Chapter 213 (2/2)
This scene was too peaceful to behold.
<< Could this be an illusion? >>
Su-hyeun didn’t lower his guard, his suspicion, even then. But no matter how many times he confirmed it, he was wrong.
<< No, it’s all real. >>
The moment he felt certain of this, Su-hyeun stopped walking and stood there. He dazedly stared at his surroundings once more.
The scene around him was just too peaceful. This world’s skies weren’t tainted by dark, gloomy storm clouds. In fact, it felt even more peaceful than the lively and vibrant city of Seoul.
<< The system isn’t working, either. >>
Even the usual trial messages didn’t show up.
He wasn’t informed of what he needed to do in this place to clear the trial. And that made him even more confused. He would’ve felt better if monsters rushed at him in a huge horde, actually.
“Oiii, Hans!”
Su-hyeun wasn’t paying much attention to the voices in his surroundings so he, of course, ignored the call. But the source of the voice got closer to him and spoke again.
“Hans! Hey, fella, what are you doing here?”
Grab-
Smack-!
Su-hyeun hurriedly slapped away a hand that grabbed his wrist. He spun around to face the man who had approached him from the rear.
That blow must’ve stunned the middle-aged man with dirt on his face, because he was staring back at Su-hyeun with a somewhat shocked expression.
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
Su-hyeun realized that he had been too tense and smiled awkwardly while hiding his wrist.
The middle-aged man maintained that stunned expression as he stared at Su-hyeun. “Hans, this fella. I didn’t know you were actually this strong. Outwardly you’re skinny and sickly so I thought you wouldn’t have much strength to speak of.”
“Is… that so?”
It seemed that Su-hyeun’s name during this trial was ‘Hans.’
“But I think I hurt my head on the way, uncle. I can’t seem to recall anything all that well.”
“Eh? Again?”
The middle-aged man’s eyes opened wider, then he began inspecting Su-hyeun’s head.
In the meantime, the older man’s unexpected question surprised Su-hyeun. “What do you mean by ‘again’?”
“Fella, you came to our village with the same problem a few days ago. You said that you hurt your head and couldn’t even remember your own name. That’s why we agreed to just call you Hans.”
“Is that what happened?”
“Right. It’s only been a few days, so if you concentrate, you might remember something. I’m Hamil. Do you remember?”
“Hamil, Hamil…”
Obviously he wouldn’t remember anything.
Su-hyeun committed the name ‘Hamil’ to memory. Meeting this middle-aged man here, and his connection to the role of ‘Hans’, couldn’t just be a coincidence.
“I’m really sorry about this. I still can’t remember anything clearly.”
“Really? Hmm. How strange.”
“By the way… Where is my house, exactly? Ah, since I lost my memories, the house…”
“You’ve been staying in my place, remember? I asked you to get some wood from the mountain behind the village over there, but why did you have to go and injure your head again, clumsy?”
“I’m sorry. H-hahaha…”
“You should finish the job quickly. It’s not that serious since you couldn’t remember anything, to begin with, right? Wait, it is serious, isn’t it? You won’t remember where my house is.” Hamil muttered at length to himself before grabbing Su-hyeun’s arm and began dragging him away. “This won’t do. For now, let’s head back to my place first.”
“E-excuse me?”
“What are you doing? I told you to stay at my place since you had nowhere else to go, didn’t I? Have you forgotten it alre… I guess you have. So what, you don’t want to go, then?”
Su-hyeun blinked his eyes in fluster before making his reply. “I, I’m coming.”
He hurriedly followed after Hamil.
He figured that he needed to understand this world’s situation first.
<hr />
Hamil’s residence was about ten minutes of fast walking away from where Su-hyeun had started the trial.
The house itself was small and rather humble. Wooden planks were liberally plastered over the building’s exterior after the fact and Su-hyeun couldn’t help but wonder if water would leak incessantly inside on rainy days.
“I’m home!”
“You’re early! What about your work?”
They entered the house and were greeted by the voice of a slightly older woman. The boisterous cheering of young kids came one beat later. It seemed that the children were playing on their own somewhere.
“Actually, I ran into Hans on the way, you see. This fella, he says he lost his memories again so what can I do?”
Hamil’s wife was about the same age as he was, maybe around mid-thirties. She looked taken aback, then stopped knitting right away. “Oh my goodness? Again?”
“Right. I didn’t think he’d be able to get home like that, so I brought him back just in case. Eiing, this clumsy fella. Seriously, man.”
“You should’ve been more careful, young man. Wait, does that mean you also can’t remember me?”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t.”
“Is that so? Mm, can’t be helped, then. I’m sure you feel disoriented so why don’t you take a seat first? And you dear, why did you ask a young man without memories to gather wood in the first place?”
“Argh, I didn’t force him to do it, did I? What should I do when he asked me for any available job he can take on?”
As soon as entering his home, Hamil put the luggage on his shoulder down and began bickering with his wife. Su-hyeun just stood there and watched this rather normal family scene.
“Oops. Where’s my head at? Don’t just stand there and make yourself at home. Your legs must be feeling tired.”
Hamil’s wife pointed to the corner of the room and addressed Su-hyeun. Hamil, looking somewhat miffed after receiving the brunt of all that nagging, settled down on Su-hyeun’s opposite side.
“By the way, dear? Did you hear the rumors?”
“What rumors?”
“You know, the uncle next door, who passed on a few days ago?”
“Of course I know him. He suddenly got sick one day, then kicked the bucket without a warning, didn’t he? I feel bad for his kids.”
“Apparently, three people saw that uncle on the road last night.”
“What are you talking about? How can anyone see a dead man?” Hamil snorted derisively. He turned around and mindlessly scratched his butt, indicating his lack of interest in the rumor.
But Su-hyeun reacted differently. “Are they saying that a dead person was walking around?”
“Yes. The strange thing is, those three who saw that uncle are saying that they aren’t feeling well today, either.”
The moment she said that…
[The first trial will commence.]
[Meet the soul of the deceased.]
[Stop the spread of the plague.]
The system, silent until now, suddenly sounded its alerts.
The soul of the deceased. And then, the plague.
The outline for this trial was gradually revealing itself.