Chapter 79
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Mist Phantoms
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"What's going on?"
"Something terrible... something awful happened! Sera... Sera!"
Boom!
The moment Sera's name came up, Karen flung the door open in an instant.
"What happened, old man?"
"Sera... she went out at night and seems to have run into a mist phantom!"
"Mist... phantom?"
"F-First, let's head to where Sera is. Hurry!"
Kang Seol was glad a clue had appeared for the adventure's progress, but he felt a pang of regret that it had to come from Sera of all people.
'If something happens to Sera, Karen's going to be devastated.'
Karen was just now adapting to her new life.
Kang Seol hoped she wouldn't come to view her life as a shadow in a negative light.
"Huff... huff..."
Kang Seol followed the village elder alongside Karen.
Karen, who arrived first, stood frozen, staring at something.
"Sera?"
"Sis... ter..."
Sera lay on the bed, and there were no visible issues on the surface. But that very fact only heightened Kang Seol and Karen's anxiety.
"I... saw it..."
"Saw what? What did you see, Sera?"
"Monsters... hidden in the mist..."
"...What?"
"You must never... run into them..."
"Sera!"
"So... sleepy... Sis..."
Kang Seol asked the villagers gathered around Sera.
"What does this mean? What's this about monsters in the mist, and why is Sera like this?"
"W-Well..."
"Looks like Sera's come down with mist disease."
"What?"
It hit like a bolt from the blue.
A woman who had been perfectly healthy and going about her duties just hours ago—how could she suddenly fall ill from some accident?
"...Are you sure?"
"Dr. Gunt isn't here, so I can't say for certain, but it matches the early symptoms of mist disease perfectly."
Unfortunately, there was no antidote for mist disease at present.
"Damn it..."
No one knew the cause or the reason.
It wasn't contagious, but this terrifying illness had claimed half the village's population.
And now Sera seemed to have it too.
"Monsters in the mist? What do you mean by that?"
"Well... on days when the mist thickens, some folks have said they saw something beyond it. No one's gotten a clear look, but they all say it's definitely not normal."
"So Sera saw one of those?"
"That's what she says... And, regrettably, everyone around the village who's spotted a mist phantom has..."
The village elder shook his head.
Grind...
Karen's face hardened coldly.
Whoosh!
And then she bolted off alone into somewhere.
"Karen!"
He'd rushed to Sera's side with effort, only for Kang Seol to have to chase after her again. As he ran along her trail, his breath came up to his throat.
"Huff... huff..."
Whoooosh...
Whirrr!
Jamad was summoned and hoisted Kang Seol onto his shoulder.
"Hold on tight. I'll take you to the fairy."
Thud!
Thud!
The difference in speed between Jamad and Kang Seol was immense. He covered more ground in a single moment than Kang Seol had traveled up to now.
And at last, they found Karen wandering in the forest.
"Where are you!"
"What?"
"Where?! You damn monster bastards! Show yourselves!"
Karen shouted while scanning her surroundings.
The mist was so thick she could barely see, yet she gripped her sword and yelled as if she were dead certain they were there.
"Karen."
"Damn it, damn it, daaaamn! Why... why..."
"Calm down."
"How could this happen? Huh? Why can't I do anything about it?"
"......"
"This is the first place I've liked since becoming a shadow... Why does she have to go through this... why..."
Karen's anguish spilled out in concrete words from her mouth. With Karuna still asleep, no one could stop her wandering.
Jamad returned to Kang Seol's shadow space, and Kang Seol stood by Karen's side, quietly watching over her.
Karen hugged her knees for a moment, buried her face, and then spoke to Kang Seol.
"...Sorry."
"It's fine."
"Pathetic, right?"
"Not really?"
Karen grumbled.
"Back in the day."
"How far back?"
"I'm talking about the Montla days."
"Yeah."
"I thought things were easier then."
"In what way?"
"Everything was clear-cut. I didn't have to think; I just had to follow Jin's orders, and it was all good."
Karen looked at Kang Seol.
"Jin was always right. As long as I assisted him, the world changed."
Jin's words from long ago still lingered in Karen's mind.
- Karen, do you know what the dullest sword in the world is?
- Hmm? A poorly maintained one? One made from bad steel?
- Neither. It's a sword that thinks.
Jin had gazed into the distance and told Karen back then.
- Thinking makes you too slow; you can't cut anything. Swords exist to cut. So a sword like you, Karen, just needs to stay sharp.
- What? You telling me to live without thinking?
- I'm telling you to trust and follow me. The wielder decides what the sword cuts.
- Hilarious. And that'll change the world?
Jin had answered with conviction.
- Yes. It will.
And up until Montla's fall, his words had never been wrong.
"Master, the world's still the same. The weak die without knowing why, and villains run rampant."
"......"
"What about you? Do you think you're right?"
Karen looked tormented.
In a world without Jin, she had to think for herself.
This question from Karen also meant she was growing closer to Kang Seol. If she hadn't been pondering him, she wouldn't have even given him the chance to answer such a thing.
Right now, she was asking Kang Seol.
Whether he could wield her like Jin had.
And whether the world could become better that way.
He didn't know how the conversation had veered this far, but Kang Seol gave her the answer she wanted to hear.
"I don't know."
"Figures you wouldn't..."
Karen shot him a disappointed look.
"Whether I'm right or wrong, we'll only know at the end."
"Then..."
"There's only one thing I can be sure of. When we reach that end..."
When Kang Seol broke through this hellish game board, achieved ascension, and held the gods accountable.
The very moment he exacted revenge on the gods.
"The world will be better."
"...Really?"
"If not, then whatever."
"Huh, what?"
King-nim is god!
(Serious gaze) If not, then whatever.
As expected of Snowman... Can't even do empty flattery, just pure shine...
Karen stared at Kang Seol's face for a moment before bursting into laughter.
"Kahaha! What a cheeky answer."
"Anyway, all that's far-off talk. Right now, we need to focus on what we can do."
Perhaps recalling Sera lying in bed, Karen nodded.
"Yeah, mist phantoms first?"
"That seems like the order."
From that day on, Kang Seol's group searched the area around the village while Sera's symptoms grew steadily worse.
But even after one day, two days, three days passed, they saw no real results.
"Damn it, are we doing something wrong here?"
"Is there really something in the mist?"
"Sera saw it. ...And it seems the other victims said they saw it too before dying."
"Why only on foggy days?"
"No idea. Maybe it has something to hide... Wait."
"Karen?"
"...Shh."
Karen tensed and reached for her sword. Soon after, Kang Seol sensed the presence she had felt too.
'...A mist phantom?'
The figure creating the presence didn't come into clear view through the thick mist, but its movements were distinctly felt.
Swish...
Flash!
Shing!
Karen shot forward like lightning toward the source of the sound and held her sword to it.
"Waaah!"
"...Huh? What?"
"W-What are you doing? Who are you?"
"Mist... phantom?"
"What? Is that what you say when you shove a sword to someone's throat out of nowhere?"
"No, it's just..."
What burst from the mist was neither monster nor ghost—it was a human. And he looked brazenly confident, like he was returning home.
"Who are you people?"
Kang Seol answered the man's question.
"We're adventurers. Staying in Mistveil Village for now."
Hearing the reply, the man sighed in relief.
"Phew... I see. Lower your sword. I'm no monster. I'm a doctor."
"Could you be Dr. Gunt?"
"Oh? You know my name?"
"...Heard it from Sera."
"Haha! Sera's been talking about me? I got delayed sorting out some affairs upon my return, so I arrived later than planned. I can't wait to see the villagers."
"...Sera seems to have fallen ill."
"......"
As if he couldn't process Kang Seol's words at first, Gunt's eyes darted around in bewilderment.
"...Ill?"
"Mist disease..."
"No... My god, no! Not Sera too? L-Let's go! I'll examine her right away!"
Gunt dashed back to the village with Kang Seol's group.
His worry for Sera ran deep.
"Huff... huff... Miss Sera... Miss Sera, no!"
Upon arriving at the village with Kang Seol, Gunt hurried straight to Sera's house.
"Dr. Gunt's back! Everyone come out!"
"Doctor! My husband still..."
"One moment, everyone. I'll examine Miss Sera first."
No time to even unpack upon his return—Gunt had to start examining patients immediately.
Creeeak...
"M-Miss Sera?"
"...Dr. Gunt?"
"Oh, please. I hope it's nothing."
Sera sat up in bed, looking exhausted.
Gunt's examination continued after that.
The villagers and Kang Seol's group leaned against the doorframe, waiting desperately for good news.
Creeeak...
Gunt emerged from Sera's house with a grim expression.
"D-Doctor. How's Sera?"
The village elder asked Gunt.
Gunt replied in a somber tone.
"...Miss Sera has mist disease."
"My god... Such a good girl..."
"How could a child like Sera get mist disease..."
Gunt surveyed the villagers with a weary face.
"Being good or weak doesn't spare you from illness... Miss Sera... she'll probably fall into a deep sleep within days."
"D-Does that mean Sera's going to die?"
Nod.
Gunt's head moved up and down heavily.
"Sob... Sera. Sera..."
"D-Don't carry on here. Sera might hear you!"
Kang Seol and Karen stood dazed in place before heading back into the forest.
Kang Seol waited for Karen to speak.
"Why?"
"Huh?"
"You're reading my mood, right?"
"Am not?"
"Hmmm..."
Am not? (You totally are)
Reading your mood...
Summoner's human rights in freefall—how far will it go?
Karen spoke to Kang Seol as if it were no big deal.
"It's fine. We kinda expected this."
"Gunt was too blunt about it."
"Yeah, I wanted to smack him. Still, let's go see him once the villagers calm down a bit."
"Right, we have other things to discuss anyway."
Saying that, Kang Seol unrolled Chao's scroll.
"Oh yeah, weren't you looking for someone?"
"Yeah, a guy. But no one around here matches."
"Who's this guy?"
The face of a man with half-lidded eyes.
The portrait on the scroll was detailed, almost like a photograph.
"This must be who Chao wants me to find, but I've never seen anyone like him. ...Huh?"
"Hmm... Hold on."
Suddenly.
Karen and Kang Seol stopped walking at the same time.
They looked at each other.
"Anyone coming to the village besides Gunt?"
"Nope."
"Then what's that presence?"
Just as they said, a presence emanated from beyond the mist.
Karen posed the question as if seeking Kang Seol's permission.
"Must be a mist phantom."
"Hope you're right this time!"
Flash!
Clank!
Shing—
Karen drew her sword and lunged toward the rippling figure in the mist.
Roar...
Slash!
The sword didn't stop, slicing through something.
That meant Karen had deemed the target an enemy.
'It really exists? A mist phantom!'
Kang Seol hurried to Karen's side.
Grrrrrooooaaar...
A rotting corpse crawling along the ground.
Its head was already severed, yet it thrashed with stubborn vitality.
Roar...
Soon, the severed body burned up and ceased moving.
Only the monster's decapitated head lay there, mouth gaping and mumbling something.
"Giiiive..."
Karen said to Kang Seol with a hardened expression.
"Master."
"Don't tell me this is..."
"Chasing us?"
A memory strongly etched in Kang Seol's mind.
The Earth Spider Village they'd passed through en route via the expedition system.
And the mysterious monsters there—and their handler.
Kang Seol nodded to Karen.
"It's that guy."
The mist phantom burning on the ground now was one of the monsters that had put them in dire straits back in Earth Spider Village.