episode_0082

“Hahat, what’s so unfamiliar about the ceiling. It was unfamiliar because it was the room I was guided to by Noah yesterday…”

Swallowing dry saliva, feeling eyes trembling.

“It must be…?”

The reason the sentence ended with a question mark was because everything from the color and appearance of the ceiling I saw before falling asleep was different. Not only that, even the texture of the blanket covering me was different.

‘Let’s stay calm.’

Isn’t there a saying that if you keep your wits about you even when caught in a tiger’s den, you can marry a well-behaved tiger?

After barely calming my confused mind, I rolled my eyes back and forth.

The gray ceiling I had seen before falling asleep had turned into a deep brown wooden ceiling, and the single bed had changed to a queen-size bed.

The new white blanket was thick like silk, but soft and had a very pleasant feel against the skin.

I moved my head slightly to observe the changed space more clearly.

“Gasp…!”

The room where I had fallen asleep originally was a room of a size that could be called a “one-room” apartment. Compared to that, this place was incredibly spacious, to the point of being apologetic. It was the size of an apartment with about three rooms (38 square meters).

There was a soft carpet on the floor, and two large terraces were located at both ends of one wall. Between the terraces, there was a large window, so the room was bright without needing to turn on any lights.

One of the terraces was slightly open, letting the wind blow and causing the white curtains to flutter.

In the middle of the room, there was a sofa and a table, and on the wall side, there were drawers and bookshelves that looked expensive. A luxurious wooden desk was also set up in one area.

Bed – Sofa, Table – Bookshelf, Desk.

It was divided into three areas side by side. Different carpets were laid in each area, making the space look separated.

‘What is this expensive-looking room? Could it be that I’ve possessed someone else’s body?’

I urgently pulled my hair to check its color. A new, shoulder-length white hair came into view. Then I checked the back of my hand. The mark of the magic sword was shining brightly.

“Phew… thankfully, it seems I haven’t possessed another body. But… when did this start shining?”

The magic sword, which had been sucking blood every day, was developing all sorts of strange abilities. After gazing at the faintly glowing mark, I sighed softly and got up from the bed.

“For now, let’s put aside the matter of the mark on my hand and first investigate where this is.”

I cautiously began to survey the room.

“Ah! My bag, it’s here!”

Thankfully, my bag was lying in one corner of the room. Since I couldn’t continue wandering around in my pajamas, I took out clothes from the bag and changed.

I was worried about what would happen if someone came in, but fortunately, no one did. After changing into everyday clothes, I headed towards the terrace.

“I shouldn’t go out through the door and run into enemies. Let’s roughly confirm where we are.”

Not knowing where this was, I couldn’t move recklessly.

From inside the room, the entrance to the terrace looked like it had two parts, and the two terraces were connected, making it quite spacious. I passed by a tea table and chairs to look outside.

“Where is this?”

Everywhere I could see was filled with lush green leaves of trees. It didn’t seem to be the place where the headquarters of the Nest was located.

“Hmm, huh? Is something visible far away?”

Besides the forest, it seemed like something else was visible in the distance. I grabbed the terrace railing and leaned forward.

“It doesn’t seem like a building. Is it an incredibly large wall?”

There was a wall-like structure visible in the distance, so high that its end wasn’t visible. I squinted and looked at the huge wall. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the wall was translucent. Leaning further forward, I muttered,

“That’s not a wall, it’s—”

“Lian!”

The moment I tried to hold a different answer in my mouth, a screaming sound came from behind. I was startled and stiffened, naturally leaning forward.

“Oops…!”

In my head, I was thinking, “Huh? Am I falling?” when someone rushed up and grabbed me from behind.

Staggering, thud.

Thanks to that, I couldn’t fall backward. Instead, my body swayed and hesitated before collapsing onto the terrace floor. In an instant, my vision changed completely, leaving me disoriented.

After belatedly regaining my composure, just as I was about to express my gratitude to the other person…

Thud!

A rough hand grabbed my shoulder.

“Seriously! What were you doing standing there!?”

“Huh?”

Facing Noah’s distorted face, I felt like I had done something terribly wrong. I rolled my eyes.

“Well, it was dangerous, but it’s not enough to kill me. This height is okay, right?”

‘Sorry, I made a mistake.’

Ah.

I belatedly realized that my thoughts and words had come out opposite to what I intended. Glancing at Noah’s face, he seemed to be shocked, his mouth hanging open.

It was the expression of someone facing something incomprehensible. I immediately raised both hands and said,

“No, that’s not it! I meant base jumping! I misspoke because base jumping is familiar to me!”

***

“Base… jumping…? What’s that?”

The fact that Lian was pulling himself out onto the terrace was shocking, but his nonchalant attitude about it was even more shocking.

Noah suppressed the scream rising to his throat and waited for Lian’s excuse. With patience, Lian unhesitatingly uttered dreadful words.

“It’s a game where you tie yourself with a rope and jump from a high place.”

“What?”

“I was forced to try it at first, but it wasn’t as scary as I thought.”

The bungee jump that makes the sky fly in one punch was a plaything no different from the swing Noah used to ride in his childhood.

The problem is that there is a random chance that the bright smile and jumping figure becomes a memorial photo.

“I’m just a fool who mistakenly thought I had a rope on me right now, hahaha. Sorry if I worried you.”

“…”

Noah couldn’t say anything in response to Lian’s apology.

‘This, this… No.’

In Noah’s eyes, Lian seemed to think that the terrible accident that almost happened earlier was really nothing at all.

In his apology, Noah keenly noticed that it meant nothing more than ‘I’m sorry for surprising Noah.’

“Dropped from a high place with a rope tied? And forced to do so?”

His pain was clearly evident in his words, casually spoken as if talking about trivial everyday matters. However, he remained oblivious to his own pain, wearing a nonchalant expression.

It felt as if he was facing a child who, completely unaware, was laughing as if nothing had happened. Noah felt his throat tighten and his eyes burn hot.

He couldn’t pinpoint where he had been broken from, so his lips wouldn’t move.

Tying a rope around oneself and falling from a high place is not something that should be done. It’s never okay just because you can endure the pain. Such thoughts swirled in his mind, but he couldn’t bring himself to shout them out as if to force them upon him.

He didn’t want to hurt someone who was already covered in wounds.

“By the way, Noah, where are we? I was surprised because this isn’t the room I fell asleep in.”

“…Where you slept yesterday is where regular employees stay. All the executives live in this building. It’s a place that shouldn’t be known to the outside world, so I brought you here secretly when you were asleep.”

“Oh! Ugh, I was surprised without knowing that! I thought I was kidnapped! Hahaha!”

Lian tried to lighten the mood with a hearty laugh, but Noah’s mood only sank deeper.

“Thrown out onto the terrace after being kidnapped?”

In an instant, a dreadful experimental scene flashed through Noah’s mind. Recalling that scene, he could understand why Lian had tried to throw herself off the terrace.

“You were not okay at all.”

Lian always said so. She claimed she would recover quickly and be fine. Not in pain, not suffering.

Noah had always been taken in by Lian’s bright smile as she spoke. But it wasn’t true. It wasn’t.

His insides were already rotten, on the verge of collapse at any moment.

“Noah, the floor is cold. Let’s go inside.”

He never hesitated to extend a hand first for others in such situations. Gathering around his warmth, they would unknowingly conceal his own wounds.

Without taking Lian’s hand, Noah stood up, biting the inside of his cheek.

He would become someone to rely on, not someone relying on others. The foolish person who used to cower and cry was no more.

Her eyes flashed a deep blue.

***

“He seems really angry…”

Wiping his hand on his pants, Noah rolled his eyes as he sensed the severity in his gaze.

“Ah, I should be more careful next time.”

Certainly, one shouldn’t roam around recklessly in someone else’s house. With that thought, he headed into the room.

Before long, Lily, Jess, and Iris came over. Iris rushed over as if my side was her designated spot.

Jess hesitantly sat down beside my legs, resting her face on my knees. As I absentmindedly stroked Jess’s head, a meal was set on the table.

“Oh, if you’d told me, I would have gone to the restaurant.”

“It’s more comfortable to eat in the room.”

Lily smiled as she swallowed and said, “Wouldn’t it be better to eat in the room from now on? Since we don’t have any plans to go out anyway.”