Chapter 156
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 156: How to Greet Halloween (4)
Park Yulhan tried to wiggle free, but I didn't let him go.
As I began to tie him up tightly with the rope again, he seemed to give up struggling before long.
“Well, this is fine… I sent a rescue signal, anyway….”
He sent it already?
I was about to make a retort at Park Yulhan, but I closed my mouth when I saw the group nearby.
Park Yul-ah, who had picked up the Key that had bounced away and was coming over, openly sighed at Park Yulhan.
“Why does he live like this…?”
“...Who is all this for, anyway!”
I just laughed, "Haha," at Park Yulhan, who spat out the words as if choking up.
From Park Yulhan's perspective, it might be unfair, but, well…
“Shut up. Where's the other Key? Hand it over. You said you stole it?”
“Aigo, really… this is my life….”
Not that I really care.
Soon, Park Yulhan, tied up tightly like a dried fish again, lay on the floor and flopped around.
“Aren't you people too merciless?”
“No mercy for criminals, right?”
“We can just hand him over to the police once we get out.”
Shin Baran retorted sharply. Na Yuri also nodded and spoke coldly.
“That's a problem. Sorry, but could you yield him to us?”
Just then, a gentle voice cut in between us.
At the same time, a sharp spear made of water shot toward Na Yuri.
“You don't—!”
Hwareureuk—!
Na Yuri's red flames instantly bloomed brilliantly and chased the water spear. I vividly saw the blue light burst as it was sniped by the red light.
Due to the aftermath, the interior where we were was instantly filled with steam.
While I flinched, my vision obscured by the misty steam, I felt the rope binding Park Yulhan loosen again.
Damn these petty tricks!
Before I could even react, an attack flew through the hazy vision.
I instinctively moved to dodge the attack, and Park Yulhan didn't miss the opportunity to free himself.
“Park Yulhan got free!”
At the same time as I shouted, Choi Sujeong's sharp wind cleared the steam.
The misty fog scattered, and my vision cleared.
Then I saw Park Yulhan leaning against the door where the Key had been, Shin Haeun standing in front of him, and Park Siwoo aiming his sword flawlessly at the two of them.
At a glance, it looked like we had cornered them.
But they had the cheat item called teleportation.
As if my prediction was correct, I vividly saw Park Yulhan's mouth corner lift.
“Then we'll be going now.”
“Good work, juniors.”
Their forms gradually became transparent.
Choi Sujeong angrily shot a sharp gust of wind, but the wind just passed through their transparent bodies.
“It's a shame I couldn't get the Key, but you couldn't catch me either, so let's call it even!”
At those words, Choi Sujeong and Lee Hana retorted in annoyance.
“You lost~”
“Right.”
“Is that so? It was many against one, right? I escaped, right? Logically, I'm the winner, aren't I?”
Park Yulhan, grinning, poured out words as if teasing us, then looked at us with a slightly more serious expression.
I happened to meet his eyes.
It was a rarely seen, serious gaze.
“More importantly, do you people really think what you're doing is right?”
“What?”
“You saw it in the dream. The future you brought about.”
“What does that—”
Before the bewildered Na Yuhan could ask, his form vanished completely.
I had put Location Tracking on him when I caught him earlier, just in case. I checked right away, but unfortunately, the skill had been cut off. It seems he moved outside my tracking range.
It was unfortunate.
“...He's gone.”
“He's gone~”
Na Yuhan sighed at the dejected words falling from mine and Choi Sujeong's mouths.
“Can't be helped.”
“We could have caught him… what a shame.”
“I know. Should have just thrown him in prison.”
“It was kind of annoying.”
Min Jaeyun, Shin Baran, and Na Yuri expressed their regret and annoyance.
Lee Hana, who was thinking deeply, spoke calmly.
“But what was that last remark?”
“I don't know. If it's a dream, is he talking about the nightmare we had before? Don't tell me that dream item incident was also their doing?"
Park Siwoo answered somewhat seriously. However, Park Yul-ah frowned and cut him off.
“Don't worry about what that person said at the end! It's just an extension of the cryptic things he always says!”
“Cryptic things he always says?”
“Yes! Ever since we were young, he'd hang out with Grandpa and spout meaningful nonsense about preparing for the future or whatever!”
“……”
By Grandpa, does she mean Erentos?
I pondered for a moment, then spoke to Park Yul-ah.
“Yul-ah, could you tell us everything you know about Park Yulhan?”
“About him?”
“Yeah. You have to know your enemy to deal with them.”
Park Siwoo, who had been silently observing the situation, agreed with me.
“Right. We've already clashed with Park Yulhan twice. It's highly likely we'll continue to clash in the future. Information is important.”
“If you say so…”
“You can just tell us whatever comes to mind, even if it's disorganized. We'll sort it out.”
At Park Siwoo's words, Park Yul-ah groaned and seemed to think, then started to unravel her story haltingly.
“First… Park Yulhan is a vampire-hybrid. You all know this, right?”
“Yes. As a vampire-hybrid, he inherited the trait of ignoring all attacks except Holy attribute, and he's fast. Also, he's a key figure in the Wild Hunt. That's all we know.”
“Yes. That's about it.”
“Ah, and unexpectedly, he has a sister complex? I don't know more than that either.”
“Please don't mention that…”
Park Yul-ah pretended to gag.
Surprisingly, Na Yuhan also focused his gaze on Park Yul-ah, seeming not to know much about Park Yulhan.
“Uh… you probably aren't interested in what he likes or stuff like that, so should I tell you about the characteristics of vampires?”
“Yeah. Information about vampires isn't well-released to the public… anything is fine.”
“……”
Park Yul-ah, receiving our gazes with a somewhat burdened expression, soon began to stammer out fragments of information.
“Vampires are a race specialized in handling the occult… different from the magi-engineering and magic we use.”
“Occult?”
“Yes. For example, ghosts, future sight, higher-dimensional beings... beings that cannot yet be verified by science and magi-engineering. They can observe them, albeit vaguely, with individual powers dormant in their bloodline.”
“Hmm…”
“Just think of them as shamans. Beings where some believe in the spiritual world they speak of, and some don't.”
“Understood.”
Shamans….
I roughly imagined a 'friend who sees ghosts'. You know, there are lots of stories like that in urban legends.
If vampires are related to such a spiritual world, it made sense why not much information was released to the public.
Usually, such beings tend to hide abilities they can't prove scientifically.
Seeing that everyone roughly understood, Park Yul-ah continued her explanation.
“Among them, the head of the vampires, the bloodline of the 'Lord', is said to be born with 'Eyes that see the stars' and possess outstanding talent for the spiritual world. I don't know much about it… but they say their vision is different from ours.”
“Eyes that see the stars?”
“Yes. It's the most treasured ability among vampires. Unfortunately, my damn brother was born with it.”
“...Park Yulhan is the Lord?”
“Yes. In name only. Since the previous Lord died.”
In name only.
I thought of his demeanor, which lacked any weight.
Lord… Head…
In name only?
Really?
“Then are all vampires on the Wild Hunt's side?”
“I don't know about that. They're all very individualistic. But they have a strong tendency to consider the Lord's orders absolute, so it's highly likely.”
“So we should think of them as potential allies of the Wild Hunt if push comes to shove.”
“Yes. Even if they are mixed-bloods, the greater their innate spiritual ability, the stronger their loyalty to the Lord tends to be. I can't relate, though.”
That makes sense.
Park Yul-ah was a hybrid close to human, whose only vampire trait was her Magic Eye, so she couldn't possibly understand their psychology.
It was fortunate for us.
“Umm….”
“I still don't know if I made the Cosmic Existence Observational Device to try and have a similar vision to him. What he's thinking.”
“Wait, is the view you can see with the Cosmic Existence Observational Device the same view Park Yulhan can see with his eyes?”
Park Yul-ah affirmed my question.
“Yes. To be precise, it's closer to me making it to steal even a part of his vision.”
I suddenly recalled the words Park Yul-ah had said to me before.
‘When you look at the sky with the observational device, you can see some kind of black stuff flowing into the Tower from all over, you see?’
‘But, sometimes that black stuff flows out from around the Tower…? Um, how should I put it? It sticks to a part of the Tower and swells up like it's about to burst. And every time that happens, it seems like unusual situation Gates appear in clusters near the danger zones. And when I actually observed it, the more monsters that came out of the Gate, the more that swelling went down.’
…Don't tell me, did Park Yulhan realize the truth first thanks to those eyes?
And that's why he's been trying to change the situation since the previous turn?