Chapter 772: Wall of Water
Yerim still showed no sign of waking up. A faint trace of a young spirit’s energy shimmered near her ear, pressed close as if it meant to protect her. Worst case, I could fall asleep too and go get her.
“If we bring Sigma here, Yuhyun’s going to go straight for him instead of Mr. Seong Hyunjae.”
“That’s why she matters so much. According to you, your brother’s about to get even stronger than he was earlier.”
“…Maybe twice as strong?”
In the nightmare dungeon, I had shared skills with the version of myself inside the dungeon. If Yuhyun could do the same, he might receive double-stacked buffs.
“And if the other dependents join in on top of that, protecting that one’s going to get difficult.”
“Wouldn’t the same apply to Sigma?”
“My boy is sleeping like an angel. That one could dart off anywhere.”
Ah… true. The Puppeteer, Chief Song, Hyunah, and I all turned at the same time to look at the man who could, in fact, dart off anywhere. Seong Hyunjae smiled silently. Yeah. There was no way he’d stay put. He was the kind of man who might do anything, anywhere, at any time.
“If the odds are high that Seong Hyunjae will die at least once, we’re better off bringing Sigma here and protecting him. Your brother will assume Sigma is still hidden in another space, so until he finds out otherwise, he’ll keep chasing Seong Hyunjae.”
“Then Yerim’s side protects Sigma, while Mr. Seong Hyunjae’s side lures Yuhyun and takes down the other dependents. Having Mr. Seong Hyunjae around should make it easier to draw them in too.”
We sketched out a rough plan and split up the teams.
“Moon Hyunah needs to stay with my boy. Take Hwang Rim with you or don’t.”
“I think the boat’s gonna sink.”
Seong Hyunjae, Chief Song, and Hwang Rim? If the three of them stood side by side, I’d disappear from view. I missed Noah terribly. Of course, compared to me, Noah was also… well.
“This all depends on whether that child can maintain the water, though. Isn’t it about time she woke up?”
“I’ll fall asleep and check. So.”
At my words, Hyunah raised her palm upright. Yeah, that was probably the only way. I was pretty sure Yerim had fallen asleep like that too.
“I’ll make it safe and painless. Come here.”
As if it wouldn’t hurt. Then I blacked out.
“Mister!”
“Hyung!”
I heard Yerim and Park Hayul’s voices. My eyes flew open, and blinding sunlight stabbed across my whole body. The rush of waves rolled in from the beach.
“Ugh, Yerim?”
“I kept practicing and practicing, and I hate saying I can’t do something, but I really can’t do this!”
Yerim shouted with a frustrated groan. I sat up and looked around. The scenery looked like a resort in some warm country.
“If you can’t, you can’t. So what? It’s a Transcendent’s power. How’s a kindergartner supposed to run like an Olympic gold medalist?”
“But I fought the Mermaid Queen evenly before! I thought I could do it!”
“That’s why you’re a kindergartner. The fastest one in class, even. A normal person would barely be rolling over.”
Even an S-rank was barely toddling in front of a Transcendent. Just look at the difference in how long they’d lived. Yerim floated on the waves and flapped both arms. She still seemed upset. Water splashed everywhere.
“Hyung, I saw him.”
While Yerim kicked at the water, Park Hayul sidled over and whispered.
“Your brother.”
“Oh, yeah. That. Yerim.”
“Yes, Mister.”
“Yuhyun came back.”
“What?”
“My brother from before the regression.”
I explained it calmly to Yerim. Maybe because I’d already broken down once in front of Hyunah, my voice didn’t shake. Yerim listened with round eyes, then stamped her feet, not knowing what to do with herself.
“I had no idea! Then you, Mister, you…”
“I’m fine. If anything, now I finally have the chance to take my brother home, just like I wanted.”
“…You will. You absolutely will!”
I didn’t know how this would end. Once Yuhyun was freed from the Gardener, he might… But I had to do my best. I had to do everything I could.
“That’s why we need to know whether you can maintain the water. It has to cover a wide area, including Sesung Guild, even if it’s not as much as now. And it needs to keep the power that absorbs skills.”
“Sesung Guild?”
“Yeah. They said there’s a completely sealed room you can enter with a mini portal. It even has an oxygen supply system, so people can hold out for over a week.”
Underwater would be safer than on the surface.
“But if we center it too obviously around Sesung Guild, people will notice. So I think you just need to shrink it naturally from its current state. Can you do that?”
“Umm, yes. I think so. How deep?”
“Leave the upper floors of Sesung Guild above water. About halfway submerged.”
“Okay. Hayul oppa, help me!”
Yerim called Park Hayul over. He answered and sat down in a chair. Had they gotten kind of close already? He did seem like he’d be good at playing with kids. Yerim also sat on the waves and closed her eyes. The air around us seemed to grow heavy and damp.
“Why is this so slow?”
“You’re the one who’s fast. Take it slow. Slowly.”
“I feel like I could just dump it all at once!”
“Ah, it’s overflowing, overflowing!”
“I got it! Wait, again, again!”
The two struggled for a while, then let out a deep sigh at the same time. Yerim pretended to wipe away sweat that wasn’t there.
“Mister, I reduced it. The water’s gone from the Seocho side, and the water level dropped around Banpo and Sadang.”
“Good job! The skill-absorbing effect is still there, right?”
“Yes. They said that isn’t my power. It’s the power of the Sleeping Sea. Um, since it’s the foundation of the dream world, it has the power to draw in dreams, and that basically turned into this.”
Then even a stronger Yuhyun wouldn’t attack recklessly.
“But if I get too far away, it gets harder to maintain.”
“Yeah. Yerim, you protect Sigma. If Yuhyun finds out where Sigma is, you’ll eventually clash with him.”
Without Yerim’s help, we’d barely be able to stand against him.
“Hayul, can you tell where Yuhyun is right now?”
“He was near COEX, but now that the water’s gone down, he’s moving. I mean Willow Leaves, one of your brothers. Butterfly Brother is hidden, so I can’t find him well. Some of the other dependents are hidden too, and some aren’t.”
“That butterfly is probably the Gardener’s power.”
Which meant the other hidden dependents also carried the power of the Transcendents they belonged to. Those were the ones we had to be especially careful of.
“Can you contact me through the system, by any chance? I can use administrator privileges again.”
“Uh, I can probably pass messages along?”
“Great. Then keep sending me messages about any dependents whose movements stand out. Yerim, let’s go.”
“Come visit again, hyung!”
Park Hayul woke us up. As soon as my eyes opened, I quickly sat up. The water level had definitely dropped. It was still over ten stories high, though.
– Yerim!
Sanho flung herself against Yerim’s cheek the moment Yerim woke up. Yerim stretched long and hard.
“She says she can maintain it like this.”
At my words, the Puppeteer nodded.
“Then let’s go to Sesung Guild.”
We climbed back into the raft. Hyunah made us one person heavier, but thankfully, we didn’t sink. This time, there was no need to row. Yerim raised a wave and pushed us to Sesung Guild in an instant.
“It’s been a while since I was here too. I did stay here for a bit once.”
“And Han Yujin blew it up once.”
“Did you lose your memories too? You’re the one who blew it up.”
I’d just been an innocent civilian who got caught up in it. We climbed up to one of Sesung Guild’s rooftop gardens. It wasn’t the main garden I’d visited before, but a relatively small terrace hidden toward the back. Though it was still about the size of a decent garden. There were tables, chairs, and even vending machines, probably for employees to use during breaks. Oh, the vending machine was free.
“Still works after being underwater.”
Maybe because it wasn’t normal water. Or maybe because the items were based on the dream. Or both. There was a multi-vending machine with drinks and all sorts of other things too. It had cup noodles and instant rice cups. Should I install one of these at Dodam? We didn’t have a snack budget limit, but a free vending machine just hit different.
“Moon Hyunah.”
The Puppeteer looked at Moon Hyunah. Hyunah still looked awkward.
“So what exactly am I supposed to do?”
“First, go meet Sigma and bring him here. That’s where it starts.”
“This isn’t going to hurt Hyunah, right?”
I asked quickly. I wanted Sigma safe, but Hyunah had to be completely fine too.
“Of course not. Nothing can happen to the guardian who’s going to help my boy settle in.”
“Hey, Puppeteer. What exactly does this guardian role involve?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. Traditionally speaking, you could say my boy will be added to Moon Hyunah’s family register.”
…Family register? Wait. Usually, in this kind of situation, that meant…
‘…Marriage?’
On reflex, I looked at Hyunah and Seong Hyunjae in turn. That was it, right? That had to be what he meant, right? My heart thumped for no reason. On the surface, they did look good together. I’d be honestly opposed if it were Seong Hyunjae, but Sigma… would probably be okay. The two of them had gotten along too.
‘Still, Hyunah…’
I felt strange. It wasn’t like I had feelings for Hyunah that way, but something in me got restless. No, it was because Hyunah was such a great person! That was why I couldn’t dare think of her that way either, so anyway, uh. After hearing the Puppeteer, Hyunah fell into serious thought.
“I’m not interested in marriage.”
Not interested! I knew it.
“But a son as big as Dali is a bit much.”
…Excuse me?
“Can he be my younger brother instead? I’d have to ask my mom, but she does like Seong Hyunjae’s face. I think she’d be fine trading him for my brother.”
No, hold on. Why son or younger brother? Wasn’t marriage the normal thing to think of here?
“Being added to your family register is the most efficient method, but a guardianship is fine too.”
“If that’s all, I was planning to do it anyway. It’s not like Dali has anywhere else to go, and leaving him with Seong Hyunjae would just be cruel.”
“I was quite fond of him.”
“You bullied the kid already?”
Hyunah clicked her tongue. Uh, well.
“He needs to stay away from the Sesung guild leader as much as possible. Assuming they both return safely, that is. Until Sigma is fully accepted by that world, it’s better for both of them if they don’t even meet.”
At the Puppeteer’s words, faint relief crossed Chief Song’s face. Sigma was pretty docile, but Chief Song didn’t know that. The thought of two Seong Hyunjaes running around causing trouble together made my vision go dark too. If that happened, I firmly believed we’d need one more Chief Song as well.
The Puppeteer said he would open the path and spread his fingertips. Threads unfurled in strands, sweeping aside the surrounding trees to make space. Yerim, standing beside me, whispered softly.
“I thought Hyunah unnie was going to marry Sigma.”
“Me too.”
Honestly, in this kind of situation, wouldn’t anyone think that? Maybe Hyunah couldn’t see someone who felt younger than her as a romantic partner and only found them cute. Then was it really Chief Song? Surely not Seong Hyunjae, no matter what. Maybe she just wasn’t interested in romance at all. Plenty of people prioritized work more. I put the kids first too.
“Lady Ruler of Water, could you raise a wall of water around this area? It will help hide the trace of the spatial connection.”
“Yes, hold on.”
Water rose thinly and formed a dome around the garden. Then a round entrance opened. The Puppeteer gestured politely to Moon Hyunah.
“Please bring him here. You can ignore the gatekeeper there. He’ll follow on his own.”
“Ah, sure. This feels a little weird.”
Hyunah needlessly straightened her clothes and stepped forward. Her back vanished. Not long after, she reappeared, carrying Sigma in both arms, wrapped tightly in a blanket.
“Look, hyung-nim! He really hasn’t changed.”
Unlike when she went in, Hyunah looked cheerful as she held Sigma up for us to see. Sigma’s head, poking out from the blanket, lolled slightly.
“He’s exactly the same. Exactly.”
“He really is! He’s got that exact same feeling, like he’s Mister Sesung but also totally different!”
Right, that feeling. It had been so long. I went over to Chief Song and poked him.
“What do you think? You can tell he’s totally different just by looking, right?”
“…I’m not sure.”
“He’s really different when he wakes up!”
Too bad he wasn’t awake. Chief Song would have known for sure that he was a different person if he saw Sigma open his eyes and make expressions.
“At this point, he’s basically Jin’s personal nanny. That one’s got the same face too.”
Hwang Rim appeared through the still-open door. I felt like we could’ve just left him there. For now, I lifted a hand to acknowledge him.
“I missed you, my–”
“Don’t come here, don’t cling to me! You’re on the Gardener’s side, aren’t you?”
“For now. Still, I’m not at the dependent level. The Gardener’s dependent was terrifying, though. And that flame looked pretty familiar.”
My eyes narrowed without meaning to at his probing gaze. Yeah, that was my brother.
“I have two brothers.”
“Twins?”
“As if. There are two, but they’re one.”
I gave Hwang Rim a brief explanation too. He went, oh, I see, and looked fascinated. His eyes said he was having the time of his life.
“Then now we go hunt the dependents.”
And my brother too. It’s time to come home, Yuhyun.
–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won’t get any ads!
If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/InsanityTheGame
Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt
