Chapter 184. If You Knew, Then Why the Hell…
First, I decided to take a moment to think.
‘Yes, Yeokcheon (逆天) really is the answer.’
This wasn’t a leap or a wild guess.
Like I said, the only special things I had compared to others were a kinder heart than most and Yeokcheon (逆天)—just those two.
If the spirits trapped in the ruins felt something special, it had to be Yeokcheon (逆天).
‘Of course, there is one part that bothers me….’
Lost in thought, I lifted my gaze from the floor and looked at Myserln sunbae.
At some point, Myserln sunbae had moved over to the iron door and was examining it together with Demian and Chenbi, and I carefully watched his expression.
What I meant by “bothers me” was this.
‘If the spirits in the ruins really felt my specialness, and that specialness was Yeokcheon (逆天)… then why didn’t Myserln sunbae notice?’
Even if it was too much to expect him to figure out that what I carried was Yeokcheon (逆天) or a grimoire, it still felt like he would’ve sensed something odd.
But after watching him closely these past few days, it didn’t seem like Myserln sunbae had noticed anything at all.
Then there were two possibilities.
‘Either the spirits in the ruins have something special… or Myserln sunbae knows and is pretending not to.’
After thinking that far, I immediately shook my head hard.
Before suspicion toward Myserln sunbae could take root, I redirected my thoughts.
Now that I’d come all this way, even if Myserln sunbae had ulterior motives, there wasn’t much I could do about it anyway.
Let possibility remain possibility.
Anyway.
‘For now, it’s better to think the spirits in the ruins are special.’
Then there was only one thing I needed to think about.
If the spirits in the ruins were special enough to recognize Yeokcheon (逆天), and they believed Yeokcheon (逆天) was the answer to opening the door… could I, as I am now, actually open that door?
There was a method worth trying.
‘Blink (Blink).’
A spatial leap.
If you couldn’t open the door from the outside, attacking it from the inside might be one way.
Sometimes, barriers are sturdy against external impact but can’t withstand impact from within.
My 고민 started there.
First: if Blink (Blink) was the answer to opening that door—
Second: could I really show this power in front of Myserln sunbae?
To be honest, there were plenty of small questions beyond that.
If the spirits considered Yeokcheon (逆天) the key (Key) that would save them, then unless they’d foreseen a future where I saved them, it meant they’d seen Yeokcheon (逆天) before.
Could these ruins be related to Yeokcheon (逆天) somehow? And if so, could something like Destrow be lurking here again?
Things like that….
‘Honestly, the odds are low.’
If that were the case, based on my experiences so far, Yeokcheon (逆天) would’ve reacted first.
So if I set those aside, the final question was one thing:
Was it okay to reveal this power in front of other people?
On that point, two opposing thoughts rose up.
One was—
‘You learned it to use it anyway, so why are you worrying?’
—a perfectly obvious opinion.
And the other was this:
‘Still, spatial magic… no, I don’t use mana, so it’s not magic. Anyway, moving through space is pretty extreme, isn’t it? Could it cause trouble?’
It was the kind of worry someone might call timid.
But it’s fine.
Because I am timid.
My heart is just wide, that’s all.
Anyway, as I wrestled with those two opposing thoughts… honestly, the answer was already decided.
“Myserln sunbae.”
“……?”
“I’ll try opening this iron door.”
“……Did something come to you?”
It had “come to me” since before I fell asleep last night. I just hadn’t made up my mind to step forward.
Anyway, I nodded with a resolute expression and waved Demian and Chenbi away from the door, shooing them off.
And then, the iron door I faced alone.
I focused my mind.
Soon, the sense I call “spatial sense” awakened and encompassed everything around me. The “space” I’d only felt with sight now pressed against my skin.
Yes—there was no way to describe it except “pressed against my skin.”
A sixth sense that couldn’t be explained by the five senses of seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching.
And when I fully opened that spatial sense—
In this moment, neither the massive iron door nor the barrier that severed space could become any problem for me.
‘This… will work.’
After thinking that far, I glanced at Myserln sunbae.
“Sunbae, I was right here, but—”
Jjjuuuung—!
A strange, hollow tearing sound rang by my ear.
Staring at the changed scenery, I finished what I’d been saying. No—I tried to finish it.
“Now I’m not—mm.”
If you move through space like this, there’s no one left to hear the back half of your line. I hadn’t thought that far.
Anyway, getting inside was good, but….
‘How do I open the door now?’
Do I just push it from the inside?
I took in the pitch-black space, then raised one luminous stone I’d quietly pocketed earlier, floating it up to light the surroundings.
And in that moment—
I saw it.
Ching… chingching.
Chingchingchingching—!
Countless lights blooming in the darkness. Along both sides of the walls of a straight corridor, lights flicked on in a sweeping chain.
Are they candles? Motion-sensing magic lamps?
No. Neither.
They were….
“Mm. Golems.”
Yes. Golems.
Countless golems lined along the walls to the left and right turned their bodies toward me, the crystal balls embedded in their heads shining.
I thought.
So they exist—no, that’s not it.
There were two choices.
First, fight.
Second, fight together.
The 고민 didn’t last long.
‘Of course. Pain should be shared. Isn’t that what comrades are?’
That aside… this door. If I open it from the inside, it opens, right?
I placed both hands on the massive iron door and shoved with all my strength. The thought, ‘Wait, isn’t this a pull door?’ flickered briefly.
Grrrrrgg—!
With a thunderous groan, the iron door slid open.
Nice.
Through the gap of the opening door, I saw the familiar faces and beamed. Then, seeing three pairs of eyes widened to the size of lamp wicks, I flung the door fully open.
Grrrk! Bang!
With the door thrown wide, I stepped aside and spoke.
“Go, Demian.”
It was time for adventure.
…But why was it?
The one who reacted wasn’t Demian.
“……I hate golems.”
Chenbi of the twisted netherworld, sortie!
In the end, the battle ended so anticlimactically it felt empty.
The moment I stepped aside, Myserln sunbae grasped the situation and moved first, but should you even call this a battle?
No. It was a one-sided massacre.
After Myserln sunbae snapped his fingers—snap!—the time it took for dozens of golems to shatter was only 7.84 seconds.
So what happened in those 7.84 seconds?
Grrrrrgg—!
The ground trembled.
Kwaduk! Kwaduk, kwajik!
Suddenly, dozens of stone pillars shot up from the walls, the floor, and the ceiling and swallowed the golems whole. How can stone pillars swallow golems…?
Because they weren’t stone pillars.
Turtle heads.
‘Mm. Madrin.’
It was Myserln sunbae’s earth spirit, Madrin.
The sight was so brutal that it made me look back and wonder if I’d ever wronged Myserln sunbae at any point.
Anyway, as I was reflecting on my past like that, Myserln sunbae approached me right then.
“This is… truly… mm, no, that’s not it. How… mm. Huh.”
Was his head a mess? Myserln sunbae couldn’t easily continue his words.
I could understand how he felt.
‘Yeah. If it were me, I’d be shocked too.’
I was right here—then I was gone.
No sign at all.
Just whoosh, vanished, as if you couldn’t tell whether I’d disappeared into the sky or sprung up from the ground.
So what would you normally think?
‘You’d think he moved incredibly fast.’
But Myserln sunbae couldn’t see it that way.
His level wasn’t shallow enough for such a comfortable misunderstanding.
Anyway, Myserln sunbae moved his mouth as if he couldn’t believe what he’d seen, and around then, I felt I needed to sort out my thoughts for a moment.
‘How do I explain this?’
First, let’s deal with the simplest one.
“Demian, I grant you the floor.”
“Thank you. Then, first question. Just now, did you move through space?”
“Correct. But there’s no prize.”
If you really want one, I can give it to you. The type will be “ppang,” though. Not bread (Bread), but the kind of ppang that goes “PPANG!”
“Then second question. How do you do it?”
That was a sharp question.
So I answered.
“Focus your mind. Close your eyes and feel space. Then relax your whole body, stop your breathing, and give your lower belly a big squeeze of 힘. The posture that’s comfortable for this is a crouch.”
“Wait. Say it again. First, crouch down—”
Demian crouched on the floor to do exactly what I’d said.
“Now relax your whole body.”
“Yeah, relax and—”
“Now stop your breathing while giving your lower belly a big squeeze. No, stop your breathing while your lower belly—”
That was when Chenbi stepped in.
“Are you insane? Are you going to clean up after him?”
“No, there’s no way he’d actually do it—”
“Then?”
“Even if he did, the chance of disaster is—”
“And if it happens?”
“……If it happens?”
I imagined it.
If Demian faithfully carried out what I’d told him to do, could I handle the catastrophe that would follow?
Thinking that far, my head lowered on its own.
“……I’m sorry, Chenbi.”
“Even if it’s one in a million, the possibility isn’t zero. And if one in a million happens, are you saying you won’t think about it then?”
“I’m really, really sorry.”
I was wrong.
There was no arguing it.
As I bowed my head, Chenbi of the twisted netherworld let out a deep sigh, shook his head, and spoke.
“Aster, let’s be careful. Okay?”
“Yes.”
Ah. So this is Chenbi of the twisted netherworld’s combat power.
Anyway, messing with Demian stops here.
I gave Demian—who was staring blankly at me—the proper answer for real.
“What I said just now was a joke.”
“I know.”
“……You know?”
If you know, then why the hell did you follow—no, wait.
“You… you bastard, don’t tell me…?”
“Friend, let’s cover up uncomfortable truths between us. Nothing happened. And it won’t happen in the future either.”
“…….”
Demian… this guy might be even more dangerous than I thought.
As I reached that thought, Demian asked me something.
“So how do you use it? I didn’t feel mana moving.”
“How do I use it… honestly, I don’t really know that either.”
“Were you born with it?”
“No. It’s more like… at some point, I realized it. It’s kind of complicated to explain.”
We had a conversation like that for a while.
Fortunately, Demian didn’t press me with more questions; he just nodded and accepted it.
Chenbi of the twisted netherworld was the same.
“I was surprised, but I won’t ask more. If it was something you could talk about, I think you would’ve said it.”
As expected—twisted or not, Chenbi is still Chenbi.
A strangely broad 마음.
Anyway, after the two of them settled down,
I turned my gaze back to Myserln sunbae.
Unexpectedly, Myserln sunbae seemed to have sorted himself out quickly, and the conversation was calmer than ever.
“I won’t pry. From what I can see… it doesn’t seem like it’s something you’d answer just because I asked.”
“Well, if that’s how it is, it’s easier for me.”
Anyway, with that, the matter of Blink (Blink) came to an end.
And now it was time to focus on the ancient ruins again.
“Then… shall we go in?”
“Mm. Let’s.”
We moved our steps into the ancient ruins.
Grrrrk—thunk!
Even though no one touched it, the iron door moved on its own and shut.
In the space where darkness returned once more, Demian’s voice rang out.
“Time to trouble(Time to trouble)!”
“Yeah, that’s not—ah?”
Wait a second.
Why is the door closed?
