"My 'best friend' did."
"Huh?!" "Huh?"
Both Sun-hee and Seo-young were confused.
"But why did they do that? It's brutal."
Ae-rin stopped for a second, asking herself whether or not she should tell them.
"It's…."
She ended up telling them everything, including how her family was and her life story. They seemed so different from how Alice was. As if she finally found a place to open up. It felt like ...they cared.
After chatting for a while, all of them noticed the sliding door open.
"Sun-hee!!!" In unison, two voices called out. Ae-rin would recognise that tone any day, blindfolded with that single word out of their mouth.
What she didn't expect was for both of the guys to dive right on top of the futon without opening their eyes. Yes, where Ae-rin was sitting.
Kwang landed on the futon because Seo-young dodged with perfection.
Yeong, however, jumped right on top of Ae-rin. Ok, awkward situation on Ae-rin's part, but for Yeong... He was more or less in Heaven…Yeah.
When he opened his eyes, feeling he did stumble over someone, he didn't expect to see an 'angel'.
Yeong.exe has crashed.
"Um… could you move?"
And that made him crash back to reality.
And he moved away.
"I-I d-didn't m-m-m-mean to d-d-do t-that!!!!! APOLOGIES!!!"
"It's ok, it was an accident."
Ok! Ae-rin was an angel, that was confirmed to Yeong.
He swore to worship her for the rest of his life now.
"I am Lee Yeong, the Guardian deity of Goguryeo Sun! It's nice to meet you, angel-ssi. I swore to protect you with my life as an atonement for the crime I have committed just now!"
Though it was all over the top words, it did melt away some of the awkwardness and ice in Ae-rin's heart.
"Heh, there's no need for that. I am Ae-rin William. It's nice to meet you, too, deity-ssi." Ae-rin decided to play along.
Yeong, however, was in love. No woman had ever treated him like that, but now there he was meeting the most beautiful of them all, and yet she was so nice to him. It made his heart sway. Cupid shot him with 3 arrows, not just one.
He stayed quiet for the rest of the treatment, which was very uncharacteristic of him to the point that even Kwang was concerned, considering he is the most energetic one in the whole group, along with Kwang and Il-seong.
"Hey! William-chan."
"Ae-rin would be better."
"First name basis already? Oh well, you sure you didn't do anything to Yeong over there?"
"No, I promise."
"Heh! Don't sweat it, he'll be back to normal in no time! Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. The name's Go Kwang, the sound dragon sorcerer."
"That sounds awesome!" No pun intended.
"You think!! Oh hell yeah! Aren't I cool?! Hehe!"
The chit chat went for a good while, with Sun-hee and Seo-young joining in too.
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After a while, the door was opened again. With a loud voice following right after.
"I DON'T REMEMBER TO GIVE PERMISSION YOU TWO TO SLACK OFF LIKE THIS!!!!!! HOW DID LEAVE YOUR PETROL MIDWAY AND CAME BACK FOR YOUR SWEET CHITCHAT!!! JAE-GEUN IS DOING ALL OF YOUR WORK ALONE!! GO RIGHT BACK OR I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU FIX THE WATER SUPPLY PROBLEM ALL BY YOURSELF!!!!"
That handsome face was famous enough to be recognized on sight for the people who have read the Manhwa, Over the Net: Legend of the Small Giant (네트 너머: 작은 거인의 전설)... And a shocker first-hand that he's a hot head when you get to know he is also a bit of a hot head. Looks are deceiving, man.
Couldn't say the same thing from the other perspective, so when the coach- wait, in this case, the master saw the newest edition in the group…
"Ah, heh, hey there! You're the new girl Do-hoon-ssi was talking about?"
His words went from 3rd degree to 1st?
"You believe it or not. You're someone this world has been waiting for years now."
'Again that. I am the MC of this story now, eh?'
"Well, I go by the name of Bak Daeshim, the raven claw, and the master of this place. Hope I didn't scare ya, it's just that these two need to go!"
With that, both Kwang and Yeong ran off, saying,
"Bye, Ae-rin!" "Bye, angel-chan!"
"Bye-bye."
"Do-hoon-ssi was asking you to be at the front yard once you get ready. I'll be waiting there as well. Come as soon as you can."
With that, he left too.
"You should change. You might catch a cold otherwise."
Sun-hee said, and Seo-young pulled out a new hanbok, a better-looking hanbok.
They help her get changed.
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"Seo-young, she might get lost. You should go with her."
"Ya ok. Let's go, Ae-rin-chan."
Oh yes. Ae-rin also told Seo-young to keep the '-chan' after spatting it out once accidentally.
Both of them were 20, and as she said, the boys are all around the same age. But Ae-rin already knew that. They would be 'best friends', but Ae-rin was very shaken up by what happened earlier, so she would take her time to get over it first.
They both were strolling down the open corridors. When a certain icy-glare 6'1" man, along with his green-haired friend, came face to face with them.
"Oh, hey there, Seo-young. Where're you off to?" Seung-tae asks gingerly.
"Oh, I am just taking Ae-rin-chan to the front yard."
"Hey, Yoon Seung-tae. Nice to meet you, Ae-rin-chan. And this is Jihoon, my best buddy."
Ji-hoon scoffed a bit at that, but he still introduced himself.
"Park Ji-hoon. Nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you, too, Ji-hoon, Seung-Tae. I am Ae-rin William. Please call me Ae-rin."
"Ya, sure. Are you a new recruit?"
"No, Ae-rin-chan came from another world."
"Eh? Another world? Seriously? Like the legend says?"
Ae-rin rubbed the back of her neck, still doesn't know the whole plot point.
"I don't know about the legend, but I am certain I am not from here."
"So cool!" We all know Seung-tae and Seo-young would make an adorable couple, and the look they gave Ae-rin proved it. Ji-hoon, on the other hand, stayed quiet, looking at the new girl, assessing.
"Come on, Seung-tae, we're leaving."
"Jihoon, that's rude! Wait for me! Bye, Seo-young, Ae-rin. See you later."
"See you later."
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Once the boys were out of sight, Seo-young took Ae-rin to where Do-hoon was sitting, sipping his tea. Ae-rin greeted him politely with a bow.
"Hello, Do-hoon-ssi. I hope I didn't take too long."
"Oh, you didn't. And there is no need to be so formal. Come, sit here."
Ae-rin obliged.
"Seo-young, would you make us some tea?"
"Oh yes, of course."
Seo-young went away to make them some tea.
"Ae-rin, do you have an idea why you're here for?"
"Um, no, I don't. You know that I am not from here, but how?"
"Easy, it's the flower carved marking on the back of your neck."
"You get it from my birthmark?"
"Hu, it might be a casual thing for you, but according to what our ancestors have left us with, you're someone we have been waiting for a while now, 'Divine Priestess'."
"'Divine Priestess'? I don't know anything about that…"
Seo-young came back, and Daeshim was with her.
"You aren't supposed to." Daeshim barged into the conversation.
Ae-rin looked more lost than before.
"I… I am no more than a normal person.'
'I didn't have a proper family relationship with anyone, not my dad, my stepmom, my stepsister, no one… The only one who cared left a bit too early, my mom. For the last 2 years, whom I considered to be someone I cared for, turned out to be a backstabber."
And now… this? What is this?'
Ae-rin had a look on her face that didn't convey sadness or anger, just numbness of her heart. The look was sure infectious, ended up making everyone there quiet for a while.
Both Do-hoon and Daeshim shared a look and turned to give an understanding stare at Ae-rin before glancing at Seo-young. She gives them a slight nod. After all, she knew about Ae-rin's past by now.
"Your previous experiences so far would not be something that you would like to revisit, but they sure have made you strong, mentally and emotionally. Most important thing to master the power that you and only you can manifest into yourself, you have to have great mental and emotional stability."
Do-hoon tried to break the silence, but Ae-rin stayed silent.
"Hey! It might not be too comforting back in your previous life, but it's changed. You are here in Goguryeo Sun now. And you're going to be one of us-"
"If you agreed to join us, of course."
"Oh! Don't cut me off while I am talking, Do-hoon-ssi! And how do you think you are going to deal with the problem at hand without her help!"
"Even so, she has the full right to refuse. We can't force her to do something for us if she decides not to."
Daeshim was a bit annoyed with that, but it was true, though.
"Anyway, whatever the details are, you still are one of us now. And don't go thinking you'll be kicked out if you refuse to help. You might not have a great experience back in your world, but we all care for each other here, without having any blood relation to each other. So, if you think we won't care, you would be dead wrong."
His words definitely lightened up Ae-rin's and everyone else's mood there.
"I would like to know what this is all about. Where I am from, nobody uses 'magic', at least not the kind that Sun-hee used on me."
All three of them were shocked at that. Seemingly, Ae-rin's world was indeed very different from theirs.
"I see. Let me tell you about it then. Long ago, the nations in our world, though been worshipping different lords, were still paying their respect to the mightiest priestess that was ever born. She was considered to be the guardian of this land and the supreme power holder in our kind. The only one who could have stopped the 'World tree' from opening. If only our kind had put our differences aside and helped her…"
"Wait… what is a 'World tree'?"
"It is the gateway connecting all the 'three realms'. Most likely how you ended up here, Ae-rin-chan." Seo-young answered.
"You mean I have come from the other side of it?"
Before Seo-young could respond, Do-hoon-ssi continued.
"There isn't one but many 'other sides' to that gate. All the other living realms are connected to that, too. But no living realm is ever allowed to let that door open."
"Then how does your world have it open?"
"As Do-hoon-ssi mentioned before, back then, even now, actually, there are different nations worshipping different lords. But there were many more deities who wanted their place in the authorities of our lands. You see, 'living' has the power to manifest anything into its realm. So, when the prayers and prays are strong enough, any other realm being, whether it be from the overworld or the underworld, can have a flow of their power through our realm too. Thus, it influences our realm to a certain point. Back then, all those lords started a war against each other for that power. In one of these fights, the 'Falcon' went up against 'Cancer', in which the latter lost miserably. Before their last moment, they showed so much hatred towards their followers, "if only they devoted themselves more heartily, I wouldn't have lost to this wind' was their last word."
"Even though a lord is not powerful enough in a living realm, they are still more powerful than most of us could ever be. Mostly because the only one exception that ever existed was 'Her'. The Cancer used every bit of their power remaining to open the 'World tree' to the underworld. Nobody realized what happened for quite a few years, I guess even the beings from the underworld didn't expect such an outcome. But when it did, needless to say, it was a massacre."
Ae-rin felt a shiver running down her spine as if she had seen something like this with her own eyes, but Do-hoon-ssi didn't stop even after noticing that.
"'She' tried her hardest to seal it back again. But some of the nations refused to help her, fearing that if the gate was closed, their lords' power would not be able to manifest in them. So, some of them ended up saying that their lord would do whatever would be best for them. Even though those who chose to stand by her, all of their combined power wasn't enough to close it completely. To prevent any more harm to the people, she chose to stand and die for our whole kind. She sealed the doorway with her own existence. But she did warn us before leaving that the seals weren't strong enough to stay closed forever. A light-borne who would come crossing over 7 skies, one who would bear the flower of life on their nape, the sole bearer of the four divine cosmic sorcery and the true owner of the name 'Divine priestess', would come to this world and that at least then, the nations would stand for the 'kind' not for power. 'Another day of trial, another day of praying, another day of hoping, another day of strengthening our awareness and closing our distance between the divine and self.'"
All of it was too much for Ae-rin.
'Even though it feels like I am the MC of some fanfiction… It's my reality now, isn't it? It feels too nerve-racking to be given such a huge duty to someone. I wonder how the other protagonists deal with such conditions, I-I mean, even the priestess Do-hoon is talking about, even she had to have these nerve-recking moments, right? RIGHT? How do these people even deal with it? And what if they are mistaking me for someone else? Wait…. I guess I do have my birthmark, but does that prove it all?… Argh! Ok, ok, now what?'
"You have gone quiet. Do you have something to ask?"
"It's just a thought, but what if I am not the one you're looking for?"
"Heh, I thought you would say so. A priest has a different inborn power; not everyone can be a priest, you see. They can see through auras, all and everyone I have ever seen, you have the most unique one. A cosmic aura to put it simply."
Ae-rin blinked twice.
"And what if I don't manage to learn all four of the…um… divine cosmic sorcery, then what?"
"That 'what if' isn't something right now for us to think. Well, you in on this?" Daeshim asked.
Seo-young seemed to be scared hearing Daeshim's 'normal' proposal, though for Ae-rin, it was endearing. Nobody has made her so included before.
'It feels like I'm in a movie or something. I know I have never been the one to ask for spotlights… definitely never thought of becoming the main character in a situation… especially like this one. But I have definitely wanted to be a friend of MC and help them!... wait, no! You are going in a different direction, brain!... maybe, just maybe… It would be a nice try?... I don't know… what if… Argh! I am going with you, Gut! Don't screw me over!'
"Ya, I'll try my best!"
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