Chapter 147 – Area 1 (4)
“Also, help… , Request.”
Fast!
Finally, words worth hearing came out.
It’s not the answer you want, but it’s a narrow step within the range of answers.
Like the way he still speaks rudely, and the way he grinds his teeth at the end.
I wanted to send it back one more time, but I decided to just put up with it.
“I don’t really like it, but… , For now, I’m not satisfied with that much.”
Living in the world, there is no such thing as a thing that I like 100% or an ideal situation.
Even if it can be created in the first place, that is a problem in its own way.
If I don’t hold anything in my hand, the only thing I can aim for with that hand is the back of my head.
If I have 90%, I need to put 10% in the opponent’s hand to make them think for a moment before they go after me.
“Then the battle is over.”
As soon as the words are over, the goal of the 50 fireballs prepared with the negotiation card is reset.
Goodbye, tentacle friend.
It’s been a while, but our compatibility was the best.
“Sigh.”
Suppressing my pounding emotions, I pour fireballs at the guy who still doesn’t send a single tentacle in my direction.
Puffup!
Pew-!
Go to a spectacular fireworks display in front of her, and she watches with her wide-eyed eyes a dying tentacle monster struggling in the flames.
Coo wow…
The masked woman’s neck vibrates as she looks at the tentacle monster that weeps bitterly.
You probably think you’ve done a good job asking for help by now.
You might think that if you did something wrong, you might have been the person who would have died in that flame.
Well.
If the masked woman had rejected my offer to the end, what choice would I have made?
I’m not sure either.
After the tentacle monster’s corpse had completely melted away, the still bubbling fire was removed.
Unsurprisingly, there is an old notebook in the place where the black smoke rises.
“Bingo.”
He picks up a notebook that has not lost its original form, only being scorched in the hot fire pit.
In the meantime, the masked woman, who suddenly came to her senses, aimed her sword at me.
“For a moment.”
“What.”
“That notebook… , You don’t intend to watch it alone, do you?”
Apparently, he was worried that I would jump out with the notebook.
I’m worried about nothing.
“No way.”
It might be so if her purpose in holding her hand was simply to obtain this notebook.
To be precise, at first I thought of it to some extent, but I changed my mind halfway through.
Another use for her came to mind while killing the tentacle monster.
“Choose.”
“… What do you mean?”
She waved her old notebook at her, shooting out her youthful eyes.
“Do you want to see it together, or will it be taken over after I see it?”
After thinking for a while, the masked woman opened her mouth.
“I will see you together.”
Then he slowly came closer to me with hesitant steps, and stopped walking about three steps away.
It seems that I have calculated in my own way that the minimum safe distance to evade an attack is three steps when I launch a surprise attack.
“… Can I see you there?”
“Suffice.”
“Heh.”
A snort leaked out of me involuntarily at the confident answer.
That woman still seems to have lost her self-objectification.
Why don’t you know that if you set your mind to it, it’s useless even after 30 steps instead of three steps.
“Then I will open it.”
【X month XX day 2XXX】
【I found a door that was firmly closed deep inside the church that I used as a base for.】
【I tried to open the door to see where it led, but failed.】
[I tried to push, pull, and hit her hard with a hammer, but she didn’t get a single scratch.]
【We were more concerned with surviving than this door, so we eventually gave up on opening the door.】
【But sometimes, whenever I pass near the door, I get curious.】
【What the hell is in there?】
It’s a tightly closed door that won’t scratch even if you hit it with a hammer.
“It looks like you’ve found the answer.”
“I agree.”
“The question is, where is the cathedral? .”
“… Ugh, um.”
The way he reacts to the questions I spit out is very unsatisfying.
As I turn her head toward her masked woman, she turns her head to follow me.
“I-I think it would be better to separate and search for it.”
“… Probably so.”
“Then I will go over there.”
The masked woman who unilaterally decides the direction I need to go and walks briskly.
“For a moment.”
The guy stopped at my call and turned his back with a firm gesture like a machine.
“Is there anything more to say?”
“Yes. What are you going to do with the signal?”
“Signal?”
“… I think sending a signal when you visit the cathedral is a duty to keep while holding hands.”
“Ah, that’s right! Right, um.”
The masked woman continued, flustered like a person with something poking her.
“If I find it, I will shoot a large sword into the sky. Will it look good then?”
“Great. Then let’s set off the flames this way. A huge flame like the one that just swallowed the tentacle monster in one breath.”
When she said it in a slightly intimidating tone, the masked woman’s momentum faltered for an instant.
However, that’s for a while.
“Heh, whatever you like.”
I snort and turn my back.
“Enough then.”
After she finished speaking, the masked woman threw her body over the open outer wall.
She landed lightly on her floor, disrespecting the height of the 7th floor, and started running toward the direction she set herself without looking back once.
Like someone who has already decided where to go.
“… Should I follow you?”
If this is enough, she just didn’t say anything, but maybe she expressed it with her whole body to follow me.
* * *
The masked woman’s footsteps, which had been running frantically to get even one step further, stopped.
In front of her eyes, as if it wouldn’t be strange if it collapsed right away, a building with cracks on the outer wall like a spider’s web stood precariously.
The masked woman looked at the crucifix crushed under the pile of cement near her and finally let out a laugh that she had been holding back.
“Ahahaha!”
The moment she discovered that the door to her sanctuary was hidden in the cathedral, she said she exclaimed inwardly.
Because she first fell here and wandered, not knowing what to do, the first thing she found was this cathedral.
Back then, I thought the building was about to collapse, so I only glanced at the entrance, but now I have a reason to enter.
“Whoa… , Great.”
She took a deep breath and entered the church.
Just before entering her entrance, she remembered an appointment with her man who held her hand forcibly, but soon erased it from her mind.
“Hmph, it was an unwanted ally.”
She was an ally she never wanted.
In fact, she was elusive to even see her as an ally.
She herself was only threatened to the last.
If it was a true alliance, she would have kept her faith forever, but there was no trust within her to protect against that rogue.
“Sheesh…”
Still, she felt some remorse, but she shook her head vigorously to clear her thoughts.
After all, he also knows that the cathedral has a door leading to the sanctuary.
Even if he doesn’t tell you, he will find a way.
But he only takes longer to find the way.
‘This is the price for insulting me.’
Thinking forcibly to lighten her heart, she stepped into the cathedral.
The dreary interior, devoid of any good things, as if there had been an uproar.
She moved slowly forward, keeping her hand on the hilt of her sword, wary of her attacks.
“It must have been somewhere deep inside the cathedral…”
A masked woman who pauses for a moment and ponders.
Where should she go to reach the deepest part of the cathedral?
“Um… !”
The time when I was deep in thought.
A sudden voice suddenly relieved her worries.
“What are you thinking about? Of course you have to go downstairs.”
“That’s right, underground… !”
For a while, she was delighted with the unexpected hint.
Realizing that it was a voice that should not be heard here, her body and thoughts hardened.
Again and again
The clear sound of footsteps.
Kim Do-jin passed the masked woman who was stiff with her leisurely steps, and she turned her back.
He looked down at her hardened gaze with her dry gaze and opened her mouth.
“Are you ready to pay the price for breaking your promise?”
“Kuh… !”
The masked woman, who had been posing as if she were going to draw her sword at any moment, soon let go of her stance.
As he said
She broke her promise.
Even though it’s a coercive cooperative relationship with a despicable method, isn’t a promise a promise?
If I hadn’t met him, I would have turned a blind eye.
However, he had to pay the price he faced.
Because she didn’t have her harsh personality enough to confront and force her opponent who broke faith.
“… I will pay the price.”
“It’s nice to be cool.”
As a small fireball was created at the fingertips of Kim Do-jin, her masked woman bit her lower lip tightly.
By the time her hamstrings tingled, the thought of the tentacle monster that had been dying in the fire pit roared in her head.
The fireball that stayed at his fingertips was shot without warning.
“Sigh… !”
The masked woman closed her eyes tightly.
As she braced herself for the pain she would soon feel, an unexpected situation unfolded.
Pew!
She doesn’t feel her pain, which should have arrived by now, and suddenly she hears a small explosion from behind herself.
Surprised, the masked woman hurriedly looked behind her.
There, a zombie, unknown when it appeared, was burning silently.
She was so startled that as she was clutching both bats at her beating heart, a voice came from behind her.
“You can only watch it once.”
For a while, I was taken aback by the unexpected treatment.
She answered in a firm, determined voice.
“… Keep in mind.”
She thought.
That the man in front of her might not be as bad a person as she thought.
* * *
She seems to have met an interesting human being.
She told me to pay the price, but I never thought there would be people who would willingly give up their bodies.
Is it pure or stupid?
Look at it now
She pretended to be tolerant and looked at me once, and then I saw her leading the way with her back straight as if she had a strong relationship with me.
“… This is a natural monument.”
Suddenly I began to feel remorse.
In fact, I only watched it because it still has some use value…
She scrambled through the cathedral building and found a passage leading down to the basement.
We arrived at the 4th basement floor after clearing out the large debris blocking the stairs.
A long hallway with a bleak wind spreads out in front of you.
And at the end of it, I see a dimly old door.
“Somehow, that seems like the final destination.”
“I guess so.”
“I will take the lead.”
The Masked Girl walks forward as if it were natural.
I naturally followed her.
At the end of the corridor we finally reached.
“Hmm…”
She looked around at the decrepit door in front of her and asked me.
“Would you like to go in first?”
I shook my head.
“Go in first. I don’t care if it’s next.”
In fact, the reason I brought her mask girl here was because she had something I didn’t have.
It is the key that opens this door.
Suddenly, I had that thought.
Is it possible to enter through the crack in the door opened by the person in front, or not?
It seems unlikely, but I decided to give it a try.
You have to go down anyway, right?
In order to test the possibility, the situation inevitably has to yield to the masked woman.
It must have been very touching for her.
“… I owe you in many ways.”
If you see that you are making a ridiculous mistake.
The untainted illusion feels quite burdensome, but it is manageable enough.
“Pay back later.”
“I will.”
It was like getting a small hand that could be used at the right time for the innocent woman in front of me.
“Then let’s open it first.”
The masked woman took the key out of her arms.
As I was about to insert the key into the hole under the doorknob, she suddenly turned to me.
What.
Did you notice anything strange about me?
Just as her tension was about to rise, she opened her mouth.
“Let’s share the common name.”
“… Full name?”
“Yes. Because if you want to pay off your debt, you need to know something.”
“So, are we going to exchange names with each other?”
At my question, she shook her head.
“No, it is each other’s number that is shared.”
“Number…”
It’s not like I’m randomly sharing my phone number.
The number she said is probably… , It must be referring to the order in which the ‘person with qualities’ was acquired.
If that’s the case, it’s definitely suitable for a common statement to share while hiding information.
While I was admiring her inwardly, she first gave me her number.
“I am number 496.”
The back number is not much different from mine.
I expected it because it was weaker than I thought.
So now it’s my turn
“Nice to meet you, Number 496. I… , Number 504.”
The moment I said my number, her eyes widened slightly.
Why do you do that
“No way… , That crazy guy at the face-to-face meeting?”
“… Madman?”
He’s a crazy person all of a sudden.
Could it be that I’m being treated like a crazy person because of my shocking performance back then?
“Somehow, I thought he wasn’t a normal person, but I didn’t expect him to be number 504…”
Is it my mistake to get the feeling of saying the word crazy?
Muttering to herself and admiring her, she raised her head and spoke to her.
“Thank you for your generosity with me, number 504. I will definitely pay this debt.”
Why is it that every time I see those straight eyes, a smile comes out helplessly?
“I’m looking forward to it, number 496.”
After a brief greeting with her eyes, she turned around and resumed the action she had stopped a moment ago.
Slide her halfway key all the way into the hole and turn her wrist.
Clap!
The doorknob turns naturally with a sound.
Eventually, the door starts to open silently and without a sound.
All that can be seen through the cracks in the door is darkness.
“Then go first.”
She said her final goodbyes to me, then pushed herself right through the door.
The masked woman disappears as if being sucked into the darkness between the cracks in the door.
I watch the scene blankly, and when the door starts to close, I hurriedly follow her.
I tried to force my arm through the crack in the door.
Tuong!
“Ah.”
The darkness that had absorbed me well in number 496 a moment ago pushed me away.
“Neither can I.”
Is it after all…
Eventually, the damn thing happened.
I went through hardships, but I had to go back after looking at the old door, let alone the sanctuary.
“Ehh.”
She let out a small sigh and took out the kkeumseul that she put in her pocket.
A guy with an innocent expression, as if he doesn’t know anything.
“If he didn’t eat the key, he’d be a flawless guy…”
Ugh.
When she let out a deep sigh, Kkiseul, who was sitting still on her palm, suddenly jumps and jumps.
I raised my head and looked at him, wondering why he was suddenly like this, but something amazing happened right in front of my eyes.
The pudding-like, bouncy body of the guy suddenly flowed down and the shape began to change.
The cute and cute appearance of Kkeemseul disappeared and what was left in her palm…
“Key?”
It was the same type of key as the one he picked up and ate.
