Words Are Superfluous.

Hyuna's Revenge

Hyuna's revenge is threefold.

First — she knows her death would hurt Luka more than his own ever would.

Luka, who does not value his own body at all, smiles at the fact that he won even though he is thoroughly injured.

— Round 5 Commentary, Artbook

Heperu has long since trained Luka's fear of death out of him. It's implied that he's been put through the sensation of dying again and again until he overcame it.

At this point he isn't even phased by a gun to his head, only acknowledging it for a second in Wiege when it physically stops his forward step, before turning away uncaringly to look at what's more important to him — Hyuna.

Second — her final request asks him, requires him, to live.

Luka, live with love.

Embrace the pain, the frailty and the moments so unbearably shameful.

Forgive yourself…

Again and again, endlessly.

Because everything… begins from there.

Luka no longer has an easy out. Because oh death would be the easy way out. Living is the true challenge.

And to do what Hyuna asked of him?

Despite being subjected to the cruelest, harshest training known in Alnst since childhood, this will be the hardest thing he'll ever do.

By leaving him with those words, Hyuna has left him with no choice but to honor her final request, continue to live on without her, and be haunted by the gaping hole of her absence thereon.

This is even more harsh when you consider Hyuna has been Luka's coping mechanism this entire time, and she mercilessly stripped that away from him. Which leads us to:

Third — with her death, Hyuna is forcing Luka to confront everything he's been avoiding.

Luka was only able to walk away so easily (figuratively and literally) because he was escaping reality through Hyuna.

I resented you so.

I had to keep moving forward in every moment...

In comparison Hyuna was never able to accept what happened. She had to grapple with her pain, her loss, and her inability to come to terms with it in her every waking moment.

By dying right in front of him, Hyuna is forcing his eyes open to the reality he wasn't facing when he made her his entire world.

Luka made her his chosen savior, but what can he do when she's the one dying?

He now has to confront not only her death, but Hyun Woo's, and everyone else's. All of the horrific deaths he had witnessed, all of the ones he had a hand in.

But...

Hyuna also left him the answer within her last words — words that serve as both his condemnation and his salvation.

They're one last puzzle to solve, and if he manages to find his answer, Luka will be able to save himself.

She left him the answer, the words he needs, because even to the very end Hyuna cares deeply for that small child.

Hyuna truly chose to carry out her revenge in the cruelest... and gentlest way possible.

This time...

I'll be your new puzzle to solve.

So don't rush, and take your time to figure it out.

I don't know how long it'll take...

But I hope you find your own answer.

A final warning

i bet on all my mental illness that man was having a boner.

Updated Content Warning Guides for Rusty Lake

Criteria based on doesthedogdie.com. Some elements excluded due to their omnipresence, namely the corrupted souls. Meters are subjective to myself, but hopefully still somewhat helpful. 'Drug mention' includes alcohol and tobacco, but not caffeine (i.e. coffee). Cube Escape releases except Paradox are also free on mobile devices. Check the notes for anything I may have missed.

EDITS: Suicide is major in Roots, but as you can see I ran out of space.

Note that paid releases are skewed higher than free ones because they simply have more going on (e.g. only one or two individual levels of Rusty Lake: Roots are as bloody as Cube Escape: Birthday, but the 30+ levels combined are bloodier.) Also, you didn't hear it from me, but Hotel and Roots are both free via Bluemaxima's Flashpoint as last I checked.

Call me call me baby

people talk about bioshock infinite's story being bad, but you don't hear much about the gameplay. its also bad

she played the lute for a frog, I am now obliged to confess my undying love to her

one of my few headcanons on Q84 - white scars all over her body.

A little meme I made for the Ask Lancer series on YouTube.

You can watch Part 1 here, and I’m close to finishing the art for Part 2!