Chapter 4
“That’s why I came to visit my uncle. I’m trying to take my revenge, while at the same time helping my uncle.”
“Hmmm…”
At my words, Kang Ryun sat down on my throne at an angle again and touched her chin.
“Your words are questionable. Like I said, I’m looking for something that I don’t even know if it exists.”
I have no intention of dying here, so it may sound like a bluff to him.
For me, knowing his future, I smirked. I then roughly answered.
“Wasn’t gambling originally supposed to start like this?”
Kang Ryun, who looked at me, burst into laughter.
“…Hahaha! This is so funny!”
After laughing like that for a while, at some point he stopped laughing.
He looked at me with cool eyes and spoke.
“I have no time to get involved in your pranks, and I have no will to stop you from wanting to live in this abandoned world. Myung-Hwan!”
“Yes, my lord.”
Without a word, a man dressed in all black suddenly appeared in front of him.
“Give her a place to stay. She has the veins of the head, so warn her to avoid troublesome things.”
“Yes.”
“And you.”
Kang Ryun spoke in a cool tone, but I wasn’t scared at all.
‘It was tough, really.’
Not surprisingly, what the man had just said was an order to provide a safe place for me and to keep others from touching me.
‘He probably intended to scare me.’
As a courtesy, I thought I might pretend to be scared, but Kang Ryun warned me.
“I’ll warn you. If you gossip about my story, you won’t see anything good.”
…Hmm, I don’t think there’s any need to do that, since I’m a small talker.
I smiled brightly and answered obviously.
“Yes. I will keep my uncle’s words in mind.”
“…Myung-Hwan, take her.”
I did not stand in front of Kang Ryun any longer and quietly followed the man.
‘This is enough for the first meeting.’
Anyway, I’ve got a safe place to stay.
And there was this certainty.
‘Even if you don’t care, you’ll think of what I said when you lie down in bed.’
Then I win.
An exhilarating energy ran through my whole body.
I smiled involuntarily. Maybe it’s because of my personality, the more difficult the challenge and the more picky people are, the more energetic I get.
‘In the end, even that person will not be able to reject me.’
My steps were light.
I followed a man named Myung-Hwan and never looked back.
~*~
There was such a huge dragon blood cave at the bottom of Hundred Mountain that it was difficult to measure the depth, width, and length of it.
Originally, the logic of Black Heavenly Gate was the weak versus strong, and power was legitimacy.
In other words, it means that struggles over power and inaction, with no regard for recognition, were a daily occurrence.
Shimokgye Realm was formed as those who were defeated in the struggle, and it became a daily routine to flee in order to avoid their lives from being taken.
The place where the man named Myung-Hwan led me to was like the bottom of a deep valley where no water flowed.
Instead of water, thin moss covered the rocks. Trees and vaporizing reefs of a form that I had never seen before were growing out of the crevices of the rocks.
‘Really… It seems like the whole Shimokgye is a dark cave.’
As I was looking at the sunlight reaching the ground through the trees, Myung-Hwan asked carefully.
“What are you thinking?”
“About the Shimokgye Realm?”
I replied grimly.
“You must have been surprised.”
I nodded meekly.
What kind of place is Shimokgye?
A prison deep underground.
A place where bizarre creatures that have received the energy of poisonous insects, snakes, and dragon blood frequently appear.
A world full of quarrels between losers that has become so rough that it is not even necessary to talk about the mentality of the abandoned people.
But when I saw it in person, it seemed calm and peaceful.
‘Even if it’s just the appearance…’
“Don’t let your guard down.”
Myung-Hwan said as if he had noticed that I was thinking like that.
“The people here will pay attention to your appearance.”
In their eyes, I was a girl who appeared out of nowhere protected by the leader of this place. I can’t help but stand out.
“Of course, most of the people here are afraid of the leader, so they will abide by the order not to harm you. Still, be careful.”
I answered with a light smile.
“Do you mean that sometimes resentment can overcome fear?”
Perhaps it was an unexpected bold answer, for Myung-Hwan seemed a little embarrassed and nodded.
“That’s right. You’re brilliant.”
I suddenly became playful.
“Then, does that mean that you’re a person from the leader whom I should trust with confidence?”
“That… What?”
I giggled as I saw his face that looked embarrassed.
“I’m kidding. Don’t worry. I don’t trust anyone here.”
Even your leader, you know.
Whether he understood what I meant to say, Myung-Hwan was quiet for a moment.
Having lost interest, I said this.
“Let’s keep moving.”
“Yes, of course.”
I looked behind me.
I don’t trust anyone here.
Because all the people I have trusted have gone to the underworld, and that’s why I came down to the bottom of this cursed realm. (tl/n: meaning the people she trust have all died)
~*~
Myung-Hwan led me to a small house with sunlight shining in the yard. I liked that it was in a place where there were few people.
“We will have someone send the necessary items. And since this area is under the protection of the leader, you can rest in peace.”
Myung-Hwan quietly opened his mouth.
“Hmmm…”
But I was too clever to take it gracefully.
‘Does that mean that there are areas that are not covered by protection?’
It seems that Kang Ryun’s grip was not perfect at this point.
‘Well, for him…’
As soon as I was about to get lost in thought.
Myung-Hwan opened the door with a hesitant look.
“…And you are not wrong.”
“What?”
I couldn’t quite grasp what he was talking about.
“I am a person of the leader… so you can rest assured.”
So…
‘Are you saying that I should believe in you?’
It was so obvious that I couldn’t find the words to answer right away.
‘Hey, this person is Kang Ryun’s limb, so he will protect me as long as the order is not taken away.’
I quickly smiled and nodded my head.
“Yes. I’m relieved.”
Myung-Hwan seemed to feel something was missing from what I said, but he nodded his head at that point.
“That’s all you need to know.”
“Okay. Tell the leader that Aran is thankful.”
Myung-Hwan seemed a little embarrassed by my brazenness, but there was no one around to point it out. He nodded and just backed away.
Come to think of it, I don’t remember seeing him in the future.
‘He probably lost his life during the rough years.’
In my first life, there were always a lot of people around me, and I heard so many stories about it, so if I think about it a little more, it might come to mind.
Anyway, not now.
‘Come to think of it, I heard first-hand how the family of Kang Ryun died…’