Chapter 216: Omen
Chapter 216: Omen
“Sol.”
“Yes?”
“There’s something I want to ask you, Sol.”
“Uhm? What is it? What are you curious about?”
It was as if I could see question marks floating above Ahn Sol’s head. She stared at me with bright, sparkling eyes, and I met her gaze with a gentle one of my own. We simply looked at each other for a moment, and just as Sol’s face began to blush red, I spoke.
“Do you remember what you told me in front of the Warp Gate back then?”
“Huh? Y-yes….”
“Then how about now? Are you still anxious?”
Ahn Sol silently nodded, then spoke with a dejected look.
“Still… you believed me, Orabeoni, and told me not to worry. If I keep acting like that, I feel like I’m only making you worry for no reason….”
Watching Ahn Sol string her words together hesitantly, I felt a surge of warmth inside. So this is why fathers dote on their daughters so much. Feeling pleased, I reached out and gently stroked her head. Ahn Sol gave a bashful smile.
“That’s right. I’ll always believe you, Sol. In fact, trusting our little lucky charm has helped me out a lot so far.”
“Hehe. N-no, that’s not true. I feel like I’m always causing trouble….”
“Trouble? Not at all. Anyway, that’s why I want your help this time, too.”
“Huh? My help?”
Ahn Sol’s eyes widened. I nodded once and put on a serious expression. She wouldn’t understand if I just cut to the chase, so I needed to explain things calmly, one step at a time. (This was a method of conversation I’d learned back when I raised her Luck to 101.)
“Things at the Academy haven’t been going as smoothly as I’d like lately.”
“Eh….”
“I have a feeling you might be able to solve this frustrating problem for me.”
“B-but… I don’t know anything about the Academy’s affairs…. And how could I possibly….”
“Haha. Did you think I was going to ask you to help with my instructor duties? What I need help with is something else. And the task itself is very simple.”
Perhaps misinterpreting my words, Ahn Sol shook her head and hands, showing her anxiety. I let out a small laugh and reassured her that it wasn’t a difficult task. When I added that she was the only one who could help, she finally seemed to calm down a little.
After comforting her for a moment, I stood up. She followed suit, tilting her head with a puzzled expression. My sudden, complete trust seemed to be a burden, and she looked generally unconfident. She had definitely come here to make sure I wouldn’t have any regrets, but now that I’d set the stage for her, she was hesitating.
This seems a bit strange to be a simple misunderstanding. Maybe she thought that if she just came here, I would somehow take care of everything for her?
Ahn Sol was the type to be swayed by the atmosphere. Rather than pressuring her, it was a hundred times more beneficial to gently coax her and guide her into using her ability. In that case, I first needed to help her feel less burdened. So, I put on a slightly playful expression and made a joke.
“Don’t worry. Just do as Oppa says.”
“Ah~. As you say? Okay. I don’t really get it, but… I just have to trust Orabeoni, right?”
“Of course. You trust Oppa, right?”
I was about to make the joke, “I’ll just hold your hand and sleep,” to lighten the mood further, but I decided against it after seeing the fervent look in Ahn Sol’s eyes. She then nodded emphatically, showing her agreement. All that was left was to test Ahn Sol’s luck ability. I was quite curious to see in what form she would resolve my frustrations. What kind of answer would she bring me after activating her ability?
With a fluttering heart, I left the Easter Egg.
*
Many thoughts crossed my mind, but the first plan was to let Ahn Sol do as she pleased. I urged her to cast aside all her anxieties, and we walked to the front of the main building.
“Alright. Try going wherever you want to go.”
“Huh? Wherever I want to go?”
“That’s right. You don’t have to think about anything else for now. Imagine you’ve come to the zoo for fun. There must be lots of places you’d want to see, right? Just follow your heart to the place that calls to you the most. Don’t be anxious.”
“Uhm….”
One of Ahn Sol’s strengths was that she followed my instructions quite well. She tilted her head for a moment, then, as if something had just occurred to her, she began to walk with vigor. Wondering if her intuition had already kicked in, I followed her in amazement.
The first time we went to the Easter Egg, she had looked around in wonder, but this time, she didn’t even glance at her surroundings. It meant there was truly a place her heart was leading her to. Suppressing my pounding heart, I continued to follow Ahn Sol.
But that excitement didn’t last long. The further we went, the more familiar the scenery became, and the more I saw, the more anxious I felt. This was definitely the path I always walked after waking up in the morning….
“Orabeoni, Orabeoniii. I-I want to go in there.”
Finally, Ahn Sol seemed to have reached her destination. She pointed in one direction and whined playfully. The moment my eyes followed her finger, I was utterly aghast.
“S-Sol. You can’t go in here.”
“Uhm? Why not?”
“You just can’t. If you go in, a scary man will come and scold you, yelling ‘Hey!’ So come here, quickly.”
“N-no. I wanna go in.”
The place she had stopped was none other than my private instructor’s quarters. I quickly used Sensing to check inside, and thankfully, it didn’t pick up anything. However, since Kim Hanbyul also lived there, the room was filled with her belongings. Not to mention the two beds pushed right next to each other. Though she could be dense, Ahn Sol was still a woman by nature. It was obvious that unless she was a complete fool, she would notice.
Seeing my reaction, Ahn Sol narrowed her eyes and darted forward with surprising agility. But I didn’t just stand there. Given the huge difference in our Agility stats, her attempt was futile. I caught the scurrying Ahn Sol by the waist and lifted her up. She flailed her arms and legs in midair, apparently determined to get inside no matter what.
“I’m going in! I’m going in!”
“Now, now. Be a good girl. Listen to Oppa.”
“Waaah. Why won’t you let me in~?”
Ahn Sol puffed out her cheeks and looked up at me with a pout. I could feel cold sweat trickling down my back. It was true I’d told her to go wherever she wanted, but this place was off-limits. Confirming that her luck ability truly worked in unpredictable ways, I soothed the constantly grumbling Sol.
In the end, we quickly returned to the front of the main building.
“Sol. Let’s try something a little different this time.”
“Eh, different?”
“Yes. Do you remember when we were exploring outside the city? You pointed the way for us in the Blue Mountain Range, remember?”
“Yes.”
“Good. You remember what I said earlier, right? This time, I want you to go with those words in mind.”
“Okay. Then… huh?”
It happened then. Ahn Sol didn’t finish her reply, instead letting out a questioning sound—the kind of sound someone makes when they realize something is wrong. She soon frowned, and her frown quickly turned into a look of urgency. Just as I was wondering what was wrong with her, Ahn Sol began to walk at a rapid pace.
This time, Ahn Sol started down a staircase that led off to the side. I hurried after her, trying to guess where she was headed. There were several buildings, but one thing was certain: it seemed she was done with the main building.
Whatever was making her rush, Ahn Sol didn’t say a word for a while, focusing only on walking.
As we followed a path to the left, I could see a few New Users gathered together, snickering. There were others chatting in small groups, and one User was even lying on a flat rock, taking a nap. Although they had been given a day of rest, the sight made me frown automatically.
I considered reining them in for a moment but quickly gave up on the idea. For some reason, Ahn Sol seemed to be in a hurry, and in the distance, I could see an instructor surrounded by New Users, laughing along with them.
If I were being generous and tried to see it in a positive light, I could praise the fact that they could laugh like that after only two weeks. But the atmosphere felt so lax compared to before that it seemed alien to me.
As we walked past them, several buildings came into view. This area had quite a few annex buildings clustered together, with many narrow, branching paths.
I hadn’t noticed before since I was just following her, but the moment I saw Ahn Sol’s profile, I gasped. I don’t know when it had changed, but the dazed look from before had vanished from her face.
She was completely immersed in something. I didn’t know what it was, but I felt like she was slowly sinking deeper into that state of immersion. And at the moment it seemed to peak, Ahn Sol stopped walking again. I quickly spoke to her.
“Sol. What’s wrong all of a sudden?”
“I’m sorry, Orabeoni.”
“Sorry? What do you mean?”
“I don’t know either. I just keep feeling this sense of urgency. Like I should have gone faster…. I just keep getting that feeling.”
Ahn Sol’s reply was quick and sharp. Thinking this was my chance, I studied her face closely. It wasn’t her usual innocent and pure look. Her eyes were narrowed, and she was glaring at her surroundings as if something displeased her. Then, without a word, she reached for the hem of my clothes.
I wanted to avoid her touch. I preferred to observe her without her holding onto me. But just as I was about to twist away, an unidentifiable sense of unease washed over me. I couldn’t tell what it was. I suddenly wondered if that unknown energy Ko Yeonju had mentioned was seeping into me. In the end, I let her grab my clothes, and only then did Ahn Sol let out a satisfied hum.
After looking around at the buildings for a moment as if scouting the area, she led me in one direction.
“……”
The building she was aiming for slowly came into view. It wasn’t the building itself she was heading for. To be precise, she was entering a path that ran between the buildings. Accordingly, I began to grow tense.
I had a general knowledge of the User Academy, but I couldn’t say I knew every nook and cranny. Setting aside the fact that I had no connection to it in the first playthrough, the grounds were vast and there were quite a few buildings. Moreover, the place Sol was leading me to now was a maze-like area of narrow paths between tightly packed buildings. Little by little, Ahn Sol was leading me into a more secluded area.
How long did we walk? It wasn’t just buildings along the way. There were container-like warehouses in the narrow gaps and places where heavy-looking boxes were stacked. If this were the modern world, it would have been the perfect place to hide while skipping class.
Ahn Sol stopped once more. And before her, the path split into four. It was hard to call it a proper four-way intersection, but there were paths leading forward, back, left, and right. At that, she let go of my clothes and bit her lip firmly. At a glance, she looked deeply troubled.
“Ugh.”
After pondering for a while, Sol turned her head toward me. How should I put it? It was as if she were on edge. Of course, her soft features and expression gave her an overall benevolent air, but she exuded an unapproachable aura. Yes. It was similar to the feeling I got from the awakened Holy Queen Yoo Hyuna.
After glancing back and forth between the paths, she raised both hands and pointed to the left and forward. Then, she spoke in a quiet voice.
“From here, I think it would be better if Orabeoni chose.”
I was momentarily stunned by her words. She wanted me to choose? But I quickly came to my senses and began to ask questions, one by one.
“What do you mean, choose?”
At my question, Ahn Sol quickly raised her hands again, pointing to the left and forward paths. She answered in a low voice.
“Strangely, I can’t choose here. I feel like I want to go both ways, but I think I have to choose just one. So please, Orabeoni, hurry and pick one.”