Chapter 56 (2/2)
He didn't see wrong there. All the armaments collected after the battle were nestling quietly inside the bags carried by the porters, after all.
”However, Kahn's team found the tomb, entered it, got chased out and split up to everywhere in order to escape…. They were not killed by the Lioners, then?” (Dylan)
”I don't know. It's possible that they were hunted down one by one, but… I can't figure it out. Something is wrong. Something isn't adding up here.” (Samuel)
Feeling conflicted now, Samuel ma.s.saged his forehead. He spat out a groan and muttered as if he couldn't help it.
”We aren't going to find out anything by staying here wrecking our brains. Let's just go inside and find out first.” (Samuel)
Dylan didn't seem entirely convinced, but didn't disagree with the idea. Since there was only a limited amount of information, the only remaining way was to face it head on and find out.
”Looks like we'll have to change the formation. Cho Hong and Hugo should be in front….” (Dylan)
”Hold on for a minute.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
Seol Ji-Hu raised his hand up. Samuel's opinion was to enter the tomb first and figure out the rest later, but that definitely could not happen. Although his words were interrupted, Samuel didn't seem dissatisfied.
”Seol? Is something the matter?” (Samuel)
”We shouldn't go in like this.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”We shouldn't?” (Samuel)
Seol Ji-Hu quickly opened his mouth after receiving the gazes demanding answers landed on him.
”Uhm…. This tomb is where the ancient dead is resting, right?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Sure, that's the case.” (Samuel)
”Not only that, it's a tomb that a woman full of resentment had been buried alive, too. However, if we enter just like this and try to steal the grave goods, wouldn't she get really mad at us?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
His words made sense, but that was just about it.
”What you're saying is, we shouldn't raid this tomb simply out of our moral obligations?” (Samuel)
Seol Ji-Hu was at a loss as to what he could add here. He wanted to stop them from entering, but even from his perspective, his reasoning sounded flimsy at best. Didn't this expedition form just for the express purpose of raiding this tomb? If he was unhappy about it, then he shouldn't even have partic.i.p.ated in the first place.
”That's not what I'm saying….” (Seol Ji-Hu)
However, that didn't mean he could reveal the existence of his ‘Nine Eyes', either.
”It isn't? It's fine so please speak your mind. You're also a member of this expedition, too.” (Samuel)
The only reason why they had been listening to his words was because he had earned a big merit during the battle against the Lioners. But, if he wanted to change the opinion of the ‘header' of the expedition, then he needed a very good reason to do so.
‘What should I do?'
He pondered for a while, then the existence of a certain item in his possession entered his brain.
”Give me ten minutes. No, five. There's something I'd like to experiment first.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Five minutes shouldn't be too hard. However, what are you planning to do?” (Samuel)
Instead of an answer, Seol Ji-Hu opened the mouth of his bag slung around his shoulder. The luggage had been handed over to the porters, but he always carried around his bag.
”Sir Ian, may I have a spare piece of paper you are not going to use?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Mm? Here it is.” (Ian)
When Seol Ji-Hu asked while rummaging through his bag, Ian quickly pulled out a paper. He then quietly stared on at the youth, his whole expression was filled with curiosity, as if wanting to find out what this level 1 Warrior might do next.
”I found it.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
Shortly afterwards, Seol Ji-Hu pulled out a lengthy quill pen.
”Huh?” (Grace)
Grace pointed at the pen and cried out.
”That, that thing! Hey, did you get that back in the Tutorial?” (Grace)
”I have. How did you know?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”I also got that during the treasure hunt, you see. It's a SPECIAL item, right?” (Grace)
”That's correct.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Wow, it's been such a long time since I last saw that.” (Grace)
When Grace sounded mystified, Cho Hong couldn't help but ask her.
”What is that thing, then?” (Cho Hong)
”Oh, that. It's called the quill pen of the flowing consciousness. You get that from that item draw machine or whatever if you were lucky. It cost like 300 coins back then.” (Grace)
”What kinda effect does it have?” (Cho Hong)
”Mm~. In short, it converts the flow of the target's consciousness into words.” (Grace)
”….And how did you use it, then?” (Cho Hong)
Cho Hong's face showed how confused she was still. Grace cackled ominously.
”I used it after entering the Neutral Zone. There was this guy we went around since the Tutorial, and I got real curious why he kept on looking after me.” (Grace)
”He~eh. So, what happened?” (Cho Hong)
”It was as I expected, you know? What a revelation that was. ‘A killer figure', ‘wanna slap that a*s', ‘wanna push her down real bad', ‘should I force myself on her', etc, etc.” (Grace)
When Grace boldly spoke those words, Samuel began coughing out loudly once for some reason. Cho Hong smiled brightly in the meantime.
”Pu-hah. What a relief, then. You found out before he did something to you, which is good.” (Cho Hong)
Grace then tilted her head.
”Nope, not really?” (Grace)
”….What? You didn't go your separate ways even after seeing those things?” (Cho Hong)
”Ng. I just let him take advantage of me instead.” (Grace)
Grace spoke as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Not only Cho Hong, but even Hugo stared at her in disbelief, causing Grace to mutter out a complaint.
”Why are you looking at me like that? It's my preference, okay? Please respect it.” (Grace)
”Stop lying!!!” (Samuel)
Suddenly, Samuel yelled out in anger.
”You were the one who took advantage of me, not the other way around!! I was asleep, but you crept up like a cat and climbed on top of my bed, and then…..!!” (Samuel)
”Kek. But weren't those things written by the quill pen the truth?” (Grace)
”Keuk…!” (Samuel)
Samuel continued to shudder while Grace giggled softly.
”What an~ idiot. That's why you should've jumped on me when I gave you the chance. I gave you plenty of hints yet you were so indecisive, you know? That's why this noona had to…” (Grace)
”Okay, okay. That's enough. We're in the middle of an expedition, okay? Continue on with your lover's quarrel after we return home, and for the time being, don't forget where we are.” (Dylan)
Dylan jumped in the middle and changed the atmosphere. Samuel turned his head away, while Grace stuck her tongue out.
”How did you use this quill pen back then?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
When Seol Ji-Hu asked her, Grace rested her index finger on her chin and rolled her eyes around.
”Maybe~ Hmm, I wrapped Samuel's hair around the pen…. I think? His hair was long even back then, so getting a strand or two wasn't that difficult, you see?” (Grace)
‘A strand of hair, is it?' (Seol Ji-Hu)
Seol Ji-Hu took a look around himself. He then spotted tall gra.s.ses growing on the tomb itself.
‘Can I think of those as a part of the tomb, I wonder?' (Seol Ji-Hu)
He decided to find out. Seol Ji-Hu reached out and tugged a stalk loose, then he wrapped it tightly around the pen. When he carefully placed it on top of Ian's paper, the quill pen mysteriously started to vibrate all by itself.
”Using the quill pen of the flowing consciousness to find out what the tomb is ‘thinking' about…. Huhuh. What an interesting fellow.” (Ian)
Ian expressed his admiration and stared at the paper below him. It wasn't just him, but everyone of the expedition's members were focusing on the quill pen and the paper.
It was then.
No one touched the pen, yet it stood upright quite abruptly. And then, like a crazed madman, it began swis.h.i.+ng around to jot down many letters. The heads of everyone gathered closer to the paper.
‘Let's see.' (Seol Ji-Hu)
A short while later.
Seol Ji-Hu's complexion froze very stiff after he read the first paragraph.
*SFX for teeth gnas.h.i.+ng, repeated multiple times*
– more came kill them all kill kill hehehe must kill wanna kill, hehehehe
it's unfair i'm angry why don't like me hateful detestable blame everyone i curse you
wanna rip you to shreds wanna pull out your eyes and squeeze until they pop kill kill!
yes enter here and i kill kill kill kekeke kill hehehee!!
*SFX for more teeth gnas.h.i.+ng, repeated multiple times*
< 56.=”” repose=”” of=”” souls=””> Fin.
(TL: Sigh. This is the announcement. I have little choice but to put this novel on indefinite hiatus. I really tried to continue on. I did, but two factors forced me to come to this difficult decision.)
(One, the reader numbers – although it had improved, and the fans of this novel are some of the best, kindest I've encountered in a while, the overall numbers were simply too low for the amount of work I had to put in. To put it into perspective, this novel only has an average per month of 1/4 of the Returner, my other novel. If you haven't noticed it yet, each chapter of the Second Coming are almost double the length of some Returner chapters. Basically, I have to do twice the work for a quarter of result. This isn't sustainable, when….)
(….Two, when I have other commitments. I simply can't find enough time to translate this novel and the Returner, as well as work on the project I'm contracted to by another website. I tried hard to find balance for all three, but in the end, something had to give, and this one is it.)
(It's a shame, really, because this is such a good novel and the quality of it remains constant throughout, which is rather unheard of in most webnovels of its ilk. To this day, I'm not quite sure why this novel has such low reader numbers. Maybe it just doesn't have enough of tropes that make countless other WNs palatable or something.)
(Once I have some free time, I may think about coming back to it. But as of this moment, I can't make any definite promises. I'm truly sorry for doing this, everyone. Please do forgive me.)
(If someone is thinking of picking it up, a word of advice: Get yourself a proper Korean/Hanja dictionary, cuz you'll be relying on that quite often when translating this novel….)