Chapter 165

 

I hurriedly chased after Cloud, and gradually the surroundings became brighter until a wide cavern spread out before me. Luminous stones embedded here and there in the rock walls were illuminating the interior of the cave. Cloud stood proudly in the distance next to a dark purple flower that looked exactly like the one I had seen earlier.

“Baaah!”

I let out a hollow laugh at the sight of him bleating loudly as if to show off what he had found.

“Fine. Since I’ve already fallen this far, I should at least take some materials to make it worthwhile… But where the hell is this place anyway?”

I walked along looking up at the cave ceiling, which was carved in a hemispherical shape as if someone had artificially sculpted it, when something caught my foot. Looking down curiously, I saw an elongated rock reaching up to my thigh blocking my path.

I could have simply stepped aside, but these strange rocks weren’t just one or two. There were easily dozens of them lined up, making me wonder how Cloud had managed to avoid all of them to get so far ahead.

A rounded ceiling and dozens of bizarrely shaped rocks. I could have just ignored them and passed by, but for some reason I felt an eerie sensation and couldn’t take my eyes off them. Now that I looked closer, the rocks’ shapes were strange too…

‘I haven’t stumbled into some kind of monster’s lair, have I?’

The light from the naturally luminescent stones was too dim, making visibility poor. I fumbled around and pulled out the glow stick I had tucked at my waist.

In an instant, my surroundings brightened and dozens of pairs of eyes were looking at me. Startled, I took a step back, thinking I must have seen wrong, then approached again. I knelt down and brought the glow stick closer, and as the rock’s form became clearer, my heart dropped.

“Shit…”

The rock was shaped like a human figure. And not just any human—a small child. The pigtailed hair and the character t-shirt were rendered in incredible detail.

‘Did someone carve this? But why would there be sculptures of children in a place like this…’

Whoever did this clearly had sick tastes. The thought of wanting to escape this disturbing space quickly dominated my mind.

I moved forward with the intention of just collecting that flower and leaving without looking back, but as the light from my glow stick spread, it illuminated the face of another statue next to the girl statue in front of me. What stopped me in my tracks was that the appearance of the statue I had just passed looked very familiar. I froze completely and stopped walking.

“…Nah, I must be seeing things.”

What a ridiculous thought. Why would that face be here?

Even though I thought it was impossible, I couldn’t just ignore it and pass by. My fingertips trembled and my heart raced.

I slowly turned my head and brought the glow stick in my hand closer to the statue. In the wavering light, the statue’s face gradually became illuminated.

“Kim… Seon-jae…?”

My legs gave out and I collapsed right there. The glow stick I was holding rolled away, illuminating the faces of the statues lined up behind in sequence. There were a few faces I didn’t recognize, but most were faces that existed vividly in my memory. Kim Seon-jae, Jung Su-jin, Lim Ji-won, Jung Jae-jun, Yang Tae-oh…

All 40 statues were Alpha Room children.

“What the fuck is this… Argh!!”

“Baaah.”

I jumped up, startled by something gently nudging my leg. Looking down, I saw Cloud looking up at me. Since I had stopped and wasn’t coming, he had come down to me.

“Oh, Cloud. Cloud ah.”

My voice caught and I had to clear my throat several times. Seeing the statues had left my mind completely blank, but seeing Cloud helped me regain some composure.

Why were the children who supposedly died here long ago all gathered in this place like this? Whether someone had brought these sculptures here with some intention, I couldn’t just pass by.

‘What should I do? I’m still trapped in the dungeon. That bastard Tae Jae-heon won’t cooperate either.’

While I was pondering, I heard a licking sound and looked down to see Cloud lapping at Kim Seonjae’s statue with his tongue.

“Hey! Cloud, no. That’s not food.”

“Baaah…”

I lifted up Cloud, who was bracing himself with his legs, and for a brief moment the part he had been licking changed color before quickly returning to normal.

‘Just now, that looked like human skin, not stone.’

Doubting my eyes, I slowly reached out my hand toward the statue at a passing thought.

 

<Cursed Statue of ■■■■■>

The children who awakened ■■■■■■■ were turned to stone by ■■■■’s ■■■■■.

■■■■’s ■■■■■■■■■ is…

 

Again, dark red energy rippled and the letters changed into various forms.

I read and reread the system window that appeared before my eyes. My guess was correct. These statues weren’t carved by someone. The children themselves had been turned to stone.

“…”

No words came out. The statue beneath my hand was cold and hard. The feeling of facing a kid I used to laugh and fight with in childhood, turned to stone in exactly the same appearance as back then… was fucking awful.

My mind raced quickly. So far, I had seen those letters three times: when I looked at Seong San-ha’s hand, when I saw the ‘cursed’ materials in the Tower and Cheonji Abyss dungeons, and now when looking at the statue. The three weren’t unrelated. 

Moreover, Cloud could purify ‘cursed’ materials—though of course the purified materials never returned, being consumed as Cloud’s energy instead…

‘If they were turned to stone due to a curse, maybe if I break the curse, they could come back to life?’

My eyes lit up. It was a dream-like thought, but if there was even the slightest possibility, I absolutely couldn’t give up.

“First, first… I need to get out of here.”

“Baaah.”

“Let’s go, Cloud!”

I had to return to my workshop and analyze and investigate all the ‘cursed’ materials I had diligently collected so far, down to every single fiber strand. Since I couldn’t move the statues in the current situation, hiding this space was the best option until I could find another solution.

The first person I needed to deceive was Tae Jae-heon. Realizing I had already delayed for too long, I hurriedly retraced my steps while carrying Cloud.

Having a purpose seemed to make me move faster. I managed to climb out of the pit, which was three times my height, in just two attempts. I was about to hurry outside when I noticed the area was strangely chaotic.

“What’s going on…?”

I raised my index finger and whispered “shh” to Cloud, then folded up my glow stick. I crept forward and peered outside to see a battle in progress. Thanks to Cloud, no one was paying attention to this direction, but if I were discovered, I’d definitely be attacked immediately. I could barely see any Nox or Cheon Rang guild members. But the enemy numbers were clearly as many as during the initial assault. 

In the distance, I could see what appeared to be Seong San-ha’s skills. I couldn’t understand where everyone else had gone, leaving Seong San-ha to face them alone.

“Mystic is alone! Deal with the Mystic first, then chase after them!”

The hooded figures ran toward where Seong San-hawas. With Seong San-ha fighting alone, if I got captured as a hostage, things would definitely go to shit.

It seemed better to hide again, so I quietly turned around, but behind me came a yelping sound as a black object came flying.

‘Root!!’

A black dog was collapsed near the crack entrance. Whether it had been thrown and crashed, its leg bone didn’t look intact. It was struggling to get up, but blood was gushing out instead, making me restless. I eventually hid in the shadows and waited for the right timing. 

When all the fighters nearby had gathered in one place, I reached out, grabbed Root by the scruff of his neck, and dragged him inside. As soon as I grabbed his scruff, his eyes changed as if to bite me, but after catching my scent, Root wagged his tail even while injured and collapsed. When he looked like he was about to howl, I quickly covered his mouth.

“Shh, shh!”

I carried Root on my back and went down into the pit inside the crack. In the darkness, I applied some modified potion to Root’s whimpering body and fed him the rest. Wondering if it had been properly treated, I moved his leg with my hand and sighed.

“Where did Tae Jae-heon and Rune go, leaving you all alone.”

“Whine, whimper…”

“Stay with me for now. Don’t bark. Eat this.”

I put some jerky in his mouth. I also gave some materials to Cloud, who was stamping his feet in dissatisfaction beside us, then got up. I couldn’t just sit still when I was worried about Seong San-ha. I grabbed the rope I had tied when coming down and started climbing back up the pit.

Just as I was poking my head out, light flashed and the inside of the crack lit up brightly as if someone had turned on a light. I froze with my eyes wide open, and only after the light disappeared and darkness returned did I turn pale and rush frantically.

‘What was that just now? How is Seong San-ha…’

The surroundings were strangely quiet. I couldn’t sense any presence, so I carefully stepped outside the crack. I hid behind a rock right in front and looked outside, but the darkness that had returned after briefly brightening was particularly pitch black. 

As I slowly got used to the darkness, I could see the corpses of cultists scattered everywhere. And in the middle of them, Seong San-ha had also collapsed.

“Seong, Seong San-ha…!”

I hurriedly ran toward Seong San-ha and lifted him up. The unconscious guy’s arm was twitching, so I removed his glove to find his hand and forearm were all burned black.

“Damn it…”

I looked around, but aside from the fallen cultists, there was nowhere to ask for help. I couldn’t stay here with him in this helpless state, so I eventually hoisted Seong San-ha on my back and dragged him into the crack.