(Viewpoint: Ji-Yunwoo)
The euphoria of victory doesn't exist for us.
Around the tower, no one was celebrating.
All the survivors had the same look: that of people who had returned from a place they should never have set foot in.
Jae was breathing with difficulty.
Lying on his back, his hands clung to Yun's back with desperate force, as if the earth might suddenly disappear beneath him.
"This isn't the tower anymore..." Yun Seo breathed. "Look at me."
He shook his head violently.
– No...
His voice was trembling.
– If I look... I'll fall.
Her eyelids remained closed.
Even opening them seemed impossible.
When he tried to stand up, his body immediately tensed up.
A cry escaped him.
He immediately fell back to the ground.
Her fingers were trembling.
His breathing quickened.
– It's... too high...
Jun Ho knelt beside him.
– You're back. You're on the ground. There's no more emptiness.
But the words slid off him without reaching him.
For Jae, the tower still existed.
Each movement gave him the feeling that he was about to tip into the void.
Yun Seo gently ran a hand behind his neck.
– Nobody will let you down.
This time, Jae burst into tears.
Not noisy crying.
Just a completely broken man who no longer had the strength to hold on to anything.
I stayed a few meters back.
I wanted to move forward.
To say something.
But my legs refused.
I only saw what mattered to me, everything that led me here; I couldn't go back anymore.
Empathy should not dominate.
Everything else had become blurry.
Jun Ho looked up at me.
His gaze lasted a second, as if he were waiting for something from me.
But he immediately turned his gaze back to Jae.
Yun Seo fits the same.
She said nothing.
Yet his silence was enough.
All I could do was watch Jae collapse...
I looked at my watch even though I wanted to, I had nothing left to save him.
I probably look like a man incapable of feeling anything.
I took a step towards them.
– Can I...
My sentence died before it was finished; I myself didn't know what to say.
Yun Seo shook his head slightly.
It was not a brutal gesture.
Even less hatred.
More of an instinctive way to protect Jae.
I think she's overdoing it; everything can become a burden in this war.
I slapped myself
– (what am I saying)
Yet another one, I hit myself so many times that I ended up on the ground, exhausted.
She seemed surprised to see me going crazy.
A heavy silence settled in.
I lowered my eyes, trying to count the dust.
I no longer knew where I belonged.
They naturally formed a circle around Jae.
Me...
I had stayed outside.
And despite all my efforts, I could no longer determine if this distance was coming from them...
Or from me.
When will all this end?
If I have to sell my soul, I might as well sell it for a high price.