Chapter 86
Terminally Ill, but It's Okay — Episode 86
People sometimes make wrong interpretations.
[Side Quest #7-1]
[Objective: Support Reina, who is facing elimination risk.]
[Reward: 5 days added to Remaining Time, 10 SP provided]
The moment I arrived on the scene, I realized that the cause of Reina's elimination risk was the beating before the interpersonal match began. It was a rule violation.
The assumption I had half-entertained had become fact.
So what could I do? For now, I had no choice but to stop it.
"Hold on a moment."
When I immediately intervened in the situation, Reina looked at me with a displeased expression.
But maybe because I'm human too?
"H-Ha-yul, please save me. That one's a complete crazy bitch."
It was a villain doing villain things, but somehow it was just so pathetic to watch.
I had also been holding back for a long time while he ran his mouth, and it seemed like the right time for some real education, so in the end I used SP and sent in a drone first.
Right after that, I wrapped the bastard's mouth up tight with Cheonjam Thread and beat him.
Instead of Reina, I beat him.
I beat him again.
As I kept beating him, I got worked up and beat him again.
Just as I started really laying into him, Reina threw the strange bone she had been holding to me.
"Your hand will hurt."
Aha, as expected of a professional.
Maybe because she had hit a lot of people, she was more knowledgeable than me in this field at least.
"People really should use tools."
I used the bone to strike a few more times, then checked my Remaining Time.
Unfortunately, it was about time for the drone to return.
I dusted off my hands and then said to Lee Dong-wook,
"What kind of Monster did you even run into to end up this wrecked? Anyone who saw you would think you'd been beaten."
"Mmmph mmph."
Lee Dong-wook, his face swollen up like jinppang, was shouting at the top of his lungs even with his mouth bound.
He still hadn't read the room. I whispered with a more serious face.
"No. It's a hassle, so should I just write you off as killed by a Monster?"
"......."
"I can just do it and then contact the main family. Tell them to clean it up somehow. You're a discarded child anyway, so one person dying won't change anything. What do you want to do?"
"Mmph."
"What are you saying? I don't have time, so choose quickly."
"Mmmph mmph mmph."
Lee Dong-wook trembled slightly, then nodded up and down as if he had made up his mind.
But how could I trust this bastard?
To prepare a surefire measure, I engraved a sorcery art.
64-stroke, 2-star Wood-Style Sorcery, Roots of Greed
Then a single thread of light shot out from the green sorcery formula engraved on the back of my hand and burrowed into the back of Lee Dong-wook's hand.
"I've planted my mana inside your body. The moment you reveal what happened today, or run your mouth in front of me one more time, you'll pop. Watch yourself."
It was a sorcery art used when borrowing mana, but who would know that?
It looked like something was being connected, so Lee Dong-wook wouldn't be able to dismiss it easily either.
* * *
It was only after time passed that I realized why the sleeping incense hadn't worked on Reina.
The self-purifying effect unique to Sanctification had blocked the medicinal properties of the sleeping incense.
After reaching an amicable settlement, I confiscated the unconscious Lee Dong-wook's watch and hung it on a nearby tree.
[Side Quest #7-1, objective to support Reina facing elimination risk achieved]
[As a reward, 5 days are added to your Remaining Time.]
[10 SP provided as reward.]
By the time I had roughly wrapped things up, it was already approaching midnight.
Reina and I moved further north and set up camp.
It was unexpected company, but I didn't refuse because I wanted to find out why she had come to Taehak so quickly.
What had made her hurry.
It was also the last bit of free time before the third day of the upheaval began, so the timing was appropriate.
.......
"Hm."
Thanks to that, Reina was receiving unexpectedly lavish treatment.
She was sitting in front of the campfire, dipping bread into warm, sweet soup and savoring the taste.
Of course, the bread and soup had come from my subspace pouch. I had procured them for times like this.
"Is it good?"
"It's better than pig."
The effect was excellent.
Not only had Reina's mood quickly improved, but much of the awkwardness between us had also disappeared.
I waited for the atmosphere to relax a bit more, and when the time came when even the darkness no longer felt unfamiliar, I casually broached the subject.
"Why did you come to Taehak? It's a really boring place......."
Reina, who had been hurriedly chewing, gulped down the remaining piece of bread.
Then she looked me straight in the eyes and answered.
"Because of you."
"Excuse me?"
What was this direct hit.......
The one who answered was composed, but the one who asked was flustered. It was a confession that came flying in without any warning.
However, this was only the beginning.
"Actually......."
Reina set down her plate and continued with a fairly serious expression.
"Before I met you at Taehak, I felt an immense darkness."
"......."
I flinched once more and looked down at my right hand.
Fortunately, Greed seemed to have hidden itself somewhere beyond the reach of her senses.
"But what appeared from the place where darkness had fallen was the makings of a saint. You, who possess pure mana."
Reina, true to her straightforward personality, poured out what had been on her mind without holding back.
Because she had felt both light and darkness at once, she had no choice but to suspect me.
And for that reason, she said, she had included me in her escort team and unilaterally put me to the test.
Well, in the end, she did have the energy of Sanctification stolen that way, though.
.......
Anyway, a long conversation followed, long enough that today might have been the day she talked the most in her entire life.
"In the end, you were not the darkness. Then what in the world was the darkness I felt back then?"
"That's just."
"So I intend to keep watching over you. In case the darkness should ever...... you."
You?
It felt like she had cut off at an important point, so I asked again.
"Me? Why me?"
But, coincidentally, at that very moment, the live watch's notification rang.
Beep-beep-beep—
[The third day of midterms has begun.]
[Interpersonal combat is now permitted as of this time.]
[You may obtain points by taking another student's live watch and pressing the retire button.]
[Additional points are provided for retiring students designated as seeds.]
[Seed locations are now activated on GPS.]
[An alert will sound when your distance from a seed decreases to within 100 meters.]
Ding-ding-ding— Ding-ding-ding—
What timing.
I quickly pressed the mute button to continue the conversation.
"Once I'm certain, I will tell you first then. Please don't mind what I said just now."
But she was one step faster than me.
Reina, who had been looking down at her live watch, quickly brought the conversation to a close.
"Thank you for the meal. I'll be going now."
Then she gathered her things and rose from her seat.
I shouted in disbelief.
"Where are you going at this hour? I won't attack you, so just stay."
"It's not because of that. It's because if I stay by your side, you'll end up getting bothered too. Farewell, then."
Before I could even try to stop her, Reina walked toward the grass where darkness had settled.
Then, as if something had occurred to her, she turned her head slightly and continued.
"I'm asking out of curiosity, but when you were young, did you ever leave the main family for an extended period?"
When I was young?
The point of the question was ambiguous, but I nodded for now.
Because it was part of the original work's setting that he had once lived apart due to hallucination symptoms.
"I see. Then at that time......."
"No. Even if you ask more, I don't really know. My memories are already hazy now......."
But I quickly blocked any further questions. A setting was just a setting.
I didn't have the ability to imagine one person's memories.
"Understood. Farewell, then."
Reina gave a light bow, then walked away without hesitation.
I stared blankly at her retreating figure, then sat back down.
"Good grief......."
I had resolved the question, but that resolution itself raised more questions, making my head even more complicated.
"But......."
For now, this was enough.
Nothing was going to happen immediately, so I decided not to think about it any further.
The task at hand came first, after all.
I raised my head for a moment and looked up at the night sky.
Then, a full moon.......
A perfectly round yellow moon with not a single blemish was illuminating the world as if signaling the start of Act 2.
Strange things. The time for them to run rampant was approaching.
I took out Lee Dong-wook's watch and pressed the retire button first.
[You acquire the points held by Lee Dong-wook.]
[A total of 12 points are added.]
[Your points: 27]
With this much, I had at least secured a lower-middle ranking.
My goal was around the middle rank, so it seemed a little short, but I decided not to worry about it since things were about to get busy.
I covered the campfire with dirt to put it out, then went into the tent.
I planned to sleep for just two or three hours before departing.
According to the original work, I had to reach Zone C before dawn broke.
Now the goal was Joo A-rin.
I decided to think only about that.
* * *
Joo A-rin was a planner who divided her day into minute-by-minute increments.
This was like the foundation of her existence, her inherent essence, so even when she suddenly found herself dropped—
deep in the mountains and forced to survive, it did not fade.
For that reason, she split Zone C into three non-overlapping sections and went out hunting for a full twelve hours each day.
As a result, she earned 22 points and tied with Baek Sa-young, but Joo A-rin, who had no way of knowing that fact, was still anxious.
Had she fallen behind compared to the other seeds?
If she achieved good results in this midterm, she could reach the single-digit ranking she had longed for.
She would be able to produce results worthy of attention even from the direct family, and if so, she could also ask for Seol-hwa to be allowed out.
Beep-beep-beep—
Her drawn-out musings scattered the moment the sudden notification rang.
[The third day of midterms has begun.]
.
.
Joo A-rin carefully chewed over the message, then established her subsequent plan.
Since everyone had become open enemies, she would first leave Zone C and head to Zone E.
She resolved to meet up with Cheon Seo-yoon and combine their strength.
Hoo—
Joo A-rin let out a shallow sigh and lay down in her sleeping bag to get at least a little sleep.
The cold from the ground invaded the sleeping bag, and the damp humidity tickled her whole body, but she endured it and forced herself to sleep.
How much time passed like that?
Heeheeheehee—
An unpleasant dissonance that tickled her ears roused her briefly slackened senses.
Joo A-rin hurriedly raised her body and scanned her surroundings.
Then she spotted two flashing lights in the brush to her right.
The red-burning eyes were clearly not human, so Joo A-rin felt relieved.
Because the uninvited guest's goal didn't seem to be points, at least.
......But that relief was brief.
Joo A-rin, who had been glaring into the darkness, soon couldn't hide her bewilderment.
"What is this?"
The uninvited guest's condition was strange.
It was carrying a sinister energy, but it was neither Demonic Energy nor mana—a type she had never encountered before.
And moreover, life force.
She couldn't even feel the vital energy that a Monster or person should possess as the foundation of life.
This was like.
"A ghost?"
It was just as Joo A-rin recalled the closest concept she could approximate.
One, two, three, ten.......
Red eyes multiplying in an instant.
Heeheeheehee—
Heeheeheehee—
As they surrounded her on all sides like spreading torchlight, Joo A-rin bit her lip.
She hastily drew up her mana in preparation for their attack.
Crack—
She was just about to convert it into ice in one breath and blast it out.
"Don't waste your strength. Hold your breath. Your breath!"
The decisive timing.
The familiar voice that had always reached her at moments like this pierced her ears once again.