The ghost disappeared.
Everyone turned their gaze to Lee Seo-jun. He stared into the empty air where the ghost had been, lost in complicated thoughts.
The ghost’s words, the woman who looked just like him, and Choi Ilhyeon.
Something wasn’t right. Deep in his chest, he felt an unsettling sense of doubt about everything happening now.
Lee Hyun-joo looked at him and cautiously asked in a quiet voice, “…That person earlier. Was she someone you know?”
Lee Seo-jun shook his head. “No. I’ve never seen her before.”
“Really? I felt like she looked kind of like you.”
“Me too. I thought so as well.”
Song Seung-ah chimed in.
Lee Seo-jun gave a small nod, since he had also faintly felt the woman resembled him.
“So you all felt that way too.”
“Could she be your mother?”
Lee Hyun-joo knew that Lee Seo-jun had been struggling with thoughts about his origins.
It was a sensitive topic and not something to bring up lightly, but because she understood the depth of his worry, she had the courage to speak up.
However, Lee Seo-jun shook his head again.
“Saying she’s my mother just because we look alike is jumping the gun.”
“True. You’re right.”
“Lee Seo-jun.”
It was Yoo Ara who called his name.
“I saw my dad here too.”
“…What?”
“I don’t know much about your family, but since I met a family member here, maybe you should also keep the possibility open.”
Her words surprised him.
She saw her father here? A complicated discomfort stirred within Lee Seo-jun.
He already knew a bit about Yoo Ara’s family situation—what Jaun had done to them, and how her life had fallen apart as a result.
And now that Lee Seo-jun had realized Jin Cheonwoo, their former leader, was related to him, the weight on his mind was even heavier.
What would Yoo Ara say if she ever found out?
Of course, he didn’t plan to keep it a secret forever. He had decided to tell her everything once he felt certain about his connection to Jin Cheonwoo.
“So what now? Honestly, I’m not even interested in hunting anymore.”
Yoo Ara’s words made Lee Seo-jun nod in agreement.
After going through something this supernatural, continuing the hunt to enjoy a festival felt meaningless.
“Yeah. Same here.”
At that moment, Kim Sunwoo, who had been quietly watching, stepped forward.
“You all want to see that ghost again, right?”
“Yeah.”
Yoo Ara nodded and added in a small voice, “…If you said we had to keep hunting, I would’ve followed because we’re in the same team, but still.”
“It’s fine. We’ve already collected enough mana stones. We’ve got more than enough to guarantee first place even if we take a few hours off.”
Kim Sunwoo said confidently, which made Song Seung-ah look puzzled.
“It’s only been three hours, and you’ve already secured first? How many did you get?”
“Fifty-eight.”
“Fifty-eight?!”
Lee Seo-jun and Choi Seo-yoon looked at him in disbelief.
The event had only been going for three hours. That meant he’d hunted almost one monster every three minutes.
It was a number that couldn’t be achieved through normal means.
“Wow. How did you collect them so fast? Did you lure them in using some kind of magic tool?”
Before Kim Sunwoo could answer, Yoo Ara spoke instead.
“I don’t know either. I just followed him where he told me to go, and there were a ton of monsters there.”
“Still, fifty-eight is way too many… We barely managed to get twelve.”
“You really are a natural at shocking people, Kim Sunwoo.”
Lee Seo-jun muttered as he gave Kim Sunwoo a sidelong glance.
Yoo Ara suddenly looked around.
“So when do you think the ghost will show up again?”
“If we wait, it’ll come eventually.”
Kim Sunwoo answered shortly, then turned his gaze to Choi Seo-yoon.
“But are you guys okay staying here? Don’t you still need to hunt more for mana stones?”
Choi Seo-yoon met his eyes and shook her head.
“No, we’ll stay too. It’s not an exam—just an event, after all.”
“…Alright. Then let’s wait here for the ghost.”
“Yep.”
Everyone sat down, waiting quietly for the ghost to appear.
About ten minutes passed.
—Hey. Come over here.
As if on cue, the ghost’s voice rang out again.
Everyone quickly turned toward the sound.
A man was walking down a path, glancing around nervously.
A face that was now familiar to them all.
It was a younger version of Choi Ilhyeon—the new combat instructor.
—There should be ruins nearby. They said there’s a clue about the Immortality Spell here.
—Yeah? Then let’s find it quick.
There were several ghostly voices, but only one ghost was visible.
The unstable natural mana on the island had failed to fully manifest a complete “vision of the past.”
Choi Ilhyeon walked as if searching for something.
The group quietly followed behind him.
—Oh? Found it. It’s here!
Choi Ilhyeon shouted while looking at the ground—and with that, his form vanished.
Everyone stood still, confused. Then Kim Sunwoo stepped forward, approaching the spot where Choi Ilhyeon had been.
“Kim Sunwoo?”
He crouched down and brushed the sand with his palm, his expression serious. Then he turned to the group.
“There’s a faint trace of mana here.”
“You can feel mana?”
Instead of answering, Kim Sunwoo gathered mana in his hand and released it into the ground.
And then—
Kuuuuuuung…
A bright light pulsed across the ground, and a hidden staircase leading downward revealed itself.
Kim Sunwoo stood up, brushing his hands off, and smiled.
“Ruins discovered.”
We had discovered the ruins and were descending the stairs into the underground.
Since the space was narrow, we moved in a single line.
I took the lead, and behind me, Choi Seo-yoon followed while holding onto my shoulder. I wasn’t sure who was behind her.
As we went down the stairs, I kept feeling Choi Seo-yoon’s breath on my neck. It gave me the chills from the ticklishness.
Eventually, I said something.
“Step back a bit. Your breath’s tickling me.”
“Ah. I’m sorry.”
…She didn’t need to apologize so politely.
Feeling awkward, I added something as if I were being considerate.
“Watch your step so you don’t slip.”
“…Okay.”
I kept descending the stairs.
Things were progressing exactly the way I wanted.
I had arrived at the Ghost Island, joined up with Lee Seo-jun’s group, discovered the ruins, and entered them—all of it.
There were far more people raiding the ruins than in the original story, but that wasn’t much of a problem.
If anything, it might be a better situation, since we could share one of the dungeon rewards, the “Grace of Life.”
After descending the stairs for a while, it suddenly became so dark that I couldn’t see ahead at all.
I conjured a magical orb to light the surroundings.
After about a minute of going down, we arrived at a long corridor.
[You have entered the ‘Ruins of the Boundary.’]
[You have achieved the ‘Pursuer of the Past’ achievement.]
[You receive 3,000 points as a reward.]
Oh. An unexpected achievement.
Three thousand points. Not huge, but still a nice bonus. At that moment, Yoo Ara stepped forward.
“We’ve come down, but why hasn’t this place been raided before?”
At her words, Lee Seo-jun nodded.
“Yeah. Earlier, the past phantoms did discover this ruin.”
“…Did they fail to clear it?”
“Hmm. I don’t think that’s it.”
“Let’s go ahead for now. We’ll find out as we go.”
So Lee Seo-jun and I took the lead and started walking again. After about five minutes down the long hallway, a mummy monster wrapped head to toe in bandages appeared.
—Kieeek!
Those behind me quickly gathered their mana for battle. But before they could act, I had already conjured magic and launched it at the creature.
Paang!
The magic orb, leaving a white trail, shot toward the mummy’s head.
It hit its mark squarely and exploded with a loud bang.
The mummy lost its form and vanished on the spot.
“Oh. Nice shot.”
Lee Seo-jun, who had half drawn his sword, sheathed it again and spoke. I just shrugged like it was nothing special.
Before we knew it, we had arrived at a section of the ruins.
“What the heck? The path is blocked.”
A dead end with a strange pattern drawn on the wall.
Yoo Ara and Lee Hyun-joo touched the wall that was blocking the path.
That’s when it happened.
—The path is blocked.
The ghostly voice echoed again.
—What? Did we take the wrong way?
—I don’t think so.
Then two ghosts appeared, touching the blocked wall.
The woman who looked like Lee Seo-jun and the young Choi Ilhyeon we had seen earlier.
Judging by the voices, there were probably more people present in the past than just the two of them.
—It’s suddenly blocked here.
—Look here. There’s an inscription.
—Oh yeah? “Only one who has embraced death can open this door.” …That’s what it says?
—What kind of nonsense is that? Embraced death? Are they saying we’re not qualified?
The ghosts vanished again. An eerie silence filled the space.
“…Ugh. That gave me chills.”
Song Seung-ah clung to Choi Seo-yoon’s arm. Tension showed on Choi Seo-yoon’s face as well.
I brushed my hand across the wall.
I couldn’t feel any mana. Not even with the Outsider’s Privilege.
This wall must have been made of “Mystery,” not “Magic.”
That’s when Lee Seo-jun stepped up.
“Looks like the people from the past couldn’t open this door in the end.”
“Yeah. I was wondering why this ruin hadn’t been cleared…”
Yoo Ara nodded in agreement and examined the inscription on the wall.
“It sounds like a clue. ‘One who has embraced death,’ huh…”
“Could it be that we need to use that mummy monster from earlier to open it? A mummy is a creature that embodies death.”
“Sounds plausible.”
Yoo Ara’s eyes sparkled at Choi Seo-yoon’s deduction.
I looked at Lee Seo-jun. He was still staring at the wall, deep in thought.
If left alone, he would eventually open the door by himself, just like in the original story. But there was no need to wait for them to figure it out on their own.
I spoke to him.
“Lee Seo-jun. Come here.”
“Why? Did you figure something out?”
He looked at me with hopeful eyes. I could feel his trust in me in that gaze.
“Try injecting mana into the wall.”
“…Mana? Come on, it can’t be that simple.”
“You never know. Just try it—it might work.”
“Why don’t you do it yourself, then?”
“Don’t talk back.”
At my words, Lee Seo-jun nodded.
“…Okay.”
He touched the wall and began injecting mana. Blue mana from his hand seeped into the wall.
And then—
Wuuuuuung…
A strong vibration shook the entire area.
“What the—?”
Everyone reacted in surprise at the sudden change.
The wall began to glow with bright light. Then, flash! it completely vanished.
“…You’re telling me all I had to do was inject mana?”
Lee Seo-jun stared at me, wide-eyed.
“Hey. What are you? How did you know that?”
“When you hit a dead end in a dungeon or ruin, isn’t it common sense to try injecting mana?”
“I mean, yeah, but… it opened that easily?”
He looked at me again, suspicion in his eyes.
That’s when Yoo Ahra approached us.
“You just injected mana to open it?”
“Yeah. It reacted right away.”
“What the…? When I tried injecting mana earlier, there wasn’t any reaction at all.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Really.”
Lee Seo-jun frowned.
“Then why did it work for me?”
Yoo Ara crossed her arms and fell into thought.
“The inscription said only someone who has embraced death can open the door… Are you, by any chance, an undead?”
“That’s a joke, right?”
“Were you undead all along, senior? Now that I think about it, you did look kinda zombie-like during the captain’s match.”
Song Seung-ah chimed in with a joking tone. But Lee Seo-jun didn’t take it as a joke and answered seriously.
“What undead? Have you ever seen an undead wielding light magic?”
Then he looked back at me, clearly expecting an explanation.
An explanation for why I had told him to inject mana.
I responded nonchalantly.
“Everyone’s mana has different properties, right? Stuff like this happens sometimes. I just thought it was worth a shot. Didn’t think it’d actually work though.”
“……”
TL : Sunwoo is acting way too suspicious. He should let plot take the reins.
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