Chapter 197: An Opportunity Arrives
Chapter 197: An Opportunity Arrives
Slowly but surely, the city was regaining its tranquility. Of course, it was only in the process of doing so. The clamor of the streets still lingered.
As I passed a pub at the end of the main street, I saw Users gathered in small groups, clinking their glasses together. I didn't have to strain to hear what they were discussing so heatedly. In the past, I would have clicked my tongue, thinking it would be more productive for them to just get some sleep, but now, I couldn't even spare a thought for that. Only one fact filled my entire being.
The portal to the Inn of Beginnings had opened.
In the Hall Plain, the importance of the Inn of Beginnings was so great it went without saying. Whether viewed from the perspective of the entire continent or from within a clan, the appearance of new Users was an extremely sensitive matter. Whether many arrived or few, there was always at least one among them who held the potential to develop to a high level.
There was a little joke that sometimes made the rounds on the Northern Continent. “One well-raised User is worth more than ten mediocre ones.” Of course, sheer numbers could be a key strategy, but it meant that one proper User was far better than ten riff-raff.
It might have been an extreme and somewhat different example, but I didn’t have to look far. I myself was one. Take the pigtailed female User I had met right after leaving the Morning Sunlight Inn—Kim Dahye, if I remembered correctly. Even a hundred Users at her level could not defeat me. That was what it meant to recruit a new User with exceptional potential.
This was just something I’d heard, but apparently, the Hall Plain existed long ago, even before the User Academy was established. And back then, they said that an incomparably larger number of Users used to arrive. There was even a time when there was no Rite of Passage, and in those days, a thousand, even two thousand people would come through at once—a number unimaginable today.
Of course, this was all just speculation about the early days of the Hall Plain; they were just oral traditions with no living witnesses.
But as time passed, the interval between the portal openings grew longer, and the number of incoming Users was on a sharp decline. As such, the value of new Users was bound to be high. There was a reason why they were treated a bit strictly at the beginning to help them adapt, only to be treated well later on.
Whoosh.
“……”
I lifted my head as a gentle night breeze softly swept through my hair. The wind seemed to wash away some of the dizziness that had filled my mind. I let out a long sigh and quickened my pace. I walked past the straight line of streetlights and crossed the bridge I had run across breathlessly just a while ago. As the wind blew against me, I forced myself to calm down. I felt like I had regained a bit of the reason I had momentarily lost.
Walking through the night streets of Barbara at a slow pace, I reviewed the information about the Inn of Beginnings that I had just seen with my Third Eye.
『Inn of Beginnings (Start Inn)』
Rite of Passage Participants: 587
Rite of Passage Survivors: 252 (Currently Day 7)
Rite of Passage Deceased: 335 (Currently Day 7)
Currently Completed: 2 (Completed on Day 5)
Let’s think. There were a total of five Inns of Beginnings. And it was typical for each inn to produce an average of ten to thirty survivors. In other words, based on recent figures, it meant that roughly around 100 new Users would enter the Hall Plain.
Now, let’s turn to the Rite of Passage. There were two conditions for passing it. Either arrive at the Warp Gate within seven days, or survive for seven days. The Rite of Passage, with 587 participants, was now past the seven-day mark, and there were 252 survivors. A whopping 252, and among them, two had passed through the Warp Gate on the fifth day.
Since it was past Day 7, at least 200 people would be coming through. Most importantly, two of them had proven their worth as Users in just five days. It was truly astonishing.
From here, the situation could be divided into two possibilities depending on whether the boss monster had revived. Seraph had said it. The boss monster of the Rite of Passage was originally an unbeatable existence. It could only be overcome by fleeing, which required the sacrifice of at least several dozen Users.
The boss monster isn't there. If I thought of it that way, I could understand how 252 people survived. Without a boss monster, the difficulty of the Rite of Passage would drop significantly. I could also accept the fact that two people completed it on the fifth day. But looking at it from the opposite angle, the fact that only two people had passed through the Warp Gate after seven days was a bit concerning.
If I assumed the boss monster was there, the situation became full of questions. It would have been a struggle for 252 people to even survive, yet there were Users who completed it on the fifth day. Of course, I could consider the possibility that they fled by sacrificing others, but I couldn't help but tilt my head in confusion. Or perhaps there was some other way to deal with the boss monster…
The moment my thoughts reached that point, I shook my head vigorously. No matter how I thought about it, it just wasn't realistic.
I considered it from multiple angles, but every path had one or two flaws that bothered me. I couldn't find a complete answer. On top of that, when I factored in the current state of the Hall Plain, my thoughts began to tangle into a complicated mess again. The anxiety in my forcibly calmed mind resurfaced. My obsessive compulsion was acting up.
I was quite fond of making plans. Unavoidable situations were one thing, but I could only maintain my peace of mind when I had prepared for every possibility before acting. Whenever something unpredictable like this occurred, irritation rose for no reason and anxiety gnawed at me. Yet there was no clear solution at present. Perhaps that was why it felt even more frustrating.
In the end, I had no choice but to prepare with insufficient information. If a twisted future was approaching, I had to somehow change that twist in a direction that would benefit me. It was not an easy task.
Lost in these thoughts, I soon arrived at the Morning Sunlight Inn. I debated whether to have a smoke before going in or just head straight inside. I reached into my pocket, fumbling around as I continued to close the distance to the inn. It was then that I spotted a familiar User in front of the entrance.
Letting go of the cigarette I’d just managed to grab, I drew closer. There, I saw a woman with short hair in a thin robe, hugging her arms and pacing around. That woman was Jung Hayeon.
“Hayeon.”
I raised my hand and called out. Hayeon turned around with a startled expression. A moment later, upon recognizing my face, she let out a soft breath and spoke.
“Ah… Soohyun. You’re back now. Were you out?”
“Yes. Were you, by any chance, waiting for me?”
“It’s just… I couldn’t see you, and I was a little worried.”
I wasn't exactly the type who needed to be worried about. But the feeling of being worried over by someone was, surprisingly, not bad at all.
“There was a bit of a commotion. I went to check on the situation.”
“Ah. I heard about it too. They said the portal to the Inn of Beginnings opened.”
“Yes. So you heard as well, Hayeon. Phew.”
“……”
It was a meaningless sigh, one that escaped unconsciously from my complicated state of mind. But she seemed to take it differently, lifting her head to gaze at me with her steady eyes. Then, she approached me with short, quick steps.
“Soohyun.”
“Yes.”
“You don’t look well again.”
“Huh? Not really…”
As I answered, I found myself averting my gaze. Both Ko Yeonju and Jung Hayeon had an almost supernatural talent for sensing my current mood. Looking into those clear eyes, so full of concern for me, I couldn't help but feel a sense of guilt. What exactly was the source of this guilt?
“I told you before, didn’t I? You have a tendency to push yourself to the absolute limit.”
“Hayeon. It’s not like that. It’s a misunderstanding.”
“I thought you were getting a little better lately, but seeing you today, it seems to be flaring up again. What on earth is making you so anxious?”
“My head is just a little cluttered, that’s all. I’m not anxious.”
I quickly smoothed my expression and spoke in a gentle voice, but she didn't seem to believe me. She narrowed her eyes at my answer, then gave me a soft glare before taking my hand and pulling me along.
“Let’s go inside. Go in and get some sleep.”
“Alright. You should go in too, Hayeon.”
I readily agreed with her. I didn't want to make her worry any longer.
Led by Hayeon’s hand, I entered the inn, and we immediately went up the stairs. It might be a stretch to call it a privilege, but I had my own separate room. We arrived in front of my door, and just as I was about to wish her goodnight, she opened the door herself as if it were the most natural thing in the world and pulled me inside.
“H-Hayeon?”
Hayeon didn't answer me. Instead, she gently let go of my hand, then climbed onto the bed and knelt down softly.
“Hayeon. This is my room.”
“I-I know. Hurry and come to the bed and lie down here.”
I followed the direction her slender finger was pointing, and my gaze fell on her lap. As I stood there blinking with a dazed expression, her words quickly followed.
“Y-You definitely won’t sleep much if you’re alone again. I-I’ll give you a lap pillow, so… s-s-sleep here.”
Hayeon managed to finish her sentence after stuttering here and there. Then, she lowered her eyes slightly and pouted her lower lip. Looking at her more closely, I saw her slender eyelids trembling slightly, and her earlobes were flushed a faint red.
“Um…”
Feeling awkward, I just scratched my head before calmly approaching her. It wasn't that I thought it would be effective, but I felt she would be very hurt if I said, “No.” It was obvious at a glance that Hayeon was also quite embarrassed.
“I sleep just fine without you doing this.”
“Don’t lie. It’s not like we’ve only slept together once or twice.”
“Huh. Wasn’t it just once or twice?”
“Hehe. If you include the laboratory, it’s three times.”
As I muttered while laying my head on her thighs as requested, a coy voice replied. Resting my head on her lap, the back of my neck felt incredibly comfortable.
“Good. Close your eyes, too.”
Her coy tone soon changed to a gentle one. Her soft hand covered my eyes. I deliberately blinked a few times, and her palm twitched. It seemed to tickle.
As I lay there for a moment, I soon felt a hand gently stroking my head. I chuckled inwardly. It was certainly comfortable, but I wasn't a child. There was no way I would fall asleep just because of this.
Still, I was grateful. My mind had been extremely unstable ever since seeing the Inn of Beginnings just a while ago. It had been a cycle of complexity, forced calmness, and renewed anxiety. But as she gave me a lap pillow, I felt my tangled inner self slowly begin to unwind. My cluttered mind emptied, and my heart naturally felt at ease. And then…
………. ………. ……….
After being lost in a state of empty-mindedness for a while, I felt my body grow incredibly heavy. The hands covering my eyes and stroking my hair felt dreamlike. It was like I was floating in the middle of the ocean, then slowly sinking down. Yes, to be honest, it felt good.
But I couldn't stay like this forever. She needed to sleep too. So, just as I was about to open my eyes to tell her that was enough, I regained a bit of consciousness and felt a strange sensation around my head. I gently opened my eyes, but my vision was extremely blurry.
Startled, I blinked repeatedly. With each blink, my blurry vision returned to normal. Finally, when my sight was fully restored, I gasped.
“Hayeon?”
I called her name, but no answer came back. No, in the first place, I couldn't see Hayeon's face above me. I shot up and looked around, the blanket that had been covering me sliding down.
I felt extremely bewildered, but I calmed myself and slowly scanned my surroundings again. The moment my gaze landed on the window, I could see bright sunlight streaming in.
“……”
No way… Did I… actually fall asleep?