Chapter 534: Hidden Piece (1)
The incident had started several hours ago. Before arriving at Mirror Lake, I had been busy with many things. The guild members’ moods were better than usual for finally getting a vacation after so long. The atmosphere had also become livelier.
After arriving back in the city, I unloaded my luggage and ate a proper meal to recover from the long ride.
I spent a very satisfying meal, eating the city’s delicacy, mirror salmon. It was so tasty that I, as picky as I was, had eaten two plates by myself.
Park Deokgu and Ahn Ki-mo started the meal with plates stacked up in front of them, and Elena also couldn’t hide her surprise while eating the food.
‘Well, it was that tasty.’
We didn’t come there with something special in mind, so it felt more like a trip to me. That was how excited I was about Mirror Lake.
“I’m really looking forward to it. A-Are you?”
“Yes, I thought I would be able to see the lake as soon as I arrived here, but I guess that’s not the case.
“To heighten your expectations, we reserved a restaurant that was far away from the lake. It will probably be even more satisfying that way, wouldn’t it?”
“I’m sure you will really like it, Vice Master. It’s hard for me to say for myself, but the place is really romantic.”
“…?”
“Hyung-nim, what are you looking so surprised for? I told you that we came here with Jeong-yeon-ssi before. Anyway, if you are done eating, we should get up now. It’s the prettiest around this time.”
“There’s actually another entrance besides this, but the boat that Deokgu-ssi brought is too big for us to go through that one. The carriage is probably waiting for us, so we should go there slowly. Get up now. Guild-master, you too.”
“Ah… yes, alright.”
I saw Kim Hyunsung get up. I couldn’t help but smile at how he looked like a young man on a package trip. It felt like he was finally acting his age. His friend next to him, Cho Hyejin, probably had the same thought.
“You must be enjoying yourself.”
“Don’t say such nonsense. Vice Master.” He responded to me sharply. However, he and all the rest of the guild members moved with a very pleased look on his face.
So far, we were all satisfied with Park Deokgu’s package trip. Things looked prettier on a trip where our stomachs had been satisfied.
Like a famous tourist destination, the tracking course was decorated very nicely, and the atmosphere was almost perfect. At this, we moved a bit, and I couldn’t help but scream at the sight in front of me.
As if to deny my fears of “what if it’s a little disappointing?”, the Mirror Lake showed off its majesty and why it was a representative tourist destination in the country.
The lake was as wide as an ocean- no, the sight made me feel sorry to say it was a lake. Although it was such a cliché expression, as if jewels had been embedded into the place, it sparkled, causing my jaw to drop as I witnessed the scene.
“It’s beautiful.” Kim Ye-ri, who wasn’t good at expressing her emotion, spoke.
“I feel like I am becoming purified… as if my sins and fears are disappearing.”
Han Sora’s tears never dried. Yes, she needed some healing time.
“After falling here, I thought I saw all kinds of things, but this is the most fantastic view I’ve ever seen.”
Yoo Ah-young couldn’t hide her surprise. “How could it also be so tasty?”
There was also Kim Chang-ryul, who asked a rather strange question. “That hadn’t been revealed yet, Kim Chang-Ryul-ssi.”
The one who answered him was Deokgu’s girl, Hwang Jeong-yeon. “What do you mean by that?”
“It’s just what I said. They are still trying to find answers like why the lake reflects the sky like a mirror or what the group of lights is. However, they can’t find any answers. Scientists are still studying them, but I don’t know. To be honest, I don’t want them to find the answer. Isn’t it more romantic to watch without knowing?”
“I also want to know how the lake’s salmon can live here when there isn’t a farm nearby.”
“What are you wondering that for? Isn’t it enough that it’s so pretty to look at? Isn’t that right, nunim?”
“Ah… yes, yes, that is true.” Jung Hayan nodded vigorously as if the view still shook her.
And before I realized it, she was in my arms. Elena also kept taking glances at me.
They must have expected a romantic scene, but it wasn’t very easy to show something like that in front of everyone.
“It’s too early to be surprised. It’s more of a speckling if you go inside.”
“You mean spectacle.”
“Well, those have similar meanings. Even in an atmosphere like this, why are you correcting me… let’s board quickly. Hurry up, everyone. We are going to see it anyway, so we should see it on a nice boat. Come on, Hyung-ssi.”
“Alright.”
Kim Hyunsung got on the boat as if he was a tourist boarding the tourist bus. Once we were inside, although the boat’s interior was a bit rough, I could see how much effort went into it. It wasn’t only the appearance. There were many luxurious elements spread around.
The big boat began to move towards the lake, and I could hear Kim Ye-ri shrieking. Ahn Ki-mo looked satisfied as well. The view definitely looked different up close than far away. It felt as if I was flying in the sky on that boat.
I felt like the view could rival with the World Tree in the Elf Kingdom, and in reality, there wasn’t that much of a difference between them. We still couldn’t see the lake’s end. The gigantic boat made waves inside the water, and the sky shook with the wavering lights.
I didn’t know where she had learned it from, but Jung Hayan stretched out her arms and looked at the lake in front of us.
“O-Oppa… please hold me from behind.”
‘Don’t do things like that… Hayan.’
Of course, I knew better than to break the mood in a situation like that.
In the end, I grabbed Jung Hayan’s waist slightly and heard her chuckling. Sun Hee-young and Elena watched us with satisfaction while they waited their turn. That also included Kim Hyunsung.
Seeing Cho Hyejin’s face, it seemed like she really wanted to do that too. However, her senseless partner probably wouldn’t even notice it.
I heard cheers from behind and heard praises about the scenery, and Park Deokgu looked prouder of himself as they continued.
After a while, when I felt the boat start to sink slowly, I looked at Deokgu, but he nodded at me with a reassuring look. The boat completely submerged into the waters.
‘Wow, sh*t, it can even go below the surface…’
The view was enough to purify a low-level demon in an instant.
I didn’t think that the lake’s interior would be that interesting to look at and had thought its beauty was only on its mirror-like surface. It wasn’t something anyone could explain using Earth’s logic.
Seeing a light pass by her, Cho Hyejin reached out her hand unconsciously.
I didn’t know if it was divine power or magic, but I thought I could use it as my next material for some reason.
“When did you make something like this?”
“I called some magicians. This is the first time we did it, but it seems that everything ended well.”
“It really did… This is the best way to look at the view.”
“Do you feel like your soul is cleansed?”
‘Well, not to that degree…’
“I mean, do you feel like the darkness in your heart is fading away?”
“Thank you, Deokgu.”
“I wanted to hear that, but it hits differently to actually hear it. Look at that school of salmons moving.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“I definitely made the right decision to bring you all here. Nunim also seems happy about it.”
“I feel like I am inside a blue and white universe.”
“Ahh, that expression… it’s poetic. Let’s follow the salmons to see where they’re going.”
“There won’t be any problems, right?”
“If a problem were going to arise, it would’ve already happened. What are you so worried about? We have Hayan Nunim here. Hyung-nim, don’t worry about anything and just enjoy the view. You can look forward to tomorrow and the day after that. Let’s go!”
‘This little sh*t is too excited.’
I began to feel a bit nervous because whenever Park Deokgu acted like that, an accident would follow. However, the scenery made me quickly forget. It was so beautiful that even Han Sora was shedding tears.
It wasn’t weird to cry at the scenery, but she looked as if she was getting saved.
‘Well, she did help me support a demon.’
Unlike Jung Hayan, she must’ve been swimming in an ocean full of guilt. As the audience began to feel more satisfied, Park Deokgu gestured widely.
With growing confidence, he steered the boat and made me laugh. Everyone enjoyed it in their own way, but I was sure that the person enjoying it the most was Kim Hyunsung.
As I became more and more delighted by it, his expression became brighter.
Truthfully, I was kind of getting tired of the scenery after twenty minutes, but for Kim Hyungsung, who had worked so hard, I showed all kinds of reactions.
‘I should do some lip service.’
Since their goal was to restore my mental state, I wanted to make them feel like they had fully completed their goals.
He looked satisfied to see my fake expressions. It was as if he would ask me if everything was alright since everything was finally all over and if I was fully satisfied with everything.
“Wow!”
‘Ah, he is dying of happiness again.’
“Whoah!”
‘Hyunsung, this is also a very tiring thing to do.’
“It’s amazing.”
‘Ha, people are going to think that I made this lake with this kind of reaction.’
“I think it’s better because… it’s so big and wide.”
‘Ok, it’s enough that you like it, Hyunsung.’
“Ok, then, let’s wrap this up and resurface now. Grab onto something and hold on tight!”
It was over. I thought about what my reaction would be when we were on top of the lake.
‘What…this?’
As the boat got back out, we saw a completely different scenery than we had seen.
“Sh*t… What is this?”
The mouth of a huge wormhole greeted us.
“Open sail! Open sail! Open saiiiiiiiil!!!!”