“What’s going on?”
Kang Sihyun looked around in confusion, trying to locate the source of the unidentified voice he had heard. He inspected the inside of the pyramid, but nothing out of the ordinary caught his eye. His expression, as if something was clearly off, prompted his companions to ask what was wrong. From their expressions, reactions, and gazes, it seemed he was the only one who had heard the strange voice.
“Sihyun, are you feeling okay?”
“What did you say? The shock from fainting must have…”
Jihye expressed her concern, which ignited a spark of worry in Lee Hamin. To reassure Hamin, who was jumping to extreme conclusions, Sihyun shook his head and cautiously grabbed Jihye’s arm.
“Did you hear any voices?”
“Voices?”
“Yeah.”
“…I don’t think so?”
The girl hesitated before responding, her eyes filled with a perplexing blend of sympathy and worry as she looked at Sihyun. It was clear she, like Hamin, thought that Sihyun might have hurt his head when he fainted and was malfunctioning in some way.
Sihyun frowned at this bizarre misunderstanding.
Was I the only one who heard it?
Or was it a message meant just for me?
The voice that had spoken twice before suddenly fell silent as soon as Sihyun began to question it. This made it difficult for him to dismiss the voice as merely a hallucination.
Something felt off.
Was the voice I heard before fainting, and still hearing now, really just a hallucination?
The odds of hearing a hallucination asking if it should save him, just at the right moment, seemed slim.
While contemplating, Sihyun mulled over the words spoken by the mysterious voice.
“Should I save you?”
And then.
“That child, you want to save them, right?”
“…….”
His gaze, which had instinctively dropped to the ground in confusion, lifted and met Haeun’s. The child mentioned by the voice was undoubtedly Haeun. Sihyun then pulled Jihye behind him as he looked at Haeun, who lay still as if dead. To be precise, it seemed like Haeun had stopped breathing.
“What’s wrong…?”
The girl, who had been preparing her makeup again, looked bewildered. Sihyun, without saying a word, just looked at Haeun and then closed his eyes.
Whether it was a hallucination or not, what did it matter?
He was desperate enough to grasp at any straw, however rotten. So, even the faintest possibility was welcome.
“This is why people believe in religions, and why characters in classic literature are drawn to the temptation of demons. If someone says they can grant your wishes, it seems like any entity would be acceptable.
As evidence, he was pleading for help from a voice whose owner he did not even know.
Some might find it pathetic, but it couldn’t be helped. If being ‘human’ means there are things beyond our control that lead to despair, then praying to a higher being seems like the only option.
As he wished once more for help, he heard what sounded like laughter. It wasn’t derision. Not cynicism or self-mockery.
It was a very small, affectionate laugh, as if it knew all along.
As if it had been hoping for and supporting his response.
The friendly laughter was brief, then the voice pierced his mind.
Not through his ears, but as if speaking inside his head.
-If you wish for it, it can be saved.
“……!”
It wasn’t a hallucination. The kind voice proving that what he had heard wasn’t a hallucination or anything trivial made Sihyun tense up and clench his fists. From behind, Jihye briefly voiced her concern, but he was too preoccupied to respond.
‘Can it really be saved if I wish for it?’
-Yes. You are…because you are also….
The voice was intermittently mixed with static, making it hard to hear clearly. Frustrated by the noise that interfered with his listening, he mentioned he couldn’t hear, and the voice briefly paused. Eventually, the mysterious entity explained that now was not the time.
Now is not the time.
That statement made him think of someone very high up.
“Could it be….”
He could only think of one being that fit. He was about to get angry, thinking it had taken over his dreams and now his mind, when,
“Sihyun!”
“…Eh, what?”
Jihye, grabbing his shoulder, called out his name almost admonishingly. Her voice was so loud it echoed inside the pyramid, causing a surprised Sihyun to look at her. When he asked what was wrong, Jihye unusually furrowed her brow.
“I’ve been calling you for a while now, why haven’t you responded?”
“Ah…”
“Are you sure you
’re not hurt or something?”
“It’s not like that.”
“But you seem really off….”
Jihye spoke with a trace of worry in her voice, gripping Sihyun’s shoulder firmly. Sihyun, feeling a moment of regret, just moved his lips without speaking. If he said it was because of a strange voice in his head, he felt like he would really be treated as if he had lost his mind.
Remaining silent, Jihye sighed after giving him a few more suspicious glances.
“If you say so. But let me know right away if you feel unwell.”
“Got it.”
“More importantly, it’s really time to let go….”
That must have been her main concern. After hesitating a few times, Jihye glanced at Haeun and then at Sihyun. Sihyun, with no intention of being stubborn this time, said, “Just a moment,” and furrowed his brows.
‘Is it possible?’
-Yes.
He asked inwardly, and the voice began to speak again. Sihyun, visibly relieved to the naked eye, pushed aside all the questions occupying his mind and focused on the most pressing matter.
‘What did you mean by it can be saved? Can Haeun really be saved?’
-To be precise, it’s about retrieving the soul. That’s not dead but has had its soul taken away.
‘Taken away? By whom?’
-A sinner.
The voice’s response was filled with a tangible force. The voice was so deep and engulfed in anger that Sihyun involuntarily tensed up.
A voice that made you bow your head and shrink. More than just domineering, it was authoritative and seemed to press down on people with a certain power.
Under other circumstances, he would have been overwhelmed by this sensation, but there was no time to be lost in thought now. Shaking his head to free himself from the pressure, Sihyun stealthily turned his back to his companions and demanded answers from the entity in his mind.
‘So, you’re saying we just need to retrieve the soul?’
-The body that will hold the soul is also intact, so for now, yes.
‘Then right now…’
-But to save it, a complete vessel is needed.
‘A complete vessel?’
It seemed it wasn’t going to be easy. Hesitating at the mention of a “complete” vessel, Sihyun asked again, and realizing Sihyun didn’t understand, the voice elaborated.
-You need to fully open the remaining core that hasn’t been opened.
‘All four cores need to be opened for it to be a complete vessel?’
-Your body needs all its powers connected in one direction to be a complete vessel. I can help if you just open the cores.
The voice answered confidently, but Sihyun couldn’t easily agree. He remembered his conversation with Russ.
Russ had said to avoid the fourth engraving if possible.
The moment the fourth engraving was completed, he would die from mana collision. While he hesitated with his response, he suddenly heard laughter. It was the voice in his head.
This time, the laughter seemed almost mocking, very blatantly so. Frowning and narrowing his eyes at what seemed like a mockery of his situation, the voice pierced through his mind, cutting through his thoughts.
-You’re really amusing with your worries.
‘Amusing worries? If there’s a mana collision, I’ll die. Is my death funny to you?’
-It’s funny that you think you’d die. How could that be when I’m awake?
‘What do you mean?’
-Don’t worry about the mana collision. It’s all my power, so it’ll be fine. And besides, …power will be fine too.
The voice cut off once again. Feeling a similar sensation as before, Sihyun frowned deeply, knowing asking again wouldn’t yield an answer.
All his power, so it’s fine?
Could he really be a god? Or else…, I don’t know.
The confusion was just like when he talked with Kang Sihyun. Maybe this entity inside his head was Kang Sihyun, having evolved somehow. It had been a long time since he last saw Kang Sihyun, so it seemed possible.
Lost in thought, Jihye shook Sihyun’s shoulder again. Snapping back to reality, he lifted his head. His companions had somehow gathered around him, looking at him with worried eyes.
“Are you really okay?”
Jihye’s voice was slightly raised, almost accusatory. Sihyun shifted his gaze to her hand gripping his shoulder. Veins were bulging on the back of her hand.
“You didn’t answer again, just like you were possessed by something. Are you sure you’re not ill?”
“No, I’m not.”
“You said you heard voices. So, has some strange entity entered you?”
It seemed she was starting from worry, moving to suspicion
, and ending in conviction in a short span of time. In front of Jihye, who had successfully deduced that someone had entered his body and overcome the Decumanus, Sihyun chose to be silent. More than anything, he didn’t know what to say.
He was confused and taken aback himself; how could he explain it to someone else?
Unable to comfort Jihye’s worries, Sihyun looked at Haeun again and called out to the entity in his mind to finish their conversation.
‘For now, let’s skip over everything else and move on. So, if I complete the fourth engraving, Haeun can be revived?’
-Yes. The most urgent thing is opening the fourth core. I’ll explain the rest later.
The voice was certain. Finally, Sihyun heaved a sigh of relief, looked at Jihye and the others, and cleared his throat.
“I’ll explain the details later. For now, it seems there might be a way to save Haeun. Can we take him back without performing the cremation?”
“There’s a way to save him?”
The first to react was Emma, a healer. Nodding at her question, Emma looked at Sihyun with curious eyes, then stepped back under James’s gaze.
The pyramid shook once more, signaling there wasn’t time for a lengthy conversation.
Realizing the situation, the group decided to return and discuss the details later. They finally took Haeun and began to move. As they faced a dark corridor, uncertain of where the exit was, everyone looked lost.
How do we get out?
As Sihyun pondered this alone,
-I know the way.
The entity in his mind spoke.
-And, there’s something we need to take with us.
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