"As expected, rising ranks is a lot harder the higher one is," Lee Dojin complained to himself. It's been around 5 days since he had started to take on the trailer. Naturally, since that day began, he never missed a chance to fight against the shadows. Thanks to that, his skill Cosmic Steps, had leveled up to 2. However, there was one thing he wasn't satisfied with.
[Rank 405/6024]
Even after all the hard work, he barely reached the top 500. Now, for ordinary, people, that may seem to be an incredible feat, but sadly, Lee Dojin was anything but ordinary. As a person who once ruled the world and now started anew, anything below first place was last. He could not possibly accept that.
"Did I miss anything?" Questions and doubts kept popping into his mind. Normally, he'd always trust himself, That's how he survived, and that was how he will survive. However, seeing he was in a new world, a place unbeknownst to him, he could not help feel a little disorientated. Even now, he still knew little of this universe created by his mother. The people that resided here, what made this place different—he did not have time to find out at all.
Lee Dojin cracked his neck. He decided to shove these problems away. Even though he had traveled back in time per see, he didn't know anything. Of course, he had accumulated a lot of stories, listened to many people, and carried the legacy of the dead with him (for he was the Lightbringer), but in the end, he was still human. NO matter how strong or wise, his blood remained red. And he could not help not knowing what he did not know.
"Mom, do you know who Kim Illsang is?" He asked his mother at dinner.
"Oh, that one guy from Wayward pharmaceuticals?" His mother tilted her head. "Well, I obviously don't know him personally, and I don't really follow the news. I heard he started as a low-class boy, just like us, so maybe that's something worth aspiring to? I don't really use his products, I'm not an old lady after all." She tightened her apron, a sight Lee Dojin really was not used to see. "Shouldn't you know better than me? Don't you go to school with, his niece, that Kim Jyejin or something? You guys always used to play together, why don't you bring her home again, hoho." His mother giggled while stirring the soup.
"Huh? Who?
"Come on now, don't be shy. I know you two had been together since elementary school you know? Your mother is not that forgetful yet! Though I suppose it really has been a long time since I've seen you two." His mother huffed. "You haven't done anything bad to her, have you?"
Lee Dojin rubbed his nose. He always did so while thinking. "Interesting," he muttered. "Where does the girl live?"
"Oh my, has my Dojin turned so bold already," his mother laughed out loud. "How should I know? Anyway, stop thinking of useless thoughts and eat your kimchi fried rice. Don't you think it is delicious?"
"Delicious?" He stared at the black-burned meat, the undercooked rice, and the rubbery egg. He shoveled the food down his mouth. "It's more than that, I've never eaten anything better."
"You flatter me, boy," his mother joked, but her rosy cheeks behind her cold facade revealed her true thoughts.
The duo passed these peaceful days like that. As Lee Dojin wished, he indulged in a peaceful lifestyle. At times, he even felt a pang of inexplicable guilt, thinking he did not deserve it. Every time he lay on his soft bed, he thought about his fallen comrades, and wondered if they'd be mad at him, enjoying such luxury after death? Even when he looked at his mother, though he felt happy, deep in his mind, he'd remember the last breaths she breathed as he touched her cold face. He shook his head to forget these useless thoughts. It was a new change. Wallowing in self-depreciation would help no one.
"Mom, how about we go out today? Since it's one rare day you have no work, after all."
"Out where?" She asked with curiosity. As far as she remembered, her son had never been the boy to suggest that. "What do you need, dear?"
Lee Dojin shook his head. "Nothing at all. I just thought that maybe we could walk the food off. While we are at it, look at new clothes. Maybe at Yeoungdeoungpo Station; things were always cheap there, as far as I remember."
Her brows wrinkled slightly. "Oh, but it is so cold outside."
"Then do you not wish to go?"
"That's not what I said at all," she replied with a smile. "What a day. Oh Dojin, my Child of light, since when have you gotten so proactive?"
Hearing how she referred to him, Lee Dojin felt his heartache in silence. "Well, you never know when the world might end."
His mother laughed loudly. "Oh, you and your jokes." She put the kitchen utensils down. "So, let's go. What are you waiting for?"
—
There were several reasons why he wished to invite his mother out. For one, it was his mother that granted him his ability, even though right now she may not remember that.
To raise the level of a skill did not always mean to simply keep using it. One had to understand it, study it, and breathe it. Thus some people may not raise a level a year, while others jumped twice a day. His mother, as the Concubine of All Things Parallel, was the perfect guide for that. However, more than that, he wanted to spend the times he had missed with her. Even during the apocalypse, he had wondered what life would have been like if they had met under normal circumstances. No, maybe they'd have not met at all without The Mirage. There was a hint of irony that the system that killed him would also be the one to save him.
They put on their jackets and walked outside. There weren't many people strolling around, as the winter cold was too much to bear. The wind kept prickling his skin, warm vapor shot out his mouth, and the sight was foggy. Yet, Lee Dojin did not mind at all.
"Oh, Dojin, since when have you had your hair like that?" Lee Dojin's mother brushed his face. She wondered about his trademark bangs, which he had now parted in the middle, revealing his pale face.
"I like it this way. I can see your beautiful eyes. These days, I've been wondering if there was something on your mind, but it doesn't seem to be the case. I'm glad." She crossed her fingers and let out a rare smile.
"Don't worry mother," he said, not realizing he had addressed her formally, instead of the endearing 'mom'. "You won't have to worry again."
She shook her head. The two of them entered the subway. "I never did. You're big and strong after all. I do believe that my Dojin has the ability to be whatever he wants to be. So don't worry about me and live your life, since your possibilities are endless."
His mother always believed that one should live the life they wanted, regardless of one's consequences. Such thoughts were natural for her since after all, she was an outer god. Just as humans could not understand a deity's whims, Gods sometimes fail to understand a human. The past Lee Dojin did not understand. He tried carrying the burdens of the missing father, the poor mother, and the lonely son. He resented his mother, but also knew he could not hold it against her. In the end, the weight was too much to bear and swallowed him whole.
Lee Dojin laughed bitterly. "Just like there are endless universes out there, I suppose."
"Hmm, that would not be quite right," his mother mumbled. "There aren't actually limitless universes. If there were really no limit to the universe, then that must mean there should be a universe connected to all other universes. But then there would also need to be a universe connected to none at all. Those two universes coexisting—that is logically not possible, don't you think? See, a parallel universe forms only because of a divergence in choices. Thus, changes that are not based on choice cannot exist. No one made a choice for gravity to exist. No one decided the structure of the stars. No one made time move the way it does. See, just like there are infinite numbers between 0 and 1, does not mean you could find any letters or hieroglyphs in there. Yet, it still is infinity. Strange is it not? So, in other words, your potential, which is not inhibited by boundaries, is greater than the universe. Or at least that's what I believe." She joked. "What, why are you looking at me like this?"
Lee Dojin stared at her, dumbfounded. After a long time, he muttered. "...Really, I knew it was the right choice to spend time with you."
[A skill has leveled up!]
[A skill has leveled up!]
[A skill has leveled up!]
[A skill has leveled up!]