By Zephyria Reflected in the Mirror
Drip, drip, drip…. Water droplets falling from the stalactites pooled on the ground. The puddle gradually spread and met the red liquid. The transparent water soon turned blood-red. The air inside the cave was damp and reeked. Blood was trickling steadily from the monster corpses piled neatly in one corner.
Cha Eui-jae was sitting hunched over on a wide rock, an unlit cigarette in his mouth. He was quietly listening to the sounds outside. Whoosh…
“It seems to have a cycle, doesn’t it?”
Min-gi Seo, who was standing like a shadow in a dim corner of the cave, answered.
“Yes. It appears to repeat a pattern of raging and then stopping at regular intervals.”
Outside the cave, white ash was blowing like a blizzard, making it impossible to move recklessly. To be precise, if Cha Eui-jae were alone, he would have pierced through the ash and finished the investigation long ago, but thanks to Min-gi Seo’s excuse that he didn’t want to get his suit dirty with white ash, they were waiting together in the cave. Eui-jae grumbled.
“How dangerous can a little ash be…”
“It might not be dangerous for you, sir, but it could be dangerous for the investigation team that enters after us. We must check all risk factors.”
Well, he didn’t have much to say to that. Cha Eui-jae was also well aware of the importance of investigation. Hadn’t he even created something like a monster compendium before? Eui-jae smacked his lips and then glanced toward the shadow. Min-gi Seo was holding an analog stopwatch, timing something.
Click. Min-gi Seo, having pressed the button, asked without looking at Eui-jae.
“How is the Guild Master’s condition? For the record, this question is not my own; I am merely conveying Deputy Guild Master Bae Won-woo’s question.”
“……”
Eui-jae rested his chin on his hand and answered indifferently.
“Same as usual.”
“No changes at all?”
“No. He just keeps sleeping. No change in complexion either.”
“Originally, such things are awakened by a kiss filled with love.”
Eui-jae doubted his ears. Was what I just heard the same meaning I understood? Have I worked Min-gi Seo too hard? Has he finally gone mad? Eui-jae straightened his hunched upper body sharply and looked at Min-gi Seo with a horrified expression. Min-gi Seo added seriously.
“For the record, this is also not my opinion. I declare it was Deputy Guild Master Bae Won-woo’s opinion. If you have anything to say, please say it directly to the Deputy Guild Master.”
“You deliver other people’s words just fine, so why are you reluctant to deliver mine?”
“Delivering curses goes against my principles.”
“It’s not a curse, so deliver it.”
“I’ll hear it first.”
“Tell him if he has time to watch DiXney movies, he should use that time to work hard instead.”
“As it is a reasonable opinion and one I also agree with, I will convey it.”
Eui-jae, who had been glaring at Min-gi Seo, gnashed his cigarette between his teeth.
‘A kiss to wake him up?’
Did he think I hadn’t tried that? Did he really think I hadn’t tried it?
Thinking about it again made his blood boil. Before the Day of the Rift, Cha Eui-jae was also an ordinary South Korean teenager, so he had encountered countless stories and media where a sleeping princess wakes up with a prince’s loving kiss. Having grown up seeing and hearing those things, it was impossible not to think of it when he saw the sleeping Lee Sa-young.
It’s not like one kiss changes anything!
Looking back now, Cha Eui-jae was out of his mind at the time, having stayed up for several nights in a row. Of course, the person who’s out of their mind never realizes it. Eui-jae sat on the edge of Lee Sa-young’s bed, leaned down as if possessed, and pressed his lips to his…
Naturally, Lee Sa-young did not wake up.
‘Damn it.’
From that day on, for two days, Cha Eui-jae did not enter Lee Sa-young’s room. Eui-jae tightly gripped his cigarette, snapped it in two, and then tapped the floor with his foot. However, Min-gi Seo seemed to interpret the shame differently.
“Are you feeling anxious?”
Anxious?
Eui-jae stopped his foot, which had been tapping in a 16-bit rhythm.
“……”
Perhaps.
Kissing the sleeping Lee Sa-young, the restless feeling in his chest—it was all probably due to anxiety. How on earth did Lee Sa-young wait? For eight years. Compared to eight years, this brief moment felt unbearably anxious.
Even though Lee Sa-young was asleep, he was alive and breathing properly. Right where Cha Eui-jae could see him. That’s why Cha Eui-jae could endure it too. Because every time he saw him, he felt certain.
But Lee Sa-young had endured not knowing whether Cha Eui-jae was alive or dead, relying solely on belief. On Cha Eui-jae’s survival, which even he himself couldn’t be sure of. Believing that he was alive.
“……”
He knew. He knew that safety was the most important thing. But he couldn’t help the anxiety that made his chest restless. What if something happened to Lee Sa-young while they were wasting time like this? What if another problem erupted? What if something happened that he couldn’t handle?
What if he lost him again?
Crack. His finger, clenched with force, bent.
Eui-jae put down the cigarette and put on his mask. Behind the black mask, all expressions disappeared, and the restless emotions settled. His feverish head cooled down.
‘But doing this doesn’t change anything either.’
Now was the time to move forward. Above all, Cha Eui-jae wasn’t alone now. Eui-jae raised his head. Min-gi Seo was still looking at him with an indifferent face. Surprisingly, that was quite comforting.
“Did you finish timing it?”
“Yes. Although the sample size is small. It seems there’s a 20-minute rest period after a 5-minute raging period. We’ll need to check directly if the ash is piling up outside.”
“It’s like Pomodoro.”
“You know about that too?”
“I saw it on YouTube. Well then, it should be stopping soon…”
Eui-jae, who was getting up, paused. Min-gi Seo, who was tiptoeing out of the shaded area to avoid the blood puddle, looked at him with a puzzled face.
“Is there a problem, sir?”
“No…”
Eui-jae touched his left wrist. He had felt something was missing, but he hadn’t realized his watch was gone. Blinded by the term ‘Invasion Dungeon,’ he had grabbed Min-gi Seo by the scruff of the neck and used Hong Ye-seong’s scroll to rush directly to Mokpo.
“……”
It seems he must have left it at Lee Sa-young’s house. It’s a place where not just anyone can enter, so no one would have taken it…
‘Now even the smallest things make me anxious…’
Eui-jae clicked his tongue, tapping the floor with the tip of his Walker.
“We need to go quickly. I’ll handle the Master of the Dungeon, so please investigate the dungeon in the meantime.”
“Hmm, understood. Please specify the targets.”
An Invasion Dungeon is a dungeon that has been invaded by the Destroyed world. It also means it’s connected to a part of that world they had visited. If that’s the case…
“First, the point connected to the West Sea Rift. And second…”
“The traces of ‘Lee Sa-young’ who stayed in the Destroyed world.”
The traces of ‘Lee Sa-young,’ who wandered there for a long time, must also remain somewhere. If he followed his trail, perhaps someday he might find the key to resolving Lee Sa-young’s condition.
‘They said leaving it alone was the best course of action…’
But he couldn’t just sit back and do nothing. That was something Cha Eui-jae himself could not tolerate.
Min-gi Seo put away his stopwatch and pushed his sunglasses up onto the bridge of his nose.
“Confirmed. I will summon you via shadow as soon as I find it.”
The swirling ash gradually ceased. J gripped his massive spear, took a step forward, and met the onslaught of stark white silence.
…Lee Sa-young opened his eyes.
“……”
A vast sea stretched out before him. The sea was not blue. Only black and white existed there. Each time a black wave crashed, white foam shattered. Lee Sa-young looked up at the sky. There was no hole that should have been torn in the sky. So this place was not reality.
He slowly walked along the boundary between the waves and the sandy beach. No footprints were left on the fine white sand. He walked aimlessly like that. With each step, it felt as if his mind was being washed clean. All thoughts were crumbling and being reconstructed.
Lee Sa-young thought blankly.
‘I have to go back.’
Why?
‘He will wait.’
Who?
‘Hyung…’
Who is Hyung?
‘……’
I don’t know.
Splash…
At that moment, a wave wet his bare feet. Strangely, it wasn’t cold. It was rather a soft sensation. Like skin touching skin. To the point where he felt regretful as the wave receded. Lee Sa-young shifted his gaze toward the sea where the wave was retreating. A large hole was torn in the middle of the black sea.
“…Ah.”
Lee Sa-young’s eyes widened. That hole was strikingly similar to the spot where the West Sea Rift had disappeared. He couldn’t not know. Because he had watched it for eight years. Only that sea. Aimlessly.
While waiting for Cha Eui-jae.
“So you ended up coming here too. With a sound mind.”
Then a familiar voice rang out. Of course it had to be familiar.
“I don’t know the reason though…. you see.”
Because it was his own voice.
Lilac-colored pupils shone brightly from within the hopelessly tangled black hair. ‘Lee Sa-young’ was standing opposite him. They were both standing on the boundary line between the waves and the sandy beach.
Sa-young asked in a low, subdued voice.
“Where is this place?”
‘Lee Sa-young’ tilted his chin slightly. That gesture was particularly similar to his own, making Sa-young frown.
“A place where lost and forgotten things gather.”
The lilac pupils looked out toward the distant sea. The purple pupils were directed at the hole. Just as ‘he’ said, the black seawater was pouring into the hole like a waterfall.
A moment later, ‘Lee Sa-young’ let out a low laugh.
“We should have melted into one, not even knowing of each other’s existence…”
“……”
“It means something went wrong. The fact that we’re facing each other like this.”
“……”
“Where exactly did it go wrong…”
“You don’t know?”
“……”
“Ah…. I think I know all too well.”
Lee Sa-young drew out the end of his words and twisted the corner of his mouth. A look of pleasure settled in his purple pupils.
A giant clock appeared in the stark white sky. Inside the clock, three smaller clocks were positioned. Among the four dials, only one was moving.
“Whether it’s ruining my plans, or coming to get me…”
Lee Sa-young laughed.
“There’s only one person in this world who can do that.”
“……”
‘Lee Sa-young’ closed his eyes with a long sigh.
“I suppose so…”
Each time the clock’s second hand moved busily, the sea began to ripple. Soon, black waves rose high. A black shadow loomed over them.
“But you won’t be able to just enjoy it.”
The lilac pupils disappeared between his eyelids. The black wave crashed over them. Whoosh— A voice shattered within the wave.
“…I will chase you…”
Inside the dark room.
“……”
The long, closed eyelashes slowly lifted upward.