Chapter 113 - Comin' Through!

"Jeong-Hui…"

He heard his name whispered from the only other person present in his room.

Feigning being asleep, he kept his eyes closed while staying laid towards the wall, tucked comfortably beneath his blankets as he wanted nothing more than to stay in the heavenly comfort he yearned for.

"...Jeong-Hui…!" Sol whispered again, a bit louder, "Jeong-Hui!"

"What–?!"

He sat up with his frizzy, red hair being more unkempt than usual, he saw Sol already standing up with his knees pressed together in a universal sign:

"I've gotta take a leak," Sol told him.

"...Why're you telling me? Go!" He said, laying back down as he pulled his blankets back up to his shoulders.

"But it's dark out there…! Your toilet doesn't flush!" Sol contested.

He almost couldn't believe what he was hearing, but then again–it was Sol, the man frightened to the core of his very own blood.

It was all because of an incident a week prior when they were having a sleepover with the two of them and Yeong-Un.

You've got to be kidding me…All because that guy clogged the toilet! He thought.

Regret already seeped in just an hour into their impromptu sleep over as he wished Sol was in his own room.

"Please, Jeong-Hui…I don't do well in total darkness like this–!" Sol pleaded, rubbing his knees together as he seemed one moment away from an accident.

"Okay, okay! Jeez…"

He begrudgingly got out of bed with a huff, still half asleep as he ruffled his own vermilion locks. Being tucked into bed, he was out of his [Equip], just dressed in a plain, black T-shirt and some sleek, gray sweatpants.

Like a child, Sol was wearing light-blue sleepwear; a long-sleeved, buttoned shirt of soft fabric with sleeves that hung over his hands, and baggy pants of the same fabric.

"...You owe me one," he said, still peeved by this entire ordeal.

"You got it!" Sol assured him, walking beside him into the dark hallway with his knees tucked in an odd fashion.

[Social Proficiency: +1 | 2/9999]

Huh?! Even my social skills are being cultivated by my Sage System…?! Well…I might need that, actually, he thought to himself.

It was beginning to fit a theory of his he had: the Sage System continuously evolved and unlocked more branching paths as he went forward. What helped this was the fact he only just now leveled up his "Social Proficiency" when he had been intertwined in a social circle for months now.

This Sage System is definitely expanding further by the day…It's honestly kind of exciting, he thought.

"So dark…" Sol mumbled.

"Why're you walking so slow?" He asked tiredly, looking back.

Sol was a good few meters behind him, holding his hands over his nether region while walking with his knees touching.

"...If I walk normally, I won't be able to hold it…" Sol told him quietly.

"You're really something, you know that…?" He shook his head with a sigh.

They reached one of the vacant rooms on the same floor, with him standing just outside of the room while Sol went in to handle his bladder-filled business.

"Good grief…" He sighed to himself, leaning against the wall as he waited.

While standing in the dark, silent hall, he looked up towards the ceiling, finding something peculiar catching his eye.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

"What's that…?" He questioned quietly.

It was a black liquid, slowly trickling down from the ceiling and falling onto the flooring below in a monotonous sound.

Kneeling down, he got a closer look, beginning to reach out towards the sooty liquid to inspect it before–

"GAAAH–!"

–A scream from within the vacant room that Sol was using for its bathroom.

He immediately jumped back to his feet, pulled out of whatever half-asleep state he was in as he was full alert.

"Sol?!"

He rushed into the room, finding the room unoccupied, but the closed bathroom door had a small candle light shining from within.

Without wasting any time, he ran over and flung the bathroom door open–finding Sol backed into a corner by a skin-crawling insectoid formed entirely of an all-black exoskeleton.

It was a centipede, but much larger than the norm as it stretched for one-fourth of his height.

"Get back! Get back–!"

Sol was still in his pajamas, using a nearby mop like a spear as he kept the heinous insectoid at a distance while crying out.

Through sheer fear, it seemed Sol didn't even recognize that he'd shown up.

"Use Equip, idiot!"

As he called that out, it manifested his own equipment as his casual attire was overlapped by his all-black, stealth-made uniform, instantly manifesting his daggers into his hands as he rushed towards the large centipede.

"Hyah!"

Stabbing one of his daggers downwards, it pierced through the many-legged insect, causing it to writhe in pain as an ear-piercing hiss resounded before it suddenly released into a puddle of grime.

"Eugh–! What the?!" He pulled away, avoiding the black aftermath of the insect.

"Gyah!" Sol hugged the corner of the bathroom further.

Wait…that substance…it looks just like the stuff dripping from the ceiling, he thought.

After watching for an entire minute to make sure the centipede didn't magically come back to life, Sol moved away from the corner, stepping around the puddle carefully as the two left the bathroom.

"...Thanks for the save," Sol gulped.

"You could've handled it easily if you just used Equip…" He replied wryly, tucking his daggers away with a sigh.

"I was frozen with fear–!" Sol defended himself.

"Yeah, yeah…did you get to use the bathroom, at least?" He asked.

Sol only nodded while they stood in the center of the dark, vacant room within the hotel. By some miracle, he was just surprised nobody had been woken by Sol's loud antics.

"Let's go back to bed, then…I'm…tired," he said slowly, being interrupted by his own yawn.

Just as he turned around, he heard a yelp escape Sol's lips.

"...What's it now–"

Turning around groggily to check on his friend, his eyes widened instantly as they met with what Sol was looking at: a large number of those black, sooty centipedes had somehow invaded the room, crawling along the walls and the carpets.

"J-j-jeong-Hui…!" Sol said through chattering teeth.

What the hell is going on…?! He questioned.

"Get your equipment on!" He called to him, drawing his daggers again as he began slashing away at the insectoids.

It took a moment for Sol to do so as he was still driven by freezing fear, but eventually called out: "E-equip!"

Overlapping his nighttime pajamas, Sol's adventurous uniform appeared alongside his silver spear, falling directly into his grip as he hastily began to thrust it towards the insectoids.

There was no rhyme or reason to his aim; Sol simply cried out as he relentlessly stabbed the horde of giant centipedes.

"Don't use any magic! Don't forget we're still inside!" He reminded Sol, having to stab a centipede that fell from the ceiling towards him.

It was an abhorrent situation for him, as well. Though he didn't outwardly express his fear and disgust quite so blatantly like Sol, his skin was still crawling as he wanted to vomit his disgust.

"Gyaaaah–!"

Sol screamed out again, prompting him to look back and check on his companion; the hazel-haired young man had his legs wrapped around by the centipedes, who moved their numerous, tiny legs along his thigh in a fashion that made his skin visibly shiver.

"Help me–!" Sol called out in utter horror.

"I've gotcha!" He assured him.

Though it was easier said than done–with the centipedes wrapping directly around Sol's legs, he had to be careful how he approached his attack.

…It's too easy to just accidentally cut him, too! Crap! He thought.

Even worse, there was hardly room to think as the number of centipedes only seemed to grow as they seeped in through the corners and crevices of the room.

"Shit…!" He muttered to himself.

Without much time to waste, hearing a pained yelp come from Sol's lips as the centipedes squeezed his limbs, he sheathed his daggers.

Against his better judgment, he grabbed onto the grimy insectoids directly, pulling with his raw strength as he began to unravel the monstrous insects from his friend's legs.

"Get…off!" He grunted through his teeth.

Keeping his boots planted against the ground, he had to summon all of his strength against the surprising strength of the centipedes, though he only realized why once he finally removed them from Sol's legs.

"Aaargh…!" Sol cried out in pain.

There was an audible squelch that met his ears after removing the centipedes, quickly stabbing them with a drawn dagger before looking at his friend again:

Through the legs of his black, leather-armored pants, the fabric had been torn in various spots with little piercings that resembled bite marks placed across his thighs.

"...Huh? Are you alright?!" He called out.

By some miracle, Sol didn't look down at his own, bleeding thighs, else he would've passed out on the spot and be enveloped in the hellish swarm of centipedes.

Sol nodded, "It hurts, but…I'm fine! Jeong-Hui…there's more!"

"More" was simply an understatement; there were likely hundreds now flooding in the room, enclosing on them as the sounds of their thousands of little legs clacking against the walls and floorboards was a nauseating orchestra.

"I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die like this—! I don't wanna be bug food!" Sol cried out, holding his spear with trembling fingers.

"Get it together!" He yelled at Sol, "Individually, these things aren't that strong…! We can handle them if we stay strong!"

Sol gulped his fears down, though still more than hesitant about engaging with the flood of centipedes as they closed in further.

By this point, there was no "running"--their route to the door had been completely blocked by the swarm of sooty centipedes.

I could Blink Step…but Sol can't. Crap…somebody wake up! He thought.

As if his wish was heard, a familiar, gravelly laugh resounded before the hiss of centipedes being slain sounded out.

"Huh?!"

"Comin' through! Comin' through–!"

A succession of slashes came in the form of a spin so fast that the figure unleashing them momentarily looked like a tornado of silver before coming to a stop, having slewn countless centipedes in that one maneuver.

Dual blades; one of a white handle, one of black. Spiky, blue hair and a face with a long-stretching scar with one blue eye, and one gold. An open, dark-blue coat with rolled up sleeves and a mesh shirt that hardly hid his bare torso.

It was none other than–

"Yeong-Un!"

"I heard yer' girly screams and came runnin'!" Yeong-Un explained with a smile, "....Looks like I came in the nick of time! Just like a superhero! Ha-ha!"