Chapter 87
Humans naturally dream when they fall asleep.
Dreams are a phenomenon where the brain, submerged in an unconscious state, randomly releases stored information.
In dreams, people sometimes experience mysterious events they could never have imagined, or they confront past incidents constructed from direct and indirect experiences.
The massive underground structure in Dongye, the fierce enemies encountered in the Seven Stars ruins, and even the bandits who had shuddered at those repulsive acts.
Though jumbled together in a chaotic mess, the dream Haru was having right now was made from fragments of memories stored in his brain, arbitrarily stitched together.
Put another way, everything unfolding in this moment was something Haru had personally experienced in his life.
"The path you've walked until now hasn't been entirely smooth, has it?"
"Now, it seems trials will soon descend upon your one and only companion and those who have no connection to you."
Eper was using his Ineung to observe Haru's dream from a third-person perspective.
"I am truly curious what choice you will make."
Eper swallowed the tea in his mouth with a smooth gulp and continued watching Haru's dream with an intrigued gaze.
"Who the hell are you people…? Ohbong and Ireun?"
The moment the enemies fully emerged from the darkness, I unconsciously spat out someone's name.
And in that instant, their expressions—which had been casually looking our way—froze over.
"How do you know our names, you bastard?"
"…"
They narrowed their eyes, clearly having no idea who I was.
Wait, was this really our first meeting? They looked like they didn't know me at all… so how did I know their names?
This… something was off.
As my growing suspicion swelled into outright doubt about the current situation—
'Whoa, they're really… charging in… just the two of them…?'
'Enough with the pointless chatter. These guys seem to be the last ones, so clean them up quickly and grab only the valuable stuff…'
"Ugh…!"
Sudden, incomprehensible memories crashed into me along with a splitting headache. I collapsed to the floor.
"Hey, hey! What's wrong with you?!"
Teraden, who had been standing in front of me confronting them, couldn't turn his head but shouted loudly, asking about my condition.
He couldn't afford to show his back to the enemy, so that was the best he could do.
"Hmm, looks like you're not feeling well. Perfect. You take care of that guy."
"Got it, boss."
"Don't let your guard down. And if possible, keep him alive. We need to find out how he learned our names."
Having finished their conversation, Ohbong and Ireun immediately charged toward us, weapons raised.
"Tsk, this won't work. I'll handle them both, so you rest for now! Don't stray too far—stick right behind me!"
Teraden stepped forward to shield me, shouting as he took my place.
Because Teraden was at the front, the merciless pincer attack from Ohbong and Ireun was directed solely at him.
Teraden fought the two of them on relatively even ground despite the disadvantage, standing in for me while I was hindered by an inexplicable headache.
But there was only so much he could do against two opponents—especially against Ohbong, who was clearly stronger than him.
Their coordinated assault gradually drove Teraden into a corner.
He desperately blocked their attacks using the power of Hwigwang, but the longer the fight dragged on, the more the tide turned against him.
Teraden had no choice but to stay in the same spot to protect me, constantly on the defensive.
As a result, it didn't take long before he was breathing hard, his exhaustion plain to see.
If things continued like this, it was obvious we'd both be taken down. And if we fell, what came next was all too clear.
The people trapped behind the iron bars, and Maru fighting that familiar woman in the first chamber.
Crackle!
"Ugh…!"
When I tried to slowly straighten my bent knees, a sharp headache rang out without pause.
Even so, I couldn't just sit there with my hands tied. Gritting my teeth, I forced myself up.
"Hoo…"
"What the—how's your body?"
"I'm fine. I can manage."
"Manage, my ass. You're sweating buckets. Just hold off the sword guy for a bit. I'll finish mine quick and come help."
"Alright. Don't push yourself."
"Yeah, leave it to me!"
Teraden, who had taken the initiative, charged fiercely at Ohbong.
Boom! Bang! Bang!
To create as much distance as possible between us, Teraden deliberately drove Ohbong back with heavy pressure.
Instead of being forced into defense in a one-versus-many fight, he gradually shifted to offense in a one-on-one, allowing him to face Ohbong on much better terms.
But the problem was me.
In the brief moment I glanced at Teraden, Ireun's sword grazed my face.
A stinging pain bloomed where the blade had passed, and a thin line of something trickled slowly down my cheek.
I should have been able to dodge that easily, yet for some reason my body refused to listen.
It felt heavy. Not just like waterlogged cotton—more like I was at the bottom of the deep sea where even sunlight couldn't reach. My breathing was labored, my movements sluggish.
Even attacks that looked slow were barely all I could dodge.
"Puhahaha! This bastard's total trash, isn't he? Look at that—his legs are shaking! You scared or somethin'—!"
"You son of a bitch!"
"Gah!!"
Teraden abandoned Ohbong and kicked Ireun in the side, jumping into the fray.
When I fell into danger, he had no choice but to rush over for support.
But Teraden paid a harsh price for that decision.
Ohbong, who had followed right behind, appeared from his rear and struck at the opening.
"Kuh…!"
Teraden, having taken the hit, slid across the floor with one side of his face horribly twisted.
"One down first."
Without stopping there, Ohbong moved to stomp down on the defenseless Teraden who lay sprawled on the ground.
And right at that instant—
'Whoa, they really did charge in! And with just two of them?'
'No more unnecessary words. These seem to be the last ones, so finish them quickly, grab only what has value, and get out.'
"Ah."
The hazy memories that had been clouded like fog suddenly came back vividly.
That's right… this was a dream.
I had been in Hwabaek, taking the Danju Selection test with my companions.
The moment I realized the current situation was a dream, the heavy pressure weighing down my entire body vanished like melting snow.
'Yes, this… is…'
The hallucination echoing from within cleared my mind once more.
My body, now free of headache and oppression, felt light enough to fly.
Subjectively, it felt at least twice as fast as my original body.
It was only natural—after struggling against enemies with a sluggish body, regaining my true abilities brought overwhelming freedom.
"Grr! You…?"
Confusion spread across Ohbong's face after he was knocked back by my light leap and punch.
"This trash bastard dares—!!"
Ireun, who had been sent flying by Teraden's earlier strike, swung his sword again.
If I dodged that blade, Teraden behind me might get hit, so I didn't avoid it and caught the sword instead.
Ireun's thrust pierced straight through my palm.
Instead of the indescribable agony I had expected, the pain wasn't that severe—perhaps because I was in an excited state.
The sword embedded in my palm was stuck fast, leaving Ireun unable to pull it free or retreat.
In that immobilized state, I landed a clean blow to his jaw. Ireun dropped his sword and collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
Shiiing… Thud.
When I roughly pulled the sword out, blood poured from the hole in my palm like a waterfall.
"It'd be nice if it healed, but I don't necessarily need to treat it here… huh?"
As I stared down at the wound, something unbelievable happened right before my eyes.
Saaaaah—
A warm, brightly shining familiar energy enveloped my blood-soaked hand.
The bones, flesh, and muscle tissue in my palm wriggled as if time were reversing, filling the puncture.
The blood that had drenched my palm gradually faded, the pain subsided rapidly, and soon the wound was completely gone.
Without a doubt, this was Mirpia's Ineung—the power to heal wounds.
But why…? Was it because this was a dream, not reality? Then maybe—
"Sorry, but I'll borrow this for a moment."
"Uh, yeah? Sure?"
At my words about borrowing, Teraden—who had just regained his stance—mumbled with a confused expression.
"It felt something like this. Probably."
I calmly closed my eyes and recalled the sensation from a few days ago.
Just like then, Teraden's Hwigwang rose from my entire body.
"What the hell are you…!"
Perhaps because this was inside a dream, everything I wanted seemed to come true.
"What the hell are you, damn it!!"
I didn't understand the current situation either, but unlike me—who knew this was only possible because it was a dream—
From the enemies' perspective, their entire understanding of the world must have been collapsing.
Ohbong, who had shouted in rage, looked around before smashing the iron bars where the hostages were held.
"Aaaagh!!"
One terrified hostage was dragged out through the jagged broken bars by his rough grip.
Even as the hostage's body was torn by the sharp edges, Ohbong didn't care in the slightest.
"Don't move!! From now on, if you twitch even one finger, this guy's life—!!"
"So this is how it's done."
If Haru hadn't realized this was a dream, or if he had been in an environment where he couldn't freely use the Ineung he knew,
Ohbong's hostage tactic would have been quite effective.
But to Haru, who had not only become aware of the dream but had begun using every Ineung he'd witnessed with complete freedom, it was meaningless.
The moment Haru gently opened his palm, a sharp blade of wind erupted from his fingertips and mercilessly tore across Ohbong's arm.
"Aaaargh!!"
His arm deeply slashed, he screamed and dropped the hostage.
"F-fuck…!"
Having lost even the hostage, Ohbong clutched his spurting wound and turned to flee.
"I won't let you escape."
Haru lightly leaped toward Ohbong.
His body, now able to manipulate even the Ineung of the atmosphere, ignored air resistance and closed the distance in an instant.
Ohbong's final desperate struggle, glanced back over his shoulder, was also easy to deal with.
"Die—!!"
It wasn't that his punch was weak—it was more accurate to say that the current Haru was simply too strong.
The body wrapped in Hwigwang easily neutralized the attack. When Haru gripped his fist and twisted with just a little force, Ohbong's entire fist shattered inside its gauntlet.
"Gaaah—!!"
The moment Ohbong lost consciousness after his fist was crushed and the situation ended,
as if signaling the end of the test, the world gradually lost its light and began to be dyed black.
Starting from where Haru stood, the dream world slowly closed in from the distant edges, losing all color.
"Looks like the test ends here."
"You knew this was a dream?"
"Well, something like that."
Teraden, sitting on the ground, grinned brightly.
"Good work. See you later."
I nodded lightly in response.
Crack… crackle!
Cracks began to form across the space.
The cracks spread uncontrollably until the entire space shattered like glass.
Beyond the falling fragments, I saw myself drinking tea and falling asleep, along with Eper staring at me with wide eyes.
Though Haru had only known him for a very short time, the fact that Eper—who had never once shown emotion on his face—was making such an expression proved that even he was greatly shocked by this phenomenon.
Step. Step.
In a world where everything had lost its color and frozen still, the sound of solitary footsteps echoed quietly.
Beyond the collapsed space, toward the real world where those waiting for him existed, Haru slowly walked forward.