HG Ch 32

<32>

Thrown into Baengnokdam, Joo Eunho managed to compile every curse word he had ever known as he sank. His body drifted deeper and deeper into the abyss, but consumed by fury, Eunho couldn’t have cared less where he was headed. All he did was curse Yoon Iseo over and over again. 

“This lovely humble one, I will never attain enlightenment. I’ll wander the Nine Heavens and drag this humble one’s life into ruin…”

“Joo Eunho.”

“I’m pissed, so don’t talk to me, you humble one…”

It was then that he realized he was sitting down with his butt on solid ground.

Ding!

Startled, Eunho looked around. The area was filled with thick greenery, and dense trees and shrubs swayed gently in the direction of the wind. This didn’t feel like underwater at all. It was more fitting to call it a forest or grassland.

And yet, he had definitely been thrown into water, but he wasn’t struggling to breathe. Alarmed, Eunho looked up at the sky, then gasped, eyes widening in shock.

The sky above was not the one he knew. It shimmered constantly with water-like reflections, like sunlight glinting on a watery surface seen from beneath. The scene was so surreal that Eunho stood there with his mouth agape until Yoon Iseo, who had been calmly watching the whole thing beside him, crossed his arms in a relaxed manner.

“Since you’ve started, how about seeing it through to the end?”

“What?”

Eunho, still not fully grasping the situation, asked again. Yoon Iseo replied in a soft, almost melodic voice.

“This fucking bastard, I will never attain enlightenment. I’ll wander the Nine Heavens and drag this bastard’s life into ruin… Wasn’t there still more after that?”

“……”

“It feels off if you stop halfway, doesn’t it?”

Only then did Eunho grasp the situation.

Yoon Iseo had known all along that “living sacrifice” didn’t mean offering up someone’s life, but rather that one had to throw their body in to enter the raid. That’s why he’d pushed him in to trigger the entrance…

Wow, this was even more infuriating.

Eunho rubbed his face roughly with his hands.

“Forget it.”

What was the point of cursing? Trading barbs wouldn’t change anyone, and it would only sour their moods. It was best to hold it in and get through the situation as efficiently as possible.

“You like that uncomfortable feeling?”

“You have no idea. It gets even more uncomfortable if you let it all out.”

He didn’t like showing everything. If there was something that could be hidden, he’d hide it with everything he had. If you took it out and said, ‘Please understand,’ you usually just ended up hated…

Huh?

As thoughts flowed like water, Joo Eunho suddenly lifted his head.

But… I don’t think like that?

Thoughts he had never once had before were rising up one after another, as if they had always been his. No, they felt like the same thoughts he had always had. That’s right. Eunho had always thought that way.

So then…

Since when?

A wave of confusion washed over him. It felt like tumbling into an unknown place. Instinctively, Eunho reached out his hand.

In that instant, something gripped his hand tightly.

“Joo Eunho, what’s wrong all of a sudden?”

“Ah… Just now, I, I just…”

“Hold on. It’s fine. You don’t have to answer. Don’t think too deeply about it.”

Warmth clung between their interlaced fingers. The heat felt like comfort. Without realizing it, Eunho scraped his nails over the back of that hand. Just gripping it wasn’t enough. He wanted to dig in recklessly.

“You’re scratching. That kind of…”

Hurts. Yoon Iseo whispered quietly. With an expression that looked somewhat unfamiliar, he traced Eunho’s nails, one by one, as they scraped across the back of his hand. Slowly, his fingers slid down and came to rest against the inside of Eunho’s wrist.

Then, as if asking for permission, Yoon Iseo looked at him.

Not knowing what he intended, Eunho simply stared blankly at Yoon Iseo, wrist still caught in his grasp. At that reaction, Yoon Iseo furrowed his brows slightly.

A firm thumb rubbed once, long, across the inner flesh.

It was so ticklish it sent chills across Eunho’s whole body. Snapping back to his senses, he pulled his arm, and Yoon Iseo let go without resistance. His face looked lost in some other thought entirely.

* * *

Once the confusion passed, all that remained was embarrassment.

Did I lose my mind for a second? The memory of clutching Yoon Iseo’s hand and trembling made Eunho want to bash his head into the ground. On top of that, explaining to Yoon Iseo what had just happened—how and why—was out of the question. What was he supposed to say? ‘Just now, for a brief moment, thoughts I’d never think came to me like they were mine, and it scared me’?

He’d be lucky if he didn’t get asked whether he’d been dreaming on his feet.

“Feeling a bit better now?”

“…It’s not like I’m feeling bad. Let’s just get the raid started.”

Eunho forced himself to respond as if nothing had happened. His gaze followed him.

“How do we start the raid? Do you know?”

Feigning ignorance, Eunho asked again. This time, the gaze drifted away without a word. Yoon Iseo summoned a spear into his empty hand and jerked his chin toward something in the distance.

“See that Yeouiju^[2] over there? Touch it, and the raid will begin.”

Following Yoon Iseo’s gaze, Eunho looked ahead. Just as he said, a pitch-black Yeouiju sat in the very center of the field. It seemed to function the same way as the Taejagwi sigil array from before.

Staring at the Yeouiju thoughtfully, Eunho gave Yoon Iseo a small nod.

“Then you can stay outside now, right? I’ll do the raid alone.”

At Eunho’s words, Yoon Iseo gave him a look of complete incomprehension. A faint crease appeared between his smooth brows.

“What?”

“You’re probably going to get in the way again, and that’s distracting. I think it’d be much better if you weren’t here, so please wait outside.”

Watching Eunho speak so boldly, Yoon Iseo muttered to himself, “Well, I guess I brought this on myself.” A sigh followed soon after.

“Am I really at that level to you right now?”

If you had any conscience at all, you’d think about your track record.

“Look, I appreciate that you helped earlier when I was acting weird. Really, I do. But that’s that, and a raid’s a raid.”

Come to think of it, maybe he wasn’t even that grateful. That level of help was something one should give out of principle, especially after throwing someone into Baengnokdam.

“Yeah. Our dispositions… don’t match, I guess.”

Perhaps Eunho’s expression itself served as an answer, because Yoon Iseo let out a deep sigh, then slammed the bottom of his spear into the ground with a thud.

Eunho, who’d been on the receiving end of far too much already, instinctively thought, Another threat?

He was so used to it now that it didn’t even surprise him. As he took a step back and raised his gun in response, Yoon Iseo let out a short laugh.

“Joo Eunho.”

“What?”

Yoon Iseo gave a playful tilt of his head toward the barrel of the gun. His spear blade was pointed in the opposite direction from Eunho.

“I can’t leave anyway. Max-level raids can only be entered and progressed with two players.”

Eunho replied irritably.

“Then go tie yourself up in a corner or something. I’m telling you, I’d rather die than run a raid with you.”

Yoon Iseo stroked his chin and gave a short, amused laugh.

“I get that you’re really pissed off, but you’ve got to think realistically. How do you plan to clear this solo?”

Clear it how? What kind of question is that? Don’t you remember?

“I’m already specialized in solo-clearing two-player dungeons, you know? You saw with your own eyes when I solo-cleared that Chang-gwi and the Taejagwi thanks to you, and now you’re pretending you didn’t.”

“That was technically a solo-possible dungeon. There were no two-player mechanics. Just saying.”

Far from retreating to a corner, Yoon Iseo began walking toward the center. As he approached the Yeouiju, he glanced back at Eunho.

“The first mechanic is an instant-kill that you can only survive if the two of us hold tightly onto each other and take it together. So if we’re apart when it hits, one of us will die instantly, and the next time the mechanic comes around, the other one will too.”

Survive by holding your partner tight and taking the hit together? What kind of absurd mechanic is that? Damn this perverted game!

With a completely uninterested expression, Yoon Iseo picked up the Yeouiju.

“Fine, do whatever you want. Even if I have to reset because of you, I won’t be mad. I’ve done my share of wrongs, so I’ll accept the consequences.”

It’s not like you’re the only one who resets! I reset too! How can you just grab the Yeouiju like that before the conversation’s even finished?!

Startled, Eunho hurriedly ran up to stand beside Yoon Iseo.

Ding!

Rumble!

At the same time, the ground trembled violently as if struck by a massive earthquake.

Ssssshhhaa!

A deafening roar ripped through the sky, followed by a sudden downpour of torrential rain.

Soon, pitch-black light began seeping from the Yeouiju, spreading through the field like a thick smog. Before long, a massive shadow surged out from within the dark mist.