Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Stage 10 (2)
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The moment I zoomed in on the video for a closer look, I realized one side wasn't human.
Two sickly yellow eyes gleamed with a chilling light. The whites were charred black. Dark waves rippled around its body, and red blood dripped from the spear tip embedded in its back.
Its skin seemed to be burning black. In its charred black hand at the end of its arm, it gripped a long spear with sharp blades protruding along its length.
Ye-hyeon, standing opposite, held nothing in his hands.
He had pulled the black hood of his combat suit low over his face. His shadowed features looked pale and exhausted.
But didn't they say he used a sword?
Narrowing my eyes at the screen, I spotted the large sword strapped to his waist.
But he didn't draw it.
Instead, an earring glinted from inside his hood.
"No way."
The earring shifted form, just like Ricardo's snake ring.
The silver earring melted, dripping onto the ruins below. The fallen silver liquid turned into sharp thorns that spread across the surroundings. Some flowed up Ye-hyeon's arm, forming a silver gun.
I watched him grip the gun and muttered in awe.
"Didn't he use a sword?"
"Actually, Ye-hyeon Oppa uses shape-shifting weapons like Rick."
Ami looked up at me with wide eyes and explained.
"Among the Black Badgers, Ye-hyeon Oppa is the best with shape-shifting weapons. He only carried a sword back then."
I widened my eyes.
The battle began in the blink of an eye.
The silver thorns raced across the blood-soaked ruins toward the creature. The creature swung its thorned spear wide.
Kwarung!
Shockwaves erupted along the spear's path.
The ground was gouged, debris flying backward. Anything in the spear's trajectory was obliterated.
At the same time, the silver thorn weapon morphed into a sturdy wall. But even the silver wall shattered under the shockwave.
Bang, bang!
Bullets flew through the crumbling silver wall. I couldn't even track them with my eyes, but the two-eyed creature swung its spear, deflecting them.
Another heavy shock sliced through the air.
It struck Ye-hyeon as he charged forward. Blood sprayed in a line. I gasped involuntarily, but Ye-hyeon didn't stop, closing the distance.
A small gap created by the spear swing.
The man slipped into that space and halted.
Ye-hyeon drew his sword in perfect form.
[Got it!]
I jumped at Tvein's sudden shout.
[Go for it!]
The massive blade reflected the sunlight, gleaming.
In that instant, I saw the creature's body freeze. It had spotted the human exploiting its opening, lowered its gaze to thrust the spear down, then abruptly halted its arm. In a position where swinging the spear could impale Ye-hyeon's head.
A split-second hesitation.
Ye-hyeon's blade pierced that hesitation.
Stab.
The sword plunged into the creature's chest.
The creature's spear belatedly pierced Ye-hyeon's back. Red blood gushed from his body.
Meanwhile, the creature's body turned black and crumbled with a crunch. The wind carved away at the disintegrating form.
The sword embedded in its body clattered to the ground.
Ye-hyeon, leaning on the sword, collapsed to the ground as well.
Thud, his body hitting the floor.
The video ended there.
I stared blankly at my phone screen.
Standing motionless in the quiet hallway, I forgot how to move. The images clung to the back of my eyelids, refusing to fade. The flawless draw. That brief moment of hesitation before the stab.
If the creature hadn't hesitated, the outcome might have been different.
"Whoa."
Ami, who had pulled the phone toward her, gaped.
"Hilde, are you crying?"
"Ah...."
I touched my wet face.
Even through my blurry vision, I saw Ami's eyes widen. I slowly wiped away the streaming tears.
Ami rushed over in a panic.
"Why are you crying! Hilde! What's wrong!"
Yeah, why?
I kept wiping, but the tears wouldn't stop. I couldn't identify the surging emotion.
It was definitely sadness, but which part? Why was it so unbearably sad?
I tried to think of the reason, but failed again.
Giving up resistance to the emotion, I stood there for a long time, forgetting to wipe the tears as sorrow overwhelmed me.
***
I lifted my heavy eyelids.
My swollen eyes stung as Room 304 came into view. The room was unchanged from this morning. Ami sat in the chair by my bed.
Blinking, I slowly sat up.
Ami, looking at her phone, snapped her head up.
"Hilde!"
Ami's eyes widened as she looked at me.
"You okay?"
"Yeah."
I scratched my neck awkwardly under her wide stare.
"Sorry. I just lost it suddenly...."
"No."
Ami answered firmly, then tilted her head to peer at me.
Her dark eyes, filled with concern, scanned my face intently.
"Feeling better now?"
"Yeah."
"Your eyes are all puffy."
She said it with eyes brimming with all the world's worries.
"Remember crying yourself to sleep?"
"No. Honestly, I don't remember much after a certain point."
"Do you know why you cried?"
I closed my heavy eyes, then opened them.
The video's scenes revived vividly. With them, the stabbing sadness returned. But I still couldn't grasp why it had surged.
I shook my head, trying not to cry again.
Ami furrowed her brows, studying my face closely.
Silence settled. Afternoon sunlight poured into the room. Not much time had passed, apparently. It was still bright outside.
Ami, standing quietly by the bed, patted my shoulder.
I accepted the warm pat meekly.
Until a knock and the door opening.
"What are you doing?"
A low, raspy voice broke the silence.
"Choi Ami?"
Yoon strode into the room. Ami whipped her head around to look up at her own brother. Yoon stopped beside her, raising one eyebrow to meet his little sister's gaze.
Yoon shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Why are you in her room?"
"Hilde kept crying, so I dragged her here and put her to sleep."
Ami said clearly.
"She watched the video and bawled like crazy."
"What video?"
Instead of answering, Ami held out her phone.
The master glanced down, blinking slowly once. His expression showed confusion. No wonder—it was a video with no reason to cry.
The man stared at the screen, then slowly lifted his head.
"Why cry over this?"
"That's what I'm wondering too."
"The one who cried doesn't know why?"
"Yeah, exactly."
"She cried buckets without a sound. There must be a reason, but she can't remember. Don't be like that to her when her memory's gone, Oppa."
"No matter how much her memory's gone, it doesn't make sense."
Yoon made a reasonable point.
Was that faint irritation in his critical tone just my imagination?
No. Seeing him scan the room and snatch a sharp pen made it clear it wasn't.
"Why bawl over Ye-hyeon's video?"
"Oppa!"
The master was the type who could wield even a simple pen like a weapon.
My sadness vanished instantly, replaced by crisis awareness. Luckily, Ami smacked the arm pointing the pen at me.
"Don't!"
"Ah."
"I'm telling Ye-hyeon Oppa!"
She snatched the pen from his hand.
Then she started smacking his hand with it.
"I'm telling Ye-hyeon Oppa that you're bullying your mentee for no reason!"
Smack smack smack smack smack! The pen sped up.
Yoon sighed.
With a resigned sigh, he pressed down on Ami's head, ending the situation. I let out a relieved breath after watching tensely. Only then did Ami leave, after saying to me, 'Sorry. Yoon Oppa gets extra sensitive about Ye-hyeon Oppa stuff. Bear with him.'
The room fell quiet again.
Yoon nodded for me to get up from the bed.
I jumped up without delay.
"We're going to the medical wing."
The follow-up order.
I nodded obediently.
***
The hospital connected to the research wing.
Yoon said he had to stop by the research wing first and led me there ahead of time. Plenty until my scheduled appointment anyway.
The research wing was crowded today too.
People in lab coats. People in shabby hoods. A few neatly shirted staff. Yoon walked through them unfazed.
I watched them part for him like the Red Sea, nearly bumping into the suddenly halted master.
Yoon glanced back at me.
"My desk."
He stood before an automatic door with a fingerprint scanner, speaking coolly.
"Stay inside. Come here if you need me from now on."
"Whoa."
I let out a genuine surprised sound, not expecting him to share his desk location.
Yoon ignored my reaction easily, as always.
"I need to grab something, so wait out front."
"Ah, yes."
"Don't touch anything."
Yoon pressed his finger to the scanner.
"And don't sit in the chair if you can help it."
Even if you told me to, I wouldn't want to.
Ding! Fingerprint recognized. Whirr. Door opening.
My view opened up instantly.
"Don't interrupt! Don't interrupt!"
"Don't yank that cord! My computer's crashing!"
"What's that cord got to do with my computer?"
"That's the hub!"
"Where can I find that report from last time? It was excellent."
Sounds poured out.
With the door open, a flood of sensations hit. I gaped at the scene before me. I'd assumed the master's desk area would be obsessively tidy and quiet, but reality differed wildly.
Vast space. Desks adorned with bizarre plants. Liquids in strange colors, machines of unknown shapes. Researchers in varied attire at chaotic desks.
Chaos.
Yoon walked into the grand chaos with a calm face.
"Wait out front here."
He walked through the lab, stopping at the tidiest-looking desk (not empty, but still) and said,
"Don't touch anything."
"Ah, yes."
I nodded, looking down at the sleek silver-gray desk.
"This is your spot. I'll wait nicely. Go ahead."
Yoon left without a word.
He vanished into the back of the chaotic lab. I watched him go, then turned.
He works here? In this madhouse?
It didn't suit him.
He seemed the type for a private office. One not lined in smooth marble would probably make him frown.
In dazed wonder, I scanned around.
Large monitor. Binders. Keyboard. Ashtray. Desk larger than others'. To the right of his desk was another's, equally big.
That one was half-buried in an insane pile of documents, contrasting his pristine one.
A gray-haired man like an old tree trunk stood reading them.
Incredibly skinny. Skinny, hugely tall, pale from lack of sun....
Thud.
Suddenly, the man toppled backward.
I watched the gray-haired man fall flat like a felled log in awe.
"What."
What the.
"Wh-what is this all of a sudden."