Chapter 80
Of course, Kim Sangyoon could no longer run away when he reached the elevator door, and he simply waited for us, drenched in cold sweat. Even after Seo Dawon had hidden himself once again, the Warrior decidedly looked away from Lackey–the other must have made so brutal threat.
“…….”
I felt sorry for him who was attacked by both Lackey and Seo Dawon despite knowing nothing. However, I stayed silent, for there was nothing I could do straight away.
I kept a firm hold on Lackey from behind, so, thankfully, the skeleton kept calm. The entire party loaded into the soon jam-packed elevator, heads down, and an awkward silence reigned.
–Ding.
“….I’ll be back.”
When the elevator arrived on the first floor, Kim Sangyoon whispered as he bowed his head towards Lackey.
Kim Sangyoon and Lackey walked together to the restaurant in order to create an alibi by briefly showing my face to those that were monitoring the building–that ‘Choi Lee-kyung’ had parted ways in front of the restaurant and returned imdiately to the elevator. My eyes tracked the Warrior and Jung Garam’s entrance into [Tea Banquet] before the elevator doors closed.
‘You can press the button for the 4th floor.’ I whispered quietly to Lackey, ordering him to do as I said. When the elevator began climbing upwards, I sent a chat ssage to Seo Dawon.
[Choi Lee-kyung: I pressed on the 4th floor]
“I know. I’m here too?”
Ah! Oh my god!
I scampered to the side quickly, startled by the whispering voice in my ears. Lackey seed to also be surprised by Seo Dawon’s sudden appearance; it opened its mouth to hiss, not unlike a shocked cat.
Though, I was thankful that Seo Dawon grabbed and pulled on my arm to stop from falling over while surprised.
“Your ears are quite sensitive?” He said.
Thankful or not, my forehead wrinkled at those sexual harassnt-like comnts. “Are you a pervert?”
“Are you interested in that?”
…I don’t want to speak with him anymore…
When I shut up, exhaustion lining my face, Seo Dawon smiled and whispered sothing inaudible while touching the elevator wall. Sothing had changed, perhaps, as the elevator doors did not open despite it reaching its destination on the 4th floor.
“Press the button for the 3rd floor, Lackey.” Seo Dawon had briefly taken his hand off the wall when the elevator had stalled, but, after Lackey pressed the button, he placed his hands back in their original position again.
At that mont, my eyes filled with painful light, as if molten gold poured into the elevator. When we arrived at the third floor again, after a customary –Ding!, the bright afterimage had disappeared.
Lackey got off on this floor. I had already explained to the skeleton in advance, but I was nervous until I saw it return to our room without glancing back at . A sigh of relief escaped; the alibi-creation operation was a success.
“Haah…” I sighed.
“Then, shall we go?” After the door closed, Seo Dawon asked, looking at . After my nod, he pressed the button to manually open the doors.
‘Huh…..?’
A totally different space unfolded before us.
“….!”
Just before, the view beyond the elevator was most definitely the third-floor hallway right in front of our room, but, when the elevator door reopened, a dismally gray concrete space completely different from the flashy hallway was revealed.
The light that dimly shone upon the dark hallway was due to Seo Dawon’s [Light] spell that floated above my shoulder. There was no lighting on the space’s wall or ceiling.
‘Isn’t this totally like a Dungeon?’
Sohow, I found it hard to take a step forward; the dilapidated space reminded greatly of the . However, Seo Dawon, who got off first, gently held my hand. He must have noticed my fear and apprehension.
Eventually, holding the Mage’s hand, I stepped into the gloomy hallway; after I left, the elevator continued its slow journey down. Goosebumps raised all over my skin as I looked at the empty, hollow space.
“Cold?” Seo Dawon asked when he saw shivering.
“N-no…” I shook my head.
Involuntarily, I gripped tighter onto his hand. Fortunately, instead of teasing , Seo Dawon fixed my grip and ignited another [Light] next to my shoulder.
* * *
We walked slowly down the hall.
On the way, signs saying [restricted area] often littered the path. Seo Dawon brandished his gold-tinged hands whenever he saw such signs; the signs would shrivel and turn black until we passed–at which point it would spring back anew.
Those have got to be the traps that Jung Garam warned us about… Do parties usually leave traps activated like that? I asked Seo Dawon my question.
“Those types of traps alert you after they are destroyed or broken–they function as a warning–so that’s why I left them.” Seo Dawon patiently answered.
Perhaps there were more hidden traps alongside the obvious installations, as Seo Dawon kept busy, brandishing his hands at certain intervals.
However, the problem was……
At so point, a strange sll began to waft through. At first, it slt sweet, like caralizing sugar, but, as we got closer to our destination, the sweetness beca more intense. By the ti we were steps away from our goal, our heads were pounding from the saccharine sll.
“What on earth could this scent be?”
“It seems that Koo Hui-seo isn’t locked up in so normal way.”
It felt as if I was the only one suffering; Seo Dawon walked calmly forward as if he couldn’t sll anything. When he finally arrived in front of a closed room, he placed his palms carefully on the door.
–Ssssssst
When he touched the door, a crumbling sound–like the falling of long-accumulated dust–erged, and an odd wave passed through the door, like ripples over a calm lake. The cause of this phenonon, Seo Dawon, soon took his hand off.
The door was old and rusty; it looked more like the iron door used in warehouses than in personal bedrooms. It was locked by a long steel bar hanging horizontally on a latch with a large lock hanging from the fra.
Ever since Seo Dawon touched the door–and the surface began to ripple like a lake–the lock made a rattling noise and released itself with a clang. After the large lock fell to the floor, the steel bar was also automatically pushed out of the latch and removed.
‘Urgh…..’
Unfortunately, the offensive sll further intensified after the door unlocked. I concentrated on the door that slowly began to open while barely holding back my nausea.
Just then, a faint voice could be heard.
[I’ve been afraid for so long…]
But, as soon as the [Light] spell shined upon the room’s insides, I looked forward and completely forgot about the voice; my mouth gaped wide open. There was sothing so shocking in front of that my lips stiffened and I couldn’t move one inch.
“Sure enough…I thought the direction of the traps was a bit strange.”
Unlike my frozen self, Seo Dawon only muttered sothing unintelligible under his breath and moved into the room without delay. His steps disturbed the accumulated dust, and white clouds dissipated into the air.
I entered the room half-heartedly, dragged along by our connected hands. I didn’t want to look at *it* in front of , but I couldn’t force myself to tear my eyes away. In addition, we were approaching closer to *it*.
My short panic ended when Seo Dawon unhesitatingly reached over to touch *it*. I unconsciously grabbed that hand.
“Hm?” Seo Dawon, interrupting while trying to touch *it*, looked back at . Only genuine curiosity remained in his expression–his eyes showed no anxiety or fear.
I was fed up with the look on his face. No matter how dead he may be, how could he be so calm about this?
“W-what are you doing!”
“Why?”
“Just now, you…you were going to touch it? Why?”
“Hm? I need to see the face to figure out whether or not it’s Koo Hui-seo.”
I was speechless at his tranquility.
At first glance, there was nothing wrong with what he said. As he said, that *thing’s* face was covered by long, scruffy hair.
But that *thing.*
‘No matter how you see it…It’s obviously a corpse?’
The body was rotting, hanging upside down in the middle of the room. In addition, the body was not the only thing of note in the room; a huge tree that had halfway encompassed the body stood in the middle of the room as if supporting the structure.
Just why would a grueso sight fit for a Dungeon exist in a VIP ward?!
Furthermore, the black fruit abundantly hanging from the tree seed to be the cause of the rotting stench that intensified as we proceeded through the hallway.
It wafted from the decomposing fruits fallen at the base of the tree. I was sure they were also the cause of the soles of our shoes sticking to the floor. In that situation, Seo Dawon stretched out to its hair, as if to uncover its face…
But, do you really have to touch that with your own hands? Damn it…Doesn’t this guy know the core tenets of horror movies? Touching sothing so suspicious and disgusting would definitely raise a flag! 1
“W-why would you….touch it.” I grabbed Seo Dawon’s hand, beseeching him, and dragged him as much as I could to my side. Since you’re a Mage, don’t use your body–use your skills from afar!
“Lee-kyung-ah, are you scared?” Seo Dawon asked without hiding his mocking lilt. Before I could deny him, he grabbed the head of the corpse consud by the tree and lifted it straight up, forcing its gaze onto .
“You’ve really suffered a lot by being a Necromancer” 2 Seo Dawon said with a grin, but my mind went blank after making eye contact with *it*.
Because, long before *its* head was raised…*it* began to smile, mouth wide open.
[I knew you would co to find .]
TL: And so we move into more serious matters~ (but not without so flirting first). Enter Koo Hui-seo!
Reviews
All reviews (0)