Chapter 74: Purgatory (3)
She didn’t know how she came to feel these emotions.
She would’ve scolded herself in the past, thinking, ‘Why on earth would I feel this way about such a person?’
A plain appearance and frivolous speech.
Elements that the past her would’ve disliked entirely.
But now that she had let everything go, none of that mattered.
Sob, sob, hiccup.
She cried, letting her tears flow more than she ever thought possible.
Wailing would be the correct term. The strange experience of pouring out her emotions to another person raised questions within her.
Why, of all people, did her emotions ebb and flow in front of that man? Why did her tears, which she had held back, spill out before him?
Upon reflection, the answer was already clear.
Having released those gloomy emotions, she naturally started acting out.
The situation she found herself in.
The fact that people who had been brainwashed were slowly returning to their senses and the stress it brought her.
All those rising emotions were vomited out onto him.
And that man didn’t mind becoming her emotional trash can.
In fact, he did embarrassing things he wouldn’t normally do, as if trying to help her regain her unstable mental state.
He was the only person who had been this caring towards her since her father.
It was then that she realized she was deeply attached to something.
After spending the whole dawn together, Jin Dallae returned to her dormitory and sat on her bed, calming her pounding heart.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
Her heart wouldn’t calm down.
Her cheeks still felt warm, and as she stroked her stinging cheeks, Jin Dallae closed her eyes and smiled.
Even though she had deceived herself, now she was sure of her feelings.
Jin Dallae: Thank you for yesterday.
Jin Dallae: (Emoticon of petals shyly greeting)
Jin Dallae: I’ll take good care of Shiba, so please train hard!
Having checked the message on the phone, I sent an emoticon of an OK sign to Dallae.
Me: OK!
That should be enough.
Seeing Dallae struggle yesterday made me hesitant to leave.
‘I can’t help it.’
I stayed with her despite Cheondo’s words telling me to hurry back. Any more interference would be overstepping.
As a result, I got hit on the head with Cheondo’s pipe and grew another lump on my forehead, but that was a trivial matter.
“So, sister, how do you go to that place called Purgatory?”
I asked while still sitting on my dorm bed, biting into a chocolate bar and glancing at Hwangdo.
Hwangdo, who had tied the sleeves of his large gonryongpo around her waist, grinned and hugged me.
“Purgatory isn’t a place you can just go to openly. Because it’s managed by the World Hunter Association, you can’t go there through legal means.”
“So, how do you get there?”
“Sister, who are we?”
Suddenly? But I played along with Hwangdo’s joke lightly.
“Peach Friends.”
“Then who am I?”
“Cute brother?”
“Hehe, sister, you’re funny. I’m not the cute one. You are~”
Hwangdo laughed and stood up, clashing her middle and thumb fingers together, producing a sound. A large staff made of a banyan tree appeared in her hand.
A tremendous magical power condensed at the tip of Hwangdo’s staff, and the sound of year-round knocking could be heard.
“The person sister has accepted as her little brother~”
Hwangdo wrapped her arm around my shoulder without holding the staff and proudly shrugged her shoulders.
Vroom, vroom!
“I’m a grand sorcerer!”
Teleport.
Circular patterns made up of rune letters covered the entire room of the dorm.
I knew about it from before, but her casting skills were definitely top-notch. I frowned at the glowing red light.
Flash!
A flash occurred before my eyes, and the space changed.
“Arrived.”
With Hwangdo’s cheerful words, I opened my eyes. Because of her exceptional magical operating ability, I didn’t even feel dizzy, which is a chronic problem with teleportation.
The place we arrived at was like a medieval temple with long, towering pillars. Spotless magical engineering marble lined the floor, and in front of it floated an opaque magic circle that seemed like it would burst at any moment. The pungent smell of lime was impressive.
“Where is this?”
“Purgatory’s entrance.”
The atmosphere of the voice changed, and when I turned my head, Cheondo was leisurely walking towards us with her hair neatly braided.
“A dungeon for those who want to face trials, a foundation of fate, whatever you call it, but I don’t have any good memories of it.”
Following behind Cheondo, the foul odor hit me as I walked on the hard marble.
“It looks more like a mosque from the medieval times than a dungeon… something like a cultural heritage.”
“Some say it used to be a castle where a king resided. But in fact, only the one who built the dungeon would know.”
Cheondo took out my shoes from her bag and handed them to me. I put them on and draped a thick protective suit over my body.
‘I’m getting nervous now that I have to do it.’
I buckled the multiple layers of belts tightly. All of these were high-quality equipment prepared by Cheondo. The protective suit itself could protect me from a fatal blow in one hit.
The magic circle was not too far away, so we were able to reach it quickly.
Cheondo extended her hand to the magic circle without telling me to get ready.
“Are you nervous?”
“Yes… How can someone not be nervous when the master says so.”
The magic circle began to operate. Because it hadn’t been activated for a while, the sand dust that had piled up around it rose up.
Despite the sandstorm whirling around, the place where Cheondo and I were standing was as calm as the eye of a typhoon.
‘This is a suspicious power.’
I glanced at Cheondo, who was pouring out her magical power. Her serious face, with a bead of sweat rolling down her cheek, was briefly visible.
The space around us twisted and cracked as the surging magical power writhed within it. Were we entering the dungeon? The moment Cheondo barely took her hand off the magic circle, she looked at me with a dizzying gaze.
“I’ll say it again: it’s going to be tough.”
Another warning came my way. I think I couldn’t possibly understand what kind of humiliation I was going to face in this dungeon since I had never experienced it before.
My body floated for a moment.
Trial.
At some point, people started to believe that overcoming trials was a natural hardship.
Grand heroic epics. Wonderful stories breathe in the legends inside them.
There were not a few who were intoxicated by them and challenged the trials. They harbored vain and foolish dreams, disguising themselves as heroes. In reality, these foolish simpletons dive in as if they have become movie characters.
The reason for this foolish act was clear. It was because no one remembered those who couldn’t overcome the trials. Humans didn’t necessarily call something a trial only when it could be overcome.
Purgatory frustrated many and ruthlessly took away the breath of those who lost their dreams.
So, the world branded Purgatory as a dungeon, never to be casually challenged again.
It sublimated the deceased into a melodramatic piece. The goal, of course, was to prevent many hunters from dreaming.
Cheondo also scoffed at the idea of diving into the trials. Hearing her words, I thought to myself, if it was foolish to challenge the trials of Purgatory, then wasn’t she the most foolish for throwing her disciple into those trials?
-Drip.
The sound of water dropping was heard.
A pure white room. A wide space that was just bright with no trace of human civilization.
“Have you awakened?”
With a throbbing forehead, I stood up and heard Cheondo’s voice nearby.
It was always the kind voice of a teacher I was used to hearing.
“…The trial?”
Cheondo was sitting about a step away from me, taking out various items from his artifact pouch. From furniture to various foods, water, cigarettes, and more… He was thoroughly prepared.
Cheondo gestured towards the center of the white room.
“If you take the gate over there, the trial will begin. If you cannot break through, you will not be able to leave this place. Understand it as a comfortable situation.”
Was this place a rest area, then?
I did not fully understand as I had not yet seen the inside of the dungeon.
As I was about to reach for the central gate after tightening the seams of my protective suit, Cheondo spoke from a distance.
“There is no need to rush. Have a cup of tea here first.”
“…Yes.”
I returned to my place and sat next to her. I had never lost out by listening to Cheondo’s words.
Swoosh.
Soon, I was holding the tea that Cheondo had handed me, and something caught my eye.
As she sat gracefully, something was growing on the back of Cheondo’s neck.
A strange branch imbued with magical power was growing from Cheondo’s neck.
“Do you see it?”
As I stared at it, Cheondo asked with a smile. I nodded hesitantly.
“They call it mistletoe. I didn’t know that mistletoe, which parasitizes on wooden bodies, actually existed.”
Mistletoe. A parasitic plant that clings to trees and sucks their sap.
But why was it suddenly attached to Cheondo?
I felt my cheeks twitch.
“You seem puzzled. Well, I had no intention of hiding it, so I must tell you.”
Cheondo put down her tea.
“Those who take the trial must have appropriate restrictions.”
She spoke calmly, yet ruthlessly, about the reality.
“Do you know why I am here?”
“…No.”
“I have staked my life as a restriction for your trial. If you fail, it is not you who dies but me.”
My eyes twisted.
Cheondo’s smile remained emotionless.
“So, go ahead and face the trial with ease.”
I doubted my ears.
If I failed, someone would die?
Danggrurur.
The fallen teacup rolled endlessly on the floor. The spilled water slowly spread out. Cheondo did not bother to pick up the teacup.
“Looking at your surprised face, you seem to think of me as a good relationship.”
Rather, Cheondo seemed pleased to see my shocked face and muttered to herself.
“Wait, wait. Did you just say that you staked your life on my trial?”
“What’s wrong with that? It’s not strange for teachers to stake their lives for their disciple.”
“That’s completely strange. Why would you do that?”
Cheondo looked at me as if I was the strange one.
“It’s natural.”
“No… Ugh.”
I couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh.
No matter how much of a disciple I was, it was an incomprehensible mindset to stake one’s life for someone I had only known for a few months.
Did she not know the value of her own life? Who was I that she would go to such lengths for me?
While I was speechless, worry began to flood in.
“Purgatory will provide a trial fitting for the restriction. There will also be corresponding rewards. Don’t worry. If you overcome it, nothing will happen. Or do you lack confidence?”
This was insane.
It was not a matter of whether I had confidence or not. Cheondo, who was continuously smiling at me, was sitting there endlessly.
My eyes kept going to the mistletoe that had grown above Cheondo’s neck.
Certainly, even if it was just a little, Cheondo’s energy seemed to have weakened.
“I wonder if a week will be cutting it close.”
Cheondo looked at the leaves floating in her teacup and commented. Perhaps that was the length of time she could hold on.
“You are definitely insane.”
“That’s a nice thing to hear. It means you’re living life well.”
Squish - I stood up, and the sound of water splashing came from below my feet. Annoyed with the puddle, I reached out and activated the gate.
The belt around my waist was full of potions.
“This is driving me crazy.”
I had to escape this Purgatory as soon as possible. My hand reached out to operate the gate.
Cheondo, who was sitting behind me, simply brought the teacup to her lips and offered a few words of encouragement.
“Struggle all you want-”
The words were blurred as I passed through the gate.
However, by picking out the faint words I could hear and piecing them together, I soon understood their meaning.
Struggle all you want.
For that will become your full strength.
I couldn’t even muster a hollow laugh at the words etched in my mind.
Washing my face with dry hands, I stretched my feet forward.
The world unfolded before me.
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