Ch.160Kiss of Fire 11

The nun’s expression froze momentarily at Jisoo’s question.

She quickly composed herself and began explaining about the angel’s appearance.

“The appearance differs for each person who sees them. They can freely change their form according to the desires of those who seek them.”

Their appearance changes according to desire.

So if what I want most right now is Siho…

Does that mean the being appearing in my dream will look like Siho?

Jisoo fell into thought for a moment.

How unpleasant.

It means they read people’s hearts completely and transform accordingly.

“And even if you meet the Archangel, you can return to reality if you refuse their power. That’s how benevolent they are.”

The nun clasped her hands together with an enraptured expression.

As if she herself had met them and received salvation.

“Thanks to that, there have actually been people who refused wishes and returned. Though I don’t know why…”

“What happened to the people who came back?”

“I’m not sure, since most of them left the village. Perhaps they didn’t return to the mortal world…”

Jisoo swallowed hard.

Then she gazed steadily at Anna and Jeoksa.

Her golden eyes sparkled.

Seeing that radiance, Jeoksa asked Jisoo with a worried expression.

“What? Are you serious…?”

“If we keep waiting here, that woman’s army might soon swarm in.”

Jisoo spoke to Jeoksa with a grave expression.

In response, Jeoksa looked at the pond she had just used as an ashtray.

“Since I can come back anyway, I’ll go and try to find some clues.”

Jisoo said as she took off her jacket.

After rolling up her shirt sleeves, she took a deep breath.

Seeing this, Jeoksa heaved a sigh.

“Damn… If I had known it would come to this…”

She tried to pick up the cigarette ashes floating on the pond with her finger.

Meanwhile, Anna gently wrapped her arm around Jisoo’s shoulders and advised her.

“We’ll protect your body somehow. Please find clues about Siho while you’re there.”

Those cloudy white eyes.

Staring directly into them, Jisoo silently nodded.

“I’m ready. Please give me that holy water quickly.”

The nun picked up the silver cup she had set down.

She carefully scooped water from the pond and handed it to the Ranker.

Jisoo gripped the silver cup.

She slowly gazed at her own reflection on the water’s surface.

Drinking this clear water would lead her to meet the “angel.”

Soon, as if gathering her resolve, she slowly brought the cup to her lips.

Like tasting a cocktail Siho had made for her.

One sip.

She took it in sip by sip.

After completely emptying the cup, she looked back and forth between Anna and Jeoksa.

Clearly, she had drunk it all, yet her body showed no reaction.

As if this was expected, the nun brought a light blanket.

She slowly helped Jisoo sit down beside the pond.

“Oh, there’s something you should be careful about when meeting the angel.”

The nun’s black eyes flashed.

She secretly whispered to Jisoo who had drunk the holy water.

“Never deny that they are an angel.”

Jisoo frowned at those words.

She tried to gather her thoughts to understand what the nun meant.

However, Jisoo ultimately couldn’t comprehend her words.

As she pondered deeply in that moment.

Her vision gradually blurred.

Her gaze tilted sideways.

Anna and Jeoksa rushed toward Jisoo as she collapsed.

“— –?”

Though the two said something, she couldn’t understand a word.

The only sound reaching her ears was a loud ringing.

As she closed her eyes following her fading vision.

Jisoo felt her entire body becoming languid, just like when she was confined in the laboratory.

A helpless warmth like returning to a fetal state—powerless yet comfortably warm enough not to want escape.

She relaxed her expression and savored the drowsiness following that warmth.

However, that feeling didn’t last long.

Soon, she began to feel a cold dampness.

The chill made her body shiver, jolting her awake.

When she opened her eyes.

Jisoo’s half-drooping eyelids suddenly widened.

Because she was lying in a very familiar space.

“This is…”

Soft music playing in the background.

Familiar liquor shelves and tables.

People filling those tables.

They were all laughing, chatting, and enjoying cocktails with great excitement.

“This is Moment?”

She realized she was lying under an air conditioner in Moment Bar.

Perhaps she felt cold because she was alone in the cool breeze…

“Ugh…”

Jisoo staggered to her feet.

Then she slowly approached the counter, pushing through the noisy crowd.

If this truly is an angel’s illusion created based on my desires…

Then surely that child will be at the counter.

Han Siho.

She spotted just one empty seat at the counter.

She squeezed into that spot and finally sat down.

Then she looked around cautiously while waiting for the bartender to arrive.

“So then I just—BAM! Cut the beast in half with my greatsword!”

“Please, without my buffs, you would’ve been knocked out with one tail swipe.”

“Hey, should a healer be landing the final blow? It’s only because of meat shields like us that healers can shine.”

Stories about today’s raid.

Afterward, they boasted about their contributions while laughing and drinking.

She took in their appearances with sidelong glances.

And what came to mind was…

The party raids she used to do with Dohyun, Hyunsu oppa, and Gyuseon.

Back then, even without money or strength like now, she was truly happy…

But now…

She opened her palm.

She saw calluses formed from countless burst blisters and slightly bent fingers.

Clearly, Jisoo had become much stronger than before.

Unlike when she grinned happily about becoming a B-rank hunter, now she could destroy everyone if she entered a Ranker debut match.

But…

Why doesn’t it make her happy?

She raised her head and looked around.

Her party members were nowhere to be seen.

In this cocktail bar.

Among these countless people.

There was no one who had shared pain and laughter with her.

When she realized this fact,

A part of her heart ached unbearably.

Jisoo soon clutched her chest and lowered her head.

“So this is what it meant by changing according to my desires…”

As she muttered to herself,

A black shadow soon loomed over her.

“Ahaha… Sorry to keep you waiting.”

A familiar voice.

A voice she thought she would never hear again struck her ears.

Jisoo hastily looked up.

And at that moment,

She came face to face with Dohyun, dressed in bartender attire.

“Dohyun…?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m called now.”

The bartender said while wiping a glass with a dry cloth.

“Kwon Dohyun, 28 years old. F-rank hunter and your comrade. And… someone you loved?”

A strange way of speaking.

Hearing that tone, Jisoo realized he wasn’t the real Dohyun.

Perhaps because of that,

She became fully alert, swallowed her reddened eyes, and immediately turned serious.

“You’re the angel, aren’t you?”

“Everyone calls me that. But I was born not long ago, so such a term feels burdensome.”

Born not long ago…?

“When I gained consciousness, I was left alone in this space.”

As if reading Jisoo’s mind, the angel shrugged.

Soon he snapped his long fingers as if to reveal everything.

With that, Moment Bar vanished without a trace.

And a white space revealed itself across the entire world.

Where Dohyun stood was now a pond sitting alone in that white space.

Just like the pond in the Sky Island monastery where she had drunk the holy water earlier.

No one around.

Not even a sound.

Just one pond left alone in a world of white.

Was this angel-like being left alone in such a bizarre place?

“Don’t look at me with such pitying eyes. I’m very happy now.”

Dohyun snapped his fingers again.

With that, the cocktail bar, Moment, where the two had been earlier reappeared.

As if nothing had happened.

“I enjoy my time reading the memories of those who visit here.”

“In the past, I could only do this when the owner of my body touched them…”

“But after that bastard lost his power, I became this free.”

He pretentiously peered into the cleanly wiped glass.

However, his own reflection wasn’t visible in that glass.

“I’ve talked too much. Strangely, unlike other wanderers, you give me an odd sense of familiarity.”

Dohyun smiled brightly.

Just like in those days when they raided together.

Still youthful and pure.

“If you’ve come this far, it must be to receive divine power, right?”

He asked Jisoo with his hands clasped together.

However, she didn’t answer hastily to his question.

“Although your hair will turn white, it’ll be fine. In exchange, your desires will come true.”

Dohyun extended his palm to point at the liquor shelf.

And said:

“Now, tell me. Your wish, and your desire…”

Jisoo blankly stared at the liquors following his gesture.

“You want to go back, don’t you? To those days when you hunted wyverns together.”

The bartender spread both hands to indicate the hunters laughing and chatting together.

“I’ll send you back, to that desperately missed time with Dohyun! Hyunsu oppa! Gyuseon!”

The angel’s voice echoed in Jisoo’s mind like a reverberation.

Perhaps because of that echo,

Jisoo’s head began to ring as if drunk.

And while barely holding onto her sanity, she reflected on her desires.

My desire…?

At first, she only wanted to save Siho.

Because she had taken her out of that cold test tube.

But…

When she realized it was Dohyun, what happened?

At first, she hesitated.

About the fact that the boy she liked had become a girl.

Adapting to such a completely different appearance was no easy task.

Love and confusion toward him were all mixed together, causing pain.

If I truly had a chance.

If I could turn back time and go to the past…

Of course I’d want to return to those happy party days with Dohyun.

With everyone together like back then…

But what would happen to Siho then?

Dohyun had transformed into Siho yet still loved me.

Even with a broken body and in pain, she never forgot me until the end.

She even sacrificed herself for me, was modified like a beast, and even lost her memories.

When I learned that fact, I felt ashamed.

Even she, who must have been most confused, had loved me all this time…

“What am I…”

She looked down at her calloused palm.

Then alternately gazed at the hunters laughing and chatting around her.

Eventually.

She made her choice.

“I’ve decided.”

Jisoo’s solemn declaration.

At those words, the bartender placed an empty glass on the table.

And waited for her answer with reverence.

“The happy old days, I miss them. I too prayed desperately every night to go back to that time.”

“But then I realized. What’s passed can never be brought back.”

“What matters to me now is repaying the person who created those memories with me.”

Her golden eyes, which had been hazy.

Those eyes began to burn red again as if filled with life.

“So, give Siho back to me.”

A brief yet resolute wish.

At that wish, the angel’s face froze in shock.

His red eyes, which had been composed as if knowing all truths until now.

A whirlwind of confusion swept through those eyes.

“What a foolish…”

The angel bartender’s height began to shrink gradually.

His voice also started to change.