CH 144

D23 Area, one of the C-grade gates owned by Roheon. After driving for three hours, I arrived at this place and couldn’t see anything except the entrance to the central gate. Ha Tae-heon said to me as I looked around the area.

“I told the manager to leave for a while. We leave before he comes back.”

Ha Tae-heon got out of the car and let the energy flow into the closed gate as he saw Luke following him. Uung, the gate vibrated slightly and opened slowly.

The D23 Area gate had a low grade, the inside wasn’t that big and the number of monsters was small. The inside of the gate, filled with fresh grass and leaves, was no different from an ordinary forest.

“Luke-ssi?”

As I was moving around to find the gate exit, I found Luke crouching in the corner. When I approached, wondering what it was, he reached out to a small creature that was flying in the air.

‘What? Rabbit?’

It looked like a pure white rabbit, but its body was too small and soft.

“What is it?”

Only then did Luke notice my presence standing right behind him, hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.

“It is a living being that can only be seen in the gate forest. It looks similar to Jorunna Parva (주러나팔바), so the name is also called Jorunnan.” (주러나팔바, referred sea rabbit or sea bunny, here and here)

“Cute.”

Cute, but too small… it looked good to step on because it was so soft. Suddenly, I looked under my feet out of concern.

“They only appear in the forests that are in very good condition, so you don’t see them often. We’re lucky.”

Jorunnan, who climbed up on the back of Luke’s hand and tapped his skin, had grown to four or five. It made a squeak and ran away as he gently shook his hand.

Luke’s face, looking at Jorunnan as he got up and walked away with a smile, seemed incomparably more comfortable than when he was dealing with people.

“You look happy.”

At that, Luke looked at me with a slightly out of focus gaze. (그 말에 루크가 살짝 빗겨 나간 시선으로 나를 바라봤다)

“Actually, this is one of the gates I wanted to come and see. There are a lot of non-dangerous creatures and useful monster materials.”

“Good for you.”

It was rare to find a producer who was so interested in the life inside the gate. I hope I got some help when we got to know each other. I smiled brightly at him with that thought intentionally.

“Then we will move slowly, so do what you want to do, Luke-ssi, and follow along.”

“Tha, thank you…”

Luke, unable to hide his embarrassment, hurriedly distanced himself from me. Ha Tae-heon, who was quietly listening to Luke’s conversation with me, said quietly next to me.

“What else are you planning on doing?”

“Ey, you’re misunderstanding. What am I?”

“Tell me the truth now.”

I shrugged lightly at the voice full of disbelief.

“It’s really nothing. It’s just that it’s good to get close to the producer. He seems to be quite talented.”

“Hmm…”

Ha Tae-heon still gave me a suspicious look, but to some extent, he understood my words, he turned his head to look at Luke’s back looking at the large tree.

“The employee said that he is quite well-known in the industry along with Producer Luzel.”

“Even so, I have a question.”

When I grabbed Ha Tae-heon’s arm, his gaze turned to me again.

“Can you tell me why Luzel is helping us?”

“It’s not a great reason.”

“But, still. It’s even about making new items. I was actually a little surprised.”

Ha Tae-heon, who blinked as if choosing what to say for a moment, gently pulled out his caught arm and grabbed my hand. The action was so natural that I looked down at the caught hand, followed by explanations over my head.

“Producer Luzel was originally a member of Blun Guild. She was one of those who would be fired after the Gangnam incident when Master Kang Seung-geon was arrested and the guild was reduced.”

“She’s a talented producer, but getting fired?”

“Right. There aren’t many guilds that originally had the production department. They have to be able to afford the money to go in. Blun Guild couldn’t afford it, so they disbanded the production department altogether.”

That’s true. Maybe that’s why there were so many producers who worked in the dark like Red Market I visited with Ha Tae-heon in the past, or who were independent producers like Luke.

I thought it was simply to avoid the law and make various productions.

“Producer Luzel has always wanted to come to our guild. I chose Luzel as someone I could bring in from among the many producers belonging to Blun and Master respected that opinion.”

“That’s why Luzel…”

“I think Master informed her when they signed the contract. Since then, she has said many times that she will pay what she owes.”

With the palm of his hand, I could feel the warmth through the slick leather of the glove he was wearing. As if they were one from the beginning, I could see my hand that fit perfectly into Ha Tae-heon’s large hand.

“Aren’t you wasting a good opportunity because of me?”

“When I heard about the plan to go to China without being caught by others, I decided it was appropriate to seek help from Producer Luzel. It’s an opportunity I had forgotten about because I didn’t need it until then, so I don’t care.”

The words he added indifferently contained Ha Tae-heon’s heart that cared for me. I smiled at him, hiding the bitterness.

* * *

“What about this?”

“It’s Red Spellion Rock (레드 스펠리온 록). It’s one of the scorpion monsters and has a poisonous tail, so when stung, it causes fever and vomiting. It’s not life-threatening though.”

“What about that?”

“It’s Worm Ghost (웜 고스트), a typical monster that is easy to catch because it lacks power. Its body fluids can be crafted into medicines to treat minor injuries.”

Luke answered my question, who was pointing to the corpses of monsters in a row, without hesitation. Ha Tae-heon, who shook the black sword he had created with his ability to shake off the monster’s blood, stared at Luke and me, who were having a conversation with a confused expression.

Luke, who was wearing pure white cloth gloves and touching the opaque ghost-like worm ghost, took out a sample bottle from the small leather bag he was wearing on his belt.

“Is this an item bag?”

“Yes.”

It was a leather bag with a familiar appearance. After concentrating on looking at the bag, I asked, just in case.

“Could it be that Producer Li Wei made it?”

“That’s right.”

Luke, who looked at my face once for less than a second, quickly lowered his gaze and nodded.

Li Wei. An old producer I met at Red Market with Ha Tae-heon. In exchange for four sapphire tail butterfly wings, I got an inventory bag. Cha Soo-yeon was using the bag well.

I didn’t hide my surprise, I said.

“The item bag made by Producer Li Wei isn’t an easy item to get… Did you buy it at an auction?”

“It’s not that. I… that, I have some connection with Li Wei. Um. So I got it.”

“Oh.”

He was an acquaintance with Li Wei, who was obsessed with that frizzy and shiny thing? That was pretty good information.

‘Even so, I want Li Wei’s production ability…’ (그렇지 않아도 리웨이의 제작 능력이 탐났는데)

Li Wei was a difficult producer to deal with, as he was very sneaky and wouldn’t accept deals on anything unless it was shiny, especially the rarest.

It didn’t look too bad to go to Li Wei through Luke once the items were ready to be traded later.

I thought it was just okay with his ability, I didn’t expect this kind of relationship. If they really got to know each other, there was nothing bad about it.

Having done calculating in my head, I smiled broadly on purpose to make Luke see me as a very kind and friendly person. Then Luke was surprised and hurriedly turned his face again this time.

“Haa.”

Ha Tae-heon, who watched what I was doing with his arms crossed, sighed.

After confirming that Luke had obtained all the materials from the monster corpse, we continued to move towards the exit. The D23 Area gate was small enough that it was only a day’s walk to the exit.

On a night when darkness fell, Ha Tae-heon, was on a land with relatively few tree roots, skillfully gathered branches and lit it with a lighter.

Luke sat with his back against the thick tree near the fast-made bonfire and blinked with a tired face.

“Are you okay, Luke-ssi?”

“I’m fine.”

Ha Tae-heon and I didn’t get tired easily with this schedule, but it must have been a little overwhelming for Luke. Leaving the seat so that he could rest comfortably, I walked over to the huge root of an old tree on the other side and sat down.

“I should look around.”

Ha Tae-heon, wearing an SS-class coat, said.

Despite being a C-grade gate, he didn’t neglect his vigilance. It was probably because the producer who didn’t have any special combat ability was accompanying us. Looking at Ha Tae-heon’s back, who was moving away, I looked up.

Through the thick leaves, the moon filling the dark night sky was seen. As I looked up at the sky with a large, pure blue moon that was different from the real moon that looked small and pure white, I realized that this place was inside the gate.

From the time I first entered the SS-grade gate following Cheon Sa-yeon until now, I still knew very little about the gate.

I didn’t think too much because this place was just someone’s creation and I was willing to leave without any regrets if I could figure out a way to return to my original body…

‘The situation is different now.’

Maybe this was the true story of an unidentified novel called ‘Abyss’, but maybe not. It could be a dream like a daydream I had in my coffin after I was stabbed to death.

At this point in time when we didn’t know what the truth was, the Prophet was our only hope. The person who was most likely to know the answer to my current situation and the answer to what to do in the future.

I leaned my head against the root of a tree without taking my eyes off the sky which was filled with dreamy colours mixed with blue moonlight. How much time had passed, Ha Tae-heon, who had gone looking out through the thick forest, returned.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah.”

The sword in his hand was scattered. Ha Tae-heon walked over to me and sat down next to me.

“You must be tired because you slept less.”

“A little bit. It’s not too bad though.”

Luke was already in a deep sleep. Looking at Luke, who was sleeping with his body leaning on a wooden pole, I turned to Ha Tae-heon.

“Thank you, Ha Tae-heon-ssi. Thank you for coming with me.”

It was a bit out of the blue, but I thought it was the words that I couldn’t give other than now.

“Of course, thank you for helping me go to China. Ha Tae-heon-ssi has helped me a lot in the past. I will pay you back later when I get a chance…”

“It’s not necessary.”

Ha Tae-heon cut off the words I said hard as I swept the back of my neck in awkwardness.

I couldn’t believe he turned me down so coldly. His attitude, which was much colder than expected, made me feel down. No, but it was good enough for me, wasn’t it? I muttered to myself and smiled awkwardly.

“Yeah, well… if you don’t need it…”

“Han Yi-gyeol.”

Ha Tae-heon called me in a soft voice.

“This is not a contract.”

“Still…”

“It means I didn’t do it for a price.”

“Yes?”

“I would have said I believe you.”

“…that…”

My lips twitched with the feeling I couldn’t explain and then I turned my head. Somehow my cheeks got hot.

He said he believed me. It was difficult to get over it moderately when I heard it from Ha Tae-heon. It must be because there was so much sincerity in it.

After not making eye contact for a long time, I barely covered my red neck with my hands and smiled at him.

“Thank you, Ha Tae-heon-ssi.”