4.6 | Dark Ages ✓

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THE DARK AGES are over.

He can repeat that a million times over but it will never feel real. In the hours that pass after his time-travel, he spends them catching up on the present. In this town, nothing has changed. It's still a veritable wasteland, filled with the ghosts of the people who once lived here and the monsters that have taken their places.

He and Namjoon have returned to the house, where the latter had reset the wards and then explained how the Dark Ages had come to an end.

"Ten days ago, we received a shipment that contained a new antigen called V. Now this antigen, like many others, can stimulate the production of antibodies in our immune systems. But zombies have none. Inject them with Antigen V and they'll immediately drop dead."

Taehyung glances up at that. Something about Antigen V sounds familiar. When was the last time he'd seen zombies die the same way Namjoon had described?

That's right—when I killed them.

His gaze drifts to the gun next to him. Until now, he can't quite part from his bag or gun, in spite knowing that that the Dark Ages are over. Does his gun contain not bullets, as he'd previously assumed, but Antigen V?

"So that's what the world's been doing?" he asks curiously, turning back to Namjoon. "Killing off zombies by injecting them with Antigen V?"

"No, it was a bit more complicated than that. Just as the zombies had infected each other with Strand F, we needed to find a way for them to spread this Antigen to each other. Think of it as some sort of pathogen, but one that is beneficial to our human race. Fortunately, one of our scientists had already come up with that. He'd created an air-borne substance to spread the antigen—he just didn't have the antigen until you created it."

Realization rapidly dawns on him. If he'd been working with this scientist on a cure, then... He lets out a disbelieving breath. "You're talking about Jimin."

"Of course." Namjoon shrugs. "He's all everyone can talk about these days. He and the others whose lives you've changed."

Struck speechless by his brother's words, he can only watch as Namjoon types rapidly on his keyboard for a moment before turning the laptop towards him. The webpage shows a news site where, right under the headlines, is a picture of the man who'd created Strand F alongside him.

"Jimin—the man who saved the world," Namjoon says, when Taehyung remains silent. "In a few weeks, all the zombies would be purged from this world and it will all be thanks to him."

His brother leans over the table to scroll down the page. A couple of photographs later, he stops at one that Taehyung finds familiar.

"Yoongi—Army General, awarded for his efforts in major rescue missions. He has been credited for securing every important professional essential to seeing us through the Dark Ages," Namjoon continues, before scrolling down to another and another. "Hoseok—Head of Security, commended for having set up wards in every part of the world. Without him, the human race would've died out years ago. Jungkook—First Lieutenant, he's been fighting in the frontline to save regular citizens who were not able to reach the base in Antarctica."

In each photograph, the men he'd met in his time-travels are all wide smiles, shaking the hands of various esteemed government officials. Gone are Jungkook's trauma, Yoongi's surliness, Hoseok's desperation and Jimin's guilt. In these pictures, they are what they are—men who have survived the Dark Ages and made a significant contribution to mankind.

"Don't you see, Taehyung?" Namjoon says. "It's all because of you."

Because of me?

He swallows at the thought. Had his time-travels resulted in this? After all, everything he did in the past had a consequence. If he hadn't saved Jungkook, would Jungkook have saved all these other people? If he hadn't spoken to Yoongi about her, would Yoongi have abandoned his search for her to focus on his mission? Hoseok wouldn't have been so determined to keep mankind alive if he hadn't been certain that Taehyung could've saved it. Jimin wouldn't have found a cure if Taehyung didn't make him promise to do it.

Every action has a consequence.

Is this what I've done?

Slowly, he looks away from the laptop and up at his brother. "Really?"

Namjoon nods. "If it hadn't been for you, Seokjin wouldn't have founded the base in Antarctica. He was one of the first ones there, and he made it into the safe base that it eventually became. Everything was all because of you, Taehyung."

He falls silent. He'd suspected this when he'd told Seokjin about Antarctica. But to know that his time-travel had changed their lives for the better is gratifying. Whatever leftover guilt he'd felt with having created Strand F seems to diffuse with this revelation.

I am the man who destroyed the world. But I am also the man who saved it.

Still reeling from Namjoon's words, he suddenly stops as a belated thought surfaces. He looks over at his brother, observing the latter's easy smile and calm demeanour. Not a trace suggests that Namjoon had been surprised that Taehyung had met all of them, but why?

Unless...unless...

He stares at Namjoon. "What do you know?"

It seems to be the question that his brother's been anticipating, because he straightens in his seat.

"Everything," Namjoon says. "She told me everything."