Chapter 152
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 152: How to Get a License (7)
I ended up grabbing the envelope and cautiously opened the door, but there was no one outside. Was it a ghost? Or did they just use a skill to run away? Feeling uneasy, I closed the door again and tore open the letter. Inside the envelope was a folded piece of paper. I unfolded it, feeling reluctant.
[Lord Cheonho] [Tower] [End] [2nd Turn] [Devil] [Savior]
What is this? I tilted my head at the string of incomprehensible words. It would have been nice to know who wrote it, but the creator had painstakingly cut and pasted letters from newspapers or magazines. Seriously, what is this. Seeing the contents, I felt even more uneasy and tore it to shreds. Let's not worry about it.
I couldn't help but worry. Because that letter came every single night! And even when I tried to catch the culprit, they vanished like a ghost. I thought about asking my comrades for help, but it was just a letter every night. It wasn't enough to bother them with. I did think about casually asking Nika or the Fox what the Tower God Cult was planning when I asked about their goals. But for some reason, the Fox hasn't been seen recently. He wouldn't even answer his phone, as if he was avoiding me. ...Just you wait 'til I see you. I'll give you a piece of my mind. I grumbled and looked down at my call history. I contacted Nika, too, but her answer...
My only line to the Tower God Cult was Mihail.That guy, he's been acting pretty suspicious lately. I'll grill him and let you know.Yes. Please.
...was not very helpful. I had no choice but to ask the group about the letter.
“Does anyone know what this letter is?”
“Junior, throw that away.”
Choi Sujeong, her face serious, tore it up with wind and threw it in the trash. Lee Hana, who had been nodding in agreement, kindly added an explanation.
“It's a proselytizing poster for the Tower God Cult.”
“A proselytizing poster?”
“They say if you receive one, you suddenly become a fervent cultist a few days later.”
“I hate that~ You're not going to become one too, are you, Junior?”
“Of course not.”
Na Yuhan, who was listening to our conversation, cut in with a hard expression.
“...The Tower God Cult is trying to proselytize you?”
“Yeah, seems like it.”
“After all that 'Savior' talk…”
“That proselytizing poster, can I see it?”
“I tore it up and threw it away~”
“...Sunbae…”
“Don't worry. It was nothing.”
“Still, if you get another one, tell me. It could be a conditional curse.”
“Okay.”
It seemed Na Yuhan was wary of the Tower God Cult. Well, he had reason to be. The cultists, whose numbers had suddenly increased at the Academy, had been acting extremely hostile toward Na Yuhan. No, it would have been fine if they were only hostile to Na Yuhan. They were starting to...
'Like the Devil's collaborators…''They are the ones who will bring ruin.'
...muttering incomprehensible things and sending hostile looks to my party members. Why? The strange thing was, I was exempt from their animosity. Instead, they saw me as their comrade and wanted to pull me to their side.
'Ooh, Savior-nim! Will you join us for the Bishop's speech?' "No... but who-" 'A shame! We pray one day you will join our Tower God Cult!''Ah, a cultist…'
If a stranger spoke to me, it was 100% a Tower God Cult member. This bizarre situation was giving me a headache. But it's not like there was a solution. I'll just keep training.
One day, while living normally, Sion burst into the training room. He'd been on the war front and seemed to be back at school for a bit.
“I have something for everyone! Today's good luck item! They say if you share luck today, it grows!”
“Is that why you came here?”
“No one else would take my good luck items... but I'm heading back to the battlefield soon, so I need the luck. I came here, where people would take them.”
Come to think of it, Min Jaeyun had received and worn those good luck sunglasses from Sion. I laughed, "Haha," and said.
“What is it? I'll take it. You'll need a lot of luck if you're going to the field!”
“Thank you! Then, everyone, your hands!”
The group, figuring they could at least accept a good luck item, approached Sion with a positive attitude.
“Hand it over~”
“Yeah. If it helps.”
Sion, who looked touched by Choi Sujeong and Lee Hana's words, quickly handed out letters from his pocket, as if afraid we'd take it back. Hmm, a letter? I've been getting those unsettling letters every day, so I felt strange taking it. ...It's probably nothing.
“Open it later! Specifically, tonight, for sure!”
Sion, as if his work was done, smiled broadly and left. Shin Baran, who was staring at the letter with as much suspicion as I was, muttered.
“...Shouldn't we just throw this out now?”
"B-but, shouldn't we at least open it?"
“...He said open it tonight, so let's open it then.”
Shin Baran reluctantly nodded at Min Jaeyun and Na Yuri's words.
“This will be fun! It's my first time getting a letter!”
“Really? I hope it's good news.”
I half-listened to Kang Yu and Park Siwoo's conversation and watched Na Yuhan examine the letter. Na Yuhan seemed to be looking it over.
"Hmm..."
"What's wrong, Yuhan?"
"Nothing. It looks fine."
He soon put his letter away without another word. Well, if Na Yuhan didn't find anything, it must be fine. That's what I thought. Until he sent an urgent message to our group chat late at night.
Did everyone open the letter?Don't. It's a conditional curse.
I flinched when I saw that. Because I had already opened it a long time ago. Inside the letter was the same Tower God Cult proselytizing poster I'd been receiving.
'Ah, and the contents are good, too! You should definitely look!'
Sion was in the Tower God Cult?!
Damn it, the ordinary envelope on the outside hid the item's effect.It's an item that gives you nightmares. It seems to be a curse that makes you relive a painful past in your dreams. If you haven't opened it, burn it or tear it up.It doesn't harm the body, but it's such a strong conditional curse that the curse defense items we got before can't block it.The Foxtail Trinket won't work either, so don't even think about opening it, Hana-sunbae. This is probably the same thing that cursed the teachers during the 1st semester midterms.
But it seemed everyone had already opened the envelope long ago.
What?!I. I already opened it!I think it's too late. Maybe I'll sleep hugging my Holy Sword...I should have just torn up the whole envelope~Too late!Sorry, already touched it.
I wanted to scream at the cries of despair filling the group chat. Then were the ones I received also curses? Who on earth would do this?Wait, come to think of it, nothing happened to me.Does that mean the curse didn't work on me?If so, why did the poster's curse never work on me? Questions billowed up.
My questions turned to worry the next morning, when Kang Yu showed up at school looking completely haggard.
“Noona…”
The moment he saw me, Kang Yu burst into tears and clung to me. He must have relived the bad things from his past in his dreams. It had been a long time since I'd seen Kang Yu cry, so I held him tight and patted him.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
I forced a smile, smoothing the frown that wanted to form from pity.
“You must have suffered from the nightmare. It was just a dream.”
“A dream… really?”
“Yeah. Look at Noona. You just had a dream about the time before you met me, right? You're with me now. It's okay.”
As I soothed him and patted his back, Kang Yu gradually calmed down. Once he was stable, Kang Yu spoke, as if whining.
“I kept getting sold to other places. Noona wasn't there. My friends weren't there. I was fourteen, but I was still sick.”
“Uh-huh, uh-huh.”
“It was so painful. I thought about wanting to die…”
“Yeah. It's okay.”
“But, one day, I heard a sound like the sky was collapsing. Then it was so painful. I became a monster. It hurt. I wanted to die, but I couldn't….”
I was listening intently, but I paused. What Kang Yu was saying was somehow... different from the past we had experienced. For example, Kang Yu turned into a monster? That's never happened.So there's no way he would turn into a monster in a dream.And there's no way I wouldn't be with him. I was always with him.As far as I know, that past doesn't exist.Yesterday, Na Yuhan definitely said in the chat:
'It's an item that gives you nightmares. It seems to be a curse that makes you relive a painful past in your dreams. If you haven't opened it, burn it or tear it up.'
But what Kang Yu is saying now, it's as if he lived a different life…Yes, as if…As if he experienced a past life?
“You became a monster?”
“Yeah.”
After those words, Kang Yu clung to me like a koala. I kept patting him, lost in thought. Kang Yu, speaking as if he lived in a world without me.Kang Yu, saying he became a monster at the end.And the world Tornito mentioned... no, showed me... where those with the blood of other races became monsters.The world he turned back.
“……”
In that moment, a chilling thought crossed my mind. It was close to a certainty. Could it be? The Tower God Cult's proselytizing poster... does it show you the life from the 'previous turn' as a dream?