35.
“Fuck!”
He was a bit confused about the others – the Seon-Hyeon and Yoram Guild Leaders. Judging by the power he felt at first, it seemed that they weren’t beneath him.
‘Is today the day I’m going to die?’
I couldn’t even reach my target. The bomber clicked his tongue. I already knew that the hanok restaurant was a place frequented by high-ranking people, but why did all these S-Awakened gather here?
The bomber slowly retreated back while holding A-yun. I can’t rush since I’m holding hostages, but there was no way to escape. The end was already decided for me: either to die here, or to die while running away.
The opponent was that dangerous. But I had no intention of dying quietly. If I’m gonna die, I am going to take her down too.
Power gradually entered the hands of the bomber that grabbed A-yun. And just as he was about to unleash his powers, a strange sound resonated in the hall.
- PPiiik!
A terribly unpleasant sound, a sound that was quite familiar to each and every Awakened. It was the sound of a portal opening!
“Hahaha, it looks like the sky is on my side.”
Of course, opening the portal didn’t necessarily mean surviving, but depending on the shape of the interior, there might be a way to escape. The bomber was willingly swept away by the portal that merged with reality and engulfed the commotion.
“A-yun-ah!”
“Hyung!”
And the portal swallowed up the nearby Hyeon-woo.
Seon-woo jumped into the portal, followed by Ja-yun. Despite swallowing a few people, the portal only grew bigger and bigger. There was commotion all around and screams resonating in the area. The swinging portal stopped expanding only after swallowing more than half of the hanok. And then soon it started to decrease.
A portal. It was a term referring to a dungeon-type gate which swallowed anything it came across like a spider’s trap and then closed. In this case, the portal could not be opened again until all the people inside were dead, or the attack was over.
When Do-jin looked at the black portal, he suddenly realized that his hands were shaking. That day– the day when 10,000 people disappeared, Do-jin was with Ye-won. And he had no choice but to watch Ye-won disappear after being eaten by the portal.
He screamed and rushed at her, but the portal did not swallow him. Some said he was lucky enough to survive but Do-jin didn’t think so. The frightened expression on his sister’s face, who had disappeared before his eyes, could not be erased from his mind. A wretched sense of guilt pounded in his chest as memories rushed towards his eyes.
I remember, but this time I can’t just stand here. Do-jin tried to recall the expression on the face of Hyeon-woo before his disappearance. But nothing came to mind. Meanwhile, the portal door was getting smaller and smaller.
Do-jin clenched his teeth and ran.
‘I’ll never lose it this time!’
Fortunately, he was able to narrowly enter the portal. Do-jin stood at the entrance and looked around. He didn’t see anyone who entered first. And right in front of him was a path that split into several branches.
The path was surrounded on all sides by a high wall and a faint light without a source illuminated the inside. Among the dungeons, a maze-type dungeon was said to be the worst. In this case, the first thing to do was to prepare a base and secure the surrounding area. After that, he had to search the paths one by one, marking it each time.
Continuing so.
“Oppa.”
Ye-won’s voice came from somewhere. But wasn’t Ye-won dead? Hyeon-woo said so, so this was not Ye-won’s voice.
“Oppa.”
No, this was Yewon’s voice. His mind remained confused.
“Oppa.”
He seemed to be going crazy by the voices calling out constantly.
It’s not Ye-won.
It’s Ye-won, right?
No.
It is.
Yes, maybe Hyeon-woo was mistaken. Ye-won was still alive. She was alive and she used to call him this way. Do-jin started walking towards the direction of the sound.
His sword behind his back hummed and wept, but it had no effect on Do-jin. The only thing that filled his mind right now was Ye-won.
“Help me, Oppa.”
It was clear that Ye-won’s voice was moving as he heard it, but she was nowhere to be seen.
‘Because my poor Oppa can’t protect me.’
Was it because she was so grumpy that she didn’t show up? She shouldn’t do that. It was too dangerous to wander around alone in a place like this.
‘I need to find her quickly.’
Quick, quick, quick.
Do-jin’s steps began to grow faster and faster. How long do I run like this? Do-jin finally found his sister.
—
“Is it a maze?”
Hyeon-woo looked at the split wall and tapped the wall with his hand. I thought there was a way to find a way in the maze. Was I supposed to follow the wall on the left? Or right? I think I had seen it on TV, but I couldn’t remember how they had done it.
“Ummm.”
He crossed his arms and stared at the wall, then clenched his fists— And swung vigorously against the wall.
Kwuang!
The wall crumbled down with a loud sound. There was a hole so large that it was hard to believe that it had been a result of a human fist.
‘If I go in a straight line, I will find a way.’
Or I would meet someone. Hyeon-woo went through the hole and hit the next wall. Then again. He went on and on, until he found a vacant lot. It looked like a shelter that existed in the middle of the maze.
‘That’s very considerate.’
He clicked his tongue and sat down on the floor to rest for a while. Since the floor was cold, it felt uncomfortable. It would have been nice to have a blanket, but it was a pity. Shaking his cold ass, he got up and started walking again. And as he approached the next wall, he found a familiar face.
It was Do-jin.
After pulling his hand that was about to break the wall back, Hyeon-woo smiled clumsily.
‘You didn’t see anything, did you?’
As he looked at him with a long gait, he smiled softly as he wiped his hair, wet from sweat. I had seen him with such close proximity before, but it was the first time I had seen him smile like this.
“I finally found you.”
He quickly moved to Hyeon-woo and tightly hugged him.
“I was worried about you.”
I could understand the part about him being worried. Hyeon-woo was superficially powerless. But what happened next was difficult to understand.
Why was he suddenly hugging me? Besides, why was he acting like this? It wasn’t a particularly bad feeling, but I was stunned.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Thank god.”
Do-jin, who removed Hyeon-woo from his arms, gently stroked his head with his large hand. Was he originally a person who liked so much skinship?
What was going on? Hyeon-woo looked at Do-jin in bewilderment. The eyes that folded in laughter didn’t even think about opening up.
“Sorry, I’m late.”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Why are you being so formal?”
He was speechless for a moment. Why was I saying something formally? Hearing this, he took a closer look at Do-jin before realizing that he was not in a normal state.
‘Who the hell do you see me as?’
The answer came quickly.
Han Ye-won.
Now, Do-jin was treating Hyeon-woo like how he would to Ye-won.
“Don’t worry. I will protect you.”
Then, he naturally held his hand. He panicked as he tried to shake off his hand but was soon caught again. After that, every time he took it out, he thought it was a joke, simply laughed and grabbed it again. Seeing this, it seemed that he and Ye-won were really close siblings.
I needed to fix this situation. But I didn’t know where or how he got deceived.
‘The magic is kinda weak.’
Most illusions were resolved with magic, so it was very simple to end the curse. He decided to try to solve it step by step while watching Do-jin next to him.
‘I can't.’
He couldn’t solve it, and time just passed by.
“Don’t your legs feel sore? Do you want me to carry you on my back?”
“It’s okay.”
“You don’t have to say it’s okay.”
Do-jin hugged Hyeon-woo and put him on his back.
“I said it’s okay! Put me down!”
He was about to run away right away, but suddenly Do-jin, lowering his head, said in a gloomy voice.
“Do you hate it that much?”
“I don’t like it. Why are you trying to pick me up?”
“I wanted to pick you up. You used to like me picking you up.”
That was Yewon’s Oppa. Hyeon-woo sighed as he was about to jump out and leaned his body against his spacious back. Yes, it was definitely comfortable. Do-jin carried Hyeon-woo’s feet, as if trying to keep his feet from touching the ground. That was all. When it was time for him to eat, he took care of his meal and gave him a snack.
“You should eat some more. You need to eat a lot to be healthy.”
Then, he fed it to his lips, so that he couldn’t resist. It was so close that he felt a sense of crisis because he didn’t even have to lift a finger.
‘I think I’ll become a gluttonous human at this rate!’
It was a part of one of the tricks of this dungeon. The problem wasn’t just that. At some point, Do-jin’s touch began to feel awkward. Until then, even if he followed Hyeon-woo’s will, it felt like there was no emotion in it, but now he was overflowing with affection.
As he was receiving his affection all at once, he felt guilty at times. Because he knew it wasn’t his.
“Why are you like this all of a sudden? Do you feel bad?”
Hyeon-woo shook his head at Do-jin’s question.
“Why do you feel bad?”
With a worried expression on his face, he continued.
“Is it because I’m joking? Actually, I didn’t play pranks like this in the first place.”
“You didn’t?”
“Yeah, but it’s because I feel so good right now. Can you understand a little bit? I regret it a lot after you disappeared. Don’t leave; I’ll do my best to act like an Oppa. I’ll try to do more things together. The more I think, the more I regret.”
Hyeon-woo opened his mouth and closed it again.
“So I guess I’m too clingy. But if you don’t like it, I’ll stop.”
Then, he took the strength out of the hand he was holding. If this was the case, he could go back to the way he treated her in the past. Still, oddly enough, he was reluctant.
------
Credits:
Translator: Hoshi Miya
Editor/Proofreader: YaagRabRag
HM: Do-jin is having illusions. It’s really funny that Hyeon-woo did Yewon’s role. Wwwwww
Davine: Dojin is practically seducing Hyeon-woo without knowing it.
HM: haha, so true~
YRR: I want to see everyone’s reactions to the big holes in a line to the center
EVREYONE EXCEPT HYEON-WOO: there must be a really strong monster protect this dungeon!