novelraw Chapter 126 : Chapter 126
Chapter 126 : Chapter 126
Chapter 126: Twisted Guy
In the blurry landscape, a boy and a giant man were talking.
White Deer watched Ryu Jinwoo, the boy who looked like a drowned rat, intently.
There is a natural order to all power in the world.
One gains a strong body through bone-carving cultivation.
One deepens their intellect by gaining enlightenment.
Technique settles into stance after countless trials.
It was the natural order where cause precedes and result follows.
‘A boy with twisted causality.’
However, that child was different.
Strangely, the result came first, and then the cause followed.
He grasps and wields a colossal power he cannot handle.
A moment later, he embraces terrible pain with his very soul.
As if paying the price he should have gone through to gain the power, only belatedly.
Nevertheless, it is not just.
If it were a just price in the first place, that boy would have already turned into a handful of ash.
‘Originally, he would be a target to be eliminated immediately.’
An existence that harms the balance caused by natural order.
As the boy draws and uses power without control, the balance of the world ends up twisting.
However, the moment he saw the boy, White Deer realized immediately.
‘This child is needed.’
The world was already twisting.
The ground splits, and cracks that should not exist are carved across dimensions.
Thus, alien energy was invading and swarming in.
The axis of the world had already gone awry.
Changes that would call forth disaster were in progress.
In this world where the axis is twisted and even the primordial plan is tangled, paradoxically, a twisted existence was needed.
‘Because he is a twisted boy, he can turn it back.’
White Deer decided to watch.
Which way this boy would tip the balance.
Would he rewind the axis of destruction, or would he unravel it even faster?
[Your master is firmly mistaken.]
When White Deer spoke in a low voice, the boy's pupils trembled.
A clear reaction to hearing the voice.
This was enough.
A word of advice does not go against the unwritten rule.
Since old gods often did so under the name of oracles.
White Deer felt a subtle interest for the first time in a while.
And so, he stared even deeper into the boy.
[KEEHEEHEEHIT!]
A strange laughter was heard.
A laughter light enough to be bizarre.
It clearly came from the boy, but it was not the boy's.
White Deer did not let go of the flow and dug into the boy's innermost parts.
However, the more he did, the laughter only grew fiercer.
The moment he finally reached a certain point.
White Deer's vision collapsed and was dyed black.
‘……’
White Deer reflexively stopped looking in.
The boy's soul, the deep abyss settled within it.
Countless existences were tangled there.
‘Something rougher than imagined has nested there.’
The boy's soul clearly existed.
It is certainly a human soul.
However, something terrible was nesting inside it.
Even so, the boy's soul did not collapse.
It was coexisting with the abyss and firmly guarding its own form.
White Deer quietly exhaled.
‘What a mysterious child.’
Watching the boy walk peacefully, White Deer was convinced.
Of the fact that this boy would become an existence that transcends any drawn path.
***
[KEEHEEHEEHIT! KEEHIT! KEEHEEHIT!]
The Mimic suddenly started laughing like crazy.
‘Have they all gone mad?’
It hasn't been long since that damn albino deer spoke to me, and now this guy is acting up too.
Is it under a curse where it dies if it doesn't torment me?
Today as well, I swallowed words that wouldn't reach the Mimic inside.
The way to the camp.
My body was damp, and all warmth had drained away.
‘Should I say it's fortunate since it ended well?’
Midterm evaluation clear, I pocketed a hefty 50,000 SP.
[SP: 227,560]
Thanks to the mimicry cost and cracking open three bottles of Fatigue Recovery Potions, I'm slightly short of the 250,000 SP I aimed for, but it's still okay.
Because I have the Moonlight Stone.
I stole the Moonlight Stone and even broke the Sanctuary altar, but I survived from White Deer.
Though I don't know what got into him to forgive me so easily.
‘Ah, maybe not forgiveness. Since a 24-hour surveillance camera was attached.’
It doesn't seem like my thoughts are being read, but anyway, it seems all my actions are visible.
It was plenty grounds for invasion of privacy, but since there was already one guy sticking to me 24 hours a day, nothing would change much.
Besides, unlike the Mimic who spouts nonsense at every opportunity, a transcendent being like White Deer wouldn't be the type to talk to humans about every little thing.
At most, it would just be tossing a word or two like an oracle occasionally.
If it's to that extent, it might actually be helpful.
Walking while thinking that, I soon reached the camp.
A small clearing near Baengnokdam where the fog had lifted.
Agents tending to damaged equipment and injured cadets, and treated cadets were gathered in small groups.
Among them, someone in a secluded corner with a log placed there saw me and raised a hand.
It was Seol Hayun.
“It was you after all.”
As I approached, Seol Hayun made eye contact first and spoke.
It was a reaction as if she had expected it.
“Huh? What was?”
Do Haru tilted her head while taking out an earphone from the side.
Seol Hayun looked back at Do Haru and spoke calmly.
“The water pillar soaring up at Baengnokdam earlier.”
“Huh? Water pillar? Did something happen?”
Do Haru took out the earphone on the other side as well and asked back.
A drama was playing on the smartphone screen.
“Watch dramas in moderation.”
As Seol Hayun spoke with a sigh.
“Why? It’s boring! The exam is over, so why are we here? Shouldn't they send us back to the hotel immediately?”
Do Haru grumbling.
Honestly, I agree to some extent.
Because I also wanted to throw my body onto a bed quickly.
Shaking her head, Seol Hayun raised a spark.
It was a spark as bright red as her red eyes revealed between her silver hair.
“Come closer. It will dry soon.”
“Ah, okay.”
I stepped up in front of the fire Seol Hayun had kindled.
Warm heat dried my clothes and seeped inside.
In the meantime, Seol Hayun's gaze turned towards my lower body.
DRIP- DROP-
Water droplets were falling to the ground from under my soaked trousers.
A strange silence that hung for a moment.
“……I didn't wet myself.”
When I murmured inadvertently, Seol Hayun's eyes grew round.
“Huh? Jinwoo, what did you just say?”
Do Haru took out her earphones again and cut into the conversation.
“No, I asked if you aren't sick of it. The drama.”
“Ah, why are you nagging again? It's break time, can't I even watch a drama?”
Do Haru grumbled and put the earphones back in.
An awkward silence hovered afterwards.
I want to blame Seol Hayun. Why did she have to look there of all places?
The fire burned, making CRACKLE CRACKLE sounds.
It was time to wait for other cadets to gather until 8 AM, when the exam had started.
Perhaps because everyone was tired and exhausted, the temporary camp was quiet.
Only the sound of snoring was heard occasionally.
Meanwhile, a blonde girl was walking over with neat steps.
It was Lily. A bandage was wrapped around one arm, and traces of treatment were visible on her knees and cheeks.
Even though she was injured, her attitude was not disheveled at all.
Beside her, several cadets spoke while reading her mood.
“Sorry, Lily. We got in the way so…….”
“No, it’s not.”
Lily showed a gentle smile to the apologizing children.
“It is my fault for being lacking. You really don't have to mind.”
It was soft enough that anyone would think she was an angel just by looking at her expression.
However, I saw something else.
[Lily]
[Irritation, Displeasure, Anger]
‘She is damn angry.’
And yet she hides it skillfully.
Indeed, there's no way she would show it.
Because Lily is someone sincere about image management.
“Lily, they said she couldn't climb to the summit because she was leading her team members.”
Seol Hayun said quietly.
I checked the watch.
Lily had climbed up to a quite high point but couldn't cross the last section.
It seems this was the cause of Lily's anger.
‘Since there are bonus points for cooperation, she will be close to a perfect score, but.’
Still, the resentment of not achieving the final goal would remain.
Above all, if it were Lily alone, climbing to the summit wouldn't have been impossible.
And Lily would have known that fact too.
However, if she leaves the team members behind and goes up alone, her image gets damaged.
So she must have taken responsibility until the end.
Even if it's for image management, what's impressive is impressive.
The problem is that the gap between the outside and inside is too big.
Because if she lives showing only fake emotions, cracks will appear someday.
‘So she is also a time bomb.’
I don't know about other things, but I have to pay attention to their collapse.
Because the moment they explode, the surroundings get scorched.
On top of that, in Lily's case, a related event is scheduled to occur soon.
As I was staring blankly, Lily turned her head this way.
After greeting the kids around her, Lily approached.
“I heard you three succeeded in climbing to the summit? I’m envious.”
Lily spoke with a light smile.
But what should I answer to this?
Is she asking to be comforted?
“You worked hard too. Well, there are times when things don't work out. Originally.”
I offered comfort.
Then, Lily's expression crumbled subtly.
‘Is it the wrong answer?’
No, then what on earth is the right answer?
What was I supposed to say?
“Haha, I guess so?”
Lily barely maintained her smile.
“Jinwoo is right. There are times when things don't work out well.”
Ah, darn.
Seol Hayun stepped once more on the part I stepped on wrongly.
Lily raised the corners of her mouth.
But her eyes were not smiling at all.
I even get a feeling that it's somewhat empty.
[Lily]
[Unpleasantness, Anger]
“……Thank you so much for the excellent advice. I hope we can continue to exchange……”
Looking at Lily's face and emotions alternately, admiration came out.
A face with an angelic smile, and at the same time, a bizarre sight where a devil is boiling inside.
“Oh? It’s Lily?”
And just then, Do Haru took out her earphones and opened her mouth.
“What were you talking about?”
Seol Hayun answered shortly to Do Haru's question.
“About this mission.”
As Seol Hayun pointed to the watch, Do Haru also checked her own watch.
“Ah, I roughly get it. Lily, you couldn't climb to the summit?”
I'm not in a position to badmouth others either, but I started to worry seriously about Do Haru's social life.
Whether she knew it or not, Do Haru brightly gave a thumbs up and spoke.
“Don't think too negatively, Lily! They say failure is the mother of success. It will go well next time!”
The air settled coldly.
Of all people, it’s Do Haru.
If you receive encouragement saying ‘You can do well next time too!’ from a girl who only plays and shows no effort usually?
Even I would be pissed off and unable to sleep that day.
Lily's expression, which had been maintained somehow until now, crumpled in an instant.
For a very brief moment.
Surprisingly, she soon restored her expression again.
With a beaming smile.
“Thank you for the advice. See you next time.”
She left, leaving thanks behind.
On the surface, there seemed to be no particular problem.
However, a new window popped up at her retreating figure.
[‘Lily’s’ mental power decreases.]
[San: 61 -> 60]
‘……Is this for real?’
To think she could shave off mental power stats, which usually only drop after facing major incidents, just with conversation.
For now, it seems I shouldn't keep Lily close to Do Haru.