YM778.TV Chapter 239
Then, in that state, my feet rose into the air. Woo Ragi had lifted me up and leaned me back in his arms. I was relieved by the solid feelings of arms around my waist and the feel of a firm chest against my back; however, I was a bit upset at how relieved I felt.
As he placed a hand on my wheezing back, he asked, “Why are you suddenly blind?”
“…….” If I knew, I wouldn’t be sitting around like this.
Instead of answering, I grabbed the Swordsman’s shoulders; Woo Ragi had nothing more to say about that.
But soon, his twisted voice flowed into my ear. “You must be uncomfortable.”
His voice was laden with irritation–as if intimidating me to stop squirming around.
I nodded without hesitation, “Yeah.”
“Who do you think is more uncomfortable now?”
“…Me, the blind person who fell into this strange place with the most crass servant.”
“I haven’t even started with my complaints with you.”
“……” I shut my mouth, exhausted from his shady remarks.
Perhaps he was also tired of this line of conversation, as he asked about my body’s condition. “Is everything alright other than your eyes?”
“I don’t know…”
My whole body throbbed, but I didn’t know where the pain originated. Being blind was such a big shock that I paid little attention to the relatively trivial aches wracking my body.
‘No way, if my eyesight never returns…’
As I thought of this pessimistic, worst-case scenario, my soul exited my body.
However, as soon as I finished speaking, Woo Ragi scarily groped my body as he pleased; my chaotic mind returned to reality in an instant, as if someone had poured cold water on me. I screamed, “W-What are you doing?!”
“I’m checking for injuries on your body. Or, you could just answer my question properly.” Then, using his robust grip strength, he twisted my arm.
I screamed, “Aagh! It hurts! What are you doing!”
“So dramatic…”
“Don’t touch it! I said, don’t touch!”
“Do you really think I’d want to molest a perverted homo like you?” He simultaneously pressed hard on the nape of my neck and bent my arm back.
The painful impact stung–the ache ran up my spine like a lightning strike. Woo Ragi must have been surprised at my scream and the way my face burrowed into his shoulder; he asked, “What? What did I do for you to scream like that?”
“Ngh…Hngh…”
“No way–are you keeled over like that just because I pressed at your pressure points a little?” As he said that, he grabbed my roughly breathing head and jerked it backwards, perhaps to check my expression. After he finished his observation, he flung it back down again.
I hit my forehead hard on his shoulder because of the rebound; I inadvertently inwardly cursed. Woo Ragi also placed his hands on my back and patted me, as if he were trying to soothe me. I think that touch irritated me more than when I hit my head.
“You shouldn’t have surprised me with your drool.” He made excuses for himself.
That was not an apology at all; I punched him in the chest instead of answering. Woo Ragi dithered for a bit before staying still letting me hit him three more times. The fourth time, he caught my fist and didn’t let go.
It seems like his minuscule conscience couldn’t endure being hit four times in a row. In the end, I gave up on beating him and took a few labored breaths. The swordsman finally let my hand go and began walking somewhere.
“Where are you going?” I asked anxiously, wondering if he’d abandon me again.
He replied docilely, “There’s a building ahead that looks like a mansion. I’ll go there first.”
“Is there a way to escape if you go there?”
“….Haah, who knows. I’ve already said this isn’t my specialty, alright?” He snapped back. Still, it seems like he had a hunch. The Swordsman continued to inform me of his plans. “Normally, in dungeons, the environment changes when you move onto the next room or field…”
“…….”
“Besides, that mansion wouldn’t just appear for no reason.”
“……”
“Or, do you have any other ideas?”
I also understood that there were no other apparent ways forward except for his proposed plan. At my slight nod, the swordsman, while carrying me, sprinted even faster. His body hardly even shook despite the speed; I could barely tell he was running as he didn’t breathe heavily either.
* * *
After running like that for about 10 more minutes, Woo Ragi slowed down. And then I heard a hitherto unheard sound–like branches shaking in the wind. I asked the swordsman, “Is this perhaps…the garden?”
“I’m going in.” Woo Ragi–was he being indifferent?–ignored my question and held me tighter.
The scent of grass and something fishy wafted across my nose and thickened until the area was full of that scent; it really felt like we had crossed into the garden. I wanted to push at Woo Ragi and ask why he didn’t answer me, but I felt a murky, dreary vibe. So, I eventually closed my mouth.
Creak–!
Woo Ragi’s arm moved. It sounded as if he pushed through a rusty gate and, immediately after, I heard footsteps on a stone floor.
Judging from the trudging sounds of his footsteps echoing around, it sounded like we had just entered the large, empty entrance hall of a mansion.
I moved my head closer to the echoes and only stopped moving when Woo Ragi placed his hand on top of my head, as if he were telling me to stay still.
“Haah… How am I supposed to get over there while carrying this luggage?” he muttered, shamelessly poking my head with a finger. Enraged, I glared at him, but he placidly ignored that gaze.
“Why are you staring like that? All you have to do is cling onto me,” he said.
“What’s there?”
“There are these two stone statues over there–it feels like something bad will happen if we touch them. Between them, there’s an unbroken slab; I think we have to pass through there.”
“What?”
“I said, there are stone statues over there holding a mace. Didn’t you see the gargoyle statues at the [Tower of Command] as well?”
Gargoyle… They still often featured in my nightmares. The statues, with closed eyes, woke up one by one and flew towards me; I really thought my life flashed before my eyes. To hear that there’s more of those things in front of us…
Furthermore, if even Woo Ragi said that he probably should avoid touching them, that said a lot about the monster’s level. Riddled with anxiety, I suddenly thought of something, “But, if Koo Hui-seo really made this place… Can he really summon those monsters? Isn’t this essentially a dungeon?”
“Isn’t it futile to call Koo Hui-seo a human being now?”
I really couldn’t really understand why Woo Ragi said that, so I simply stared at him. At my silence, I believe he stared back; however, he was silent for a long time. It was as if he wondered if he could inform me on this matter. After a long while, he opened his mouth, “According to Seo Dawon… Koo Hui-seo is a sacrifice meant for the devil.”
“The devil?”
“He didn’t tell you anything?”
“……”
I was always greatly concerned by the Mage’s silence, but I was even more resentful today.
Woo Ragi clicked his tongue curtly–he took his own conclusions from my silence. “If he didn’t tell you, don’t worry about it. It’s not just you–he rarely tells anyone else what he thinks.”
I couldn’t tell if he was covering for Seo Dawon or comforting me, but a part of me accepted that explanation. Why doesn’t Seo Dawon tell anyone what’s on his mind? “…Why won’t he talk about those things? Weren’t you ever frustrated by that?”
“Never.”
“So then, you just…do as he orders? Blindly?”
“Yeah.” His one-word answers weren’t trying to be haphazard nor was he mocking me; his tone really seemed to convey that’s how he truly behaved.
I couldn’t understand, so I stared where I thought his face may be.
Woo Ragi must have read my something in my expression; he shrugged his shoulders. “We all have our roles.”
“You’ve really never doubted Seo Dawon’s words?”
“Why do you doubt them?”
“That’s…just something you might wonder. Why does he act like that? Stuff like that…”
“Don’t you know that I’ve been friends with Seo Dawon ever since we were young?”
“That’s…”
“We’ve been together for about 10 years. You think I’d wonder about something like that? He’s always been that way.” With that said, Woo Ragi said something pretty shocking, “Kim Olim, Seo Dawon, and I… When the three of us became Users, we went into the dungeon together for the first time and almost died.”
“What?”
“Seo Dawon saved me and Kim Olim.”
“……”
“We were the only ones who followed his orders, and we lived. The rest died.” His voice was tranquil and didn’t tremble.
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TL: Lee-kyung and Ragi’s dynamic is always interesting. Hamster is sassy with the swordsman, and I appreciate that.
Also, more on the Red lotus dynamic! It seems like Dawon’s had trust issues since, like, forever! I’ll comment more on Woo Ragi’s role and mentality in a later chapter.