The bright stars in the night sky of the hunting ground shone beautifully. The woods, as deep as the Amazon rainforest, or the mountains high enough to reach the bright stars—these all played an important role in making the hunting ground shine beautifully and peacefully, which it definitely wasn't.
These sights were caught by the gaze of Lee Seonyeon as she moved her head right to left, glaring at the forests, mountains, or the shining stars. Her bandaged hand moved to the cup of coffee which was on the table.
She took a sip of the coffee while glaring at the moon and glanced at the bandages wrapped around her hand.
Later, her gaze shifted to a dagger placed on the small round table in front of her. It was a dagger she had bought from the store with the help of Anna. She had been fighting in dungeons with that dagger.
Slowly, Seonyeon opened her lips.
"..I wonder where he is?"
Just as her words ended, a sheer silence filled the whole hospital room. The slow breeze had fallen silent like it was waiting for Seonyeon to end her words.
Due to the sudden silence, Seonyeon looked at the bed right next to her and continued her words.
"..Why are you silent?"
Minjae was lying on a bed in the corner of the room, his arm and legs covered with fractures. His expression was darkened and frustrated. He slightly looked at Seonyeon and opened his trembling lips.
"..W-who are you talking about?"
With a slight sigh, Seonyeon replied,
"..Ofc, I'm talking about Kang Hong."
Minjae slightly shifted his gaze a bit lower and in a frustrated voice replied,
"..Kang Hong is dead."
"I already know that."
At her answer, Minjae put his hands on his head and opened his mouth.
"The—"
"He can't die."
Due to the sudden interruption, Minjae stayed silent for a few seconds, then opened his mouth.
"How do you know that?"
In a lower voice, Seonyeon replied,
"..It's just my gut feeling."
Seonyeon's voice didn't contain any confidence. It was obvious that she herself wasn't very sure about Kang Hong's return.
Slowly, she clenched her teeth in frustration. It wasn't the frustration of not being able to help Kang Hong. It was the frustration of not being able to protect Kang Hong. It was the frustration of leaving Kang Hong behind in the dungeon. It was...
...the frustration of being weak.
Lee Seonyeon heard no reply from Minjae. She turned her gaze to him. With pitiful eyes, Seonyeon opened her mouth.
"..Hyunwoo's death wasn't your fault."
Minjae clenched his fists in frustration as several drops of tears dripped down onto the white blanket. In a trembling voice, he replied,
"..I-If.. I h-had st-stayed w-with h-hi.."
His sobbing intensified and he couldn't complete the words he began. He just continued to wipe the continuous stream of tears. Only one sound could be heard in the whole room, and that was the sobbing of Minjae.
Lee Seonyeon was silent, just looking at the blanket while trying her best to hold her tears back. The breeze had fallen silent. The corridor had fallen silent. The forest had fallen silent.
Only to hear the sobbing of a friend who had lost his friend. The sobbing of a friend who was blaming himself for the loss.
The sobbing of...
...Minjae
***
I stood unfazed in front of Hyunwoo while he glared at the trembling Anna. He opened his mouth while keeping a cold gaze.
"..You're still alive."
"Were you expecting me to die?"
Hyunwoo chose to stay silent at my question, but that silence was enough to tell me what his answer was. I looked at my Soul Breaker. I wanted to lift and point it at him, but I wasn't able to do so. Maybe I didn't want to attack my own party member, or maybe I didn't want to turn another side character into an extra.
I opened my mouth, with a solid voice.
"Why are you doing this?"
Hyunwoo didn't reply but instead grabbed the trembling hand of Anna and lifted it a bit. The hand trembled more as he lifted it higher.
Then he just lightened his grip, causing the hand to fall back to the ground. Hyunwoo pointed his blood-dripping sword at Anna's neck and opened his mouth.
"This bitch right in front of me, bet—"
"Call her bitch one more time and your head will touch the ground."
I pointed my Soul Breaker at him and interrupted him. Hyunwoo's eyebrow twitched a bit at my words. With a small laugh, he finally glared at me.
His eyes reflected nothing—just pure darkness. I couldn't believe that it was the same Hyunwoo I met at the beginning. I couldn't know what happened to him. But I could know one thing, which was that...
The Hyunwoo I knew had died and reincarnated as a completely new being. He had the same appearance, but for some reason, his character was no longer the same.
A small smirk formed over Hyunwoo's lips as he opened his mouth,
"Weren't you betrayed too, Kang Hong?"
..Betrayed too? What does he mean? He was betrayed..? That's impossible!
I blinked several times as to show my disbelief and in a confused voice replied,
"..I was, but why bring that up now?"
As I completed my reply, Hyunwoo sighed and the smirk over his lips vanished. He raised his blade from Anna's neck to her head.
"..She left me all alone."
My eyes widened at the rush of emotions and my hand trembled slightly. I bit my lower lip to remain calm.
As Hyunwoo continued speaking, the sentences of Desired End flooded into my head.
"It was an A-rank dungeon."
「Choi Hyunwoo」
"We were losing from the beginning."
「The one who slayed the head of a higher deity」
"I got in the front to protect the members from those monstrous beings."
「The one who was known as the strongest dreamer to ever live besides Anna」
"I fought endlessly just to protect them from their so-called fate."
「The one who protected Anna in every damn situation」
"..Only to see no one standing behind me."
The sentences came to an end—or it could be said that the sentences didn't want to continue.
My hand flickered at the words spoken by Hyunwoo.
"I was abandoned."
My irises trembled.
"I was left all alone by the people I wanted to protect the most."
I bit my lower lip.
"..Why was I abandoned?"
I clenched my jaw.
"..Was it because I was weak?"
The Soul Breaker touched the ground.
"..Or was it because I was useless?"
Tears streamed down Hyunwoo's eyes. It felt like the emotions he was lacking were rushing back at him.
Anna, who was on her knees the whole time, finally showed some movement at Hyunwoo's words. She grasped his shaking hands and her eyes resembled guilt. She had realized what she did to the poor soul whose intentions were just to protect his own comrades.
"..You weren't abandoned, Hyunwoo."
Again, I had become a mere extra. I didn't know how Hyunwoo survived or why Anna abandoned him. For the first time in this Endless Dream, I didn't have enough information to get a grasp over the current situation unfolding right in front of my eyes.
Slowly but surely, I picked up the Soul Breaker and took some small and heavy steps toward Anna and Hyunwoo.
The tears which Hyunwoo just shed had already dried up and he was back to his cold gaze. His cold gaze glared at the helpless figure of Anna. She wanted to die—she couldn't watch her own comrade stabbing her in the stomach. She just kept her gaze on the ground, regretting her decisions as a leader.
Hyunwoo shook his hand to let go of Anna's touch. He stood unfazed and glared at me, who was taking heavy steps right towards him.
"You'll regret it, Kang Hong."
"Regret? Why?"
Anna slightly raised her gaze back, glaring at me. For a second, my feet didn't seem to move. Maybe it was her gaze which didn't let me move any further. That gaze told me one thing:
Kang Hong, stay out of this matter.
Anna didn't want me to interrupt the conversation between the main and side protagonist. She wanted me, the extra of this story, to remain as an extra and watch the story unfold.
With a light sigh, I continued my steps and Anna slowly raised and showed her whole hand to me, telling me to stop there and not come any further.
As usual, I didn't listen, and flames started revolving around my Soul Breaker.
[Fire Element Lvl.1 has been activated!]
[80% Magic Power is remaining!]
I tightened the grip over my Soul Breaker and opened my lips.
"Do you really intend to kill the party leader here?"
Hyunwoo shifted his gaze over to the helpless Anna, whose bleeding had mostly come under control. Later, he shifted his gaze back to me and with a determined voice declared,
"Yes, I intend to kill the party leader here."
I lowered my gaze a bit and replied,
"I see then.."
I pointed my flaming Soul Breaker at Hyunwoo and looked straight into his eyes, and continued my words.
"..I shall slice your head."
At my words, Hyunwoo smirked and swung his sword in the air while taking some heavy steps towards me, leaving Anna behind.
Anna was supposed to be the main protagonist of this Endless Dream, but at this very moment, the flame protecting her title of Main Protagonist flickered, and she no longer looked like the main protagonist. She looked like an—
[You have died!]
Anna didn't move. Her trembling hands, irises—none of them moved. It felt like time had stopped for Anna's body.
She had died again.
[Body's revival has begun!]
[Receiving too much mental damage has caused a delay in revival!]
[Due to Anna's resistance, revival has been greatly delayed!]
Anna is resisting..?
My eyes widened at the floating screen and quickly shifted my gaze over to the place where the body of the main protagonist could be found.
No movements were shown. I was sure that she had died… but only her stomach got stabbed. She was supposed to revive in seconds.
But those seconds were turning into minutes right in front of me. I knew that Anna received a large amount of mental shock...
But was it supposed to be this deep that she would lose her will to live?
..I couldn't answer. I couldn't know what actually happened. I couldn't understand Anna's inner thoughts. If Anna really had abandoned Hyunwoo in the dungeon, then she wouldn't have gotten this hurt.
..Anna didn't abandon him. That was everything I could understand. Hyunwoo followed my gaze and opened his mouth while looking at the main protagonist.
"She'll revive again, right?"
With a stiff reaction, I turned my gaze to Hyunwoo, who was already looking at me with a grin.
"How'd you know that?"
"Can't tell."
Over his reply, I got frustrated and tightened the grip over my Soul Breaker. Hyunwoo had totally changed in just some mere hours.
How can such a cheerful person change in just some hours?
I couldn't know. I had never written or imagined this version of Hyunwoo. I slowly opened my mouth.
"..What exactly happened in the dungeon?"
"I could ask the same to you."
My eyes widened, not with anger or surprise, but with a feeling I couldn't explain. Was it sympathy? I didn't really know, but what I felt back then could be closer to sympathy—but not exactly sympathy.
It wasn't sympathy.
With a trembling voice, I opened my mouth.
"Y-You've totally changed."
"I could ask the same to you."
"I've changed..? How?"
Hyunwoo sighed a bit and replied with a smirk.
"Find that out yourself."
With the end of those words, Hyunwoo pointed his sword at me and dark black smoke started flowing around it.
[??? Has been activated!]
My jaws dropped open and I looked at the dark smoke anxiously. These smokes are a skill..?
Just like the flames flowed around my Soul Breaker, the dark smoke also flowed around Hyunwoo's sword.
My expression darkened more as multiple thoughts entered my head. Did Hyunwoo possess a skill in the First Dreamer's Delusion?
I questioned myself the same question, but the answer wasn't in sight of my knowledge.
After all this, I dashed while holding my flaming Soul Breaker. Meanwhile, Hyunwoo did the same.
Two different skills clashed under the night sky and...
I had already lost the fight.