Chapter 473: Ninety-Eighth Floor, Waiting Room (1)
Chapter 473: Ninety-Eighth Floor, Waiting Room (1)
[This decision cannot be reversed. Are you certain?]The notification asking for my confirmation felt unnecessary, but it didn’t feel as if the tower was trying to dissuade me. Rather, it felt like a formal process that had to be completed.
Even if the tower tried to stop me, I wouldn’t change my decision.
I nodded. “Yes.”
The moment I answered, the wraith’s chill beneath my fingertips began to fade. When I looked down, I saw that it was slowly breaking apart. It wasn’t disintegrating into nothingness, however. The dark energy that had once surrounded it was dissipating, and its fragments were turning into countless motes of radiant light.
Even then, the wraith’s gaze remained locked onto me. “Thank you.”
It wasn’t expecting a response, and I didn’t have anything to say. All I could do was watch. Soon, the light faded from its eyes. A soft wind began to stir, one not from Poong-Lyeong. It was a natural breeze, flowing gently through this darkened world. The scattered fragments of light drifted with the wind and floated up toward the sky.
They glimmered faintly against the black heavens as they faded one by one.
When the last of the light disappeared, only the faint warmth of the emotions I had shared with the climbers remained. I stood quietly and let that warmth settle inside me.
It feels strangely comforting.
At least the struggle had been worth something.
I raised my head to the dark sky. The fragments of light that had floated upward were gone now, lost to sight. Regardless, I drew comfort in knowing that the climbers remained somewhere, contemplating their newfound freedom, just as I had hoped.