Though it was only a fleeting moment, I saw it clearly. The last handful of sand—an almost negligible amount—passing through the narrow waist of the hourglass, and the hourglass shattering into pieces happened almost simultaneously. Immediately after, countless tiny spheres of light began gathering, as if being sucked into some unseen vortex.
Whoooosh!
The shards of the hourglass absorbed the light like a vacuum cleaner swallowing dust, and soon my vision was painted pure white, everything fading into a blur. The witch, Lee Yoo-jung—everything.
As everything grew hazy and indistinct,
KABOOM!
Suddenly, a burst of light exploded before my eyes, revealing a stark white space. I felt my body sway under a deafening roar that tore at my eardrums and an intense, unidentifiable shock.
Then, as if caught in a storm and plummeting downward, time seemed to freeze. Everything slowed to a crawl, then gradually stopped moving altogether. Though all I could see was the white void, the moment stretched on endlessly, like eternity itself. Reflexively, I tried to summon the last of my magic, but instead relaxed my entire body and slowly closed my eyes.
How long had passed?
“…”
Suddenly, an overwhelming stillness settled around me. I opened my eyes gently and saw the calm night sky flowing softly above. My vision had returned to normal. So, I was still alive? Or had I come back to life?
My stamina and magic were still at rock bottom, but otherwise, I felt no abnormalities. I lifted my upper body and looked around, finally beginning to grasp the situation.
What I’d experienced earlier wasn’t time stopping—it was simply that I couldn’t see anything at all. Somehow, I had just collided with the ground without realizing it. It must have been a strange sensation beyond words that tricked me. Now that I thought about it, it was much quieter than before, and the scenery had changed.
Ding!
『Legendary Achievement!』
At that moment, as I stared blankly into the dark forest, a familiar sound suddenly rang out, and a message appeared before my eyes.
『User Kim Su-hyun and 14 others have successfully defeated the Flower Witch “Philia Tritoris,” the 14 Demon Lords “Pluton,” and the “Source of Magic”!』
『Overwhelming the feared witch known as the One-Person Legion, crushing the demon’s secret plans hidden from the user’s sight, and achieving victory against the ultimate information collective that governs all laws—this is undoubtedly the greatest accomplishment of this century, beyond what any human could achieve. This achievement will be recorded in history forever.』
『User Kim Su-hyun and 14 others are awarded 2,000,000 Gold Points for the Flower Witch, 4,500,000 Gold Points for the 14 Demon Lords Pluton, and 10,000,000 Gold Points for the Source of Magic, totaling 16,500,000 Gold Points!』
『Each user will receive 1,100,000 Gold Points distributed accordingly.』
『Caravan System Check! Additional Gold Points will be granted based on each user’s contribution: 1. Kim Su-hyun (52%) 2. Han So-young (23%) 3. Lee Yoo-jung (11%) 4. Ha Seung-woo (5%)… Therefore, user Kim Su-hyun will receive an additional 8,580,000 Gold Points, which is 52% of the total reward!』
『Caravan System Check! User Kim Su-hyun, who landed the final blow, will receive an extra 150,000 Gold Points!』
“Whoa.”
After reading all the messages, I couldn’t help but exclaim. My head was spinning. Let’s see, I had 10,857,460 Gold Points before, right? And now I just gained 9,830,000 more, so that means I have a total of 20,687,460 Gold Points?
Nice. Very nice. I was already planning to use the secret shop after this expedition. If they’re handing out this much… Wait a minute.
“If this message appeared…”
I immediately activated my Third Eye. Confirming it was working properly, I snapped back to reality. Turning my gaze, I saw An-sol about twenty meters to my left, looking around dazedly. She didn’t seem seriously hurt, but her expression showed she still hadn’t fully grasped what was going on. When our eyes met, a mischievous idea suddenly struck me.
“Oh, big brother?”
At An-sol’s call, I silently moved my lips without making a sound. ‘An-sol.’ A question mark popped up over her head.
“Huh? Oh, big brother? I can’t hear you well!”
I slowly mouthed, ‘I’m fine.’ Then, trying to look as calm—and a little apologetic—as possible, I began to back away quietly. An-sol stared at me in confusion for a moment before suddenly shouting, eyes wide.
“Oh, big brother! You’re lying, right? There’s no way you’re dead.”
Looks like it worked.
I smiled faintly and slid backward smoothly.
“No, don’t go! Big brother! Waaah!”
Her face went pale as she scrambled to her feet and started chasing after me. She tripped badly once but kept going, grabbing me tightly. Then, with tears welling up, she finally broke down crying.
“Waaah… Big brother… I’m sorry… Please don’t go… I won’t steal cups anymore, and I’ll listen to you… Waaah…”
Maybe I went a bit too far with the joke. Seeing An-sol sobbing like that made me feel a little guilty. At the same time, I was grateful she cared so much. I gently stroked her head. But somehow, that only made her cry louder, as if she misunderstood me even more.
“No! You can’t leave like this! We haven’t even done that yet! Waaah!”
“Huh…?”
“At least once…! Ah, no, there’s no time. We have to hurry… even now…!”
“…”
As she said that, An-sol started pulling down my pants with her left hand while flinging off her robe with her right. I stared at her quietly, then suddenly, startled, I smacked the top of her head.
Whack.
“You little!”
“Ahh!”
She clutched her head and collapsed with a thud.
“Ow… Hey? Oh, big brother?”
Pouting, An-sol suddenly looked at me in shock.
“Y-you’re not dead, right?”
“Who said I’m dead? Anyway, what were you trying to do just now?”
“Ah, no… I thought you were really going to leave like that…”
“So?”
“So… before you disappear… I wanted to get pregnant quickly…”
“P-pregnant? You, you little…”
Sigh. She’s really losing it now. I looked at her in disbelief, and she stood up, clearly offended.
“Why? Because then at least I’d have a child to live for! And it’s your fault for joking around in the first place!”
I put a hand to my forehead and leaned back. Why does she have to argue so seriously, eyes wide and voice clear? Honestly, it’s no wonder people say raising kids is pointless.
“Ugh… Why is it so noisy… My head’s killing me.”
Just then, Sun-yul’s weary voice came through.
Like me, Sun-yul was holding her forehead, staggering to her feet. And Sara, Ha Seung-woo, Nam Da-eun, Im Han-na, Shin Jae-ryong, Han So-young… Baek Han-gyeol was still passed out, but almost everyone else seemed to have regained consciousness.
Sun-yul slapped her own cheek a few times and quietly spoke.
“What on earth happened… We’re not dead, are we?”
She was about to shake her head solemnly, but I stopped her when I saw her eyes glaze over.
“Come to think of it, weren’t there some stone pillars around here?”
Im Han-na, looking heavy-hearted, patted her back and glanced around. She was right. We were surrounded by a dark forest, the same scene as just before we crossed into this space. I remembered it clearly, except for one difference—the pillars. The fifteen pillars that had opened the astral dimensional gateway were gone, leaving only a bleak clearing. Just like in the past.
Anyway, I remembered the final moment—hearing Lee Yoo-jung’s scream and cutting the hourglass. But what happened after that was fuzzy. To be precise, all I saw was white. Somehow, we managed to escape, but how exactly?
“Y-Yoo-jung!”
Suddenly, Im Han-na pointed to the sky and shouted. Looking up, I saw a woman with flaming red hair still hovering in the air, her entire body wreathed in golden flames that were slowly dying out. Lee Yoo-jung’s face looked distant—an expression I’d never seen before—as she gazed upward, as if bidding farewell. Sparkling dust drifted from her outstretched fingers, carried by the night wind into the sky.
No, it wasn’t just Yoo-jung. I, and all the others, had shimmering dust rising from our bodies. But before we could even identify it, the glowing particles were swept away by the wind, disappearing into the night sky. Only then did Yoo-jung begin to descend slowly, and the golden aura faded completely.
I wasn’t sure exactly what it meant, but I’d seen similar phenomena before. I immediately activated my Third Eye again.
Name: Lee Yoo-jung (4th year)
Class: Mercenary Queen (Secret, Expert)
Nation: Freelance Mercenary
Clan: Mercenary (Clan Rank: S Zero)
True Name & Nationality: Descendant of the Barbarian King • South Korea
Gender: Female (26)
Height & Weight: 166.3 cm • 54.5 kg
Disposition: Aggressive • Pure-hearted
[Strength 87] [Endurance 84] [Agility 94 (+2)] [Stamina 88] [Mana 90] [Luck 88]
<Achievements (1)>
<Unique Ability (1/1)>
<Special Ability (1/1)>
<Potential Abilities (3/3)>
Feline Martial Arts (Rank: B Zero)
Beast’s Fang (Rank: C Plus)
Before: [Strength 83] [Endurance 79] [Agility 92 (+2)] [Stamina 84] [Mana 90] [Luck 88]
After: [Strength 87] [Endurance 84] [Agility 94 (+2)] [Stamina 88] [Mana 90] [Luck 88]
<Divine Power: Lion’s Roar>
“Hah.”
The moment I checked Lee Yoo-jung’s player status, I couldn’t help but be impressed. I’m not sure what exactly happened, but it seems she gained some kind of fortunate encounter in the Astral Dimension. Judging by her rise from a Rare class to a Secret class, it’s almost certain.
I could understand the Dawn Gladiator or Vegas Stigma influences, but the Lion King? Wait a minute. Isn’t this the tomb of the Barbarian King? Then that means Yoo-jung is…
“Ah…!”
Just then, as I was piecing it together, Yoo-jung finally landed on the ground and collapsed like she was crumbling. Recalling how the witch’s hand had pierced her earlier, I immediately used the Transcendent Shift to catch her. The way I held her was almost like cradling a princess, which felt a bit awkward, but seeing the blood pouring from her chest quickly wiped away any embarrassment.
“Oppa…”
She hadn’t lost consciousness yet. Yoo-jung quietly called out to me.
“Did… I do well?”
Her voice trembled as she asked cautiously.
Did I do well?
For a moment, I felt a sharp pang in my chest. Despite her serious injuries, she wasn’t complaining about the pain—she was seeking my approval. She must have been struggling a lot on her own lately.
I decided to put my questions aside for now and nodded calmly.
“Yes. You did well.”
Only then did Yoo-jung show a relieved expression and let out a faint breath.
“Just hold on a little longer. I’ll call a priest.”
I turned my gaze, but soon realized there was no need to call anyone else. Ansol and Shin Jaeryong were already fussing over finding a staff, and the others were shouting for potions while searching for a baby mimic abandoned nearby.
I chuckled softly, placed my hand over the gaping wound, and summoned the power of Hwa-jeong. It might not heal the injury completely, but at least it would warm her body.
A little while later.
Watching the two priests begin treatment and Yoo-jung enveloped in a white light, I finally felt the weight of this expedition lifting.
Yes. I…
No.
We succeeded.
---------------------------= Author’s Note =---------------------------
Hehe. The story about the witch’s body(?) and the equipment we took from her will be in the next chapter. :)
Also, I’m truly grateful to share that Joara has requested an interview.
At last, the chance to clear my name—or rather, my infamy—has come. Haha!
I’m genuinely thrilled. :D