CH 142

When I woke up, I was walking in a garden full of pure white flowers.

As I was moving forward without knowing why, a vine with abundant purple grapes shining like jewels appeared in front of me.

“Wa…”

Exclamations came out of my mouth at the large grapes that looked sweet just by looking at them. As I approached and carefully touched the grapes, a long cry sound came from high in the sky.

“Eagle?”

A large eagle, obscuring the bright sunlight, circled around the air and then descended to the vine. The eagle, which landed gracefully on the thickest branch, looked at me and tilted its head slightly.

“Cool.”

The golden eyes staring at me slowly blinked. The eagle, covered with white feathers around its head and black body, flapped its wings once as if stretching out and then pushed its face into me.

When I gently stroked its forehead, which seemed it ask me to touch, and it blinked once more as if satisfied. I was mesmerized by the appearance and kept fiddling with it, but I opened my mouth as if possessed.

“Somehow, it looks like Ha Tae-heon.”

At those words, the golden eyes of the eagle turned to me again. As I looked at the eagle’s eyes, a familiar voice came from somewhere.

“…gyeol.”

“……?”

Surprised, I looked around, but I couldn’t see anyone. It was only me and the eagle here.

“…Yi-gyeol.”

“Don’t tell me…”

I stroked the long fur under the eagle’s beak and looked closely again. For some reason, I felt pathetic in the eyes of the eagle looking at me. Ha Tae-heon often did that.

“Han Yi-gyeol.”

“Ha Tae-heon-ssi?”

Is this eagle really Ha Tae-heon? No, how did you end up being an eagle…

“Wake up, Han Yi-gyeol.”

“What?”

At that moment, my feet snapped off and my vision flipped. The last time I saw the eagle soaring high in the sky, spurting out the branches, my eyes were covered in darkness.

* * *

“Han Yi-gyeol.”

“Umm… eagle…”

“Eagle?”

Mumbling words that I couldn’t even understand myself, I instinctively dug towards a place where I felt the warmth. As I rubbed my cheek against something hot and soft, I felt a gentle touch on my ear.

“Uh…”

My back trembled with a ticklish yet chilling sensation. Biting my lip and shaking my head, someone clenched the throat and laughed lowly.

“Wake up.”

When I opened my eyes slowly at those words, light copper-coloured skin filled my vision. Confused, I fumbled, touched the flesh in front of me, and lifted my head, revealing Ha Tae-heon’s face with a grim expression on his face.

“Gasp…!”

Horrified by the black eyes I met, I stepped back and noticed Ha Tae-heon, who was still naked.

“Ha, Ha Tae-heon-ssi?”

“Now you’re awake.”

Ha Tae-heon, who was lying on his side and looking at me with his chin clenched, slowly blinked his eyes and brought up the main point.

“You must be tired because you haven’t slept in a while, but we should be ready to go out soon.”

“Oh, um. Yes. All right.”

Instinctively, I fixed my gaze on Ha Tae-heon’s face instead of his chest. He didn’t care much about my stupid reaction and raised himself then got off the bed.

Fortunately, unlike the last time he was wearing only underwear, Ha Tae-heon, who was wearing training pants, said while wearing a white short-sleeved T-shirt that was draped over the night table.

“Come out. Let’s eat breakfast and move.”

“Yes.”

I quickly got out of bed and followed Ha Tae-heon out of the bedroom then realized that I had forgotten to ask why I was sleeping in his arms.

Now I couldn’t bring it up. I let out a sigh as I ruffled my messy bangs.

‘Maybe I was the one who hug him in my sleep first?’

If so, I was so embarrassed that I couldn’t lift my face. Even if Ha Tae-heon treated me like a child, I had nothing to say. Unlike me, who grumbled while touching my forehead, Ha Tae-heon, who seemed to be in a pretty good mood, handed me a cup of water and opened his mouth.

“After we shower and eat breakfast, we will go straight to the guild.”

“You mean Roheon Guild?”

“Yeah. I have someone to meet in the basement lab.”

I asked, wetting my dry mouth with water.

“Who will you meet?”

“I know how to get to China without taking a plane. I’ve told her in advance, so we can go on time.”

I checked the clock hanging on the living room wall. It was still early, not even 6 o’clock.

“Are they affiliated with Roheon?” (Here is Yi-gyeol didn’t know if it was a ‘she’)

“She’s a producer who moved over to us from Blun Guild last year. Her skills are quite useful.” (Tae-heon answered with the vague subject here, it’s a bit difficult to differentiate the subject in Korean)

A producer from Blun Guild… There was one that came to mind. Recalling the contents of the Abyss novel, I nodded my head. If the producer I expected and the producer Ha Tae-heon talked about were the same, this plan was reliable.

In response to my answer that I understood, Ha Tae-heon blinked at the bathroom.

“Wash up and come out. I left the outdoor clothes in front of the bathroom.”

* * *

After arriving at Roheon Guild parking lot, Ha Tae-heon and I got on the elevator, being careful not to run into the employee. Ha Tae-heon, who pressed the third basement floor, took out black leather half-palm gloves from the inside pocket of his suit jacket and put them on.

As I watched the scars that filled his hands hide, I remembered his past I had read in Abyss. The second awakened SS-rank talented person in Korea. That scar was a trace of the effort that was made in the process of verifying and refining his ability without being swayed by those who flocked to him like a swarm of ants to take advantage of him.

The SS-rank ability and energy were very strong, but it was just as dangerous. Ha Tae-heon went through a lot of work to properly control the huge power that was suddenly appeared.

‘In the novel, it was written that before meeting Lee Joo-ha, he refused treatment and trained his ability at the guild management headquarters training centre.’

The duration was approximately three months. The SS-rank had a small sample and it wouldn’t have been easy to get help as he was the second SS-rank to appear in Korea. As I thought about it, I suddenly realized.

‘…then what about Cheon Sa-yeon?’

Ha Tae-heon awakened relatively recently, so he wasn’t unfamiliar with the existence of the talented person and it took him, who used various available facilities, three months to get used to his ability.

Then what about Cheon Sa-yeon? It said that he founded the Requiem Guild at a young age, so at least he had awakened his ability before that.

A chill enveloped the corner of my chest. How was Cheon Sa-yeon’s life that was hidden by Abyss… For the first time, I felt that I wanted to know.

“Han Yi-gyeol?”

“Yes?”

Ha Tae-heon’s call came through my absent mind. When I raised my head, I saw Ha Tae-heon looking at me over the wide-open elevator.

“Why aren’t you getting off?”

“Ah. I’m sorry.”

I hurried out into the hallway, breaking the thoughts that filled my head. Now was not the time to think of Cheon Sa-yeon.

Controlling my shaky mind, I followed Ha Tae-heon and opened the door to the lab made of opaque glass.

“Ugh!”

“Be careful of the floor.”

As soon as I entered the room, Ha Tae-heon grabbed my body, which almost fell over the box. The room, filled with all sorts of clutter, was so dark that it was difficult to move around.

As I carefully stepped inside, I heard a lively female voice with a bright blue light.

“That’s right. And pick this up. No, no, not the blue line, but the red line!”

“This?”

At the same time, Ha Tae-heon pressed the switch on the wall. The lamp hanging from the ceiling was turned on and the dark interior of the laboratory was brightly lit.

“Ooh, Deputy Master?”

Only then did the woman, who noticed our existence, push the large goggles she was wearing on her forehead and run out. The sound of the woman’s body hitting a hammer and falling to the floor, breaking something, made the surroundings noisy.

“When did you come?”

“Just now.”

She was an exotic-looking woman with her curly khaki hair tied high up in a ponytail. Her freckles that filled her nose and cheeks gave her a cheerful and bright impression.

After confirming the opponent’s face, I realized that she was the same person as the A-rank producer belonging to Roheon who appeared in Abyss.

“I didn’t know because it was chaotic. Ah, is this person Talented Han Yi-gyeol?”

“Hello.”

The woman in a messy green jumpsuit, roughly wiping her palms, grinned and offered to shake hands.

“It’s an honour to meet that famous Talented Han Yi-gyeol. Welcome. Please feel free to call me ‘Luzel’ (루젤).”

“Nice to meet you, Luzel-ssi.”

“Ahaha, what’s with –ssi thing. You don’t have to add it like that.”

Luzel, who vigorously waved her clasped hands, beckoned to me and Ha Tae-heon.

“Come in! The machine Deputy Master asked for will be completed soon. Well, my brother is helping me. Is that okay?”

It was filled with the sound of something falling and crashing as Luzel strode. As I followed her into the back room, being careful not to touch anything, I saw the man sitting on the floor covered in a black blanket.

“Luke (루크)! It’s no use hiding like that.”

Hesitating at Luzel’s words, I blinked at the action of the man who lowered the blanket. I thought she was joking. Did he really hide there? It was difficult to cover that size with a blanket in the corner.

The man with the same khaki curly hair as Luzel opened his mouth with his eyes fixed on the floor.

“Hello…”

“Luke is a bit shy.”

I don’t think it was a bit. The man called Luke moved behind Luzel while looking at me and Ha Tae-heon. I watched the scene silently and whispered to Ha Tae-heon.

“Is that man named Luke also a member of Roheon?”

“No. As far as I know, he is independent.”

As expected. Only Luzel appeared in Abyss, but Luke didn’t.

‘Well, there could have been a simple line or two that explaining she had a younger brother.’

I didn’t know as I couldn’t remember until there. Luzel, who was carrying the strange-looking items and faltering around, opened her mouth to Ha Tae-heon.

“I’m sorry for bring him here without explanation. It is difficult for me to complete it in time by myself. But don’t worry, he’s good at it.”

“Is he also the producer?”

“Yes. Luke is also an A-rank. Although the fields are a bit different.”

Luzel, who grinned playfully while wrinkling the back of her nose, pointed to Luke and continued.

“If I’m a synthesis expert, Luke is an extraction expert. He is a genius at getting the materials needed for crafting from monsters.”

As I listened to the interesting explanation, I looked at the moving Luke with the giant ivory.

“It is a more difficult and dangerous field than synthesizing because they have to deal with monster corpses directly. So there aren’t many experts.”

“Is it necessary to craft the item I commissioned?”

“Um, no. Rather, it is necessary to use the item safely.”

Obviously, the shoulders above the checkered shirt were wide and he was quite tall. Although he was a non-combat talented person with a body that wasn’t much different from that of a normal person, he looked pretty strong.

Kuung, Luke, who had put the heavy ivory on the floor, straightened his bent upper body and glanced at me. As I smiled at the khaki-coloured eyes I met, he hurriedly lowered his face.