Chapter 174
Chapter 174
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 174
Chapter Title: Jang Hyun-deok's Thrilling Vacation
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One day prior.
Actually, less than 24 hours left.
Kim Shin-hwa would soon arrive in Paju.
Rumble—
A massive downpour was unleashing across all of Paju.
It was the exact rain brought on by the Dragon King's ritual.
This rain, infused with the abyss's curse, was causing inexplicable side effects throughout Paju.
“Ugh……”
Compared to Kim Shin-hwa, he was in a relatively safe spot, but it was hard to say Jang Hyun-deok was in a comfortable situation.
“My fever won't break.”
Jang Hyun-deok had been suffering from severe headaches and body aches for days. It wasn't the shock or pain of heartbreak.
“Those cult freaks.”
To be precise, it was the Yellow King Descent Prayer Society, but with no way of knowing their true nature, Jang Hyun-deok just called them “those cult freaks.”
Every time he closed his eyes, bizarre patterns floated in his mind. The symbols those cult freaks had shown him wouldn't leave his head.
‘I got hit with something.’
He didn't know what, but something had changed.
The book the cultists had shown him had triggered some change in Jang Hyun-deok's mind and soul.
“As long as the wizard gets back, it'll be fine somehow.”
There was no logical basis, but he had a vague certainty. He believed. Kim Shin-hwa. Please help. That's why Jang Hyun-deok had holed up in his house for days.
“No matter what, stay home. Home is the safest.”
His fever was getting worse. His head throbbed.
Headaches, fever, and the fear and madness slowly gnawing at his mind.
If not for those issues, he might have made a better choice.
Ding-dong—
The doorbell rang.
“Who is it……?”
No one should be coming over. Who could it be?
“It's me, Hyun-deok. Open the door, please. Just open the door.”
An unforgettable voice.
It was Yeon.
How did she find out!? Superpowers? Secretly implanted nanomachines? Tracker? Bug? Oracle? Feng shui?
“Ugh—”
What have I done?
Only then did Jang Hyun-deok remember he'd given Yeon his home address.
“W-what do I do? What do I do? What do I do?”
For now, don't open the door and hold out until the wizard arrives! But when is the wizard coming?
Should he escape the house? Where to? The Foreigner Management Office? Where the hell is the wizard?
Jang Hyun-deok flailed around his room, unable to decide.
Knocking came again, along with Yeon's voice.
“Help me, Hyun-deok! Please help me!”
“Help……you?”
What was this?
A trick? Though his expression showed suspicion, Jang Hyun-deok headed toward the entrance.
His headache and fever were factors, but even in perfect condition, this temptation would have been hard to resist.
“I escaped from the church! Please open up!”
“What? You mean—”
Yeon's words continued.
I realized too late they were a cult. That church was a weird, scary heretical group. I tried to leave, but they wouldn't let me, so I barely escaped. Please open the door. I'm so scared. Hyun-deok, if you don't help me, they'll drag me back.
It was a truly desperate plea, and Jang Hyun-deok definitely sensed sincerity in her voice. Yeon's claim that she'd actually escaped the church and run to him was true.
The moment Jang Hyun-deok moved to open the door.
He suddenly realized strange words were coming from his own mouth.
“In the late Goryeo era, there was a young man in Paju who died of lovesickness. After death, he became a yellow-scaled serpent. Filled with malice, the serpent brought endless rain and floods to Paju. In the end, the villagers paraded the girl he loved to the riverbank.”
What am I saying right now?
“The girl begged the serpent to eat her and stop the village's floods—”
Jang Hyun-deok clutched his jaw with both hands, but his mouth kept reciting the full eerie legend of Paju.
“—and in the end, after devouring the girl he loved, the serpent resolved its earthly grudge, became a yellow dragon, and ascended to the heavens.”
Come to think of it, the wizard had asked about legends a few times. Is this it? Some kind of warning? Why do I have this ability? Did the wizard cast some spell on me?
Jang Hyun-deok tried to recall what he'd said, but the headache was too intense.
‘Lovesickness……the girl gets eaten by the dragon?’
Haha, at least it's clear it's an ominous tale.
“Hyun-deok, please. I ran here barefoot in a hurry. Please help me.”
Sobs followed.
Hearing her cry weakened his resolve. Jang Hyun-deok slowly brought his eye to the peephole in the front door.
“Sniff—hic—”
Yeon was really there.
Whatever had happened to her, she looked pitiful.
A torrent of rain outside.
Soaked, bruised, swollen, exhausted, clothes torn—Yeon's pitiful state.
She was pleading through tears. Please save me! Help me! I might really die!
Seeing that, Jang Hyun-deok felt conviction. He didn't know about anything else, but those eyes. That gaze and voice weren't lying.
“I-I'll open it!”
If Kim Shin-hwa had seen, he'd have unleashed a furious tirade like an angry wildcat, but in the end, Jang Hyun-deok opened the door.
Creak—
But the dreaded scenario didn't unfold.
“Thank you. Thank you so much, Hyun-deok. Thank you. Sniff—”
Yeon had come alone, drenched in rain, and truly barefoot.
Yeon clung to Jang Hyun-deok's chest and burst into tears.
Leaning into his chest, Yeon whispered.
“This scent. This fragrance. I've wanted to feel it again. It's only you, Hyun-deok. Thank you. Thank you.”
Jang Hyun-deok, his face already flushed from fever, blushed even deeper and stammered.
“F-first, come in.”
“Lock the door. They could show up anytime. I'm so scared. I don't care what happens to me, but the thought of them taking you……it's terrifying.”
“O-oh, right. I'll lock it. Hold on.”
Click—
Jang Hyun-deok locked the door.
* * *
Same time, different place.
Hee-in was in a bind.
“Sister Yeon escaped?”
“I'm sorry.”
Things were getting worse by the minute.
‘Because of that guy?’
Hee-in recalled Heo Sang-hyeon, the one who'd ruined the Masquerade.
To be precise, the image that came to mind was [Super Rookie Heo Sang-hyeon], created by Kim Shin-hwa.
She should have thought of Kim Shin-hwa by name, but the Masquerade cultists didn't know it.
‘He destroyed the Masquerade—now what? Our church?’
Destroying the church didn't matter. Destruction birthed new beginnings.
A true apocalyptic cultist's mindset.
In fact, Kim Shin-hwa's destruction of the Masquerade had brought Hee-in massive gains.
Amid the chaos, she'd killed her master—and become the church's new Judge.
‘No, better yet, destroy it for real.’
The Yellow King Descent Prayer Society wasn't small.
There were more than one or two who could be called Judge-level.
Hee-in might bear a Judge's title, but to the centuries-old elders, she was just a fresh pawn to exploit.
‘Kill those cowardly old fools who can't even die of fright.’
With such thoughts, Hee-in spoke in her signature eerily beautiful voice.
“Can we track her?”
“It shouldn't be impossible.”
For some reason, Yeon's report had omitted Heo Sang-hyeon's—Jang Hyun-deok's—address.
But tracking Yeon was simple.
“Wait, who's handling the tracking?”
“Evangelism Team 1 went.”
“……Why?”
“They volunteered.”
Evangelism Team 1 was Yeon's team.
“Didn't Yeon apostatize?”
“But traditionally, when an apostate appears, the same team handles the tracking……”
Evangelism Team 1 had about 30 members.
Like real-world cults, they loved those methods.
Just like those cults, they'd deploy all 30 to convert one person.
Conversely, that meant all of them had met Jang Hyun-deok.
And all had undergone that bizarre mystical experience after meeting him. Volunteered?
Did they really volunteer to catch Yeon?
Why did Yeon apostatize in the first place? A heavily brainwashed evangelism team member suddenly turns?
‘Heo Sang-hyeon, please kill my idiot underlings too.’
“Assemble Evangelism Teams 2 and 3, plus the Special Combat Team. All of them.”
“Understood.”
Hee-in gazed at the ominous rain pouring outside and donned her mask backward.
A grotesque face reflected faintly in the window.
The mask with three eyes.
“It's been a while, Heo Sang-hyeon.”
Do you remember me? Truth is, I want to be friends with you.
* * *
Jang Hyun-deok sat by his bedside, waiting for Yeon.
Pouring rain—
A studio apartment around 300 square feet.
Cramped entrance doubling as kitchen.
Bathroom with shower.
In that tiny space, the sound of Yeon showering echoed.
“……”
Yeon had run here barefoot through the storm.
Hugs, disjointed talk, sobs, and more—after the chaos, they'd agreed she needed to wash up before any real conversation.
So that's all it was.
“……”
Unsure of what expression or posture to strike, Jang Hyun-deok kept fidgeting and shifting.
“Ah, my head, my head.”
He suddenly stood to brush his hair.
Looking ready to head out, Hyun-deok awkwardly sat back by the bed and fidgeted again.
Yeon's earlier words resurfaced.
‘I don't need to follow that weird religion anymore.’
‘Because I have you.’
Was that a love confession?
And her other words.
‘Your face kept coming to mind. Even in my dreams.’
Yeah.
This face. This face.
My handsome face saved the damsel in distress.
The shower stopped.
Creak—
Yeon emerged wearing Jang Hyun-deok's shirt and pajama pants.
Already small and slender, she looked even tinier and more delicate.
Her long, damp hair and flushed cheeks.
Thump-thump-thump—
That was Jang Hyun-deok's heartbeat.
Yeon stood at the bathroom door—in the entrance-kitchen—gazing at him.
“Thank……you……”
“Huh? Thanks?”
“Yeah, for believing me. If you hadn't opened up, Hyun-deok……”
“N-no, of course I believe you.”
How could he not? Jang Hyun-deok felt his mouth go dry and mumbled. Huh? What do I say now? Come here? No? Should I go to her? Wizard? What do I do now?
Unsure what to do, Jang Hyun-deok half-stood awkwardly and approached Yeon.
Clatter—
A noise from the kitchen. Oh, the unwashed dishes piled up had just shifted. A bowl slipped?
The bedroom door hid Yeon's left arm. Sink was to her left.
Before Jang Hyun-deok could register the oddity, Yeon spoke.
“You're my savior, Hyun-deok. Like a god to me.”
“N-no, not that much……”
“I kept thinking about it. This feeling. I thought it was some mystical experience, but no. It's love. Definitely love. I love you.”
“Uh, wha—”
First thought: I just got confessed to by a girl. Only then did he vaguely notice something off about her state.
“Could you……eat me?”
“Huh?”
Huh?
“Huuuh? Huh? Huuuuh??”
Jang Hyun-deok flushed and backed away.
Whoa whoa whoa! Hold on! Way too fast! Whoa, suddenly going that bold! Wait, what did you say?
“I don't want to share you with those others. That's why I left the church and came here. I want you to eat me. I want to become one with you completely. See the world through you, feel it through you. Surely a god dwells in your body? I want to become one with that god.”
“W-what? Yeon? Wait, hold on.”
Wizard, where are you?
I think I'm in danger.
“So eat me. My brain—my organs—my flesh—my blood—my soul—eat them all. Become one with the god in your body. Mix into you as your blood and flesh.”
“W-wait! Don't come closer! Calm down! Stop! Yeon! Stop!”
Yeon slowly approached, kitchen knife in hand.
“This scent, this smell. Just being near you, I feel the god's presence. You must be our great lord, the Yellow King? The Yellow Sovereign, the unspeakable great one, King in Yellow Raiment. Please eat me. Take me to the promised land of beauty, Carcosa. I'll give you everything I have. I'll be your living sacrifice!”
“Gaaah! Gyaaah! Stay back! What the hell is wrong with you!?”
It was more scream than question, but Yeon faithfully answered.
“Because I love you! I love you! I love you! Eat me now! Taste my love!”