Chapter 523: Partial Confinement (1)
Chapter 523: Partial Confinement (1)
‘Where am I?’
When I opened my eyes, I found myself in an unfamiliar place.
The luxurious interior reminded me of my past room, but it didn’t seem as welcoming for some reason.
Actually, the room felt almost the same as my room.
The alchemy kit that I always used was in the corner, and there was the classical and elegant furniture which looked like they had been inherited from people with ‘Old Money.’ There was also my luxury collection on the other side. Besides the Chanelia Hermes that I already had, there were also luxury items that had quite interesting functions.
I didn’t know where I had gotten those items. Looking at them, it was likely that Kim Hyunsung might have brought them.
No, that guy definitely brought them. Seeing how the bags were set so nicely, it was definitely him.
The way I looked so happy after receiving the Infinity Bag must have never left his mind. I was not too fond of the new items, but then I realized how big my room had become.
‘What…’
It looked as if they had enlarged my room. At that moment, it looked big enough for me to run and jump around. And that wasn’t even all. The potted plants receiving luminescent light were enough to make me envision a small garden.
On top of a large desk, there was a chess set that seemed to have been crafted by a master, and the bookshelves were filled to the brim with appealing books.
It seemed like they were there to make sure that I didn’t become bored.
“What is this?”
I carefully lifted my body. My legs lost strength for a moment, but thankfully, it seemed that I hadn’t forgotten how to walk.
After observing my surrounding, I sneaked towards the door and reached for its handles. I felt entirely out of place.
‘Where are the windows?’
I wanted to see what was happening in the outside world. However, there wasn’t a single window in the room. I might not have felt so out of place if the room wasn’t so big.
It was an immensely large room. The designer wouldn’t have made a room like that unless they were out of their mind. Or, unless they wanted a challenge.
I wasn’t sure, but there was only one possibility that I could come up with.
‘Fuck, am I confined?’
I immediately thought of Jung Hayan’s cursed shrine. It was the first thing that came to mind when I thought of kidnapping and confinement.
However, I thought of how Jung Hayan had acted the last time I saw her and shook my head.
After all that fussing, she wouldn’t have kidnapped me. Of course, thinking that I was confined was simply my guess. Before anything, I just wanted to talk to somebody.
There were a lot of things that I needed to fix and set after everything was over. I had to give a public apology and wander around to get more from the situation.
There was also the problem of restoring and clearing the fallen Federation. Since the land’s owner was gone, we had to decide where all of it was going.
I needed to quickly resolve the public opinion and the joint training that had been affected by it…
‘We also need to reorganize.’
If Lee Jihye was in charge, I could leave it in her hands, but I couldn’t possibly make her do everything.
We had to become united to overcome the great wounds and pain, and the three main guilds had to be at the center kept me occupied, I wanted to rest peacefully for a bit, but it wasn’t the time to be idle.
Like a habit, I tapped on my bed.
The door then slowly opened. I looked to the place where the sound came from. In front of the door, there was Sun Hee-young.
Shocked, she dropped the pot she was holding. She must’ve been the one taking care of the small garden at the corner of the room.
I wasn’t sure how I should react. For the time being, I thought I should smile slightly.
“Lee… Lee Kiyoung-nim.”
With a surprised look on her face, she ran towards me.
Her already-teary eyes filled up with water and began to drip down on her cheeks. Then, she turned around and hugged me.
Her reaction was like that of a lover, who had found her vegetative partner awake. I wasn’t all that certain, but she must have taken care of me while I was asleep.
“Lee Kiyoung-nim. Lee Kiyoung-nim…”
“Ah… yes, I am here.”
“Waaah… Lee Kiyoung-nim…”
She still didn’t let go of me. It wasn’t an unpleasant situation, but I still couldn’t breathe. After I tapped her shoulder, she seemed to have realized what she was doing and let go of me.
“Ah! Ah! I’m so sorry…”
“No, you don’t have to be sorry, Hee-young-ssi. Besides, where am I…?”
“There must be a lot of things you are curious about. I will contact the Guild Master right now. Everyone else has been waiting for you to wake up. Thank goodness. S+Sniff…”
“…”
“May I first check your body’s condition? It seems like you just woke up…”
“Yes, that’s true.”
As I nodded, she took a look at my physique with teary eyes.
I felt like she checked places that she didn’t really need to check, but she seemed very earnest in her inspection. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with me, but I felt more assured after seeing her.
‘The health inspection is done.’
Nobody could inspect better than that. After a brief pause, I looked at her again, and she sighed.
“It doesn’t seem like there is anything concerning. Your physical health is really good too. I always checked before, but I’m relieved that nothing has changed after you woke up.”
“Yes, but Hee-young-ssi…”
“Before that, aren’t you hungry? Why don’t you drink some water first and then try eating some porridge? After all, it has been a long time since you last ate. Or it might be better for you to drink some potion right away.”
“…”
‘It seems like she’s trying to change the conversation.’
And that wasn’t the only time it happened. Whenever I tried to ask a question, she directed the conversation elsewhere.
She must’ve known what I was going to ask her.
Anybody would have thought it was strange that she kept trying to avoid answering the question. And because of her poor acting, things looked even more awkward.
‘I see, you don’t want to talk. I guess that’s it, after all.’
It wasn’t Sun Hee-young or Jung Hayan who brought me there. Well, they were part of it, including all the other Blue Guild Members, but it was under his orders.
‘Kim Hyunsung, you bastard.”
As I was thinking, more people started to appear. I didn’t know where they were coming from, but everyone was armed.
That included Jung Hayan and Park Deokgu. Still, everyone threw their bodies at me as they teared up. Jung Hayan was especially moved, considering both tears and snot ran down her face.
“You woke up…”
“It’s been a long time, Hyejin-ssi.”
“It’s been a very long time. Blue Vice Guild Master.”
“Nice to see you, Ahn Ki-mo-ssi.”
“Blue guild-master…”
‘Yoo Ahyoung, Kim Chang-ryul, and even our newbies…’
Han Sora was also there. The elves must have gone on some business trip, seeing that Elena was missing. After slightly stroking Jung Hayan’s head while I was hugging her, I was surprised to see an unfamiliar face.
‘What, they’re…’
They even had the Blue Guild’s emblem on their chest.
‘What? Did they hire new guild members?’
Seeing their stats and how armed they were, they didn’t look like ordinary guild members.
‘Did they pick out new party members?’
As I looked at them with curiosity, I felt Kim Hyunsung squeezing my hand. His face was filled with emotions.
I swore that I just saw him a couple of days ago, but he acted like he hadn’t seen me in ten months. As expected, his eyes were also teary.
‘Stop crying, seriously.’
“Um, could you perhaps…no, Hyunsung-ssi, could you tell me what happened… Can you explain everything to me?”
“You don’t have to worry about it. Everything has been resolved and done with.”
“Yes…?”
“Demons came, and the empire’s army engaged in battle with them- that is all. And in the process, we were able to save you. And lastly, Benignore-nim…”
‘That’s all? What bullsh*t…”
“… With her help, we were able to guarantee victory. That was how we were able to s-save you while you were with the others.”
And that was how I realized why they confined me there. Everyone was in it. I couldn’t even nod at Kim Hyunsung’s unbelievable storytelling.
It was like they had all planted a hidden camera to make one person look stupid.
‘Wow, look at all of them, lying in a group… seriously?’
I could see right through them. They wanted to help me regain my memories without confusing me too much.
They probably knew that the truth might be revealed later, but it was still too early.
‘I wonder if I should just say that I remember everything.’
That might be a better option than dragging it on for too long. I thought that they would be careful, but they were more careful than I expected.
It was spectacular to see everyone supporting Kim Hyunsung’s words.
At least Kim Ye-ri and Ahn Ki-mo showed some convincing acting, but Kim Hyunsung, who should’ve been the main character of the play, was stiff. It was as if he was reading a textbook.
“Some time passed, but dark magic is still floating outside.”
‘Don’t lie, you little sh*t. What do you mean dark magic is floating around…’
“According to experts, this magic is especially fatal to you.”
‘This storyline is so bad.’
“So, for now… I think it will be better for you to stay here.”
As he finished his lines, I realized the story was made to force me into confinement. Although I felt a bit nervous about it, I didn’t think it would last that long.
I already thought that there was no way that they would really keep me in there for long.
‘Well, they will probably let me go outside if I say that I want to take a walk. What could happen?’
And just like that, two more weeks passed by.