Creating Hidden Endings - Chapter 22

In the suffocating silence, I looked at the face lying like a dead person. I didn’t know before because he was only glaring at me every time and pointed a sword at me, but it was a face that still had a youthful spirit. For me, who only treated him with what I saw when I was playing the game, the face was very unfamiliar. 

So maybe this happened in the sense of being conscious?

I may have been too complacent about the world in the game. It’s been over a month since I’ve been here, but it’s still not a realistic place for me, so it’s true that I didn’t feel real. 

If I didn’t like the progress of the game, I could restart at any time, but I just realized that the reality was not like that. In this reality, it is only Lee Jehee who can do that.

If he takes his own life—.

Rather, if what happened in the dungeon because Lee Jehee forced them to do it, this guilt might have eased a little. But whatever the process was, it was a dungeon that they enter because of me. And I didn’t help anything there. Like a fool.

Shouldn’t I be doing that? I can’t just let go of his hands and think that’s all I can do.

“Why are you doing that?” 

After the sound of the front door opening, I was expecting someone to head straight to this room.

After returning, Lee Jehee leaned in front of the door and stared at Han Chorok for a long time. There was a deep feeling of fatigue on his white face, and his voice subsided roughly. I couldn’t even find a trace of the usual slow tone.

Is that really the fatigue he feels right now or is it the accumulated fatigue as much as the number of repeated regressions? At the moment of the question, I felt sorry for the guy who didn’t know whether to return once again. The one who will see himself as a limb with his own hands—.

“Lee Jehee-ssi.” 

Lee Jehee turned his attention to my gentle call. It will be the first time. The reason I called Lee Jehee by a title other than Master or Hunter was that it was so desperate.

“There is one thing I want to try.”

“…..”

“Because my level is low, it may not work as I thought, or I may fail. Still, I want to do my best to do it.”

Lee Jaehee didn’t say anything. He just stared at me with black eyes, and after a while, he opened his mouth again. His voice still pierced with tiredness.

“How far do you think I will trust you in this situation?”

—You mean you can’t believe it. Well, I understand. We’ve only seen each other for a week, and it may be difficult to trust each other. It’s rather funny to feel sad about something like this.

“Of course. I understand. It’s not something you can pull out and see inside a person.”

“….”

“Then, did I earn something?” 

“Another supporter will come tomorrow afternoon. Even if that doesn’t work— It’s not like there’s no way at all.”

It seems that he need a supporter with a comparable class and level to remove the status effect of an S-grade monster, but it was not easy to find such a person. First of all, the number of people with the supporter class is small, and even among those few, there are few people with high grades.

Then, as Hana said, it is concluded that S-class monsters must be defeated. If they successfully clear the dungeon by gathering a number of people as soon as they can, Han Chorok will wake up safely.

And even if it fails, he intends to come back, and in that way, Lee Jehee has made up his mind to save Han Chorok, even at the cost of his life.

It wouldn’t be good for him to let go of what he had now and start over from the beginning. Even so, he must have decided to do it for the sake of Han Chorok.

Chorok would have been very happy if he knew this. Thinking like that made me burst into laughter helplessly. 

“Then, before using Lee Jehee-ssi’s method, can’t I try my method first? There’s nothing to lose. I swear I have no intention of harming Han Chorok-ssi. As you know, I have a low level, and my class is also a supporter, so even if I want to harm him, I can’t do it. Isn’t that why Lee Jehee-ssi also came to me?”

Lee Jehee did not respond. But he didn’t take his eyes off of me as sharp as someone trying to see what my intentions were. Lee Jehee, who slowly straightened his body which leaning on the door frame, approached with a slow walk and asked.

“Tell me what method you are going to use. I’ll listen and see.”

Good. Hearing the honorific words that came back, I smiled cheerfully. At the same time, I quickly moved my hand to cancel the setting not to read information in the information window. Because he and I were still at the party.

 “Please look at my skill window.”

[Party leader ‘Lee Jehee’ is reading ‘Yeon Seonwoo’ information window.]

Looking at the notification message I’ve seen once, I also called out the skill window. And I followed the skill name at the bottom with my eyes.

“It’s a skill I’ve only recently obtained. It’s the first time I use it.”

“….”

“But I think it’s still worth trying.”

Lee Jehee, who had been standing still with his arms crossed, flicks his fingers as if thinking. I also watched it anxiously. My face was pretending to be relaxed.

“Dreamer—”

It was a success. I smiled with a confident face at the drowsy voice. Lee Jehee came over. Although it was permission like gambling that was not based on trust, it was enough because the purpose was fulfilled.

****

The skill ‘The Dreamer’ was a skill I acquired the day I was forcibly drawn to Lee Jeehee. On that day, I was just confused by the thought that I really came to another world without looking properly at what this was. After that, I forgot about it and never looked at it separately.

[Active skill: Dreamer]

[Stage 1 Effect – Connects to the dreams of the sleeping target.]

[Stage 2 Effect – Show the dream you want to the person who fell asleep. (Can’t be used due to level restrictions)]

[Condition: The skill ‘Dreamer’ can only be activated by those with ‘Sleep’ state.]

While Lee Jehee was away for a while, I carefully examined the skills to see why the condition of Han Chorok was not lifted. This is because that was the only thing I could do in a painful situation.

Then I discovered this skill. A skill called ‘Dreamer’ whose name is unfamiliar. A hope I found while trying to pass it on without much thought. 

“It probably won’t last long. The skill requires a lot of mana to keep going.”

“I see. Compared to other skills, the amount of mana consumed is a lot.” 

“Yes, and I don’t know what I can do in the given time. It may end without doing anything—but I’ll do my best. I mean it.”

Lee Jehee was still pondering. However, just because there was no answer, I was not as anxious as usual. In fact, it was so hectic that I couldn’t read the room. 

I held Chorok’s hand with such anxiety that I felt nauseous. His hand, still warm, seemed to let him know that he was just falling asleep. Like not to give up hope. 

[Party member ‘Yeon Seonwoo’ is using his assistant skill, ‘Dreamer’]

[Yeon Seonwoo, I hope you have a pleasant trip.]

It’s like traveling. 

I was startled by the ridiculous status message, but my eyes closed before I could complain. As soon as the skill was activated, drowsiness started pouring in.

I wanted to spit out a swear word, but I couldn’t overcome my heavy eyelids and lowered my head. My eyes quickly turned black. 

*****

The first thing I did in a strange feeling was to move my finger. It was as if I was waking up with a flash of light in my head while I was having a good night’s sleep. 

As I came to my senses, I heard the sounds of several people talking in my ears. When I opened my eyes, wondering what was going on, a strange landscape caught my eye.

“Is this— Chorok’s dream?” 

The place where I stood was on the stairs. Standing in the middle of a circular staircase with no end in sight, I rolled my eyes in the darkness. Movie-like scenes were blurred on the dark wall as if an old projector had been played.

That’s why I felt the noise as soon as I opened my eyes. Because the noise of chattering in each scene is resounding all at once.

“Is that Chorok?” 

When I looked closely at what was reflected on the wall, I could see that all the protagonists of the blurry screens were one. It was Chorok that was young enough to barely recognize only the features, Chorok that was a little larger than that, and the current Chorok.

So I really in that punk Chorok’s dream. 

With that thought, I turned my gaze away from the wall and looked up the stairs. I could see stairs going up and down endlessly. There were only stairs and a wall with Han Chorok.

As anyone could see, I had to go down this seemingly endless staircase, so I let out a short sigh and then moved on slowly. The slow pace gradually increased and I was running down the stairs without paying attention to the screen.

“I don’t have time.” 

Luckily it wasn’t dark. So going down the stairs was not difficult thanks to the light reflected from the wall.