Global Awakening: Only I Can Respawn

After the brief discussion, YuWon sent the old man on his way. He didn't say it, but he had a feeling the old man won't live for long. Lucifer would figure out about them soon, and he wasn't exactly a forgiving soul. Hence, YuWon knew the old man would die.

Well, he didn't ask me to protect him, so there's that.

When YuWon turned, Soo-Ah was waiting for him. Being a curious cat, she would definitely have a lot of questions for him.

"What is it?" he asked.

"You're going to fight him, aren't you?" she said, her arms crossed.

"Of course I am."

Taking down the Parade Master was a crucial step of his plan.

Soo-Ah stared at him for a moment before sighing. She more or less expected YuWon would say that, but she had hoped he won't.

"Fine. Let's complete the rides and then I can help you with that."

"There's no need for that."

"What do you mean? I have to clear the rides first—"

"That won't be a good idea," YuWon said, shaking his head.

Lucifer most likely already knew about her. Since he was accompanying him, he would most likely target her the moment she stepped out of the safe zone.

Hell, Lucifer might just send the Parade Master to the safe zone just to kill him. The monster won't be able to enter the safe zone, but no one could leave the safe zone either.

So, they'd camp the safe zone. The Parade Master would most likely kill anyone who stepped out of the safe zone.

But YuWon couldn't straight up tell her that. He knew if he did, Soo-Ah would do anything and everything in her power to tag along. Thankfully, he had a great excuse to have her stay away.

"I need you to stick close to Se-Won," YuWon said, grabbing her shoulders. "His life is in danger, and I need someone I can trust to stay with him."

YuWon expected Soo-Ah to argue, but to his surprise, she readily agreed.

After all, YuWon said she was the only one he could depend on. As someone who had always been saved by him, Soo-Ah readily agreed to help him and repay his kindness.

With that, Soo-Ah walked away. But as she reached the gate, she turned around.

"…if you ever need anything, anything, you can ask me for it."

YuWon raised an eyebrow as she trotted away. For some reason, she seemed happy, too happy, in fact.

"Women are a great mystery…"

***

A week later…n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The Parade Master snarled and howled. Lucifer had given him another severe verbal thrashing. It had been a week since he had told the Parade Master to look for YuWon and yet he couldn't find anything.

His spy had already told Parade Master that the person he was looking for had left the safe zone a while ago. The monster obviously didn't believe him, and even sent some bird-like monsters to check. But YuWon was nowhere to be found.

It wasn't just the Parade Master, not even the dolls, or the monsters had seen him anywhere. It's as if YuWon disappeared into thin air. For a moment, he almost wanted to massacre everyone there just to find that man's location.

But Lucifer read his mind like an open book and subtly warned him. The awakeners were there for the entertainment of the gods, not him. Hence, he only moved during the night, leaving the dolls to look for YuWon during the day.

Remembering about the dolls, the Parade Master realized something. The number of dolls under his command has been declining recently, yet he found none of their corpses.

It was strange, but it gave him an out.

Since the Parade Master was solely responsible for recruiting dolls, he didn't have to seek Lucifer's permission to grab a few awakeners.

***

It had been a week since the Old Man's confession. In that week, the old man had received summons from the Parade Master twice a day. Yet today the monster had been awkwardly silent.

It didn't take a genius to figure out something was about to happen. Unfortunately, people rarely listened to geniuses.

Soo-Ah hadn't seen YuWon for a week, yet he sent her a message asking the awakeners to be prepared for a breach in Se-Won's safe zone.

When she first told them about it, even Se-Won didn't believe her. So far, his defense had remained impregnable, and hence thought they had no reason to be worried.

It wasn't until a monster snuck in at night did everyone realize YuWon was right. Out of nowhere, Se-Won's ability deactivated for a moment, and that was enough for the monster to sneak in.

Their negligence cost two lives. Se-Won was racked with guilt, but instead of dwelling on it, he instructed everyone to stay alert. They doubled the number of guards and erected makeshift barriers around the park.

Even so, their preparations could only last against normal monsters. If the parade arrived there like YuWon said it would, the barrier won't hold for more than a minute.

I hope we have some time.

Soo-Ah didn't think even if all of them united, they'd be enough to take down the parade. Her skeletons might hold their own, but most of them couldn't fight properly and would probably die.

Just then, the ground vibrated.

Ever since that encounter with the parade, Soo-Ah could recognize the vibrations instantly. The parade had arrived.

"They're here!"

A guard came running in.

Se-Won looked at Soo-Ah before turning toward the rest.

"Everyone, evacuate the park now!" he yelled. "We'll hold back the parade, so escape as far as you can!"

While evacuations were going on, Soo-Ah summoned all her skeletons. Mickey appeared, riding on the weasel boss's skeleton. Soo-Ah would have laughed at the sight had it not been an emergency.

"Gotta hold them back till YuWon returns…" Soo-Ah mumbled.

She checked the community for any messages from YuWon, but there were none. In the last conversation she had with him, he only asked her to hold back the parade till he returned, but not to be a hero.

[YuWon: Run when you have to. You're more important to me that anyone in the camp.]

Reading those words stirred some feelings in her heart, but Soo-Ah shook her head, trying to focus on the task at hand.

"You're not dying here, Soo-Ah. Don't worry—EEK! What are you doing here?"

Soo-Ah exclaimed when the old man appeared behind her.

"To help, of course," he replied.