Chapter 391 |
The moment I stepped out of the Warp Gate, the familiar sight of the city came into view.
“We’ve arrived in Barbara.”
I nodded once at Go Yeon-ju’s words as she followed right behind me. Then, I tilted my head to look at the sky.
It was afternoon. Late afternoon, at that.
Perhaps because we’d left after a short nap following lunch, the sun had already begun to set in the west, and dusk was slowly beginning to fall.
“Soohyun. Should we just go back for now? The meeting was delayed again anyway. We can just come back tomorrow morning.”
“Hmm.”
Her words made sense, and I paused to think.
Three days had already passed since the battle ended.
Today was that fourth day.
However, the meeting that was supposed to be held this morning was pushed to the afternoon due to the cleanup situation. So we set out again to make it on time, but just as we reached the Warp Gate, we received another message that it had been postponed again until tomorrow morning.
While cleaning up the battlefield was a good excuse, it really just meant they weren’t ready yet.
In any case, this meant we could rest for at least one more day, but I chose to come to Barbara instead of turning back.
Our clan was small, so recognizing didn’t take long, and we had rested enough.
But more than anything, I was curious. As I’ve said before, the end of a war is not the end of everything. I was curious about the post-war proceedings, about what happened to the Golden Lion, about whether any renowned Users had died in this war, and about the extent of the damage from the battle.
The fact that I had nothing better to do was also a reason.
In any case, these were things I would learn at tomorrow’s meeting, but it wouldn’t hurt to arrive even a step ahead of everyone else.
“Soohyun? What do you want to do?”
Standing at the Warp Gate, I looked around and finally made up my mind. I decided it was better to look around, even if just briefly, than to kill time aimlessly.
“Go Yeon-ju, you can go back.”
“...”
“I’ll be staying in Barbara tonight. I’ll return after the meeting tomorrow.”
“... Hah. You’re impossible.”
What could that sigh possibly mean?
I found out the answer soon enough.
As I walked away from the Warp Gate, I could feel a presence trotting behind me.
I really don’t mind if she goes back...
I had refused to let any other clan members accompany me, so I was fine being in Barbara alone. It was too late to join the cleanup effort, and I was the only one who needed to attend the meeting.
But it seemed Go Yeon-ju thought differently.
“Soohyun... Let’s go together--”
I felt a little awkward as she carefully linked her arm with mine.
We walked down the street together, our friendly manner a stark contrast to the atmosphere around us. As we walked, I slowly took in our surroundings.
I’d heard that the Users who originally lived in the western cities had been brought to Barbara. Perhaps that was why, despite it being nearly nighttime, the city streets were bustling and crowded.
As we were walking aimlessly, Go Yeon-ju suddenly spoke.
“Soohyun, how about we check the control room first? They should have some statistics compiled by now.”
“That’s a good idea. I was planning to look around the city first... and then head over there before nightfall.”
After I nodded once or twice, Go Yeon-ju gently unlinked her arm.
“Alright. You do that, and I’ll see you in the central plaza later.”
“Huh? What about you?”
“You said you were staying in Barbara tonight. We can’t sleep outside, so I should go find us a room for the night.”
Hearing her languid voice, I scratched my head. I had just said it casually, but it seemed she had taken me quite seriously.
But since we were already here, I figured it wasn’t a bad idea. Rather than dealing with a crowded Warp Gate tomorrow morning, it might be better to actually stay the night and attend the meeting relaxed.
“Alright. I’ll look around for a bit. Let’s meet at the central plaza later.”
“Okay. But what if there are no rooms?”
“Don’t worry too much about it. I was just talking. If there are no rooms, we can just go back to Monica.”
“Haha. I’m just kidding. Who do you take me for? With my credentials, getting an inn room is a piece of cake. Anyway, I’ll be back soon.”
Go Yeon-ju replied slyly and quickly departed. I watched her back as she slowly disappeared into the distance, lost in thought.
I should take a look around first, then follow Go Yeon-ju’s advice and head to the control room.
I’ll have to pass through the plaza, then.
Thinking it was highly likely that the Golden Lion’s Clan House was now the control room, I started heading there.
Only after being left alone did the city’s scenery truly begin to register.
Barbara, which had once enjoyed immense prosperity as a great city of the Northern Continent, was now so devastated that its former glory was unrecognizable.
However, considering it had been conquered without bloodshed, it was in better shape than I expected. Of course, that was only ‘better than expected’. Aside from the completely collapsed western wall, the city still retained its basic structure.
Then again, they would have needed a place to live, too.
Taking in the sight, I fixed my gaze forward and entered the plaza.
In the wide, open space, about thirty Users were sitting here and there in a quiet atmosphere.
“...”
Even with more than twenty people gathered, they were all completely silent. It was as if they were all sitting on a cloth.
In fact, it wasn’t just the plaza. Everywhere I had passed through had a similar atmosphere. Although there were priests occasionally rushing about, the vast majority of people were in the same state of listlessness as the Users before me.
Looking at them... it’s hard to tell who actually lost.
I briefly clicked my tongue, but then I remembered my 1st Playthrough and nodded. Back then, the battle had been as good as a defeat, and the situation was twice as dire. I was a 0-year User at the time, so I didn’t know the details, but I remember the atmosphere being far more severe than this.
In any case, this was much better than back then. As always, time would be the best medicine. And besides, it was no longer my concern...
So, I quickened my pace, intending to pass straight through the plaza.
Clomp, clomp. Clomp, clomp.
My footsteps, echoing in the quiet plaza, must have been jarring.
Among the Users sitting around the broken fountain, a few lifted their heads to look at me. I glanced at them as well and was about to pass by.
“...”
“Ah.”
The moment I made eye contact with one of the men, I stopped walking without thinking.
It was the same for him. A flicker of light crossed his vacant, dead eyes. His lifeless complexion felt strange, yet there was something vaguely familiar about his face, and I studied it more closely.
His face was slender, but his features were clearly masculine. His long hair reached his waist, and his build was slim.
At that moment, a thought flashed through my mind.
“Woo...”
“Kim Soohyun?”
I almost blurted out his name but managed to stop myself.
Ah. Does it even matter?
But I soon decided it didn’t. After all, we had both come from the same User Academy.
That was right. The man before me was Woo Jeong-min, whom I had met once during the Rite of Passage and who had been the Clan Lord of the ‘Red Fang’ clan in my 1st Playthrough. I never imagined I would run into him here...
“User Woo Jeong-min.”
The man definitely reacted when I said his name. I changed my course from crossing the plaza and walked closer to him.
Seeing me approach, Woo Jeong-min seemed to pull himself together a bit and slowly got to his feet.
Then, we exchanged a perfunctory, light handshake.
“It’s been a while, User Kim Soohyun.”
“It has.”
Woo Jeong-min’s voice, which I hadn’t heard in a long time, was incredibly hoarse. He looked at my face and blinked. Then he scanned me from head to toe and tilted his head.
“You look well.”
“I was part of the West Gate unit. I just arrived after reorganizing in Monica.”
“The West Gate unit?”
Woo Jeong-min tilted his head again, then said, “Ah,” and nodded.
“Right. That’s right. The Mercenary Clan... I heard the rumors. It must have been tough in the West Gate unit.”
“It’s gotten better now. But you...”
“Me...?”
For a moment, Woo Jeong-min’s gaze dropped, and a shadow of sorrow crossed his face.
Seeing that, I could sense that something terrible had happened to him. It was his expression, the air around him. I could feel pain that I was still holding.
“Did you also participate in this war?”
Woo Jeong-min nodded without a word.
“Participation wasn’t mandatory for or year Users. I assume you volunteered.”
At that, Woo Jeong-min let out a deep sigh and finally opened his tightly sealed lips.
“I don’t know if you could call it ‘participating’... Well, I guess I did. I was living in Halo.”
In that instant, I understood the situation a little better. Woo Jeong-min hadn’t joined the eastern front; he had been in the west when it was attacked.
Our hands separated. As if it were blocking his view, Woo Jeong-min pushed his bangs aside and continued in a trembling voice.
“I was blind. Dammit. I should have run away sooner.”
“Run? Ah. Don’t tell me...”
“Heh heh.”
I fell silent. Woo Jeong-min laughed vacantly and said,
“That’s right. I arrived in Barbara two days ago. After Halo fell, I was held captive the entire time. By them.”
Woo Jeong-min’s words echoed loudly in the quiet plaza. I could see a few people nearby flinch and curl up, and I guessed they had been in a similar situation.
“...It must have been very difficult.”
“Difficult? It was beyond difficult. It was hell itself. It was so painful I wanted to die. They’re devils, those bastards. Devils.”
“...”
“We were treated like livestock, nothing more, nothing less. I never dreamed I’d be treated like that in my entire life. As time went on, the comrades who had been with me couldn’t take it anymore and fell away, one by one. Do you know what happened? In the end, Hye-su went mad, and Seung-hyeon killed himself.”
Woo Jeong-min was now muttering as if talking to himself. With his empty gaze, he looked like he could shatter at any moment.
Suddenly, I wondered about one other person who had been with them. A User who would later become one of the Ten Strong. His name was...
“What happened to your other comrades besides those two? I remember there was one more...”
“Every single day was hell. A hell that would never end... Who?”
“...Seon Yu-un?”
“Ah. Yu-un...”
Woo Jeong-min repeated the name as if still talking to himself. But he didn’t answer right away, falling silent, which suggested he was wounded with something.
A short time passed.
Just as I began to wonder if he had died, Woo Jeong-min’s tightly pressed lips slowly parted. Then, he suddenly lifted his head and stared at me.
“Kim Soohyun.”
“?”
“Do you have a moment?”
I looked at him for a second, then nodded.
The place Woo Jeong-min led me to was a spacious white building. Priests were moving about near the entrance, and groans could be heard from here and there. It seemed to be some kind of relief center.
Once inside, I saw that my guess was correct. The interior was quite large, filled with countless makeshift beds. Cots and cloths were laid out all over the floor, and on them, numerous Users were lying down, each reacting in their own way.
One peculiar thing was that there weren’t many people with severe, visible injuries. Still, the atmosphere was chaotic.
I lowered my gaze. Right in front of me was a woman who appeared to be unconscious, covered with a white cloth, and a man tending to her. The emblem on his chest indicated he was a User who had participated in the war.
The mage, who had been chanting a spell over the woman, finally spoke to a priest waiting nearby.
“It seems... this one is pregnant, too.”
“Tsk. Send her over there.”
“Understood.”
Watching the man support the limp woman and walk her to one side, I could roughly guess what kind of place this was.
“This way.”
I followed where Woo Jeong-min pulled me.
After carefully navigating past about thirty people, trying not to step on anyone, he stopped. There, a man with a familiar face was sleeping, breathing evenly. It was Seon Yu-un.
“Is he physically okay?”
“Yu-un is doing relatively well. He’s always had strong mental fortitude... he somehow managed to endure what happened.”
“What happened?”
At my question, Woo Jeong-min seemed to hesitate for a moment. But he soon gave a self-deprecating smile and spoke in a somber voice.
“Forget the vagrants... It turns out quite a few of those bastards from the Western Continent enjoyed preying on men.”
“That’s...”
“Anyway, it’s a relief he’s alive.” He ground his teeth.
“...”
“Let’s go. He just managed to fall asleep a little while ago.”
After grinding his teeth loud enough for me to hear, Woo Jeong-min took my hand again.
The next person he led me to was a woman, also with just a cloth draped over her body. Her face was also familiar. It had to be Won Hye-su.
“Hehe. Hehehe.”
The woman was awake. I stared at her closely.
Her eyes were completely unfocused, her mouth hung open, and drool trickled down her chin. The nonsensical laughter that burst out intermittently made it clear she was not in her right mind.
Was it during the Rite of Passage?
“Shut up! Hye-yeon! Th-that’s a lie! Don’t lie to me! She can’t dead! It’s a lie, right? Right? Huh?”
“Yeah, I’m crazy. I’d rather be crazy. So let me go. I said let go!”
“Heehee. Heeheehee.”
She said she wanted to go crazy... and she really did.
As I was clicking my tongue inwardly, Woo Jeong-min calmly bent down and wiped Won Hye-su’s face with the cloth lying on again, he spoke grimly.
“They said she’s pregnant.”
“...”
“Since they can’t ask her, they asked me to decide whether to abort it or keep it. Heh. What am I supposed to say to that?”
“That’s a difficult position.”
I replied clearly while examining both of their conditions with the Third Eye.
Seon Yu-un’s mental strength is certainly high. But this woman, Won Hye-su... he...
There was at least a chance of recovery for Seon Yu-un, but Won Hye-su was insane. Her disposition alone told the whole story. Her condition was so severe that it wouldn’t be strange at all if she took her own life at any moment.
“Can she get better?”
“She will get better, right?”
“I don’t know...”
I answered truthfully. It was better for him to face reality than for me to give him false hope.
This was not a physical wound, but a mental one. And since it was a wound so great that he had lost her sanity, the chances of a cure were remote.
I suddenly felt a pang of pity for Woo Jeong-min. To be honest, I didn’t know much about how they had grown in the early days. But seeing as they would later become famous as the ‘Red Fang’ clan, I could only guess that this was another Rite of Passage for them.
“Hee. Heehee. Huhuh. Heh...”
A moment of silence passed. After looking down at Won Hye-su for a while, Woo Jeong-min slowly turned his head to look at me.
“By the way, what are you doing here? I heard a rumor you started a clan.”
“There’s a meeting tomorrow.”
“A meeting?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re participating in it?”
I gave a quiet nod.
It seems he only heard the rumor that I started one.
A moment later, I heard a faint laugh beside me.
“Hah. We came from the same User Academy. My situation is pathetic.”
“...I was just lucky. Anyway, what are your plans from now on?”
“I don’t know... anymore... what I should do.”
I finally tore my gaze away from Won Hye-su and looked at Woo Jeong-min. His eyes, as he stared blankly at her, were so dry and withered that the sharpness from the 1st Playthrough was nowhere to be found.
I paused in thought for a moment, then spoke reflectively.
“I have a Clan House in Monica.”
The moment I said that, Woo Jeong-min’s laughter stopped cold. He stared at the floor for a moment before slowly lifting his head to face me.
“Are you pitying me?”
“That depends on your choice, User Woo Jeong-min.”
“?”
“Whether you accept it as pity, resolve yourself once more, or ignore it completely. The choice is yours.”
As if he had nothing to say, Woo Jeong-min’s expression went blank for a second.
But he soon seemed to understand the meaning behind my words and slowly closed his eyes.
“Depends on me, you say...”
This was an entirely unexpected situation for me, so it was something of a gamble. A gamble that would pay off if it succeeded. Woo Jeong-min and Seon Yu-un were definitely useful cards to have.
“Depends on me...”
Woo Jeong-min repeated the words to himself for a while, then his eyes snapped open. He continued in a low tone.
“If... I mean, if we were to go...”
“Yes.”
“...can we bring Hye-su?”
“You’re all welcome.”
I answered immediately. A smile formed inwardly as I thought the odds were now in my favor.
“Alright, it’s about time I left.”
Staying too long would be a burden, so I decided to leave. If I stayed any longer, the prideful himself. Besides, Go Yeon-ju was probably waiting for me in the plaza by now.
So, I lightly tapped his shoulder and gave him a look.
“Well then, I’ll be on my way.”
“Ah. You’re leaving?”
“It’s about time for me to go. In any case, stay strong.”
Even as he asked if I was leaving, Woo Jeong-min was nodding.
With that, I turned around and looked toward the building’s entrance. I was just about to take a step...
Prickle!
Hm?
It was a rather intense gaze.
From somewhere quite close, I felt someone staring intently at me.
“...”
Pinpointing the presence, I turned my head. Three people over, toward the entrance, I saw a woman sitting on a cloth.
And at that moment, I felt my eyes tense.
Large, round eyes. A pure and gentle impression. Flowing hair with a light brown hue... No, it wasn’t flowing anymore. Something must have happened, because the hair that once fell past her shoulders was now cut short, just around her neck.
The fact that she’s here means...
The woman’s eyes were as dead as a fish. But the moment I turned and our gazes met, I could see her vacant eyes slowly regain their light color.
I checked the User information floating in the air and spoke once more.
In a louder voice than before, so the woman could hear.
“User Woo Jeong-min. One other thing I need to tell you.”
“You haven’t left yet... Huh?”
“By now, one of my clan members should have secured lodging in Barbara. I plan to stay there tonight. If anything happens, find me at one of the nearby inns. I will do everything in my power to help you.”
“...Thank you.”
After confirming that her large eyes had begun to tremble faintly, I added in a low voice,
“Even if... it’s the middle of the night.”