Chapter 22: The City of Traps.
Chapter 22: The City of Traps.
After a brief reunion, all of us, myself included, gathered in the central living room. Ahn Sol was nowhere to be seen, but the faint sound of breathing from the next room suggested she was still unconscious.
An inexplicable, anxious energy filled the living room. It felt like the calm before the storm. It seemed I had returned at a very bad time.
I hadn't expected a tearful reunion, but I certainly hadn't imagined it would be in an atmosphere like this. I felt a sense of discomfort. I could see Ahn Hyun's awkward expression, and Lee Yoojung and Kim Hanbyul were glaring at each other, seething. It looked like a disagreement had blown up into a full-blown conflict. I had faintly heard Kim Hanbyul shouting right before I came in, but I figured I'd find out the details later.
An awkward silence hung in the air for a while before Ahn Hyun, looking drained, was the first to speak.
“Soohyun-hyung. I don’t even know where to begin. Thank you for helping us escape the forest. And I’m truly sorry we left without waiting for you. I know anything I say will sound like an excuse, but I had to tell you this.”
Watching Ahn Hyun bow his head to me, I smiled inwardly. He stood tall when he should, but he also knew when to yield. His True Neutral disposition had made me somewhat uneasy, but fortunately, he did not seem completely ill-mannered. I shook my head at his courteous apology and answered in a gentle, reassuring voice.
“When I saw you were all gone… I’ll admit, I was a little taken aback at first.”
“I’m sorry. I have no excuse.”
“You don’t have to keep apologizing. I’m sure you had your reasons. But I don’t see your sister.”
“Ah… about that…”
“Hey, Ahn Hyun. Wait. I’ll explain. That’s okay, right, Oppa?”
Lee Yoojung cut Ahn Hyun off just as he began to speak. Seeing that she had already dropped formal speech with me, I thought she certainly knew how to get close to people. I would have preferred to hear from the usually calm Kim Hanbyul, but her furrowed brow showed that she was in a foul mood, so I merely nodded.
“So, after you led those things into the forest, Oppa…”
After confirming Ahn Hyun’s agreement, Lee Yoojung shot a glare at Kim Hanbyul and began her explanation. Her explanation was lacking in many details, but it was simple and to the point. Since I already had a general idea of what had happened, there was nothing I needed to ask for clarification on. Except…
“You’re saying something like a ghost appeared out of thin air?”
“Yeah. But now that I think about it, calling it a ghost feels a little off. It wasn’t completely transparent, if that makes sense. I could make out a vague winged shape and see the path it took as it moved. But no matter how many times Hyun slashed it, it would not go down.”
This part required more detail, so I turned my head, and Ahn Hyun closed his eyes. He seemed to be recalling that moment. He tilted his head for a second before slowly opening his mouth.
“It was just like Yoojung said. I slashed with all my strength, but it felt as if I were cutting through empty air.”
Cutting through empty air. A visible but not perfectly transparent form. It had wings. Putting the three conditions together, a memory flashed through my mind.
A Wraith.
Hearing about a translucent form with wings, I immediately thought of a Wraith. Wraiths were monsters that could not be harmed by physical attacks. They inflicted mental agony by passing through a person’s body. Since Ahn Hyun had endured more than ten such attacks, their power must have been adjusted for the Rite of Passage.
As I listened, one question arose. At the moment, the party had no conventional way to defeat a Wraith. How had they escaped? I decided to bring up Ahn Sol while finding out.
“So, are they the reason your sister got hurt?”
Ahn Hyun slowly shook his head at my question. And as he continued his story, I couldn't hide my astonishment. He said the Wraiths, seeing that his resistance was the fiercest, had focused their attacks on him. Naturally, Ahn Hyun was in agony, and eventually, unable to bear the pain, he dropped his sword and shield. In that desperate moment, the one who saved him was Ahn Sol.
I asked for more details, but even Ahn Hyun couldn't explain that part well. Lee Yoojung and Kim Hanbyul also shook their heads. All they could say was that Ahn Sol had screamed, and then a white light flashed from her entire body, and the things attacking them were all gone. Immediately after, Ahn Sol lost consciousness and collapsed. And she hadn't woken up since.
After hearing their whole story, I nodded. Ahn Hyun remained silent for a moment before turning to me with a worried expression.
“Hyung… Sol will be okay, right? She’ll wake up, won’t she?”
“What’s her physical condition?”
“Her breathing is steady, and her pulse is normal. But sometimes her face twists as if she’s in pain. She lets out a moan every now and then, too.”
Magic Power Overdrive. Could Ahn Sol already have manifested her Magic Power? It was hard to believe, but I soon decided it was possible. I had suffered greatly at the beginning because my Magic Power stat had been low. Even after entering the Hall Plain, it had taken me some time to produce Sword Aura.
Ahn Sol, however, had started with 75 points in Magic Power, so her case could have been different. The unconscious mind was a field that could not truly be researched, and there might have been something I did not know. One thing was certain: her untrained body would have struggled to handle 75 points of Magic Power. The degree could vary, but unless she had pushed herself far beyond her limits, I should have been able to help.
“I’ll have to take a look myself, but it doesn’t seem like a major problem. Don’t worry too much.”
“Th-Then, could you now…”
Ahn Hyun’s urgent request made me think he really did not know when to stop. Just as I was about to rise, a soft hand closed around my left wrist. I turned toward the yielding touch and found Lee Yoojung pouting at me.
“Hey, Ahn Hyun. Is that really something you should ask Oppa right after he got back? Oppa, aren’t you hungry?”
“Huh? I’m fine. Let me check on Ahn Sol first…”
“We’ve already been taking turns watching her. You’re not a doctor, so you can check on her later, right? You’ve heard our story, so now you tell us yours. I’ll go make a quick snack, so you can eat while you talk. Okay?”
Why is she acting like this today? Her proactive attitude was a little strange, different from before, but I wasn't upset that she was looking out for me. At Lee Yoojung’s words, the atmosphere seemed to lighten, and Ahn Hyun gave a slightly sheepish smile and nodded.
“Here, have this water. I had a little earlier and saved the rest.”
“Huh? Ah, thank you.”
Kim Hanbyul pulled out a bottle of water and offered it to me. I reached for it without thinking, but Lee Yoojung immediately knocked it back toward her. While I stared in bewilderment, Kim Hanbyul’s sharp voice rang out.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Are you giving him something you already drank from? I’m going to give Oppa a new one. You drink that.”
“What are you two…”
Before I could finish, Lee Yoojung sprang up and walked into the kitchen.
Soon I heard rustling followed by the clatter of dishes; she really did seem to be making something. I looked back at Ahn Hyun and Kim Hanbyul with an awkward feeling. Ahn Hyun wore an uncomfortable expression, while Kim Hanbyul stared coldly at the floor. The situation was unexpected, but I cleared my throat and quickly changed the subject.
“Have the rest of you eaten?”
“…Yes, hyung. We ate first. We were so hungry… haha.”
“No, that’s fine. You did the right thing. It’s not like you knew when I’d be back… waiting indefinitely would have been foolish.”
As I answered Ahn Hyun, who was scratching his head apologetically, a fresh bottle of water landed in front of me. Lee Yoojung had already finished and set down a plate with surprising care, making me wonder if this was really the woman I knew. It held what looked like tuna crackers—canned tuna spread over cracker-like biscuits—and it was obvious she had tried to make them presentable. She even opened the water for me before speaking in an artificially cheerful voice.
“Ta-da! Presenting the special crackers made by the one and only Lee Yoojung!”
“Oh, that looks delicious. Let me have a bite… Ouch!”
Seeing Ahn Hyun gulp and quickly reach for a cracker, Lee Yoojung blocked him with lightning-fast speed. Ahn Hyun rubbed the red mark on his hand with a disgruntled look, but after seeing Lee Yoojung’s glare, he muttered under his breath and withdrew his hand.
“So cheap. Getting stingy over food.”
“I made these for Oppa, so why are you trying to eat them? And where did you learn the bad habit of reaching for food before he’s even had a bite?”
“Tch.”
“Oppa, try one. I guarantee they’re good.”
“Uh, huh? Okay. Thanks. I’ll enjoy them.”
Ahn Hyun continued to grumble while Lee Yoojung turned away with a huff, and I could not help laughing. I picked up a cracker and popped it into my mouth. The taste of cheap tuna and biscuits spread across my tongue. It was hardly a delicacy, but it was decent enough. I was in no position to be picky, so I chewed it carefully.
Thankfully, the atmosphere had lightened up considerably. As I reached for another cracker, the stares became too much to bear, and I felt I had to say something quickly. Of course, I couldn't tell them I had wiped out over twenty Deadmen, so I planned to embellish the story a bit. After complimenting Lee Yoojung on the crackers, I began to tell them the story of how I had lured the monsters in the forest.
“Hyung, so you almost got bitten back then?”
“I was running between the trees, weaving in an S-pattern as best I could. I never expected one to pop out right next to me as I passed a tree. If my left hand had been just a little further to the side, I would’ve been bitten for sure. Just thinking about it still gives me the chills.”
“Whoa… So we really almost never saw Oppa again.”
“Heh heh. Hyung, you should have seen Yoojung before you arrived. She grabbed a sword out of nowhere and made a huge scene, insisting we had to rescue Oppa because he might still be waiting for us.”
“You wanna die? I wasn't that over-the-top.”
“See? You admit it. That means you did do it.”
“You’re really asking for it!”
Watching the two of them bicker playfully, with Ahn Hyun chuckling, I felt a sense of relief. Just as I was about to let out a sigh of relief at the relaxed atmosphere, my eyes fell on Kim Hanbyul’s cold, hardened face. The way she stared at us with a frigid expression, so different from before, made me feel as if a sliver of icy air had pierced a corner of my heart.
I had wanted to think it was nothing, but I had a gut feeling that I couldn't just brush off what Kim Hanbyul had shouted earlier. I decided I would talk to Ahn Hyun privately as soon as this was over.