Page 79 of Light Leech

Couldn’t you have told me that from the beginning?

“Making you learn for yourself pushed you towards ascension. If you remain stagnant, the world will perish. Push yourself by any means possible.”

What about the others and their Gui?

“Focus on yourself.”

But do we all have to reach beyond Red to defeat Gong?

“Every victory has its cost. The fewer of you there are, the greater the price.”

Would I have to sacrifice myself if the others failed? Would one of them have to if I failed them?

“Focus on the present.”

I had no desire to look at those characters. The sight of them revulsed me.

“Furthering yourself.”

Whether he spoke those words or they were echoes in my head mattered not.

I could not fail. It was not a choice of will or desire.

I could not.

I scanned the characters, taking in every concept that came to mind. Knowledge. Exhaustion. Falsehood. The ideas flowed into me, not only as ideas, but as feelings.

Knowledge.

That was what this meant. Not words, but the concept of Pure Knowledge. This wasn’t that, but a hint at what it might be. Every thought ever given to me was siphoned through the understanding of another person.

Pure truth was existence as it was. There was no such thing as multiple philosophies, only lies and fables that pointed in their tainted way to this. Pure Knowledge was not the understanding of everything, as I and many of these people might have supposed. It was the idea of knowing. The human connection to reality. I was not a human. Human was the concept attached to the being that I was. I was not made from atoms or molecules. Those were human concepts as well.

My comprehension was so miniscule compared to that of a God.

This did nothing to diminish my Cross-following faith, it only aided me to recognize what the God I believed in might know.

I looked up and passed through the veil.

I should have felt joy and relief as I finished and Ralia met me with her embrace.

I was terrified.

If any human could be capable of such understanding, there was no weapon more dangerous. If that person was a Beacon of the Gongtide–this Dokkaebi and the Correction–they would be the key to Gong’s victory.

Chapter thirteen

Dressed to Impress

“Tryhard,” Boyband scoffed. He eyed me up and down, taking in the light reflecting from my outfit. Deep in his gaze, I think I spotted a shimmer of jealousy.

“Shut up, BB.” Ralia ran her hand along the violet lights of my sleeves. She touched the violet streaks in my hair, probably wondering how hair could light up without disintegrating a moment later. Part of me still worried that it might happen, but Naoma had worn light in her hair countless times and still had plenty of hair.

Ralia continued her inspection, flipping my collar up so that the blue light shined out on her. “I like it, but I’m not a fan of the tight shorts.”

I shrugged. “Naoma said it fit the outfit. You like the shoes?”

She nodded. “Hightops with a thick base, can’t go wrong there. Really, Pet, you look pulse, maybe a little too much violet, though.”