Chapter 110.

Road D-3C .

Rachel and I were walking through this road together .

‘D’ denoted that this road led to a Dungeon, ‘3’ denoted that it was opened third, and ‘C’ denoted that the Dungeon had been conquered .

On the tunnel walls were lists of monsters from the Dungeon and Heroes who likely participated in the conquering of the Dungeon .

“…It feels like I’m in an aquarium . ”

The transparent walls revealed a beautiful ocean view .

We were about 75 meters under sea level, which was too shallow for monsters above intermediate rank to live . As a result, the monsters I occasionally saw were all at the level of being cute .

I didn’t find the view too appealing, so I just continued walking forward .

After a while, I found that Rachel had disappeared .

“…?”

Wondering where she went, I turned around .

Rachel was far behind me, stuck to the transparent wall, observing a school of fish . Her ocean-colored eyes sparkled like emeralds .

I sneaked back to where she was .

Pretending to look at the school of fish, I rummaged through my jacket .

The bracelet clinked in my hand .

How should I give it to her?

Would giving it now be too random? I had little experience giving presents, so I wasn’t sure .

Also, what was I supposed to say?

I picked it up on my way here… was too weird . .

Thank you for everything until now… made it sound it like I going away forever .

It will help your development… made me sound like a scammer selling a product .

“Wow . ”

At that moment, Rachel let out an exclamation of awe like a child . I followed her line of sight .

Beyond the tunnel walls, a school of tiny fish were swimming in a line, forming a giant blob the size of a whale .

“Amazing . ”

“Right? Korea is the only country with an underwater tunnel of this size!”

Rachel explained excitedly .

“Is that so?”

“Yes! I know because I read many research papers on underground tunnels . ”

Research papers and Rachel . It would be hard to name a better duo .

“I had to work hard to understand those research papers since they were in Korean… . Now that I’m looking at the real thing, it’s even more amazing . ”

“I see… . ”

In the world I used to live, research papers were mostly in English .

But in this world, from college graduation thesis papers to academic symposiums, most were written in Korean . It was the result of Korean being a shared language throughout the entire world .

“Yes, because reading translated versions often leads to loss in meaning . ”

“Ah, I see, translated versions… right, I’m grateful that Korean is my first language . ”

I couldn’t help but chuckle as I said that . English was the subject I bombed on the College Scholastic Ability Test . I remembered regretting not going to additional English classes .

“I’m jealous . Ah, apparently, English was the shared language before Outcall . Isn’t that interesting?”

“Oh… then—”

“Wow, look! There’s a shark… ah, a baby shark!”

“…You’re right . ”

This princess seemed to love the ocean, as she stared in awe at the tiny shark swimming by .

Regardless, this felt like the perfect moment .

With the vast ocean spread out around us, watching the scenery from inside the tunnel…

“Huu . ”

I drew a deep breath .

“Um, Rachel-ssi?”

“…Yes?”

Rachel turned her eyes from the baby shark to me .

Smiling awkwardly, I took out the bracelet I prepared from my pocket . Inside its platinum outer shell was the sealed Butterfly Seedling Dust .

“This might be too sudden… but it looked like the perfect opportunity . ”

“… . ”

However, Rachel only stared at me blankly . She didn’t say anything, and she didn’t try to take the bracelet either .

I muttered the excuse I prepared beforehand .

“So, about this . Remember how you helped me a lot before as the team captain? Everyone chipped in to buy this bracelet, so don’t misunderstand . ”

Rachel still didn’t say anything .

A second that felt like ten seconds passed by . I suddenly felt dizzy .

‘Screw it . ’

I held up the bracelet on my right hand, and held up Rachel’s wrist with the other . Then, I forced the bracelet on her .

Click .

I put the bracelet on . Now, once she unleashed her magic power, the Butterfly Seedling Dust would seep into her body on its own .

I breathed a sigh of relief, while Rachel silently looked back and forth between me and the bracelet . She stared at me with a sorrowful look, then dropped her head .

Her lips wriggled like she was about to say something . It was then…

—KOONG .

A sudden vibration shook the tunnel, and all the lights flickered off .

In the blink of an eye, we were surrounded by complete darkness .

I quickly took out the Desert Eagle, and Rachel also pulled out her rapier .

Tak, tak .

Soon, we could hear footsteps ring out . I turned to the direction of the sound . However, not even my Thousand-Mile Eyes could catch a glimpse of the source .

“…What?”

[You’re with a companion . ]

A dark voice rang out . However, I couldn’t quite understand what he was saying . I could tell that he was speaking in English, with a British accent .

But because of this, I could easily determine who it was .

Lancaster .

Rachel’s face stiffened .

“…Sir Lancaster . ”

[Don’t worry . I’m only here to talk . Because I watched something amusing today, I’m not really in the mood to fight . ]

I could only understand the first half of his sentence . That he was only here to talk .

[Here . ]

Here .

As soon as Lancaster muttered this word, a corpse suddenly dropped down from the sky . The corpse was bloodied from head to toe, and its limbs were twisted in the strangest ways .

“Hiik!”

“Whoa! The fuck is this!?”

Startled, I cursed subconsciously . Rachel also seemed shocked . Her widened eyes turned toward me .

“Y-You cursed… . ”

“Ah, kuhum . ”

I coughed awkwardly .

Then, we turned our focus on Lancaster .

[That person is an agent who has been guarding you from the shadows . ]

“… . ”

[Princess, I am always watching you . I want you to know that . ]

After that, Lancaster’s voice disappeared .

I struggled to comprehend this mind-numbing situation .

I expected Lancaster to appear, but I didn’t remember anything like this .

He should have sent a few assassins, making Rachel who awakened her ability defeat them and saying, ‘my goal today was only to scare you—’

But what the hell was he chucking around a corpse?

“…The heck . ”

Just like Lancaster said, there were no other threats, and the lights soon came back on .

The tunnel was lit once again .

However, the corpse that made us jump was nowhere to be seen .

“Where did the corpse go?”

I muttered in a daze . Then, Rachel tapped on my shoulder .

“Hajin-ssi, let’s… go outside . ”

“Ah, yes . ”

We began to walk back with our guards up .

Because of the eerie and chilling atmosphere, I got goosebumps on my arms .

Rachel glanced at me and asked .

“Are you okay?”

“Yes? Ah, of course . I was just surprised . So who was that?”

“Um… I… I will tell you later . ”

We came out to the main tunnel .

Everyone else was already back and was in serious conversation .

“Hajin, come here . ”

Kim Suho found me and called me over .

“…What’s up with them? Um, hold on . ”

I left Rachel behind and ran up to Kim Suho .

“What’s up?”

“Hajin, you see… . ”

Kim Suho told me that Chae Jinyoon showed signs of awakening and that Chae Nayun left running to meet him .

The moment I heard this… I blacked out .

When I woke up, I was running somewhere .

**

I ran to Daehyun’s VIP-only hospital . I would have gone there on my bike, but I left it home today . As a result, I took Busan Portal Station and ran all the way to Daehyun’s VIP hospital in Seoul .

“Haa, haa…”

After running like the wind, I arrived in front of the hospital .

My heart was screaming out in pain, while my lungs were seemingly about to burst .

As I was catching my breath, a familiar voice rang out .

“You heard the news?”

Startled, I turned around .

As I thought, the familiar voice belonged to Yoo Yeonha .

She also seemed to have come in a hurry, but her appearance wasn’t shaken up in the slightest .

“Yeah, you too?”

“Yes . I have the duty to participate in all important matters related to the Chae clan . But why did you run over in such a hurry?”

“… . ”

Without answering her, I glared at the hospital .

With the Book of Truth, I predicted that the Devil’s Seed would sprout in January . Since it was still October, it could be said that there was time .

However, I had forgotten about one thing .

That was the possibility of Chae Jinyoon waking up before the sprouting of the Devil’s Seed .

If this were to happen, things would only get more complicated . It didn’t take a genius to figure out that killing an unconscious patient was significantly easier than killing a conscious patient who was walking around .

Suddenly, a piece of cloth touched my forehead .

Looking up startled, I saw that Yoo Yeonha was right in front of me .

“Why are you sweating so much? Are you that worried?”

With her soft handkerchief, Yoo Yeonha personally wiped off my sweat .

I looked down, wondering why we were at a perfect eye-level . She was wearing kill-heels .

“…Done . Here, you can have this . ”

Yoo Yeonha gave the handkerchief to me .

Looking at the handkerchief drenched in sweat, I was surprised .

“Uh, yeah… thanks . ”

I took the handkerchief and looked back up at the hospital .

A deep sigh came out subconsciously .

“He didn’t wake up yet, but showed signs of doing so . It’s not something to make such a big deal out of . ”

Yoo Yeonha answered what I was wondering .

‘I see… that’s great . ’

I turned back .

“Eh? You’re going back already? Don’t you want to see Nayun?”

Yoo Yeonha sounded surprised . I retorted as I walked forward .

“No, I don’t think I belong here . ”

I moved my legs slowly .

I only ran for a little while, but my body and mind were drowsy .

Was this what mental exhaustion felt like?

“Haa… . ”

The moment I breathed out another deep sigh… my smartwatch rang with another message .

[Little Apprentice, I got the alert that you got yoru item . ]

[Your . So when are you goign to take on your next misson?]

It was from Boss .

I realized once again .

She was… the only rope I could grab onto .

Clenching my teeth, I wrote back immediately .

[I can start tomorrow . ]

**

Watching Kim Hajin’s figure slowly disappear, Yoo Yeonha thought about what he said .

—I don’t think I belong here .

“Pft . It sounds like a line from a drama . I don’t think I belong here~”

As she was murmuring in a deep voice and playing around, she received a message on her smartwatch .

[Yeonha, I’m heading over right now . Is Nayun doing okay?]

The sender was Kim Suho .

[I haven’t even met… .

While she was typing up the reply thoughtlessly, she suddenly came to a realization .

“…Did he leave to make room for Kim Suho?”

Kim Suho and Chae Nayun .

Everyone knew that Chae Nayun had favorable feelings for Kim Suho . It was because Chae Nayun clearly acted different than her usual self in front of Kim Suho .

“Hmm… . ”

Indeed, if Kim Hajin wasn’t dense, he would have realized that Chae Nayun liked Kim Suho .

Yoo Yeonha half-heartedly replied, [not yet—], and went into the hospital .

No, she was about to walk into the hospital .

But before she could, Chae Nayun trudged out from the entrance .

She seemed to have aged by 5 years on the outside, but had a faint smile on her face .

Yoo Yeonha raised her hand .

“Nayun . ”

“Ah, Yeonha~”

Chae Nayun saw Yoo Yeonha and scurried up to her with a bright smile . Currently, she desperately needed someone to talk to .

Chae Nayun and Yoo Yeonha sat down on a nearby bench .

Yoo Yeonha then asked carefully .

“How’s… the situation?”

“He’s still uncon… I don’t know . Um, the doctor said that the graph is spiking up and down . He chased me out, saying that Oppa needed to rest . ”

Yoo Yeonha understood what Chae Nayun was implying .

“That’s a good thing, right?”

“Yeah . There were apparently other cases like this, and those patients all woke up within three months . ”

Chae Nayun then put her hands over her chest .

“I feel like my heart is about to jump out of my body . How embarrassing… I shouldn’t cry…”

Chae Nayun lived the past five years of her life thinking that Chae Jinyoon would never wake up .

Her pent-up sorrow and struggles seemed to have overflown as she clenched her teeth and cupped her hands over her face .

Soon, her true feelings came out in the form of sobbing and tears . Chae Nayun cried, trembling with her whole body . Her tears should be tears of happiness, but for some reason, it was sad and pitiful .

“… . ”

Yoo Yeonha tapped on her back without saying anything .

Frankly, Yoo Yeonha had no way of empathizing with Chae Nayun’s story . Although Yoo Yeonha’s father was a bit obsessive and her mother was overflowing with ambition, it was a happy family nonetheless .

However, Chae Jinyoon had been in a coma for 5 years with no sign of awakening .

The passing time could only have turned rage into sadness, sadness into frustration, frustration into despair, and despair into resignation .

But, just when all hope was lost, the possibility of returning alive had resurfaced .

A family member who was thought to be lost forever was potentially coming back .

Yoo Yeonha couldn’t even imagine what Chae Nayun was feeling .

“Ah, hic… Ah, hic, my chest hurts . ”

Once Chae Nayun’s crying died down a little, Yoo Yeonha spoke .

“Oh right, Nayun, apparently Kim Suho is going to come soon . That person already came by . ”

“…That person?”

“Kim Hajin . ”

“…Kim Hajin came too?”

“Yeah . ”

Yoo Yeonha pictured Kim Hajin who she just met . He looked like he was about to cry and was drenched in sweat from head to toe .

“He was here even before me . He was covered in sweat . ”

“… . ”

Chae Nayun slowly looked around with an odd face . It was almost as though she was trying to find someone hiding .

“But he already left . ”

“…Eh? Why?”

“I don’t know . ”

Yoo Yeonha made a mischievous smile .

“Maybe he yielded the seat to Kim Suho . ”

“…What do you mean?”

“Don’t you like him? Kim Suho, I mean . ”

Immediately, Chae Nayun’s face stiffened . Right when she was about to say something, Yoo Yeonha turned her body slightly .

“Or maybe you liked him?”

“…N-No, it’s neither . W-What are you talking about?”

“Really~? That’s not how I saw it~”

Yoo Yeonha smirked and teased Chae Nayun . However, she seemed to have lost all her energy from crying as she didn’t react much .

It was then .

They felt the presence of people running toward them .

Yoo Yeonha and Chae Nayun simultaneously turned their heads sideways .

There, they saw Kim Suho, Yun Seung-Ah, and even Shin Jonghak .

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