The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 40

In a dark classroom, the Lightning Magnet.

To summon him, Grantoni busily prepared necromancy in the classroom.

He drew a large magic circle with goat’s blood and scattered bone powder of unknown origin over it.

After a while of preparing this and that, Grantoni felt satisfied.

“It sets the mood.”

“Grantoni, this is pretty pointless, isn’t it?”

What Grantoni was attempting was simply necromancy.

He had never heard of any restrictions like this when performing necromancy.

“Haha, atmosphere is important for everything like this.”

A true eccentric. He did it simply because he wanted to.

“So, who exactly are we calling?”

Had he forgotten in the meantime?

“The Lightning Magnet.”

“No, not the nickname—his name.”

Oh, right.

No one would respond to ‘Lightning Magnet’ even through necromancy.

“Barcabarán.”

The northern part of the empire.

The highest mountain range in the world.

It’s the name of a barbarian who lives there.

“Haha, got it.”

Grantoni clicked his teeth and stepped into the center of the drawn magic circle.

Then, he took a classroom chair, turned it around, and sat with the backrest facing his chest.

“I’m going to start calling now. Hold on, stay quiet.”

Grantoni was a necromancer.

And among necromancers, he possessed exceptional talent.

A being closer to the dead than the living.

A small mausoleum.

He wasn’t given that eerie nickname for nothing.

As the light in Grantoni’s skull faded, the atmosphere around him began to change.

The classroom was transforming into a place that summoned death.

Somehow, my iron skin started to tremble in response to death.

A strange, chilling sensation gradually swept over my entire body.

The colors of the scenery shifted.

Colors drained away, and the surroundings turned a shade of gray.

This signaled that the space had now entered the shadow world where souls resided.

The reason Grantoni is regarded as the most talented necromancer.

His unique attribute.

A Shadow Worlder.

He is the only living person in the world who can move freely between the shadow world and reality.

And he knows this himself.

If he lingers in the shadow world for too long, he might someday be unable to return.

Yet he keeps stepping into the shadow world.

Because he’s looking for someone.

‘And that would be…’

There comes a point one day when he gives up.

The Frenzied Sorceress.

The final battle with Vinesha in Act 4.

Grantoni is faced with two choices.

To stay in the shadow world.

Or to remain in the real world.

‘If he chooses to stay in the shadow world…’

Grantoni would bloom into yet another disaster.

In the shadow world, he would experience his happiest moments.

But because of that, the world ends in one of its 38 bad endings.

Directly leading to the ‘shadow world’.

On the other hand, for Grantoni, who chooses reality, nothing awaits but eternal separation and despair.

The happiest time and eternal despair.

What he chooses is up to Grantoni.

‘And I…’

Even knowing all of Grantoni’s circumstances, I must make sure he stays in reality.

‘Though it’s still a little way off.’

Looking around the shadow world, a bitter smile appeared on my face.

This gray world devoid of life…

This was the place where Grantoni would spend his happiest moments.

It meant that reality must seem even grayer than the shadow world to him.

“Barcabarán.”

As Grantoni began to call the name, the window swung open, and the blackout curtains whipped about.

A fierce northern wind blew in.

The chill, sharp enough to bite into my skin, nearly made me cry out.

Thanks to my past experiences, I was accustomed to heat, but not to cold.

Moreover, my skin is made of iron.

It reacts strongly to temperature changes.

My body shrank from the cold, and my teeth chattered.

‘I need to get something for cold resistance.’

Considering what lies ahead, cold resistance would be essential.

I would have to acquire it quickly.

As I gave myself immediate feedback, Grantoni raised his hand toward the ceiling.

“Barcabarán.”

He called the name once more.

Boom!

Amidst the fierce wind, the rumbling of thunder echoed.

It’s coming.

The thought reverberated through my entire body at that moment.

“Barcabarán!”

Crash!

Lightning exploded in the sky, igniting the surroundings in a blaze of light.

Momentarily blinded, I blinked my eyes.

As my vision gradually returned, I saw a shadowy figure in the midst of the smoke.

His legs faint and blurred, he bore terrifying lightning-shaped scars across his body.

With a wary expression, he slowly looked around.

It seemed he was searching for something.

As he turned his head, our eyes met directly.

He paused briefly, then furrowed his brows.

With a dismissive snort, he turned away, disinterested.

[Impossible.]

Did I just hear some outrageous nonsense?

“Hello, friend!”

In that instant, Grantoni popped his skull-like head out from behind the man.

At the sight of the skull, the man flinched and swung a fist in alarm.

But his fist passed right through Grantoni’s head.

Naturally—Grantoni is already dead.

Even after death, he was struck by lightning 108 times and survived.

Barcabarán.

He was the true Lightning Magnet.

“Haha, got a fiery punch, haven’t you? This friend here has a favor to ask of you.”

[Annoying. Send me back.]

“Come on, don’t be like that. Have a little chat; he’s an interesting guy.”

Grantoni worked hard to persuade Barcabarán, earning every bit of his pendant’s worth.

His personality may be prickly, but he’s a good guy who keeps his word.

[Sigh, troublesome.]

Barcabarán, constantly irritated, plopped down on the ground.

[Just say it quickly.]

I smiled.

He was the one who told me to say what I wanted.

“So, how exactly did you end up defiling the lightning?”

Barcabarán went silent.

* * *

The Lightning Magnet, Barcabarán.

How did he come to be known as the Lightning Magnet?

The story of that process is rather sordid.

The reason is that he defiled the statue of the lightning goddess worshipped by his village.

How does one defile a god’s statue?

I don’t know.

But he did it.

And as a consequence, he was struck by lightning 108 times.

[…Defile? I don’t understand what you’re talking about.]

Barcabarán tried to play innocent.

Boom!

A thunderclap sounded again in the shadow world.

Barcabarán flinched, his shoulders jerking as he shrank down.

It’s the same lightning he was struck by 108 times.

The memory must be etched in his body.

“We know everything, so stop denying it. Look—your goddess is angry since you’re denying it.”

[Hmph.]

Barcabarán cleared his throat repeatedly.

As I mentioned, he defiled the statue of lightning.

And he was struck by lightning for it.

But it wasn’t because the lightning goddess hated him.

In fact, it was jealousy.

‘The infamous scoundrel.’

A barbarian in name only, he was a rogue who would try anything once if he thought he could get away with it.

After this mad rogue defiled the lightning goddess’s statue, for some reason, the lightning goddess took a liking to him.

It sounds absurd, but every one of the 108 lightning strikes happened after he shared a bed with women.

And every time, it was with a different women.

“Wow, quite the stamina!”

Learning this, Grantoni clapped his hands and laughed heartily.

“But wasn’t the 108th lightning strike after you were buried in your grave?”

While thinking, Grantoni seemed to come across a question and asked.

I didn’t answer.

Nor did Barcabarán.

Only the sound of lightning crashing outside the window was heard once more.

[…You’re prying too deeply into my private life.]

“Private or not, it’s information anyone can find with a bit of curiosity. It’s recorded in history.”

[Well, I must be a remarkable figure in the records, then.]

It’s impressive in many ways.

“So, let’s get to the point.”

I didn’t call Barcabarán here just to have a casual chat.

What I wanted to talk about was something entirely different.

“The divine artifact that was taken when the statue of the lightning goddess was violated.”

A divine artifact.

A special piece of equipment that holds the power of the gods within it.

However, most divine artifacts are sealed or treated as unusable items, with only a few exceptions.

One divine artifact releases endless seawater.

Another spills forth unending bottles of liquid.

Divine artifacts, for the most part, are considered a curse to humans.

So, divine artifacts are divine in name only.

In fact, they are often treated as tools that should be sealed away.

Among them is Barcabarán’s divine artifact.

“The Lightning Magnet.”

The Lightning Magnet wasn’t named that because of his nickname alone.

The artifact itself, which he took from the statue of thunder, is called the Lightning Magnet.

“I’d like you to give it to me.”

And I came here to receive the Lightning Magnet from Barcabarán.

A divine artifact remains in possession of its owner until they willingly hand it over or until the soul of the deceased fades away.

Knowing this, I purposely summoned Barcabarán.

[…There’s nothing good about receiving the Lightning Magnet, is there?]

Barcabarán looked at me as if I were crazy.

The Lightning Magnet, true to its name, calls down thunder.

A divine artifact that forces you to be struck by lightning anytime, anywhere.

Wanting to possess it is like saying you have a death wish.

But I need it.

The Lightning Magnet will be my most powerful move.

“Everything has its use.”

[Do you have a desire to be struck by lightning? Planning to die young, are you?]

“Regrettably, I’m doing this because I don’t want to die.”

It’s not as if I’m longing to be struck by lightning.

Sensing my sincerity, Barcabarán rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

[If I give you the divine artifact, what will you offer me?]

Quite greedy for someone who’s already dead.

Reluctantly, I took out a book I had brought with me.

“Grantoni, could you offer this as a tribute?”

“Sure, put it here.”

Grantoni pointed under his chair as if it were no trouble.

I placed the book carefully there.

Shortly after, the book appeared in Barcabarán’s hands.

He looked at it curiously and flipped through a few pages.

Barcabarán’s eyes soon widened.

“It’s gravure.”

Anywhere people live, things like this exist.

It’s an item you can’t obtain in the realm of the dead.

“By the way, I have a few more volumes.”

I lifted the bag I had brought to show him.

In that instant, I felt a tingle of static through my body.

Soon, something settled in my hand.

It was a small ring meant to be worn on a finger.

A gold ring adorned with a gem engraved with a lightning pattern.

The divine artifact, the Lightning Magnet.

[The deal is done.]

Barcabarán looked thoroughly satisfied.

I offered him the remaining books as tribute as well.

‘Unbelievable.’

A divine artifact that can be exchanged for just a few gravure books.

Even thinking about it now, it’s astonishing.

I slipped the ring onto my index finger.

For a moment, the gem of the Lightning Magnet sparkled along my finger.

[Let me give you one piece of advice.]

Barcabarán spoke without taking his eyes off the book.

[The Lightning Magnet leaves an indelible scar on its user’s body.]

He pointed to the lightning-shaped scars on his own body.

[And when those scars cover your entire body, your heart will stop completely.]

It was practically a curse attached to the Lightning Magnet.

A divine artifact held godly power.

For humans who repeatedly used such power, their bodies couldn’t withstand it, and this curse would follow.

[I don’t know what on earth you’re planning to use Lightning Magnet for.]

With all the books in his hands, he walked toward the window.

[The moment you start using a divine artifact, you step into a massive wheel of fate. In the end, your heart stopping from the Lightning Magnet will be your destiny.]

“It’s fine.”

At my calm response, Barcabarán looked at me with a peculiar expression.

“Isn’t fate something that can be twisted by a greater destiny?”

I quoted Sharin’s words.

Hearing this, he was silent for a moment.

[I hope we don’t meet again in the underworld.]

Then he climbed out the window and disappeared.

Boom!

Thunder roared outside once again.

As the underworld space created by Grantoni faded, the original world began to slowly return.

Meanwhile, Grantoni quietly stared out the window, as if waiting for something.

Watching Grantoni’s back, I clenched the Lightning Magnet tightly in my hand.

‘Fate or whatever.’

I’m already on a direct path to a bad ending, so there’s no point in worrying.

Now, everything is ready.

‘The group battle.’

Let’s see if I can sweep them all.