"Yosh!"
Sinex landed on the standing wood, her arms spread apart as she balanced herself.
In front of her was a thick forest, dark even though the sun was out.
Ha Joon, with his hand in his pocket, walked forward, "Why did you drag all the way here? You know I have to supervise the reconstruction of the main capital. Yukio is waiting for there."
"It will be quick, promise." Sinex leaped down from the wood and pointed towards the forest, "It's just in there."
Ha Joon looked towards the forest, the darkness within really unsettling.
'I don't even need my perception skill to tell it's a total no-go area. It's still in Calot regardless, aning my responsibility.'
He sighed, "Alright, fine. Just hurry up."
"Haiiii!"
Sinex grabbed him by the hand and began to lead him towards the forest.
The mont he stepped foot into the darkness—
[Your perception skill is spiking up. I advise retreating to reassess the situation.]
Even Ha Joon could tell this; the expression on his face was proof of it.
He imdiately pulled his hand away from Sinex's grasp, "Sinex, what exactly did you see?"
Sinex looked at him, "Oh? I saw a bunch of kids playing around here, but they went missing when I chased them in, so I wanted to show you…"
'Kids?'
Ding!
[You have a new side quest.]
[Side quest: Helping the lost children.]
[Objective: The children of the woods are lonely, the children of the woods are crying. You have the ability to help, so do it.]
[Reward: None!]
'Wait! Screw the quest, you're telling there are children lost in these woods? Open up the map, let's track them down.'
[....]
'Ciel?'
"Uhm? Love? Where is the exit?" Sinex asked as she pointed behind him with her shaky finger.
He imdiately turned to check, and just as Sinex said, there was no exit. Ha Joon had only taken one step into the forest, and sohow it felt like he had walked miles into it.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding ." Ha Joon didn't waste any ti. He imdiately yanked out his phone, about to switch it on, when he suddenly felt sothing pulling on his trousers.
He turned his gaze to look at what it could be, only to find a small child, wearing ragged clothes, looking up at him.
'A child.' Ha Joon was surprised.
Sinex was also confused, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she just watched with her arms behind her back.
"Hey there, buddy. Are you alright?" Ha Joon knelt in front of the kid, dusting his body. "How did you end up here?"
"Uhmm… Mister, what is that?" the kid pointed at the smartphone.
Ha Joon smiled, "It's a magic glow box I have, nothing special."
"Lies. Mama told lying is bad and can get you into trouble," replied the kid.
A look of bewildernt washed over his face, "I... I see, my bad, hehe." He forced a laugh, though he felt strange about the whole thing.
"I'll take you back to your mother now, okay?" He patted the head of the kid. "As soon as you tell where the rest are."
The kid tilted his head to the side.
But just then—
Ah!
Sinex pointed in the sa direction again, "The exit, it's back."
Ha Joon looked to its back, "Heeeee, I guess it is."
[Congratulations, you have completed the side quest.]
'Eh? It's just a child? Then why did you say children? And why the hell did you go silent before?'
[....]
Ha Joon sighed, 'Don't tell Ciel is glitching. She did ntion not updating her software or sothing like that. Ah well, let get this boy back to the castle and have the guards find his parents.'
He stood up, grabbing the hand of the child with a smile, "Co on, let's go."
Ha Joon began to make his way towards the exit while holding the kid's hand, Sinex also following behind him.
The mont he stepped outside, he was t with a bright light.
Beeeeeeep!!!
A truck was speeding towards his position.
Ha Joon's eyes widened. The kid he was once holding was no longer there, and sohow he was in the middle of the road—his instinct telling him to move… move… move.
He jumped to the side, his body rolling on the sidewalk as the truck sped past him, the driver yelling in anger.
It took Ha Joon a minute to finally realize it.
'Cented ground… truck…'
Shock was written on his face as he looked up, only to see people dressed in modern outfits, cars speeding on the road, and tall skyscrapers with characters on billboards.
Things that could never exist in Calot.
There was no doubt about it.
"I'm… back in Korea?"
"Young man, are you alright?"
A woman who had just walked out of the store closest to Ha Joon asked, clearly noticing how weirdly Ha Joon was dressed.
In fact, everyone who could see him was surprised. They thought he was simply a cosplayer being way too serious about his job.
"Yeah, sure… I'm fine," Ha Joon stood up, shock still glued to his face.
How? He had just stepped out of the forest, so how did he end up in Korea? Was he sent back? Or perhaps he was just imagining the whole thing.
Ring! Ring!
His phone vibrated in his grasp.
Slowly, he turned the screen, only to see the person calling him.
{Mom 2 calling…}
'W...what the hell is this?'
Ha Joon looked around again one last ti, taking in every detail, but yet, he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.
Gulp~
He swallowed his saliva and gently placed the phone to his ear after picking it up.
"Hello?"
(Honey? Thank goodness I was able to reach you. Hurry back ho, Rachel is looking for you. She said you left your apartnt, and she couldn't find you. Don't make the poor girl worry about you like that… co ho.)
"Holy shit, I've finally gone insane, haven't I?"
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