Ch.51Underground Ruins

“This…”

*Flap-!*

After fluttering my wings and descending for quite some time, the seemingly endless darkness suddenly cleared away, revealing an alien space.

I couldn’t help but think of the word “ruins” first.

That’s because the scene unfolding before my eyes was very similar to the “Underground Ruins” area that appeared in Blood Carnival.

The tall stone buildings had naturally weathered, apparently unable to withstand the passage of time, and were covered with unidentifiable plants.

That wasn’t all. The traces of people remaining here and there made me imagine that people had actually lived here in the past.

I’d never heard of such underground ruins existing in Korea.

If such underground ruins existed beneath an ordinary city, they would have already been discovered and turned into tourist attractions.

The world is constantly changing.

Even at this very moment.

“Ah! Lady Charlotte!”

At that moment, a familiar voice came from below.

Looking down, I saw Hwang-gu in her girl form, jumping up and down in place.

As I expected, she must have fallen down while passing through the passage.

“Hwang-gu!”

I folded my wings and approached Hwang-gu.

As soon as I landed on the ground, Hwang-gu rushed into my arms.

Seeing how she burrowed into my embrace without a word, she must have felt extreme fear while being alone.

I set Aurel down on the ground and hugged Hwang-gu.

A sigh escaped me.

Though I hadn’t consciously realized it, I must have been extremely worried about Hwang-gu.

How frightened this small child with lost memories must have been.

Hwang-gu remained silently in my arms for a long time.

Meanwhile, I was concerned about how to get out of this place.

Looking around, all I could see were tall stone buildings.

The floor was also made of solid stone bricks.

“Hwang-gu.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know where this place is?”

I asked Hwang-gu just in case.

But as expected, Hwang-gu simply shook her head, seemingly still unable to recover her memories.

“By the way, why is Aurel like that?”

“Oh!”

What was I thinking?

I checked on Aurel’s condition as she lay on the ground.

Placing my hand under her nose, I felt a small breath flowing slowly.

Even when I activated my Mystic Eye to examine her body, there didn’t seem to be any problems.

It looked like she had simply fainted.

“Do you know where this place is, Lady Charlotte?”

“Hmm… well…”

I trailed off.

Judging by the surroundings, it seemed to be the area I remembered, but I couldn’t be certain.

I looked up at the sky and sighed.

If I could have flown freely through the sky, I could have returned through the place we fell from…

It was the first time my shadow wings seemed useless.

“Let’s look around for now.”

Hwang-gu nodded at my words.

She naturally picked up Aurel, who was collapsed on the ground, and carried her on her back.

“Um, please hold this…”

Then she handed me the leash handle.

A leash while not in wolf form would definitely draw negative attention from others.

Just as I was about to refuse, I realized why we had fallen here.

It was all because of Hwang-gu’s curiosity.

If I had firmly held onto Hwang-gu’s leash, this wouldn’t have happened.

I sighed and wrapped the leash Hwang-gu handed me around my wrist.

“Hehe…”

Hwang-gu smiled with satisfaction at the sight.

I wandered through the ruins with Hwang-gu.

Despite having neither moon nor sun, the interior of the ruins was strangely bright.

There weren’t even any light sources.

“Hmm…”

While walking, I stopped in front of a large stone pillar and reached out my hand.

The cold touch of stone against my fingertips.

Even when I activated my Mystic Eye, there wasn’t much information to be gained.

I tried to recall my hazy memories.

Memories of the “Underground Ruins” that appeared in Blood Carnival.

The Underground Ruins were set as a city where ancient vampires once lived.

Of course, it just had that plausible setting attached, with no further lore developed afterward.

Later on, it was just used as a simple farming map.

That was what the Underground Ruins area was.

“There’s nothing here…”

As Hwang-gu said, the ruins were completely empty.

It looked as if only the map data had been extracted from the game data and implemented.

There were no farming items that would respawn in the field, nor any Fusion Bodies that would act as monsters.

“Will we be able to get back?”

“We can get out.”

I spoke with confidence.

If there was an entrance to get in, an exit must also be implemented.

However, no matter how much we wandered around with Hwang-gu, we couldn’t find anything that looked like an exit.

“Sigh…”

I sighed and sat down.

As if following my lead, Hwang-gu also sighed and sat down beside me.

As I was smiling at that sight, Aurel’s voice suddenly came from behind.

“This is the Underground Ruins, isn’t it?”

“Eek!”

Hwang-gu jumped up in surprise at Aurel’s voice from behind.

Aurel smiled lightly and landed on the ground.

Seeing her move normally, it seemed Aurel was also fine.

“You know this place too, Aurel?”

“Yes, of course. I’ve been here a few times for quests.”

Aurel smiled as if recalling old memories and began looking around.

But soon she noticed something strange and tilted her head.

“There’s nothing here?”

“Right. Nothing at all.”

“Could it be that the patch isn’t complete?”

“Hmm…”

I looked up at the sky and nodded.

Then Aurel stretched both hands toward the sky.

“Oh God!”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m asking God for a favor. To finish the patch quickly so we can get out of here.”

“You think that will work?”

“Yes!”

Aurel nodded with a bright smile at my words.

And then she began to wish to the God in the sky.

“Oh God! Please proceed with the patch quickly!”

I sighed watching her.

As if God would listen to such a request.

I watched Aurel with skeptical thoughts for a while.

Hwang-gu, who had been sitting down, suddenly stood up and began wishing to God like Aurel.

She must have found Aurel’s behavior amusing.

“Oh God!”

“Oh God!”

The Underground Ruins stretched endlessly, and there was no exit in sight.

In such a situation, with both children wishing to God, I felt like I was losing my mind.

“Haah…”

“Oh God!”

“Oh God!”

Aurel and Hwang-gu continued wishing to God even as we walked.

After some time had passed like this.

Suddenly, light began to flash in the sky.

*Flash-!*

“Gasp…!”

“Gasp…!”

“Gasp…!”

Aurel and Hwang-gu were startled by the light in the sky.

Of course, I was quite surprised too.

Could it be that God actually came in response to the two children’s wishes?

“Oh God!”

“Oh God!”

Aurel and Hwang-gu stretched their arms toward the light.

At that moment, pillars of light began falling toward the ground.

Moreover, there wasn’t just one pillar of light.

Tens, no, hundreds of pillars of light fell down.

“Could it be…”

I gaped blankly.

“Wow! Lady Charlotte! God has granted our wish!”

“Gasp…!”

I led Aurel and Hwang-gu to where the pillars of light were falling.

There, bright red potions had fallen.

“It’s items!”

“Items!”

And not just items. The pillars of light were bringing down things that should be in these Underground Ruins.

Things like Fusion Bodies or interactive objects.

Even an item shop was being created in the distance.

“Oh my…”

Could it be, really?

I looked up at the sky.

No, it must be just a coincidence.

Isn’t that right? The entire map was already created. The next step would naturally be to place things appropriate for this area.

If, if God really intended to grant people’s wishes, the world wouldn’t have changed this much.

I stretched my hand toward the sky.

“Oh God!”

“Gasp… Lady Charlotte is making a wish!”

“Making a wish!”

My wish is…

I closed my mouth.

Certainly, when I first awoke in this world, I had some kind of purpose.

But as time passed, that purpose naturally disappeared.

What was it? I remember having that purpose until before arriving in Seoul.

But I can’t remember.

It was as if a hazy fog had settled over it.

“Lady Charlotte?”

Aurel looked at me with concern as I stood silently with my hand raised.

Memory, memory, I need to recall the memory.

I tried to recall the memories that had sunk deep within.

Then, fragments of memory began to surface with a rush.

No, that’s wrong.

There are too many memories. Not just my memories, but the memories of other vampires I had absorbed were surfacing.

“Ugh…!”

I clenched both hands tightly.

Then I drove those tiny fists toward the wall.

*Thud-!*

“Eek…!”

“Gasp…!”

Aurel and Hwang-gu looked startled at my sudden emotional change.

I was sorry for the two children, but I had no time to apologize right now.

My head was hot, and my stomach churned.

I felt like I would burst if I didn’t scream.

In frustration, I pounded my chest and shouted loudly.

“Haaaaaaaa!!!”

Black shadows spread in all directions, reflecting my complex emotional state.

After shouting once, I began to calm down a bit.

I sighed and opened my mouth.

“Oh God… if you’re listening, please show us the way out of here.”

In the end, the wish I made was for what we needed right now.

After making that wish, how much time passed?

There was no particular response from the sky.

“Oh God!”

I wished several more times after that, but the result was the same.

I sighed and sat down.

As expected, there’s no way someone like God would grant wishes.

In Aurel and Hwang-gu’s case, it was just a coincidence.

“Lady Charlotte!”

“What?”

“There’s no one else here but us, right?”

“I guess so…?”

“Then all the Fusion Bodies that appear here are ours, right?”

“Oh…”

I nodded blankly at Aurel’s words.