BXBX NOVEL Chapter 169: Episode 43. Stagnation
When this happened, the one who was in trouble was Cheon Sa-yeon. Because of Han Yi-gyeol’s behaviour of crying and confessing his love while ignoring the surrounding circumstances, strange rumours and insulting articles began to appear.
Even if the guild started managing it, the amount was so large that it wasn’t easy to block it. By nature, Cheon Sa-yeon didn’t really care about rumours like that, but he had a lot of work to do and unnecessary problems overlapped, so he was in a situation where even 10 bodies weren’t enough.
「It won’t be good for me to draw attention any longer than this.」
Cheon Sa-yeon, who had been forced to take him because there was no one to replace Han Yi-gyeol, finally made a decision.
「I used your sister as an excuse all this time, but that’s over now. Your little sister is dead and you are useless.」
「……」
「If you understand, don’t show up again. If I see you again…」
「Oh, no… no, I…」
The attendants stopped Han Yi-gyeol from reaching out to Cheon Sa-yeon. He fell to the floor and cried bitterly.
「No, please! Please take me. I will do anything.」
「Take him away.」
「Huh, huh, please…」
With a cold word, Han Yi-gyeol was dragged out after his two arms were caught. After thinking for a while about a familiar scene, I soon entered Han Yi-gyeol’s body and remembered the first dream I had.
‘Then all that’s left is…’
Slowly, I seemed to know what secret this story was hiding. I forcibly turned away from the chaos inside and calmly fixed my gaze forward.
The vision turned dark and then slowly changed. Cheon Sa-yeon reappeared, kneeling on one of his knees, looking down at Han Yi-gyeol, who had fallen to the ground.
「Oh, my, what is it? A human shield?」
A high-pitched mock was heard. These were the words of a tall woman wearing her red shoes and holding a huge sickle, squeezing her chin.
I was very familiar with the non-human, shiny skin and heterogeneous appearance. It was Karen, the doll I met when I was kidnapped by Kang Seung-geon.
「Cough…」
Han Yi-gyeol coughed up blood. The injuries he suffered were horrendous. His right shoulder and arm were all blown away, his upper body was covered in viscous blood, and his thigh was also engraved with deep cuts.
He was at a level where it would be acceptable to be still alive. Cheon Sa-yeon, who quietly stared at Han Yi-gyeol, who was panting in pain, had blood on his white cheeks.
「You idiot.」
Cheon Sa-yeon’s thoughts were heard quietly.
A-rank blocking the front of SS-rank. Even if it was just me, the attack couldn’t have been completely avoided, but it would have been much more effective than Han Yi-gyeol whose shoulder was blown away to get hit. (방금 그 공격은 확실히 저라고 해도 완전히피할 수는 없었겠지만, 그래도 어깨가 통째로 날아간 한이결보다야 자신이 맞는 게 훨씬 효율적이었을 텐데)
「Just following me recklessly and doing it on your own…」
As Cheon Sa-yeon sighed with a look of disappointment, Han Yi-gyeol shed tears and raised the corners of her lips slightly.
「With this… gasp, is enough…」
「……」
「For a long time… remember me…」
Han Yi-gyeol, who had struggled to lick his lips, was unable to finish his words and stopped breathing. Tears that had been dangling narrowly from the bottom of his empty eyes fell down his blood-drenched cheeks.
Cheon Sa-yeon, who watched Han Yi-gyeol’s death with an expressionless face, slowly got up and raised his sword. Around Cheon Sa-yeon, who stood upright, and Han Yi-gyeol, who died, there was blood from the dolls with their limbs cut off.
「Haa…」
Cheon Sa-yeon turned his back and let out a long, tired breath. His shoulders, which were slightly lower than usual, looked unusually tired. At the end of that, his eyes were once again consumed by darkness. In addition, I could instinctively know that the whole story was over.
‘Well, it’s natural that Han Yi-gyeol is dead…’
Cheon Sa-yeon’s back, standing alone with his sword in hand, caught my eye. But regardless of my mind, darkness came constantly and soon everything was gone.
* * *
An eerie sensation falling from the air passed through my body. A swarm of lights flew past, and for a brief moment, my body heated up and then cooled down.
“Gasp…!”
I clutched my chest and took a deep breath in the chilling sensation of passing by my spine. Rattle, something bumped into my knee as my body tilted forward.
“Hu, ugh…”
“Se-hyun-ah.”
Cold sweat flowed out at the same time as a stiff pain as if my body was aching. The one who held my staggering shoulders firmly said in a friendly voice.
“Shh, it’s okay. Breathe slowly.”
“Haa, gasp…”
I felt my heartbeat rapidly in the palm of my hand. I raised my head, which had been bowed, trying to control my rough breathing. A familiar library was seen with Elohim smiling bitterly in blurred vision.
“El…”
“You worked hard.”
There was no strength in my body. As I slowly blinked my eyes, Elohim hugged me like a child and patted my back.
“More difficult… hu, than last time…”
“It’s like reading a book for a long time. A book is a crystal created by our power, so the longer you stay in it, the more strain on your body.”
“…do I get better if I rest?”
“Yeah. After a few days of rest, you will be back to normal.”
Elahah, who was sitting on the sofa opposite, blinked and pointed to the door of the library.
“Just take him out now. The child’s condition is worse than expected.”
Perhaps Elohim was thinking the same thing, so he got up while holding me. Reflexively, I put my arms around his neck and let out a hot breath.
Looking at me, Elahah clicked his tongue.
“You’re really, really weak.”
“It’s an A-rank… average…”
“Don’t be ridiculous. An A grade average isn’t like that.”
Elahah picked up a navy blue book that had fallen on the floor and tapped my forehead with his finger as if playing a joke.
“Don’t say anything useless and go to sleep.”
Elohim, who was listening to me and Elahah talking with a smile, began to move. Elohim, who left the cleaning up to Elahah, left the library and headed straight to my room.
“Your body is still cold.”
Elohim, who lowered me on the bed, held my hand. As I lay blankly, unable to answer, he gently wiped my forehead, wet with cold sweat.
“The contents of the book must have been quite burdensome. The energy was very disturbed.”
“Is that so…?”
What Elohim said was a bit surprising. Was it too much?
I was a bit embarrassed. Even if Han Yi-gyeol was different from my expectations… it was so different. I have a lot of questions about Cheon Sa-yeon.
“I want to ask you something.”
“Get some rest for now. There is nothing urgent.”
“Then tomorrow…”
In response when I murmured in hazy mind, Elohim looked down and stroked my cheek and neck.
“The sweat takes away the warmth as it cools. Even if it’s hard, it seems like it’s good to wash up then sleep.”
“……”
“May I help you?”
“Uum, I slept for a bit and woke up…”
Terrible drowsiness came over and rubbed the cheeks with his hands roughly.
Elohim’s smiling face as if it had no choice but to fall into sleep helplessly for the last time.
* * *
The ground beneath my feet was all black. My eyes, filled with smoke, were too blurry.
“…what is it?”
I had no idea where this was. There was only a barren land where not even a single tree could be seen no matter how many steps I took.
I didn’t know the direction, so I had no choice but to move forward. After walking for so long, I heard the faint sound of waves from the other side of the fog.
‘There must be an ocean.’
I had nowhere else to go, so I went there first. It was only when the sound of the waves was quite loud that I saw someone standing through the fog.
Just in case I didn’t know, I didn’t lower my vigilance and approached, but I couldn’t hide my surprise when I saw the person who showed up.
“Cheon Sa-yeon?”
The man looking down at the bottom of the cliff was clearly Cheon Sa-yeon. An unusually white face and red earrings caught my eye one after another under the black hair that was fluttering in the wind from somewhere.
He looked really out of place against the dark background. It was then that I realized that this place was in a dream.
‘I think it was because I watched Cheon Sa-yeon before I fell asleep.’
It was more likely to faint than to fall asleep, but anyway.
If it was a dream, there was no need to feel awkward. I swallowed dry saliva and took a step closer to him.
“Cheon Sa-yeon.”
I cautiously opened my mouth to call him. I thought he might not be able to hear me, but unexpectedly, he immediately turned his head to meet my gaze.
Cheon Sa-yeon, who found me, opened his eyes slightly wide as if surprised. Then, without hesitation, he walked briskly.
“Han Yi-gyeol?”
He grabbed my wrist as I unintentionally stepped back under the sharp momentum of Cheon Sa-yeon who was approaching without hesitation.
“How can you be here?”
“Oh?”
Cheon Sa-yeon pulled me back into his arms and asked me again, who couldn’t understand what he meant and blinked stupidly.
“Did the prophet send you?”
“What?”
“No, if that was possible in the first place…”
He asked first, but he didn’t listen to my answer and muttered to himself. With the other uncaught hand, I pushed Cheon Sa-yeon’s shoulder a little and opened my mouth.
“What do you mean by sending? When I realized, I was here.”
“He didn’t send you?”
“Yeah. It’s just a dream.”
Cheon Sa-yeon blinked his eyes for a moment with an expressionless face, then raised the corners of his mouth and smiled crookedly.
“I thought you came because you missed me.”
“Strictly speaking, you came to my dream…”
“If you like it, do it like that.”
What is he saying now. It had been a while since we had seen each other to talk, but how could we not communicate like this?
Unlike me, who sighed in frustration, Cheon Sa-yeon, who seemed to be in a pretty good mood, kept touching my face.
It was a dream, but it was very vivid.
“Stop touching me.”
“Why?”
Why what. (왜는 무슨 왜야)
“Annoying.”
“Hold on.”
This punk…
I barely suppressed my tearful heart. This wasn’t the time. Even so, there was something I wanted to ask when I met Cheon Sa-yeon.
“Cheon Sa-yeon.”
“Say it.”
“Are you okay?”
The words were cut off front and back, but other than this, there were no other words to say.
Cheon Sa-yeon didn’t pretend he didn’t know or find it strange to my sudden question like usual. He wiped my cheek with a strange expression and then opened his mouth.
“Well.”
“……”
“I don’t think it’s that good.”
At that calm answer, something hot spread around the chest and my forehead was distorted.
As expected, this was a dream. There was no way the real Cheon Sa-yeon could give an honest answer like this.
Cheon Sa-yeon, who saw my expression, put his finger on the forehead with an unknown smile.
“I think I’m fine now.”
“…just do one.”
I was grumbling at the awkwardness of not being able to hide my expression but later realized that the surroundings had become much brighter than before.
The fog didn’t fade and it disappeared completely. The black and turbid soil turned to a moist and soft yellowish-brown colour as if it had been soaked in water and a very small yellow-green bud sprouted between them.
“Ah…”
The blue sea could be seen over Cheon Sa-yeon’s shoulder. I couldn’t see it in the thick fog.
As I lost my gaze to the sea, Cheon Sa-yeon took the lead and walked forward, pulling my hand.
Standing side by side with Cheon Sa-yeon at the edge of the cliff, I watched the wide-open sea under the gradually fading dark clouds. The sunlight streaming through the grey clouds gradually spread white.
“The dream is coming to an end.”
Cheon Sa-yeon, who spoke as if in a whisper, clasped his hand and held me tightly again. The pure white light that engulfed the sea quickly approached us.
“Han Yi-gyeol.”
“Huh.”
“Come back next time.”
Cheon Sa-yeon looked at me and smiled softly.
I was mesmerized by that face and before I could answer, a brilliant light engulfed everything.