"Could it be..."
His blue eyes flickered from side to side several times. There were multiple pieces of evidence to support the hypothesis that had emerged: that he could potentially kill the Gula, and that the Gula had been targeting him all along. The fact that the Irregulars were trying to kill him served as the basis for the hypothesis.
It was an aspect he had not considered. Chewing on his lip, Sihyun reopened the notebook he had covered.
"To counter them, one must either block the psychic realm or bring another being that can interfere with the psychic realm."
That sentence was the clue. Sihyun did not know how to block the psychic realm. He couldn't even properly grasp what the psychic realm was. However, he knew of another being that could interfere with his psyche.
If dreams are a reflection of the subconscious and part of the psychic realm, then...
Pia.
The small fantasy creature that hadn't had a prophetic dream in a while and had been quietly eating and flying around the lodging for rest was needed.
"Should I bring it along from the next dungeon?"
He hadn't dared to bring it carelessly, fearing it might get hurt, but if what was written in this notebook was true, then he needed Pia's help. He had to verify the contents of the notebook in this dungeon and decide whether to bring Pia from the next dungeon. It was unclear whether it would be an additional burden or not, Sihyun sighed deeply and pressed his temples. A headache came on for the first time in a while.
He took deep breaths to organize the confusion in his mind caused by the influx of too much information in a short time. After going over the content he read in the notebook and checking again the parts he couldn't remember, Sihyun neatly organized all the information and thought about what to tell the Russian Awakeners he would meet upon arriving in Russia.
First, the information that Gula's offspring could interfere with the psychic realm had to be shared. Then, as Haewoon had advised, he also had to tell them to be careful not to separate from each other. The problem was that this dungeon, like the Dekumanus before, was maze-like, inevitably leading to some getting left behind.
That had to be prevented.
Preventing anyone from getting left behind, someone losing their way inside the dungeon, or getting separated and lost had to be prevented. Sihyun could hardly find a comfortable position and grimaced as he moved around in his seat several times.
"If only we had a buffer."
He had heard that buffers of S-grade or higher could track each other's locations and connect the team with a string-like skill. "I'll heal, so if a combat support Awakener from Russia comes, it would be a hundred times better if it's a buffer."
As he awakened his fourth core, his mana increased significantly, allowing him to freely use both healer and water attribute skills.
"An Awakener with a fire attribute might be good too."
Since an ice attribute had appeared, water attribute abilities seemed unlikely to be of much help in this dungeon. Considering compatibility, an Awakener who had engraved the fire attribute class would be the most appropriate team member. If it's S-grade, they could copy the opponent's skill, adding firepower on their part.
"..."
After brainstorming and devising various strategies, at some point, Sihyun let out a sigh of relief. Thinking about it alone wouldn't yield an answer. He had to see the Russian Awakeners to somewhat assess the situation. As he leaned his head back, something suddenly caught the back of his head.
"......?"
Turning his head towards the strange sensation, he saw a hand with many scars, which did not seem to belong to Euiheon. Then, there was only one person left.
"...Mr. Woo Changsik?"
"Why."
When he cautiously called out, a nonchalant answer came back. Sihyun took a light breath.
"Because your hand reached all the way to me."
"I know. I deliberately laid it there."
"Why?"
"Because it's comfortable."
"......"
"Why."
This person, really. Thinking every word spoken is indeed a word.
Changsik asked why so nonchalantly that Sihyun glanced at the scar-riddled hand. Although he wanted to throw it off, impulse was just impulse and he did not act on it. At times like this, he envied the characters of Taeju and Russ who would charge in without looking back.
He sighed deeply, and the hand above his head twitched as if expressing dissatisfaction.
"Why do you keep sighing? It's demoralizing."
"If you would just move your hand, I wouldn't have to sigh."
"I've been sighing before I put my hand up."
"Then now I'll sigh twice as much."
Sihyun said mockingly and checked his phone. It had been about 45 minutes since they left, and the estimated
time to reach Vladivostok was 1 hour and 10 minutes. It was a bit uncomfortable, but he just had to endure for about 30 minutes, so he leaned his head back without caring about the hand or anything else. Changsik's hand was resting on the back of his head.
He laid it there because it was comfortable for him, so why bother?
Being pressed down like this, he would surely retract his hand on his own.
He didn't want to waste energy or cause a rift over something trivial, so he responded in what he thought was the most peaceful way without engaging in conversation. After lightly twisting his body for a light stretch and finding a comfortable position to lean on, the hand that had been on the back of his head soon retracted. But it was expected; however, what followed was unexpected.
Ssh.
"......?"
The hand that had been pressing down retracted and then began to stroke Sihyun's head. Taken aback by the sudden petting, he tilted his head back to look at the hand, when a voice came from the seat behind.
"If you're sighing because you're scared, relax. I heard you took down that Egyptian guy."
"...I'm not scared."
"Then fine."
Changsik abruptly ended the conversation and retracted his hand. Sihyun blinked in sheer bewilderment at the hand that had disappeared too easily. He wondered if this person was mocking him, but after thinking calmly, he could sense some emotion in Changsik's words and actions.
Could he be worried?
He didn't want to think so, but combining Changsik's added words and the action of stroking his head, there seemed to be no other conclusion than worry. A person well over twenty-five wouldn't play around out of boredom. Sihyun momentarily frowned, then audibly leaned his body back and spoke up.
"Are you worried?"
"I've never been."
The end of the answer slightly trembled.
"Ah, I see."
Sihyun slightly shook his head and entered the messenger chat on his phone. There was information sent by Haewoon about the Free Guild.
Free Guild.
Led by Woo Changsik (a fire attribute Awakener, 32 years old, near S-grade), it was the third-ranked guild in the country. The guild's policy is "Be nice when not touched." It is a guild that pursues personal training and self-development, so free that incidents frequently occur within the guild. There was an incident where guild leader Changsik road-killed a deer while driving, which was mistakenly spread as a hit-and-run on a person. The misunderstanding lasted about half a year because he did not issue a correction himself. When suspicions arose whether there was corruption in the prosecution and police due to the unpenalized incident, S Corporation stepped in and cleared his name with a correction article.
It was a brief but intense description. Just reading the summary information filled the screen gave Sihyun a rough idea of what kind of person Changsik was, so he turned off the phone screen.
So, he's a fire attribute Awakener.
He hadn't asked about the class, so he didn't know, but Changsik was the attribute wielder Sihyun had been looking for. It was a pity he was near S-grade, but considering the compatibility, Sihyun thought he could exert more power in the dungeon than his rank suggested and closed his eyes with a more relaxed mind.
He hadn't fully grasped what kind of person Changsik was, but he felt he understood a bit of his tendencies. At least, he seemed not as rude and nasty as he had thought, which was somewhat comforting.
Arriving at the airport and disembarking from the plane, Sihyun exhaled as he looked for his luggage. It was summer in Korea, but Russia was cold. Even though he dressed warmly on purpose, when he breathed out, a cloudy breath rose.
"We arrived faster than I thought."
"Indeed."
It was already a short distance, but since it was a plane for Awakeners, they arrived even faster. He thought he would come here for travel if he ever did, but he never imagined his first visit would be like this. Swallowing a bit of bitterness, Sihyun waited with his hands in his pockets at Euiheon's word to wait. When his nose started to turn red, Euiheon led Sihyun and Changsik somewhere.
"Ah, Mr. Euiheon!"
Near the entrance of the airport, a light-haired middle-aged man called out to Euiheon. He seemed to be from the association. The man, who greeted Euiheon in somewhat awkward Korean, eventually recognized Sihyun and smiled.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Pavel."
He extended his hand, pronouncing each word clearly. Sihyun hesitated for a moment before shaking the middle-aged man's hand and introduced
himself as Kang Sihyun. Quadruple! The man spoke brightly. Sihyun smiled awkwardly and nodded.
It was uncomfortable to keep talking, but Euiheon took care of it. When he first checked the list of Korean Awakeners supporting the Russian dungeon, he felt so sorry for him, but now that they were together, it was comfortable. He even wanted to go to the next dungeon together.
If Euiheon knew, he would probably hold back words like "After the association president, now Mr. Sihyun is doing this" and resign. The middle-aged man from the Russian association then led Sihyun's group out of the airport. At the entrance, several people presumed to be from the association were holding sleds.
"Sleds?"
It wasn't for playing. Sihyun expressed his astonishment at the association suddenly bringing sleds but soon came to an understanding. After walking out of the airport for about 10 minutes, a white path unfolded. Houses, buildings, and empty lots were all white and blue. Some were even transparent.
The words of the association person, translated by the interpreter, reached him.
"It's all frozen. At this rate, even the airport might freeze."
He couldn't argue that it was nonsense to think the airport could freeze, as even at this moment, a bone-chilling cold was slowly advancing towards the unfrozen ground.
Sihyun bowed his head to bury his cold cheeks in his clothes, then exhaled a long breath.
Although he thought he understood the situation in Russia somewhat thanks to Haehyuk's explanation, seeing it with his own eyes made the situation seem much worse than heard. It was more serious than expected.
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