“Already leaving?”

Young-sik’s voice, full of regret, slipped out between his lips.

It had been three years and six months since the apocalypse broke out and the world collapsed.

People who had once been fine were turning into zombies, society was crumbling, and everyone was on edge, killing and being killed in a constant cycle.

The civilization humanity had built over 6,000 years was now on the verge of destruction, all in less than four years.

In response to the endlessly evolving zombies, humanity tried to unite under the leadership of capable individuals, but it was no easy task. 

Jealousy, greed, and suspicion didn’t disappear even in a world like this. In fact, they grew stronger and consumed humanity.

Even Young-sik, who had a rough idea of the future, had been expelled from his group and cast out with nothing.

However, hope was a mysterious thing, and it somehow survived and eventually bloomed.

That "thing" appeared like a comet, bringing thunder with it.

Survivors who had been hiding deep underground, trying to avoid the zombies, would initially feel resigned when they heard the deafening sound that seemed like the sky itself was collapsing.

“This miserable life is finally over.”

But soon, they’d start to feel something strange. The eerie silence that followed the chaos.

Were those zombies? Awakened ones? Bombs? The survivors, curious about the source of the loud noise, would crawl out from their hiding places. What they’d see was a horrific battlefield that looked like it had been ravaged by gunfire and explosions.

But to their astonishment, there were no zombies in sight.

Young-sik thought back to the months he had spent with Hyperion. It was more than just a hard schedule; it had been grueling.

But Young-sik had silently endured it. He knew that the harder he and Hyperion worked, the more someone would be able to feel relief.

In truth, all Young-sik had done was menial tasks. Occasionally meeting survivors to deliver Hyperion’s messages and take necessary actions. Doing the chores assigned by Hyperion.

But the reason he could smile was because of the tremendous miracles Hyperion had brought about.

Months of searching for zombies and wiping them out.

There were no more zombies left on Earth.

Unbelievably, Hyperion had ended the apocalypse and granted humanity freedom.

Freedom to live without fear.

*“Heh…”*

At first, he found it odd how Hyperion seemed so obsessed with finding zombies, as if he had some personal vendetta against them, but now, he understood.

Hyperion found the zombies and eradicated them, and by bombing away the zombie waves, his appearance began to change.

It was so unbelievable that Young-sik felt a pang of self-loathing for how limited his imagination had been. Hyperion grew relentlessly and began to arm himself with all kinds of weaponry.

At one point, Young-sik almost thought Hyperion was planning to destroy the Earth. When he had cleared North and South Korea and advanced into China, the craft Hyperion used was already beyond what you could even call a spaceship.

It was an airborne fortress, or better yet, an airborne city. There were no zombies left anywhere near where Hyperion’s flying city passed.

And that wasn’t all. Hyperion, who found the Slayers with eerie precision, personally struck them with lightning.

He had searched for zombies and Slayers obsessively, as if he were avenging his parents.

*“Haha…”*

Young-sik remembered those days. When Hyperion had swept through China and a massive research facility had been established above him.

The largest survivor group in China had come to visit.

“Zombies are also citizens of our People’s Republic of China and property. Your reckless actions have violated our people’s property, and we demand compensation.”

Young-sik was dumbfounded.

What gave these people the confidence to say such things? Did they not fear Hyperion?

“If you allow us to reside in your floating city, we can cooperate and help, right? You’ll need workers, after all?”

As Young-sik was cleaning the exterior of Hyperion, he realized something.

These fools were gravely mistaken.

Hyperion wasn’t a city, and there was no reason to take them in.

Young-sik tried to reason with them.

“I’ll ask, but don’t expect too much…”

“A mere janitor is stopping our path?! Call a high-ranking official, not a lowly worker like you!”

What happened to them in the end?

*Shaking his head*

Some managed to board Hyperion, while the rest were burned to ash by Hyperion’s lightning.

*Boarded...* Did you even call it boarding? Young-sik felt sorry for them.

Now they were destined to become part of Hyperion’s mining operation, working until their abilities were drained for good.

Not just them, but others who had been greedy for Hyperion’s power, including his former comrade Byeong-tae.

After several assassination attempts, Byeong-tae finally fell into an eternal sleep, quietly having his powers drained.

There was a time when Hyperion and he argued about it, but now, it was all in the past.

Watching how Hyperion had changed the world with the powers that were drained from others, Young-sik couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

Hyperion, now equipped with every ability imaginable, including the Sheltering ability of the Awakened, began to change the world.

*…*

Anyway, once the world was stabilized, he promised to release them, and he believed in that.

Of course, after they were freed, they would have to live as regular people without their abilities.

*“It’s been fun, Hyper.”*

As he looked up at the sky, he heard a gruff voice in his ear.

[Stop talking nonsense and get back to cleaning, Human.]

“Huh?”

Young-sik startled and turned around. There, floating in the sky, was a complex mechanical device, the size of a sports field.

[Were you sleeping during yesterday’s explanation?]

Young-sik winced.

[It’ll be no good until it sucks up all the Karma here.]

Didn’t someone get scolded by a scary person for carelessly using the power source not long ago…?

[The research facility and the main body will remain here.]

While it had basic weaponry, compared to before, it was almost defenseless.

*Of course, even with basic weapons, there’s no one on Earth who could challenge us...*

And that was true, even before the apocalypse began.

[Tch.]

Still, Young-sik understood why Hyperion felt some regret.

After all, he had to strip away all the massive attack equipment and armaments that had been so heavily invested in.

[Mk.2’s split body will wander through dimensions to find another colony.]

“C-colony?”

[What’s so surprising about it?]

“Is that so?”

Though the phrasing was strange, Hyperion hadn’t really been out there plundering or raiding.

He simply helped rebuild the collapsed civilization and worked toward restoring the order that the apocalypse had destroyed.

At least, that’s how it looked to Young-sik.

He could see the difference just by looking at the people’s faces.

They were harvesting crops, rebuilding civilization, and restoring social infrastructure. In the process, worries about security or survival seemed to have completely disappeared.

[37-A12B Zone: Criminal who attempted rape and murder neutralized.]

Hyperion’s eyes were everywhere, and he showed no mercy toward criminals.

People who had been steeped in violence and plunder were now being forcibly reformed.

If anyone tried to commit a crime, a warning would immediately flash in their mind. Disobey, and they would be executed.

With that simple, straightforward principle, there were no more non-model citizens.

How… strange.

[But is it really okay?]

“Huh? Oh... that.”

Young-sik smiled a little.

“I don’t care. I never used it much anyway. But I guess I could leave a review, right?”

[Do as you wish.]

Young-sik accessed the **Dimensional Integration Community**.

[Welcome to Dimensional @$&% Community #&%&.]

Unlike before, the text was all garbled and unreadable.

“Let’s see…”

[@*!&#^& ##^@&@ @%#@]

The text was too distorted to make sense of, but Young-sik cautiously pressed the “Post” button, remembering as best as he could.

“It’s not easy…”

Soon enough, the **Dimensional Integration Community** would be inaccessible to him.

According to Hyperion’s explanation, this was an inevitable consequence of sending the split bodies across dimensions. Since the research was incomplete, his community channel had to be used up.

It seemed to be something like that.

*‘Well, he did mention that split bodies are essentially the same entity in some way.’*

Anyway, Young-sik snapped a photo of the sky and carefully wrote a post in the community.

‘Space Emperor, thank you!’

But... even if he wrote it with all his effort, who knows if it would actually post.

Young-sik smiled as he felt the once-dark sky gradually lightening up.

*‘It doesn’t matter.’*

The Mk.2 Hyperion, which had covered the entire sky, crossed over into another dimension. Its sheer size was so immense that it made the dark night feel as if it were turning into day.

---

### ***

[We are moving to the target dimension.]

*Zzztt-*

As Hyperion’s body sliced through an unstable and violent astral path, far more intense than the typical warp of the Galactic Empire, it moved forward.

Though it only lasted a very short time, it felt like an eternity.

*Boom-*

[Engine Damage: 72.01%]  
[Cooling System Damage: 62.04%]  
[Front Body Damage: 34.28%]  
[Outer Wall Damage: 46.41%]  
…  
[AT Barrier Remaining: 18.02%]  
[Remaining Power: 37.12%]

*Boom-*

[12-17 Phase Hyperion. Target dimension move successful.]

Where Hyperion arrived, war was in full swing.

Tens of thousands of warships spotted Hyperion’s presence and slowly took formation.

*Bleep-*

[According to the Master’s command, selecting the target.]

*Click-clack-*

From the body of Hyperion, several times larger than Debran’s Terra-class battleship, 1.28 million gunports revealed themselves.

A silence fell over the battlefield.

Then, from the gunports, starlight poured out, decorating the universe.

It was the moment when the energy of the Debra planet was instantly drained.

 

TL NOTE: Please don't skimp on the stars for the translation - it inspires me and gives me the strength to write more. Thank you~!

If you want to buy me a coffee ko-fi.com/kimsu