Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Purgatory (3)
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I had no idea how I ended up feeling this way.
If it were the old me, I would've scolded myself with something like, "Why that guy of all people...?"
His ugly looks and frivolous speech.
All things that the old me would've hated.
But now that I'd let everything go, none of it mattered anymore.
-Sob, hic... sniff.
She wept with abandon, surprising even herself.
Sobbing. That was the right word for it. The unfamiliar experience of pouring her emotions out to someone sparked questions in her mind.
Why did her feelings surge like this only in front of that man? Why had the tears she'd held back so well burst forth before him?
When she thought about it, the answer was already clear.
After unleashing that wave of melancholy once, her complaints started spilling out naturally afterward.
Her current situation.
The signs that the brainwashed people were returning one by one. The stress that came with it.
She poured every surging emotion onto him.
And that man didn't shy away from becoming her emotional trash bin.
On the contrary, he did embarrassing things he'd never done before, as if trying to snap her fragile mind back to reality.
No one had done that much for her since her father.
Only then did she realize she was clinging to something.
The meeting with him that lasted through the dawn.
After seeing him off and returning to the dorm, Azalea sat on her bed and stroked her pounding heart.
-Thump, thump, thump, thump.
Her heart refused to calm down.
Her cheeks still burned with heat.
As she brushed her stinging cheeks with her hand and closed her eyes, Azalea smiled faintly.
One emotion she could be certain of had taken root, even in her self-deceiving heart.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Azalea: Thanks for yesterday.
Azalea: (A shy flower petal waving hello emoji)
Azalea: I'll take good care of Shiba, so please train hard!
I checked the messages on my phone and sent her an OK sign emoji with a flag.
Me: OK!
This should be enough.
Azalea had looked so worn out yesterday that I'd hesitated to leave.
'No helping it.'
I'd already stayed with her, ignoring Cheon-do's urging to hurry back. Any more meddling would just be nosy.
Because of that, Cheon-do had bonked me on the head with her fist, adding another lump to my forehead, but whatever.
"So, sis, how do we get to this Purgatory place?"
I glanced at Hwang-do, who was still sitting on the dorm bed, munching on a chocolate bar.
She had the sleeves of her massive dragon robe tied tightly around her waist. Hwang-do stared at me blankly before grinning and pulling me into a sudden hug.
"Little bro~ Purgatory isn't a place you can just waltz into. It's managed by the World Hunter Association, so no legal way in."
"Then how do we go?"
"Little bro, who are we?"
Suddenly? Even as I thought that, I played along with her joke lightly.
"Peach Friends."
"Then who's sis?"
"Cute big sis?"
"Hehe, little bro's funny. The cute one's you, little bro~"
Hwang-do laughed happily, stood up, and snapped her middle finger against her thumb. A massive staff made of chestnut wood materialized in her hand.
Vast mana gathered at the tip of Hwang-do's staff, accompanied by the sound of four seasons drumming.
"The one little bro calls big sis~"
Hwang-do wrapped her arm around my shoulder with her free hand and proudly shrugged.
-Hummm!
"Is a great mage!"
Teleport.
A circular pattern of runes spread across the entire dorm room.
I'd known it before, but her casting was top-notch. The glowing red light made me squint.
-Flash!
My vision flickered once, and the space shifted.
"We're here."
At Hwang-do's cheerful words, I opened my eyes.
Her exceptional magic control eliminated the usual teleportation dizziness.
We'd arrived in a place like a medieval temple with tall pillars rising high.
Flawless magic-engineered marble lined the floor, and ahead floated a translucent magic circle on the verge of bursting.
The sharp smell of limestone stung my nose.
"Where's this?"
"The entrance to Purgatory."
The voice had changed tone. I turned to see Cheon-do approaching leisurely, her hair neatly braided.
"A dungeon for those seeking trials, a place of opportunities—call it what you will, but I have no fond memories of it."
Following behind Cheon-do, we walked across the hard marble, catching a musty stench.
"Less a dungeon, more like a medieval mosque... some cultural heritage site."
"As you say, some call it a cathedral that housed a king. Only its creator knows the truth."
Cheon-do pulled my shoes from her bag and handed them over. I slipped them on and donned the thick protective suit.
'Now that it's time, I'm getting nervous.'
I buckled the multi-layered belts tight.
All top-tier gear prepared by Cheon-do.
The suit alone could block a blow that would send you to death's door.
The magic circle wasn't far, so we reached it quickly.
Without a word to prepare, Cheon-do reached out to the circle.
"Nervous?"
"Yeah... when Master puts it like that, who wouldn't be?"
The magic circle activated. Dust from sand piled up around it swirled upward, unused for a while.
The gathering sandstorm blocked our view.
Yet where Cheon-do and I stood remained eerily calm, like the eye of a typhoon.
...Suspicious power.
I glanced at Cheon-do as she poured mana relentlessly.
A bead of sweat trailed down her cheek, her face etched with focus.
Cracks formed, space twisting. Mana churned within.
Entering the dungeon? As I marveled at the unique method, Cheon-do finally pulled her hand back and looked at me with a dizzy gaze.
"One more time: it'll be tough."
Another warning directed at me.
I couldn't comprehend the humiliations awaiting one who'd never faced this dungeon.
My body floated up once.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Trial.
At some point, people came to believe overcoming trials was a natural hardship.
Grand heroic epics.
The thrilling tales of legends breathing within them.
Those intoxicated by them never lacked challengers.
They chased foolish, empty dreams under the guise of heroism.
Even if reality differed, the dim-witted fools charged in like movie protagonists.
The reason for such folly was clear: no one remembered the failures.
Humanity didn't call only winnable things trials.
Purgatory crushed many. It mercilessly snuffed out the breaths of dreamless souls.
To prevent reckless challenges, the world branded Purgatory a dungeon.
Turning the dead into tearjerking tales.
The goal: stop hunters from dreaming.
Cheon-do dismissed charging into trials as utterly ridiculous.
Hearing that, I thought.
.
If challenging Purgatory's trial was foolish, then she—who'd thrown her own disciple into it—was perhaps the biggest fool.
-Drip.
The sound of water dropping echoed.
A pure white room. A vast space blindingly bright, devoid of human civilization.
"Awake?"
Rubbing my throbbing forehead as I sat up, Cheon-do's voice came from nearby.
Her usual gentle, kind tone.
"...Where's the trial?"
Cheon-do sat about an arm's length away, pulling various items from her artifact pouch: furniture, food, water, cigarettes... thoroughly prepared.
With her chin, Cheon-do gestured to the center of the white room.
"Take the gate there to begin the trial. Fail, and you can't leave this place. Easy enough."
So this was a rest area?
Not knowing the dungeon's interior yet, I couldn't fully grasp it.
As I tightened the suit's seams and reached for the central gate, Cheon-do called from afar.
"No rush. Have some tea first."
"...Yes."
I returned and sat beside her. I'd never lost by following her advice.
-Slurp.
Sipping the tea she offered, something caught my eye.
On the nape of neatly seated Cheon-do, something was growing.
A strange twig bearing mana clung to her neck, sprouting.
"See it?"
As I stared, she smiled and asked. I nodded reluctantly.
"They call it mistletoe. Never thought the Wood People's parasitic mistletoe was real."
Mistletoe. A parasitic plant sucking nutrients from trees.
But why was it suddenly on Cheon-do?
I felt my cheek twitch.
"That puzzled look. No point hiding it, so I'll explain."
Cheon-do set down her tea.
"Those undergoing trials deserve fitting constraints."
She recited the reality calmly, yet coldly.
"Do you know why I'm here?"
"...No."
"I've staked my life as your trial's constraint. Fail, and I die—not you."
My eyes twisted.
Cheon-do's smile held no emotion.
"So face the trial without worry."
I doubted my ears.
She dies if I fail?
-Clatter.
The dropped teacup rolled endlessly across the floor. Spilled tea spread slowly. Cheon-do didn't bother grabbing it.
"That shocked face... You still think I'm decent company."
She muttered as if pleased by my reaction.
"Wait, hold on. Master's life is on the line for my trial?"
"So what? A master risking for her disciple isn't odd."
"It's plenty odd. Why?"
At my dizzy question, Cheon-do looked puzzled.
"It's obvious."
"No... ugh."
I couldn't help a deep sigh.
No matter disciple or not, staking her neck on someone she'd known mere months? Utterly incomprehensible mindset.
Did she not know her own worth? What had I done to deserve this?
Absurd, yet worry flooded me.
"Purgatory provides trials matching constraints—and rewards. Don't worry; win, and nothing happens. Or do you doubt yourself?"
Insane.
Not about confidence. Trying to ease my tension? Cheon-do kept teasing relentlessly before me.
My eyes kept drifting to the mistletoe blooming on her neck.
Indeed, her aura had weakened, if only slightly.
"A week might even be tight."
Cheon-do murmured, gazing at the leaves in her cup. Probably her limit.
"Master's clearly insane."
"Music to my ears. Means I'm living well."
-Splash. Water sloshed underfoot as I stood. Kicking the puddle irritably, I placed my hand on the central gate.
Potions filled the belt at my waist.
"This is maddening."
I had to escape Purgatory ASAP. I activated the gate.
Cheon-do, sitting behind me, just sipped her tea and offered a few words of cheer.
"Thrash about to your heart's content—"
The gate distorted her trailing words.
But piecing the faint bits together, I understood.
Thrash about to your heart's content.
That will become your strength.
Those words etched in my mind left even hollow laughter impossible.
I dry-washed my face and stepped forward.
The world unfolded.