episode_0258

Fire is dangerous.

Common sense that you learn on your own without having to learn it from anyone or expose it to fire.

Even though it was a fire that danced beautifully, I couldn’t help but feel threatened by the scorching heat touching my skin.

We instinctively have no choice but to avoid fire. Everyone knows that fire hurts.

“Keep, keep…!”

After experiencing it myself, I had no choice but to change my previous thoughts.

It’s not just mildly painful, it’s terribly painful.

A fire spread to his arm. The outer skin was instantly blackened. Blood bubbling like lava flowed out between the cracked skin.

The sight was brutally flashed across my retina. I could clearly see my arm burning in real time, engulfed in flames.

My thoughts suddenly stopped. My consciousness began to sink, but then it quickly surged back up due to my survival instinct.

It was crawling on the ground like an insect about to burst and die.

‘Oh, shit.’

At some point, the thoughts that had been interrupted continued. Immediately afterwards, a flash of reason appeared and his face distorted.

‘I, I was… taking an elixir and adjusting my magical power…’

An unbearable storm swept over me, and I suddenly lost consciousness.

And then I opened my eyes in a nightmare.

It’s a regular nightmare.

A house engulfed in flames and collapsing, you writhing in agony in a nearby alley, a terrible burning sensation burning your brain…

It was the day my house was destroyed by fire.

‘Ugh… ‘

It’s natural that fire hurts. I knew that back then, but now that I know the whole story, I know what that burning sensation is.

Scary.

A ferocious flame that leads the world in being a bully, and that cannot be denied from someone who has experienced it firsthand.

‘Okay, it’s okay…’

Fire is scary. How many times have I been in a fight since that day when I saw fire?

It also took a lot of courage to get used to using the gas stove by myself later on.

But it’s okay now.

To be exact, things got better after I started receiving affection from Hong Yeon-hwa.

Until then, I didn’t have any good memories of fire, but after receiving affection from Hong Yeon-hwa, I started to have good memories of fire.

It’s not scary. The flames of Hongyeonhwa are warm and cozy. They don’t give me the slightest threat, and only give me gentle warmth.

So it’s okay, don’t be scared. I can bear the pain…

I crouched down, repeating to myself. The flames did not spread from my right arm.

I don’t know how to end a nightmare quickly.

All you have to do is endure the pain and kill time until it passes naturally.

“Ughhhh… ”

Even so, the body from the past in the nightmare crawled on the ground. It was dragged on the rough ground, and its clothes and skin were torn.

With his burning arms touching the ground, he slowly approached the now burnt-out house.

Why? I couldn’t say for sure. Even now, I still think the same. At that time, I was a confused and complicated person who couldn’t say anything for sure.

A space that only provides misfortune and a lot of nightmares.

But I still had complicated feelings, so I crawled on the floor to check something.

The only place I should be, the only blood relative I had left, the only relationship I had, the only person I hoped might give me affection.

A nightmare where you crawl around and see that there is nothing left, lie down on the ground in a daze and wait for the fire on your arm to go out, and try to rationalize it as a relief.

This nightmare always ended like that.

“Ah, shit, foot…! A civilian…!”

“… ?”

Like this, I have never heard anyone else’s voice.

He quickly raised his head, which had been lying on the ground.

In the blurry vision, a man staggered.

Red eyes stared at me. They were a familiar red. The eyes, which were a jumble of guilt and confusion, closed tightly.

“Sir, what the…! Aaug…!”

Even at first glance, he didn’t look normal. The man lowered his head and grabbed his hair.

A man with a body that shook weakly as if he would collapse at any moment, clutching his head with one hand, banged his head against the wall.

Boom! The wall collapsed with a loud bang. Rubble poured down and a cloud of dust rose, and I opened my eyes wide.

– Whoosh whoosh!

The moment the man’s body was engulfed in a cloud of dust, the flames that arose from his entire body engulfed the cloud in return.

It was a vivid memory of a horror that burned down my house, burned my parents to death, and crippled my arm.

“Ah, euuu… !”

The man who had caused the panic let out a cry of pain. He grabbed his hair and face and staggered in place. Drool was dripping from the corner of his mouth, which was barely visible.

‘what.’

I can’t understand English. I’ve never had a nightmare like this before.

No, it has never been like this in the past…

‘… wasn’t there any?’

The thoughts that had been flowing stopped. In fact, my memories of that day are not clear. They are unstable memories that are tangled and broken in the middle.

One day, a fire broke out in my house. My body was blown away with a popping sound and landed somewhere in a nearby alley.

I saw houses collapsing in flames and heard screams of pain.

I writhed in pain from the flames on my right arm… I was crawling home, and at one point, I was staring blankly at the site of my house, my right arm now out of flames.

That was the end of my memory. I had no recollection of ever encountering a man who caused such a commotion.

“Bb… ”

As he was reminiscing about the past while feeling the pain of burning his right arm, the man suddenly stopped moving.

Staggering feet, staggering upper body, trembling hands clutching face and hair.

Everything stopped unnaturally. At the same time, the groans that had been leaking out along with the saliva also stopped.

For a moment, the surroundings were swallowed up in silence.

My arm was still burning in the corner of my vision, but I couldn’t hear any sound.

– Boom!

A sudden sound pushed the silence away. A heavy sound like the beating of a drum spread in all directions. My skin felt hot for a moment.

The epicenter was a staggering man. It was not the sound of a drum, but the sound of a man’s heartbeat.

After a while, the man raised his head.

I swallowed my breath as I saw the man’s face.

The familiar red hair, the equally familiar red eyes.

Now it’s different. Crack! Cracks appeared in the bright red eyes. Split and broken shards fell out, and inside them, dark red eyeballs swarmed.

The eyes that had been scanning the surroundings for a moment stared at me. My mind froze at that gaze.

My body and mind were hot. My head was burning as hot as my right arm.

“What is it, a fairy… no, something different?”

The man, or something in it, tilted his head.

* * *

Immediately after Lee Ha-yool’s necklace notified them of the abnormality, the two people’s actions were quick.

“Aurora!”

Liana, holding Lee Ha-yul in her arms, immediately summoned the spirits.

With a scream, magical power radiated from his entire body, interlocking with the surrounding water energy and soon forming various shapes.

There were also lower-ranking spirits with blue halos, and middle-ranking spirits with shapes based on their personalities.

Among them, there were spirits that had reached a higher level and had human form.

“Aurora! Hurry up!”

Aurora, a high-ranking water spirit who has made a contract with Rihanna.

Aurora, who rose gracefully behind Rihanna, quickly extended her hand as instructed by the contractor.

Woohoo! Even the lower and middle level water spirits summoned nearby added energy.

The water spirits are originally children who can also heal. Under the instructions of the higher spirits, the water energy unified with healing properties seeped into Iha Yul’s body.

“Expression, recovery rate.”

Elia didn’t stay still either. She closed her eyes tightly and made a hand gesture. The magical power that flowed out from her split into two and stabbed into Lee Ha-yul’s body.

‘Instant Recovery’ and ‘Recovery Boost’. The ratio of the two procedures is perfectly controlled. Urgent areas are blocked by regeneration, and where there is some leeway, the body is restored through rapid recovery.

– Tsk tsk tsk…!

Despite such a quick response, the eerie sound coming from Lee Ha-yool just wouldn’t stop.

“Right now! My body is being torn apart!”

Elia, who was trying to control her magic power, shouted with an anxious look.

“I’m trying to heal, but it’s barely working!”

“That’s not good news at all!”

Rihanna gritted her teeth.

The body of the child in her arms trembled. Clang! The ominous sound continued. Even as she examined it, something strange was happening in Lee Ha-yool’s body.

What’s driving me crazy is not knowing why.

Usually, when you take the wrong elixir, your magical power goes wild, your circuits and cores get destroyed, and your body breaks down from there.

But what is happening to Lee Ha-yul now is different. The core and the circuits are intact. But his body is suddenly being torn apart and ripped apart.

Even Eliana, who has professional medical knowledge, and Rihanna, who has extensive experience on the front lines, cannot figure out the reason for this phenomenon.

Since I didn’t know the English language and the reason, there was no clear way to deal with it.

[pang]

[horror]

[burning sensation]

“Huh… !”

“Ah, shit!”

Also, the sight of the child with the necklace showing and squirming in pain made both of their hearts burn black.

I didn’t listen to Geum-jok’s words. I trusted the child too much. How could I have believed the claims of a child who was so anxious that he might die if I took my eyes off him for a moment!

The elixir was also produced in Taesan, and there was no problem for Riana to examine it. I shouldn’t have just blindly believed that and fed it to her…!

– Ugh, ugh…

“Ha-yul!”

“Baby… !”

Not much time passed.

A soft moan escaped from between Lee Ha-yool’s lips. At the same time, the eerie sound that had been resonating from his body also stopped. The two people drenched in cold sweat opened their eyes wide.

[question]

[purgatory]

[pain…]

As the voice continued, the two people hurriedly checked Lee Ha-yool’s condition.

“Hey baby! Come to your senses!!”

“Ha-yul! Don’t lose your mind again! Even if it’s hard, you must come to your senses!”

Rihanna gently squeezed Lee Ha-yul’s cheek as he squirmed in her arms.

He held her cheek as if he was handling a delicate piece of craftwork in case it broke, and lifted it carefully, taking in Lee Ha-yool’s face in every corner of his field of vision.

– Huhu…

The breath that touched me right in front of me was so delicate. I was so scared that I might die at any moment.

[Professor Riana…]

[Elia…]

Lee Ha-yool, who was breathing heavily, shook his head. His face brightened on its own at the clear sign that he was conscious.

“Yes, I’m here, baby? Are you, are you okay…?”

“It’s okay! I can fix it right away! I’ve already fixed it! It’s all okay now, right…?

The two people who were absentmindedly observing Lee Ha-yool’s condition suddenly blinked.

My body feels stuffy and it’s hard to breathe.

As I looked down, wondering what was going on, I saw a body neatly wrapped in a bright blue string.

[horror]

[adhesion]

[Possessiveness]

“Huh… ?”

The identity was the artifact of Lee Ha-yul. What had been in the form of wings until just a moment ago was now divided into dozens of strings, binding the two people and pulling them tightly.

The force holding it is quite strong. It is so strong that it is difficult to breathe.

“Baby… Wait a minute… I need to check your condition, so can you let this go… ?”

[I hate it…]

[Stay next to me…]

[Don’t leave…]

“읏… ”

As Rihanna gently stroked his head and tried to soothe him, Lee Ha-yool shook his head and held the two of them even tighter. A strange moan escaped from the feeling of his body being tightly bound.

[Don’t disappear…]

[It’s mine…]

“My, mine… I am not an object… ”

“Uh… I guess I’ll be okay… ”

[No…! It’s mine…! Professor, give it to me…!]

Lee Ha-yool’s two arms wrapped around Rihanna’s waist and pulled her tightly.

For a moment, my breath was caught in my throat. Lee Ha-yool, who had buried his face between her ample breasts, whined in an uncontrollable manner.

“Uh, uh uh… ”

A sad, sticky feeling that comes from voice and actions.

Rihanna flinched as she felt him. Her face, once filled with urgency, turned red and embarrassed.