episode_0294

The reason was unknown.

No, there was nothing to guess.

But it was clear that an explosion had occurred and hot, strong winds were coming out.

“Pfft…!”

I gritted my teeth and strengthened my legs to endure it, but that was it.

There was no means of withstanding the strong wind on the narrow wall.

I felt like there was no reason to hold on in the first place, so I jumped to the floor in no time.

“Are you okay!?”

“Well, I’m fine. Uncle…?”

“I’m fine too. Rather…”

We both stared into the pit at the same time.

Was it because the flames and hot wind from the explosion swept through the wall?

The things that served as glue slowly melted away.

Liquid dripped onto the floor.

The crushed car was crushed again and screamed.

Hot steam continued to escape through the cracks.

It looks as if a living person is burning alive.

I was lost for a moment and looked at it, then came to my senses.

Because the melting of the liquid that served as adhesive meant collapse.

So, I grabbed the man and shouted.

“Uncle, let’s step back first!”

“How did this happen…?”

“I don’t know either. Maybe… it couldn’t overcome the weight.”

The structure was built with great adhesion.

Other than this, there was no rational reason that immediately came to mind.

I also wondered if there was any other reason than that.

In any case, it was clear that I had to step down.

So me and him ran until we felt it was safe enough.

He ran a little further from there, but I didn’t.

Why why?

We need to make sure it’s over.

So, I was thinking of approaching after the explosion was over.

However, the moment I tried to approach, the structure crashed down.

Even though cars were hitting the structure, the fire did not stop.

No, it actually seemed like it was burning more intensely using the cars as fuel.

Then, I had the ominous feeling that I had made eye contact with the devil in the flames.

“Uncle, get down!!!”

“…Yes!”

The moment I cried out like that, I also fell down.

Another explosion occurred along with hot wind sweeping the surroundings.

The explosion that occurred this time was more like a volcano than a bomb.

When I barely came to my senses and looked up, I saw something erupting upwards.

I wasn’t sure what was erupting, but one thing was certain.

A pillar of fire several tens of meters long is burning fiercely.

“…Mister, are you okay? Why am I mesmerized?”

“…It looks like the pillar of fire seen in the Bible.”

“I was thinking of something else.”

The pillar of fire soared like that and never tried to go out.

No, rather, the flames continued to spout out of the pit and gained momentum.

Even though I was already tens of meters away from the wall, I could feel the heat.

I already knew in my head that I had to do something.

But in this situation, all I could do was watch.

It’s not like you can bring a huge fire extinguisher and put out the fire.

So I just watched in a daze until the pillar of fire went out.

It was clear that the man was just overwhelmed by the sight of the pillar of fire.

I just kept my mouth open and my eyes fixed on the pillar.

Fortunately, he didn’t seem to be as mesmerized as Kang Il-seok or the others.

How long has it been like that?

The pillar of fire that burned fiercely for several minutes slowly died down.

And where the fire disappeared, a very long pillar appeared.

It wasn’t very thick.

It looked like I could hold even the thickest part.

However, its length seemed to be taller than that of most buildings.

It would probably be no exaggeration to say that it is over 100m.

“Mr. are you okay? You’ve come to your senses, right?”

“I came to my senses, but… what is that…?”

“I don’t know either. But I think it’s true that it’s ominous.”

“Sinister…?”

“Yes. As you can see, it’s green.”

Since ancient times, green has meant ominousness in this world.

It’s not just poison or anything, there are zombies.

It is not strange to be suspicious of something living or non-living as long as it is green.

But that pillar in front of you is also green?

The pillar that was created while trying to burn that cocoon?

Of course there was a need to do something about it.

I don’t know how to handle that, but whatever.

You didn’t come all this way thinking about that, right?

So, even though it was difficult, I tried to walk forward.

But something was strange. No, it was quite strange.

I didn’t even walk a few times, but my vision suddenly changed.

It was hard to breathe and my head hurt like it was going to explode.

So… I feel like I have a bad cold.

The reason was soon found out.

When I put my hand on my head, it was very hot.

I think the problem was probably the hot wind that blew in when I dragged him out.

I didn’t really mean to, but I was in front of you, right?

Thanks to this, my body blocked all the wind and my body temperature rose.

Considering the difficulty in movement, it would have exceeded 36 degrees at best.

Should I consider myself lucky that I didn’t get burned?

“…Damn. Uncle, please help me.”

“Trigram, are you okay? Ugh, what is this!?”

“It’s nothing special, but I feel like my fever has risen a lot…?”

“Well, can you walk?”

“If someone catches it… it’s probably possible.”

“Good. Hold on tight…!”

After nodding, I managed to hold the man’s hand.

I was so glad that it was still chilly.

The farther you got from the pit, the colder the air got.

So when I came out of the castle gate, I was able to breathe smoothly.

Of course, it is still difficult to move properly.

I felt like I was going to throw up if I moved even a little more, so I just sat down.

Anyway, I needed to take a break and then investigate that hole.

As soon as he saw me sit down, he got down on one knee.

Then he lightly tapped my cheek a few times and asked me a question as if he was worried.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. But I’ll just stay here for a while.”

“Because of the heat… right?”

“Yes. There’s no other reason. You can see that my skin is red.”

“Is albinism okay?”

“Oh, that? That’s…”

Is it because my head tastes bad because of the heat?

I almost confessed the truth, so I kept my mouth shut.

It’s okay that I don’t have albinism, but I’m a saint.

So there’s no need to say I’m a possessor.

So, I closed my mouth for a moment, took a breath, and then opened my mouth again.

“It’s a lie. I was wondering if anyone would recognize me.”

“I see… I’m glad.”

“It’s not like I can’t move or anything because of that.”

“Yes. Please rest well. I’ll be back soon!”

Instead of answering, I nodded.

I think I thought about it a little while ago, but there’s really no need to come back.

The reason I came here in the first place was because I planned to solve everything on my own.

Still… it didn’t feel too bad.

The same goes for Park Si-hyuk and his colleagues. That guy is like that too.

I feel like we became friends quickly, perhaps because we went through a lot in a short period of time.

Is that why?

It wasn’t a bad thing because I felt like they were genuinely worried about me.

In the past, I would have reacted more sensitively, but not now.

I now had the time to enjoy the favor instead of rejecting it.

“Phew…”

After that, I continued to take deep breaths and pat my head for several minutes.

Even though the weather has warmed up, it’s still cold, right?

But even though some time had passed, there was no sign of the fever going down.

Still, it didn’t mean I didn’t fall at all, so I felt like I could slowly move.

So I tried to get up, but I saw the man’s face across from me.

When I wondered what on earth he was doing, I saw him bringing some sort of container.

There was some kind of liquid inside the container, and it was sloshing every time the man ran.

The man came all the way here without stopping and put down the container.

Then, he leaned forward, took a moment to catch his breath, and then began to explain.

“This is cool water in the water tank.”

“Ah.”

“Try to cool off with this…”

“Can I use it to wash my body?”

“This is water that you can’t drink right away anyway. And then you have to go there again.”

The man was right.

I needed to find out what that damn pillar was for.

At least I couldn’t just leave it without trying anything.

Didn’t you say that if you pull out your sword, you’ll have to cut down Murado too?

If you light a fire and a pillar comes out, you should at least try to break it.

So, without hesitation, I picked up the can and poured it over my head.

“…Ugh!”

A moan escaped me.

It was so cold that I thought it might have been taken from a freezer rather than a water tank.

But thanks to this, the fever was able to cool down quickly.

So now all that’s left is to investigate it.

“Uncle, I’ll ask some other people for you while I’m back.”

“Please take care of yourselves. We’ll be waiting!”

After smiling, I ran back toward Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Perhaps because some time had passed since the lights went out, the heat around the area was much less.

Thanks to this, I was able to run to the pit without any problems.

The pit in question that we arrived at didn’t look hot at first glance.

There was no haze or any red-hot heat.

I stepped carefully just in case, but there was no pain.

So, you can think that it has cooled down enough that there will be no problem.

So I slowly fixed my gaze on the pillar.

The pillar had not changed at all from when I saw it a few minutes ago.

A height that seems to be taller than most buildings. Even the thickest stem is thick enough to be held in one hand.

Even though I can’t tell in detail what it is, it still feels like it’s solid.

“Why on earth did they make this…”

I asked that question, but the answer was already decided.

So, I slowly adjusted my grip on the baton and found the optimal posture to break the pillar.

And without hesitation, he swung his baton for several minutes afterwards.