The Witch in the Sleeping Forest (End)

Saaah—

The surrounding scenery crumbled into powder and vanished.

A space engulfed in darkness, with no distinction between up, down, left, or right.

All that remained within it were me and Gini.

She didn't turn to look at me.

Her gaze was fixed solely on the spot where Revil had turned to powder and disappeared.

"……The original me would have thrown those potatoes into the stew without knowing anything."

After that, everyone in the merchant group ate the stew laced with the toxic potatoes.

In the end, they all succumbed to the horrific poison and died.

Gini died too.

But at that moment—

"The spirits around me saved me as I was dying."

She had a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠natural talent for spiritism, so various spirits lingered by her side from the start.

She'd talked to them diligently and tried to touch them, but she still couldn't see them.

Then one day, the child watching over the poison died.

The pure spirits sacrificed themselves to save Gini.

In the end, Gini awakened her spirit eyes, allowing her to see spirits, and became the sole survivor among those poisoned.

"When I woke up, everyone was dead."

Everyone around her had died.

Gini's mind shattered at the realization, leaving her unable to think rationally.

That's why she didn't notice.

The culprit, Revil, had pretended to be dead in surprise upon seeing Gini open her eyes.

"All I could think about was burying the dead according to the merchant group's rules."

The fairy merchant group's rule.

The dead must always be buried in sunny places, to be remembered forever.

So Gini dug the earth with her bare hands until her nails fell out, just to follow that rule.

She dug and dug and dug some more.

And buried the dead in the ground.

"That's when a passing knight spotted me by chance."

Everyone dead, and she was the only survivor.

The knight judged her to be the culprit and drew his sword on her.

Still in shock, Gini couldn't even make excuses. She backed away in fear from the blade glinting in the moonlight.

And in doing so, she knocked over the cauldron, spilling its scalding contents onto Revil's face.

"Thanks to Revil screaming then, I escaped the knight's pursuit. And after that, I became known as a witch and got wanted posters everywhere."

"……."

"That's my story. The past I went through."

With that, Gini collapsed to the floor.

Though she'd changed from a nine-year-old girl to a nineteen-year-old, her trembling back was still small.

I extended my hand to her.

"Let's go back, Gini. It's time to wake from this nightmare."

"……No."

"Why? You like this dream or something?"

"How could I?! I…… I'm a sinner. I can't go."

Gini screamed, her voice thick with resentment.

I sat quietly beside her and spoke.

"The real culprit behind everything was Revil, not you. But you still think you're the sinner?"

"……."

Gini hung her head at my words.

From her reaction, she already knew.

Even so, the reason she kept dreaming this wasn't just guilt over her sins.

"You looked really happy in the dream."

The reason she dreamed this was simply—

She couldn't let go of those happy memories, even with the painful ending.

It was a form of self-torture.

By repeating the same dream, she wasn't tormented by guilt over sins, but by the survivor's guilt of being the only one left alive.

I scratched my head hard and looked up at the darkness-shrouded space.

"Not that it's comparable to yours, but I went through something big when I was nine too."

"……."

"Separated from my family, forced to live alone in a strange place, always watching my step."

"……Family?"

"Yeah, family. Not blood-related, of course."

I sometimes still had those memories pop up in dreams.

The memory of the orphanage being forcibly demolished was too horrific to relive.

But the happy ones were so vivid, the dreams were bitterly sweet.

That's why, until I became an adult, I hated those dreams but craved them again.

Dreams made for a surprisingly good escape.

"……Until you became an adult?"

"Yeah. Until then."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

But after becoming an adult, I didn't want them anymore.

I stopped dreaming them.

Because I had a better escape: my hyung and the construction crew family.

My body ached, but time with them was fun.

So dreams couldn't serve as an escape anymore.

"You just haven't found your escape yet, huh?"

"……."

"Then let's go find one. It's easier than you think."

Gini blankly turned to look at me.

"It'll be tough at first, but surprisingly, all sorts of things can become escapes."

Chatting with someone.

The breakfast you ate today.

Your favorite hobby.

The scenery you take in leisurely.

Those little things can become escapes.

"If you can't find one, I'll be your escape until you do."

So, come on.

"Wake up."

From this damn nightmare.

Gini trembled violently as she stared at my outstretched hand.

Can I really wake from this nightmare?

Will harsh reality torment me again?

Me, who should have died back then.

Me, the sinner who survived alone.

Can I really find a new escape?

I don't know.

It's just scary.

But.

"……Okay."

She decided to take the hand.

If it's someone who's walked the same path before.

Even if she gets lost or struggles, he can set her straight.

With him, she feels like she can fully escape this nightmare.

I grinned widely at Gini, who reached out despite her fear.

I stood, stretching long, and glanced behind me.

"Alright, so you there."

I called out to the dark void.

From earlier.

Someone—or something—had been watching us.

"Yeah, you."

I stared straight into the emptiness.

No use hiding.

Because.

"Stop watching and show yourself."

I've already caught you.

If you wanted to hide your presence, you should have hidden the ma gi too.

I smirked, looking into the void.

The synchronization rate surged.

The darkness churned.

My heart pounded like it would burst.

An overwhelming pressure made it hard to keep my eyes open.

A crushing intimidation made breathing difficult.

The mana forming the space rocked like raging waves.

Then the darkness split in two.

Beyond the cleaved darkness emerged a massive pair of eyes.

Red ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pupils glowing in the shadows fixed on me and Gini.

The eyes were so overwhelmingly huge that just meeting them felt like my shoulders were being crushed.

Instinct screamed to kneel before the monster.

I gritted my teeth and forced strength into my trembling legs.

"Who are you, watching someone else's dream without permission this whole time?"

—…….

"Oh, permission not needed?"

I chuckled and pointed at the eyes' owner.

"Let's talk outside, Darkness Spirit King."

The culprit who suddenly plunged Gini into this nightmare.

A being even Omen, a high darkness spirit, hadn't noticed.

The ruler of the forest called Darkness, the pinnacle of darkness spirits.

The owner of those red eyes, the Darkness Spirit King, narrowed them at me in a smile.

—I'll be waiting.

With that cracking voice echoing in my head as the last thing—

"Hoo……."

I woke from the long sleep.

I sat up, scratching my messy hair, and looked at the bed.

Gini was already awake, staring blankly into space.

"Sleep well, Gini?"

"……Yeah. Really well, I think."

"Remember the dream?"

"……Yes."

She murmured in a tiny voice like an ant crawling, then spread her arms and hugged me tightly.

"……Thank you. For waking me from the nightmare."

I chuckled at her sincere voice and patted her back.

"I…… I was scared of Revil. He always treated me horribly whenever he saw me, and in the end, he pinned all the blame on me."

"Then why call him 'nim' with honorifics?"

"It's…… a habit. If I didn't, he'd whip me for an hour."

Damn.

That bastard just keeps spewing evil even after death.

No way to revive the dead to kill him again?

I'm seriously pissed he died like that.

"The ingrained fear kept me from rebelling. Same in reality and the dream."

But then.

A figure appeared in the dream who eased that fear a little.

He completely twisted the nightmare she'd repeated thousands of times, turning painful moments painless.

Thanks to him, Gini subconsciously noticed the oddity and regained her sense of self in the dream.

"Revil…… is he dead?"

"Yeah. That fucker's already gone."

"……Thank you. Really, truly."

Gini released the hug and flashed me the purest smile in the world.

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Tears clinging to her eyes, her expression was priceless, irreplaceable.

She beamed at me, then got off the bed and reached into the air.

"Omen. I'm awake. Where are you?"

A faint ring of mana flowed from her fingertips.

I gaped at it.

"What's that?"

"Oh, this? It's proof of a spirit contract. This link means the contract's complete."

Got it.

I nodded and turned to the closed door.

Gotta tell Elpinire we succeeded in waking Gini.

I turned the knob but froze, speechless.

Of course.

There stood a wrecked Elpinire, sleeping soundly with a tired face.

What the hell is this now?

I quietly stepped out of the room and looked outside the cabin.

Trees were uprooted everywhere, roots exposed like a typhoon had hit.

"Who goes there."

A chill at my nape.

I raised both hands above my head.

"It's me, Elpinire."

"Oh, Master."

Elpinire withdrew the hand she'd placed at my nape.

She sighed deeply, her face exhausted.

"You're back, so it worked?"

"As you see."

I pointed at Gini's room.

Elpinire followed my finger, saw Gini standing awkwardly, and sighed in relief.

"Good it succeeded……."

"So, what happened here?"

Elpinire shook her head with a weary expression.

"I don't know. Suddenly, weird things started popping out of the darkness."

"Weird things?"

"Yeah. Unidentifiable bat-like things kept coming at me."

She frowned in pain, clenched her fist, and leaped outside.

Then she swung her fist full force at the air.

I tilted my head watching her.

"What was that?"

"What else? Knocking away the flying bats."

"……Bats?"

Nothing there?

I see nothing.

But Elpinire kept punching the air like bats were really there.

Every swing toppled nearby trees and plants, dealing massive damage.

"……."

Something's off.

Elpinire would never harm trees or plants.

Yet now, she ignored it completely, focused on invisible bats.

"……Illusions."

"Illusions?"

Gini, who had come out of the room, gave Elpinire a wry smile.

She nodded at the question, clenching her fist so hard her knuckles whitened.

"The Darkness Spirit King cast a vicious hallucination on Lady Elpinire."

She sees things that don't exist.

Hears sounds that aren't there.

Under the Darkness Spirit King's hallucination, Elpinire had been fighting invisible enemies while we slept.

I looked toward the darkness outside at Gini's words.

"Finally get why this tower's called the Illusion Tower."

Darkness, illusions, hallucinations.

The great being that commands them all.

The Darkness Spirit King, Darknis.

He's finally starting to reveal himself.

In reality too.