CH 20

The biggest change in the past two months was my relationship with Apollo. Perhaps because I looked like a baby sparrow that couldn’t stand on its own two feet, Apollo acted like a parent sparrow and tried to act as my nanny in everything I did as I said before. And because his constellation was like that, Lee Myung-won behaved like that too.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

I almost reflexively called Lee Myung-won ‘Dad’ but swallowed my words. Even if it was a joke, it doesn’t seem like a scholarly man like him would be able to back it up.

“I’m alright.”

In the chat window, the two constellations were still fighting. I ignored it and spoke to Oh Kwon-hyuk.

“Thank you for saving me.”

“…….”

Oh Kwon-hyuk just looked down at me with dry eyes. It was obvious that he was curious about my identity as much as his constellation was. I simply nodded my head and went to Lee Myung-won.

“By the way, the number of monsters here is no joke.”

“The size of the dungeon is vast, so you don’t know what will pop out. Please stay by my side. Or even that tragedian.”

“You mean the person who strangled me the first time we met?”

Lee Myung-won laughed awkwardly.

“By the way, it feels a bit strange that Baek Tae-beom isn’t here.”

“Actually if Tae-beom was here, what happened earlier wouldn’t have ended just like that.”

I’m sure he would have drawn his sword the moment Oh kwon-hyuk grabbed my collar. Apollo said the other day that my contractor might show affection towards me more than necessary as a sign of his needs.

Baek Tae-beom lost his parents at an early age, so he may be overlapping his parents and me. When I think about it like that, I understand that when he gets an abnormal condition and acts childish, people would ask me what our relationship was.

“So, I have to finish this quickly and go back.”

“That would be better. This way.”

As I turned the corner of the high cliff, a large door popped out. Decorated with various cogwheels and long plants, it seemed difficult to open.

“We have to go inside.”

“But it’s a really suspicious door.”

“If it’s not through this door, then we’ll have to go back the other way.”

I didn’t like it, but I couldn’t help it. Lee Myung-won put his hand against the door and tried to push it, but only a thin mechanical sound was heard, and it didn’t budge.

“I need some help.”

At Lee Myung-won’s words, Oh Kwon-hyuk came forward and touched the door. The large door was easily opened by Oh Kwon-hyuk’s strength.

And the black smoke hit the five of us in an instant.

“What is this!”

“I can’t see… Wait!”

A murmur flowed like the wind, and soon nothing. I felt as if I had fallen into silence itself. The front was dark, and I extended my hands, but neither Lee Myung-won nor Oh Kwon-hyuk was visible. Even Yoo Jin-woo and Kim Yong-tae were fine, but it was all dark.

“Who’s there?”

And as the blackout lifted, a figure was revealed.

It was me, but younger than now. And my younger self didn’t have anything. His eyes were full of tears, as well as his stained clothes. There was a wound on his knee, and it was clear that he had fallen. He looked incredibly sad, but there was no reason why he couldn’t laugh.

[The language of another world covers your eyes.]

[Fear and Frenzy used towards you has been nullified.]

[The constellation, ‘One Who Knows The Fall’ is synchronized with the body.]

The illusion in front of me slowly disappeared.

It was obviously a monster. A monster with an attack that reveals the dreadful things of the past and sucks the energy out of the target’s mind. Perhaps its body was in the dark mist.

I outstretched my hand as I moved. I couldn’t see well because of the black smoke, so I was going to try to touch the wall, but, at that moment, something caught on my fingertips, and I had no choice but to fall from the strong shock that followed.

I couldn’t breathe properly. I scarcely raised my head and saw a shadow hanging over me. It was the same as before. Oh Kwon-hyuk was looking down at me.

But I couldn’t see any reason in his eyes.

Maybe I’m the only one who got out of the hallucination? Is Oh Kwon-hyuk still being affected by the monster’s abilities? As I looked up at him dazedly, a chat window popped up urgently.

[CH.#4ww01/One Who Is More Dazzling Than The Sun] : You stupid bastard, avoid it!

Without realizing it, I rolled my body. Watching Oh Kwon-hyuk’s fists slam down on the spot where I was, I fumbled on the floor and forced my body to move. A cold sweat ran down the back of my neck and I kept coughing because of the pain I felt in my stomach.

[CH.#4w01/One Who Is More Dazzling Than The Sun] : That crazy dog! What’s the point of not stopping him right now?

[CH.#4ww01/One Who Guides The Dead] : You must die, anyway. You make the scales of this world tilt. Something that shouldn’t exist.

[The constellation, ‘One Who Is More Dazzling Than The Sun’ throws stones at ‘The One Who Guides The Dead’.]

[The constellation, ‘One Who Is More Dazzling Than The Sun’ shoots arrows at ‘The One Who Guides The Dead’.]

It was only then that I realized that Oh Kwon-hyuk had some kind of intervention. There is no way an Awakened person like him cannot get rid of this condition, so it seems that his constellation is deliberately maintaining his hallucination.

Oh Kwon-hyeok, who adjusted his posture, strode towards me. I managed to lift myself up on the floor with my staff, trying to get back. But soon enough, the hard wall met my back.

I have 400 coins at most. There were no items that I could use, and Oh Kwon-hyuk could be injured if I used the skill by mistake.

[CH.#4w01/One Who Knows The Fall] : What should I do, Apollo?

[CH.#4ww01/One Who Is More Dazzling Than The Sun] : What should you do? Run! My contractor is to the left!

I slowly moved my feet whilst watching Kwon Hyuk Oh’s eyes. I then leaned down at the same time he ran quickly and stretched out. I tried to run away, but…

“Keuk…!”

The back of my clothes was caught and choked. I felt my body collapse backward as my eyes turned white. I was thrown to the floor and hit the back of my head. And as soon as my sight returned, I could see Oh Kwon-hyuk swinging his fists.

[CH.#4w01/One Who Is More Dazzling Than The Sun] : Block him!

I managed to lift my staff and blocked his fist.

A sharp vibration echoed from my arm to my shoulders, and I felt the pain. Oh Kwon-hyuk slammed his fist once more, and every time I blocked him with the staff, I could see the staff slowly cracking.

“How can you be so powerful!”

[CH.#4ww01/One Who Guides The Dead] : You. Weak thing….

“Shut up, you!”

As soon as the staff broke with a crackling sound, I kicked Oh Kwon-hyuk’s stomach. As he flinched, I took advantage as his large body paused for a moment. I came out from under him and hung behind his huge back. It was an attempt to make him faint somehow, but unfortunately, it was in vain.

Oh Kwon-hyuk tried to move his body around as if to annoy me, who was hanging from behind, but he grabbed my hair and pulled it down.

“Ack!”

I was caught without a moment’s break. With a strong hand strangling my neck, I exhaled shakily and finally used the skill.

[Skill : Hand Of The Golden Sun]

[You used a skill. Skill : Hand Of The Golden Sun]

[Skill: Hand of Golden Sun has been canceled.]

[Your body is covered by the wings of truth.]

[The constellation, ‘The One Who Knows The Fall’ is synchronizing with the body.]

[Synchronization failed.]

“What the….”

[The constellation, ‘One Who Guides The Dead,’ grants his powers to his contractor ‘Oh Kwon-hyuk.’]

[You are being led by death.]

[You approach death.]

The identity of the constellation ‘One Who Guides The Dead’ is Anubis. A god with the head of a jackal who leads the dead into the afterlife. (PR/N: from Egyptian mythology.)

As long as the conditions he gave to his contractors were met, he was able to demonstrate a near-omnipotent ability. <Wings of Truth> was a skill that could speed up the death of an opponent who has met the necessary conditions. Though I don’t know why it’s called <Wings of Truth>.

For example, a person, who is destined to die by being hit by a car, would be killed by a car within a few days, and a person, who is destined to die by a robber, could be killed by a robber as soon as he turned an alleyway. As far as I know, this skill can only be used on certain people once every few years.

Did you just use it on me?

[CH.#4ww01/One Who Is More Dazzling Than The Sun] : You crazy bastard!

I’m about to choke to death right now. I can’t believe he used this skill on me. As I struggled to escape from Oh Kwon-hyuk’s grip, I felt my body slowly losing strength.

And at that moment, a great vibration resounded across the ground.

Thud!

The black smoke that was blocking my eyes disappeared in an instant. A light flashed in Oh Kwon-hyuk’s eyes, and when he saw what he was doing, he let go in a panic. As I was barely able to breathe, coughing and clutching my neck, I heard a loud vibration again.

Thud!

The black smoke that filled the room quickly slipped through the door. Then, Lee Myung-won, Kim Yong-tae, and Yoo Jin-woo could finally be seen. Everyone seemed to be baffled by the smoke that was blocking their view.

But that wasn’t the problem.

This vibration was clearly audible and coming from outside.

[CH.#4ww01/One Who Is More Dazzling Than The Sun] : No way.

[CH.#4ww01/One Who Is More Dazzling Than The Sun] : Is this The Fall of the world you were talking about?

[CH.#4ww01/One Who Guides The Dead] : The Fall?

[CH.#4ww01/One Who Knows The Fall] : No, this isn’t it.

[CH.#4ww01/One Who Knows The Fall] : Fuck you.

[CH.#4w0/One Who Knows The Fall] : What would have happened if I died?

[CH.#4w0/One Who Is More Dazzling Than The Sun] : How would I know that, you punk!

Lee Myung-won, who was bewildered, hurriedly approached me. There was a sound coming from the radio he was holding.

“Ga-hyun-ssi, are you alright? Your neck….”

“It was my fault.”

Oh Kwon-hyuk spoke in a calm tone and grabbed my shoulder, making me stand up. His fingertips grazed the nape of my neck. It was cold. Even without looking at it, I could tell that my neck had been properly scarred with a handprint.

“Sorry.”

I frowned at Oh Kwon-hyuk’s words.

“You should be sorry.”

“I remember what I did… Could it be that… I used it on you?”

“I don’t know what it is, but I think you did. Rather than that, Lee Myung-won-ssi, you just got a call from outside, right?

“That’s right. Now….”

Lee Myung-won answered in a miserable voice.

“The monster has escaped from the dungeon into the city and is now closing into Seoul.”

The first monster incident was happening right now.

And I was sure now, that I….

Will die today.