Omen. (8)
How many days had it been since we got trapped in the forest?
Since it was a vicious space where one couldn't tell day from night, I couldn't know for sure.
It just meant waiting for time to pass, as there was nothing else we could do.
- The more fucked up thing is that I'm stuck with you.
- Why are you picking a fight when I was just staying quiet?
- You do it often too. Deal with it.
- Have you finally lost your mind? Ah, wait, were you always like this?
We walked for a long time, exchanging pointless banter.
Originally, even if we walked, we couldn't get out, so I didn't understand why we were moving at all.
But if I said I wouldn't do it, I knew she would throw a fit with her venomous eyes.
So I was just going along with it moderately.
- Phew... Crazy bitch.
- I can hear everything.
- I'm saying it so you'll hear it. So you'll hear it.
Ever since Seolbong and I, along with Murong Hui-a, got trapped in this forest.
We tried all sorts of methods, but ultimately, we failed to find a way out.
As for food, whether we killed monsters or ate bugs, as long as we somehow endured, it was fine, but
•
Going round and round in the same place without being able to get out was the pinnacle of annoyance.
- Fuck, seriously. Why do I have to go through this shit?
- Do you really have to use such low-class words?
- Low-class my ass, do you have to act so noble even in this situation?
- I really don't want to associate with you... Are you really a bloodline of a prestigious family? No matter how I look at it, you don't seem like one.
- I feel the same way, you damn bitch. Don't talk to me and just walk.
There were many things in the world that pissed me off, but this bitch took up the largest share.
Why out of all the countless people did I have to be stuck with this annoying woman?
Wait, was it better than Jamryong?
Jamryong was a creepy bastard, after all.
In a way, it was the same either way.
- What have you been muttering to yourself about since a while ago?
- Mind your own business and look ahead. Why do you keep clinging to me?
- Who's clinging? Do you want to die?
- You're using such low-class words again. Speak properly, Miss.
- ...Wait a second. Stop right there.
- I won't stop.
It was a repetition of bickering that was hard to even call a conversation.
Our personalities clashed from one to ten, so there was no way we'd get along.
Moving my steps as if running away.
I looked back and asked.
- Seriously, why do you keep trying to stick to me?
- ...When did I? Why would I ever... with someone like you?
- I'm asking why you're trying to stick to me. Do you like me?
- I'll tear your mouth apart and kill you.
- Yeah, that doesn't seem to be the case.
The killing intent I just felt was real.
To radiate killing intent just because I joked around a bit...
- Then why are you doing that.
- To say it's not, I have eyes too, you know.
- You do?
—Are you crazy?
I clicked my tongue once and turned my head away.
Why is she really acting like that.
- It's been like that since we entered the forest.
The subtle sense of distance between me and Seolbong seemed to have narrowed considerably.
Murong Hui-a, who wouldn't even come near me while looking at me like a bug.
For some reason, her constantly clinging to my side bothered me strangely.
Thinking about it carefully, I asked Seolbong.
- Hey.
- What.
- Are you scared.
- ...What did you say?
Seolbong frowned as if she misheard. But I could feel a slight gap showing there.
- The darkness. I'm asking if you're scared of it.
- Are you sick somewhere? Why are you suddenly spouting nonsense.
To say it wasn't, Seolbong's eyes were shaking, which was a rare sight.
And the hand that was vigorously rubbing her shoulder, as if she was cold, had grown faster.
Seeing that, I had to furrow my brow.
- I knew it, no wonder you were clinging to me so creepily.
- ...I said it's not.
- Then screw off. Don't cling to me.
Unlike usual, the constantly narrowing distance was incredibly annoying.
Whether it was true or not, I hoped she would just stay away.
- ...What if we get separated and lose our way?
- We've already lost our way, and what difference does it make if we stick together?
After all, even if we walked around diligently, we'd just end up back at the same place.
When I said that with a heavily furrowed brow, Seolbong's eyes narrowed slightly.
- As expected, you have no interest in anyone other than So Geom-seong.
- What kind of bullshit is this suddenly, why is that bitch being brought up here.
So Geom-seong out of nowhere, had she gone crazy from not eating?
- You're the only one who doesn't know. Everyone else knows that you're especially weak to So Geom-seong.
- Bullshit.
I just don't hang around her because it's uncomfortable, what do you mean weak?
- Ah, I don't mean weak in terms of martial prowess. You should already know that you're the weakest.
- You damn bitch...
I seriously wanted to ram into her just now, but I barely held it back.
Not like I'd be able to win if I rammed into her anyway.
- Staying stuck with you makes my stomach churn.
- What a coincidence. I felt the same way.
Seolbong turned her head and said something.
But I changed my direction with a growl.
If she wasn't following or clinging to me, she'd probably fall behind on her own.
.
..
.
Walking through the foggy forest for a long time, I quietly muttered.
- What a fucked up world.
There was nothing else to say.
Because above all, it was the most fitting phrase.
- Am I going to die like this.
For a word muttered plainly, it was quite a frightening story.
But I, who had uttered those words, didn't have any particular thoughts.
Even if I counted it as shortly as possible, it had been seven days and nights.
It must have been at least that long since we entered this forest.
Even if I couldn't grasp day and night. That was how it felt.
If I truly couldn't escape this forest and ended up dying.
- What a pointless life.
A smirk leaked out of me without me realizing.
Because it felt like such a sordid way to die.
Rustle.
I pushed through the bushes.
It wasn't like I had a specific destination in mind.
Since I wouldn't be able to get out no matter how much I walked anyway, I was just looking for a decent place to rest.
Then suddenly.
- Hmm?
It felt a bit different.
Because it was slightly different from the path I had been wandering around on for days.
Why?
The path that had become so familiar I could walk it with my eyes closed.
For some reason, I could feel a change.
I hurried my steps.
I didn't know if a change in the forest had come to let us out.
I was a bit urgent, too.
Passing through the trees and out of the bushes.
- What...?
An unfamiliar space was waiting for me.
- What's wrong? What is it?
A short while after I stopped, Seolbong came running urgently.
She said she wouldn't follow...
Of course, this wasn't the situation to point that out.
Seolbong looked at where I was looking, and her eyes grew as wide as saucers.
—...A cave?
Before us was a cave we had never seen before.
It wasn't very large, but it was a cave that was dark because no light entered it.
I immediately took a step toward it.
- W-wait a minute.
As I headed for the cave, Seolbong grabbed me with an urgent voice.
Turning my head slightly to look at Seolbong, I asked.
- Why.
- ...You're going in there right now?
- Can't you tell by looking?
- Knowing what's inside?
A dark space where you couldn't see an inch ahead.
I was trying to enter a space where, as Seolbong said, I didn't know what could be inside.
And she had stopped me.
Seolbong's words made sense. But to me, it was an incomprehensible story.
- Then, are you going to just sit here and die?
- It's not like that. We need to check things out first...
- Check out my ass, check it out yourself, I'm going in...
I shook her off and tried to enter, but Seolbong's face looked strange.
- But why is your face so red?
At my question, Seolbong quickly covered her cheeks with her hands to hide them.
As if it was something that shouldn't be seen.
- It's nothing... I'm just a bit hot.
- Hot? You?
This girl, who wraps herself up in layers of clothes that others would have taken off even in sweltering weather, is saying she's hot?
- You're spouting nonsense. If your body condition is weird, just stay here.
- ...I said I'm fine! Don't worry about it.
- Why are you screaming and throwing a fit...!
Anyway, what a weird-tempered woman.
Leaving Seolbong like that, I headed for the cave.
Since there was no answer to just staying here anyway, if I found something, I had to dig into it.
- No... wait...!
Throwing my body into the darkness.
Seolbong, who was left alone, bit her lip hard.
- ...Seriously, why out of all people did I have to be left with that kind of human...!
Leaving behind her constantly simmering body. With a brief moment of hesitation, Seolbong also moved toward the cave.
Because she would rather die than be left alone in this dark space.
That was the beginning of the problem.
"Fuck off."
After spitting the words out of my mouth, I immediately covered it with my hand.
'...I made a mistake.'
It was because the words I had thought in my mind popped out, unlike the words I originally intended to say.
I was trying to make an effort not to get involved with that bitch, at the very least.
'Anyway, that bastard.'
It seemed the instincts I had built up couldn't handle it.
Were they words I had bottled up in my heart?
'This isn't the time for this.'
First of all, I urgently needed to clean this up.
"No, that's not it... I just ate something wrong for breakfast this morning..."
As I tried to salvage the situation with hand and foot gestures.
- Pfft.
I heard a laugh from the front.
"Haha...!"
Wondering what it was, I looked.
"Hahaha!"
Murong Hui-a couldn't hold back her laughter, covering her mouth with one hand.
And wrapping her other hand around her stomach, she giggled out loud.
"...I think I'm the one who ate something wrong for breakfast?"
Why is she acting like that?
Getting cursed at and bursting into laughter, did she really eat something wrong?
"Um... Murong So-jeo."
"Ha... haha... ah... I'm sorry."
Perhaps finally coming to her senses, Murong Hui-a straightened her posture.
However, it seemed she couldn't stop her laughter completely.
She looked like she was struggling to keep the corners of her mouth from curling up.
"I couldn't help myself... I apologize."
"...It's fine. I'm sorry too."
"It seems Young Master Gu has some misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding?"
Asking to spend the night together.
Was there room for a misunderstanding? Anyone could see it was a direct proposition.
[A misunderstanding... I'd like to hear it.]
'Noya, please ease up on the tone...'
As if he had been quietly sharpening a sword, Noya's deeply serious voice was bitter.
If it wasn't a misunderstanding, what was she trying to do?
At my question, Murong Hui-a smiled and said.
"I merely asked you to spend some time with me."
"Time? Didn't you clearly say night?"
"You're right. It seems I made a mistake."
Murong Hui-a smiled, the corners of her eyes curving as if she had misspoken.
But it wasn't a mistake.
She definitely said it on purpose.
"Isn't it usually hard to make a mistake when you include the word night?"
"I just ate something wrong for breakfast."
"Ah, and you're going to use that excuse right now?"
This is why smart ones...
"...Whatever. Just explain what you mean by asking to spend time together."
"Young Master Gu is truly unique."
"Why?"
"It's more amazing that you don't know. Is it because Geommu-hui is around you...?"
Why is the story about Namgung Bi-a coming up?
As I narrowed my eyes and stared.
Murong Hui-a coughed once and continued with different words.
"I want to buy your heat."
"...What?"
"I have already received permission from the Head of the Gu Family."
"Wait... my heat... no, you received permission from my father?"
What kind of dog shit story is progressing right now?
Buy my heat?
"Yes, the Family Head permitted it... And I would like to buy your heat, Young Master."
"...Buy your heat? What are you planning to buy it with?"
"I've prepared something quite expensive, but if that doesn't work... with my body?"
Tilting her head as if she knew nothing.
She seemed to want to act innocent.
To me, it was a sight that made me step back.
[They say a guy who's meant to succeed gets fed rice cakes even if he just sits still. Life is truly fucked up.]
'Is that really important right now in this situation?'
[It won't be important to you, you rotten bastard...!]
Noya's explosive anger wasn't one or two times, so by now it was something to just brush off.
It did seem a bit more excessive than usual right now... Ah, was it because of the Murong surname?
"No... my heat... no."
"Can I not?"
"It's not that you can't. What exactly are you trying to do?"
"If it's not that you can't, then it's fine. I will come back later."
"What the f... where are you going...? Where are you going right now, hey! I said where!"
Saying only what she wanted to say, Murong Hui-a walked away from me with her attendants.
For a moment, I wondered if I should grab her and ask.
But with my current state, it was obvious I'd just go in circles against that slick woman's words.
"Buy my heat...?"
What is there to buy, does she think my heat is an object?
In the distance, I could see Wi Seol-a running over, bringing something to wipe my sweat.
Sweat or whatever.
Right now, I had to go find my father.
"What is it."
When I burst in, opening the door to the Family Head's office.
My father looked at me with a questioning expression.
I looked at my father and asked.
"Murong So-jeo came to visit and said she'd buy something from me. Do you know what she's talking about?"
Murong Hui-a said she received permission from my father, so I came to ask.
'Surely father wouldn't have done something like this...'
Why would she randomly talk about buying or selling my heat?
Even I thought it was strange.
"Yeah."
"Right? Even father doesn't... pardon?"
"I said to let her do that."
"You decided to let her buy my heat?"
"There's no question of buying or not. The deal is already done."
"No, why without my opinion..." The moment I was about to express my displeasure at something that had proceeded without asking me a single thing,
My father pulled out a letter from his drawer and handed it to me.
"These are the transaction conditions contracted with the Murong Family."
"...Why are you suddenly giving this to me?"
"Everything written there is the item traded for your heat."
At my father's words, I shifted my gaze to the letter.
Just how great of a thing did they bet... ""
I had to shut my mouth as soon as I read it.
It was because the quantity was so overwhelming.
From silks that were rarely traded with the outside.
To the industries that sold the clothing made from those silks.
'...Is the Murong Family really crazy?'
It was a level that was hard to understand otherwise.
"The details are strictly confidential, so you will be notified separately."
"...What, do I have to light a fire all day? You know I'll be entering closed-door cultivation soon, right?"
It was a value that wouldn't be strange even if a human campfire was genuinely lit next to me all day.
Putting that aside.
Not only would I be entering closed-door cultivation in the future.
Since I had a schedule to go to the front lines, I didn't know what meaning the Murong Family had to contract such a thing with our Family.
"I have told them to endure and handle that part, so it will be fine."
"I don't know what's fine about it... Moreover, even so, this is..."
"A portion of the spirit pills and amount of money written there will go to you."
"That's fine. I'll do my best."
[...You crazy bastard.]
Thinking about it again, since the payoff was this huge, it didn't seem like something to worry about.
'But why me of all people?'
I already knew to some extent about Murong Hui-a's constitution.
A body gradually being eroded by cold energy.
It was a constitution that couldn't be cured by divine medicine, let alone medical arts.
Could the reason she wanted my heat be because of that?
'Even if that's the case...'
When it came to Fire Masters in the Family, not only was my father right there.
There were also many other Fire Master warriors, so I didn't know why she had to single me out.
My heat wouldn't be of any help to Murong Hui-a.'
This was something I knew from my past life experience.
My heat doesn't reach her.
Even if it did, it wouldn't be able to provide enough help to melt her cold...
'Did she find something else?'
Coming to this life, with the power of the Heavenly Demon.
Purifying demonic energy, or absorbing other energies, etc.
As much as I had gone through absurd changes.
Perhaps, a different change had occurred in that aspect as well.
'Is that why Murong Hui-a singled me out?'
If, by any chance, my heat was helpful for Murong Hui-a's constitution.
From the Murong Family's perspective, it made sense that they would try to take my heat even by spending this kind of money.
But what I couldn't understand was.
Murong Hui-a's reaction.
For some reason, her reaction, which seemed like she was enjoying it, was so different from her past life.
That it made me flinch without realizing.
'If this is really true, does that mean Murong Hui-a will also stay here for a long time?'
Just imagining it gave me goosebumps for some reason.
'...No, with closed-door cultivation and the front lines, there are plenty of places to run away, so it'll be fine.'
The Murong Family also said they would handle it on their own.
At least for that time, it would be fine.
When I was lost in various thoughts.
Suddenly, Shin Noya muttered something.
[I am reminded of something I said a long time ago.]
'What kind of words?'
[The saying about collecting women by their hair color.]
'...'
[This is exactly that situation. Haha. This damn world, the ones who are meant to succeed have no teeth and can't even chew, but they somehow keep it down even if it's spoon-fed to them.]
Shin Noya seemed to have gone crazy as he started muttering to himself.
And I had to worry about whether I should tell Wi Seol-a or Namgung Bi-a about Murong Hui-a.
'...Whether I tell them or not.'
Either way, a good conclusion wasn't in sight.
To the point where I just wanted to enter closed-door cultivation quickly.