“Manifestation of Nightmares…?”
Jeongwoo frowned. Manifestation of Nightmares. It was a mission with an unfamiliar name. In the Night of the Dead he remembered, nothing like this had ever happened.
A patch in the middle of a mission? He hadn’t known such a thing was possible.
…Manifestation of Nightmares? The system didn’t explain what this was or what kind of mission it was, just said it had started.
But he didn’t feel any changes right away. That made him even more concerned.
Because it meant it was something he couldn’t even sense.
Moreover, the name ‘Manifestation of Nightmares’ felt ominous. Mission names weren’t just randomly attached. Especially in the case of missions hosted by Constellations, the mission name was related to that Constellation’s tendencies or abilities.
In this mission’s case, the hosting Constellation was Dark Night. As much as ‘Night’ was included in the Constellation’s name, everything related to night was within the Constellation’s sphere of influence.
Jeongwoo thought fiercely about this matter. He felt like bugs were crawling in a corner of his head. Why did he keep feeling like he was missing something important?
When it came to Constellations, Jeongwoo knew quite a bit too, but regarding the Constellation ‘Dark Night,’ nothing came to mind at all.
Come to think of it, the fact that he knew so little about ‘Dark Night’ was also strange.
‘Dark Night’ was a Constellation with enough interest and influence in Earth to host a mission. Then wouldn’t it have been the same before? No. It must have been the same before too. He just hadn’t known.
Even to operate a single instant dungeon like the Daejeon Station dungeon required considerable resources and influence. But then, to host a mission encompassing the entire planet would require tremendous points and influence. Influence, in other words, meant the number of Earthlings following that Constellation. In other words, it meant Earthling subjects serving that Constellation as king.
But when on earth did this ‘Dark Night’ gain supporters on Earth?
Enough to host a planet-scale global mission…?
Moreover, didn’t they even patch in the middle of the mission this time?
He couldn’t imagine what they had paid the system to forcibly intervene in an already started mission.
Furthermore, the more surprising fact was that ‘Dark Night’ was a major Constellation capable of paying all of that, yet he hadn’t known this fact at all.
As Jeongwoo’s thoughts reached this point, he got chills.
Even in the reports about Constellations he’d received from the Management Bureau so far, there had been no stories that seemed related to ‘Dark Night.’ Could Dark Night be operating avatars? Could they have increased their subjects using avatars instead of themselves?
Then what on earth was Dark Night aiming for?
[Jaehee, did you see it?]
He sighed as he sent a message to Jaehee.
Dealing with the endlessly swarming dead was tiring work, but it wasn’t difficult. But from now on, he had to fight while being wary of something whose true identity he really couldn’t know.
Jeongwoo took out a piece of gum from his inventory and started chewing it vigorously. Chewing while thinking of this gum as Dark Night made him feel a bit better.
Come to think of it, wasn’t the timing quite suspicious too?
Last night, Kings were murdered by unidentified people. There was no verified truth, but Sahae Guild suddenly pointed to Eternal Guild as the mastermind and declared war. Even though they said Sahae Guild’s guild master Lee Shinhoo was attacked, Lee Shinhoo’s appearance wasn’t revealed.
And suddenly a patch started in the mission.
Could all of this really be coincidence?
……No way.
A crooked smile rose from Jeongwoo’s lips.
Jeongwoo was someone who believed there were no coincidences in the world.
Wasn’t everything too coincidental to just dismiss as an unlucky day?
Jeongwoo had been confident until the new patch called Manifestation of Nightmares started. The Night of the Dead was a tricky mission, but for Jeongwoo who had already experienced the Night of the Dead once, it wasn’t that difficult.
[Shin Jaehee? Are you busy?]
When Jaehee, who had been sending messages quickly until just moments ago, said nothing, Jeongwoo tried to send another message but sighed.
Well, Jaehee must be busy too. Right now, within the guild there must be chaos because of the new patch.
“Can’t be helped.”
Jeongwoo bit his lip firmly, then lightly spun the sword in his hand round and round. The sword actually had considerable weight, but seeing Jeongwoo do it, it looked like a plastic sword. Outside the circle Jeongwoo had drawn with flames, the dead were rising one by one and approaching again.
The number of dead had decreased compared to before, but each one had become stronger. Jeongwoo swung his sword greatly from top to bottom. One dead one that had leaped toward Jeongwoo’s front swayed, then split in half.
The thing that had been trembling in a hideous form slowly crumbled.
“Hmm. They’ve definitely gotten stronger.”
Jeongwoo put thicker red flames than usual on the blade he was holding. Maintaining thick flames required more mental power, but it couldn’t be helped.
The dead who didn’t fear death gradually began to attack more fiercely.
Would Jaehee be safe? Nothing would happen, right?
Even while swinging his sword, Jeongwoo’s mind was full of thoughts of Jaehee.
* * *
“What is this, damn it! You really can’t see that?”
Jaehee nervously pointed at a section of the wall and shouted. But except for Jaehee, all the other guild members just scratched their heads with awkward expressions.
On the white wall Jaehee was pointing at, there was nothing to be seen. Jaehee pounded his chest as if frustrated and let out a long sigh.
Since a little while ago, something like a strange black form had been flickering in Jaehee’s eyes. At first, he thought he had seen wrong. But when the black object not only didn’t disappear but gradually inflated its body, he thought something was wrong.
“Guild Master, what do you see?”
“Haah, there seems to be something there…. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s just a black form… it’s kind of like mold….”
“Maybe, couldn’t you have seen something wrong? Things like the dead can’t enter inside the King’s Veil. It’s probably because you haven’t been able to rest continuously either, Guild Master….”
“…I suppose so.”
Jaehee rubbed his eyes several times and sighed. No matter what he did, the black thing didn’t disappear.
Since they said these kinds of things definitely couldn’t enter inside the King’s Veil, he must have seen wrong.
It was when Jaehee was glaring at the unpleasant black mold-like thing.
‘…Jaehee….’
“Huh? Did someone call me?”
Hearing someone call him, Jaehee turned around, but there was no one. Only guild members with awkward expressions were looking at him. Jaehee scratched his head with a strange feeling. After seeing things, now auditory hallucinations. He thought he should leave so as not to lower other people’s morale for no reason.
“Um…, I’m sorry, but I think I’m too tired. I’ll go take a quick nap in the guild master’s office.”
“Alright, Guild Master. Rest for a bit and come back. If anything happens, we’ll wake you.”
“Yes, then I’ll leave it to you.”
While others were working, he felt sorry that the person called the leader was going into a room to rest, but it couldn’t be helped. Jaehee asked people’s understanding and entered the guild master’s office. Since his stepmother and Yeong-i were sleeping in the inner room of the guild master’s office, Jaehee was going to sit in the guild master’s office chair and just close his eyes for a moment.
“Ah, right. Jeongwoo sent a message. Doesn’t this guy get busy? Why does he send so many messages?”
[You mean the Manifestation of Nightmares, right? We all confirmed it too. But no one knows what this is yet, do you have any guesses, Jeongwoo?]
This time Jeongwoo didn’t answer.
“Kaeng! Kaeng!”
Then Kaengkaeng approached wagging its tail. Seeing it like that, it seemed more like a puppy than saying it was a descendant of a nine-tailed fox.
“Ugh. What is… this smell? Kaengkaeng, this smell isn’t coming from you, is it?”
Jaehee, who had been petting Kaengkaeng, caught a foul smell spreading. It was too terrible to be a smell coming from Kaengkaeng. A stench resembling sulfur spread through the room.
“Kaeng! Kaengkaengkaeng”
He staggered as he stood up to open the window. The smell was so foul his stomach churned.
“…Jaehee…!”
Then he heard someone calling his name again. This time it was clear. For a moment, dizziness struck. Jaehee trembled and bit his lip.
It was too clear and certain to say he had heard wrong.
That voice was a voice Jaehee could never forget—it was his mother’s voice.
“No way, m…mo, mom…?”
Kaengkaeng started barking fiercely. Before he knew it, the guild master’s office was filled with black smoke. The moment the black smoke filled Jaehee’s lungs, Jaehee’s body collapsed as if crumbling.
“Kaengkaengkaengkaeng! Kaengkaengkaeng! Kaengkaeng!”
Kaengkaeng circled around Jaehee frantically barking, but neither Yeong-i nor his stepmother woke up.
