Translator: Nox
Chapter: Chapter 31
Yoo-beom landed on the rock where Cheon Dowoon was. He laid his sister on the ground and received the bottle he offered.
"Is this the Mandrake potion you mentioned?"
The bottle contained a murky liquid. Its high viscosity made it look like poison as it sloshed around.
"You can't drink it as is. You need to add this."
Cheon Dowoon held out the Mandrake root he had brought separately. A slender root, barely 3 centimeters in size.
Yoo-beom found it hard to believe that this insignificant-looking root would save them.
"Place the bottles on a flat surface and insert one root into each. Don't shake them, just leave them as they are. If you wait, the color will become transparent like water, and the stickiness will disappear. That's when the potion is complete."
Cheon Dowoon relayed what he had heard from Chief Kim.
Yoo-beom, looking tense, placed the bottles on the ground. He inserted a root into each bottle and carefully closed the lids.
How long would they have to wait? He sat in front of the small glass bottles, unmoving.
The sight of the muscular, bird-headed man hugging his knees and crouching was quite a spectacle in many ways.
"The Alchemist who made that potion is quite skilled."
"Really?"
"It's said that Awakened in the Alchemy field are very knowledgeable about Spell formations."
Yoo-beom simply listened. Having crossed the Gate at the age of 13, he didn't know much about the world.
He just listened, wondering why Cheon Dowoon was saying such things. Cheon Dowoon, watching the potion gradually become clearer, said,
"An Awakened in that field might even be able to undo the Spell etched on your body."
"What...? What are you saying..."
"I'm saying they might be able to remove the Spell etched on you and your sister. The Tracking spell is useless now anyway, but you need to get rid of that Explosion spell, right?"
Yoo-beom couldn't say anything. He stared blankly at Cheon Dowoon, then looked down at his sister.
The freedom to fly in the sky. The siblings had crossed the Gate for that one thing alone.
Whether it was their own desire, or a change in nature caused by the transplanted Avian monster cells, they couldn't tell anymore.
One thing was certain: they had been living satisfied with their current lives. Or, rather, they had been deceiving themselves.
[Brother. Do you remember what it felt like outside the Gate?]
Whenever his sister asked that, Yoo-beom couldn't answer.
The only world outside the Gate that the siblings remembered was the scenery inside the lab. They had both been kidnapped at such a young age that they had almost no memories from before.
Even so, they couldn't ignore the nostalgia for something in the corner of their hearts.
If they could erase the Explosion spell etched on their bodies, would they be able to go outside the Gate?
"It's just a guess, so don't get your hopes up too much. But if you want to try, give me some of your feathers or blood later. I'll have them analyzed."
Cheon Dowoon said with a grin.
"I bought that person's abilities for 10 years. Even if it's impossible now, if I run it for 10 years, something might come up, right?"
Yoo-beom looked at Cheon Dowoon and laughed.
Even if it was in the distant future, they might be able to gain true freedom. Just thinking about it made him laugh.
"Looks like it's done."
While they were talking, the liquid in the bottles had turned clear. The Mandrake root had completely dissolved and disappeared.
Considering the possibility of side effects, he couldn't give it to his sister, who was in poor condition, first. Yoo-beom opened a lid and drank the potion himself.
A refreshing energy flowed down his throat. The Magical energy he had been forcibly suppressing instantly subsided.
It felt like tangled threads were being untangled. Was this what it felt like when scattered puzzle pieces were put together in an instant?
Yoo-beom, surprised that the effect was so fast, looked down at his body in astonishment.
Far from having any side effects, he felt even better than before.
"Ha... Hahaha."
Yoo-beom collapsed to the ground. The things that had been binding and tormenting them for so long had disappeared in an instant.
Lost in the unbelievable reality, he hurried to his sister.
He opened a bottle and poured the potion into his sister's mouth. He laughed again as his sister's Magical energy, which had seemed about to explode, subsided.
That was it. Now his sister wouldn't have to eat Sleep Poison-laced fruit and wait for death. He wouldn't have to watch her and feel miserable. No more, no more.
"Like before..."
Let's fly in the sky like before. Let's spread our wings and fly together. Yoo-beom, who had been laughing for a long time, looked at Cheon Dowoon.
"Thank you."
There were many things he wanted to say. They were tangled in his head, and he couldn't get the words out properly.
That was enough. The meaning was conveyed. Cheon Dowoon got up and smiled.
"You're welcome. Let's go. Kim Nari is waiting."
Cheon Dowoon said casually and jumped over the rock. Yoo-beom couldn't take his eyes off his back.
His roommate, who had appeared out of nowhere and saved them decades ago.
It was the same this time. They owed him their lives twice.
If they could even erase the Explosion spell, wouldn't they owe him three lives?
Yoo-beom smiled and spread his wings.
The quiet, wave-crashing night sea of the Demon Realm. The smile never left his face as he glided over it.
This was him and his sister soaring towards true freedom. That's how it felt.
* * *
Yoo-beom's sister, Yoo Ji-ah, who was unharmed even after being impaled on a rock.
The unconscious Yoo Ji-ah was dreaming of her childhood. She hadn't dreamed since her Mana Hole had become tangled, so she felt refreshed.
'Is this... when I was living in the lab?'
Before her was her younger self. Not even 10 years old, she was hanging on the window, unable to sleep, looking outside.
[Huh? What's that?]
Yoo Ji-ah spotted a figure climbing the mountain behind the lab.
It was hard to see with the naked eye, but with her Avian monster cells, she could zoom in on any part she wanted like a magnifying glass.
[That looks like the roommate Brother mentioned.]
She had never spoken to him personally, so she didn't know his name. She only knew that the researchers called him Number 17, or crazy.
How could he be outside the lab at this hour? Was he trying to escape? She thought, but Cheon Dowoon's pace was too leisurely for an escapee.
The way he was dragging a large bag made him seem less like an escapee and more like...
'Wait a minute. That's not a bag? That's... that's a researcher!'
The identity of the white bag, which had been obscured by the trees. It wasn't a bag, but a passed-out researcher.
There was a hole where Cheon Dowoon arrived, as if it had been dug in advance.
Cheon Dowoon pushed the researcher into it.
After gathering soil and covering it, the researcher was buried in the ground with only his head sticking out.
He woke up and struggled in the middle, but Cheon Dowoon slapped the back of the researcher's head every time.
Not hitting him hard. But not hitting him lightly either. Just enough to scratch at someone's nerves.
Cheon Dowoon buried the researcher in the ground and went down the mountain.
[Ah, that researcher... he was the one who made a fuss at the meeting this morning.]
Yoo Ji-ah recognized the researcher's face.
-Number 17 is an irreplaceable test subject. We need to dissect him and make a specimen before any side effects occur!
The researcher who had strongly advocated for Cheon Dowoon's dissection. He was now buried on the mountain behind the lab, with only his head sticking out.
She was flustered, but she understood. Anyone would want to do that if they heard someone say they should be dissected.
Wasn't that a fair retaliation? Just as she was thinking that, Cheon Dowoon came back. He was holding something the size of a soccer ball.
Cheon Dowoon threw it at the researcher's face.
She was surprised, thinking he was throwing a rock, but the thing that hit the researcher's head easily crumbled and broke into pieces.
Dark things poured out from inside. Yoo Ji-ah, with her good eyesight, immediately recognized what they were.
'Be, bees...!'
What Cheon Dowoon had brought was a beehive the size of a soccer ball.
The bees, whose home had been destroyed, began to attack the researcher's face, which was the only thing sticking out.
[Ugh, ugh...]
Even though it wasn't happening to her, Yoo Ji-ah shook her face.
Meanwhile, Cheon Dowoon went down the mountain with a light step. He stopped as he was going, and looked back exactly where Yoo Ji-ah was.
Shh. Cheon Dowoon put a finger to his lips. A gesture to keep quiet.
Then, he ran his thumb across his neck. A gesture that he would do the same to her if she spoke.
[Eek!]
Startled, she jumped into bed and covered herself with the blanket.
[I, I won't say anything. Because what he did to the researcher... was a little satisfying.]
She muttered to herself.
[Yeah. Just keep your mouth shut. That's all you need to do.]
A voice answered from outside the window. No way. It must be a hallucination. There's no way she could hear his voice from the mountain behind the lab. Besides, this was the 5th floor.
She turned around with a creaking movement.
The 5th floor window with bars. Cheon Dowoon, who should have been on the mountain behind the lab, was clinging to it.
[Hiiiyaaa!]
Yoo Ji-ah fainted with a bizarre scream.
Was this how the protagonist being chased by a murderer in a horror movie felt? That was the last thing she thought before losing consciousness.
The next day, the lab's daily routine was the same as usual.
If she hadn't heard that one of the researchers was absent without leave, she might have thought that last night's events were a dream.
Three days later, the researcher buried on the mountain behind the lab was found. His face was swollen, and his body was emaciated as he was carried down on a stretcher.
Cheon Dowoon was among the children who had gathered, buzzing with excitement.
He looked at the researcher being carried away on a stretcher and looked like he realized something.
[Oh, right. I buried him.]
Yoo Ji-ah, who was nearby, heard those words. The researcher being carried away on the stretcher also heard those words.
[Ughhh... Ughhh!]
The researcher made strange moans and pointed at Cheon Dowoon. His lips were so swollen that he couldn't make a proper sound.
The researcher who had wanted to dissect Cheon Dowoon resigned that day, fleeing as if running away.
A person who could bury someone and forget about it.
A person who could throw a beehive at someone's face and act like nothing happened.
A person who could be on the mountain behind the lab and then suddenly be clinging to her 5th floor window as if he had teleported.
'He's... he's crazy.'
It was satisfying, but it was also scary. Yoo Ji-ah quietly backed away from Cheon Dowoon.
She felt like she understood why her own sibling had been complaining about wanting to change rooms.
* * *
Why was she suddenly dreaming of such old things? Yoo Ji-ah woke up to the crackling sound of a bonfire.
As she tried to get up, she groaned strangely and collapsed.
'What, what is it? It feels like my body has been beaten with a hammer.'
A pain as if her entire body had been hammered with a sledgehammer. Yoo Ji-ah had felt this pain before when she was young.
During her clumsy adolescence when she was still learning to fly. This was the pain she felt when she collided with a monster while practicing high-speed flight and bounced off.
The pain of flying straight and being nailed to a cliff was similar to what she was feeling now.
"That's strange. Why am I suddenly feeling that pain..."
As she rubbed her arms and legs and tilted her head, she heard laughter from outside the house.
It wasn't her sibling's voice. It was the voice of a young girl and a man she had never heard before.
Could it be that Hunters had taken over the house? Had something happened to her sibling?
Yoo Ji-ah's expression hardened. She extended her hook-like claws and rushed out.
"Brother, are you okay...?! Huh...?"
What she saw was three people sitting in front of a bonfire.
"You're awake? Come and sit down."
Her sibling, seeing her, waved with a cheerful smile. Yoo Ji-ah's eyes widened at that.
'Brother is smiling.'
A smile she hadn't seen since her Mana Hole had become tangled.
In the first place, her sibling wasn't a person who smiled much. If she had to describe him, he was closer to being gloomy.
Anyone would become like that if they were mistaken for a monster by Hunters and threatened with death.
Yet, her sibling was grilling shellfish and smiling like an idiot.
Who were those people? Yoo Ji-ah looked around at the people there with a surprised expression.
