Chapter 263
Chapter 263
-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 263
>Chapter Title: The 31st Line Overturns the Game Board
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
Kang Seol stared at Hye-myeong with a dazed expression for a moment.
‘Young Hye-myeong... My goodness.’
He had known he would meet him upon entering Mia's painting, but having the man right in front of him was a bit disconcerting.
“Do not come any closer. This is your warning.”
Whooooosh...
Hye-myeong's staff emitted a subtle golden glow.
The embedded golden light was weaker than Chiu's, but that was surely not his full power.
“Hey!”
Kang Seol snapped back to attention at Hye-myeong's bellow.
“State your identity!”
“We are...”
Truth be told, this was the biggest hurdle right now.
The highly suspicious Mia and the Hye-myeong protecting her.
It was only natural that approaching them out of the blue would arouse suspicion.
But Kang Seol's group had anticipated this.
He uttered the line they had prepared in advance.
“We're from the Relic Society.”
“...What? The Relic Society?”
“Yes, we were dispatched here to the Zanita Plateau because of an important ruin.”
Kang Seol had to recall exactly what Hye-myeong was doing at this time.
What item he had obtained, what adventure he was on.
Judging by his appearance, he hadn't acquired the Wilderness Bell yet. It was as expected.
Kang Seol briefly wondered why his words had shortened, but concluded it was because he unconsciously viewed this first-time opponent as someone he had built a long rapport with over the years.
‘Not wrong, at least...’
In any case, the important thing now was to get the other side to accept the group's presence.
“Relic... Society?”
Hye-myeong eyed them suspiciously for a moment.
The man, who had acted so boldly, shrank back at the mention of the Relic Society.
If Hye-myeong had encountered Kang Seol's group elsewhere, there would have been no reason for him to cower just because they claimed to be from the Relic Society.
‘He has no choice but to hesitate now...’
After all, he was in the midst of something that could get complicated if the Relic Society got involved.
“H-Hem... The Relic Society, all the way out here? Well, I did think your outfits didn't match the local style...”
Chiu wore a blank, dopey expression, while Seolhong calmly played along after grasping the situation.
Things would have gone smoothly like this, but Chiu added his awkward acting.
“Th-That's right. We're from the Relic Society.”
Chiu was terrible at lying.
It was usually a good trait, but unfortunately, in this situation, it only invited suspicion.
“Hmm...”
Sensing something off, Hye-myeong pressed.
“If you're from the Relic Society... who's the one in charge among you?”
Chiu lacked knowledge about the Relic Society, and Seolhong was no different.
In other words, Kang Seol was the one in the group who knew the most about it.
“Me.”
“Oh... You look the part. What's your name?”
Kang Seol, Chiu, and Seolhong's names were shared.
“So, what brings you all the way out here? Oh, right—does the Relic Society not discuss work with outsiders?”
Kang Seol replied nonchalantly.
“Of course not. We're here looking for a certain item. We learned it's in this place.”
“...An item?”
Mia, who had been hiding behind Hye-myeong, glanced at his bundle.
She fidgeted restlessly, clearly uncomfortable with the situation.
Kang Seol spotted something suspicious in her behavior.
‘The bundle... It must be in there.’
Given the structure of the ruin where the Wilderness Bell lay dormant, there was an item obtained first.
‘He must have already gotten the golden statue from the ruin.’
The Watara Ruins.
This was around the time Hye-myeong began acquiring his immense power.
Before the Wilderness Bell, he had obtained the dormant golden statue and gained enlightenment from it, explosively increasing his strength.
“Uh... What exactly is this item you're looking for?”
If Kang Seol said "statue" here, Hye-myeong's face would be a sight to behold.
But they weren't close enough for jokes yet, and he needed to convince them they weren't enemies.
Above all, before entering the painting, Mia's warning lingered in his mind.
The first of Mia's warnings.
- The world inside the painting is literally a new one. You mustn't assume events that already happened will repeat exactly. Choices branch into various paths, bringing good or bad outcomes.
- Does that mean... things different from the original past could occur there? What about the issues from swapping the powerless Wilderness Bell we have with the intact one there?
- Though this Wilderness Bell has lost its power, it still exists as a real entity. This won't drastically alter the future. However... if you want the intact Wilderness Bell, you'll have to do what the original one did in the past. Otherwise...
Mia had said this.
- When you return, the present you know might be very different. If so... there won't be another chance to fix it. This opportunity... is the last drop of power I have left.
Mia's painting could change the past.
No, since she said this would be her last act before losing her power, it was more accurate to say it had been able to.
That was why villains had targeted her before.
But now, few on the continent knew of her ability.
‘This is the only chance. We can't twist the future beyond what's necessary. Too risky.’
Just recovering the Wilderness Bell wouldn't scramble the future.
The Wilderness Bell had shown only a single miracle recently, losing all its power then.
‘If we recreate that miracle here, we can bring the Wilderness Bell back to reality.’
Of course, there were points of caution.
Namely, the great virtuous Hye-myeong, who would shake the continent, was right next to the Wilderness Bell.
“What we're looking for is...”
Gulp.
“A bell.”
Whew...
At those words, Mia let out a low sigh.
Likely one of relief.
She had probably feared a dispute over the golden statue she had already secured.
Fortunately, hearing that Kang Seol's group sought something else eased her tension somewhat.
Hye-myeong stared at Kang Seol for a moment, then scratched his head vigorously.
“What does this bell look like?”
Swish.
Kang Seol showed him the Wilderness Bell's appearance from the scroll.
“Hmm... This... Uh...”
Hye-myeong thought for a bit, then said,
“This should work. I think I know where the item you're looking for is.”
Of course he did.
The Wilderness Bell could only be obtained after opening the second gateway of the Watara Ruins.
Kang Seol recalled that clues about a mysterious bell slumbering in the second gateway were scattered throughout the ruins.
“I'll help you out. In return, can you do me one small favor?”
A short while later, after arriving at their temporary camp, Hye-myeong approached Kang Seol.
The favor was nothing major.
“Turn a blind eye to this.”
“......”
It was a first sight for both Chiu and Seolhong.
But Kang Seol knew what it was.
The golden statue.
At a glance, it resembled a sitting Buddha, but it also looked like a statue modeled after the greedy god of voodoo faiths.
With its teeth bared and dangling with jewelry.
Kang Seol already knew Hye-myeong had found this in the ruins and was gradually unlocking its power.
‘He's progressing well.’
Kang Seol had no intention of taking it from him.
It was his.
‘The golden statue is tempting... but he's already obtained it.’
It wasn't a pivotal point worth altering the future for.
Would stealing the statue from him and taking his abilities lead to a better outcome?
‘No, we won't touch anything else if possible. Focus only on the Wilderness Bell.’
Kang Seol nodded and said,
“If you help us, we won't report it upstairs.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I hate complications.”
“Thanks! I heard the Relic Society is strict about procedures, but you seem different!”
- Because we're not actually the Relic Society!
- Nod-!
“Ah, that's a compliment. Anyway, Wilderness Bell, right?”
“Yeah, Wilderness Bell.”
“Unfortunately, getting it right now is impossible.”
Kang Seol already knew that.
‘The timing's a bit off.’
Hye-myeong explained the reason.
“This ruin opens once every three days. And only at night.”
Something he had experienced once before in the Demonic Realm Alcatron.
Ruins that appeared at night. The Watara Ruins had the even stricter limitation of entry every three days.
“We have to wait two more days for the ruins to open.”
“...Got it.”
Hye-myeong raised one eyebrow and glanced at Bitan as Kang Seol accepted his words without question.
“But... I didn't get to ask earlier amid the chaos—what's that black creature? Emergency rations or something?”
Bitan scowled and replied.
【Black thing! Rations! I'm Bitan!】
“Bitan? What's a Bitan... Wait, it talks?”
“Bitan's my assistant.”
“Aha! I heard the Relic Society is full of bizarre creatures, but one that talks? Nice to meet you. I'm Hye-myeong. Sorry for the harsh words earlier.”
Swish-!
Bitan placed its tail on Hye-myeong's outstretched hand.
【Forgiven just this once!】
Hye-myeong chuckled at Bitan's reaction and said,
“I'll handle your meals. Corn porridge for dinner okay?”
Chiu's ears perked up at that.
“Corn porridge?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, splendid...”
“But the corn's a bit off.”
“How so?”
“A few are rotten.”
“Why call a few rotten 'a bit'? If they're rotten, use them as fertilizer! If only a few are rotten, that means most are fine—use those!”
“Mia's in her growth spurt, so she needs the good ones. I've been handling the rotten ones. Lucky we can use them up before they worsen now that you're here. Hahaha.”
- Hahaha?
- This bastard?
- I'll kill him!
Kang Seol chuckled at the words.
‘It wasn't for me to eat directly. That's why he acted that way...’
Hye-myeong's body was practically superhuman.
Eating a bit of spoiled corn wouldn't faze him.
It might not taste great, but since Kang Seol wasn't eating it himself, he had given the good stuff to Mia and the bad to Hye-myeong.
Discovering traces of his own past actions left Kang Seol with a strange feeling.
“I'll handle meals while we're here.”
“Huh? No need.”
“We have to. Better than rotten corn porridge.”
“...True. But changing cooks won't revive the corn...”
Clunk... Clunk...
Kang Seol pulled out a bunch of items from his belongings.
A full set of spice jars and various ingredients.
All fresh, not having lost their vibrancy, which greatly surprised Hye-myeong.
“All this fits in there? Got it! Relic Society artifacts!”
At this time, without preservation tools or anything, it must be his first time seeing such a pouch.
“Something like that.”
“Hahaha! You're growing on me more and more!”
Sizzle...
Kang Seol prepared a meal with not just vegetables but meat as well.
Seolhong asked quietly.
“He seems devoted to the fire, so surely meat is... off-limits?”
“Well...”
Seolhong worried Kang Seol had momentarily forgotten what kind of person Hye-myeong was.
But Kang Seol knew him best.
“Huh? No issue! I eat meat too.”
“...Don't you have precepts?”
“Threw them out. Now I follow just one precept.”
Hye-myeong grinned.
“Save yourself.”
- Save yourselves.
Words Kang Seol had once said to Han Yeo-myeong.
Hye-myeong's enlightenment was also Kang Seol's own.
“Never heard that precept before...”
“Then, it's one I made.”
“Utter nonsense, then.”
“Haha, even nonsense—how hard is it to keep that one?”
* * *
They finished their meal like that, and the group quickly fell asleep.
“Snore...”
Chiu slept beside Seolhong, as if guarding her.
He looked completely defenseless, but he would protect her if any threat arose.
Crackle...
Pop...
Slink...
Mia and Hye-myeong were absent from the sleeping area.
Kang Seol rose and walked a short distance from the beds.
There, Mia sat on a rock, and Hye-myeong swung his staff fiercely.
Whooosh...
Whooooosh...
Even the sound alone conveyed the power of his strikes, shaking the plateau.
“Whew... Whew... You're up?”
“...Yeah.”
Hye-myeong turned to Kang Seol and smiled brightly.
“How about a spar?”
“......”
One of the legendary Ten Phrases: a duel with the great virtuous Hye-myeong.
Of course, he still needed arduous effort to fully become the true Hye-myeong, but his essence remained.
“If you don't want to, forget it.”
Kang Seol grinned.
“No, sounds good.”