Chapter 137: Enemies Unite (1)

I was planning to meet Mr. Kang Bada today. It was to get the vortex key from him.

Snore-

Even though it was well past morning and approaching lunchtime, Yang Juhee was still sleeping.

She did go to bed late last night.

It felt wrong to wake up someone sleeping so well. Fortunately, the pirate crew friends said they'd stay at the secret base and watch over Yang Juhee.

According to the weather forecast, today was supposed to be the hottest day.

35 degrees Celsius.

In this crazy weather, they probably wanted to stay in the air-conditioned secret base rather than wander outside. I wanted to do that too, but I was busy.

"I'll be back soon then."

Buzz buzz-

I was quite tired from not sleeping at all last night, but when I went outside, the intense sunlight made my fatigue evaporate.

How can the weather be this hot?

It was a moment that made me realize the seriousness of global warming again.

Mr. Kang Bada was at a cafe near the school. I had already contacted him to arrange a meeting.

"Why did you call me?"

I remembered when Mr. Kang had knelt before me and begged me to let Yoo Dahee go.

Of course, that had been undone when I turned back time... but there was no guarantee the same thing wouldn't happen today.

I tried to condense my words as much as possible.

"The key you have. Please give it to us."

"What key?"

"The key with the vortex pattern on it."

"......"

Mr. Kang Bada's expression changed dramatically. It was like he was saying, "How do you know about that!"

I didn't want to stay long with this man.

He seemed like the type of man who would do anything for his daughter Yoo Dahee without hesitation or regard for others.

In that sense... he was similar to Dahee, who had unhesitatingly drunk poison and died in front of me. The way they seem docile but suddenly snap at any moment.

"We'll put it to good use. And if possible, I'd like you to tell us about what happened on the third floor. Also about our mother and father."

"On one condition. Take Dahee out of whatever you're doing."

"Because Dahee is your daughter, right? I know all about that too. Don't ask how I found out. If I reveal that to others, all our lives will be in danger."

A series of surprises spread across Mr. Kang Bada's hazy eyes. I slowly voiced the realizations I had come to after thinking all night without sleep.

"Many lives depend on me. To protect those lives, ordinary methods aren't enough. This isn't the time to be picky about methods."

As Ha Young-won, a high school student who had lived an ordinary life, I was facing many limitations. This wasn't a world where common sense applied.

I needed to change too.

I decided that from now on, I wouldn't be picky about means and methods.

To protect myself. To protect the people I care about. To protect our dreams. To reclaim our daily lives.

Swish-

So I stood up, knelt in front of Mr. Kang, and bowed my head. People in the cafe started whispering, and Mr. Kang Bada seemed greatly flustered.

"Hey! Don't do this here! What's wrong with you!"

"Mr. Kang. I promise I'll protect Dahee. I'll do whatever it takes to make her happy. If even one of us is missing, we'll fall apart. Please believe in me!"

A sudden deep bow. Five-point prostration.

I knew better than anyone how much this could shake a person's heart. And is there anything else that demonstrates determination as well as this?

"Hey. Get up."

"I won't get up until you give me permission. I want you to at least understand that what I'm saying isn't a lie."

"This is troublesome. You got me."

Mr. Kang Bada sighed deeply. Finally, he nodded.

"Alright. Get up first. There are a lot of people. You don't like drawing attention either, right?"

If he said alright, does that mean he's giving permission?

I felt my cheeks rise with hope. My strategy worked!

It was quite embarrassing, but sacrificing my pride and face was worth it.

"Looking at you reminds me of myself in the old days. A time when I had nothing but youthful stubbornness, thinking I could accomplish anything. As a father with a daughter, looking at you is quite unpleasant."

"......"

"The old man who looked at me back then probably felt the same. In the end, I couldn't keep what I had boasted about. To be honest, I wonder if you'll be any different. I'm not looking down on you. It's just that place is..."

"But..."

"The reason I showed you kindness was because you're the child of my friend. I saw them in you. And I saw my youth. But now I'll watch you. Ha Young-won. What kind of person you are."

Swish-

The man took something out of his pocket. It was a key with a vortex pattern drawn on it.

Soon, a NEW mark appeared on the status window.

『Vortex Key. It's a key. It has a keychain with a vortex mark. It seems like it could be used somewhere to acquire a valuable item.』

***

"Yoo In-na, Dahee's mother, was the chairman's adopted daughter. It seems that for the chairman, Yoo In-na was also a friend's daughter. So he raised her preciously like his own daughter, they say."

"The chairman doesn't seem like the type to give affection and cherish family members though."

"You saw right through that. Yoo In-na had a special power. She could see the essence of things, like seeing straight through the contents of a box covered with a curtain."

Seeing the essence of things?

I remembered the artist noona who was Kwon Su-ho's ex-girlfriend. Is it similar?

"The chairman judges people based on whether they're useful to him or not. In that sense, Yoo In-na was a person who was very useful to the chairman. And... originally, she was your father's fiancée."

My father's fiancée? It sounded like a morning drama story.

"I know. Your dad and Inna grew up living in the same house, so they thought of each other like siblings and didn't consider marriage. Do you know about the custom of raising a daughter-in-law?"

"Raising a daughter-in-law?"

"It's a custom where they bring in a girl from a young age to raise as a future daughter-in-law. That's basically what it was. But this system has a big drawback - the prospective bride and groom become too close. Imagine having to marry someone you've grown up with like a sibling. How shocking would that be?"

It must feel like marrying your sister or older sister. Indeed, it did seem shocking.

"That's why your father was drawn to your mother. Your mother was an orphan from a foundation run by the chairman. But... she was a bit special. Special enough to catch the chairman's eye and become a scholarship student."

"I heard my mom was popular, is that true too?"

"Very much so. She'd get confessed to three or four times a day. It's probably still like that now. But she's much better now. Back then, your mom Chae-yeon was... different from now. A bit more ill-mannered."

A mom with a bad personality. It's hard to imagine.

Mom used to say Yang Juhee reminded her of her younger self - was that true? Was Mom actually a school bully?

Anyway, Mr. Kang Bada went on to tell the story of how they came to explore the school.

"We met in dreams and explored. All sorts of things happened. Looking back, I don't know how we endured it. I guess we managed somehow with just our youthful spirit."

"Did you go to the third floor too?"

"We did. That place is unreasonable. Buldan Temple was originally created to block everything. It's a place where even setting foot is not allowed. There's no strategy to conquer it."

"Hmm..."

"But if we had help from the shaman who created Buldan Temple, who knows what might happen. But we didn't want to receive help from that person. That woman is a bad woman. In that sense, she's similar to the chairman."

It seemed the third floor wasn't meant to be conquered from the start.

However, we had Yang Juhee, who inherited the shaman's blood. I wonder if she's woken up by now?

"That vortex key will help in forcibly breaking through the third floor. We also reached the fourth floor after many sacrifices. Only your mother entered that place, though..."

"The fourth floor..."

"No one knows what your mother saw there or what she did. We don't even know if there really is something that can grant wishes as the rumors say. If it was all true..."

Mr. Kang Bada looked at me. Then, he closed his mouth.

"I don't know anything beyond that."

"Then, let me ask one more thing. Why did Inna, Dahee's mother, make that choice?"

A shaman hanged herself at the school. That was Yoo In-na.

After that, Yoo In-na became a bell ghost wandering the first floor.

I actually knew something about why she committed suicide. The tickle of the wind when Dahee whispered in my ear that day still lingered and tickled me.

But I thought there might be something more I didn't know, so I decided to ask directly. 

Mr. Kang Bada's face turned pale in an instant. And he said quietly.

"The water veins of this Gaeryong... have periodically burst and caused floods since ancient times. So just before a flood, the land shamans... would calm it by hanging themselves. That blood closes the opened door."

"So did the door close?"

"It did. But it ended up opening again."

I opened the old school building. And Dahee, with her special blood, can close that door again.

If Dahee finds out about this... she'll die. To free us all from suffering.

...Is that what Yoo In-na did too?

"But I still can't understand. Why she left me and Dahee behind... We had agreed to look for another way to close the door."

I regretted asking and felt melancholic. I wanted to hear more strategies from Mr. Kang Bada, but it was meaningless.

As I'd heard before, "The events of that day are now hazy like a dream."

Buzz-

Just then, my phone rang. I checked KakaoTalk and saw a message from Yoo Dahee.

It was a photo of Yoo Dahee, Bong Ji-yeon, Yang Juhee, Kwon Sua, and Ms. Hong Mi-ri posing like a girl group. Was Jung-seok the photographer?

It made me laugh, thinking Yang Juhee must have come to her senses. I should hurry and join them too.

"Is it Dahee?"

"Yes. Do you want to see the photo?"

Swish-

I showed the photo to Mr. Kang Bada. Mr. Kang Bada frowned deeply.

"Why do you have so many girls? Ha Young-won. You said you'd protect Dahee, but with so many girls, won't your attention and care be divided? You bad guy. Don't be wishy-washy, pick one!"

Pick one? Mr. Kang seemed to have misunderstood.

The women here weren't like that.

Especially Bong Ji-yeon. I have a duty to connect Jung-seok and Bong Ji-yeon, after all.

With that feeling, I parted ways with Mr. Kang.

"Mr. Kang. Please don't tell Dahee the truth. She might make an extreme choice."

"...Alright."

Pop-

On my way back to the secret base.

As I was passing by the school building heading towards the Talent Development Center, I could see a man standing tall in the distance.

He had a tall, muscular build. For a moment, I felt dizzy because it was Kim Geon-ho, the tyrant of Class D.

I heard Kim Geon-ho had been cooped up at home.

"Well, well, who do we have here. Ha Young-won. Long time no see."

Kim Geon-ho recognized me and approached.

I was flustered seeing this guy appear out of nowhere, but something even more bewildering happened.

"Geon-ho, what are you doing there?"

"We need to catch a taxi quickly or we'll be late for the... Oh? Isn't that Ha Young-won?"

Gong Ye-rin and Im Hee-yeon popped out of the school building. Gong Ye-rin, Im Hee-yeon, and Kim Geon-ho.

A whirlwind swept through my mind before I came to a conclusion.

Kim Geon-ho, who was the tyrant of Class D. This guy has joined Wang Ja-hyun's group.

Soon, Kim Geon-ho smiled at me with a sinister look.

"Hey, Young-won, I've heard about you. I hear you're doing well these days? Hanging out with pretty girls. I'm jealous. How did you do it? Let's have a chat soon, bro."

Whoosh-

Kim Geon-ho left with the girls. It was an emergency situation.