Chapter 740: Welcome to the Land of Dreams! (3)
[Are you okay?]
“Huh? Yeah. The Sesung Guild Leader got hurt.”
[I’m glad you’re safe. Since I belong to this world, I can send messages directly. I had to stay hidden until the Transcendents made their move, though. If they found out about this, it’d get annoying.]
“What? Hey, don’t do anything dangerous.”
Not that I was in any position to say that, but still. Beside me, Moon Hyunah asked if I’d gotten a message from the blacksmith. I nodded and filled Myungwoo in on what was going on.
“So we’re on our way to find Park Hayul.”
[…Of all people.]
“Tell me about it. At least he was trying to be nice to me. The problem was how weird he was about it.”
Come with me and leave all those S-ranks around you behind, hyung! Like hell, you lunatic. One of those S-ranks was my baby brother, who I’d raised myself. Sure, I had saved Park Hayul, but how much time had we actually spent together? We met briefly at the broadcasting station, traded a few messages, I helped him in the dungeon, and that was it. He was weird. No question. If Crescent Moon was behind some of that behavior, then maybe he was a little pitiful, but still.
[The Transcendents are interfering with the dream world through a connection Crescent Moon created. For now, they can’t use much power and are only sending monsters, but still.]
“Well…”
I glanced sideways at Yuhyun. So far, only Yuhyun and I knew the Transcendents were after Seong Hyunjae. Yuhyun was holding himself back because of the contract, but Ms. Hyunah and Chief Song… those two worried me. Ms. Hyunah could be unexpectedly hardline, and Chief Song might very well say something like, I’ll take responsibility for Hunter Seong Hyunjae. While we serve as bait, please go meet Park Hayul, Mr. Han Yujin—and then grab a parachute and jump out with Seong Hyunjae.
“The Transcendents are after us, right? What exactly are they trying to do?”
[They’re after the Sesung Guild Leader.]
The second I tried to phrase it vaguely, Myungwoo answered bluntly. Thank god I was the only one who could see the message window.
[The opinions among the Transcendents are split. He’s an awakened being who could grow into the strongest Transcendent later on. Some want him eliminated in advance, some want to recruit him, and some believe no one should interfere with him at all. The ones actively helping send monsters are from the first two groups.]
“At least the lower-grade monsters are manageable. There are a lot of people helping.”
A smile slipped out before I realized it. It was the complete opposite of before the regression. Of course, even back then, there were people who reached out to me. But right after I regressed, even with Fear Resistance, I’d hated being in front of a crowd. Even now, it was still a little embarrassing. I wasn’t built for broadcasting.
[Even with moonlight as a passageway, the mana is still unstable, so for at least a day, they probably won’t be able to send anything above lower-grade monsters.]
“So the real problem starts once the mana settles down.”
[Yujin, don’t let them find out about you. No matter what.]
Even as plain text, the message carried real weight.
[Crescent Moon became so influential because she can nurture Transcendents. You could become something similar. And yet, you’re not a Transcendent.]
Stat F-rank. Weak enough to be grabbed and handled however they wanted. To most Transcendents, I’d be a useful tool, not an equal person. Just like Seong Hyunjae and the other S-ranks had once seen me.
“It’s not obvious, though.”
But how would the Transcendents know that? Unless they’d been watching me the whole way like Rookie had, they’d have no idea. Thankfully, the system seemed pretty good at hiding skill information.
“Park Hayul has the power to turn dreams into reality. So if it’s him, he should be able to send us back to the real world even before the system fully applies.”
And if he could turn my wish into reality too—my wish to get my dream, and my little brother, back—then even better.
“The problem is Crescent Moon can probably interfere with Park Hayul too. He’s a Transcendent seed she planted in the first place.”
[Before that, Park Hayul’s obsessed with you. Yujin, he might try to keep you in this world.]
“He might. And honestly, that wouldn’t be so bad.”
[Yujin, don’t tell me you’re actually—]
“In that case,”
Seong Hyunjae suddenly cut in. Tapping the armrest with his fingertip, he went on.
“Then it should be quite easy for Han Yujin to persuade Park Hayul.”
“…What?”
“With the temptation of sending the S-ranks back to reality and keeping just the two of you together.”
“You can see my messages?!”
“No.”
Why the hell did this man keep reading my mind? Everyone’s eyes swung toward me at Seong Hyunjae’s words. Well, the thing is—
“It’s not like the thought never crossed my mind! But obviously I’m going back too!”
“…Hyung.”
“No, I mean, only if talking completely fails. Once the system applies, I can get back easily anyway, right? I’ll be able to use Grace again, and this place is the safest place for me right now. …I won’t do it. I won’t stay behind alone. I swear.”
“We should just tie Mister up.”
“Looks like our Little Jin needs a leash too~.”
Ms. Hyunah looked like she was actually about to go get one, and I hurriedly stopped her. Seriously, Seong Hyunjae picked up on things way too fast. I couldn’t say anything in front of him.
[Should I make you another shackle? A higher-tier one this time, so you absolutely can’t take it off.]
“…No need. I’ll behave.”
The master key only worked on S-rank and below, so if he made an SS-rank shackle, even I wouldn’t be able to get out of it. He probably could make one now, too. I was definitely going to have to watch both my mouth and my behavior around Myungwoo from now on.
[Once the system applies, you’ll be able to return without Park Hayul’s help, so don’t push yourself.]
“At the same time, Crescent Moon’s influence will get stronger. And so will the other Transcendents’.”
That was the problem. The system applying wasn’t the end. It was the beginning. Crescent Moon and the Transcendents would obviously try to stop us—stop Seong Hyunjae—from going back. Their power would almost certainly be greater than mine as a rookie administrator. Even with Rookie helping, it didn’t feel safe.
So the best option was still to get Park Hayul’s help. He wasn’t exactly sane either, but dealing with Park Hayul was still better than having a swarm of Transcendents come crashing down on us.
[…There’s not much we can do to help right now.]
I could practically hear a sigh in Myungwoo’s message.
[Are you wearing Grace?]
“Yeah.”
[Grace is an item I made, so I can let you use it. Even then, at best, it’ll only block damage up to around C-rank. And you’ll have to use it sparingly.]
“Thanks. For now, that’s more than enough.”
[Fountain of Young Mana should apply too, so you’ll be able to use your skills a little, Yujin. But keep Fear Resistance off. Don’t get caught in Park Hayul’s mental skill again.]
A faint glow spread through the bracelet on my wrist.
[I’ll contact you again if the situation changes. Be careful.]
The message window disappeared after Myungwoo said goodbye, explaining that even with Rookie’s help, he couldn’t keep the connection going for long. The gem in Grace, which had been cloudy and dim, cleared again.
– Peep!
The bluebird shot up into the air as if it had been suffocating. At the same time, Iryn came struggling out from inside Yuhyun’s sleeve and leaped onto my shoulder.
– Iryn was so cramped in there!
The tiny lizard shouted between huge gulps of air.
– Hyung’s mana is way weaker than usual too, but it’s livable! I’m gonna stay with hyung for a bit.
“Uh, sure.”
“Mister! Me too!”
Yerim hurried over to me. A droplet bounced out from her swaying earring and flew my way.
– Aaah, Yerim! I hate this place!
Sanho landed on my right shoulder with a miserable face. Iryn, on my left shoulder, stopped panting and snapped his mouth shut. His round eyes fixed on the water spirit. Feeling the stare, Sanho narrowed her eyes too.
“Uh—”
Grab, smack smack smack! Neither of them hesitated. One lunged for the other’s tail while the other started punching him in the head. Guys… Grace floated up above my head, flicking her tail as she watched the spirits fight.
“Sanho, calm down!”
– Water and fire can’t coexist!
– Iryn doesn’t want to drink mana that tastes like water!
Yerim hurriedly pulled the two apart. I grabbed Iryn too.
“You’re family, okay? Yuhyun and Yerim are family too, so you spirits shouldn’t be fighting.”
– Mister! With him here, the mana dries right up! I’m gonna suffocate to death!
– It’s all damp! It tastes bad! I feel like mold’s gonna grow on Iryn!
They hadn’t been this bad before. It was probably because Fountain of Young Mana had weakened. They were still young spirits, so instinct would hit them harder. That was probably why they were so touchy right now.
“Iryn, left shoulder. Sanho, right shoulder. Stay put and sit quietly.”
Iryn and Sanho each moved to the far edge of one of my shoulders, then turned away with a sharp huff. A moment later, they faded like they were sinking into my clothes. Well, kids fought and then got close. That was probably better than them just ignoring each other completely.
“Myungwoo said he’ll keep sending information. Like I said before, we’re going to meet Park Hayul and find a way back. It’ll still take a while to get to France, right?”
“Even if nothing goes wrong, around ten hours? So now seriously, get some rest.”
I nodded at Ms. Hyunah’s words. Peace let out a big growling yawn and flopped down. Guess I couldn’t sleep with him right now. Yerim went to get some in-flight food because she was hungry, and Yuhyun brought over a change of clothes. There were individual bedrooms, and the showers were pretty spacious too. Better to get as much rest as I could while I had the chance.
“Mister, look at this. Social media and news articles are updating in real time nonstop.”
Yerim held out her phone and showed me an article titled The World Goes Wild for Dreamland.
“People here are already saying they need to get to France next, so they’re trying to figure out dream teleportation. And if imagination doesn’t cut it, airlines are saying they’ll charter flights for them.”
“Even the airlines?”
“It’s a marketing opportunity. Big corporations are all going crazy trying to promote themselves too. Watch this special ad before falling asleep, then try out the latest smartphone in your dreams!”
Since dreams ran on imagination, it’d probably just be the shell that changed most of the time. Still, I guessed it would at least feel like using the newest phone. Most of what I glimpsed was bursting with happy excitement.
“Whoa, international singers are putting on a joint concert at Gimpo Airport! There are apparently a ton of people gathered there. And since it’ll still be a while before we reach France, they’re saying the fireworks are going to break a world record. They’re still setting them off!”
If this were reality, someone would’ve bankrupted their company by now. It sounded like people had decided that since they were all gathered anyway, they might as well have fun and then head to France together. Since it was a dream, they were apparently planning to ignore normal flight safety limits and crank the speed as high as possible for the planes people would be using. Kind of felt bad for the people who couldn’t go to sleep yet because of work. Some jobs just couldn’t stop. Hope they were working in shifts.
“Black Dragon, Han Seol is my sword.”
Yuhyun, who’d been sitting quietly beside me, suddenly spoke.
“So shouldn’t I be paying you child support too?”
“…What?”
Yuhyun looked dead serious. Apparently Ms. Soyeong’s comment had stuck with him.
“Hey. We were family from the start. What child support?”
“But Peace paid a price.”
“That was an official contract, though. The kids aren’t like that. We live together anyway, and if I’m gone, then Yuhyun, you’d be the one to…”
Could he really take care of them? Yuhyun nodded.
“I’ll protect them. Because you cherish them.”
“My little brother really is the sweetest.”
“Mister, that’s obvious. I’d do the same.”
“Our Yerim is an angel too—”
“They’re my nieces and nephews too! Seriously, Mister, honestly.”
Yerim shook her head and avoided my eyes.
“Han Yuhyun might actually be better with kids than you’d think. He’d do everything by the book, super rigidly. So make him help out more even normally.”
“I’m here, aren’t I? Besides, Yuhyun helps without being asked.”
“Yeah. Hyung can rest.”
“I’ll take charge of the emotional side and play with them! Han Yuhyun will probably handle food, clothing, and shelter just fine, but he’s not taking them to an amusement park.”
“Then let’s all go together.”
Wouldn’t Byeol love that? Gyeol would act like he didn’t care and be excited anyway. I hoped Seol would join in too and play like a kid with the others.
Every now and then, explosions sounded outside, but no monsters attacked the plane. I set the complicated thoughts aside and let myself fall asleep in peace. Even though I was already in a dream—maybe because I was in a dream—I dreamed again.
A white moon hung overhead. Crescent Moon stood in the forest at night in the form she’d worn long ago. Her eyes held the moonlit night, and they were fixed on me.
She simply stood there.
Still.
With the same unchanged affection in her gaze.
And looking at her, I realized she would never change. Even Transcendents were people. But Crescent Moon didn’t feel like a person. She felt like the moon itself. Moonlight that only shone down, no matter how many words, how much pleading, how much struggling rose up beneath it.
“We’re scheduled to land in an hour.”
Moon Hyunah said it, and Yerim, who’d barely put her phone down except when sleeping, nodded eagerly.
“They’re saying a huge crowd has gathered in France too. They think they’ll be able to push the monsters back pretty easily this time. It’s daytime in Korea now, so there are tons of people crying because they can’t fall asleep anymore~. Some are saying they pulled an all-nighter just for this.”
Yeah, it was going to get wild again. I savored what little rest I had left. The landing announcement came on, and outside the window, I could see an airport washed in moonlight.
…Wow. Are all of those people?
–TL Notes–
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