We Will Be Together Forever (9)
“How are you feeling, Ms. Gahyeon?”
“A little better, I think. I still hear the voices, but my head doesn’t hurt like it did before, and I don’t feel nearly as mentally worn down. I don’t understand how this could happen….”
It’s all thanks to Ms. Jeongyeon.
I didn’t say that kind of crap out loud.
I thought it would be better to maximize my value as much as possible. Since I was in no position to impress anyone in battle, I had to at least pretend to be competent in every other respect.
“What kind of magic did you use?”
“Hahaha. To be honest, it’s a little far from what you’d call true magic. You do know the brain is made up of interconnected neurons that handle stimulation and processing, don’t you? That’s why medicine classifies it as part of the central nervous system.”
“Huh? Th-that….”
Park Gahyeon’s expression caught my eye as she stared at me like I’d started speaking gibberish.
To be honest, I had no idea what I was talking about either.
I didn’t know jack shit about the brain, and I wasn’t some psychology expert.
And yet I could see the expressions on the faces turned toward me changing. They already seemed to overestimate me to begin with, but just dropping a little specialized knowledge was enough to make their eyes widen.
“The central nervous system has a metabolism distinct from other organs. To produce adenosine triphosphate, you need to… and for that, you have to supply oxygen….”
How many people in South Korea could possibly know this kind of nonsense?
Obviously, at least among the people listening to me, nobody would understand a word of it.
I didn’t understand it myself—I was just spewing whatever came to mind.
It’s not like some guy from a brain science lab showed up or anything….
And even if they did understand, the merging of magic and alchemy was a field I’d pioneered myself.
It was a result I’d stumbled into like a cow backing into a rat, but if I wanted to flex, this was the perfect environment for it.
“Ah. I may have explained that in a rather difficult way.”
“Ah… n-no.”
“To put it simply, curses like this, whether they come in through magic or through methods we don’t fully understand, ultimately interfere with the brain. Magic, alchemy, black magic, holy power—whatever the name, in the end it’s all just something meddling with the brain.”
“Ahh.”
“The hallucinations and voices you’re experiencing can be understood as the brain misfiring. Of course, I couldn’t actually correct the underlying perception itself, but I could at least administer antibiotics.”
“How…?”
“By inducing the awareness that what we see and hear isn’t reality. The human body really is fascinating. Of course, this isn’t something that can be cured by medication alone. The study of magic is more complicated than people think. If I were to explain it in terms of alchemy….”
“Ahh… I-I see. Yes.”
People were nodding along, but naturally, not a single one of them understood.
To begin with…
I don’t even understand it myself. How the hell would they?
Even a leading authority in neuroscience wouldn’t understand what the hell I was saying.
Of course, people like Hwang Jeongyeon and Jung Hayan would probably ask annoying questions, but if I gave them a rough explanation, I figured they’d chew it over among themselves and come up with an answer.
Nice.
I could practically hear my reputation climbing.
Really, if I thought back to when I’d first come to the guild, I never would have imagined a situation like this would arise.
“Honestly, when I first heard we’d brought in an alchemist at that kind of price, I thought the higher-ups had lost their minds, but… now that I’m seeing you like this, you’re truly a g-genius. Ah… what were you doing on Earth, if I may ask…?”
Genius my ass.
Con artist fit much better.
“It wasn’t anything particularly impressive.”
“Were you working somewhere like a research institute?”
“Well, you could say it was something similar. It’s a little hard to explain in detail.”
Of course, that was a pure, flaming lie.
“Thank you so much. It really is reassuring to have you here, Kiyoung. I thought genius was just the kind of thing you only saw in the media, but now that someone like that is really standing right beside me, it’s amazing.”
“Hahaha. You flatter me. I’m embarrassed. It’s not that I’m special—I just happen to know a lot of useless trivia.”
“You seem like the smartest person I’ve ever met.”
What was more, this woman named Park Gahyeon seemed to be sending me affection of one kind or another, whether consciously or not.
We had the shared point of coming here while leaving younger siblings behind on Earth, and she also seemed to think my brain was sexy, but there was no way I could respond to that feeling.
Jung Hayan’s face was trembling.
I could see her fists clenched tight and her teeth biting down on her lower lip.
It’s not fully fixed yet, after all.
No matter what treatment I combined it with, Jung Hayan’s obsession with me would probably never be cured in her lifetime.
“That’s very kind of you. It’s embarrassing to hear that in front of Jeongyeon.”
“No, not at all. I’m only good at remembering things.”
In short, what they were beginning to recognize now was that I was some alchemist genius who only came along once every few tens of thousands of years.
“The other alchemists I’ve met before didn’t feel like this….”
“There are probably plenty of alchemists in Lindel who are smarter than I am. The difference is that they didn’t get any support, while I just happened to start with a bit of luck. If you really think about it, everything is thanks to Blue.”
“And humble to boot.”
It wasn’t humility. It was the truth.
Sure, there were probably a few fools out there, but at least one or two of them had to be exceptional.
Still, no matter how I explained it, the image already planted in their minds showed no sign of fading.
The genius alchemist Lee Kiyoung sent from heaven.
It felt like that image had already taken root for good.
People usually envy those who are good at things they can understand.
But when someone accomplishes something they can’t understand, they look on with awe instead.
To them, what I’d done must have seemed incomprehensible.
Once the dungeon expedition was over, I’d have many more chances to exert influence over Blue.
After all, Lee Sanghee, who had originally held the real power in the guild, was losing her footing.
Of course, Sanghee wasn’t the type to cling to power. She had a sense of responsibility, but she also seemed burdened by the weight of it all, to the point that she almost looked relieved by this situation.
Especially after being afflicted by that curse, she seemed to feel tremendous self-loathing over the abnormal state she’d shown.
I almost got the whole guild killed.
Or,
I’m not suited for this.
I could see her blaming herself like that.
Even while resting for a while, I could see her talking at length with Kim Hyunsung, and then spending even longer by herself, suffering in silence.
Once again: humans generally feel awe toward people who do things they can’t understand.
Until now, that awe had been directed at me, but when it came to the upcoming dungeon expedition, it was obvious who that awe would turn toward.
I became a little curious to see how our regressor, who had remained quiet until now, would move.
It was during that brief rest that he spoke.
“I truly am sorry for everything.”
“Ah….”
“Even if I was under the influence of the curse, I should have kept my composure. Instead, I put all of you in danger. No matter how I think about it or what excuses I make, I have nothing to say.”
Not bad.
Lee Sanghee was the one who spoke.
I could tell she was a personality I liked. Even though she had no reason to apologize, she still bowed her head.
“From this moment on, I will adjust the party’s course. I’ve judged that clearing the dungeon takes priority over rescuing survivors, so after the raid is complete, we will recover the bodies and any survivors who may still be alive.”
Finally.
That was an extremely rational decision.
You can’t let the living die while trying to revive the dead.
The order was simply reversed, but Sanghee’s words carried a great deal of meaning.
“However….”
“Of course, we won’t stop searching for survivors either. We’ll change our formation and move faster than before.”
“Yes.”
“Kim Hyunsung, you’ll take the lead.”
“Yes. I will do my best.”
It looked like Kim Hyunsung had thoroughly worked Sanghee over. Or maybe he, too, had realized that this was the moment.
No one in the party was still under the curse. Thinking of the one who’d probably struggled alone to lift it from everyone else made me feel a little guilty, but he actually looked almost happy about it.
From his point of view, one more worry had just been erased.
I caught sight of him quietly smiling at me.
As he slowly rose to his feet and sheathed his sword, he was truly impressive.
There was something about him that seemed to overwhelm the atmosphere itself.
Presence?
It wasn’t killing intent or anything that crude.
As his slouching, aimless gait straightened, one by one, the others began to rise as well.
The expedition members here all seemed as though they’d been spellbound by something.
That’s right.
Maybe this was what you called an ideal leader.
This wasn’t just my opinion.
Lee Sanghee, too, was staring at Kim Hyunsung with a dazed expression.
Kim Hyunsung was, in truth, a little authoritarian. After all, coming to this dungeon in the first place had been his decision alone, made without considering the opinions of the party.
He pushed forward what he believed was right and moved straight toward the goal.
He looked as though he were saying, This is the right path. Come with me.
He had the kind of charisma that made people want to follow him.
I didn’t know jack shit about kingship theory, but from where I stood, he was an ideal monarch.
He might not be suited to ruling, but as a leader, he was more ideal than anyone I’d ever seen.
“We’re moving out.”
Once the words left his mouth, he was off in an instant.
Everyone rose from their places and immediately followed behind him.
Kim Hyunsung, who had been moving at a measured pace, picked up speed, and the other party members did the same.
Any side passages or rooms along the way were ignored.
As he continued down the wide central path, his back somehow inspired trust.
He was moving at a speed that suggested he wasn’t even considering monsters. He paid no mind to traps or undead that might spring out from anywhere.
It wasn’t because he was confident he could handle any sudden situation. It felt more like his only goal was to find the way itself.
Could it be…?
The possibility that there were no other monsters in this place crossed my mind almost instantly.
I didn’t think that was impossible.
As the name Cursed Shrine suggested, this might be the sort of dungeon that used the curse itself as its primary mechanism.
If that hypothesis was right, then where Kim Hyunsung was headed was obvious.
It would be the owner of this dungeon—the sorcerer who had placed the curse on us.
The deeper we walked, the more the scenery changed.
The branching paths grew fewer, and the smaller rooms disappeared entirely. Even though I felt as though we were moving quickly, we still hadn’t reached the end of the massive shrine.
Of course, a few more curses came crashing down on us, but no one was greatly shaken.
It was proof that the medicine was working better than expected.
“No undead… huh.”
“We were definitely told there were some….”
“There’s a good chance what we saw as undead was also part of the curse. It’s not confirmed yet, but we can probably assume that much.”
“Still, don’t let your guard down.”
“Yes.”
Along the way, we also found bodies. They were former members of Blue.
I didn’t look closely enough to determine exactly how they’d died, but I could guess well enough.
Either they’d taken their own lives, or they’d killed one another.
Lee Sanghee looked somewhat rattled by this, but it didn’t stop the expedition from continuing.
Once we’d gone a little farther in, we found a small, crudely decorated door.
When I slowly opened it, a woman sitting in a chair came into view.
Her face was pale, and her eyes were closed.
Immediately, new information poured into my status window.
I’d reached the end.