Chapter 83: CH 80

Chapter 80
 
     Of course, Kim Sangyoon could no longer run away when he reached the elevator door, and he simply waited for us, drenched in cold sweat. Even after Seo Dawon had hidden himself once again, the Warrior decidedly looked away from Lackey–the other must have made some brutal threat.
     “…….”
     I felt sorry for him who was attacked by both Lackey and Seo Dawon despite knowing nothing. However, I stayed silent, for there was nothing I could do straight away.
     I kept a firm hold on Lackey from behind, so, thankfully, the skeleton kept calm. The entire party loaded into the soon jam-packed elevator, heads down, and an awkward silence reigned.
–Ding.
     “….I’ll be back.”
     When the elevator arrived on the first floor, Kim Sangyoon whispered as he bowed his head towards Lackey.
     Kim Sangyoon and Lackey walked together to the restaurant in order to create an alibi by briefly showing my face to those that were monitoring the building–that ‘Choi Lee-kyung’ had parted ways in front of the restaurant and returned immediately to the elevator. My eyes tracked the Warrior and Jung Garam’s entrance into [Tea Banquet] before the elevator doors closed.
     ‘You can press the button for the 4th floor.’ I whispered quietly to Lackey, ordering him to do as I said. When the elevator began climbing upwards, I sent a chat message to Seo Dawon. 
 
[Choi Lee-kyung: I pressed on the 4th floor]
 
    “I know. I’m here too?”
     Ah! Oh my god!
     I scampered to the side quickly, startled by the whispering voice in my ears. Lackey seemed to also be surprised by Seo Dawon’s sudden appearance; it opened its mouth to hiss, not unlike a shocked cat.
     Though, I was thankful that Seo Dawon grabbed and pulled on my arm to stop me from falling over while surprised.
     “Your ears are quite sensitive?” He said.
     Thankful or not, my forehead wrinkled at those sexual harassment-like comments. “Are you a pervert?”
     “Are you interested in that?”
     …I don’t want to speak with him anymore…
     When I shut up, exhaustion lining my face, Seo Dawon smiled and whispered something inaudible while touching the elevator wall. Something had changed, perhaps, as the elevator doors did not open despite it reaching its destination on the 4th floor.
     “Press the button for the 3rd floor, Lackey.” Seo Dawon had briefly taken his hand off the wall when the elevator had stalled, but, after Lackey pressed the button, he placed his hands back in their original position again.
     At that moment, my eyes filled with painful light, as if molten gold poured into the elevator. When we arrived at the third floor again, after a customary –Ding!, the bright afterimage had disappeared.
     Lackey got off on this floor. I had already explained to the skeleton in advance, but I was nervous until I saw it return to our room without glancing back at me. A sigh of relief escaped; the alibi-creation operation was a success.
     “Haah…” I sighed.
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     “Then, shall we go?” After the door closed, Seo Dawon asked, looking at me. After my nod, he pressed the button to manually open the doors.
     ‘Huh…..?’
     A totally different space unfolded before us.
     “….!”
     Just before, the view beyond the elevator was most definitely the third-floor hallway right in front of our room, but, when the elevator door reopened, a dismally gray concrete space completely different from the flashy hallway was revealed.
     The light that dimly shone upon the dark hallway was due to Seo Dawon’s [Light] spell that floated above my shoulder. There was no lighting on the space’s wall or ceiling.
     ‘Isn’t this totally like a Dungeon?’
     Somehow, I found it hard to take a step forward; the dilapidated space reminded me greatly of the . However, Seo Dawon, who got off first, gently held my hand. He must have noticed my fear and apprehension.
     Eventually, holding the Mage’s hand, I stepped into the gloomy hallway; after I left, the elevator continued its slow journey down. Goosebumps raised all over my skin as I looked at the empty, hollow space.
     “Cold?” Seo Dawon asked when he saw me shivering.
     “N-no…” I shook my head.
     Involuntarily, I gripped tighter onto his hand. Fortunately, instead of teasing me, Seo Dawon fixed my grip and ignited another [Light] next to my shoulder.
 
* * *
 
     We walked slowly down the hall.
     On the way, signs saying [restricted area] often littered the path. Seo Dawon brandished his gold-tinged hands whenever he saw such signs; the signs would shrivel and turn black until we passed–at which point it would spring back anew.
     Those have got to be the traps that Jung Garam warned us about… Do parties usually leave traps activated like that? I asked Seo Dawon my question.
     “Those types of traps alert you after they are destroyed or broken–they function as a warning–so that’s why I left them.” Seo Dawon patiently answered.

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     Perhaps there were more hidden traps alongside the obvious installations, as Seo Dawon kept busy, brandishing his hands at certain intervals.
     However, the problem was……
     At some point, a strange smell began to waft through. At first, it smelt sweet, like caramelizing sugar, but, as we got closer to our destination, the sweetness became more intense. By the time we were steps away from our goal, our heads were pounding from the saccharine smell.
     “What on earth could this scent be?”
     “It seems that Koo Hui-seo isn’t locked up in some normal way.”
     It felt as if I was the only one suffering; Seo Dawon walked calmly forward as if he couldn’t smell anything. When he finally arrived in front of a closed room, he placed his palms carefully on the door.
–Ssssssst
     When he touched the door, a crumbling sound–like the falling of long-accumulated dust–emerged, and an odd wave passed through the door, like ripples over a calm lake. The cause of this phenomenon, Seo Dawon, soon took his hand off.
The door was old and rusty; it looked more like the iron door used in warehouses than in personal bedrooms. It was locked by a long steel bar hanging horizontally on a latch with a large lock hanging from the frame.
     Ever since Seo Dawon touched the door–and the surface began to ripple like a lake–the lock made a rattling noise and released itself with a clang. After the large lock fell to the floor, the steel bar was also automatically pushed out of the latch and removed.
     ‘Urgh…..’
     Unfortunately, the offensive smell further intensified after the door unlocked. I concentrated on the door that slowly began to open while barely holding back my nausea.
     Just then, a faint voice could be heard.
 
[I’ve been afraid for so long…]
 
     But, as soon as the [Light] spell shined upon the room’s insides, I looked forward and completely forgot about the voice; my mouth gaped wide open. There was something so shocking in front of me that my lips stiffened and I couldn’t move one inch.
     “Sure enough…I thought the direction of the traps was a bit strange.”
     Unlike my frozen self, Seo Dawon only muttered something unintelligible under his breath and moved into the room without delay. His steps disturbed the accumulated dust, and white clouds dissipated into the air.
     I entered the room half-heartedly, dragged along by our connected hands. I didn’t want to look at *it* in front of me, but I couldn’t force myself to tear my eyes away. In addition, we were approaching closer to *it*.
     My short panic ended when Seo Dawon unhesitatingly reached over to touch *it*. I unconsciously grabbed that hand.
     “Hm?” Seo Dawon, interrupting while trying to touch *it*, looked back at me. Only genuine curiosity remained in his expression–his eyes showed no anxiety or fear.
     I was fed up with the look on his face. No matter how dead he may be, how could he be so calm about this?
     “W-what are you doing!”
     “Why?”
     “Just now, you…you were going to touch it? Why?”
     “Hm? I need to see the face to figure out whether or not it’s Koo Hui-seo.”
     I was speechless at his tranquility.
     At first glance, there was nothing wrong with what he said. As he said, that *thing’s* face was covered by long, scruffy hair.
     But that *thing.*
     ‘No matter how you see it…It’s obviously a corpse?’
     The body was rotting, hanging upside down in the middle of the room. In addition, the body was not the only thing of note in the room; a huge tree that had halfway encompassed the body stood in the middle of the room as if supporting the structure.
     Just why would a gruesome sight fit for a Dungeon exist in a VIP ward?!
     Furthermore, the black fruit abundantly hanging from the tree seemed to be the cause of the rotting stench that intensified as we proceeded through the hallway.
     It wafted from the decomposing fruits fallen at the base of the tree. I was sure they were also the cause of the soles of our shoes sticking to the floor. In that situation, Seo Dawon stretched out to its hair, as if to uncover its face…
     But, do you really have to touch that with your own hands? Damn it…Doesn’t this guy know the core tenets of horror movies? Touching something so suspicious and disgusting would definitely raise a flag! 1
     “W-why would you….touch it.” I grabbed Seo Dawon’s hand, beseeching him, and dragged him as much as I could to my side. Since you’re a Mage, don’t use your body–use your skills from afar!
    “Lee-kyung-ah, are you scared?” Seo Dawon asked without hiding his mocking lilt. Before I could deny him, he grabbed the head of the corpse consumed by the tree and lifted it straight up, forcing its gaze onto me.
     “You’ve really suffered a lot by being a Necromancer” 2 Seo Dawon said with a grin, but my mind went blank after making eye contact with *it*.
     Because, long before *its* head was raised…*it* began to smile, mouth wide open.
 
[I knew you would come to find me.]
 
 
TL: And so we move into more serious matters~ (but not without some flirting first). Enter Koo Hui-seo!
Footnotes Raising a flag means to create the possibility for an event later on in a game/piece of media. In this case, touching a haunted doll would lead to the doll haunting you! He’s basically calling him peculiar but determined because Necromancers shouldn’t be scared of corpses. 용케 is a weird word. It’s like, you’ve achieved something through suffering

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