Free Web NovelIt was a familiar feeling. Cold seeping into my whole body and the sense of having been beaten to a pulp.
'Well, I was actually beaten like shit and lying on a chunk of ice, so fair enough.'
I kept running through all sorts of thoughts in my head, then bit down hard on the inside of my cheek to draw blood. If I slipped for even a second, I’d pass out. And if I passed out, I was definitely going to die.
'Maybe I should think a little.'
First of all, I had to get out of here. That much was clear and...
'No, why did I come here in the first place?'
I had to remind myself of the original goal. When the pain was overwhelmingly greater than any vague “will to live,” that was the only way to keep my mind anchored.
It felt like a waste that Gi Cheongmin was dead. If Im Haekyung had been here, this would’ve been resolved easily.
'That fucking bastard... said he’d help.'
My thoughts kept cutting off in pieces. A stabbing pain shot through my lungs, so I shifted and changed my posture. It was a little better, but still hurt enough that I could die just the same. The way blood kept pooling in my mouth and needing to be spat out was starting to piss me off too.
As the pain grew, I grew desperate for a potion again. I had the impulse to just chug it or pour it on and get this over with as fast as possible. Or call Do Yehyun.
'Do Yehyun...'
When I thought about it, it was even more absurd. If this was how it was going to end, what wish did that asshole even have that he took Do Yehyun?
And the guy who’d boasted that I couldn’t beat him, Gi Cheongmin, felt even more ridiculous. He’d probably said that because he had no idea how far I could crank my skill up.
'Ah... something feels off.'
Even now, questions were pushing into my head and then vanishing fast. I slowly exhaled and shifted my gaze to the boundary line drawn on the floor.
Even after Gi Cheongmin died, the glowing boundary marker had kept flashing, but now it was slowly fading.
I groped around, grabbed a stone, and hurled it hard in that direction. This time, it didn’t bounce back; it just flew far off into the distance.
Through my blood-blurred vision, I saw a vague shape. I blinked to shake off the blood and looked again; Ahn Jinha, who I’d lost track of during the fight, was walking this way. freewebnoveℓ.com
'Doesn’t seem like he’s here out of kindness.'
He came right up to where I was sprawled, checked on the fallen Gi Cheongmin, then walked back over and knelt down right in front of me.
“Cheongmin is dead.”
“......”
“I thought you’d be the one to die first....”
“......”
Fuck, hearing this kind of shit when I could drop dead any second. I weakly waved my hand to brush Ahn Jinha off and stared up at the sky.
“What’s your name?”
For a guy who was a breath «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» away from dying, making small talk like this was almost luxurious. I spat up the blood boiling in my throat, then asked Ahn Jinha,
“Got a potion?”
My words sounded more like ragged wheezing than speech. He somehow understood anyway; he flinched a little, then answered.
“No.”
'Why the fuck did this bastard even come if he’s no help? To steal the last hit?'
While I was cursing him out in my head, he just sat there quietly beside me and started talking to himself.
“I actually did plan to leave someday. Unlike Cheongmin.”
“......”
“I can roughly read the flow of mana. It’s a skill, but it’s not some insanely useful one... not bad if you want to use it, but practically speaking, it’s not worth much.”
“......”
“And the more I use my skill, the harder it gets to endure. I’ve always been physically weak. That’s how I ended up here. There were lots of testimonies, and my body actually did get a bit healthier. I carried him all the way here, you know.”
As he said that, Ahn Jinha pointed off into the distance. I couldn’t see, but it was obvious he meant Ryu Taejun.
'So what.'
That didn’t mean I had to sit here and listen to his bullshit.
I bit the inside of my mouth again, trying not to swear at what he was saying. The blood that had been pooled inside spilled out in a rush.
“So my plan was to grind here, raise my Rank by just one step, and really get out. If I can read the flow of mana, dealing with machines is kind of easy. I used to do maintenance work too.... But staying here, my greed just kept getting stronger. I bet it was the same for Cheongmin.”
“......”
“Devotees of the cult come in here regularly. Sometimes VIPs come in too. To procure goods. They talk to Cheongmin for a bit and then leave fast. Oh, and it’s true that there’s an exit.”
“......”
“The terms of the contract between Cheongmin and the god... I don’t know exactly, but it’s about raising his abilities up to what his body can withstand. So when he fights, if you look at his body, the mana waves like crazy compared to what he actually has.”
Ahn Jinha, who’d been rattling off nothing I wanted to know, paused for a bit. Then he quietly added,
“But when you were fighting earlier... you were like that too. I couldn’t read it very precisely, but...”
Was he saying the flow of mana was similar? If you shove a high-rank skill into a shitty body by force, you’d probably end up with a similar pattern.
'Good thing this guy’s skill is trash.'
If the rank were even a little higher, he’d be able to see exactly what was happening where, clear as day.
“Anyway, even if Cheongmin dies... he won’t be completely dead. The god will probably take him. Take him and modify him a bit and use him.”
“......”
Modify him? Was he saying it would repurpose someone who was already dead?
I faintly furrowed my brow and he started explaining like he’d been waiting for that.
“All the monsters in here were made that way. Using the mana people originally had.”
“......”
“...I know because the mana patterns are the same.”
It was interesting, sure, but not the kind of information I wanted to hear while I was dying. I cut him off roughly and asked,
“What about the escape route?”
“......”
I wasn’t sure I had it in me to stand up and walk, but it wouldn’t hurt to know.
Ahn Jinha’s expression hardened.
“Escape route...?”
“......”
“You look like you’re about to die.... I mean, that’s just the truth. Your body’s a wreck right now.”
“......”
“The only reason I’m even talking like this is... I can tell you’re the last one.”
What kind of fucker says shit like this? So he’s saying he’s been sitting here throwing these lines at someone whose life is hanging by a thread? His logic was truly something.
Whether I was dumbfounded or not, he just stared at me silently, then spat out more bullshit.
“If... if it hurts, should I help you?”
“...?”
I frowned, not understanding what the hell he was talking about for a second, and his shaking hand went into his pocket and pulled something out.
“It’s what we used at night. I brought it. It’s an item that can make a person pass out. If you inhale the smoke or whatever, you’ll go out right away. Y–You’ve been hit by it too. ...Want me to use it?”
“......”
“Or I could just k–kill you myself instead. I’ve never killed anyone before.... But it’s better than hurting like this, right?”
As he said that, Ahn Jinha squeezed his eyes shut.
'Fucking hell...'
But apparently he wasn’t just talking shit for the sake of it. The same Ahn Jinha who’d been babbling like a lunatic just a moment ago rummaged in his clothes again and pulled out a knife.
“...What’s your name?”
In this absurd situation where my life was being threatened out of nowhere, I couldn’t stop letting out hollow laughs.
'What the hell is this guy seeing that makes him think now’s the time to “put me out of my misery”?'
And on top of that, he was dutifully asking my name first like he was filming some movie all by himself.
“Should I... take your body out?”
“Ha....”
I wanted to at least curse him out, but the pain in my lungs was so bad that talking any more was difficult.
While I was trying to think of a way to make him fuck off using actions alone, the knife had somehow crept right up to my neck.
“Go....”
I barely forced the word out, and something strange flickered in his eyes. I furrowed my brow slightly and he started muttering again.
“Thinking about coming in here at all was a mistake. ...Do you think I’ll really be able to live properly if I leave? No, even if I did leave, I feel like I’d end up coming back. ...I don’t know, really.”
“......”
“Setting religion aside, it just feels like it makes sense, logically.... There must be a reason this world changed the way it did. And I’ve actually seen this maze’s ‘god’ with my own eyes.”
“......”
“I don’t know. But sometimes... I kind of regret it.”
After saying that, Ahn Jinha used his trembling hand to check if I was still breathing, then faintly knit his brows. His lips moved like he was about to say something more, then closed again.
A sharp sting pricked at my neck.
My vision went dim for a moment. There wasn’t any particular life-flashing-before-my-eyes montage at the brink of death. I just thought it would hurt like hell, but it wasn’t as painful as I’d expected, that was all.
“......”
Then, with the sound of metal clashing, the blade that had been touching my neck fell away.
“...?”
At first I thought Ahn Jinha had given up on his plan to kill me, but after a second, blood started gushing out of his mouth.
Then his body slowly tilted toward the floor.
I sluggishly turned my eyes and watched him collapse with a dull thump, and behind him, I noticed a long shadow.
When I slowly lifted my gaze, there, incredibly... was Do Yehyun. Looking perfectly fine, at that.
'Ah... good timing.'
The moment I pulled up the corner of my mouth, a familiar status window flashed in front of my eyes.
Blessing of the Moonlight (S) is being activated.
Right after that, a soft light wrapped around my entire body.
