Prologue

What if a demon were to creep after you into your loneliest loneliness and whisper to you.

​If you had to repeat this very moment, this grueling life exactly as it is, over and over again without end, what would you do?

​—Nietzsche, The Gay Science, Section 341: "The Heaviest Burden"

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『Ah…. Ah…. Honorable guests. Thank you very much for joining us today to… celebrate the wedding of the groom, Do Guk Young, and the bride, Lee Han Ah. Since you have all traveled a long way to get here, you must be exhausted. Please, uh… sit down and rest for a moment.』

At the end of the long virgin road.

A white bridal veil fluttered in the wind.

『Uh…. Our groom and bride look exceptionally beautiful and handsome today. I have always seen them covered in blood and rushing out to dangerous dispatch sites, so seeing them dressed up like this today surprised even me. It is not an everyday occurrence, so… uh, I hope you take your time to capture this image in your eyes.』

It was a clear day with pure white doves soaring into the sky. It felt like the perfect moment where the pages should be closed with the words, "And they overcame all adversities and lived happily ever after."

The white-haired officiant gazed warmly at the groom and bride before him.

『Today… I would like to offer a few words of advice to the couple embarking on their new life. Uh…. Marriage is a union where two people become one. Sharing joys you couldn’t know when alone, and overcoming together even the sorrows that were too heavy to bear alone… uh, that is the true path of a married couple…』

"Is he out of his mind?"

A guest who was aggressively cutting his steak muttered with a sullen face.

"Are they really going to let them get married like that?"

"Forget it. Just shut up and chew your meat."

"No, I mean…! I rushed over here excited because I thought everyone was going to crash and ruin the wedding. If they're going to make expressions that look like everything is completely fucked, why didn't they just skip the wedding altogether?"

"Hey, youngest! Shh!"

The squad members gathered around the circular table sipped their wine as if swallowing their burning anxiety. It was a beautiful wedding where flower petals drifted down gracefully. However, it was far too late to stop it. The expressions of the guests were as dark as if they were attending a funeral.

"Does a wedding like this even make any sense? No matter how you look at it, the Captain is completely oblivious to his own position. I heard the woman is just a normal civilian with nothing to her name, literally a normal civilian! Is the Captain not even afraid of the karma that's going to hit him back?"

At those words, everyone's gaze shifted toward the altar.

『Groom Do Guk Young… is, uh…, a truly grateful and great hero who has protected the nation while enduring countless hardships. Bride Lee Han Ah… is an outstanding… companion, a diligent medical student attending a prestigious university, who has pledged to bear that heavy weight together with him.』

He wore a pitch-black dress uniform adorned with rows of shining, proud medals. A silver aiguillette gleamed on his broad shoulders, and his waistline, tightly cinched by a belt, dropped smoothly all the way down to his legs.

The son of everyone and a proud soldier.

The boy who had received the undivided expectations and reverence of the entire nation since the age of twelve was now standing there as a proper man.

His face, which used to know how to smile gently, was stiff with tension today, but that awkward demeanor was precisely what proved he was a fresh groom.

He was a good boy who grew up without ever knowing what adolescence or rebellion was. Now that this usually radiant guy was stubbornly refusing to back down, as if paying back all his delayed rebellion at once, it was completely useless no matter how much his colleagues staged hunger strikes. Nobody had been able to persuade that young groom.

『The path ahead for the two of them… will by no means be smooth. Uh… gates open up at any moment, cities shake, and all kinds of anxieties threaten daily life. This is because we are living in a truly bizarre era. However… if you look into each other's eyes and simply do not forget the feelings you have right now… you will easily be able to overcome, uh, any disaster.』

"That's all pure bullshit. Those fancy words are just a form of mental victory."

"Youngest, shh! Your mouth, watch your mouth!"

A large-framed man gestured as if flaring up to stand, causing the table to rattle.

"They say they've been friends who couldn't live without each other since childhood. How on earth can you block the hot-blooded passion of immature kids?"

"Ha…! At twenty-three, our Captain is still plenty young right now. But still, a childhood friend shouldn't be more important than this world, right? Isn't that a dereliction of duty…!"

Even so, a gentle breeze blew between the groom and bride as they briefly locked eyes and exchanged subtle smiles….

Because they looked so bright and beautiful, in a way that didn't fit this ruined world at all, the people could only silently bite their lips.

『Today’s ceremony… is not just a simple wedding. It is a place that proves love can still exist even within a collapsed world. It is the moment of a vow, uh, to always resolutely protect one another.』

Still, how can anyone get married for love alone? The bride that special man actually needs must be someone else entirely.

"Let's wait and see. Let's see if they can really live happily after pushing through a marriage that everyone opposes."

『With this, I shall conclude the officiation…』

It was just as the officiant reached the end.

Beep…Beep…. Beep….!

A sharp paging alarm pierced through the air from the groom's pocket. In that fleeting moment of silence, the same sirens began to detonate in a chain reaction from various spots in the guest seating.

Beep….Beep… Beep….!

As if they had made a pact, the squad members bolted upright from their seats. The very people who had been enthusiastically tearing the wedding apart completely wiped the expressions from their faces and began sending hand signals with knives that were dripping with sauce.

The Center executives who had been cutting their steaks also hurriedly wiped their mouths with napkins and pulled themselves away from their seats. It was also at that exact moment that the groom grabbed the back of the head of the bride, who was standing still like a still-life object.

"Mph…!"

Driven by urgency, the man recklessly devoured the bride’s lips. Their noses collided first, and her upper lip was crushed. He furrowed his brows as if frustrated, yet twisted his head without hesitation.

The man kept digging into the bride's lips, deeper and deeper, until the staff members could no longer watch and pulled the two apart. It was an unskillful but desperately sincere kiss.

The ceiling opened up, and the roaring noise of a helicopter came pouring inside. Even though the bridal veil was flipped inside out and whipped around violently, he could not easily let go of his wife. He still kept his lips pressed against hers, his handsome nose bridge fiercely wrinkled.

"How can a gate burst open even on my wedding day?"

His hot tongue slowly brushed against her gums before pulling out.

"I'm sorry. I'll be back soon."

His warm breath spread near her ear.

Han Ah. We are going to live well. Happily. Just like I promised you.

Do Guk Young whispered into her ear as if sharing a secret love whisper. Before she could even utter a response, the man vanished into thin air.

Left entirely alone, the bride picked up the boutonniere that had fallen to the floor. Someone might close the pages of the book thinking that, after all, love had conquered everything, and that there seemed to be no wall in the world that could not be scaled….

However, every tragedy has a definitive starting point.

And it was the same for this world.

'Ever since I married you, a public property.'