The World after the Fall

The fight ended in seconds. Jaehwan didn't even know what struck him. Even when that world power exploded in front of him, Jaehwan was trying his hardest to comprehend what had happened.

'How?'

He couldn't understand. Even though he wasn't assisted by Andersen, he still had the [Naked] Setting activated, and Myad was on the Machina. The [Setting] was supposed to work against Gigantes.

-Jaehwan, you really are the same person from what I've heard. I wasn't so sure when I first heard it from Surha.

It seemed like he had said this.

No.

Maybe he said this too.

-[Naked]. That is a really good Setting. It's good especially since using Gigantes is like a requirement these days… but have you ever given it some thought? If that [Setting] was so good, why did it die out? Why did the gods who succeeded in creating that [Setting] eventually fall?

He felt a chill down his spine. Maybe he needed to get away right then. He should have accepted that something was wrong, that it was not his chance. However, Jaehwan did not have such an intention. Running away, backing off… that was something that Jaehwan did not do.

That's why he couldn't run this time.

He felt his heightened senses getting distorted and his strengthened muscles through the [Naked] setting disappearing in an instant. Then came a punch from Myad's Gigantes. And he was blown away while Myad spoke to him for the last time.

-That [Setting], it's really easy to break if you think it through.

Jaehwan wasn't sure which came first. He was only certain of the world power that grasped him at that critical moment. It wasn't there to protect him as it still covered his entire body, which had taken severe damage.

'This…'

Jaehwan moaned as he focused on the world power that covered him. Then came the realization.

'Clothes?'

Yes. That was the reason why his [Naked] setting had disappeared. He was covered in a green rag. His memory particles from Record of the Depths moved and a Setting name came to Jaehwan's mind.

[Augmented Reality]

With that, Jaehwan realized what just happened. It was an unbelievable idea.

'This is impossible…'

What Myad did was that he simply used the basic Setting to 'clothe' Jaehwan. The [Setting] required one to be naked, that was its weakness.

Jaehwan's body struck the ground and rolled a several meters away. Debris and particles on the ground penetrated his body and Jaehwan spat out silver powder.

"Jaehwan, if a [Setting] disappeared from <Depth>, then there's a reason for it."

Myad's voice got closer as he walked towards Jaehwan.

"I didn't go that hard on you back there. Don't say you died."

Jaehwan spat out the dust in his mouth, he couldn't even guess the damage he had taken. He had no trace of world power left in him.

[Jaehwan!]

"Hey, are you okay?"

Andersen and Karavan quickly ran up to Jaehwan and supported him up. Jaehwan felt hard metal and human flesh hoisting him up. Jaehwan then freed himself from both of them and stood upright.

He knew the enemy was strong, but he still underestimated him. He thought of Catastrophe, but he didn't think the enemy would really be as powerful as him. Now he thought he needed to change his mindset.

'Is he really strong as him?'

Jaehwan couldn't even guess what would allow him to defeat Myad.

"Hey, Master, hold on."

It was then that a big-bodied man standing next to Myad spoke. The man, with a giant axe strapped to his back, glanced between Myad and Jaehwan and asked, "Is he the one Surha spoke of before?"

"What? That's the one Surha was talking about?"

It was a smaller, sly looking man who responded. He had long katana at his waist. He drew his sword and pointed it toward Jaehwan as he demanded, "Hey, is that true? Did you sweet talk our cute Surha?"

"Imai, what are you talking about?"

"What?! Didn't you just say he's the one Surha was talking about?"

"…Yeah, but I don't get what you're saying. What I meant was that Surha wanted to bring him into Rupture."

"That's the same thing, you mindless oaf!"

There was a very famous incident that most of the important members of Rupture knew about these days. Yoo Surha, one of the 5 Captains of Rupture, had been traveling for the last 2 years to all parts of the <Depth> in search of a man. The rumors had a lot of variations, but it was mostly about Surha looking for a man to join Rupture. The big man spoke again.

"…But how does it mean that he did 'that'?"

"Or else, why would Surha want that piece of crap in Rupture?!"

Imai Kazuki, the 3rd Captain, shouted furiously as he pointed at Jaehwan. The 4th Captain, Kashim, dumbfoundedly turned to the man.

The man was scratching his naked body. It was impossible to see it from the outside, but he was doing that to try to 'take off' the clothes. [Augmented Reality] was only an illusion on the target, so the others couldn't see the green rags on Jaehwan. Kashim scanned Jaehwan from top to bottom and stopped at one point on his body.

"So, he made out with Surha? Hmm…"

"He… He… Him…!"

Imai was shaking furiously. No one could tell what he was thinking, but his eyes were red.

'Oh sh*t, I forgot that Imai had a crush on Surha.'

Kashim shook his head. At this rate, Imai was going to smack that man down and beat him up. If Surha found out, she would go crazy and blame Kashim for not stopping him. It was highly likely that Kashim would be the one to get all the blame in the end. He then asked, "Master, how about you pass him to me?"

"NO! ME! I'll take care of him!"

Imai also jumped in. Kashim tried to speak again, but Myad spoke instead.

"No, sorry, but I'm taking care of him."