The Novel's Extra - Side Story 29 – Dream in a Dream (29)

Yoo Yeonha’s wave of electric currents spread all over and heated the air in the underground passage. The ferocious currents devoured the mole monsters and the grotesque crackling of their flesh being fried replaced their earlier cries.

“Heh.”

Yoo Yeonha smirked and confidently crossed her arms over her chest. She turned around with her heels clacking.

“How dare you go against…?”

The mole monsters suddenly cried out again in the middle of her victory speech.

“Kieeeeee!”

Yoo Yeonha’s smug smile disappeared and she stood there stupefied.

“Grrr…”

A toad with bright red eyes glared at her from the dark. She couldn’t understand what just happened.

Bzzt!

Sparks crackled around the monsters and it seemed they already adapted to it. Yoo Yeonha just turned ordinary monsters into electric monsters.

“…”

“What did you do?”

Rachel asked when Yoo Yeonha became silent.

Yoo Yeonha grabbed the hem of Rachel’s clothes.

“I think… Hmm… It’ll be better for me to hold onto him and we both fight these monsters…”

“Huh?”

“Grrrrrrng!”

The mole monsters growled and unleashed electric currents from their bodies.

“Ouch!”

Yoo Yeonha jumped in surprise and hid behind Rachel while rubbing the arm that had been zapped.

“So… I think these monsters have resistance against electricity. What I’m trying to say is… It’s not an exaggeration to call them my natural predators… Hurry up and help…”

Yoo Yeonha muttered from behind.

“Ah… Please be careful with him,” Rachel replied.

“Hurry up and pass him to me. Those monsters are scaring me!”

Rachel thought for a moment before passing Kim Hajin over. Yoo Yeonha carried him on her back and faked a cough when the embarrassment finally came through.

“I’ll get going then,” Rachel said.

“Ehem!”

Yoo Yeonha faked another cough and stuck closely behind.

“Hap!”

Rachel kicked off the ground and charged forward.

“Kieeeeee!”

The mole monsters charged as well, but Rachel bravely swung Galatine and pierced through the crowd. The monsters shot poison darts from behind them, but Yoo Yeonha defended with an electric barrier. The poison darts immediately disintegrated on contact.

“Don’t let go of him!”

Rachel shouted as she cut through the monsters. Blood and flesh splattered whenever Galatine shone. It didn’t take long for Rachel to be covered in blood.

“Don’t even think about looking back. A huge army of moles is chasing us!” Yoo Yeonha exclaimed in terror.

They continued running as the monsters chased them. The dark underground passage went on forever with no end in sight. They couldn’t help but doubt if an exit really existed. However, they couldn’t afford to turn back now. No, they could no longer turn back.

Rachel turned around to check Kim Hajin’s condition.

“Look in front of you! Look in front!”

Yoo Yeonha kept screaming, so Rachel’s eyes immediately darted back to the front.

A huge mole monster blocked the entire passage with its body.

Rachel swung Galatine as hard as she could.

—–!

Galatine unleashed a diagonal wave that split the monster in half. The three of them jumped through the huge monster’s torn body while being rained with blood, flesh, and all sorts of bodily fluids.

“Ahhh… Fuck this…”

Yoo Yeonha cursed and looked like she would vomit at any moment.

***

Meanwhile, Tomer typed something on her laptop in the king’s study. Only the king could use this unique laptop that could communicate between this world and the outside world.

[Search: Xtra]

[Search: Rachel]

[Search: Kim Hajin]

Tomer searched all sorts of keywords on the internet and Violet Banquet. She found a ton of articles on Rachel, who was famous since birth. She also found articles about Xtra, who had been a hot topic lately. However, she couldn’t find anything on Kim Hajin.

“What the hell were you up to all this time?” Tomer muttered with a smile.

She knew he dropped out of Cube, but had no idea why and wanted to know what he had been doing.

Her face stiffened as she took out a letter from her pocket. Her father had left it for her and she would’ve never found it without Kim Hajin. This letter became Tomer’s treasure because it contained her deceased father’s honest feelings and thoughts.

“Hooo…”

Tomer sighed and reclined in her chair. She felt indebted to Kim Hajin and probably would’ve aimlessly wandered and become a djinn if not for him.

“…”

Tomer ran away after learning the truth from Kim Hajin that day.

However, she paid a heavy price to break free from her bonds. The djinns labeled her as a traitor and chased her to the ends of the earth. Ironically, she only became this strong thanks to that experience.

She stumbled upon a cave in Central Asia around three years ago while tending to her wounds. The djinns had been chasing her when she received an invitation from the General Assembly.

A strange message popped up on her smartwatch that day.

[Congratulations.]

[You have been selected as one of the Beta Testers for the general assembly.]

[Do you wish to participate in the general assembly?]

She would’ve ignored the message as spam any other day, but her enemies would soon close in on her hideout. Tomer tapped [Yes] and grasped onto anything she could find.

Then, she found herself in a dark space. A few hundred people also arrived there and the General Assembly tested them in various ways.

Tomer survived until the end.

“Ah… I’m getting worried…”

She couldn’t personally help Kim Hajin despite owing him. She could indirectly help as the continent’s ruler, but couldn’t interfere any more than that.

Her best option would be to find someone who could support him, but it would have to be a living person from outside the general assembly. Tomer couldn’t bring in too many people. She needed someone who could help Kim Hajin alone and support him to the fullest extent.

“Ah!”

Tomer exclaimed after thinking of the perfect person. She immediately opened her laptop again and messaged that person.

***

The underground passage contained various monsters.

Not only the mole monsters, but a huge anaconda also waited for them with its mouth wide open pretending to be a part of the passage. They almost fell for it and became snake food, but Rachel displayed superhuman strength and decimated all their enemies.

Her swordsmanship perfectly harmonized with her spirits. It seemed she finally broke through her limits.

“Over there!” Yoo Yeonha exclaimed and her face brightened up.

A faint light ahead signaled the end of their misery. They ran with all their remaining strength and jumped towards the light when they reached it.

The scenery changed almost immediately and the mole monsters and various other creatures chasing them disappeared.

“Haa… Haa… Haa…”

“Urgh!”

The two of them sat on the ground and caught their breaths. They remained like that for a while before checking their new surroundings.

It still seemed to be an underground tunnel, but a stream flowed in front with walkways on both sides wide enough to walk on.

They ended up in the sewers.

“Ah… This is killing me…” Yoo Yeonha grumbled.

Rachel, drenched in blood and gasping for air, approached her.

“Now… Please, give… to me…”

“Give what?”

“Hajin… Haa… Haa…”

“…”

Yoo Yeonha bitterly smiled in disbelief before putting Kim Hajin on Rachel’s back.

Rachel began walking while carrying him.

“Let’s go.”

“Are you not even exhausted?” Yoo Yeonha asked while standing in the same spot.

“We don’t have time to rest. We have to hurry.”

Rachel glared at her. She couldn’t understand why Yoo Yeonha took her sweet time despite Hajin’s dire condition.

“Hey, you know… that guy isn’t so weak that you have to worry so much.”

Yoo Yeonha grumbled as if she found Rachel frustrating.

Honestly, Kim Hajin could pass as a top hero without a hitch in her opinion. He wouldn’t die from something like poison.

“Then, feel free to stay as long as you want. Alone,” Rachel curtly replied.

Yoo Yeonha couldn’t help but sigh.

“Huuu… Alright, I’m coming.”

Fortunately, the sewers didn’t have any monsters and it didn’t take long for them to find a ladder going up. The ladder connected to a manhole that led to the surface.

“Wait a minute. Before we go up…”

Yoo Yeonha stopped Rachel from climbing and rummaged through her bag. She took out a water canteen and robes.

“Wash up first. We’ll stand out too much.”

“Ah…”

Rachel realized she had been drenched in blood.

Yoo Yeonha poured the water and Rachel used her spirits to completely clean their bodies. Then, they covered themselves with the robes.

“Let’s go.”

“Sure, sure.”

They climbed the ladder and peeked out of the manhole. The scene outside looked exactly like England.

“Ughhh…”

Yoo Yeonha stretched after leaving the manhole.

Rachel stood stupefied while looking around. She recognized the clear, yet gloomy sky and the brick and mortar buildings with a few wood ones sprinkled throughout. It looked like London before the reformation period.

Memories from the past made her nostalgic, but she shook her head and came back to her senses. She didn’t have time to waste on nostalgia.

“Let’s find a hospital first,” Rachel quickly said.

“No.” Yoo Yeonha stopped her with a warning.

“Lancaster will immediately find us if we go somewhere like that.”

“But still—”

“I know we’re in a rush, but let’s try to think.”

They had no idea how far Lancaster’s influence reached here, so they couldn’t afford to hastily act. Kim Hajin remained unconscious, but their enemies posed a far greater threat than the poison.

“What do you propose when we don’t even have IDs? They’ll call the police as soon as the hospital finds out.”

“…”

Indeed, Rachel couldn’t refute such a sound argument.

“Alright, we have to at least find a place for him to rest. We both learned how to cure poison, right? It’s been a long time since we studied it, but…”

“Okay.”

The two roamed the bustling London streets after agreeing.

Rachel couldn’t help but wonder, What kind of world is Lancaster trying to create? Does he truly believe that he can be happy by turning what’s fake into reality?

A signboard caught her eye. It belonged to a shop that sold newspapers and magazines. Rachel walked over and checked the date. It read January 1st of that year.

Meanwhile, Yoo Yeonha looked at the back of the newspaper after Rachel froze from seeing the date.

“Hmm… Follow me. I think we can get a place,” Yoo Yeonha told her.

[Share House – We Share Empty Places!]

***

“Shall we eat first?” Yoo Yeonha asked while rubbing her stomach. She felt like she would die from hunger after running and fighting an entire day without eating.

However, Rachel suffered the most and shook her head as if she didn’t have an appetite.

“Alright, well… I guess I have no choice then… Haaa… I should just cook up some ramyeon or something since I don’t have an appetite as well. This ramyeon… I normally don’t eat this, but… I guess I have no choice…”

Yoo Yeonha took out a gas stove and placed a pot on it while mumbling.

“It doesn’t taste that good and it’s classless food on the level of fodder. However, this is the best I can do right now since I need a quick bite. It cooks quite quickly, so I’ll have to eat this… Yeah, I have no choice but to eat this for my survival… Yes…”

Rachel paid her no mind and only focused on Kim Hajin. She tightly squeezed his hands, which had turned blue. She felt guilty that he ended up like this because of her, but strongly believed that he could overcome this.

“Don’t worry so much. He won’t die that easily. His body is probably naturally curing itself right now. See? He looks much better than a while ago, right?”

Yoo Yeonha pointed out the fact that he looked better than before. His body seemed to be slowly detoxifying the poison thanks to his [Medicinal Memory Physique], which they had no idea about.

“Hum Hum Hum…”

Rachel was worried sick despite his improving condition while Yoo Yeonha hummed a tune and cracked an egg over the ramyeon.

Rachel didn’t even spare her a glance.

Yoo Yeonhwa asked a bit reluctantly after cooking the ramyeon.

“Do you want a… Do you want a bite?”

Rachel looked at her and Yoo Yeonha nervously gulped. This moment felt extremely nerve-wracking for Yoo Yeonha. What would Rachel say?

“No.” Rachel shook her head.

Yoo Yeonha inwardly sighed in relief.

“Alright. It’s just ramyeon, so I’m sure you’re better off without it.”

Slurp! Slurp!

Yoo Yeonha made delicious sounds as she slurped the ramyeon. Rachel stared at her without saying anything.

Yoo Yeonha didn’t pay her any mind this time. She ignored her… ignored her… and ignored her… until she felt so bothered that she couldn’t ignore her anymore. She slammed her chopsticks down.

“What? What do you want?”

“…”

Rachel remained silent.

“Do you want a bite?”

“…”

“Say something, will you?”

“…”

“Then, I’ll finish this all by myself.”

Grrk… Grruuk…

Rachel’s stomach suddenly growled and she carefully muttered like a stray cat asking for food.

“Just… Just one bite…”

“Haa… this is driving me crazy…”

The trio spent their first day in this small, cozy, and cramped room.