The Hidden Park (1)

"Huh? Why are we here?"

"I'm sure we just walked into Gopchang Alley..."

"And what's with this message?"

Was it because every status ailment had been cleared? One by one, the people in Gopchang Alley started coming back to their senses.

"Damn it. Who the hell touched that door?"

"Looks like that's what happened. Wait — isn't that the guy from before?"

"Rox! The door's open. Get back here, now."

"Tch. And it was just getting interesting."

They seemed to have at least some idea what this phenomenon was. Maybe that was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠why they'd turned Gopchang Alley into this in the first place.

"Jin-hwan, what the hell is this?"

"I don't know either. But shouldn't we follow those people?"

Jin-hwan was right. Those people looked like they knew something, and they were already moving somewhere in a hurry.

Move to the Hidden Park?

That was what the message that had popped up was telling us, at least.

Less time than I'd expected. I had no information on what would happen if we stayed here, and none on whether we should follow those people either.

"Jin-hwan, piggyback Ji-ah. We're following those bastards."

"Got it. Ji-ah, come here."

Staying put might have been the right call — or it might not. With so little time left, I decided to see where they were headed first, then make the decision. We took off after them.

We'd only been following a short while when they ducked into a building. I slipped in after them and found a gate formed inside a doorway, just wide enough for two or three people to pass through.

"The gate's open, just like I thought."

"We're out of time. We're going in. This is the last time the gate's going to open, so we have to get in this round and find it, no matter what."

"Tch. The meat shields already went in, huh."

They didn't seem to be seeing this gate for the first time. They spoke like they were familiar with it. Then, one after another, they stepped through. Nothing dramatic happened when they entered. The gate simply sat there, silent and still.

"Ssaem, what do we do?"

"Give me a second to think."

Was going in after them the right move? Or was waiting here the right one? I turned it over as I walked slowly toward the gate — and another message appeared, this one only in front of my eyes.

What?

The message that appeared the moment I approached the portal. Come to think of it, I'd forgotten about the scenario quest — and it seemed there was a connection between this Hidden Park and the Hidden Temple.

So to reach the Hidden Temple, I have to find a key here?

That was how the current situation looked, at least. And from what those people had just said, this was the last time the gate would open. This might be our last chance to enter the Park.

We're going in.

Honestly, the scenario quest wasn't that important. Clear it and you came out ahead; fail to clear it and nothing particularly terrible happened. Safety came first either way. But in a situation where I had no idea what would happen if we didn't go through that gate, staying put and going in were equally dangerous. In that case, we might ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as well get something useful out of a quest.

"Jin-hwan, Ji-ah. We're going in."

"Yes."

"We don't know what's going to happen once we're inside, so get ready the second we step through."

"Of course. Ji-ah, stay right next to me."

"Okay!"

We were out of time. Ah-ra and Jin-ri came with us as we stepped through the gate.

The other side of the gate didn't look all that different from an ordinary park. It was on the larger side, maybe, but there were no monsters in sight and no barren wasteland — just a regular park. A well-kept one, at that.

"Ugh."

"My head..."

I was glancing around when Ah-ra and Jin-ri seemed to come to. They clutched their heads and pushed themselves up.

"You with us?"

"Yes, Ssaem. But where is this? Why are we here?"

"Well, it started in Gopchang Alley..."

I walked them through what had happened, starting from the alley. They wouldn't remember all of it, but they remembered going into Gopchang Alley, and they pieced the rest together quickly. Then they looked at me with guilty faces.

"We're sorry, Ssaem. You didn't get hurt when we attacked you, did you?"

"Yeah. Are you okay?"

"Haha. Don't worry about it. If there's one thing I've got, it's a tough body."

I'd taken a few hits, sure — subduing Ah-ra and Jin-ri without hurting them had been a pain — but nothing worth making a fuss over.

"Hey, Ssaem, I can see a wound right here."

"Brat. When Ssaem's trying to look cool, you just sit still."

"I was going to heal you."

Jin-hwan, who'd converted his attribute back, treated my wounds. I was grateful, of course. Still, I couldn't help thinking it wouldn't have killed him to wait until I'd finished looking cool.

"But hide-and-seek? What's that supposed to mean?"

"That's what I'd like to know. The ones who came in before us are nowhere to be seen."

I looked around, but it was quieter than I'd expected. Nothing but the sound of the wind. I'd played plenty of hide-and-seek in my time. The whole point was running around making a racket while you searched. This kind of silence was just... off.

"Ssaem! Come look at this!"

"What is it?"

Ah-ra, who'd been scouting the area, seemed to have found something. She called me over in a hurry, and when I got there, a person was lying on the ground. I rushed over and checked their condition. They were already gone. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠They hadn't been dead long — the body still held its warmth. Something was happening here, right now.

"Kids, be careful. This isn't ordinary hide-and-seek."

"How did this person even end up like this? They don't look like they took any damage..."

That was bothering me too. It didn't look like they'd died from any kind of attack. No wounds on the body, and it didn't seem like poison either.

So wandering around ourselves is too dangerous?

In a situation where anything could happen, roaming the park looking for a hidden entity came with real risk.

Well. I can summon monsters now, so that's fine.

I summoned the most mobile monsters I currently had and sent them out to scout the surroundings.

"Alright. Let's find somewhere to hide for now."

Not knowing what might happen, we moved to a nearby spot that was good for concealment. The Lizardmen handled most of the ground search. I used the Venom Fairy and the Mental Unification with Monster skill to share its vision, surveying the area from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the sky.

No one else nearby?

While the Lizardmen were combing every inch of the place, I caught someone bursting out of a tree they'd been hiding in.

Huh? A person?

Maybe they'd been startled by the Lizardmen wandering around. Someone took off running out of nowhere. They didn't look like the hidden entity — just another person here, besides the three who'd gone in ahead of us.

Where are they going in such a hurry?

It was strange. At first I figured they were running from the Lizardmen. But that wasn't it. Even after putting plenty of distance between themselves and the Lizardmen, they still wore a look of sheer terror as they fled. The Lizardmen weren't the problem.

"Damn it! The Lizardmen startled me and the aggro came back to me!"

What the hell was making them act like that? I didn't have to watch him for long before I found out.

What the hell is that?!

Even from the sky, I could see clearly what was chasing that person. A being floating through the air, draped in a black cloak, a massive scythe in its hands. It was—

I can't even see its level.

Was it because the level was too high? A level completely invisible to me as I was now. In short, the Grim Reaper was a monster I shouldn't even think about approaching.

That's not the hidden entity. So we're supposed to find the hidden one while avoiding this Grim Reaper?

The corpse from a moment ago. That person had almost certainly been done in by this Grim Reaper.

"Please, just get the aggro off me! There are a bunch of Lizardmen right there!"

Once you were targeted, it seemed hard to shake off. The man fled from the Grim Reaper with everything he had. And maybe that effort paid off — the Grim Reaper's targeting locked onto a Lizardman.

Alright. Let's see how that thing attacks.

I could have pulled the Lizardmen back. Instead, I sent them in — I wanted to see how the Grim Reaper attacked, and whether a Lizardman's strikes would even land.

Kieeeek!

A Lizardman charged the Grim Reaper, sword raised. Truth be told, the Lizardman's level wasn't that low. It still ranked reasonably high. But that Grim Reaper... maybe there was a reason its level wouldn't display. The Lizardman's all-out assault didn't even leave a scratch.

Doesn't look like a monster we're supposed to kill.

If the attacks had landed even a little, I might have tried something. This wasn't that. The Grim Reaper drifted toward the Lizardman, scythe in hand. Then it raised the blade high and swept it down through the Lizardman's torso.

A sharp metallic ring. You'd expect a massive gash where the scythe cut, blood spraying out. That wasn't what happened. The Lizardman looked completely unharmed — so much so I wondered if the scythe had even made contact.

And then it crumpled. The Lizardman collapsed where it stood.

The man who'd died earlier had probably gone the same way. Having killed the Lizardman, the Grim Reaper seemed to lock onto a new target and moved with startling speed.

Is there someone else over there?

The person the Grim Reaper had targeted — there were two people there, and one of them looked familiar.

Nam-hoon?

Come to think of it — Nam-hoon, who'd been with us in Gopchang Alley. Nam-hoon had just been targeted by the Grim Reaper.