NOVEL NEXT Chapter 618
The entrance of the tunnel burst open with a bang.
“Why? Isn’t this how it’s supposed to be?”
Luohan asked as she withdrew her aura.
“What if the tunnel collapses?”
I made an awkward smile as an excuse, and Luohan burst into chuckles.
“How could a tunnel collapse from a human’s strength? Na-me can be a bit quirky at times.”
“That’s true. You’re not wrong.”
We naturally took steps deeper into the tunnel.
An ordinary two-lane road with nothing special about it.
It had been poorly ventilated for a long time, and a musty smell lingered.
I looked up at the ceiling, but of course, not a single ray of sunlight came through.
‘The structure doesn’t allow for meteors to flow in naturally.’
Fortunately, there were no objects suspected to be meteors near the entrance.
Was that sound just an auditory hallucination?
The problem is that human perception cannot be absolutely trusted.
Instead, as we walked a bit further inside the tunnel, we found a neatly stacked stone tower made by people.
“Oh, a stone tower? Let’s stack stones too.”
Saetbyeol started to delicately pile flat stones one by one.
I squatted down beside her, gently tapping the stones and got lost in thought.
‘Was it a hopeless task to find the dragon’s egg?’
Reptilian eggs consist of a hard shell and a soft membrane.
The dragon’s egg was no exception.
The outermost layer is covered by boron nitride, a component similar to dragon scales.
Assuming the meteor fell in Italy, the egg had probably already shed quite a bit.
And at the very core, there’s a membrane that resembles a bundle of human aura heart nerves.
The moment the dragon becomes most vulnerable is just before hatching, when only the mana membrane is left.
And I think this state can last for months or even years.
Suddenly…
A white snowflake landed on my forehead.
“When the fluffy white snow falls~ I’ll become a cute snowman~ and smile wide.”
A bright and cheerful voice echoed in my ears at some point.
Isn’t this a song I know?
Suddenly, the dark view inside the tunnel lit up brightly.
“Hehe, you’re not going to sing more, Unni? You sing well.”
“It sounds like Na-me’s voice is different when she’s talking and singing. It gets much cuter.”
Saetbyeol and Luohan, who were holding my hands on either side, each gave compliments.
“Uh? Where is… this?”
A sudden change in the backdrop left me momentarily stunned.
“It’s the entrance to the tunnel. Why? Are you embarrassed to sing a lullaby now?”
“Did I sing a lullaby?”
“Wahhh, why do you keep pretending not to know? It’s cute.”
“Na-me is 100 times cuter when she’s excited… Did you know this all along? I’m disappointed.”
“No, this is the first time I’ve seen Na-me Unni sing a lullaby too!”
Saetbyeol and Luohan started chattering excitedly on either side.
I began to dredge through my memories for the first time.
“…!”
[Waaaaa- It echoes in the tunnel.]
[Wangwangwangwang.]
[Ooo Na-me Unni can really dance!]
[Singing a lullaby will make it fun! Right, Saetbyeol?]
[Huh? You’re singing a lullaby?]
[The long-awaited snow is falling down~]
[Hey Unni, why are you so excited today! Hehehe, just wait a bit!]
Why is this happening?
I was clearly watching Saetbyeol stack stones beside me…
I was hopping around the tunnel…
And I sang a lullaby out of joy?
It was hard to believe that all this was something I did.
Let alone the fragmented memories that came in bits.
“So you’re not going to sing anymore?”
“Yeah, I’ve lost my vibe.”
“Hehe, got it.”
A few minutes later, Yangyang Unni came to pick us up in her car.
“Wow, the tunnel is perfectly cleared! You young wizards have worked hard. The guesthouse lady is making Korean-style stir-fried pork.”
“Wow, stir-fried pork sounds delicious. My mouth is watering.”
I sat in the back seat while continuing to glance at the tunnel we had just walked out from.
‘Luri, is that really you?’
*
I was flustered by the abruptly cut memories, but this only solidified my suspicions.
“About that meteor?”
“Are we talking about the meteor again? Ugh, just thinking about it makes me upset.”
“Did you by any chance move the meteor yourself?”
“Why would I do that? I kept it safe in the master bedroom safe since I thought it would evaporate in a day or two, but it just vanished.”
The guesthouse lady said she went to Mohe City to have the meteor appraised.
Upon hearing that the meteor was a manufactured crystal, she must have gone through denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
I added one more question.
“I saw many stone towers in the tunnel. Did you know about that?”
“Oh, so you guys went all the way there? Passersby stack them for fun or to wish for luck. It seems the workers forgot to clean them up when they were digging the tunnel… Somehow, it has become a prayer spot known only by locals.”
“Have you experienced going there after discovering the meteor?”
“Hmm… it’s been several months, so I don’t really remember. But I probably went there to pray a few times? But lately, the tunnel has been blocked by avalanches, so I haven’t been able to go.”
“Oh right. Na-me and Luohan actually cleared that tunnel.”
“Oh really? Thank you so much, wizard! You’ve really done a great thing! Here, have some more meat.”
She refilled the plate with red pork.
“I won’t decline.”
After only eating vegetables for lunch…
The rice tasted excellent after putting in a good effort.
After dinner and a refreshing break.
Luohan shared a room with Yangyang Unni, and I shared a room with Saetbyeol.
Saetbyeol came out of the bathroom with a towel on her head.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m checking the edited video to post on V-tube. You know the one we shot in Harbin. Eek!”
Saetbyeol tossed her weight on me while I was sprawled on the bed.
Chika chika-
“Is Mudang Mountain in there?”
“No, that’s a no-filming area. I only met old men, so nothing special happened.”
“You must be the only streamer who filmed noir on New Year’s Day.”
“Get off me, I can barely breathe.”
“How heavy do you think I am? Cough!”
“Hey!”
“Oops, I’m really sorry…! I’ll spit it out quick!”
My back got splattered with white bubbles.
Wiping it off haphazardly with a towel, I let the video check pass for now.
“You were going to wash up soon anyway, so you’ll check it.”
“Saetbyeol.”
“What, what…?”
“Tomorrow, let’s go to the tunnel just the two of us.”
“Are you trying to bury me? Hold on…”
“Huh?”
“No matter how I think about it, I don’t believe spilling toothpaste is a mistake worthy of being entombed!”
Saetbyeol looked at me with an unjust expression.
I sighed, feeling drained and shook my head.
“I don’t have much memory from the time you were stacking stones until we came out of the tunnel.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Did I do anything different during that time?”
“Um… you only fiddled with stones beside me. The only thing that felt different was you singing a lullaby.”
“Was that all?”
“Does my doing a handstand on the road and doing a headspin count?”
“Don’t lie. There’s no way there’s such a powerful hypnotic effect.”
“Ugh, you’re not buying it. What? Hypnotic effect?”
I sat cross-legged on the bed and explained.
“The dragon’s egg emits a powerful disruptive aura to protect itself. It usually inhibits NMDA receptors or acetylcholine receptors while activating cannabinoid receptors, leading to amnesia regarding the memory before and after touching the egg.”
“And?”
“I suspect the meteor that fell in Italy is the shell of the egg, and the real dragon’s egg might be inside the tunnel. What are you doing?”
Saetbyeol unexpectedly pinched my cheek.
“Did you hit your head or something? You’re definitely acting weird today.”
“Sigh… I’m fine, I’ll go check it by myself.”
Actually, I might be harboring a futile hope.
Wishing that Luri had been reincarnated in the same world as me after taking her own life on my orders.
If she was born before me, she might have resented me for not coming to save her from the capsule.
But if she hasn’t hatched yet…
Isn’t it my duty to protect her survival and safety?
[Kill Silvia and Remilia, and take your own life in that place too.]
She obeyed the command without questioning.
‘I wish Luri didn’t remember her past life…’
I was everything to her but ended up being nothing in the end.
I had no idea how much she would resent me when she realized I was merely a pawn she played and discarded.
Late guilt washed over me.
I washed my face and collapsed onto the bed.
“Let’s go.”
“Are you going?”
“Yeah. If Unni is looking for something, I have to check it out. Even if it’s not a dragon’s egg, there’s something amazing inside, right? Oh no, could it be the hypno-app I’ve heard of?”
Snicker-
I covered my eyes with my arm, but I couldn’t hide the smile creeping up.
“Thanks. You’re truly the only one I can rely on.”
As I closed my eyes, a wave of sleepiness hit me.
‘I need to wash up.’
After a long inner conflict, the room light turned off.
I decided to just wake up early in the morning to wash up.
*
The next morning.
I woke Saetbyeol, who was still in a daze, and we headed back to the tunnel.
“Do you know what spell was most commonly used by dark wizards in their past life?”
“Huh?”
“It’s illusion magic. They had no combat ability but were ridiculously scared, always showing weird hallucinations. If they were reborn in modern times, they would probably lose all their jobs.”
Vwing-
A drone flew above the sky.
Ultimately, no matter how powerful an illusion spell is cast, you cannot trick machines.
Modern civilization sure is cruel.
About 150 meters from the entrance, there was a holy place for stone towers.
I turned on the brightest light and began investigating the stones one by one.
“Saetbyeol, don’t just stand there; climb as high as you can and take a picture.”
“I took one.”
“Right. Now let’s ask the AI to check this out.”
I asked it to sort out the stones likely containing boron nitride.
Given that they were smaller than a fist, it would take ages for us to find them with our eyes.
[Results have been produced.]
[#1 1.48%]
[#2 1.41%]
[#3 1.35%]
(…)
[#50 1.00%]
We personally examined 50 stones with a probability of over 1%.
“Number 3 doesn’t seem like it, does it?”
“I can’t tell much either.”
“Isn’t number 11 not it?”
“Ugh, number 11 is definitely not it, even I can tell.”
“What about number 19?”
“Huh? Number 19 looks definitely strange. How can a stone be that smooth and round?”
I felt a sense of déjà vu.
If I saw a stone like this on the ground, I would impulsively pick it up too.
I carefully moved the stone into the mana box hanging from the drone.
“Can you bring it in the lowest flight possible? It’d be a disaster if it drops.”
“Okay, I’m trying.”
Saetbyeol’s drone piloting skills, honed since the virtual reality days.
Vwing-
She successfully completed the mission of collecting the egg with the drone.
“It’s here!”
“Wait. How do we take this out?”
Taking it out might mean we both could fall under hypnosis.
“At the very least, we should confirm whether it’s really the dragon’s egg.”
“Can’t we just use diagnostic magic?”
“No, we have to handle it carefully. It’s like handling a newborn.”
However, the pondering didn’t last long.
[DIE]
Griiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-!
The sound of nails scraping against a chalkboard struck my brain like a ton of bricks.
[DIE, DIE, DIE, INFERIOR HUMAN, GET OUT OF HERE QUICKLY]
The following sounds of buzzing mosquitoes and scratching glass followed.
“Ahhhhhhh Unniiiiii it hurts my head!”
Saetbyeol complained, suffering from a severe headache.
“This punk.”
I seized the box and shook it violently in every direction.
Thump thump thump thump thump thump-!
The stones bounced around, scratching the box.
[…]
The noise quieted down.
Regaining her senses, Saetbyeol glared at me in disbelief.
“When did you say to handle it carefully?”
“It’s a dragon, so it should be fine.”
It should be fine… Probably…