Another Mis...understanding
Another Mis...understanding
Despite his calm exterior, Lee Ha-yul was mentally stretched thin.
He kept the Observation Authority idling on a crisis-observation line, primed for a surprise attack.
Instead, he had manifested the Authority of Space at higher intensity, tracking every shift and current inside the dungeon.
Against a black-sea backdrop, rippling green wavelengths traced themselves across his awareness.
Where once he could perceive only the outlines of objects, now he sensed so much more.
The dungeon's energy and the flux of space itself registered as waveforms.
Not lines or planes—hundreds of three-dimensional spatial waves etched themselves onto a mental map.
Of course, taking in and interpreting all that information only piled on the fatigue.
'That massive waveform—is that the core? The wavelength is so thick and its aftereffects so broad that the ripple barely reaches this far. If I spent about a day, I could reach the core.'
The fatigue was real, but so were the gains.
After manifesting the Authority of Space all day, he could now catch more spatial waveforms, more fluctuations and currents.
'Could I weaponize that? If I sent out a slash instead of a wave, it feels like space itself would split apart.'
Lee Ha-yul wore an odd expression as he sensed the spatial waves slipping effortlessly past even the barrier he had erected himself.
The barrier was high-grade protective magic by rank alone, yet it couldn't block something as fundamental as spatial wavelengths.
Then again, the spell formula he had added was for resisting "interference via spatial magic"—it was never meant to resist "space" itself.
Whatever the case, his spatial perception was climbing.
This was probably the most efficient way to locate the entrance to the Reverse Side, too.
And if he had to open a door there, the Authority of Space would likely be the key as well.
In a single day, an answer that had been hazy now carried a small measure of certainty.
For all intents and purposes, his primary objective for entering this dungeon was already met.
- Nyam
Which was why Lee Ha-yul had very little bandwidth left.
He had spent the entire day drilling the Authority of Space, spirit arts, and necromancy.
By the time darkness fell, he had engraved a dense array of complex magic into the foundation of the stronghold Lee Ji-yeon had prepared.
Even now, he was still maintaining an authority with fine control, leaving no spare attention for trivialities.
To put it bluntly, even idle chatter was a struggle.
"How is it? I figured it'd be—"
[It's good.]
"If it's too much, then I have this... What did you say?"
So, without much thought, he placed the medicinal pill Lee Ji-yeon had pressed into his hand on his tongue.
Underneath that action lay his trust in Lee Ji-yeon.
He didn't even bother to activate Observation.
If it had been someone he didn't trust, he would have first run an analysis to parse the ingredients.
If a toxin or anything harmful had been detected, he would have used every means to figure out the situation.
But this was Lee Ji-yeon.
She had no reason to harm him, so he simply accepted what she handed him.
- Om-nyom-nyom
He simply enjoyed the crisp crunch as he chewed; each time the pill broke apart, he felt vitality energy seep gently into his body.
The cool freshness, like rain pouring into a barren desert, was well worth savoring.
If he had to compare it to something... maybe a mint candy?
"...Junior."
[Yep.]
He answered while pressing his cheek with his tongue, chasing the aftertaste.
Without Observation running, her form wasn't crystal-clear, but he perceived Lee Ji-yeon through other means.
The weight of her presence in space.
Taesan, standing solid as a boulder, earth energy indistinguishable from the steadfast ground.
The outline of the void where wind refused to fill, the texture of Lee Ji-yeon, her breathing, her heartbeat...
He gathered it all together and sketched it onto a rough map.
Combined with the external appearance Observation had already catalogued, the picture was fairly complete.
Lee Ji-yeon stood frozen stiff as stone, her hand still tucked into her clothes.
[?]
Why is she like that?
Lee Ha-yul tilted his head.
[Senior, what's wrong?]
"......"
Suddenly, Lee Ji-yeon's presence had turned strange.
He activated Observation.
Lee Ji-yeon's distinct form entered his mind's eye.
Her face was ghastly pale, all color drained.
She was clearly anything but fine.
[Are you hurt? Why all of a sudden...]
Lee Ha-yul's face hardened. He shot to his feet and closed the distance to her.
Then he initiated Precision Observation, including her internal state.
From the top of her head to the tips of her toes, he laid bare every component of Lee Ji-yeon.
'...But there's nothing wrong?'
He found no physical injuries.
Lee Ji-yeon was physically sound.
If it had been serious, Lee Ha-yul had been ready to rip Homogenization wide open to treat her. He tilted his head in confusion.
"Junior."
[Yes... Ack?]
Mid-reply, his body floated upward.
Lee Ji-yeon had slipped her hands under his arms and lifted him.
Question marks practically hovered above Lee Ha-yul's head as Lee Ji-yeon stared at him with trembling eyes and then seated him on her own thighs.
Suddenly cradled in her embrace, Lee Ha-yul tilted his head and then flinched at the sensation of a soft mass of flesh brushing his nose.
He had been held by Lee Ji-yeon a handful of times, but not nearly enough to relax and bury his face in her chest like a spoiled child.
"Excuse me for a moment."
- Pbeu? Buee...
The instant he tried to ease his head back, Lee Ji-yeon's hand caught his chin.
It was gentle enough not to hurt, yet laced with an odd authority that didn't seem to entertain resistance... a peculiar gesture.
With his chin abruptly caught, Lee Ha-yul's movements stopped.
Lee Ji-yeon pressed her fingers firmly against both his cheeks.
His cheeks naturally compressed and his mouth fell slightly open.
- B-heee...?
Lee Ji-yeon inspected the inside of Lee Ha-yul's mouth.
Through the small parting of his lips, an adorably pink tongue wriggled.
With his mouth suddenly under scrutiny, Lee Ha-yul's cheeks flushed red and he squirmed.
- Eu, buee, eeeee...
[Um, why are you suddenly... wait a moment, I, I smell...]
"...You smell only good, so stay still."
His protest was instantly shot down by Lee Ji-yeon's reply.
She wasn't lying.
At this moment Lee Ji-yeon had no leisure to care about scents, but all she could detect was a sweet, honey-like fragrance.
"......"
I smell good? How was he supposed to react to that?
He had buried his face in someone else's embarrassing parts and called them fragrant before.
But now that he was on the receiving end, he had no idea how to respond.
Unable to find an acceptable answer, Lee Ha-yul ended up resting his chin on Lee Ji-yeon's chest and docilely kept his mouth open.
'...Externally, there's no problem.'
Thanks to that compliance, Lee Ji-yeon could calmly examine Lee Ha-yul's mouth, his tongue.
'No—it wouldn't be a problem that shows on the surface in the first place...'
As a rule, most medicinal ingredients taste intensely bitter.
Part of it is the material's inherent flavor, and sometimes bitterness is deliberately added to discourage anyone from tasting it carelessly.
Of course, there are exceptions.
Precious ingredients don't need to be tasted—they simply radiate an aura that screams, "This is medicine."
Since you can tell it's medicine without putting it in your mouth, it's common to add a reasonably pleasant flavor.
Medicines intended for children, in particular, are sometimes sweetened.
In fact, most of the medicinal ingredients Lee Ha-yul had encountered were sweet ones.
He had never tasted them personally, but the rare elixirs people occasionally pressed on him were always of the flavor-conscious variety.
Hong Yeon-hwa, worried he might dislike bitter things, always brought sweet ones and coaxed him, saying, "It's sweet, try it," before placing it into his mouth.
After Atra once saw an unconscious Lee Ha-yul fussing in the infirmary that he didn't want the medicine, she stocked only the sweet kind.
Others also took one look at Lee Ha-yul, judged that he wouldn't enjoy bitterness and seemed rather childlike, and handed him flavor-adjusted elixirs.
But the pill Lee Ji-yeon had fed Lee Ha-yul was different.
That pill's primary ingredient was the root of a beastwood tree cultivated at the Taesan main house.
Beastwood root is fundamentally extremely bitter.
Even after processing with other materials, a deep bitterness remains.
That was why she had pressed the pill into his hand first, intending to slip sugar into his mouth afterward to spare him the inevitable "It's bitter, I hate it" whining.
- It's good.
Could it... really taste good?
Lee Ji-yeon bit her lip.
Did Lee Ha-yul have a particular fondness for bitterness? Even so, would he call it delicious?
'...Poison.'
As she agonized, a thoroughly ominous imagining bloomed in the corner of Lee Ji-yeon's mind.
Poison harms living things.
It was true before the Great Cataclysm, and it's true now.
In this world where the concept of innate talent exists, poison is frighteningly diverse and can possess vicious properties.
It can snuff out life with terrifying ease, and if it fails to kill, it latches on tenaciously to torment the poisoned life.
'Twin-headed Poison Dragon.'
That held true for the monster that comes to mind first when anyone thinks of venom: the Twin-headed Poison Dragon.
The poison spewed by one of its heads is so foul and potent it's considered a panoply of venoms.
How many superhumans died soaked in poison during the Twin-headed Poison Dragon subjugation? How many survived only to languish with aftereffects?
Even the symptoms were numerous.
Bodies rotting from the extremities, withering away, skin cracking like drought-ridden paddies...
And sometimes, senses are gradually stolen away.
'......'
Lee Ha-yul had fought the Twin-headed Poison Dragon and hovered at death's door.
Was it really possible he hadn't been poisoned in the process?
From a monster whose primary weapon is poison?
While locked in a desperate battle that brought him to the brink of death?
No matter how optimistically she thought about it, she couldn't convince herself it was likely.
'Urgh...'
Nausea suddenly surged from deep in her gut.
Lee Ji-yeon clamped her mouth shut.
- Kugugung...
A vibration rang through her head. It felt as if standing stone were quaking.
Her head ached.
Past karma pressed in on her again.
It might not be true.
It could be her own misunderstanding.
Maybe Lee Ha-yul really could taste it... or at the very least, maybe it wasn't her fault.
...To get confirmation, she would have to ask the question, and the answer she might receive terrified her far too much.
- Poh-ohk
That was when a warm energy kindled against her body.
The body that had been stiffening like stone from the extremities loosened and softened.
Lee Ji-yeon lowered her head dazedly.
[I don't know exactly what's going on, but it's okay.]
She saw Lee Ha-yul, nestled in her embrace, both arms stretched around her waist in a tight hug.
Fwoosh... a small flame sparked near her shoulder.
It was Calamity Flame.
But unlike ordinary Calamity Flame, it wasn't threatening.
It merely flickered calmly, as if its sole purpose was to convey gentle warmth.
[I don't know the circumstances, but how about calming down first?]
[Uh... warmth is nice, right? And when I hug someone like this, it always cheers me right up even when I was feeling down.]
Lee Ha-yul strung the sentences together haltingly.
He had no idea what had suddenly come over Lee Ji-yeon.
There are truths that even Observation cannot uncover.
But he could feel Lee Ji-yeon's mood plunging sharply into a pit, so for now he tried just holding her tightly.
It was a simple thought: being held makes him feel better, so it probably works the same way for others.
- Squeeze...!
- B-oomph
Fortunately, it seemed to have an effect, because Lee Ji-yeon hugged him back just as fiercely.
So tightly, with all the strength in both arms, that he was crushed deep into her embrace.
Their stomachs pressed close together, and his face was buried squarely in her voluptuous chest.
Feeling his breath constrict, Lee Ha-yul gently patted Lee Ji-yeon's back and waist as she trembled.
"Hhuu... haah..."
A ragged breath brushed the top of his head.
Lee Ji-yeon had been dragging in rough, hyperventilating breaths earlier, but signs of gradual improvement were showing.
Inside the temporary stronghold, the light from the luminous magic tool mingled with the glow of Calamity Flame.
It was, in many ways, a tender, cozy color palette.
Within it, Lee Ji-yeon held Lee Ha-yul for a long while and steadied her mind and body.
'As expected, a hug is an excellent treatment method.'
Lee Ha-yul, who had experienced that truth thoroughly and personally, realized it applied to Lee Ji-yeon too.
Pressing close and sharing body heat is a superb form of psychological first aid.
He gave a deep nod and let out a long breath.
...With his face buried in soft flesh, nodding wasn't easy. And with his nose sunk between those mounds, breathing wasn't all that easy either.
'...They're big...'
Lee Ha-yul wore a complicated expression.
It was abruptly dawning on him that Lee Ji-yeon's chest was also enormously large.
Larger than his head... and even through fairly thick clothing and undergarments, a pillowy softness transmitted through.
A little smaller than Liana's, but larger than Hong Yeon-hwa's or Atra's.
Compared to Baek A-rin... a little bigger? But it seemed smaller than Ellia's.
Without meaning to, Lee Ha-yul had just mentally compared the voluptuousness of their chests.
On top of that, the earlier Precision Observation had given him uncomfortably concrete data in many respects.
And realizing at once how rude those thoughts were toward Lee Ji-yeon, Lee Ha-yul immediately tossed said data into the mental trash bin.
- Please, someone help...!
It was right then that a single thread of voice struck into Lee Ha-yul's mind like a thunderbolt.
His shut eyes flew open.
It was a deeply unusual sensation.
He had experienced voices ringing in his head many times before.
The sound transmission that steeps thoughts in mana and drives them into the ear.
The flame-series unique ability that formed the source record of his own.
The mindscape that spirits used to address him.
This sensation was markedly similar to the way spirits communicated intent.
But it hammered in far more directly than that.
A sound resonated in his head.
It didn't convey only words and sentences.
There was the despair and desperation contained within, and the tiny wish clinging to a sliver of hope.
As well as the location from which the voice had been sent.
Inside this dungeon, a considerable distance away... near the core?
It had arrived in the form of remarkably precise coordinates—like a rescue beacon.
'Manifest, Spatial Leap.'
Reflexively, he manifested the authority.
"Huh, h-huh...?"
Lee Ji-yeon, who had been calming her heart with Lee Ha-yul in her arms, watched as her surroundings shimmered as if they had been submerged underwater.
It was a phenomenon she had experienced once before... in China, together with Lee Ha-yul.
"No—wait, Junior—son of a bitch, this is—again—!"
The ripples of space swallowed both of them and a single shriek.
* * *
【Player Correction System: Affection】
Lee Ha-yul → Lee Ji-yeon
●●●●●●○○○○(66/100)
｢Likeable｣ ｢Rock｣ ｢Dependable｣ ｢Sense of Stability｣
▽Change▽
●●●●●●○○○○(66▷69/100)
｢Likeable｣ ｢Rock｣ ｢Dependable｣ ｢Sense of Stability｣ ｢Squishy｣