Chapter 88: Together Forever (2)
The curse will fall upon you.
‘What the hell…?’
As everyone was looking around, I knew I wasn’t the only one who had heard the voice.
“Just now…”
“Priests, please cast the purification spell once more.”
“Yes, alright!”
Nothing was happening as of the moment, but hearing the voice had made us all tense. Honestly, I felt like leaving this place right away.
Lee Sang-hee and the second party remained calm, but our party seemed a little confused.
The curse will fall…
“Can you feel the magic power?”
“No, I can’t sense anything. There isn’t even any divine magic…”
I will curse these intruders…
“Perhaps it is a function that is planted in the dungeon.”
“What kind of curse is it…?”
“We don’t know yet. For now, this voice is our only lead.”
“Step back for now and cast the Holy Defense spell,” Lee Sang-hee ordered.
Suddenly, I felt my eyes turning white from the harsh wind that had suddenly picked up. I didn’t know what was happening. However, I felt dizzy. The urge to vomit was prominent. It felt like the world around me was changing. Of course, this did not seem like an appropriate expression. It wasn’t easy trying to explain what kind of phenomenon we were experiencing.
For a moment, I believed everyone around me was experiencing the same thing.
After the landscape changed, the unknown voice spoke again, appearing a little startled.
Why did you do that?
Why… did you abandon me?
‘Ah…’
A familiar woman stood in front of me. I remembered who she was. She was the one I had left to be eaten by the monsters back at the tutorial dungeon. I believed I had no choice but to leave her to save myself, but I could never forget her. She had chosen to prioritize drinking water and food instead of escaping…
I told myself this to ease my anxiety, but I had always felt sorry.
“What is this situation…?”
I didn’t care about the fact that she was approaching me with her intestines dropping onto the floor; the memory of her being eaten by the monsters still flashed in my mind.
I was frowning, but I wasn’t scared.
I already knew.
‘This is fake.’
It hurt… It hurt so much… I thought you would save me… Instead, you turned your back on me…
“Fuck.”
You are a sad excuse for a human.
“Park Hyaeyoung…”
Even the voice of Park Hyaeyoung, who died because of Jung Hayan, resonated in my ears.
When she appeared, her arms and legs were amputated, and her eyes were full of resentment. I knew their resentment stemmed from the fact that they didn’t choose themselves.
Of course, in Hyaeyoung’s case, it had been possible to save her.
Nevertheless…
‘I shouldn’t feel guilty.’
You always defend yourself with that thought. It was a reasonable choice. I couldn’t help it. It’s a reasonable option. To me, you are the kind of human being that should never have existed.
“Are you even qualified to say that to me?”
It was then that Jung Jinho appeared. Seeing him with a sword stuck to his neck made me feel a little queasy.
It is no different. We are the same kind of person. We are selfish and greedy. Did Seokwoo die because he needed to?
Now the people Sun Hee-young had killed appeared. Those related to me were showing themselves one by one.
‘Was this the curse they were talking about?’
I didn’t think anyone else could see what I was seeing. It was just a hunch, but it felt like the illusion meant for me to see the things or people I would hate to see the most.
I could sense the guilt within me, stirring me up, and it did not feel good.
You killed us.
“Shut up,” I exclaimed. I was getting annoyed at this point.
You only rely on rationalization. You’re a coward.
“What’s wrong with rationalizing? Humans are designed to find rationality,” I snapped back.
And you feel guilty.
“It’s a feeling I can have, of course, but I don’t regret it,” I remarked coldly.
You’re worse than trash.
“Is that all you can say? The fact remains that I am the only one alive, and all of you are not. I will never change. Once a situation like that happens again, I will do the same,” I replied firmly.
Someday, you’ll be here with the rest of us.
“You can wish as much as you would like.”
My vision then began to get much brighter. Those looking at me with those haunting expressions slowly began to scatter, and their insults began to intensify. I fell silent.
It was not pleasant to see the bodies of those who should be dead. My entire body was soaked in a cold sweat. My legs began to shake, and my lips felt dry.
‘It’s fake… This is all fake…’
You think so? Is this fake?
‘Shut up.’
Even after I returned to reality, the voices never left my head.
‘Sh*t.’
You killed us.
‘Sh*t.’
You killed us. You!
‘Damn…’
This was giving me more psychological damage than expected. As I gasped hard, I felt someone tapping my shoulder. I shuddered.
“Get off, right now!”
“Are you okay?”
When I realized it was only Kim Hyunsung, I began to relax.
Yes. All of that was fake. I had to return to reality.
“Ah… Yes, I’m fine.”
Kim Hyunsung had sent a little bit of magic my way.
‘The others…’
Everyone was probably going through the same thing as me, just with different illusions. As expected, an inexplicable landscape came into view.
“Ahh…”
I could see Kim Ye-ri trembling and shaking her hand relentlessly as if to get rid of something. No, it seemed like she was trying to push away whoever was approaching her.
“Stop… Stop. Mom… Mom! Help me! Please save me, mom… Please…”
Judging from what I could hear, she was likely reliving a memory she had back in the slums. I didn’t need to see the scene to know that it was terrible.
Park Deokgu, meanwhile, was crouching. When I saw him trembling without saying a word, I tried my best to imagine what he could see.
Sun Hee-young was also crying. She wasn’t screaming, but blood was running down her mouth. It appeared that they had all been biting their lips tightly.
Of course, the person who showed the most incomprehensible act among them was Jung Hayan.
“I hate it! I hate it… Please, Oppa… Oppa… Oppa!”
“I-I’m sorry… I did everything wrong. Please. Please… I’ll do better in the future. Please don’t throw me away. Please…”
‘Fuck.’
Honestly, I felt like her situation was serious. Tears were running down her eyes, and her nails were stained with blood. She had torn off her flesh with her hands. Seeing that her hair was sparse, it looked she had ripped off some of her hair as well.
“Oh, no…”
“Don’t do that with her. Don’t do that, Oppa. I’m sorry… I hate this! I hate it so much!”
I couldn’t predict just what she was seeing in her landscape. All the other people wore similar disoriented expressions, stuck in their illusions.
Although I could see people waking up halfway through, most of them settled for falling and screaming, confusion evident on their features.
Lee Sang-hee was busy apologizing to whoever she had encountered.
“Sorry. I’m really sorry. Really…”
I could guess what she was seeing - it was her letting down her fellow guild members. Since she had always been worried about the members in danger, I knew it was only a natural reaction.
Hwang Jeong-Yeon, who was crying quietly, also woke up, looking around in mild panic.
Except for Kim Hyunsung, most of those that had awakened were those who possessed high intelligence. They had individualistic differences, but their similarity in intellect was distinct. Jung Hayan’s case might be peculiar, as she was the only one with high intelligence that was still stuck in her landscape.
‘That’s because her mind is unstable.’
“Hyunsung, what happened…?”
“I’ve also just woken up.”
“How long has it been?”
“I don’t think we’ve been here long. I don’t really understand…”
It had felt like hours inside my hallucinations. It was hard to believe that all of it had happened within a moment.
Of course, in my case, I settled for solving the situation instead of grasping it. After erasing the questions lingering in my head, I spoke once more.
“How can one wake up?”
“It would be best to put one’s magic power slowly. Divine magic will be a little more efficient, but… I think it’d be better for Kiyoung to focus on saving Hayan first.”
“Ah… Of course.”
Kim Hyunsung then stepped towards Sun Hee-young’s direction, deciding it would be best to free her first. Hwang Jeong-yeon thought the same thing as she approached her party’s priest.
As soon as I managed to clear my mind, the strange sensation left my body.
I, too, slowly stepped towards Jung Hayan.
“I have to kill…”
‘What was she talking about?’
“I have to kill it all… I have to kill them all. That way, I can become one with my Oppa. Okay. Yes. That’s right. I have to kill them all.”
Jung Hayan continued to mutter in a voice too quiet to be heard by others. I didn’t know what she meant by ‘becoming one,’ but it sure did sound scary. As I quietly approached, pushing in my magic, I felt Jung Hayan gradually awakening.
“We will always be together,” I whispered into her ear.
Knowing Jung Hayan, she would snap out of it soon. And, to my expectations, she did. Her rough breathing slowly stabilized. Seeing that her body had stopped trembling, I knew she would come to her senses sooner or later.
Then, Jung Hayan looked in my direction.
“Oppa?” Hayan asked and tilted her head. Obviously, she was still recovering from her sudden awakening.
“Are you okay?” I asked in a concerned tone.
“F-Fine… Oppa…” she replied.
“H-Huh?”
Jung Hayan tackled me into a tight hug. I felt suffocated, but I couldn’t shake her off.
“Oppa… Oppa, Oppa…”
She kept calling me.
“Yes, I’m here, Hayan.”
As soon as I said this, Jung Hayan dissolved into sobs. It felt like taking care of a child who had just experienced a nightmare, but it didn’t feel all too bad.
You’ll throw her away too.
Although the voices never left me, it was natural for me to ignore them. This was the effect of the curse, after all.
It’s not an effect of the curse. It’s the voice you hear in your own heart.
Perhaps I wasn’t the only one who was hearing voices inside their heads. Even after some of the others had woken up, they continued to talk to themselves.
Eventually, no one will be left by your side. You’ll have thrown them all away. Those next to you will also look at you with contempt someday. Someday…
“Is it really you, Oppa?” Hayan asked.
Only
“Yes, it’s me,” I replied.
“It’s really Oppa…” she remarked. Her facial expression went from miserable to hopeful instantly.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Jung Hayan’s anxiously spoke, trying to make sure that I was real, that this wasn’t just another illusion. It made me wonder what kind of voice she was hearing in her head.
I gulped while I continued to look down at Jung Hayan.
‘This doesn’t feel right…’
Jung Hayan’s condition didn’t seem too stable.
In fact, she seemed like a bomb that could detonate at any minute.