Chapter 957. Mood (8)
“Why... Damn it! Why did I...”
‘You’re questioning why you brought me with you?’
“Damn it... I knew this was going to happen... Damn it!” Kim Hyun-Sung shouted.
‘No, I actually had no idea that this was going to happen.’
It felt like I was walking on ice because he was really angry. If I could turn back time, I'd turn back time and do something else. He was mumbling something to himself that I couldn't quite understand, but the meaning in his words was unmistakable.
I was sure he was thinking along the lines of, "Why did I even bring him with me? I knew something was going to happen again. He said he’s fine, but I know he’s not fine. I shouldn’t have believed him. I knew something was off. Look, we're in a dangerous situation again..."
‘Kim Hyun-Sung has become pretty savage.’
Obviously, he didn’t scream all of that at me because he had long realized that he wouldn't get anything out of arguing with me. In addition, he knew that I'd pout if he were to yell at me.
I assumed he'd kick the ground and take his frustration out on the deceased Gelk on the ground. I assumed he'd do that to show me that he was furious. I was convinced that he wanted to show me that he was right and that he knew that this was going to happen.
‘Actually, he doesn’t even have the luxury to do that.’
It was all because he was pretty desperate as well.
“Whoo... whoo...”
‘The members of the strike squad are staring at him. We also need to see what kind of items that monster had dropped.’
“Damn it...” Kim Hyun-Sung cursed. The button to annoy him was pressed, so he was throwing a fit
Actually, Kim Hyun-Sung's reaction was understandable, as it hadn't been that long since I carried the pain of the continent and sacrificed myself for it before being revived.
In other words, the painful memories were coming back to him.
Just as he was starting to look forward to living a happy life. I ended up getting kidnapped, which lit a fire inside of him. The fire within him erupted completely when he heard the words "sacrifice" and "for the continent," causing him to throw a fit.
The word "sacrifice" sounded good to some people, but it was a very frightening word for Kim Hyun-Sung. He was scared of being asked to make sacrifices, and he was terrified of it to the point that he'd feel like having a seizure just by hearing that word or any synonym of it.
In his eyes, the continent was a place that constantly demanded sacrifices from him or from other people.
The moment he thought that only happy days were waiting for him, the word "sacrifice" popped up in front of him again. To make matters worse, the word popped up when he least expected it to appear.
‘Shit, but I really had no idea, man....’
Kim Hyun-Sung looked like he was a mentally unstable patient having a panic attack.
‘Sometimes, he'd have nightmares related to it.’
Sometimes, I'd feel him waking up and throwing a fit due to a nightmare. Right now, he wasn’t in the condition to think rationally. As expected, he gathered the adjutants and declared something ludicrous.
“We need to head back up.”
“...”
“I’m canceling the expedition,” Kim Hyun-Sung added.
‘Cancel, my ass.’
“I can’t let you get in any more danger. There’s something strange about this dungeon. This is no ordinary dungeon, so we must make more preparations,” Kim Hyun-Sung explained.
I had to say something as well.
“Nothing will cancel the expedition.”
“...”
“We’ll continue the expedition,” I added.
“Didn’t you hear it just now? You heard everything that monster said,” Kim Hyun-Sung argued.
‘Yeah, I heard it, but it doesn’t matter.’
“Like you said, there’s something strange about this dungeon. A temple this big, the statue, and the Mole Saint are all just below the Vatican... There must be a legend about the Vatican—I mean, about the 'true' Order that has been missing all this while.
"This dungeon will reveal the truth to everyone. It will reveal where it all went wrong, what kind of mistakes we’ve been making, and why the Templars betrayed the Vatican.
"We'll also unearth a piece of history unknown to the continent, and we'll know the secret that the order has been trying to hide all this while,” I explained.
“T-That has nothing to do with you, Mr. Ki-Young. You—”
“I’m the honorary cardinal of the Order and a believer of Goddess Benigoa. What happened here is closely related to me. I believe there’s a reason she guided me here,” I interrupted Kim Hyun-Sung.
“You are what they want!” Kim Hyun-Sung shouted, continuing his sentence.
“...”
Kim Hyun-Sung was about to throw another fit, but he calmed down before my glare.
‘That’s right. You shouldn’t swear when the holy knights and the priests are here.’
Upon obtaining everyone's attention, Kim Hyun-Sung continued the conversation.
“You heard the monster’s prophecy...”
“...”
“It talked about the Mole Saint's story, who was locked up here all her life. Don’t you think the Mole Saint, who served the continent all her life, resembles a certain someone?
"The beings up there don’t really care about the pain that the humans down here are experiencing and will experience. All they care about is the continent running smoothly, and they’re willing to sacrifice anyone to achieve that,” Kim Hyun-Sung explained.
“...”
“The sudden appearance of a dungeon here is strange as well. This is a trap. Everything looks like a trap to pull you in,” Kim Hyun-Sung added.
‘No, I don’t think so.’
“I’m sure there’s a problem in the system, and I’m sure it needs you to handle that problem. I’m sure the beings up there have chosen you to take the Mole Saint’s place,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.
‘He’s too paranoid. It’s like he’s delusional. One of those beings up there might be me, you know?’
There were parts in his argument that I thought were right.
If the continent really ended up in danger, then it wouldn’t be a bad idea to sacrifice one human being to stabilize the continent.
I wasn't convinced that one of the gods up there would sacrifice themselves, but if they needed holy power, I was sure they'd set that kind of condition—the clear condition to sacrifice a saint with enough holy power to stabilize the continent.
Obviously, it was a lose-lose business venture that would surely make them suffer a huge loss.
I was sure that the only way for them to reduce the initial investment cost was to penalize the Mole Saint, and her penalty was to ensure that she wouldn't see the light again.
‘But I’m sure that's not the case....’ Their mindset and moral principles were different from humans, but they weren’t demons. ‘I’m sure no one up there is that big of a scum; they care about their own children, after all.’
I believed there was more to the Mole Saint's story. A demon could have interfered, or the Templar could have fabricated the prophecy.
“The monster wasn’t in its right mind to begin with, so I don’t think you need to be too worried about it. I guarantee that the thing you’re worried about will not happen,” I reassured him.
“If I were the target, I wouldn't be so anxious, Mr. Ki-Young. Think about all the things you’ve experienced up until now. Can you really say... that this is nothing? Something is off... Damn it...” Kim Hyun-Sung said.
Kim Hyun-Sung was trying not to raise his voice.
‘It'll be easier to deal with him if he just gets angry at me...’
I thought I just needed to stay quiet for him to get mad at me, but he actually stayed calm.
“It’s fine,” I said.
“It’s not fine. You’ve always said that it’ll be fine and that everything is fine now... but just look at the outcome. Do I need to explain each and everything that has happened so far?” he asked.
‘Get angry, Hyun-Sung. Yell at me or something.’
“It was required,” I told him.
“It wasn’t required in the end,” Kim Hyun-Sung argued.
‘If you stay calm like this, I have no choice but to press the button that’ll make you throw a fit.’
“No matter what you think, I believe all of that was needed,” I said.
'Pause here...'
“If... If it’s needed this time... as well—”
“Damn it!” Kim Hyun-Sung shouted.
'He fell for it.'
“Damn it! What’s wrong with you?!” Kim Hyun-Sung yelled.
'He’s angry and worked up now.'
“What the hell is wrong with you that you act like this every time?! Why... why?! Every time! Why do you think about the others first every time?! Damn it! Why?!” Kim Hyun-Sung shouted.
I pressed the button that would make him throw a fit, and he actually threw a fit. I was sure this situation was frustrating for him. He probably told himself that he needed to keep it in, but my remark had to have triggered him, causing him to lose his mind.
He yelled at me, but he quickly realized his mistake.
His glaring eyes soon looked down, and his voice mellowed out.
“You seem really worked up, so I think it’s best if we talk about this next time,” I suggested.
“I-It wasn’t like that. I-I just...”
“I told you that this place was the safest place. Even if we head back up, nothing will change. If this dungeon was truly created to find a scapegoat, they’d just come to the surface someday to look for that scapegoat,” I told him.
'Gelk tried to head outside as well.'
“We can’t block the dungeon entrance forever. The anomalies throughout the continent are getting worse day by day. If we don’t clear it... the thing we don’t even want to think about will happen. As you said, this isn’t an ordinary dungeon, so...” I trailed off.
“...”
“So I believe we should prioritize clearing this dungeon,” I added.
“...”
“That’s the purpose of this expedition, and that’s why all these people are here. I’m not the only one who’s willing to sacrifice themselves to protect the continent. Everyone here thinks the same,” I said.
Of course, there were some who simply came here to hunt, but most of the volunteers had come here with noble intentions.
“I don't want to rip open those wounds; the continent has been through a lot, after all. Everyone is here because they all have something precious they want to protect.
"As I mentioned earlier, the goal here isn't my safety. The goal is to clear the dungeon, and everyone is simply carrying out the tasks that they were given,” I added.
I looked around and saw people cleaning up the area.
The rest treated the wounded or were repairing their gear with their guards up.
There were some who checked the loot that Gelk had dropped.
I wanted to check the loot as well, but I couldn’t do it because Kim Hyun-Sung was in my way. I also saw alchemists and mages gathering samples from Gelk's corpse, and I was proud of them for carrying out their tasks.
I really wanted to compliment the members for working hard.
'Work harder and sweat more.'
“I’m honestly worried about whether you’ll be able to lead this expedition group. If these people end up getting hurt because of you making the wrong decision...” I trailed off.
“I...”
This was the decisive blow.
“I think it’s best if you take a break,” I suggested.
“What?”
“You should cool your head,” I clarified.
'I’m sorry for making you emotional and for pressing that button, but I think you’re too emotional right now. I don't think you should continue being the leader under these circumstances.'
“I’m not telling you to drop out of the group... I just think that you should step down from that position for now...” I told him.
‘It’s a temporary demotion. You understand why I'm doing this, right? I’ll reinstate you once you’ve come back to your senses.’
Of course, I couldn't actually make that decision on my own.
Kim Hyun-Sung actually had the right to refuse on the outside, but he wouldn't be able to refuse, as I was right, and he knew that I was right.
Kim Hyun-Sung was too emotional right now, and he knew that he wasn’t in a position to make a reasonable decision.
He was really worked up, and any thoughts of clearing the dungeon had already disappeared from his mind.
“O-Okay...” Kim Hyun-Sung answered. He looked really dejected, but it was fine.
He wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight, so I decided to cheer him up a bit the next morning.
‘He’s... going to have nightmares... tonight.’
He was definitely going to have nightmares. He'd scream and wake up from his sleep.
‘I guarantee that he’s going to have a nightmare tonight.’
“...”
“...”
At exactly 3:28 a.m. the next day, everyone fell asleep with a minimum number of people staying up as night watch. As expected, I saw Kim Hyun-Sung sitting in front of the bonfire by himself, and he was trembling pitifully.