Chapter 536: Hidden Piece (3) |
The ship was enveloped in a deafening silence after exiting the wormhole. We knew that what had happened was real, but it felt surreal. We managed to escape the massive tsunami that was capable of devouring an entire city, and we saw the clear skies and an open sea.
However, I had no idea what to do.
“Hyung-nim, I think we entered a dungeon…” said Park Deok-Gu.
“...”
“...”
‘I know, you pig.’
The issue here was our location. Kim Hyun-Sung looked like even he had no idea where we were. Of course, I wasn’t really expecting him to know everything, even though he was a regressor.
However, we were in a Mythic-rank dungeon. I expected him to know every Mythic-rank dungeon, so I frowned when I saw his look of confusion.
It seemed that no one had discovered this Mythic-rank dungeon in his past life because it would have been difficult for this dungeon to avoid hiding from the public’s eyes.
The finders most likely died without getting inside the dungeon and receiving the system notification. After all, we would have died as well if it hadn’t been for Park Deok-Gu’s Nice Boat.
‘Everything is falling into place. This pig…’
Park Deok-Gu was the reason we entered the dungeon safely. I glanced at Park Deok-Gu and saw that he was looking at me with guilty eyes. He looked truly apologetic, and he was showing that this wasn’t what he wanted at all.
He was even on the verge of crying. It was an incongruous sight considering his large frame, but his chin was trembling as he held back his tears. I was sure he felt bad because the nice vacation had suddenly become a survival game.
This wasn’t really his fault, but I was sure that he was going to blame himself for it.
I checked his status window and noticed that his Luck was below average.
‘Shit. How is he so unlucky?’
It could be said that we had discovered this dungeon accidentally, but after seeing Park Deok-Gu’s Luck, I couldn’t help but think that it was inevitable. I actually felt relieved that we weren’t forced into this dungeon by Benigoa, Elune, or Lauren.
I couldn’t contact those incompetent gods right now, and I thought that they decided to abandon me. Of course, that particular thought didn’t really make sense because they wouldn’t have sent Kim Hyun-Sung with me if they had decided to abandon me.
Park Deok-Gu started talking once again.
“I-I’m—” he said.
“It’s fine, Deok-Gu. It’s not your fault,” I interrupted.
It was better to interrupt him so he wouldn’t be more discouraged.
“But.”
“Don’t make me repeat myself. It’s not your fault. Our situation will not change even if we start playing the blame game. The top priority is to figure out what is going on,” I told him.
“Still…”
“Do we have any food?” I asked.
“We should have some on the ship,” he replied.
“What about water?” I asked.
“Well, we should have some water, too… The ship is stocked with food and water,” he answered.
‘He sure prepared a lot. Was he planning on spending several months at Mirror Lake?’
The surroundings got even quieter while I was questioning Park Deok-Gu.
I glanced at Hwang Jung-Yeon because her knowledge and memory should be helpful.
“I’m not sure, but…” Hwang Jung-Yeon paused.
“Yes?”
“I think we’re at the back of Mirror Lake,” she continued.
“...”
“It’s just an assumption, so take it with a grain of salt. It makes sense if we think that we’re in the world behind Mirror Lake. I believe this is like a hidden piece that’s often mentioned in video games,” she explained.
“Hidden piece?” I asked.
“Yes. The designer of the continent must have intentionally built this place. I’m not sure why it has remained undiscovered until now, but I think someone has led us here. The timing is too perfect for this to be a mere coincidence,” she added.
“Who?” I questioned.
“I don’t know… It could be Goddess Benigoa, a demon, or a being that is above all of them. I’m also not sure about this, but I think the reason there are salmon here is that Mirror Lake isn’t really a lake but a river. A river that connects Mirror Lake and our current location to each other… the salmon are swimming against the current of the river. I think Mirror Lake looks like a river to them. That’s probably why… the salmon tasted delicious,” she continued.
“That makes sense… a river that connects worlds…” I muttered.
“Everyone saw what was inside that wormhole, right?” she asked.
Everyone nodded with a look of disbelief. I could totally understand their feelings because they weren’t like me, who was aware of how this world was operating. They were just ordinary people, so it wasn’t strange that they were stupefied.
Jung Ha-Yan was smiling while staring at me, but it was because she didn’t really care about how the world was operating. However, Han Sora and Ahn Ki-Mo stood frozen in a daze.
What we saw in the wormhole was…
“A massive expanse...”
We saw many shining planets and their inhabitants. We saw floating beams of light and giant beings that we couldn’t quite describe. I had no idea why we saw those scenes, but the guild members saw them as well.
There was also a chance that Earth was among those shining planets.
That was all the information I could tell from a scholar’s point of view.
Kim Hyun-Sung finally spoke, and the words he told everyone were within my expectations.
“I’m sure you saw the people living on those planets. They could also be beings drifting through space. We drifted apart while we were within the wormhole, so I’m sure we saw different scenes. If you don’t mind, I would like to hear what you saw in the wormhole.”
Kim Ye-Ri spoke first. “I saw someone who looked like Ha-Yan unni.”
“What?”
“Yes, she resembled Ha-Yan unni. I don’t remember the details, but I think she had longer hair and her age… Ah, my head hurts…” Kim Ye-Ri muttered.
The next one who spoke was Park Deok-Gu.
“I-I… saw a monster we saw at the Rift Museum,” he said.
“The Ancient God?” I asked.
“No, it’s the horned green-skinned monster surrounded by weapons, and it was alive! The scariest part was…” Park Deok-Gu trailed off.
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’d be nice if I were just seeing things, but I think our eyes met,” he answered.
‘This pig is talking nonsense again.’
“It’s true. I think our eyes met, and… even though it was only for a moment, I think it looked at Hyun-Sung bro and you, hyung-nim. I was so scared because it looked like it was enjoying our predicament. Really,” he added.
The next one who spoke was Ahn Ki-Mo.
“It was an ordinary scene. I just saw a family living an ordinary life,” he said.
The others told us what they saw, but what they saw didn’t really stand out to me.
“I… saw a place that looked like Earth, and I think I saw someone who looked like the sub guild master. She looked young, and she was a woman… a strange woman…”
“I do have a younger sister. It would be funny if the woman you saw was my sister. What was she doing?” I asked.
“...”
‘Damn it… What was she doing?’
“Actually, you don’t have to tell me. Anyway—”
“She was slapping someone,” Jo Hye-Jin replied.
“What?”
“How… should I say it? She was hitting… an older man’s cheek with what looked like a wad of money. She even stepped on his head with her heels. The man looked like she was begging, but the woman only grinned at him like a madwoman—”
“You can stop now. It must be… someone I don’t know,” I said, interrupting her.
It was Lee Yul-Ha.
‘That crazy bitch…’
I wasn’t certain, but I had a feeling that it was her. For now, I decided to remain quiet because her well-being wasn’t important right now. The fact that I was able to confirm that she was fine was enough.
Thankfully, the guild members were no longer interested in Lee Yul-Ha. Jo Hye-Jin seemed certain that she was my younger sister, but the others didn’t think that she was my sister because she was completely different from me. They looked as if they wanted to focus on other things rather than my family.
Han Sora started talking, “Earth?”
“I’m not certain. I just had that kind of feeling… since there are a lot of planets that resemble Earth. But…” Jo Hye-Jin trailed off.
“If… If what Miss Jo Hye-Jin saw was really Earth… does that mean… we… can… return to Earth? Like Jung-Yeon unni mentioned earlier, if the wormhole in the wave was really a river that connects worlds, doesn’t that mean that we can return to Earth?” Han Sora asked.
No, Benigoa had told me that those who were unfortunate enough to get summoned here had been abandoned. In other words, ordinary methods weren’t enough if one wanted to return to where they had come from.
“I think it’s impossible,” Kim Hyun-Sung answered.
“What?”
“We have witnessed something inconceivable through the wormhole, but it doesn’t mean that we can use it to return to Earth. It’s out of the question for us to return by riding on the ocean of dimensions.
“Our ship and our bodies will not be able to withstand the journey, and we’re not even sure if we can even cross over after entering the ocean of dimensions, not to mention how far we have to travel to arrive at our destination.
“There are too many unanswered questions. I’m not saying that it’s truly impossible, but…” Kim Hyun-Sung trailed off.
‘He’s telling her to forget about going back.’
I couldn’t help but think that Kim Hyun-Sung was a bit too ruthless, but it was only right for people to abandon the idea of achieving something that couldn’t be achieved in the first place. It would be a waste of time to be hung up on something that couldn’t be done and waste a large amount of time as a result.
Soon, Sun Hee-Young finally woke up. Everyone turned to look at her because she actually got swallowed by that wormhole-carrying wave and had to be rescued.
“...”
“A god,” Sun Hee-Young started.
“What?”
“I think… I saw a god that was a bit different from the gods of this continent. Yes, it was a bit different…” she nodded.
Kim Hyun-Sung nervously muttered, “An outer god...”
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