episode_0130

43. Thank you for coming to the rescue! (1)

It didn’t take long to recover the fragments of the divinity.

Since Ji-sung oppa had already defeated all the guys, Hyun-seok oppa and I slowly looked around and ended up looking for the guys with the fragments of the divinity in the form of ‘black crystals’.

” Ugh… ”

Unlike when I first retrieved the fragments, now that I could sense something of the divine nature, a sensation swirling within the fragments flowed into me.

Rather than feeling bad… it was a feeling of longing for something, so the desire to want that something stirred inside my heart.

” Are you okay? ”

When I almost recovered everything, my brother spoke to me, probably worried about me groaning every time I absorbed the fragments.

‘Thump, thump.’ The heart starts to beat more strongly.

As if, a feeling that was swirling in the debris, it was telling me the ‘desire’ of longing for something.

I tried to ignore the whisper and smiled faintly at him.

” Okay, it’s okay. Yeah. Anyway, since this is the end, let’s go back. Everyone will be waiting. ”

I hugged my brother’s hand and pulled his body towards me as I moved. He had an uneasy expression on his face, and then he tapped my head with the hand on the other side of where I was pulling him. He told me to tell him if I had a hard time and followed my movements towards the tent.

A sensation that flowed in from the fragments. When absorbing the energy of Thanatos, that is, the fragments of the divinity.

At that time, I thought… that was what was keeping me from… suppressing my sexual desire. Because it happened every time I absorbed a fragment…

But now that I have realized divinity and become somewhat accustomed to it, it is not like that, but rather, my ‘desire to long for something’ has become stronger.

In my case… it was the feeling of love that grew stronger.

Why does such a ‘desire’ appear from something that contains the divinity of Thanatos?

I can’t think of any reason right now, but… if I ever meet Thanatos in person… I might find out.

What the guy wants.

*****

When we returned to the tent, the three who had gone back first greeted us with quite serious expressions when they saw me and Hyunseok oppa coming in.

As I slowly sat down on the chair, my sister handed me the device and opened her mouth.

” Before you guys came… I got a call. ”

” Contact…? To whom? ”

” Choi Young-wol. ”

What did I just hear? Who contacted me?

” Is that true? ”

When Hyunseok asked his sister on my behalf, who paused for a moment because she had heard an unexpected answer, she nodded and touched the device, and then the voice was heard.

[ This is… Choi Young-wol. I just escaped the demon and entered the building. Urgent… Requesting rescue… This is… the memorial hall next to Namsan… ]

[ Tried to escape with the reconnaissance team, but lost everyone in the attack of the ‘unfamiliar demon’… ]

[ Please, if there is anyone listening to this radio… please help… ]

With those words, his contact was cut off.

It sounded pretty urgent. Yeah, that’s just what it sounded like.

Given the clues we’ve gotten, this is…

” Do you think it’s a trap? ”

Yeonseo looked at me and asked with a meaningful smile, and I nodded.

” Yeah. I think we should first check if other people heard this rescue request. A location signal suddenly appeared and now they’re making this rescue request? That’s ridiculous. ”

” I think so too. As soon as we got back to the tent, we got this distress signal. So I tried contacting other people like you said, but no one knew. ”

” Really? ”

As she listened to Yeonseo’s story and looked at her older sister and brother, they both nodded and said that they had contacted their acquaintances, but that they had not heard any news about the rescue request.

” Then… After all, is this… a trick to us? While hiding his true identity until now. ”

” Wait a minute! ”

Suddenly, my brother hit the table and shouted at us.

” What if… what if… Yeongwol isn’t the culprit? ”

” Brother… ”

” I know, me too, but there were also guys who used multiple abilities, and they could have mimicked abilities we don’t know about? So… ”

” I know what you’re thinking. It’s not like I can’t be wrong. But that doesn’t mean I’m not suspicious of him. ”

In response to my words, my brother simply lowered his head and clenched his hands tightly on the table.

Enough to make your skin turn white.

” So let’s go and check it out for ourselves. ”

” What…? ”

” You said that you could find out if you talked to him directly, right? So let’s go and meet him in person. Choi Young-wol, let’s go along with that person’s intentions. ”

My brother thanked me with tears in his eyes and said he would go and rest first today as he headed towards the blanket. My sister Ji-ah followed him, saying she wanted to talk more to comfort him.

When her brother and sister were out of sight, Yeonseo grabbed my collar and

” Are you sure you’re okay? Honestly, I think that guy is the culprit… But even if he’s not, there’s no need to put yourself in danger… ”

” I know. But anyway, he’s the one who holds the clue about Mr. Doosik. ”

” That’s… that’s right. Sigh, when we actually meet, I’ll have to hit you hard. You’re causing trouble. I didn’t like you from the moment we first met. ”

” Haha… Me too. ”

Hyun-seok also agreed with Yeon-seo’s words, saying that he didn’t like it, but he would play along with Choi Young-wol’s lies, and he slammed his fist into his palm to show his determination.

So we spent time talking about what we would do if we met him, and then my sister, who had already gone to bed, went to bed early after hearing that we had to leave early the next morning.

In the darkened room, I thought back on what I had gained today.

The changed appearance of the reconnaissance team that Choi Young-wol was a part of. The story he told me, which was different from my brother’s story. And the broken axe and leather belt that were Uncle Du-sik’s weapons that were found with the crystal.

Because of these, I thought Choi Young-wol was the culprit. However, seeing my brother with tears in his eyes, a thought occurred to me…

What if I’m wrong? What if I used his powers to steal or copy his abilities?

I couldn’t sleep because of the whirlwind of thoughts that kept appearing, even when I tried to count the sheep jumping over the fence.

As I was about to get up from my bed, tossing and turning under the blanket, someone hugged me.

My brother’s voice asking in a quiet voice if I can’t sleep.

As I nodded to his question, he hugged me tightly and turned my ear to where his heart was.

The sound of his heart pounding, thumping. The thoughts that had been appearing one after another disappeared and the sound of his breathing, along with the regular sound of his heartbeat, came to my ears.

My eyes began to close at that sound, and when I opened them again, Yeonseo was looking at me with an annoyed expression on her face.

*****

We quickly leave the department store building where the reconnaissance team’s remains were and ride Yeonseo’s summons.

Even on the way to the place that Choi Young-wol had mentioned, who had sent the rescue signal, I could feel numerous energies. My sister’s expression, who was able to detect it, gradually became more serious.

When we almost reached the Namsan Line 3 Tunnel, my sister changed direction and said let’s go somewhere other than the tunnel.

Judging from my sister’s reaction, who had a very serious expression on her face, there must have been a lot of demons in that tunnel.

Let’s follow my sister to the city center and stop at the road parking lot below the memorial hall.

” Now all we have to do is climb up here. Are you all ready? ”

When everyone nodded to that question, my sister also seemed to have prepared herself mentally, closed her eyes, and seemed to feel something.

” There were quite a few demons in the tunnel earlier. But there will be more demons up here. The type is… wolf. So it will be a ‘demon wolf’.

But looking at the current situation, there may be evolved entities, and entities like Lycan Slope, so everyone should move carefully. ”

With those words we headed up the road.

I drove up the road and saw signs at the entrance that said Science Exhibition Hall, Seoul Metropolitan Government Education and Research Center… The sign behind it was too corroded to read due to the devastation, but I headed in.

A large number of human presences can be felt at the entrance. The howling sounds and the smell of beasts can be heard because there were beast-like demons gathered there.

And then the sound of footsteps starting to move. At that sound, I quickly drew my sword and shouted.

” Sister, stay with Yeonseo. Yeonseo and Sister, go to a place with fewer demons! Brothers, go with me! ”

” Then, everyone be careful. Let’s go, Yeonseo! ”

” Yes! Don’t worry, I’ll protect you, sister, so go wild! ”

” Yeah! Thanks! You too, be careful. ”

Yeonseo took out her summons and started to fend off the demons rushing towards us, while her older sister used her ability to head to an area with fewer demons and stay away from us.

There were many demons who fell after being hit by the summoner’s arrows, but because there were so many of them, they didn’t care and continued to rush towards us.

” Phew, see you later! ”

Ji-seong Oppa spun the debris around him and quickly ran towards Yeon-seo and her older sister.

” I’ll go the other way. Should I be careful? ”

” You too, oppa. ”

Hyunseok Oppa used the wind to fly into the sky and started intercepting the demons from a distance in the air.

” Okay. Choi Young-wol… I don’t know what you’re thinking, but… you’ll have to tell me everything you know. ”

I kicked the ground as I slightly turned the two swords I held in both hands and thought of Choi Young-wol, who had called us here, rather than the demon in front of me.

What on earth was he thinking in calling us here, why he betrayed my brother, and why he took Uncle Doosik away.

” I really have to say this. I’m pretty… upset right now. ”