The Novel's Extra - Side Story 28 – Dream in a Dream (28)

[Rachel: It’s fine. Someone will soon arrive to assist us.]

[Rachel: I’ll go catch Marcus, so please cooperate with them for now.]

Their vice leader tried her best to console Fermin, who couldn’t help but despair.

“That son of a bitch. He really took everything.”

“I always found him suspicious.”

Darren sighed while massaging his forehead.

Fermin’s eyes shot open and asked, “Really? How? What part of him was suspicious?”

“Huh? Ah… He always stayed out late these days and… he’s been doing things alone for a while now.”

They could see it in hindsight, but Marcus never did anything that would’ve raised suspicions. Fermin couldn’t understand why he chose to run now of all times. He could’ve stolen much more if he waited until the auction ended.

“Ah… This is driving me nuts,” she grumbled.

Whatever his reasons, looking at the empty safe felt heart-wrenching. It contained everything they possessed. Not only their cash, jewelry, and gold, but also the checks they used for transactions with other guilds to trade contribution points.

Marcus stole all of it. They only had the seven paintings left that Xtra auctioned at his exhibit.

“Haaa…”

Fermin couldn’t help but sigh.

Sehat shook his head and approached the safe with one of his guild members who possessed the detect ability.

“Marcus left a lot of signs, but we can’t tell where he went.”

The Reislaufer guild came to help as an ally.

Fermin thanked them before collapsing into a chair.

“Does Vice Leader even know where Marcus went? How is she going to chase him?” Kayle asked out loud.

“Who knows? The swordsmanship tournament isn’t even over yet,” Darren replied.

The English Royal Court’s mansion suddenly grew rowdy outside. They heard dozens of footsteps rushing towards the basement where they kept the safe.

Fermin instantly stood and Sehat grabbed his sword. All of them held their breaths and heightened their senses before three knights in platinum armor entered the room.

The knights suddenly displayed a document and announced.

“I am the royal knight, Ruin. I have been issued a royal command to help all of you.”

A royal command meant it came from the king himself. They couldn’t understand the situation, but Fermin nodded anyway since the knights came to help.

Then their smartwatches rang.

[The English Royal Court has become the first guild to come in contact with the king’s command!]

[All guild members will receive contribution points!]

“This is a gift from Her Majesty.”

Ruin and the other knights placed a chest on the ground. It contained swords, wands, bows, and other equipment.

The guild members stood dumbfounded before reaching towards the chest. Fermin moved first and took two wands. These high-quality wands would serve her well as a healer.

“Her Majesty also plans to purchase all of Xtra’s paintings on auction and bestow them to the nobles. We will inform the nobles ourselves, so please hand over the paintings.”

Fermin’s forehead creased at Ruin’s words.

She knew this would happen. How dare they think of throwing a bone with some equipment and snatching these invaluable paintings from under their noses! These paintings would easily fetch at least a few billion won each!

Ruin extended a check to Fermin.

“This is the amount Her Majesty will pay.”

Fermin glared at the knight before taking the check. However, her vision suddenly spun and she felt dizzy when she laid eyes on the paper. It felt as if her eyeballs would pop out from their sockets.

“Oh my god… Wow… How many zeroes are there?” she muttered in shock.

Yes, the check had an endless number of zeroes.

***

I held a torch in one hand as we walked through the dark and winding underground passage. I focused my eyes deep inside in case any ghosts or monsters appeared. Fortunately, I didn’t spot any enemies so far.

“Why did Marcus do that?”

Rachel finally spoke after a long silence. She still seemed to be arranging her thoughts.

Actually, I already had an idea why he would do something like that. I didn’t know if I should tell Rachel though. Not to mention, I found something strange about Marcus’ actions. He stabbed Rachel in the back, but sincerely worried about her every time something happened.

“Let’s think about that later.”

I looked at Yoo Yeonha, who busily messaged her Essence of the Strait members.

“Why don’t you just go back if you’re so worried about them?”

I peeked at Yoo Yeonha’s conversation.

“Huh? Ah, what are you talking about? I’m not worried at all.”

She waved and turned off her smartwatch.

“I already came all the way here, so I might as well see what’s available over there.”

“But… what did you tell your guild?”

“I told them I’ll be absent for a while.”

I recalled her last message and recited it out loud.

“… The English Royal Court’s safe was just robbed, so stay vigilant. We’re the guild with the most cash right now…”

“Ah…

” Yoo Yeonha flinched at my words.

Rachel stole a glance at me before speed-walking away.

“Let’s hurry. We have to stop Lancaster and whatever there might be in that fake England.”

We pressed on. An hour passed, two hours, and three hours… Time flowed strangely within this underground passage. Only the time on our smartwatches changed, but the scenery around us never did.

“I think I have an idea why people get claustrophobic now.”

Yoo Yeonha grumbled and sighed while tapping the walls.

I took out my Black Lotus Bow and they both flinched.

“Is there something in front?” Yoo Yeonha asked.

“Yeah.”

I looked at the horde of monsters ahead that looked like moles.

“I’ll shoot them down.”

Shwiiiiik!

My arrow fiercely flew towards them and penetrated their heads. I shot down eight of them with a single arrow that defied the laws of physics.

I placed the bow on my back again when my smartwatch rang.

[You have killed a monster on the boundary of space.]

[Your smartwatch will be disconnected from the previous continent.]

“Huh?”

“Eh?”

Rachel and Yoo Yeonha received the same message.

“What is this? What does this mean?” Yoo Yeonha asked.

“I have no idea, but we can only press on.”

The corpses of the mole monsters appeared after we walked for around three minutes. It seemed to be about five hundred meters away from where we stood a while ago. My vision could only go so far here.

“Ugh…”

Yoo Yeonha groaned and covered her nose. Rachel also grimaced as she stepped over the corpses.

I didn’t spot anything out of the ordinary, but Yoo Yeonhwa suddenly asked.

“Excuse me, the air suddenly changed. Did you not feel that?”

“It must be the stench from those corpses,” I replied.

Indeed, the air reeked of a stench that I couldn’t quite make out. It probably came from those corpses.

Rachel and Yoo Yeonha formed a gas mask with their mana. My mask already had those functions.

“It feels much better now. Let’s keep moving.”

“Is that so?”

I took another step when my body suddenly staggered. My legs gave out before I knew it and I dropped to the floor. Thud!

“Hajin, are you alright?” Rachel asked as she helped me up.

I dusted my knees and bitterly smiled.

“Ah, yes. I think I tripped over something.”

“Be careful.”

Rachel seemed worried about me.

“Ha!” Yoo Yeonha scoffed and glared at us.

“The two of you look real good together.”

She emphasized the word good for some reason. Did she pronounce it wrong or did I mishear?

I continued walking, but found it difficult to maintain my balance. It felt like a strong gust of wind kept pulling and pushing me from the front and back. It also grew more difficult to think the further I walked.

Where was I? Oh, right. I’m in an underground tunnel… but it’s too dark… Is it alright for a tunnel to be so dark?

Still, I continued walking.

Thud!

My body collapsed again, but my entire body lay on the ground this time.

Kim… Ha… Jin…?

Someone’s voice distorted in an eerie manner.

I couldn’t move my limbs and could only think as I sprawled on the ground.

Something feels off… Was I poisoned or drugged? No, that shouldn’t be possible… One of my traits is the Medicinal Memory Physique, so it shouldn’t be…

My consciousness began to drift and the world grew further away. My ears went dull and my vision slowly darkened as well.

A dark figure suddenly appeared and grabbed me by the shoulders. I couldn’t see who, but it must’ve been a person.

“———-!”

A voice screamed like a broken record or a video being played in reverse.

My head felt as if it twisted and turned. No, it really did twist and turn.

“———-!”

The voice screamed again.

It felt as if the voice shook my brain and I couldn’t help but grimace in pain.

“———-!”

The entire surroundings turned black after the third scream and my fleeting consciousness finally snapped.

I blacked out.

***

“…”

“…”

Kim Hajin groaned some gibberish before suddenly losing consciousness. Rachel and Yoo Yeonha became speechless at the turn of events. They blankly stood there and stared at him.

Only the wind blowing through the underground passage could be heard in this deafening silence. Neither of them moved.

Rachel stopped Yoo Yeonha from taking off Kim Hajin’s mask.

“Why?” Yoo Yeonha asked.

“He’s poisoned.”

Rachel calmly diagnosed Kim Hajin’s current state.

His blood vessels turned green, his lips turned purple, and his eyes lost focus. These signs clearly indicated he had been poisoned. However, Rachel couldn’t tell what kind of poison.

“Ah… It’ll be alright. We were told to ask for help whenever we needed it.”

Yoo Yeonha quickly switched on her smartwatch.

[You have killed a monster on the boundary of space.]

[Your smartwatch will disconnect from the previous continent.]

Her smartwatch didn’t work anymore.

“Oh, right… but everything will still be fine. We just have to go back the way we came—”

Kuuruu… ruuung…

A sinister sound echoed from behind them. It sounded like something coming up from the ground. Could it be more comrades of those mole monsters they just killed?

Yoo Yeonha nervously gulped and called out.

“Rachel?”

However, Rachel froze while looking down at Kim Hajin and didn’t say a word.

“Kieeeeee!”

Monsters cried out from behind them. Another cry could be heard from the front as if responding to those cries.

“Gueeeee!”

Yoo Yeonha sighed amid these monster cries going back and forth.

“Sigh… Maybe I shouldn’t have come?”

She looked at Rachel again.

Rachel seemed to be panicking as her hands uncontrollably shook. Then she turned towards Yoo Yeonha.

“Let’s run. We have to get out of here.”

Cold sweat formed on Rachel’s forehead.

“Alright, but I don’t think those moles are that strong.”

Kim Hajin wiped them out with a single arrow. Besides, Yoo Yeonha was also a high-intermediate rank hero. She pursed her lips and rolled up her sleeves. Then she took out the whip at her waist. It had been a long time since she used it, but the time to show off her skills had come.

“Leave the monsters to me. Just focus on protecting that guy. What about the poison though? Do you think you’ll be able to cure it?”

“…”

Rachel remained silent and Yoo Yeonha clicked her tongue.

“Tsk… Figures, the spirit of poison is probably too difficult for you to handle.”

She glanced at Kim Hajin to check his current state. It seemed quite serious as he began to have difficulty breathing. She had never seen him in such a weakened state before.

Yoo Yeonha found it too strange. How come nothing happened to them and only Kim Hajin?

Bzz… Bzzt… Bzzt!

An electric current formed around her whip, which she used more as a conductor than a weapon. Her electricity’s power would be amplified several times in this damp and narrow space.

“Run as soon as I give you the signal,” Yoo Yeonha said.

“Gueeee!”

The moles cried out in a threatening manner and seemed to have caught their scents.

Yoo Yeonha shouted at that exact moment.

“Now!”

She smacked her whip on the ground.

Bzzzaaaaaat!

A wave of electric currents ferociously spread across the narrow and damp passage.