Above Your Head

"Because she wanted to give birth to you."

He had spoken indirectly, but I was not an idiot, so I understood the underlying meaning of his words. I gritted my teeth.

My father was saying something tough to believe.

"What you meant is… Mother passed away because she gave birth to me?"

"Wrong."

He shook his head lightly and continued speaking.

"She chose your future instead of her own."

"That is the same thing!"

I yelled in anger, but my father was so hatefully calm.

"It is different. If Eun-jeong had heard those words, she might have taken it as an insult."

He said that and fell silent once again, as if he was thinking about something. After a short while, he finally nodded.

"You should know the details because this also concerns you. Eun-jeong came to look for me when I was in the second grade of high school."

"When she told you she loved you."

It was a sarcastic remark that came out unconsciously, but my father replied without reacting to it.

"That was secondary. The real reason was to bid her farewell." my father continued explaining.

"She had already planned to leave this world. And she came to see me for the last time because she did not want to regret it. But the impressive thing is that she explained the situation she was in, just as it was. It was through her that I got to know of the term 'Another Plane'."

By then, I was already in her belly and she had decided to give birth to me.

Honestly, it was impossible for me to understand her reasoning.

My father said that my mother was interested in him, just that she did not express it because the worlds they lived in were different.

But how was she able to tell the person she liked… that she had to put her life on the line to give birth to the child she had with another man? Wasn't hiding it the normal thing to do?

However, my father's reaction to her behavior was beyond expectations.

"So I proposed to her."

"…What?"

My mouth dropped from the reply that was beyond common sense.

My father looked at me and smiled. "And then I embraced her."

"…"

Ugh, I do not know what to do with this couple…

I was dumbfounded, but my father was smiling happily.

He was showing a smile the more he talked about my mother when he had been so serious while apologizing just a while ago.

"Huhu, come to think of it, she was really flustered back then as well. How should I put it, like she assumed hundreds or thousands of responses, but they all didn't happen? Also…"

"No, wait a minute." I raised my hand and interrupted him.

"It was not like she caught an incurable disease… So why did you propose to her when she was pregnant with another man's child?"

"Because she was crying. And… Did I not tell you earlier?" My father smirked and said.

It was an annoyingly cool smile even to me as a man.

"I had been really interested in her since the beginning."

He turned to his bookcase. Bewilderingly enough, there was a hidden vault there that I did not know about despite having lived in this house all my life.

Click click click.

I looked at my father as he entered the 16-digit password.

The safe opened with a heavy sound, revealing the item inside.

"It's… a key."

"It is a relic that belonged to your actual father. Eun-jeong gave it to me."

He said that it was a key, but it had a peculiar design. It looked like dozens of steel pieces were combined to make it, so it seemed like it would break if one hit it with a hammer.

"Who is my real father?"

"I do not know about his identity. I just know that he was a high-ranking transcendent."

"A transcendent…"

I learned about this word as it was mentioned briefly in the background section of The Great War's manual.

However, I had never imagined that the word would have some relation with me.

'Divine beings that have transcended their fate.'

It was said that when they finally reach the ultimate stage after an endless grinding, it would be possible to transcend the framework of fate and enter the realm of a God regardless of their kind of existence, realizing the truth of the world.

While it was something that didn't even feel real… It was said that battle-oriented transcendents can even destroy Gigas above the Star rank with their bare hands.

'But what does he mean by not knowing of his identity? Did Mother not tell him, or did she not know either?'

However, since he already said that he did not know, there was no point in asking him. Also, that was not the important thing here.

"What is the promised day?"

"Today is the day. Eun-jeong had a special power and had foreseen that this day would come even before you were born. She said that the guests would come to visit on the day of the enemy's attack and that I would have to send you with them."

"What if I refuse to?"

"She said that you would die and that there was no way to live under the sky. I did not know what she meant back then, but to think that she meant the space."

I kept my silence while he shrugged his shoulders.

My thoughts felt complicated.

I didn't even have 0.1mg of thoughts about going to space, but it bothered me that I would die if I did not do so.

"Can prophecies go wrong?"

"Sara said that it should be true at least. She is an idiot, but she is still a God so it should be right…"

Boom!

I felt heavy vibrations at that moment.

I was really surprised by it, but my father opened the door as if he had been expecting that fuss.

"I'm back, Teacher."

"Uwa, uwaa. What happened here? What do you mean by aliens? In addition, going to space? Uhh…"

The ones in the living room were the usually calm-looking Dong-min, and Bo-ram, who was mumbling with a confused expression.

Celestia, who was sitting comfortably on one side of the sofa, stretched her arms.

"What is this? He scared me by saying that we could only reveal our existence to a few people, but even the cows and dogs know about it now."

I opened my eyes sharply at how she grumbled.

I felt confused at how she used the expression, 'cows and dogs', so naturally as I did not know if they existed in outer space.

However, my father looked at me and spoke, as if he wasn't bothered about Celestia at all.

"I am planning to send these two with you."

"To space?"

"Yes. To put it in a way, they are your bodyguards. The lady said earlier that having around two companions is okay. According to her, there are those where they bring all of their family members with them, so this much is nothing. I would also like to follow you, but that is difficult due to my circumstances."

After saying that, my father hung the peculiar-designed key that he took out from the vault around my neck.

Now that I looked closely, it had a gold chain attached to it, so it was something that could be hung around one's neck.

"Um, wait a moment. I am asking just in case… Do I have to be away for long?"

"Yes. To the point where I don't even know how long it would be."

I got flustered at his 'isn't it obvious' reaction.

Wait, so I will be absent from school for a long time as soon as it started? Also, what is he planning to tell the school?

[My kid went out to space for a bit.]

…He can't possibly say such things!

However, my father looked at Dong-min like he did not think of this as a big problem and spoke, "I will leave him in your care then, Dong-min."

"No, how long do I have to be away that you are already entrusting me to him?"

My father looked at me, who was expressing my confusion at the strange atmosphere, and replied, "Now."

"What?"

While I was flustered at the unexpected situation, Dong-min grabbed my shoulders.

And just like that—

Pat!

I left Earth.

*

"Tch. There are a few more things I have to explain."

Il-han, who was left alone in the living room after Dae-ha, Dong-min, Bo-ram, and even Celestia disappeared, raised his right hand.

Before one realized it, there was a claymore in his hand, one that was as tall as his height and seemed difficult for ordinary people to even lift it.

Bang!

Something huge fell through the roof after destroying it.

It was a sudden entrance, but as Il-han had already expected it, he was able to get outside the range of the shock by lightly swinging his claymore.

[That was close.]

[Right, really close. But you bastard, weren't you supposed to be responsible for my safety? You said that it was a barrier that no one could enter.]

[Ugh… The barrier was not established for a giant like that.]

Il-han listened to the telepathic message ringing in his mind and found his position right away.

Even if he felt that his life was not a waste, nothing good would come out if he lost it, so there was a need to be careful.

"Grrrrr."

The growling sound of a beast spread coldly through the air, but the one that had made that sound was not a beast.

No, actually [it] was not even a living thing.

The lion-shaped thing, which was larger than ten oxes combined and stood taller than Il-han, had a body made of black glossy metal. Inside its eyes that were bigger than a fist, there were about five or six spinning cogs, and its fangs and claws were glimmering like LED lamps.

"Where is this?"

The growling enormous lion-shaped robot opened its mouth with an unexpected clear pronunciation.

It seemed like it was confused as well.

"You should not be asking me that when you were the one who broke in all of a sudden. Who are you? What is the purpose of your visit?"

"Purpose… Purpose… What was it?"

Its abundant steel mane waved naturally like real fur when it tilted its head. It also seemed to have no idea why it came here.

"This is a holy land that belongs to God. Go back if you are going to speak nonsense."

"Ah… Right. Hmm, I am sorry. It certainly seems to be a holy land. Just why did I come here?"

The robot raised its front right paw while mumbling uncomprehendingly. And then, its claws shone and…

Kiiiiing---!!

It tore apart the space in front of it. Il-han shouted at the lion that had leaped into that space rift.

"Wait! Who are you! Why did you break into this place!"

[Wow, even your acting is fabulous.]

[Be quiet.]

The enormous lion, who looked at Il-han acting enthusiastically while ignoring the voice ringing in his head, turned its body and entered the rift. The torn apart rift returned to its original state after that.

[It still went back fine.]

[Because they were not violent guys to begin with.]

But Il-han knew it.

If he had been a little late in sending his son away… The opponent would have never returned just like that.

And if the monster ran wild, it would be close to impossible to stop it, even if it was him. It would be another story if he was in his own body, but the power he could handle in his current state was greatly limited.

"Whew. Sara, I will leave the restoration to you."

Il-han spoke out loud since there was no need to speak telepathically anymore. A reply came.

[If you date me.]

"Sara, I thought we were going to stay as friends?"

[Ungg, but even friends can go on a date.]

"Ah, my head."

Il-han shook his head as if it was in pain and raised his head to look at the sky.

"…Will he be fine?"

Il-han got worried at that moment, but he had already done everything he could.

Moreover, there was nothing else he could do now that his son got out of Earth.

"Please."

Il-han smiled bitterly and turned around.

"Do not lose to your own fate, my son."

And then Il-han disappeared.