108 – Hybrid #1
—
While Baek Yeo-ul, her friends who weren’t missing, and Prince Juhyun formed an extremely suspicious team, Seugal acted independently.
“The brainwaves of Demon Nam Woo-joo. If you look at this part here, you can see that unknown stimuli acted on the brain, causing changes in the nervous system.”
“This is a common condition among those who’ve been brainwashed by external factors over a long period of time…”
Seugal visited the research facility studying Demon Nam Woo-joo and heard about the situation. But most of it was complex medical jargon that quickly evaporated from her mind.
‘So, when will Nam Woo-joo come to his senses? And what does it mean to find “Kore”? They should have explained that properly.’
Repetition of unproductive hours.
Seugal felt suffocated.
“Miss Ga-eul.”
As Seugal walked out of the research facility, a voice halted her in her tracks. When she turned around, she saw a woman in military uniform.
The name tag on her chest read “Jang Bo-reum.”
‘Who is she again?’
‘Wasn’t she Nam Woo-joo’s adjutant?’
Seugal wasn’t knowledgeable or particularly interested in military ranks, so she didn’t know exactly what an adjutant or a lieutenant commanded. But one thing was clear: the woman’s eyes were noticeably swollen.
This woman must’ve had a special connection with Nam Woo-joo.
“Director Nam was looking for you until the very end. He thought you were connected to Kore. During the time you were kidnapped, you didn’t make contact with Kore, did you?”
Kore was the fairy princess.
Seugal couldn’t understand why Nam Woo-joo and the soldiers were so determined to find the fairy princess.
“Why? Why are you looking for Kore?”
“That’s classified information.”
They weren’t going to explain it easily.
However, Jang Bo-reum, who seemed to be checking her surroundings carefully, then handed Seugal a small note. It was a piece of paper like gum foil with an address written on it.
“What’s this?”
“Go there.”
The address wasn’t far. About an hour’s walk for Seugal.
—
Arriving at the junkyard, she saw stacks of crushed and flattened cars. An old man was burning a fire.
‘Why light a bonfire under such intense summer heat?’
“Who might you be?”
The elderly man with white hair asked Seugal, his weathered skin and calloused hands resembling an iron lid.
“This isn’t a place for a young lady like you to visit.”
The old man grinned, showing his yellowed teeth. Seugal felt slightly offended at being ignored. In response, she fired a miracle b*llet with her palm, creating a hole in a drum can nearby. The old man’s eyes flickered strangely.
“Aren’t you from those people? I have nothing to say. I retired a long time ago! Don’t think you can use me for free forever!”
The man yelled.
It was then Seugal noticed his trembling hands and unfocused eyes.
‘What, isn’t he just some crazy old man?’
Why had Jang Bo-reum given her this address? Seugal suppressed her desire to leave and forced a fake smile.
“Grandpa, do you know Lieutenant Jang Bo-reum? She sent me here—does this ring a bell?”
“Jang Bo-reum or whoever! What do I care! I’m having lunch right now! Can’t you see the water boiling over this fire? If you want a story so badly, why don’t you make some delicious kimchi stew?”
What? Kimchi stew? Treating her like some hired cook.
Seugal nearly lost her temper, but since she’d come all this way, she decided to suppress her anger and play along. The only problem: Seugal had no idea how to make kimchi stew.
Instead, she had her smartphone.
“Quick kimchi stew in 30 seconds.”
A quick video solved it for her.
“Oh, it’s easy.”
Seugal thought it looked simple. She added fresh kimchi and pork to the boiling pot over the fire.
Tasting the broth, it was passable.
“Something’s missing…”
Just in case, Seugal added some ketchup she’d brought along for potato fries from a fast-food joint.
“Looks decent enough… Let’s see about the taste…”
The old man took a spoonful and scrunched his face.
“Who’d put ketchup in kimchi stew? You’ve ruined my carefully aged kimchi!”
The old man raged. So enraged he shook all over and began crying.
“I’ve been trying to recreate this strange taste for years!”
Had he gone senile?
As Seugal prepared to draw her kn*fe, the old man’s trembling hand steadied.
“So, who might you be?”
“I’m Seugal.”
“What? Seugal? Why didn’t you say so sooner? You’ve come to learn about Kore, haven’t you? That child often spoke about you.”
Kore!
Seugal felt an ancient glacier within her melt as her irritation from dealing with the senile old man lifted, replaced by a refreshing sense of relief.
“Wait and see!”
The old man disappeared into a tent made among the junk cars and pulled out something. It was a physical photograph, rare in the era of smartphones.
“This is Kore. Her Korean name is Kim Bom, which I gave her.”
Kim Bom.
The picture showed a brunette woman making a “V” pose. Seugal recognized the familiar face from her “Hanamjin Art Book” she’d pulled out. The woman’s face matched perfectly with young Hanamjin’s photos.
What was going on?
As Seugal puzzled over this, overheating her mind, the old man glanced at the album. He gasped.
“Kim Bom must have a son somehow. But that’s impossible, right? Hanamjin always said he was a seedless watermelon—meaning he couldn’t marry because he couldn’t have children!”
“Seedless watermelon?”
“No sperm. That’s why Nam Tae-geon adopted so many! His only bloodline, Hanamjin, was sterile, so he was forced to take in substitutes.”
“Wait, what is Nam Tae-geon?”
Seugal felt she’d just heard something monumental. But the old man continued speaking nonsense.
“I just said Kore needs to head to the Great Labyrinth before it’s too late. The Red King has endured too long. If it’s delayed further, the black rain will…”
“Grandfather! What’s this about Nam Tae-geon? What’s this ‘Red King’ and ‘black rain’ you’re talking about?”
“Anyway, creatures for real battle should have six V stats… Mom! Cook the fried eggs over-easy like I asked!”
The old man’s eyes glazed over again, and his hands trembled like a trembling aspen in winter. Seugal thought about making him more kimchi stew, but there wasn’t any kimchi left.
—
I briefly explained to Yu Yeo-reum what had happened over the last few days.
Yu Yeo-reum, who had been listening for a while, turned her head away as if she weren’t very interested.
“The explanation is too long. Summarize it in three sentences.”
“In difficult circumstances, I’m glad to meet you again. We’re here with Pu-bao, the fairy of baobab trees. Say hello.”
“I’m Baono, the nymph of ditch water! What an incredible place this ‘supply warehouse’ is! Only the chosen fairies can enter such an amazing place! Incredible!”
Seeing the stacks of jerkies and dried figs in the supply area delighted Baono. This must have felt like heaven to her, after eating contaminated mushrooms and barely surviving in the black-rain polluted forest.
And Baono was excited upon seeing Yu Yeo-reum.
“I haven’t seen such a cute Kore for a long time! Though her head seems a little slow, we can package that cuteness as innocence and charm. Incredible!”
“Are you calling me dumb?”
Yu Yeo-reum frowned unhappily, and I had a question, too.
“What’s a Kore?”
Wasn’t Demon Nam Woo-joo talking about “Kore” when he briefly regained consciousness?
“To explain what a Kore is would not be very Kore-friendly! Anyway, we nymphs absolutely adore cute Kores just as much as we love dried mushrooms!”
A Kore must mean young, pretty girls like Yu Yeo-reum.
“If I could make you my companion Kore, the nymph sisters who return later would be so impressed when I brag. I can’t wait for the next boasting day!”
Anyway.
We decided to leave this place. We’d find the exit via the ventilation duct.
“You were fine with locking us in here, but now you’re telling me to crawl through this vent?”
Though clearly unhappy with the operation, Yu Yeo-reum didn’t outright refuse. She stepped on my shoulder and awkwardly climbed toward the duct.
Just in case, I glanced up, and surprisingly, her angle from this perspective wasn’t bad at all! The b*tt encased in her spandex was pretty sizable, matching the buns!
“What an incredible sight. I could d*e without regrets.”
“Then d*e.”
Yu Yeo-reum stomped her foot down on my face.
And that’s how we entered the vent.
“Look at this! There’s pitch-black darkness blocking the way!”
Some areas of the vent were completely shrouded in darkness, but thanks to the glowing emanating from Yu Yeo-reum’s eyes, it dissipated like inkwater during low tide, making progress easier.
One small problem: We weren’t sure where the vent led to.
Fortunately, Baono knew the answer.
“According to my knowledge, there’s an entrance to the outside world near the Red King’s throne! This is what I heard from Inonoi. It’s trustworthy!”
“From Inonoi?”
Yu Yeo-reum, walking ahead, seemed curious about the strange name. When I asked why, she curtly said “never mind,” her attitude suspicious. The important thing was that we knew the location of the exit.
After walking through the vent for a while, the space beneath us revealed a room crowded with shadow rats from Hameln.
A rat warren.
That would do.
—Grrowl!
The rats retreated when Innying, perched on my shoulder, let out an angered growl. Thanks to that, we safely landed in the dark room. Nearby, thick pillars and a crimson rug caught our eyes.
Atop what appeared to be a staircase-like dais sat a majestic throne carved like Greek statues, covered in red armor, with someone motionless seated upon it.
“Goodness! It’s the Red King! The terror of the fairies! What should the nymphs do?!”
A sudden panic attack from Baono. His reaction made sense. The silhouette of the man in crimson armor appeared unusually ominous.
It seemed as if the darkness of the Great Labyrinth was emanating from him.
“So, Nam Woo-joo fell to this?”
The silver lining was that the terrifying king was deeply asleep.
And behind the throne loomed a massive door.
It was the same stone door I’d seen in the basement of the Seonam Group’s underground facility.
There’s no doubt that passing through it would lead us back to the outside world.
Good!
But that moment of joy didn’t last long.
Flash!
A faint blue light sparkled deep within the Red King’s helmet.
Ssshhhhhh…
An ominous sound as if he’d been holding his breath for a long time.
“Successor. Demonstrate your worth according to ancient rites.”
“Sorry for waking you up, but can’t we just leave?”
A fair negotiation!
When I bravely spoke, the Red King beneath the helmet exhaled a jet-black breath.
“There is no way out.”
Oh dear! Things were going smoothly, but now…
Whoosh!
As the Red King gestured with his hand, the lurking shadows of rats lunged toward Yu Yeo-reum.
Chirp chirp chirp!
With ferocious swiftness!
“Get out of my way! Get out of—ugggghhh!”
Yu Yeo-reum was buried under the swarm of rats.
If we didn’t act, she’d surely be devoured by the rats of darkness!
Flare! Flash!
At that moment, an odd fairy resembling Baono appeared in the throne room holding a dazzling lantern.
“Wake up, Red King! Flee while I hold them off!”
This unknown being’s lantern drove the rats back! People who’d witnessed a white mage supporting Rohan’s army must have felt this kind of joy!
“Is this the miracle of light—”
The Red King shielding his face with his palm.
I seized the opportunity of the rats hesitating and pulled Yu Yeo-reum to safety with all my strength, then dashed toward the door behind the throne!
“Hanamjin Touch!”
Whoosh!
The moment my hand touched the door, the scenery transformed completely.
When I regained consciousness, I found myself sprawled in an unidentified hill. The nymph who introduced herself as Inonoi and Baono were also lying face down.
It’s dark.
What time is it?
And the softness beneath my rear was oddly comfortable.
“Move!”
At that moment, someone punched me in the b*tt.
It was Yu Yeo-reum, who’d been pinned underneath me.
That softness was her behind!
“Yu Yeo-reum! You’re safe! The escape was successful!”
“Don’t talk to me so casually, hybrid.”
“Hmm?”
