The Novel's Extra - Side Story 26 – Dream in a Dream (26)

“Why didn’t you participate?”

Aileen asked Jin Seyeon while holding chicken skewers in both hands and licking the dripping sauce.

Jin Seyeon smiled at her.

“What good will it be if I joined? I’m just a supervisor here.”

“Hmm… Is that so?”

Aileen gobbled up the chicken skewers and threw the sticks on the floor. Then a nameless hero sitting from behind extended a plate of food to her.

“Excuse me, Madam Aileen. Would you like to eat this as well?”

“What is that?”

“It’s a special street food only sold here. It’s a rice cake called jisupan.”

“Is that so?”

It looked like an egg and a piece of bread at the same time. Aileen took a bite before taking the entire plate.

The nameless hero clenched his fist as if he had won something. After all, he wanted to score some points with Aileen.

Meanwhile, the archery tournament began and all sixteen contestants came up to the stage.

“Huh? What’s that? Why is he wearing a mask? Is he an attention seeker?”

A man wearing a lotus mask stood out from the rest.

Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat!

Something shot up from the ground and paper birds suddenly filled the stadium.

— Targets spread! The one who shoots down the most paper birds will win!

Aileen and Jin Seyeon watched with interest.

The other contestants immediately drew their bows and began shooting the paper birds, but the man wearing the lotus mask simply stood there. He looked up as if trying to act cool.

“I guess he’s just an attention seeker,” Aileen grumbled.

Yun Seung-Ah suddenly sat next to her and chimed in.

“I know right.”

She stole one of Aileen’s rice cakes. Aileen immediately pulled back the plate to protect her remaining rice cakes.

“Hey, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“It’s quite good. What is this, unni?”

“Whatever, don’t eat it. It’s mine.”

“You’re such a glutton. Anyways, let me introduce someone to you. This is one of my guild members, Kim Suho.”

“Hello.”

Kim Suho bowed and greeted Aileen. Yi Yeonghan, Chae Nayun, Yoo Yeonha, and others also stood next to Kim Suho. They all greeted Aileen with a bow.

“Yeah, yeah, alright.”

Aileen nonchalantly replied and shrugged them off.

The archery tournament just began, so Aileen waved them away. However, Yun Seung-Ah kept talking.

“All of them are my lovely juniors. Please take care of them.”

“Ah, shut up. You’re too noisy. Can’t you see I’m trying to watch the match? Shut your mouth, will you?”

“…”

Aileen closed Yun Seung-Ah’s mouth with Spirit Speech and continued watching the match.

Whiiiish!

The contestants busily shot their arrows, but one man stood still without doing anything as if he had taken root there. Then he slowly raised his bow.

Creak…

The man finally nocked a black arrow onto his bow.

“Hmm…”

Aileen felt like she might know his identity. She could already sense that his bow belonged to an entirely different league compared to the rest.

Shwaaa!

The man shot his first arrow and it flew ferociously through the air before turning. It moved like a snake and devoured all the paper birds in its way. A single arrow decimated hundreds of paper birds like a living being.

Jin Seyeon observed the spectacle with a serious expression.

“Hey, is he stronger than you?” Aileen asked.

“Pardon me? Ah, why would you ask something like that?”

Jin Seyeon seemed flabbergasted before smiling.

“Pfft,” Aileen smirked in response.

The man’s arrow devoured most of the paper birds, which shocked the host before he declared that Xtra had won. The first match of round 128 concluded.

Xtra returned to the waiting area as the spectators shuffled around.

***

Rachel immediately ran over to the waiting area, but Xtra had already left. She hung her head and returned to their accommodation. Her shoulders felt heavy today for some reason.

“Vice Leader is back. Everyone, say hello to our vice leader.”

Their accommodation bustled with people that the guild members met in this world. Knights, mercenaries, artists, etc. all visited their hall.

Rachel greeted them and headed to her room when Marcus suddenly shouted.

“Oh, right! Vice Leader, we have a training area in the basement now!”

“Huh?”

“Our mercenary made it for us.”

The guild members began respectfully addressing Xtra as their mercenary a while ago.

“You should visit it sometime. The facilities are amazing and the mana density is quite high down there.”

“Ahh… Sure…”

Rachel made her way to the basement. A new training area appeared as Marcus had said. She nodded in delight and looked around the state-of-the-art artificial environment. Dirt and sand covered the ground, trees grew all over, and the basement now had lush green scenery. It seemed like the best place in this world to train her spirits.

“We’re already done here, so Vice Leader can use it comfortably. I hope you have a good time.”

“Salute!”

Dale and Kayle saluted her before leaving.

Rachel closed her eyes all alone in the training area and sat on the ground. She wanted to feel the nature and let go of her troubling thoughts.

“Hoo… Hoo…”

She calmed her breathing, but suddenly felt someone’s presence behind her. Rachel opened her eyes and turned around to see a black silhouette against the wall. Kim Hajin stood there wearing his lotus mask.

“How do you like the training area? I invested around three hundred million won to build it.”

Kim Hajin took the initiative and spoke first.

Rachel faked a cough to break the awkward tension and nodded.

“It’s good…”

She suddenly felt much better as if all her burdens had been lifted. It felt as if her world had brightened again after his few words. Rachel brushed her hair behind her ear without realizing it.

“I’m glad you like it.”

Kim Hajin slowly approached and sat beside her. A cool gentle breeze blew.

He broke the long silence again, but his voice didn’t carry the same confidence this time.

“Rachel… By any chance, did you have a dream recently?”

She looked at him and he shifted his gaze to a swaying tree branch.

What did they witness in their dreams? Did their dreams relate to each other? Rachel tried to recall whatever she could.

“Yes…” she replied.

“What kind of dream was it?”

“I…”

She had never dreamt of such a strange dream before where she stood still and time itself seemed to have paused.

“There was a computer and a monitor… and some words on the screen… also, a cup of coffee and cigarettes on the table. I dreamt of something like that…”

Kim Hajin’s expression suddenly hardened. He hesitated before speaking in a heavy voice.

“It seems we’re sharing things…”

He had a good idea of what Rachel saw. She probably dreamt of his past like he dreamt of hers. However, how could that be possible?

He felt a migraine coming just thinking of the possibilities. Finally, he sighed and handed her something.

“Here, take this.”

“…?”

Rachel reached out for the paper.

“I sold a painting recently. As you know, this third test is no different from society. Money is the most important thing here.”

She looked at the paper. Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, tens of millions… hundreds of millions?

Rachel’s mouth opened wide in shock.

“This… this is…”

“It’s the money I earned, but you should be handling it since you’re in charge of the guild.”

“…”

“It’ll be easier to raise contribution points and renown if you have the money. I’ll be entrusting everything to you, Vice Leader.”

Kim Hajin smiled at her.

Rachel became flabbergasted and looked at him full of emotions. Kim Hajin simply laughed at her honesty. As expected, money could solve everything.

***

Four weeks had passed since the third test began.

None of the guilds failed yet, but some guilds would definitely be left behind. Such guilds didn’t possess enough renown or contribution points, had internal conflicts, or suffered irreversible damage.

Compared to them, the English Royal Court guild stood strong and the guild members remained close as ever. Honestly, all the credit belonged to me. Any organization doing well would surely have stronger bonds and more loyalty.

I released six paintings in this world and the nobles entered a fierce bidding war for them. Then I invested all my earnings into the English Royal Court. This greatly improved their accommodation and the guild members’ welfare. Rachel even had the luxury to formally inaugurate the [English Royal Court Guild – General Assembly Branch].

“Oh, it’s the two of you today?”

Rachel joined my meeting with Yoo Yeonha at a café that nobles frequented.

“Please think of me as Hajin’s manager,” Rachel said.

Yoo Yeonha bitterly smiled at those words.

“Well, let’s get straight to business. Xtra’s value is skyrocketing as we speak.”

Xtra’s name already became a brand and influential nobles all wanted my works, which meant the royal family would soon notice me.

“We just have to push a bit more. Soon, we’ll meet the king and get permission to cross the bridge.”

Rachel’s expression suddenly turned serious. She would be one step closer to Lancaster after crossing that bridge.

Yoo Yeonha sipped her coffee and asked.

“Come to think of it, how many have you painted recently?”

“Ah, that? Painting is more difficult than I thought since I can’t just mass produce it.”

“Yes, I understand what you mean.”

Art remained difficult even with Young Dwarf’s Dexterity. I needed a model, inspiration, the will to paint, and the courage to not be embarrassed about the painting.

“Around two?”

“Hmm… Sounds good. I’m thinking of opening a personal exhibit.”

Yoo Yeonha presented a pamphlet to me.

[Xtra’s Personal Exhibit]

— The personal exhibit of the genius artist Xtra, who appeared like a savior to the stagnant art world…

It seemed she had already finished planning and printing the pamphlets. Yoo Yeonha’s work efficiency awed Rachel.

“We can provide lodging for the staff once the exhibit begins.”

Rachel proposed as she read the pamphlet.

“I’ll be grateful for that. After all, the English Royal Court’s accommodation is quite famous these days.”

Rachel squirmed as if she found Yoo Yeonha’s compliment slightly embarrassing. She wouldn’t even dare to look at someone like Yoo Yeonha outside the general assembly.

“Your two Roof Hasrin coffees are here.”

The waiter brought them two cups of coffee.

I reached out for mine, but Rachel suddenly stopped me.

“Please be careful with your hands. You shouldn’t carelessly touch hot objects.”

She seemed to be muttering something under her breath. Those are precious hands… Do you know how much you earned with those hands? Do you know how much more you’ll earn with those hands?

“Please let it cool first before drinking,” Rachel adamantly insisted.

“Ha… Give me a break…”

Yoo Yeonha scoffed in disbelief while staring at Rachel. Then she shook her head and continued.

“Anyways, we need to decide. Where will you go once we get the permit to cross? I hope our paths don’t overlap.”

She sounded serious again. We had already decided on the answer to that question.

“We’re going to where Lancaster is.”

“Hmm…”

Yoo Yeonha nodded as if she expected that.

“Then, we’re going in the opposite direction.”

“Okay, go ahead,” I told her.

“I believe we have an agreement?”

“Yes.”

I smiled and extended my hand. Yoo Yeonha also smiled and we shook hands.

Rachel blankly stared with wide eyes before composing herself and also shaking hands with Yoo Yeonha.

Yoo Yeonha sent a message as we enjoyed this productive atmosphere.

[Essence of the Straits’ representative, Yoo Yeonha, has proposed an alliance with the English Royal Court’s representative, Rachel.]

[Do you wish to accept?]

Rachel almost tapped yes, but suddenly stopped.

Yoo Yeonha’s face crumpled after seeing that and she grumbled.

“Hey… you two… why do you keep acting like amateurs? We already agreed, right?”