This was a corruption—a glitch triggered by the Fragment of Destruction. Randolph didn’t yet possess the knowledge to fix such a fundamental error in the world’s code.

But it didn’t matter.

“……If I have to break you a thousand times over to make you stay down, I will.”

I will crush you. I will destroy everything that obstructs me and every name that tries to bind me.

I pulled myself up, a cold, sharp laugh escaping my lips. The pain in my head had finally subsided.

—

I used to idolize heroes. I wanted to be like the legends in the cartoons and films I watched as a child. But I wasn’t cut out for that role. Reality was far too grinding, and my own character wasn’t built for greatness.

I was just a regular person—actually, I was less than regular. A shut-in, a pathetic excuse for a man. I was someone with no redeeming qualities, regardless of the labels people used.

In the virtual world, however, I could be anyone. I played the villain, the merchant, the sorcerer, or the aristocrat. But the role that consumed me most was ‘Knight King Wilhelm.’

—*Oppa, we’re done.*

I understood why she left. It wasn’t just because I didn’t have a prestigious job at some corporate giant. The real reason was my obsession with the game. I had been looking for an excuse—a justification to dive entirely into Pangaea. Quitting my job had been part of that same drive. I was a man who tried to look normal but was actually a failure who couldn’t even meet the bare minimum of society.

That was the reality of Park Hyunmyeong: a hopeless addict whom nobody respected.

‘I am Randolph.’

Perhaps that’s why I leaned so hard into the fantasy. Within Pangaea, I was supreme. I was the champion who dominated the Hall of Fame, a miracle-worker who overcame every obstacle to achieve the impossible. The rush of that success was a drug that nothing else could match.

Eventually, the line between my real life and the game blurred. I stopped logging out because there was nothing waiting for me on the other side. There was no one in the real world who even knew the name Park Hyunmyeong.

‘I am falling.’

I was descending into a void. An endless, apocalyptic dark. This was the frozen, isolated world of Park Hyunmyeong. Did such a man ever truly exist? If I simply winked out of existence now, the world wouldn’t blink.

Fine. Let me fade away.

—*I will not forget you.*

Then, I heard it. Isabella’s voice.

—*You are a man of profound honor and an unbreakable spirit.*

What are you saying? I don’t possess anything like that. I’m just a man hiding in a dark room. Isabella, you’ve been fooled.

—*Please, go back. And…… thank you.*

Wait, what are you doing? I’m the one who is supposed to vanish. Why are you sacrificing yourself? Surely it’s not for someone like me?

—*As I moved beyond this realm, I heard your name. I hated you for it. I wanted to end you. But… I understand now. I know why that name reached me.*

…Stop. I don’t deserve this.

—*I will hold your name in my heart forever, Park Hyunmyeong.*

And just like that, she was gone. Like a wisp of smoke, Isabella left this world. She had been erased while calling out my name. The only person who truly saw me, the only one who acknowledged me…

Dammit. Why would you leave me here alone after saying all that?

I focused on the name Isabella had died protecting.

……Yes. I am not Randolph.

If I let myself drown in this darkness, Isabella’s sacrifice becomes a meaningless tragedy. I cannot allow that. I won’t let it end that way.

So, get out of my way. This identity was mine from the start, and it stays mine. You might be the evidence of my journey, but you are not the one in control. I am me.

“……I am Park Hyunmyeong.”

I am Park Hyunmyeong.

—

Randolph looked toward the heart of the Island of God, a smirk playing on his face.

【The ‘Star Expedition’ has concluded!】

【You have emerged victorious in every trial!】

【The victor is the ‘Terrible Omen.’】

The notification flashed before him. At last, the struggle had reached its climax.

【All fragmented memories are converging into a single whole.】

【Rise above the past to claim ownership of the ‘Island of God’ and the ‘Holy Star.’】

It was finished. He had demolished every hurdle. If he had remained Park Hyunmyeong, he never could have achieved this. That weakling was no match for him, and he certainly wasn’t fit to lead the way into the future.

Only one task remained: take control of the island and permanently delete the name that haunted him.

‘I will wipe you out for good.’

He would bind those memories and cast them into eternal oblivion. Randolph walked to the island’s center to officially claim his prize. He opened his mouth to speak the words of power.

“I refuse.”

……The words that came out were not the ones he intended. His mouth moved against his will, uttering a defiance that shocked him. What was happening? Could it be…!

But he quickly dismissed the fear. It was pathetic. What could a dying spark of a man do by twitching his lips at the last second?

*You can’t win. You’ve never been my equal. What do you think you can change by showing up now at the very end? The loser is supposed to fade away quietly.*

The game was over. There was no path left except for becoming the master of this realm.

“The conclusion of this game.”

……What was he saying? Was he rejecting the finale? How could anyone reject a game that had already been played out to its end! There was no reset button. You couldn’t simply undo what had already transpired.

“I am resetting all outcomes to the starting point.”

Suddenly, the air screamed.

The gathered mass of memories fractured and flew apart. The ‘most precious things’ began to streak back toward those they truly belonged to. In that moment, the terrifying reality of Park Hyunmyeong’s intent finally dawned on Randolph.

He let out a scream of pure dread.

*Stop! Don’t do this! You won’t survive the fallout of this!*

“…This is the decree of the Eternal Lord.”

This was the true Endgame.