The Novel's Extra - Side Story 66 – Chae Nayun (21)

[The King of the Otherworld, Jin Sahyuk, has taken an interest in you.]

[You have gained 750 SP.]

“I don’t know…”

I looked at my abductor, who had her face covered with a hood.

She looked into my eyes and tried to get into my head.

“No, there’s no way you don’t know,” she said while attempting to infiltrate my consciousness. Then she gritted her teeth and stood after failing to get into my head. She paced around the tiny room while mumbling something under her breath, “If I know you, then you must know me too…”

“…”

I had no idea why Jin Sahyuk was doing this. I wondered if she went insane or if this was yet another story setting that was added without my knowledge.

Whatever it was, it looked like Jin Sahyuk wasn’t in the right state of mind. I didn’t want to trigger her at all costs.

“I only came here to investigate. I heard a rumor that the Tears of Heaven was delivered here after the auction so…” I explained.

“…”

Jin Sahyuk stared down at me. Her gaze underneath the hood was quite ominous.

“I don’t care about things like… Eugh!” she suddenly groaned mid-sentence.

It was only then that I noticed her forehead was covered in sweat. She was holding onto her right arm while groaning in pain.

“… Are you hurt somewhere?” I asked her.

Jin Sahyuk glared at me in response, but soon let out a sigh and rolled up her right sleeve.

“What the…” I was rendered speechless.

A massive curse was on her right arm. Some sort of pitch-black liquid that resembled tar was squirming on her arm before it turned into the shape of a rose.

“What’s that…?” I asked.

“A curse cast from a grudge. I got it after killing some annoying bastard… I never imagined that this kind of defense mechanism existed…” she replied.

I inspected the curse’s setting.

[Grudge Curse] [High Rank]

— A mana curse cast before the caster’s death.

— The curse’s strength will depend on how strong of a grudge the caster harbored.

It was a curse of the highest rank, which was known to be quite tricky to deal with. Its host would have probably died a long time ago if it wasn’t Jin Sahyuk.

“…”

I glanced at her.

She looked at me without saying anything, but it felt like she had some sort of expectations for me.

“Did you… bring me here because of this?” I asked.

“… I didn’t want us to meet like this, but I got this curse because of you,” she replied.

I honestly had no idea what she was talking about and how she got the curse because of me.

“Hmm…”

I started to ponder if I should help her get rid of the curse or just let her be. I already knew that Jin Sahyuk was a monster on par with the final boss of the novel, but she wasn’t as violent or aggressive as I imagined her to be.

As I pondered whether to help or not…

She said, “I’m going to kill you if you refuse to lift this curse.”

That was more than enough to motivate me to help her.

***

The situation was quite dire, but Chae Nayun seemed surprisingly calm. It was all thanks to the experience and instincts she accumulated from her previous life that she was able to rationally assess the situation.

First, there were no signs of resistance in the room. She could tell that the abductor had some sort of relationship with Kim Hajin judging from the letter left behind.

Second, the abductor came through the window and shared a conversation with Kim Hajin before abducting him. This meant that whoever abducted him had no plans to harm him.

Lastly…

“Hey, Nayun. He sent a message in our group chat. He says he met someone he knows, so he’ll come back later,” Yoo Yeonha said.

Chae Nayun opened her smartwatch and checked the message.

[I met someone I know, so I’ll come back later.]

What were the chances that Kim Hajin wrote this message? Chae Nayun was a hundred percent sure that it was him. How was she so sure? Well, there was a selfie attached to the message…

“Hmm… Things turned out as I expected…” Chae Nayun nodded and sat on a chair while nodding like a detective who cracked a case.

Her pounding heart slowly started to calm down.

“Ah, what the hell, guys… You surprised me…”

“Yeah, you scared me too.”

Yi Yeonghan and Kim Suho rushed back after hearing that Kim Hajin had been abducted. Meanwhile, Shin Jonghak was playing with cards at the table.

“I had no idea at the time,” Chae Nayun said with a shrug. She walked over to Shin Jonghak and said, “Hey, Shin Jonghak. That’s expensive, right? Do it for me first.”

Shin Jonghak smirked and nodded.

“So? So? Will I be able to create a medicine for oppa?”

“Draw three cards.”

Chae Nayun drew three cards and showed them to him.

Shin Jonghak looked at the cards. He squinted his eyes and said in a low voice, “You will have to offer someone’s blood as tribute. A Golden Luck is watching over you…”

Ding!

Yoo Yeonha’s smartwatch rang while Shin Jonghak was interpreting the magic cards.

[Yoo Jinhyuk]

Yoo Yeonha left the room after seeing the name of the caller.

“Hello?”

— Is it a good time to talk?

“Yes, it is.”

There was something strange about Yoo Jinhyuk’s voice. It sounded as if he was being chased or panicking and feeling nervous about something. Whatever it was, Yoo Yeonha could definitely tell that he sounded quite different from his usual happy-go-lucky self.

— It’s about that Kim Hajin guy you asked me to investigate last time.

“Yes?”

Yoo Jinhyuk hesitated for quite a while, and Yoo Yeonha could tell that he was hiding something big.

— … It seems that his parents were the heroes that Kim Sukho executed in the past.

Chills spread throughout Yoo Yeonha’s body after hearing those words.

***

The club members went outside after Shin Jonghak was done reading magic tarot cards for them. They planned to take a look around the city since Kim Hajin seemed to be safe.

There were quite a lot of magical things in the City of Magic, Trooper. The streetlights were running on magic, and witches were cackling as they zipped through the sky on brooms.

It was an unimaginable sight in Seoul, where flying was strictly prohibited.

Chae Nayun went to a shop and purchased a bag of magic dust.

“This is magic dust that conveys one’s words. You will be able to convey your words by sprinkling it on your target after telling the dust what you want to convey,” the shopkeeper explained.

“…”

‘I’ll probably need this later,’ Chae Nayun thought while blushing.

“Hmm…?”

She spotted someone in the crowd while looking around the city. It was a small silhouette that she was all too familiar with, but the person seemed to have done their best to disguise themselves with a big hat. However, the person was someone that Chae Nayun missed, so she easily recognized them at a single glance.

“Ai… Oh, right…”

Chae Nayun was about to call out to that person, but immediately stopped herself. She wasn’t acquainted with that person yet and ended up confusing her previous life with her current life.

Chae Nayun faked a cough in embarrassment.

“Hmm?”

Someone made the same sound as Chae Nayun. It seemed that Seo Youngji also spotted the cute little girl disguised with a large hat, Aileen.

“Hmm…” Seo Youngji found herself in a dilemma.

Anyone could tell that it was Aileen, but she wondered if she should pretend that she didn’t see or call out to Aileen.

While Seo Youngji faced a dilemma, Aileen seemed to have felt her gaze and looked at her.

Aileen was holding a hotdog in one hand when both of their gazes met. She definitely recognized Seo Youngji judging from her reaction.

“… Lala… Lalala…”

However, Aileen did her best to pretend that she didn’t see Seo Youngji and awkwardly hummed a tune to put up an act.

Seo Youngji took the hint and decided to pretend that she never saw Aileen.

“Hmm?”

It was then that she ran into another unexpected encounter.

“Whoa, are you Hero Seo Youngji?”

“…?”

Seo Youngji looked back after hearing the voice and saw the Head Magician of Seoul Magic Tower and current Cube instructor, Kim Hyojun.

Kim Hyojun tilted his head and looked at the cadets lined up behind Seo Youngji.

“What brings you here, and why are the cadets with you?” he asked.

“Ah, this is a part of their practical training. What about you?”

“Ah, I came together with the Seoul Magic Tower. We have an unofficial meeting here today, you see.”

“By unofficial meeting you mean…?”

“All twenty-three magic towers have gathered here in Trooper.”

“Ah, it must be the magic tower’s Grand Meeting,” Seo Youngji said with a nod.

The Grand Meeting of the magic towers was usually conducted in neutral city-states as frequent quarrels broke out between the magicians whenever they hosted the meeting in any of the known countries.

Kim Hyojun smiled and said, “I ran away since the meeting was almost over.”

“Ran away…?”

“Yes, the finale is usually…”

When the cadets tilted their heads in confusion and Seo Youngji was about to ask why he ran away, a mana explosion occurred from somewhere nearby.

Kkrwaaaaang!

Everyone jumped in surprise and their eyes darted towards the source of the explosion. They saw a magic dome appear from the center of the city. Then, the dome covered all of Trooper.

“… What is going on?” Rachel pulled out her sword and asked.

Both Kim Suho and Chae Nayun also looked quite concerned with what was going on.

However, Kim Hyojun nonchalantly said, “There’s no need to worry about it. That’s a common occurrence.”

“A common occurrence…?”

“Yes. You see, magicians are quite envious people. It’s a given that they’re going to fight if they gather together. Hmm… This fight looks like it’s between a Tower Master and a Vice Tower Master… I advise you all to be careful and not get caught up in it. Also, some djinns usually use this opportunity to sow discord. Do be careful of that as well. After all, things could get quite ugly if all of that happens simultaneously.”

Surprisingly, Kim Hyojun was quite calm as he explained the situation. He sounded as if this was an all too common occurrence.

***

[Art, Medicinal Wisdom, has been saved!]

[Your luck has triggered! Art, Medicinal Wisdom, has been upgraded!]

I was left with no other options due to the extreme threat. I had to use the SP I obtained from Jin Sahyuk to create an art that could treat her. The name of the art was [Medicinal Wisdom], and it wasn’t that burdensome since I would eventually need it to develop a medicine for Choi Jinyoon later.

[Medicinal Wisdom] [Intermediate Rank] [Growth Type]

— Will possess promising talent in the field of Magic Medicine. This art will synchronize with [Dazzling Dexterity] and allow the user to measure things with far greater precision compared to machines. It will also allow the user to diagnose a patient through palpation.

— The user may enhance their wisdom by utilizing stigma.

“Give me your arm,” I said.

“…”

Jin Sahyuk extended her arm to me without any complaints.

I touched her cursed arm, and the remedy for this curse instantly popped up in my head when I came into contact with her arm.

“Keuk…” Jin Sahyuk groaned in pain.

I immediately took my hand off of her arm and faked a cough.

“It seems that we’ll need quite a few ingredients. Do you think you can collect it in your current state?”

“I’m alright. Just tell me what you need.”

I recited the medicinal ingredients that I would need.

Jin Sahyuk nodded a few times before she immediately left after I recited the full list of ingredients. She came back in fifteen minutes with all of the ingredients I required.

I mixed the ingredients and created an antidote to lift the curse. I was able to create the antidote in less than thirty minutes thanks to cranking up stigma to the max.

“Lie down…”

Jin Sahyuk listened to my instructions and obediently lay on the bed.

I poured the gel-like antidote on her arm.

“Kieeeeek! Gwuooooh! Kyaaaaaahk!”

The curse started to scream as soon as the antidote came in contact with it.

I momentarily covered my ears and continued to apply the antidote to her arm. The curse screamed even louder the more I applied the antidote.

The curse wasn’t the only thing screaming in this tiny room as Jin Sahyuk was also screaming at the top of her lungs.

“… Heuuuuk! Kwaaaaaaaaah!”

The curse was finally purified after a lengthy struggle. The tar-like liquid covering her arm turned to dust and fell to the floor.

“It’s over.”

“Haa… Haa…”

Jin Sahyuk was completely drenched in sweat and gasping for air.

“Hey, I’m not expecting anything in return for this, but can I ask something?”

“…”

I showed the contaminated soil in the plastic bag to her and asked, “You said that you’re familiar with the Tears of Heaven, right?”

“…”

I spread out aether and placed the contaminated soil on top of it. The contaminated soil started to squirm in a hideous manner like it did last time.

“Look… the soil is moving like it’s alive, right? So… does this mean that this can bring the dead back to…”

Hold on. That was wrong. Something was different. No, something was very different.

I opened my eyes as various thoughts rushed into my head. My thought process before and after I obtained [Medicinal Wisdom] became quite different. I just thought of a new hypothesis.

If this soil was indeed a remnant of the Tears of Heaven, then the elixir didn’t resurrect the dead, but…

“Yaaawn…”

A sudden yawn interrupted my thoughts. It was Jin Sahyuk. She was looking at me with half-open eyes while dozing off.

She started to mumble something in her drowsy voice, “Alright… go… ahead… up… to… you…”

Jin Sahyuk closed her eyes and fell asleep, but not before mumbling, “Mmm… My… loyal… subject…”

“What the heck… Is this an aftereffect of the curse?”

A system message popped up after I stood.

[Setting Modification – The pain inflicted by the curse on the king has awakened Jin Sahyuk’s memories from her previous life.]

[You have obtained Kim Chundong’s Diary.]

[The progress of the episode will be sped up from now on.]

“…?” I had no idea what the system was saying.

As I was taken aback by the strange system message, an explosion suddenly erupted outside.

Boooom!

“…”

I looked at Jin Sahyuk, who was still sound asleep. This probably meant that it was okay for me to run away, right? I wore my outer clothing and was about to leave, but came to a stop.

“Just in case…”

[I’m going. Take care of yourself.]

I decided to leave her a note. I would be running away if I simply left, but I was just leaving if I left a note.

I stepped out of Jin Sahyuk’s room.