Chapter 357.

[Yi Yeonjun’s barrier]

Inside the barrier, Yi Yeonjun told me everything . His cold voice seeped into my conscience .

He knew everything . He knew that this world was a novel and that I was its author .

“…Do you really believe all that?”

I tried to feign innocence, but it was no use . Yi Yeonjun stared at me coldly with vacant eyes . I could feel his murderous glare poke against my flesh .

Yi Yeonjun explained, “Baal is transcendent . He can easily distinguish truth from falsehood . Still, he failed to deny your existence, because he found out the truth about himself . The origin of his existence, which he had been studying all his life, was nothing but a character in a novel . ”

I couldn’t feel any emotion in Yi Yeonjun’s voice . I chose to remain silent .

“…I want to ask you . ” Yi Yeonjun declared, his eyes darkened with rage .

In the stifling silence, I waited for his words to continue .

“Are you the god of this world? Are you playing with us for amusement?”

What a futile question it was . Yi Yeonjun seemed to have already lost his desire for life . He seemed to have given up everything .

I understood him . Just like Yi Yeonjun, I once considered this world was nothing more than a novel .

But now I had a different idea .

“No . ”

This world was not a novel . It might have started out as one, but just the fact that I was living in it proved that this world, through an inexplicable and unimaginable method, had become something more than just words on paper .

“I’m not a god, and this world isn’t a novel . ”

Yi Yeonjun raised one eyebrow . He stared at me with narrowed eyes . His gaze felt hostile and invasive, as if he was trying to tear me to pieces with his eyes .

“You are… deceiving me to the end . ”

Yi Yeonjun’s dry voice filled with anger . With a motion of his hand, the barrier surrounding us began to change its form . The space contorted and pounced at me .

KOOONG—!

Aether reacted faster than me . It encircled me and resisted Yi Yeonjun’s barrier .

Under Aether’s protection, I took out the Desert Eagle . But I couldn’t fire the gun . Yi Yeonjun choked me with some sort of psychokinesis from a distance, and the Desert Eagle stopped working because of his ability . The trigger got stuck and no matter how much I pulled it, the gun did not fire .

“I already know your toy’s weakness . ”

And he certainly did . The weakness of a gun was quite simple when you thought about it . A gun was nothing but a piece of metal unless you could pull its trigger .

—Kim Suho . Can you hear me?

I had no choice but to send a Mental Transmission to Kim Suho . In the meantime, my fight with Yi Yeonjun continued . Yi Yeonjun’s powerful psychokinesis aimed at my neck and waist and all I could do was run away from it .

—Hey, come save me .

I sent a second Mental Transmission . At the same time, I gave orders to Spartan, who traveled through time and space to pick up Kim Suho .

“…Uuk!”

Yi Yeonjun caught my finger . He crushed my index finger, but fortunately, the bodyguard I asked for arrived in time .

Kieeeek—!

Spartan shrieked .

Yi Yeonjun paused to look up at the ceiling of the barrier and saw a huge swath of sword qi pour down at him . He widened his eyes .

BOOOOM—!

A plume of smoke rose from where the sword strike exploded .

“Phew . I almost died back there . ”

I let out a sigh of relief and turned my gaze to the side . There, I saw Kim Suho, whom Spartan had brought…?

“…What the . ”

I frowned . The silhouette behind the smokescreen was not Kim Suho’s .

It was definitely too small to be Kim Suho . The hairstyle and the size of the sword also seemed different .

“Hmm… . ”

Though not Kim Suho’s, a familiar voice rang through the white smoke . My eyes widened immediately and my heart began to race .

The violent tremors spread to the rest of my body .

“Long time no see . ”

The smoke soon dissipated, revealing a clear view of the scene .

And the person standing before my eyes was… .

“Kim Hajin . ”

It was Chae Nayun .

**

Meanwhile, Kim Suho, who was the direct receiver of Kim Hajin’s SOS signal, was running towards Baal .

“…Oi . You sure about Chae Nayun?” Jin Sahyuk asked . Mistrust was writ large on her face . But Kim Suho nodded without hesitation .

When Kim Suho told everyone about Kim Hajin’s Mental Transmission, Chae Nayun insisted that she should be the one to go . Kim Suho complied because he trusted her .

“They’ll be fine, so long as they don’t fight with each other . ”

Saying so, Kim Suho thought of Chae Nayun and Kim Hajin . By now Chae Nayun would have arrived where Kim Hajin was and was helping him . ‘What will they argue about? What kind of conversation will they have?’ It was awkward just to imagine their reunion, but Kim Suho sincerely hoped they would reconcile .

“Idiot . …Hmm? Oi, stop . ”

Jin Sahyuk muttered brusquely, before urging the group to pause .

Kim Suho also noticed that something was off .

The problem was the perspective, and Baal was the evidence . They weren’t getting any closer to the devil . In fact, as they ran, Baal seemed to be moving away from them .

“Something’s not right . ”

“What?” Shin Jonghak hissed . He was pretty pissed at Kim Suho for sending Chae Nayun to Kim Hajin— but he knew this wasn’t the right time for quarrels .

Ignoring Shin Jonghak, Kim Suho began analyzing the components of the barrier in earnest .

It was then that they ran into a herd of people .

This particular group of people consisted of about 100 individuals . They came out of nowhere, and Kim Suho and Rachel flinched in surprise .

“What the… who are you?”

Kim Suho straightened his shoulders . Suddenly Harin, the devil hunter, popped out of the crowd . She stood before Kim Suho with a bright smile .

“Suho-ssi!”

“Huh? Harin-ssi?”

It was then that Kim Suho realized that he recognized these people . They were from either the Republic of Leores or the Kingdom of Arunheim . Kim Suho greeted them one by one, happy to see them again .

“Kim Suho? Are you Kim Suho?”

All of a sudden, a magician with long ginger hair called Kim Suho’s name . He turned his gaze to her and nodded .

“Yes, that’s me . ”

“Hmm . I see . I’ve heard a lot about you from Kim Hajin . My name is Shimurin, the grand magician in charge of dimensions . ”

“Ah, is that so?”

When he heard the unfamiliar guest speak of a familiar name, Kim Suho widened his eyes . He knew he could trust Kim Hajin’s friend— that was a firm belief of his .

Again, he chose to ignore Shin Jonghak’s grumble . (“Why is everyone so head over heels for Kim Hajin? What’s so great about him?”)

“Well then, we should hurry . We don’t have much time,” said Kim Suho, pointing at Baal in the distance .

“We don’t have time?” Shimurin frowned and tilted her head questioningly .

“That’s right, we’re in a rush . ”

“…What are you talking about?”

With a smirk, Shimurin pointed at Baal . Baal in his transcendent form, who looked just like a dragon, still seemed as hazy as a silhouette . But he was slowly becoming clearer .

“He descended too hastily . He has yet to regain consciousness and does not know how to maintain his form . That’s the reason he created ‘the barrier of labyrinth’ . ”

“…Pardon?”

Kim Suho blinked in confusion, and Shimurin raised her eyebrows .

“It means we have enough time to strategize . I see you’re as dense as Kim Hajin . ”

“Um… no . Hajin is way smarter than me . ”

“That’s unfortunate . ”

While Kim Suho and Shimurin were talking, Jin Sahyuk was approaching a man surrounded by knights .

Tap— Tap—

The sound of footsteps rang out . Jin Sahyuk stood before the man .

Assuming there was nothing wrong with her eyes, it was really a familiar face . It was the face of the man who spent the last 20 years with her .

“Halt!”

The knights who were escorting the man blocked her . She glanced at them and turned her gaze to the man again .

The man gave a small smile .

Jin Sahyuk hated it .

“Enough with that ugly smirk, Bell . ”

Enraged by Jin Sahyuk’s comment, Knight Commander Airun stepped forward . She even grabbed her sword, but Bell stopped her .

“It’s okay, Airun . We have a lot to talk about . You may leave . ”

“I can’t, Your Highness . This woman has disrespected you-”

“It’s fine . ”

Bell spoke softly, but also firmly . Airun glared at Jin Sahyuk with eyes full of hostility and left the scene without withdrawing the gaze .

Jin Sahyuk pressed Bell, not paying any attention to Airun .

“You’d better explain what the hell is going on . ”

Jin Sahyuk couldn’t decide whether to be angry or confounded . What was certain was the fact that Bell being alive came as a shock to her .

She put her hand on Bell’s shoulder .

“If you don’t, I won’t hesitate to kill you again . ”

Airun could hear Jin Sahyuk’s dreadfully low voice speaking words of threat .

“You ruffian, how dare you—?”

Airun hurriedly raised her sword, and the other knights did the same . Clang— They unsheathed their swords, and a sharp metallic sound echoed through the barrier .

The atmosphere suddenly became serious .

Tension filled the air .

Kim Suho and Shimurin turned to them with surprised looks .

“Sure . ”

Still, Bell looked as composed as ever . He smiled at Jin Sahyuk .

“I do want you to know about how I was able to survive . ”

It was a smile of pure joy . Bell was truly rejoicing the fact that he had escaped from eternity, that he could carry on with his life and see it to the end .

“I believe we can reach a happy ending . ”

Bell declared, and Jin Sahyuk looked at Bell with distrustful eyes .

**

[Baal’s barrier — The Chameleon Troupe’s camp]

“…Mm . ”

Around the same time… .

Yoo Yeonha finally woke up . Even in a semiconscious state, her ears worked just fine . Koong, koong, koong . She heard thumping sounds .

“Huh…?”

Yoo Yeonha opened her eyes . The first thing she saw was the ceiling made of magic power . Azure magic power was swaying like the surface of the ocean before her eyes .

Yoo Yeonha lowered her gaze . There, Jain was watching her .

She flinched, and then rose from the bed with a round of fake coughs .

“Cough cough… . Where… am I?”

“You’re at our camp~”

“Camp?”

“Yup . Arashi made it~”

Only then did Yoo Yeonha finally take the time to look around .

She was surrounded by magic power and could feel it in the atmosphere, too .

The structure of the magic resembled that of a magical fortress .

“…It’s a fortress . ”

“It sure is~”

Indeed, this space was a fortress made by the Magic Artificer ‘Hirano Arashi’ . When Boss revealed her wish to wait at the same place until Kim Hajin came back, Arashi built this fortress for her .

“What are you… doing here?” asked Yoo Yeonha, rubbing her temples to fend away her headache .

“We’re waiting for Hajin to return~” replied Jain .

“Hajin… Kim Hajin?”

“Yeah . Because I have to show him this~”

Jain pulled up a smartwatch with a playful smirk . Yoo Yeonha immediately recognized the watch . It was hers .

She frowned .

“But that’s mine . ”

“That’s right~”

“…?”

‘Why is she trying to show my smartwatch to Kim Hajin?’ Yoo Yeonha wondered with a brain still drenched in drowsiness .

Luckily for her, Jain was kind enough to explain why .

“Look, it’s the text you sent to Hajin~”

[Dear Kim Hajin . Hello, this is Yoo Yeonha… . ]

When she read that first sentence, Yoo Yeonha’s face turned bright red . It was almost as red as a tomato so ripe that it could burst at any moment .

“NO—!” Yoo Yeonha screamed as she jumped at Jain .

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