Chapter ss97: Side Story 97 - What If Story (12)

"Ah... This wind is annoying me..." Chae Nayun muttered while we were walking.

She shuddered in disgust and rubbed her arm whenever the air touched it.

"Endure it," I said.

"Hey..." Chae Nayun tapped me on my shoulder.

"What?"

"You... since when did you like Yeonha?"

"..."

I continued walking without saying anything. Chae Nayun looked at me before placing both hands behind her head. She walked like a two-legged lizard before her eyes suddenly shot wide open.

"Over there! It's Yi Jiyoon! That's Jiyoon, right?"

"Looks like it..."

Yi Jiyoon was dancing not too far from us.

We went over to her while she was busy dancing like a ballerina with her eyes closed. I grabbed her shoulder and she finally opened her eyes.

"Kyaaak!"

"Pipe down," Chae Nayun immediately covered Yi Jiyoon's mouth.

She looked at me and Chae Nayun before letting out a sigh of relief.

"Hey, Yi Jiyoon. Have you seen the others?"

"No... I was at a party when I opened my eyes...? Huh? Where the hell am I?" Yi Jiyoon asked while frivolously looking around the tunnel with eyes wide open from shock. Then, she let out a scream before running into Chae Nayun's embrace.

"Where are we, Nayun? Where the hell is this?!"

"Hey, quit it... Damn it... I have no idea myself. Anyways, we have to keep moving. We might find the answer once we reach the end of this tunnel."

"Where are WE?!"

"I said shut up and follow us."

We marched onward with Yi Jiyoon added to our party. We didn't really walk that deeper into the tunnel when we came across another hideous being.

It wasn't Destruction. If I had to put it into words, then... a zombie?

However, the zombie looked too full of life to be considered a zombie. Perhaps... it was a hero turned into a zombie...?

"I think we need to fight that thing."

It was then.

Shwaaaa!

A gentle breeze blew from behind and pushed away the stench in the tunnel. It was a warm and gentle breeze that was full of vitality.

I immediately knew where this breeze came from.

The one who summoned the breeze proudly smiled while wielding her sword, Galatine. She ran towards us as fast as she could.

It was Rachel.

"Huh? It's Rachel!" Yi Jiyoon was the first to react.

Rachel came up to us.

"What the heck? Why are you here?" Chae Nayun asked.

"I'm the reinforcement. I came after looking at the map Hajin drew," Rachel replied.

I simply smiled when she looked at me.

"That's a relief. It's good to see that you're alright, Hajin," she said.

"Well, yeah. Anyways, it's nice to see you here."

"What the heck? Have you two met before...?"

"Yeah, a bit."

I helped Rachel once before so she could awaken as an elementalist.

"Anyways, now that you're here..." I said before I took out my Desert Eagle.

The zombie was already emitting hostility towards us.

"Shall we fight together?"

"Yes, that's why you're here in the first place, right? But... where's the vice guild master?"

For some reason, it felt like Rachel was more worried about Yoo Yeonha than I was.

I guess the little princess had grown up to become a shrewd businesswoman.

***

"That was too powerful to be called a zombie... Was it a fragment of the tower?" Rachel said while wiping Galatine and letting out a sigh of relief after the fight.

I was exhausted as well, but I nodded and replied, "Yeah, it probably was."

"Huh? Why? I'm still so energetic!"

On the other hand, Chae Nayun was busy showing off her stamina.

I tried to walk, but one of my ankles gave out and I ended up falling down.

Chae Nayun helped me up and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

"I have no idea... give me a second," I grimaced and checked my Achilles tendon.

There were no cuts, but it felt like my Achilles tendon gave up on me as I couldn't exert any force into my feet.

"Did something strange hit me...? Hey, help me up first," I said.

"Alright, leave it to me," Chae Nayun grabbed my arm and flung it over her neck.

She suddenly flashed a mischievous smile and said, "Hehe... I'll tease the hell out of Yeonha if we meet her."

"Tease? Does she even get teased?"

"Huh? Hey, do you want to bet on it?"

"Bet on what?"

Chae Nayun kept smirking like a mischievous little kid as she said, "I wonder what kind of expression Yoo Yeonha will make..."

"Oh right, Hajin. I heard about your scandal with the vice guild master!" Rachel suddenly exclaimed after eavesdropping on our conversation.

I bitterly smiled and shook my head, but her eyes were already twinkling with curiosity.

She calmed her breathing down before she asked in a serious tone, "Hajin... if everything goes well this time... Can you be the mediator for the English Royal Court guild and Essence of the Strait...? I mean... I know this isn't the right time, but... never mind. We should hurry and save the vice guild master!"

***

Yoo Yeonha conjured a large orb with her mana and locked herself in it. This was the best she could come up with to protect herself from the darkness.

She resisted the hallucinations and just breathed like a plant. Time would pass and she would soon be able to leave this hellhole.

She was able to find hope in this hopeless situation after thinking of one specific person.

Yoo Yeonha thought about his face. She always regretted it and was always thankful to him.

She missed him. She missed him like crazy. Imagining him was no longer enough for her. He was the only thing in this world that could stand on equal footing with her ambition. Her feelings for him grew stronger the farther apart they were. Her memories of him now only tormented her day and night. Those memories stabbed her heart like a dagger.

That made her all the more certain now. No, she was certain since a long time ago.

She liked him, and she loved him.

Knock... Knock...

Someone knocked on the orb, but Yoo Yeonha didn't react to it. It was probably another hallucination.

Knock... Knock...

Yoo Yeonha shuddered when it knocked again.

Then, a warm gentle mana brightly illuminated her surroundings.

"...?"

Yoo Yeonha looked up at the light descending on her like it was granting her salvation from this hell.

Kim Hajin was looking down at her.

Yoo Yeonha rubbed her eyes a few times. His arm was around Chae Nayun's shoulder and he was leaning on her.

... This was probably another hallucination.

Yoo Yeonha looked at Chae Nayun, who had a stupid smirk.

That smirk looked all too familiar.

... Still, it was probably another hallucination.

"Why? What?"

Chae Nayun kept smirking while raising her eyebrows. Her sleazy smile looked exactly like what she would do whenever she was being mischievous.

"Are you jealous?" Chae Nayun asked while fiddling with Kim Hajin's fingers.

Yoo Yeonha's eyes turned cold as she sharply glared at her. Chae Nayun was nothing but a hallucination. Yoo Yeonha was certain of it, and that was why...

She immediately stood up and swung her hand with all her strength the moment Chae Nayun locked fingers with Kim Hajin.

Paaaaak!

The destructive sound reverberated across the tunnel.

***

Destruction was observing them from behind his mask. He smiled while hiding behind the thick dense fog covering the tunnel.

How long would they be able to keep smiling?

This thought alone sent chills down his spine and made him feel ecstatic. In the end, he ended up jizzing himself when the ecstasy overwhelmed him.

He became interested in Kim Hajin three years ago. The boy was a nobody that he wouldn't have given a second look normally, but it was a different story if he was related to the Yoo family.

Destruction first found out about him when the scandal about Yoo Yeonha broke out. At the time, Destruction was also busy digging up dirt on Yoo Jinwoong in Pandemonium.

The truth that he found out by sheer coincidence was the Kwang-Oh Incident. The sole survivor of that incident was none other than that boy, Kim Hajin.

In the end, Destruction no longer felt the need to endlessly toil just to bring down the Yoo family. That incident alone was a ticking time bomb.

There was no way Kim Hajin would be able to forgive the family that destroyed his life and killed his parents. He was a human after all, and humans were very bad at forgiving others.

'I want to see it... I want to see your face as your daughter gets betrayed by the man she loves. I want to see your face as your family starts crumbling. I want to see it as you start killing each other. I desperately want to see it.

I, Evil Destruction, will definitely make it happen.

Yoo Jinwoong, your daughter is going to die here today.'

***

Yoo Yeonha awkwardly scratched the back of her neck while looking at Chae Nayun's swollen cheek.

"I'm sorry, Nayun..."

"No problem. I won the bet thanks to you, but..." Chae Nayun replied before she narrowed her eyes and grumbled, "You guys look fucking annoying to look at right now. I mean, you don't have to cling to each other like that, you know?"

Yoo Yeonha was hugging Kim Hajin as close as she could under the premise that she was helping him walk. They were so close that they were probably going to jump under the sheets if a bed magically appeared along the way.

"Come on. What's wrong with you, Nayun? Just let them enjoy themselves," Yi Jiyoon said with a smile.

She already took dozens of photos of them. The internet didn't work here so she couldn't upload them, but she made sure to take as many pictures as she could with her smartwatch.

"What do you mean by enjoy? I am helping him walk, Yi Jiyoon," Yoo Yeonha said as she started to berate Yi Jiyoon.

Then, Yoo Yeonha looked at Kim Hajin and smiled happily, "Hehe..."

However, she was scared deep inside. What if this was just another hallucination...?

"It's not a hallucination. Don't worry," Kim Hajin assured her as if he could read her mind.

"Y-Yes... Okay..." Yoo Yeonha couldn't look him in the eye, so she replied after lowering her gaze with her cheeks puffed up.

"I am glad you are safe, vice guild master," Rachel said in a gentle voice.

Yoo Yeonha smiled and replied, "Thank you. It is all thanks to you, Guild Master Rachel. I hope we can sit down and chat later on."

Rachel looked overjoyed at those words.

"Hey, Yeonha. So Destruction is here?"

"Yeah, he has something with my father. They used to be comrades before, but..."

"Ah, so that Destruction was your father's lackey~~~!" Chae Nayun shouted as loud as she could.

Yoo Yeonha couldn't understand what she was doing, but the tunnel showed a reaction to those words and started to lightly tremble.

"It's working. Kekeke! That stupid moron," Chae Nayun snickered with an evil smile.

"Destruction was Yoo Jinwoong's lackey~~~! I guess it's true~! Look at him hiding~ You're a lackey if you keep hiding~~~" Chae Nayun continued shouting a bunch of childish insults.

Yoo Yeonha didn't bother stopping her as the tunnel shook whenever she roasted Destruction.

However, the taunts weren't as effective later on.

***

Twelve hours later...

"Wow... this is crazy... Can we take a break first?" Yi Jiyoon asked while drenched in sweat.

Twelve hours. We walked for twelve straight hours. This tunnel seemed to have the ability to tire us out. Yi Jiyoon was the first casualty of the march.

"No... not yet..." Yoo Yeonha said.

As she was about to say something, she was interrupted when someone exclaimed.

"Oh!"

Someone appeared from within the tunnel and everyone prepared for battle.

However, the person who appeared was a little girl.

Everyone lowered their weapons after seeing that it was a little girl. The little girl walked towards them with a blanket in her arms. Then she stopped at a distance not too far away from us.

We walked over to the girl and talked to her, but she didn't respond to anything we said.

We suspected this was another hallucination, but my eyes were telling me it wasn't. I looked inside the blanket and what I found made me grimace.

"Why? Is it someone you know?" Yoo Yeonha asked.

I shook my head and checked the baby's arm, "No."

However, that tattoo engraved on the baby's arm was the same four streaks of stigma that I had. At that moment, I was extremely confused by what was going on.

Chae Nayun muttered without a thought, "The baby has a tattoo...?"

"A tattoo...?" Yoo Yeonha muttered as she checked the baby's arm. Then she immediately looked at me.

She tilted her head in confusion. She knew that I had a tattoo and saw it when we were trapped in the field in China, in the Amazon, and when we spent a long time together.

However, why did this baby have the same tattoo...? I was sure this tattoo was my stigma, but why...?

Was it possible that the past and present were starting to overlap and it was causing some strange phenomenon?

Yoo Yeonha suddenly grabbed my arm and rolled up my sleeve. She saw that my stigma looked exactly the same as the baby's tattoo.

"This is..." Yoo Yeonha muttered before she looked at me with a serious look.

I shook my head and pulled back my arm before I said, "It's a hallucination."