By Zephyria Eui-jae shut his mouth. To be honest, the biggest reason he pushed Lee Sa-young away was because he couldn’t show him his entire fighting style, but it was also somewhat true that he sent him to protect the others.
However, Cha Eui-jae had learned something through numerous experiences. If he answered too honestly…
Lee Sa-young would sulk.
To appease this crazy brat, he had to wrap his words in layers of bubble wrap. Very fluffy and soft. Eui-jae rubbed the back of his neck and answered nonchalantly.
“No… I trust you, that’s why. I deliberately sent you to protect the others. You did well.”
“Ah…. You trust me, that’s why. I didn’t know that.”
Sa-young, who had been crossing his arms, raised the corners of his lips and smiled, crinkling his eyes.
“When a person reaches out, you kick them away saying you don’t need them. I wondered… is that all we are to each other? Right? I also wondered if my ability was lacking. My self-esteem was a little hurt.”
“Self-esteem, my ass….”
“It’s the first time I’ve been rejected like this.”
Lee Sa-young started spouting nonsense with a pretty smile on his face. Fortunately, he didn’t tilt his head, so it seemed he wasn’t really upset. Eui-jae muttered with a pout.
“What a load of crap, really….”
Sa-young examined his clear face without a single scratch, then crossed his arms and said in a low voice.
“Anyway, just try doing that again.”
“Then what will you do?”
“Hmm….”
He thought he was only pondering for a moment, but the silence lasted longer than expected. Was he trying to bluff? Eui-jae narrowed his eyes and looked at Sa-young. But he had a rather serious expression. Long eyelashes cast a thin shadow on his eyes.
“…I don’t know.”
“…….”
“Just… let’s not have a next time. That would be better.”
“…….”
With that murmur, Sa-young pressed his lips tightly as if lost in thought. The pretty smile that had been on his face until just now had disappeared as if swallowed by the shadows.
Eui-jae quietly examined his face, then noticed black blood on his colorless lips. Eui-jae reached out and wiped the black blood away with his thumb, clicking his tongue.
“But what’s wrong with your lips? Did you get hit by a Fragment or something?”
“…What?”
Sa-young, who had been lost in thought, was startled and widened his eyes. His eyes met the black liquid on Eui-jae’s hand.
Whack! Sa-young urgently grabbed Eui-jae’s hand. He couldn’t hide his surprise, but he paused for a moment, then immediately let go of his hand and started rummaging through his Inventory. Eui-jae frowned and asked.
“What’s wrong, why?”
“Why without permission…!”
Sa-young took out a bottle, crushed the lid, and immediately poured the purple liquid inside onto Eui-jae’s hand.
Ugh. Eui-jae let out a short groan at the strange sensation rising from his hand. The sticky, viscous liquid covered his hand. Sa-young, firmly holding the wriggling hand, poured a recovery Elixir over it again. Each action was so fast that even Eui-jae couldn’t stop him.
Eui-jae, who had only gotten his hand soaked in all sorts of liquids after wiping away blood once, blankly looked at Sa-young.
“What is this….”
Lee Sa-young threw the empty bottle away irritably. Clang, the sound of the empty bottle hitting and breaking somewhere in the ruins echoed. Sa-young, with a face that had turned cold, sneered.
“Hyung, didn’t you learn anything from almost dying last time?”
At this point, Cha Eui-jae also felt wronged. How many times had he said it? That he was fine. That his Poison didn’t work on him. He had sung that song, but who was the crazy brat who didn’t listen? The one who hadn’t learned anything was Lee Sa-young, not him.
Eui-jae shook his damp hand.
“I’m really fine. You don’t listen to anything I say, do you?”
“Can’t you be a little more careful….”
“At least pretend to listen, you crazy brat.”
Eui-jae grabbed Sa-young by the collar. A sweet scent wafted from him as he got closer.
Eui-jae saw Lee Sa-young’s torn lips at eye level. Suddenly, Eui-jae had the absurd thought that he should even drink that blood to quell Lee Sa-young’s endless paranoia.
At that moment, a large black hand covered Eui-jae’s face. Eui-jae made a face and grabbed the hand.
“What are you doing?”
“I thought Hyung was suddenly having strange thoughts. Blocking your vision.”
“Strange thoughts, my ass.”
“Everyone is bound to have strange thoughts when adrenaline is pumping. I understand.”
“Stop talking crap, really.”
“Okay, so you should calm down too, Hyung. Haven’t you fought a Monster in a while?”
“…….”
The heart was still racing without any sign of slowing down. Enough for someone with good hearing to hear it. Only then did Eui-jae slowly release the tension in his shoulders. As if praising him for doing well, his thumb rubbed his temple.
“Yeah… like that.”
Lee Sa-young, who had been spouting incomprehensible words, finally removed his hand after quite some time. Then, he fiddled with his disheveled bangs, tidied them up, and completely removed his hand.
“Then let’s wrap up this story here….”
Sa-young sat down on the ruins of a building that was just the right height, crossed his legs, and stared at Eui-jae, tapping the seat next to him. It seemed he wanted him to sit next to him.
‘Why bother?’
Eui-jae shook his head reluctantly. But Lee Sa-young was more persistent than he thought. He grabbed one of Eui-jae’s arms and started pulling him. He could resist if he wanted to, but it was awkward to have a power struggle in front of Hong Ye-seong, who was lying on the ground with sparkling eyes, or Yoon Ga-eul, who had wide eyes. Eui-jae sighed briefly and sat down next to Sa-young, barely perching on the edge of the seat.
Only then did Lee Sa-young nod his chin, pointing to the two uninvited guests.
“You guys must have a reason for coming in here.”
“…….”
Ga-eul lowered her head. Hong Ye-seong also turned his head in the opposite direction.
“Anyone with properly functioning eyes would know that this Dungeon belongs to the Wave Guild….”
“Didn’t know.”
“Don’t talk crap.”
“Tch.”
Hong Ye-seong’s brazen answer, which wouldn’t have worked at all, was cut off by Lee Sa-young in an instant. Hong Ye-seong pouted like a duck and turned his head away. Eui-jae, who had avoided being treated as an uninvited guest thanks to sitting next to him, also leaned back slightly. It was to get out of Sa-young’s sight.
Lee Sa-young crossed his arms, then fiddled with his thumb on his lips before wiping them. He smiled, making full use of his glamorous face. It was a beautiful smile that didn’t suit the ruins.
“Okay….”
“…….”
“Just… tell me straight, I’ll listen. You better tell the truth.”
It was an attitude that he would only listen. Long eyelashes blinked.
“Unless you want to go to court for trespassing in a Dungeon.”
Did such a law even exist these days? Eui-jae, who had been listening quietly, was shocked. The saying that nothing changes as slowly as the law was an exception when it came to Awakened-related matters. And from the moment the talk of court came up, Hong Ye-seong started pretending to be dead, slumped on the floor.
“I guess so.”
Ga-eul bravely opened her mouth, but looked at Sa-young’s face and slowly turned her head again. Then, she picked up Cluck, who had been crushing Hong Ye-seong’s face, and covered her face with it before continuing.
“We came because we urgently needed to investigate something related to the Invasion Dungeon… um, this was the closest place I knew. I’m really sorry for sneaking in.”
“No matter how urgent the matter is… shouldn’t you naturally go through the formal procedures to enter? I thought you would have learned these basic procedures.”
“Um, that’s right. But that’s….”
Sa-young reached out his hand with a cold face.
“If it’s such an urgent matter, Ham Seok-jeong would have written you a confirmation letter. Give it to me.”
“Um, uh… uh?”
Ga-eul, who had been hesitating, widened her eyes.
“J-just a moment.”
“If you’re trying to change the subject….”
“I’m really sorry, but it’s really important. Just a moment!”
She jumped up and started running somewhere, passing Sa-young and Eui-jae. She swayed as if possessed, but her steps were unwavering. Cluck quickly followed behind, wiggling its head. The place they were heading to was the ruins of the collapsed Golem. Just as Eui-jae was about to get up to follow, a black hand grabbed his arm once again. It was Lee Sa-young.
“Where are you going?”
“No, she’s going to the Golem alone.”
“After smashing the core to pieces so it can’t even be revived, what….”
Sa-young scoffed and pulled his arm again. It wasn’t a strong force, so it was even harder to shake off.
“There aren’t any Monster presences felt around. The Dungeon Master is dead, so it’s safe for a while. She’s more than capable of going and coming back alone.”
“…….”
“We still have to continue investigating this Dungeon anyway. There must be a reason why it was suddenly reconfigured. So….”
Sa-young, who had only said the right things, leaned his head against Eui-jae’s arm. Eui-jae stopped breathing for a moment. A low voice was etched in his ear.
“Stay here quietly. Next to me.”
“…….”
“…Leaving you behind once is enough.”
A hand covered in leather tightly gripped his wrist. Eui-jae didn’t shake off the hand. Instead, he covered the warmth that wrapped around his wrist with his own hand. Long, black fingers dug into his firm hand as if they had been waiting for it.
It was really strange. Whenever Lee Sa-young acted like this, a strange sense of déjà vu came over him. In these moments, someone who was definitely…
Someone who was already dead came to Eui-jae’s mind.
It was then.
“I, I found it. Ugh! I found it!”
How she had climbed up, Yoon Ga-eul poked her head out of the black hole in the Golem’s heart.
She roughly wiped the dirt-covered face with her sleeve and waved something in her hand. A fragment of something that shone brilliantly like a kaleidoscope in Yoon Ga-eul’s hand. It was something Eui-jae had also seen before, and that was—
“It’s a Fragment!”
It was a Fragment of the world.