Chapter 282

Chapter 282

I flinched momentarily when I, from outside the tunnel, heard a deafening boom. Then Garam, who was sitting on top of the van, jumped down and approached me. "What is it, you cold?"

"N-No."

"Do you want to drink hot cocoa?"

"...Thanks."

The hot cocoa that Garam took out of his inventory was both warm and sweet. Perhaps too sweet-the taste was at odds with what I knew was happening inside that tunnel.

I took my lips off the cup; my heart was filled with too much anxiety. I stared continuously into the black tunnel, whose contents were hidden from my eyes.

After noticing my persistent gaze, Garam said, "Are you like that because of Lackey?"

"N-No..."

"Then, why are you so nervous?"

Perhaps he was asking if I was doubting Kim Olim's competence; I waved my hands hurriedly and responded, "It's not that I'm worried..."

"Are you curious?"

"Well..."

Sure, that also factored into my interest.

As I talked with Jung Garam, the entrance to the tunnel shook; Kim Olim's figure slowly emerged. She was as clean as she was when she first entered the tunnel.

"Y-You're done?" I stepped forward and asked.

Before the Paladin could answer, the wind changed direction and a fishy scent wafted from her. Kim Olim smirked at my paling expression. "Don't come closer-listen to me from there."

"...Alright."

"First, I've received the accounts, passwords, and contracts from Geum Miyoung. Where is Choi Kyung-sik?"

At her words, Choi Kyung-sik, who had been lying down in the van, opened his eyes wide. He rose from his seat and waved, "I'm here!"

The young Alchemist immediately exited the car and approached the Paladin. "She's alive, right?"

"She'll be able to last another hour."

"Then, I'm going in."

"I didn't clean up before I left. Take that into consideration."

"Haha, I'm not Choi Lee-kyung-ssi." Choi Kyung-sik, after spouting something upsetting, winked back at me. Then, without giving me any time to retort, he entered the crack made in the tunnel entrance's wreckage.

As planned earlier, Choi Kyung-sik had asked us to hand over 'Geum Miyoung' before she died, since he believed that the woman would make a suitable first ingredient for a Homunculus. Geum Miyoung was probably...hiding now. Though, of course, her efforts wouldn't last long.

Just as I thought that, the red moon above our heads clouded over as it returned to its original, yellowish color. Furthermore, the dark shadow beneath Kim Olim's feet gradually faded. Her breathtaking presence and the bloody scent covering her body vanished alongside the shadow.

The paladin closed her eyes, enduring the scattering of her very presence-her corporeal self, before soon opening her eyes. Only her red irises remained the same.

[Clack Clack!]

[Master!]

Just then, through the tunnel entrance, Lackey peeked its head out of the rubble and began running towards me. The biggest issue wasn't the blood and hair tangled around its mouth, but...

As soon as Kim Olim noticed the skeleton, she grabbed it by the back of the neck and kept the skeleton from coming any closer. Lackey struggled for a long while, hating its restraints, but, when Kim Olim began to peel off the hair tangled in its jawbone, the skeleton remained still with its mouth wide open.

That was such a funny yet nerve-wracking sight-I approached cautiously. Kim Olim didn't say much to stop me. After taking over Lackey and its care, I asked quietly, "...How was it?"

"Are you talking about Lackey?"

"Well..."

That's part of it-I had wondered about the skeleton's performance as well...

Kim Olim stared at me with an ambiguous expression, as if she had perceived my unspoken question. "If you're worried about me, then I'd like you to know that's not needed."

"... You also compare normal adult men to hamsters," I complained.

Kim Olim smiled, showing her teeth for the first time. Then, she placed her hand on my head and stroked my hair. In an amused tone, she said, "Choi Lee-kyung. I had said that the [Red Lotus] and their revival mattered the most, but that was a lie."

"...Really?"

"Yes. I finally understood today. I really wanted revenge."

"......"

"Furthermore, I realized that I was lucky to have met you."

Her words tickled the hairs on the back of my neck.

Startled by the unexpected system alert, I turned my wide eyes back to her. However, she had already taken her hand away and adopted her usual strict and solemn expression. "So, stop worrying about me. I understand your feelings, but I'm not so sentimental."

"Alright..."

[Clack Clack Clack.]

[Please pat me.]

As the skeleton piped up, I had no choice but to embrace Lackey and return to the car.

Then, I waited there for 30 minutes as I drank hot cocoa.

Perhaps Geum Miyoung breathed her last; several overlapping messages covered my field of view.

Soon after, Choi Kyung-sik, wearing his lab gown, trudged out of the tunnel. Contrary to our high expectations, the Alchemist's expression wasn't bright. As he plodded forth, an unsatisfied expression was glued to his face. "The Homonculus was a failure."

"......"

I could only scratch at my cheek; the details were foreign to me. Choi Kyung-sik was sure to have expected my reaction, yet he mumbled out more complaints to an unknown audience. "Since we need the softness and ambulatory nature of a human body, I thought we'd need a person. So, I decided to use Miyoung-ssi... This time, as well, the homunculus only formed halfway before falling apart... Agh, seriously. So stressful."

"What's...missing... for you to be so agitated?" I asked.

Choi Kyung-sik closed his mouth momentarily and stared at me after hearing my question. However, he soon sighed and perched on the seat opposite me. "For that matter, what *isn't* missing in our efforts to create new life?"

"......"

"I think the gamma specimen is what went wrong. However, the XI sample conducted in the laboratory was successful, right? So, that's why I accompanied you all to listen to Geum Miyoung during this busy time. Right? But I was betrayed! I don't even know what went wrong..."

I simply sat there, drinking my cocoa, unable to understand half of what the Alchemist just spouted.

At that moment, Woo Ragi, who had been sleeping like the dead in the van's backseat (though I was unsure if he was truly sleeping), rose from his slumber at Choi Kyung-sik's loud grumbles. "Agh, so noisy."

"I haven't even explained half of the story."

'There's no one here who can understand you."

"I know, but that's up to me, alright? You can just cover your ears and lie back down again."

"So annoying." Eventually, Woo Ragi childishly threw the cushion he was lying on at the Alchemist. The issue, though, was that I was stuck between the two.

After being hit in the face with a fluffy cotton cushion, I glared at the swordsman. Damn-I spilled my hot cocoa too! "You hit me on purpose, right?"

"Who told you to be so bad at dodging?"

"Be careful Woo Ragi-ssi! And Choi Lee-kyung-ssi! It would be awful if your heads become worse here!"

"You be quiet too!"

Instantly, when she saw us bickering, Kim Olim closed the van's door and went to the driver's seat. Jung Garam, who had been sitting on the van's roof all this while, crawled into the passenger seat through the window as soon as the Paladin entered the car.

I threw anything at hand towards the swordsman in the back seat, but, when the car's engine started, I sat down properly again. Of course, as soon as I settled in my seat, the swordsman threw the garbage I had thrown back at me. I looked back, tearful; this time, Kim Olim was the one to dissuade me, "I'm going to start driving. Fasten your seatbelt."

"Woo Ragi, you're dead when we return home..."

The swordsman snorted at my words. Furthermore, Choi Kyungsik murmured, "Is it possible to die again at this point?" Although, when the Alchemist met my eyes, he simply smiled-how loathsome.

Heart simmering with anger, I clasped Lackey to my chest.

[Clack Clack!]

[So Happy!]

As the car started, my thoughts roamed towards Seo Dawon...whose presence I especially missed today.

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TL: Kim Olim I love you.