Chapter 744: Sleeping Beauty (4)
“Well, try anything stupid in a situation like this and they’d stone you to death.”
“My heart kind of skipped a beat just now…”
They had been acknowledged by someone countless people admired and looked up to. More than that, they had been thanked. Someone like that was relying on them, asking them for protection. It made them grin without meaning to. Their chests swelled, their shoulders straightened on their own.
As Song Taewon approached the car, Seong Hyunjae leaned in and murmured,
“This is what we need to do for them now.”
Accept their protection. Thank them for it. Seong Hyunjae held out a hand. Song Taewon stared at it like it was something utterly foreign.
Song Taewon had never wanted to be protected. But these people had chosen to stand up for him.
Not just for him, either. Seong Hyunjae had made that perfectly clear. Everyone here had taken up arms for themselves. To protect the part of themselves they were proud of—the part that could stand tall, save someone, and face an enemy head–on.
So he could not refuse. Song Taewon lowered his head as well. The Awakener Management Office hunters looked embarrassed, but their faces were bright with happiness. They were all smiling. Proud, satisfied, full to bursting.
[That’s weird. Usually this is where they all start turning on each other.]
Park Hayul tilted his head. Even if they did not all betray one another, this should have split them in two. There should have been infighting by now. Instead, they looked more united than ever. Han Yujin finally bit through the vine gag and spat it out.
[I know that feeling real well. It’s one hell of a high. Makes you want to put your life on the line just to feel it again.]
And right now, nobody was even getting hurt.
At Han Yujin’s words, Park Hayul puffed out his cheeks in a sulk.
[Hyung, you trust people way too easily. That’s how you ended up getting close to the Sesung Guildmaster too!]
[Hey, even when that smug bastard offered to protect me, I shoved him away! If I trusted people that easily, I’d have ended up tucked away in some corner of Seong Hyunjae’s house ages ago. Then he’d lose interest, throw me out, and I’d spend my life drinking myself stupid!]
[The world is dangerous, you know!]
Han Yujin cursed at him. Maybe Park Hayul heard profanity as birdsong, because he just laughed and tipped his head again.
[Then I guess I’ll just crush them. Send a whole bunch of monsters in~]
[Park Hayul, you…]
Han Yujin caught his breath and went on.
[You still can’t use your power properly, can you? Or there’s some kind of limit—]
[Ah, hyung!]
The image vanished. The dragon above the castle let out a massive roar, and monsters began appearing around the walls.
“Come at me!”
“I’m a dragon slayer!”
“나도 드래곤 슬레이어! Many dragon kill!”
“In game?”
“モンハン!”
“Guess everybody kind of understands each other.”
“Shields, up front! Uh, front!”
“Spear! Lance, shield gap!”
The people who could make shields stepped forward, clumsy but determined. Soldiers and hunters moved in among them to shore up the formation. Thud—thud—the ground shook as the monsters charged. At the very front, a giant buffalo whipped its horned head savagely.
These were bigger and stronger than the monsters the moonlight had summoned.
– Mooooo!
Crash!
A horn slammed into a shield and hurled the person holding it straight into the air. One after another, monsters smashed into the front line. The formation collapsed in a rush. In a real war, the sight would have broken their nerve and sent them running.
But no one fell back.
If anything, every time a gap opened, someone rushed forward to fill it.
“Let’s take down at least one before we wake up!”
“The concert’s over! It’s off! Everyone’s coming here!”
“My monster!”
The horde that had charged in so ferociously suddenly lost momentum. It stopped advancing.
Then—
– Kurrrk.
Claws scraped at the ground. Hooves dragged long furrows through the dirt. Slowly, the monster tide began to give ground.
This was my mistake. I’d underestimated Park Hayul. Back in Korea and in China, I’d already thought talking to him was like yelling into the void, but I hadn’t realized he was this bad. We were definitely speaking the same language, but somehow he made less sense than a foreigner.
“That’s a secret.”
“You keep acting like some all–powerful god, but what you’re actually doing isn’t all that impressive.”
Park Hayul’s power was pretty incredible, sure. But at best, he could make a castle, summon thornbushes, and call up monsters. And the brambles and monsters looked mid– to low–tier at most. The dragon, maybe, seemed closer to upper mid–tier.
“Is it because the mana in this world is still unstable?”
“It’s because I’m not fully awake yet! And this is my first time doing this. But I’ll be godlike soon.”
“The wishes.”
I tried not to let him hear how dry my mouth was.
“How much can you actually grant? If you fully wake up, I mean.”
“Well, I don’t know exactly, but probably a lot! Why? Is there something you want too, hyung? Want me to go stab the Sesung Guildmaster?”
Park Hayul said it with a sunny smile.
Could he send me to the tree in the snow and let me come back with Yuhyun?
My eyes drifted to the moonlight spilling through the window. There was too much uncertainty—far too much—to bring up my twenty–five–year–old brother.
‘…That lunatic doesn’t exactly like Yuhyun, either.’
“Wow, there are so many people.”
He’d stopped projecting himself to the crowd, but I could still see what was happening outside. Park Hayul looked on the verge of tears as the masses kept pouring in.
“At this rate they’re going to reach the castle.”
“There’ll be more and more of them. And if the dragon isn’t moving, was that first breath all it had?”
“It’s hard to maintain things if they get too far from the castle! I need to reinforce the walls more. But they still won’t be able to save you, hyung.”
He said it with complete confidence as he turned on another image. This one showed Yuhyun.
“…I told you not to touch my brother.”
“If he really loves you, then he has to pass a trial like this~ Don’t worry, hyung. If they make it here safely, I’ll send them all back in one piece. Just like you asked.”
I wasn’t included in that promise. But I had my own way out.
‘If I can trick him, this can still work.’
He was loose in the head enough to fall for it. I let out a long breath, softened my expression, and looked at Park Hayul.
“That’s a promise. And untie me already. I’m not going anywhere.”
“You keep trying to hit me in the head.”
“I was curious what was in there. I won’t do it again.”
Even if I smashed it open, there’d probably be nothing inside. Just an empty gleam, like a bathroom scrubbed down with bleach until it sparkled.
Park Hayul hummed as if pretending to think, then released me. A table and chairs appeared, and a vase full of flowers bloomed on the tabletop.
“Hyung, aren’t you hungry? Want coffee?”
“No.”
Who could eat in a situation like this? Ignoring the tea and cake he conjured up, I watched the images.
The side with Seong Hyunjae was doing fine. Both Seong Hyunjae and Chief Song were being protected so thoroughly you could barely see them, and the crowd was gradually pushing the monsters back. We’d taken more losses, sure, but more people were appearing than the monsters were taking out.
‘Even if they wake up after getting attacked, all they have to do is go back to sleep.’
Waking in a panic did make it harder to fall asleep again, but not impossible.
Where the hell was Hwang Rim, though? I still hadn’t seen him once. And I was worried that there was still no sign of Noah Luhir or Liette, but under the circumstances, staying hidden was probably the better move.
‘The real problem is Yuhyun’s side.’
I saw my brother moving down a dim corridor. Moon Hyunah was in front, Yuhyun behind her, Park Yerim in front of Peace, and Peace bringing up the rear. They were still unharmed, but there was no way Park Hayul hadn’t rigged the place with something.
“Pay attention to me too, hyung.”
“Then go risk your life fighting or something.”
“Tch.”
The castle looked like a classic Western fantasy setup. Which meant there had to be traps everywhere. It was driving me crazy, being stuck here with nothing to do but watch. I’d fought plenty of monsters in dungeons, but traps were a different story.
Then Moon Hyunah raised a hand, signaling them to stop.
[The texture on that section of wall is a little different.]
And she opened fire. Bang—bullets ricocheted off different parts of the wall.
The next second—
Crunch!
A spear shot out of the wall and slammed into the opposite side. After a few more checks, Moon Hyunah went ahead alone. Yuhyun and Yerim carefully watched where she stepped. They were almost through the corridor when—
Click.
A tile under Moon Hyunah’s foot sank with a tiny sound. She threw herself aside instantly, but a hail of arrows flew even faster.
[Ugh. Dream or not, that still—]
An arrow lodged in her arm. She squeezed her eyes shut, muttered something under her breath, and yanked it out. No blood sprayed. The wound vanished almost immediately.
‘Because it’s a dream.’
If your mind control was strong enough, I guess you could pull that off. After that, Yuhyun and Yerim crossed while marking the safe spots, and Peace cleared it easily with one leap.
“What the hell, they got through that way too easily.”
Park Hayul grumbled. Couldn’t I get just one more good hit in on his head?
“It gets harder the farther they go.”
I wanted to string him up on a clothesline and beat the dust out of him. Instead, I let out a sigh and said,
“Coffee. Piping hot.”
“Yes, hyung~ Here—augh!”
The second he handed it over, I lobbed it right at him. Park Hayul, drenched in scalding coffee, jumped up and down.
Children and adults alike, do not try this at home.
“Hyung!”
“Accident.”
“I’m not giving you hot drinks anymore!”
“Then bring me a lemon–lime soda with ice.”
Naturally, that also went straight into Park Hayul’s face. While he complained, I smiled kindly and explained,
“This is what close friends do. Haven’t you heard? I dumped wine all over Seong Hyunjae’s head. Most of the people around me are S–ranks, so tossing cups and smashing bottles is how we show affection. As a matter of fact, I’m the one who wrecked Seong Hyunjae’s house.”
“…Really?”
“Absolutely.”
Idiot.
Moon Hyunah, climbing the stairs, stopped and stared at the wall. Yuhyun, Yerim, and Peace all looked too.
…It was a portrait of me.
[Isn’t this kind of creepy?]
[This guy is seriously out of his mind.]
Yerim and Moon Hyunah were both repulsed, but Yuhyun didn’t seem to get why.
[There were statues on the first floor too.]
[More than ten of them in a row.]
Damn it, I was creeped out too. They started up the rest of the stairs.
Then—
Rumble!
The staircase suddenly sheared off and collapsed. Yuhyun instantly grabbed the hem of Moon Hyunah’s clothes and threw his weight backward, nearly falling himself to hold her in place. At the same time, Yerim grabbed Moon Hyunah too and helped haul her back.
[Wow, that almost woke me up. We can’t just jump this.]
[Peace probably can. Let’s tear down the curtains from below and make a rope.]
Yerim went down with Peace and came back with curtains. They tied them into a long rope and handed it to Peace. The three of them backed up, and Peace took a running start and cleared the broken staircase in a single bound. After that, they crossed one by one using the rope.
“I thought at least one of them would fall! But they won’t dodge the next one!”
Park Hayul declared triumphantly, and my fist clenched before I even realized it.
At the end of the stairs was a wide room. Moon Hyunah gestured for them to wait and entered first. She’d gotten about halfway across when—
Boom!
“Unni!”
An explosion ripped through the room. Flames leapt all the way to the high ceiling, then slowly died down. I grabbed Park Hayul by the collar on instinct.
“You insane bastard!”
“Oh, come on, it was only one—huh?”
[Jesus, that scared the hell out of me.]
It was Moon Hyunah. Covered in soot, she dusted herself off and shook out her whole body.
[That one almost woke me up.]
“What the hell! Why do you people keep hanging on?!”
Park Hayul shouted in wounded outrage. Park Yerim started toward Moon Hyunah, then stopped at the signal to stay back.
[Check the rest first.]
[Unni, are you okay?]
[I’m fine. I can still take it. It’s a dream, remember? As long as I don’t wake up, I’m good.]
…Most people would have woken up. Moon Hyunah was incredible.
“That’s cheating! She’s a bugged character!”
I let go of Park Hayul’s collar and sat back down. Might as well cheer Moon Hyunah on.
After that, she kept taking the traps head–on and disabling them with her own body. Yuhyun and Yerim backed her up perfectly. Whenever brute strength or speed was needed, Peace handled it.
[Open the castle gates!]
In the other image, the crowd was drawing closer and closer to the walls. When neither the walls nor the gates budged, ladders went up. The monsters tried to stop them, but there were too many people. In the end, they started climbing over the walls one by one and reaching the main castle itself.
[Break the windows!]
[There’s a balcony up there!]
[Gruuuur!]
[Dragon! Dragon!]
The dragon crouched on the roof of the castle finally began to move. Rrrrumble—the roof caved in as the massive creature launched itself downward with a tremendous crash. Its breath wiped out dozens at once.
But even more people kept coming over the walls.
[The dragon’s off the roof!]
[Helicopters!]
The instant the dragon left its post, helicopters and fighter jets moved in. With fighter jets providing cover, people jumped from a large transport helicopter. Trained personnel landed precisely on the castle balconies and dropped sturdy rope ladders. More descended onto balconies and window ledges, throwing down additional ladders one after another.
“This is so annoying!”
“Why? Isn’t this exactly the scene you wanted? Crowds of people are rushing in to save the princess trapped in the castle.”
“Hyung! It was only supposed to be the prince!”
“There may be a prince in that crowd willing to kiss you.”
“Oh, is that it?”
Park Hayul turned to look at me.
I had a bad feeling.
“Maybe I didn’t wake up all the way because I didn’t get a proper kiss. Hyung!”
“Hey! Technically I’m the one playing the prin—cess here, okay? Go find your prince somewhere else!”
“The Breaker Guildmaster?”
Honestly, it fit. Moon Hyunah did have prince energy.
Meanwhile, Moon Hyunah broke through a corridor full of flaming arrows. She’d ripped a shield off a statue and was using it to cover only the vital spots as she charged forward without hesitation.
Yeah. Definitely cool.
[That switch up there! Young Master!]
Yuhyun broke into a run and jumped. Moon Hyunah hurled the shield with all her strength right beneath his feet. Yuhyun stepped on it right as it reached the perfect spot, launching himself nearly to the ceiling. His outstretched hand caught the bar–shaped switch. The second he yanked it, the sealed door swung wide open. As he fell, Peace and Yerim caught him safely with a curtain stretched between them.
“They’re almost here! And people are getting into the castle too!”
“Keep your promise.”
“What promise?”
“You said you’d send everyone else back safely!”
Park Hayul gave me a shameless, radiant smile.
“Hyung, I’m the villain trying to destroy the world, remember? Villains don’t keep promises~”
Not exactly a shock, but you rotten little—
Forget Sleeping Beauty. He was a demon king pretending to be a princess.
The moment I lunged at him, vines shot up out of nowhere and wrapped around my arms and legs. Rumble—the whole castle shook violently.
“But, you know, I think I’m way stronger now than I was before. My power, I mean.”
“Park Hayul!”
Bang!
Someone slammed into the closed door. Then another heavy crash. After two or three more hits, the door splintered apart.
“Hyungnim!”
“Hyung!”
“Mister!”
The three of them froze when they saw me tied up. Even Peace, growling low, didn’t charge in recklessly. Park Hayul let out a huge sigh.
“This is a mess.”
Craaaash!
The castle shook again, and part of it started to collapse. The roof and sections of wall crumbled away, revealing the people gathering below. A few of them spotted us and shouted something. Then the castle wall came pouring down over them. Boom, rumble—dust billowed up, and the dragon swelled even larger. The tower of the castle collapsed one segment at a time. The place where we stood didn’t shake at all—it just kept sinking lower and lower. By the time it was only two or three stories high, Park Hayul glared at Yuhyun’s group.
“Hyung is staying with me!”
Shit. This was bad.
The hairs all over my body stood on end, and I shouted,
“Hayul! I can come back anytime!”
Park Hayul, who had been about to attack Yuhyun, paused and turned toward me.
“As soon as the system kicks in, I can leave this place whenever I want!”
“Uh… then do I need to take a hostage? Why do you keep trying to run away, hyung?”
People were looking our way now. The dust cloud hanging in the air was settling. I could see Seong Hyunjae and Chief Song coming closer.
“So let’s make a contract.”
“Wait, hyungnim!”
Moon Hyunah called out, like she was trying to stop me. Yerim looked alarmed too.
“You can make a contract strong enough that even I can’t break it, right?”
“I think so.”
“A contract that says I’ll become yours. Then I won’t be able to run.”
Ever.
Park Hayul blinked, then smiled.
–TL Notes–
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