Chapter 465: Another War Has Already Begun.
Chapter 465: Another War Has Already Begun.
The night was deep.
The sky was painted a dark, inky black, but the faint light of the full moon brightly illuminated the area around our campsite.
Chirp. Chirp.
Crack! Crackle!
The low chirping of insects, the sound of sparks flying from the campfire. I listened to the sounds for a moment, then took the cigarette from my lips and flicked it toward the fire. I heard something sizzle as it was consumed by the flames.
My gaze remained fixed on the sky. It wasn’t that I was trying to soak in the tranquil atmosphere of the desert. It was just that the countless stars embroidering the night sky were breathtakingly beautiful, and staring at them like this seemed to calm my mind.
After watching the sky for some time, I slowly felt around beside me. My fingers brushed against the rough texture of a document. I picked it up and saw a map, one side of it glowing red in the firelight. I quickly scanned it.
There were several routes to the Sleeping Dragon Mountains. We had chosen the path that led through the Red Desert, the Magnetic Wasteland, and a cloying swamp before entering the mountains.
The way back was the same.
Our current campsite was located in the Red Desert. It had taken us a week to leave the Sleeping Dragon Mountains, and another three weeks to reach this point. In other words, we were not far from the city.
“Oppa? Are you not sleeping?”
Just then, as I lay in the desert looking at the map, Hanbyul’s voice suddenly reached me. I had just finished estimating the remaining distance, so I calmly folded the map and tucked it away. When I did, Hanbyul’s face appeared, partially blocking my view of the sky.
“Yeah. I should get to sleep.”
I immediately sat up. But as I was about to stand, a fleeting thought made me frown.
I turned my gaze toward her, and I saw Hanbyul flinch and take a few steps back.
“What about you? Aren’t you sleeping? I thought Vivian and Cha Sorim were on the first watch tonight.”
“…I decided to switch with Sorim-unni.”
“Again? You were supposed to be on the last watch with me today. Why did you switch again?”
“Just… because….”
Hanbyul answered in a voice that trailed off. The way she spoke suggested she had a guilty conscience. But I didn’t feel like pressing the issue, so I just sighed and finished getting to my feet.
To be fair, Hanbyul hadn’t done anything wrong. She had used her precious opportunity to partially resolve my stamina issue. For that, I was endlessly grateful.
That was why I wanted to talk to her, just the two of us. I wanted to express my sincere gratitude and ask her why she had made such a wish. Yes, that was all I wanted.
But it seemed Hanbyul didn't feel the same. She treated me normally for the most part, but whenever I brought up the wish, she would invariably find a way to avoid the topic.
Wondering if she was worried about other clan members overhearing, I had even changed the night watch to two-person teams and assigned her to the same shift as me, creating an opportunity for us to talk alone.
But Hanbyul had avoided me by secretly switching her shift. It wasn’t just once or twice; it had been happening continuously ever since we left the mountain range.
Of course, it wasn’t as if we hadn’t spoken at all. I had lost my patience at one point and forced her to talk about the wish.
But that one conversation had ended with little to show for it.
I think I said everything I wanted to say.
Thanks to her, a new option had appeared for Eve’s Bloodline. This option was far safer and more efficient than the other uncertain ones. It created the potential to raise my Stamina stat in my Player Status, and I was incredibly thankful for it.
But Hanbyul’s reaction had been truly ambiguous. She seemed to understand my gratitude well enough, but she wouldn’t say a single word about what she and Ganesha had discussed.
At this point, I had more or less given up. With her insisting on her silence, my hands were tied. Besides, I had promised in the first place that I wouldn’t ask about the wish, so I couldn’t exactly force the issue.
The reason I tried to arrange a talk tonight was because I thought it might be the last chance.
Once we returned to the city, I would be so busy I wouldn’t have time to breathe. There were more than a few major issues that required my attention, too many to list.
As such, I wanted to confirm Hanbyul’s true feelings one last time, but it seemed our relationship hadn’t developed to the point where she could open up to me yet.
Suddenly feeling stiff, I stretched with all my might. Then, I found myself smiling bitterly. I’d always thought I was good at reading women, but at times like this, I felt I didn’t understand them at all.
After lowering my raised arms, I spoke quietly.
“Jeez… it’s really hard to have one conversation with you.”
“O-Oppa. It’s not like that…”
“It’s fine. I’ll just assume you have your reasons. Anyway, I’m going now… When you’ve sorted out your thoughts, let’s talk then.”
“…Okay.”
With Hanbyul’s small voice as a final reply, I turned and walked away calmly.
As I was slowly leaving the campsite, I saw Vivian walking out with a yawn, apparently getting ready for the first watch. She was patting her mouth when her eyes met mine, and they widened in surprise.
“Huh? Soohyun? Ooh… munya munya. Are you on the first watch tonight too?”
“…No. I’m on the last watch. I’m about to go to sleep.”
“Aha… Then why are you heading this way? The sleeping bags are over there.”
“I have some business to take care of before bed.”
Vivian, who had been pointing to the right, yawned widely again and nodded. She seemed to have interpreted ‘business’ as a call of nature.
But she was wrong. I wasn’t going to relieve myself; I was going to take care of some business.
After giving her a stern warning not to fall asleep, I left the boastfully confident Vivian and walked out of the campsite.
On the journey from the Sleeping Dragon Mountains to the Red Desert, I believe I’ve grasped the situation as best I can for now.
But that was limited to what I could do at the moment, which was arranging a three-way confrontation between Hangyul and the awakened clients. The result was not much different from my initial thoughts.
Still, it wasn’t a total lack of progress. I had learned one new fact: the identity of the User who paid Kim Sujeong’s commission fee.
Her name was Song Heeseon. In the modern world, she was an actress who came to the Hall Plain two years ago. She was attractive, but her stats were nothing special. However, after completing the User Academy, Song Heeseon received an offer from a clan belonging to the Southern Free Alliance. The Clan Lord of that clan was an acquaintance of hers; they had both been actors in the modern world.
“This should be far enough.”
By now, I had put some distance between myself and the campsite. I glanced back at the reddish glow of the fire in the distance, then reached into my coat. My fingers touched something small and round. I decided to stop thinking for now and pulled out the sphere.
It was a communication crystal. But unlike other crystals that shone with a glossy light, the one in my hand had a dark, murky sheen.
I stared at it for a moment, then looked up at the sky. It was late, but the people I was about to contact weren’t the type to care about day or night. They were, shall we say, those who operated in the shadows of the Hall Plain.
I had given Ko Yeonju instructions before entering the Sleeping Dragon Mountains, but I couldn’t rely solely on her. Once I returned to the city, I had my own plans to set in motion, and this was the first step.
With that thought, I pushed my magic power into the crystal without hesitation.
Tzzt! Tzzt-tzzt!
The crystal lit up brightly and began to emit a grating noise. As expected, it didn’t take long for the static to fade and for someone’s image to abruptly appear.
But the crystal remained pitch black. This meant the User who had appeared was also cloaked entirely in black.
“It’s been a while.”
(…I never expected to receive a call from the Mercenary Lord.)
The voice was low, but its tone was incredibly rough, like scraping metal.
In any case, I could confirm that the call had been received, so I continued speaking nonchalantly.
“Why? Is there a law that says I can’t call you?”
(That’s not what I meant. I meant that there’s no need for us to contact each other anymore. Wasn’t our relationship with the Mercenary Lord settled when we released the Shadow Queen?)
Settled when they released the Shadow Queen, he says. I recalled the incident from a year ago. I smirked and shook my head.
“No, no. Ko Yeonju left of her own accord three years ago. Am I wrong? And… don’t you guys owe me a life debt?”
(A life debt?)
“Yes, a life debt. If I remember correctly… at Ko Yeonju’s request, I spared some of you instead of completely annihilating you all. That’s why we even opened this communication line. The fact that you still have it…”
(Hah. You call that massacre a debt…? And I believe the debt the Mercenary Lord speaks of has already been repaid, so I have nothing more to say. I will dispose of this crystal as of today. Now, if you’ll excuse me…)
As the man cut me off, I suddenly felt my mood sink.
Just before he could end the transmission, I spoke quietly.
“If you hang up…”
(……?)
“…you die.”
(…….)
The black-clad man in the crystal froze, his mouth snapping shut.
A heavy silence followed.
The man didn’t speak, but I could tell from the slight distortion of the image that he was biting his lip.
I stared intently at him and continued slowly.
“No matter how well you hide, I don’t think I’ll have any trouble finding you. If you’re that confident, go ahead and hang up.”
And then.
(…What do you want?)
At the man’s eventual words, I finally allowed myself a faint smile.
*
Deep in the night, near the campsite.
“Boseok. Just listen to me for a second. In my opinion…”
“……”
“Oh, right. By the way, I’m really worried about Ahn Hyun. He still hasn’t woken up… But we’ll be at the city soon, right? Then Kim Soohyun will be returning to the public eye for the first time in ages… What do you think, Boseok? What do you think will happen from now on?”
“……”
Listening to Vivian chatter on, jumping from one topic to another without a pause, Hanbyul felt the urge to clamp her hands over her ears. Her mind was already a complicated mess, and Vivian’s nonstop blabbering made her feel like her head was about to explode.
“Yohohoho! Right? Right? You think so too, don’t you?”
“…Huu.”
Hanbyul let out a soft sigh. She desperately wanted to clamp a hand over those pretty lips, but she had a feeling it wouldn’t stop her. It was probably best for her own sanity to just block her out.
Trying her best to ignore Vivian’s one-sided conversation, Hanbyul slowly sank into her thoughts.
Her thoughts were about the very person who had been troubling her mind and heart lately.
Kim Soohyun.
The Mercenary Lord.
Oppa.
‘Jeez… it’s really hard to have one conversation with you.’
‘I’ll just assume you have your reasons.’
Suddenly recalling Kim Soohyun’s words, Hanbyul buried her face, dejected.
She knew. Hanbyul understood why Kim Soohyun was acting this way, and she was aware that her own actions were not right.
So why did she keep avoiding him?
It was a question Hanbyul had asked herself, one she had pondered throughout the entire journey. It was also a difficult problem to which she had yet to find an answer.
The reason Hanbyul was avoiding Kim Soohyun was actually quite simple.
First, there was an inexplicable desire to keep the exact details of her wish a secret. Second, she hadn’t yet been able to define her feelings for Kim Soohyun.
Hanbyul had made two wishes to Ganesha. In case her first wish wasn’t accepted, she had made a second wish for Ganesha to tell her what her feelings were. She had spoken that wish thinking that only she would ever know about it.
But the situation had taken a strange turn.
Both the first and second wishes had been granted.
However, they weren’t fully granted—only exactly half.
Ganesha had informed Soohyun that Hanbyul had made a wish for his sake. She couldn’t define Hanbyul’s feelings, but she had created a path for her to find the answer herself.
And so, Hanbyul was now conflicted.
She didn’t want to reveal her true feelings, yet she wanted to find an answer to what this inexplicable emotion was.
In any case, it was such a contradictory situation. To make matters worse, Kim Soohyun kept prying, asking what wish she had made, making it impossible for her not to feel conflicted.
And that wasn’t all.
She was curious about how Kim Soohyun would react if she did tell him, and Hanbyul was quite perceptive. She had already noticed how the other women in the Mercenary Clan looked at Kim Soohyun, and what they thought of him.
And it wasn’t just one or two of them. Of course, the Hall Plain was a world where Player Status was highly valued. It wasn’t unheard of for a capable man to have several women, or for a woman to have several men.
In a way, her perspective might not fit this world, but Hanbyul was still a woman who had lived in the modern world. As such, it was uncertain whether she could accept a Kim Soohyun whose affections were directed not only at her but at other women as well.
No, before that, it was uncertain what Kim Soohyun thought of her, and whether she even had the right to squeeze in among the other women. If she had been one of the first, maybe, but as a latecomer, she couldn’t help but feel self-conscious.
Yes. Everything was uncertain.
“Haa… I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know! I! Don’t! Know! You idiot! You fool!”
Unable to bear the endless frustration, Hanbyul shouted and reached for the water bottle beside her. Her chest was simmering with such heat that she felt it would burn to a crisp if she didn’t cool it down somehow.
Hanbyul tilted her head back and gulped down the water. As she lowered the bottle, her eyes met Vivian’s, who had suddenly gone quiet.
Vivian was blinking repeatedly, silently sucking on her finger, a look of anxiety on her face as if she feared she had upset Hanbyul.
Feeling a pang of guilt, Hanbyul wiped the water from her lips and said, “I’m sorry. I wasn’t talking about you, Vivian.”
“Hee… Really? That’s a relief. I was almost hurt.”
“…Want some water?”
“Sure. I was just getting thirsty from all that talking.”
When Hanbyul offered the water bottle, Vivian’s face lit up as she twisted the cap.
Watching Vivian happily drink the water, Hanbyul suddenly felt a pang of envy. Vivian’s always-bright smile made it seem as if she didn’t have a single care in the world.
As she stared, a thought flashed through her mind, and Hanbyul spoke in a low voice.
“Vivian… there’s something I’m curious about.”
“Gulp… Gulp…”
Vivian didn’t answer. No, she couldn’t. She was still drinking water. But she had clearly heard the question, as she glanced at Hanbyul and nodded, gesturing for her to continue.
A moment later, Hanbyul, repeating the words in her head, began to draw letters on the ground. At first, she wrote them facing herself, then quickly erased them and wrote them in the opposite direction so Vivian could read them more easily.
“A, m, o, r. And N, u, n, t, i, o, s…”
“Puha. That was refreshing. What is it? What are you curious about?” Vivian asked, handing the water bottle back. Her voice was slightly excited, seemingly thrilled that Hanbyul had asked a question.
“This.”
Having finished writing, Hanbyul took the bottle and pointed at the ground.
Amor Nuntios.
Because of Hanbyul’s wish, the conditions for Eve’s Bloodline flowing within Kim Soohyun had been updated. This phrase had been written at the very bottom of the updated conditions, a word that had come up when Kim Soohyun was explaining the details.
At the time, neither of them knew what it meant, so they had just shaken their heads, but she had felt a strange inkling and had memorized it. Now, it occurred to her that Vivian might know, so she had asked on a whim.
“Hmm… I can’t see it very well. Hold on.”
Perhaps because it was dark, Vivian tilted her head, leaned as far forward as she could, and placed her hands on the ground. She began to carefully examine the letters drawn in the sand.
Hanbyul waited quietly, gently shaking the water bottle in her hand. She could feel a sloshing at the bottom; there was still a little water left. The thirst in her chest hadn’t been quenched, so to finish off the rest, Hanbyul tilted the bottle to her lips. There was just about one mouthful left.
Just as she filled her mouth with water, Vivian, having read to the end, shot her head up.
“Aha. Amor Nuntios. It’s that. Mm-hm. That’s it. It has a bit of an origin… So, to put it simply.”
Vivian paused for a moment, then smiled triumphantly. Hanbyul, forgetting to even swallow the water, tilted her head in confusion.
“?”
“It means ‘Love Message.’ Or you could see it as ‘Love Messenger’…”
And in that instant, water sprayed violently from Hanbyul’s mouth.
“Pfft!”
“—ger…? Kyaaah!”
“Cough! I’m, I’m sorry…! Cough, cough!”
“Hey!”
Vivian shrieked. She had leaned in close to read the letters, only to get a face full of water. Getting sprayed by a water bottle was bad enough, but getting sprayed by water from someone else’s mouth was infinitely worse.
“But… cough! Does… cough! this… cough! Does Oppa… cough, cough!”
“What! What! Does Oppa what! Ugh, seriously!”
It was then.
While Hanbyul, even while choking, worried if Kim Soohyun knew, and a drenched Vivian was fuming.
“Ugh…”
From one side of the campsite, a choked groan echoed.
The sound came from a User who had, until now, remained unconscious.