Chapter 35: To the Hall Plain! |
In simple terms, the Hall Plain could be divided into four continents. The currently developed regions were the Eastern, Western, Southern, and Northern Continents, each under the jurisdiction of the Users and the original inhabitants of the Hall Plain.
However, the reality of the Hall Plain was that the unexplored regions far outnumbered the developed ones. If one were to travel for even a single day through the untamed lands surrounding them, no one but the person themselves would know what dangers lurked there.
Ultimately, the only way to alleviate the anxiety surrounding these unexplored areas was to form expeditions and conquer them. Even if they created passages connecting each continent or city, they would always live in fear as long as unexplored territories blocked their path forward and back.
An Hyeon's party was assigned to the Northern Continent as their starting point in the Hall Plain. Users who had proven their worth in the Rite of Passage were first summoned to a place called the <Inn of Beginnings> in the major cities of each continent. There were five such inns, which meant the Rite of Passage had been held simultaneously in five separate spaces.
Thanks to the angels' consideration, An Hyeon's group was the first to arrive. As instructed, they woke up in the inn and went down to the first floor. They sat in the chairs around a visible table and waited for the other Users.
The inn itself was nothing special. It seemed to have been built for the literal purpose of sleeping and waiting for someone. There were doors and windows leading outside, but after looking through a window, An Hyeon gave up on the idea of leaving. The world outside was completely enveloped in a sea of blue. A bluish barrier encircled the inn, making it impossible to see even a step ahead. It felt as if the inside and outside of the inn were completely separate dimensions.
A quiet silence filled the inn, as if no one else had arrived yet. An Hyeon paced by the window for a moment before carefully sitting down in a chair. His eyes fell on familiar faces: An Sol, Lee Yu-jeong, Kim Han-byeol... He hadn't exchanged a single word with them since they'd met. No, he couldn't.
He glanced at his sister and saw her trembling violently, her teeth chattering. It was clear she was in a serious state. An Hyeon knew she was tormented by guilt. He, too, felt his own body tremble with an inexplicable anxiety that filled him from within. The source of this anxiety was the fact that Kim Su-hyeon had left their side. He could no longer be their shield, and the one they relied on was gone.
Suddenly, Su-hyeon's face appeared in his mind. Just seeing his calm demeanor, his composed attitude, and hearing his quiet voice seemed to instill a strange sense of confidence. They had known him for less than a week, but in that short time, he had become deeply embedded in their hearts.
The man who, crushed by the monster's tail, had smiled and waved at them in his final moments. An Hyeon now keenly felt that he had been nothing without him. It was only because Su-hyeon had been their steadfast support from behind that he could step forward. And he, too, had unknowingly relied on him so, so much.
Every time he remembered that Su-hyeon had sacrificed himself to save his sister, An Hyeon couldn't bring himself to look at Lee Yu-jeong and Kim Han-byeol. But he mustered his courage and raised his somber face. He wanted to see how the others were doing.
Yu-jeong had her face buried in the table. She had slumped over as soon as she came down and hadn't gotten up since. The slight trembling of her shoulders showed she wasn't asleep. It was likely because she didn't want to show her weakness to others.
An Sol's condition was self-evident. She wasn't wailing like before, but tears clung to her fine eyebrows as she stared at the floor. It seemed she still had tears left to shed. It had been so bad that an angel had to gently soothe her while setting up her basic profile. Only Kim Han-byeol maintained her initial cold expression. An Hyeon couldn't tell what she was thinking, but a chilly feeling seemed to linger around her.
A quiet silence flowed through the inn, with no one daring to speak. Only the occasional, anonymous sob broke the stillness. But as time passed, the inn gradually grew noisier.
Specifically, the clamor of several people talking at once could be heard from the second floor. They heard the doors of the second-floor rooms—from which they themselves had just come—opening, and the voices of strangers. An Hyeon knew instinctively that these were the other survivors of the Rite of Passage. And in that moment, a thought flashed through his mind like lightning.
'Su-hyeon might be here. He might have escaped. If so…'
An Hyeon shot up from his seat. The sudden noise drew everyone's attention to him. Yu-jeong, her eyes swollen, shakily raised her head to look at him. An Hyeon spoke in an excited tone.
"Hyeong, Su-hyeon might be here."
"...What are you talking about?"
As Yu-jeong asked in a hoarse voice, An Hyeon immediately pointed to the stairs leading to the second floor. At the top was the door from which the survivors emerged.
"We can't be the only ones who made it. The other survivors must be getting transported here too. Maybe he's among them…."
The moment she heard An Hyeon's words, Yu-jeong shot up and ran to the stairs. An Sol, seemingly thinking it was possible, lifted her head and followed Yu-jeong. Only Han-byeol looked reluctant, as if she held no such expectations from the start.
Humans were truly sad creatures. The self-rationalization had begun again. They had all clearly seen Kim Su-hyeon fall before that monstrous beast. They remembered shedding tears as they watched his final farewell. But now, the thought of 'what if' dominated their minds.
"If it's Su-hyeon, he definitely would have escaped. Right? He must have."
"O-of course. Su-hyeon is the kind of person who would survive somewhere just to prove he could. He'll probably burst through the door and come down, just like he did in that city. Yes, yes. That's right."
An Hyeon and Yu-jeong looked at each other and nodded, their voices trembling. Just as they reached the bottom of the stairs and were about to head up, the sound of a door clicking open was heard. As if by magic, their movements froze, and all eyes turned upward. A heart-pounding tension seemed to fill their bodies.
The people who finally opened the door and revealed themselves were... unfortunately, not Kim Su-hyeon. However, they were people An Hyeon's party had met before. A total of four people were coming down, and the man in the lead's eyes glinted with interest as he saw An Hyeon's party below.
"Oh. You were here first. In any case, it's good to see you alive."
"Huh? Woo Jeong-min. Who is... Ah, those brats from before? Weren't they all dead? Didn't they say they were going to the warp gate?"
"...Cheon Seung-hyeon. Don't talk so loud."
Woo Jeong-min, Cheon Seung-hyeon, and Seon Yu-un exchanged words as they descended to the first-floor lobby. Won Hye-su, the woman who had lost her sister, followed them silently, her face filled with sorrow, hinting at what had happened to her.
But An Hyeon's party had no energy to care about such things. The most important thing was to confirm Su-hyeon's fate with their own eyes. Thus, the moment they saw Woo Jeong-min's group, disappointment quickly washed over their faces. Sensing the strange atmosphere, Seon Yu-un led Won Hye-su to a chair near a table. Only Cheon Seung-hyeon grumbled with a dissatisfied look on his face.
"Tch. You don't have to look so openly depressed. We're all in the same boat, but you're making this really awkward. Fine. Hey. Sorry about throwing that dagger back then."
"...Yeah."
"I said I'm really sorry. I've reflected a lot since then."
"...It doesn't matter."
"I-Is that so? I see. Well, that's a relief. Haha... ha..."
Hearing Yu-jeong's reply, Cheon Seung-hyeon's expression grew even more sour. He tilted his head, as if thinking to himself that this wasn't his usual personality. Woo Jeong-min also sensed the strange atmosphere, calmly surveyed his surroundings, and spoke up.
"Come to think of it, one person is missing. Where is the young man with the crossbow?"
The party responded to Woo Jeong-min's question with silence. Woo Jeong-min, being quick-witted, seemed to be piecing together the situation in his head. Not being here meant he had died during the Rite of Passage.
"Don't tell me... he was killed? I told you not to go to the warp gate, but it seems you didn't listen. Then how did you all..."
"He's not dead!"
"He's not dead!"
Before Jeong-min could finish his sentence, Yu-jeong and An Sol shrieked. Watching Yu-jeong, Cheon Seung-hyeon nodded his head.(?) Jeong-min felt awkward for a moment but calmly turned his head toward An Hyeon.
"Did you happen to meet that monster? The one that looked like an alien."
Instead of answering, An Hyeon gave a slight nod. But he turned his head away again, as if unwilling to say more. It wasn't that he couldn't understand the sentiment, so Woo Jeong-min gave a bitter smile and quietly sat down where Seon Yu-un and Won Hye-su were. Cheon Seung-hyeon followed him, plopping down on a nearby chair and stretching with all his might.
"Ughhhhh. Sitting on a chair after being on that cold stone floor feels like heaven. So they met that monster too?"
"Seung-hyeon. Don't speak so loudly. It's similar to when we lost Jin-tae."
"Then he's 100% dead. Too bad. After that whole new profile thing, I really wanted to get him back if we met again. Anyway, Hye-su is..."
Just as he was about to continue, Cheon Seung-hyeon saw Seon Yu-un's sharp gaze and shut his mouth. However, Won Hye-su seemed to have heard her name being called. She lifted her head for a moment and spoke in a weary voice.
"Whether he's dead or not doesn't really matter to me. Honestly, it's a bit of a shame. I wanted him to experience the same pain I did. But it seems he just became the victim himself, huh?"
Just as Lee Yu-jeong was about to explode at her rude words, Jeong-min stared at her with a cold gaze and rebuked her in a heavy voice.
"Don't you dare talk about someone like that."
"I said it doesn't matter to me. Did I say anything else?"
"Then why would you wish for that young man to experience the pain you did? We lost Jin-tae, and you lost your sister. If you know the feeling of losing someone precious, shouldn't you at least offer comfort instead of being so damn disrespectful? Do you think that's right?"
"That's..."
As Won Hye-su hesitated, Jeong-min snorted and continued.
"If you have nothing to say, then shut your mouth. I'll say it again: that young man's death and Hye-yeon's death are in no way related."
"Jeong-min. Hye-su. Everyone, stop."
Jeong-min and Hye-su glared at each other. Hye-su, in particular, was biting her lip as if she was furious about something. The atmosphere instantly turned icy, and Seon Yu-un quickly tried to mediate, but their gazes didn't break.
However, An Hyeon's group, aside from Yu-jeong, couldn't care less what they were arguing about. They were still looking up the stairs with longing. After some time, a much louder commotion could be heard from the second floor, as if the survivors were beginning to be transported in earnest.
A complex mix of voices could be heard—voices of joy, sorrow, and chatter. And the other survivors began to come down in groups, opening the second-floor door one after another. The door opened, and two figures emerged.
The next person to appear was also someone An Hyeon's party knew.
It was Park Dong-geol.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The feeling of basking in the mana that had spread to every corner of my body was indescribably refreshing. Thanks to the Essence of Fire, even the minute acupoints at the tips of my fingers and toes were opened, amplifying the pleasure. Calmly observing my inner self, I could confirm that the quantity and quality of my mana had increased even more than before. But that wasn't all.
All the impurities within me were purged, my meridians were opened, and my body itself had transformed into one suitable for generating mana. This meant that even if I swung my sword the same way as another User with the same stats, I would have a much higher chance of gaining the upper hand.
However, fully utilizing the Essence of Fire was still a distant goal. A Stamina of 70 points was a huge obstacle for me. Seraph had said that the minimum requirement to wield the power of the Essence of Fire was 90 Stamina, and to use it fully, I would need over 101 points. (I was honestly very surprised to hear this. Just as the difference between 99 and 100 points was night and day, the difference between 100 and 101 points was also immense.)
With my current 70 points, there was a high possibility that my body wouldn't be able to handle it if I unleashed my full power. After calculating all the points I could definitely earn in the early stages, the total came out to 14 points.
2 points from the boss monster, 2 points from the Elixir of Stamina Enhancement, 6 points from Angel's Tear, and 4 points from the mission reward for graduating the User Academy early. I knew I had to pour all the points I had earned and would earn into Stamina, but a corner of my mind was filled with greed.
In the Hall Plain, an average stat of 60 was enough to be considered competent on any continent. As such, a User's value increased as their stats climbed to 70, 80, and 90. Especially when a stat surpassed 90 points, each additional point became even more precious.
That's why the greed was stirring. First, looking at my stats:
⚔ STATUS ⚔
⚡ Strength: 94
🛡️ Endurance: 92
💨 Agility: 98
💪 Stamina: 70
✨ Magic Power: 96
🍀 Luck: 88
First, I had to exclude the 2 points for Stamina. That left 12 points.
If I invested 4 points in Strength, 3 in Agility, and 5 in Magic Power, I could raise two stats to 101 points and have 98 points in Strength. It was a thought that would likely make Seraph foam at the mouth if she knew what I was thinking.
Stamina is the pillar of all stats. If the pillar isn't strong, no matter how high the other stats are, it would be difficult to draw out their full efficiency. Rationally, I knew I shouldn't, but a part of me kept thinking, 'But still…'
For now, I decided to clear my mind of these thoughts. My plan was to first enter the Hall Plain, join the User Academy, and train my Stamina like a madman for three months. There was a high chance I wouldn't even gain a single point, but I wanted to grasp at straws. If I consistently raised my Stamina now, I could save that many stat points later.
After carefully gathering the mana I had spread throughout my body, I slowly opened my eyes. I didn't know how much time had passed, but it had definitely been more than a day. I turned my head and saw that the portal to the Hall Plain was already open. Feeling foolish, I spoke to Seraph, who was quietly watching me.
"...Has the transfer already started?"
"Yes. Most have already been transferred. Only User Kim Su-hyeon remains."
"Then you should have said something."
"It seemed you were in deep thought rather than meditation, so I couldn't bring myself to wake you. There's no need to worry. There is still time left."
The kids would be worried. I had wanted to go in early, talk things over, and clear up any misunderstandings, so this was rather annoying, but I obediently got up from my seat. I then walked towards the portal leading to the Hall Plain.
I didn't exchange a formal farewell with Seraph. After all, we would be seeing a lot of each other in the future, so there was no need. However, it seemed Seraph thought differently, as her words caught me just as I was about to enter.
"User Kim Su-hyeon."
"What is it?"
I replied without turning back. One of my feet was already inside the portal's entrance.
"Please, take care of yourself. If I need to contact you, I will send a revelation through the temple."
I just gave a nonchalant nod and threw myself into the shimmering blue portal.