Chapter 147. A Dreamy Night (2) (1/2)

From where the bloodstain cut off, a seemingly random white cloth caught Seol Jihu’s eyes.

‘Cloth?’

The moment he raised his startled eyes, he instantly took in a deep breath.

In the dark hallway, a woman was looking back at him. Judging by the robe she was wearing, she had to be a Priest.

But her standing posture was strange.

Her head was drooped low and her body was tilted slightly, giving her an overall ominous aura. She wasn’t even leaning against a wall, so it didn’t seem possible to stand so staggeringly.

‘Wait.’

Seol Jihu’s eyes narrowed.

Her feet weren’t touching the ground…. They were floating.

[Neck.]

Hearing Flone’s voice, Seol Jihu finally realized the cause behind the ominous sensation.

He didn’t see it at first because of the darkness, but a rope tied to the ceiling was wrapped around the Priest’s neck.

That was why she was tilted.

Seol Jihu tightened his grip on the Ice Spear.

‘What exactly happened here?’

He had only climbed up one floor. How could the atmosphere change so much?

An odd silence that muffled even the sound of breaths filled the air, and the hanging corpse began to suddenly wobble.

Like a broken marionette, its limbs swayed side to side before turning halfway around and creaking its head up.

Next….

“!”

When Seol Jihu saw her black eye sockets that had been dug out, he clenched his mouth.

Instead of screaming, he fixed his posture right away. His spear spat out blue flames, and, in his left hand, a tremendous amount of energy coalesced to form a blue spear.

Just as he was about to throw his Mana Spear, Flone snatched his arm up.

[Wa, wait.]

“What’s wrong?”

[Look closely.]

Seol Jihu turned his gaze.

The short female Priest’s robe looked clean. Since her corpse looked fresh, she was likely a member of Phi Sora’s expedition team.

But the way her mouth moved like a fish, it was almost as if she was… alive.

“She’s not alive, is she?”

[She’s dead.]

Flone made it clear.

[But she doesn’t have any malice. It looks like she earnestly wants to say something.]

Seol Jihu doubted his ears.

When Earthlings died in Paradise, they would lose their memories of Paradise and revive on Earth.

But it wasn’t as if there weren’t exceptions, so if the girl was truly dead, it would mean that this villa was a place of such an exception.

Kuk, kuk. Dry coughs escaped her mouth. It seemed she couldn’t talk because of the noose around her neck.

The coughing Priest raised her trembling arm and opened her palm with great difficulty. Her quivering index finger pointed at a room diagonally opposite from her.

[Plea… he….]

‘Plea? He?’

[She’s asking for help.]

Seol Jihu furrowed his brows, but Flone seemed to have understood her.

“Is there a chance it’s a trap?”

[I don’t know, but that girl is pleading.]

Flone murmured and then tilted her head.

[I think she’s worried.]

Seol Jihu asked without taking his eyes off her.

“She’s not the previous one, right?”

[No. That one must have gone into hiding. I can’t feel its presence anymore. Plus, this spirit is too weak. A little squeeze and it will crumble into pieces. By the looks of it….]

The hesitating Flone spoke without confidence.

[I think she’s not leaving on purpose.]

“Huh?”

[Passing onto the afterlife, I mean. Well, it might be a little different, but regardless, she’s strongly refusing to leave this place.]

“W-Why?”

[I don’t know. She’s repeatedly saying, ‘Please help. Please help.’]

Seol Jihu’s expression turned complicated. He remembered the spirit of Yi Seol-Ah trying to help Yi Sungjin back in the Tutorial.

In other words, not all deceased were the same.

“…Got it.”

Seol Jihu stepped forward with his spear raised high. As soon as he arrived at the room the Priest was pointing to, the Priest’s arm dropped down and, as if the rope had been cut off, her body fell to the ground.

Flone must have done something.

After momentarily staring at the unmoving corpse, Seol Jihu carefully entered deeper into the room. Immediately, he felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

Inside the room was a woman shaking sporadically. Just like the Priest he saw in the hallway, she was hanging from the ceiling by her neck.

“Ah!”

After seeing who it was, Seol Jihu’s steeled resolve broke in a startle.

“Miss Phi Sora?”

He realized the reason behind the sense of déjà vu.

A room as dilapidated as a deserted building.

A chair knocked over in the middle of the room.

And Phi Sora who hung herself with a strange laugh.

He had seen this place in the vision he saw when he visited the White Rose Guild.

[Ah, I get it now.]

Flone clapped her hands together.

[I was wondering what that girl was worried about so much. She wanted us to save this woman!]

“….”

[It looks like she’s about to die…. Do you know her?]

“….”

[What’s wrong? Are you okay?]

Seol Jihu barely snapped out of the daze from watching Phi Sora’s convulsing limbs and answered back.

“…Ah, yes, she’s someone I know.”

Hearing his hurried reply, Flone quickly flew across the room. The rope snapped, and Phi Sora fell on the ground.

Seol Jihu quickly approached her.

‘Eh?’

But the moment he grew near, an indescribable sensation stimulated his back. He couldn’t quite put it into words, but the sensation was strange and heavy.

Seol Jihu straightened his half-bent back.

‘What’s happening? It wasn’t like this just a moment ago…’

His body didn’t listen to him and began to shake. When he secretly looked around the room, he saw a black figure that was curled up in a corner of the room slowly getting up.

He mistakenly thought that a huge mountain was shooting up, even though he knew that was logically impossible.

Finally, a problem broke out. He had to fight or escape, but he wasn’t sure which one was the better choice.

“…Flone.”

He muttered quietly, but Flone didn’t answer. It wasn’t that she had disappeared. She was simply gazing at the rising black figure in a daze.

Seol Jihu turned his body and stared straight at the black figure. It exuded a dominating force that seemed to firmly grasp the air around him.

It wasn’t there when Seol Jihu first entered the room and his Nine Eyes had not reacted either.

‘Where did it come from?’

There wasn’t anything on the first three floors. To think so many of them would be gathered on the fourth floor….

Stepping back slowly while glancing at the door, Seol Jihu suddenly tilted his head.

From the looks of it, the black figure seemed to have perceived Flone and him. Although its eyes, nose, and mouth couldn’t be seen, he could still feel its heavy gaze.

But it didn’t move once it got up. It simply stared at them from the same spot.

No. Now, it was starting to slowly raise its arm-like body part.

‘Does it want us to leave?’

Seol Jihu raised an unfounded hope. Unfortunately, the arm didn’t point to the door, but straight in the forward direction.

[Th….]

Seol Jihu flinched slightly as an aged stammer rang out. He strained his ears to listen.

[That neck… how….]

‘Neck?’

Seol Jihu looked down as his pendant before going ‘Ah’.

“Flone! Could this be—”

[Flo… ne…?]

When Seol Jihu called out Flone’s name, ready to clutch at straws, Flone finally opened her mouth.