CH 167

HOSHI’s bow (2)

“What is this?” You want me to ride this?”

“It’s just a moving staircase. Baek Ho-min.”

Kang hajin stood in front of the escalator with a pathetic look and urged Baek Ho-min.

“When I step on it, it just carries me upstairs on its own. There’s nothing to be wary of.”

After a heated debate, only a few hunters, including Baek Ho-min, Kang Hae-jin, and Yoo Ha-eul, decided to follow the woman.

It doesn’t look dangerous right now, but I couldn’t go up right away without knowing the situation.

First of all, doubting and seeing was also the secret of the hunter’s long life.

“How can I fight if I get a surprise attack at a place where the ground is unstable?””

“There are a lot of people who fight well even on the ground that’s collapsing.”

However, Baek Ho-min alternately looked at the escalator and Kang Hae-jin with a strong distrust. Next to the escalator, Song A-young, a short-haired woman who guided them all the way here, was waiting with a boring look.

“Then, Kang Hajin will go first, right?””

When Song A-young couldn’t wait and opened her mouth, Kang ha-jin looked at her with a firm look.

Kang hajin opened his mouth after a moment of reflection.

“It’s been a while since I rode it…”…”

“No, this has nothing to do with proficiency…”…”

Song A-young rubbed her forehead with an awkward look.

It’s not that the city doesn’t have any escalators.

Of course, there were escalators because there were many old buildings left.

However, none of them actually moved, so most people were only strain stairs with stripes on them.

No one took the lead even if Song A-young took the test first.

Then Haru bravely stepped forward.

Haru focused on the constantly moving escalator and boldly climbed on it.

With four legs.

Haru reached the top stably without falling down.

When Haru waved from the top, Baek Ho-min looked at Song A-young with a struggling look.

“Do I have to ride on four legs?””

“It’s not that I can’t, but I usually ride it with my two feet.”

Baek Ho-min reached out to Kang ha-jin after careful consideration. Kang ha-jin looked disgusted, but soon he accepted as if he couldn’t help it.

The two eventually held hands and climbed on the escalator together.

Yoo Ha-eul followed Kang ha-jin from behind with his eyes closed tightly.

He ignored Song A-young’s gaze from behind as if she was dumbfounded.

“Where is this going?””

“What? Of course, I’ll go to the 46th floor.””

With Song A-young’s answer, the escalator reached the top. The letter 46 was written on the floor.

“46th floor.”

Kang hajin muttered in a dejected voice.

Baek Ho-min was shocked that he reached the 46th floor ridiculously easily.

I just walked a little and stood still, but I reached the next floor.

There was no sign of a parasitic species appearing. People living in the city were just watching Baek Ho-min and Kang Hae-jin with curious eyes.

Song A-young said while taking the lead again for guidance.

“Usually, such armed hunters rarely come into the city.”

Song A-young’s gaze turned to Baek Ho-min, who was wearing a knife around his waist.

“There’s a method called sword possession. But now it’s a special case.”

Even when I heard such a system, it didn’t really touch me. Rather, Baek Ho-min was busy looking around the city’s scenery.

When I stood closer than when I saw it from a distance, there were more strange and amazing things.

The overall atmosphere was similar to the city outside the tower.

However, perhaps because it was built on the wall of the tower, the structure itself was completely different as buildings were surrounded by the central cavity.

On the huge bridge between cliffs, transportation, which Song Ah-young calls the subway, carried hundreds of people.

It wasn’t just that.

Treasure dsword blocks were neatly laid out on the neatly arranged streets, and it was hard to find a piece of trash.

There were many street restaurants selling street food on the street, and people looked relaxed. It was a richness that was hard to see even in the city center, let alone in alleys.

Above all, the big difference was the rich starlight.

“This place is full of starlight.””

“Because it’s inside the tower.””

It is natural that there is more starlight inside than outside the tower.

However, in the city, it is dark enough to have to light streetlights all the way to the inside of the city, but there were no such common streetlights here. It meant that it was a place where starlight was always shining.

A warm, bright, and rich place.

Baek Ho-min felt awkward about the fact that he had this utopia.

“…Kang hajin, I’m getting suspicious as time goes by. Is it just me?””

“I’m glad I left the other hunters behind. If this is the trap…… It won’t be easy to get out of.”

Kang hajin said, paying fairy tales to street vendors selling soft ice cream.

The merchant looked embarrassed when he received a fairy tale while trying to hand over the ice cream.

Song A-young approached with a strange face and made a similar expression when she saw the fairy tale.

“Don’t you have a card?” Credit card?

“What’s that?””

“…… No, well. It’s like a special case for you, so I’ll give you one…… No, about two…… I’ll buy you about three.”

Song A-young thought only of Kang Hae-jin, but came to Baek Ho-min and made a decision after meeting Haru’s eyes again.

Yoo Ha-eul didn’t receive ice cream because he didn’t seem to have an appetite.

Each party took a bite of ice cream and became quiet for a while. Kang hajin barely opened his mouth.

“Long time no see.”

“Long time no see?” Have you tried this before?”

“When I was young. It wasn’t a common food back then.”

Baek Ho-min thought Kang Hae-jin felt like a young master, but he never thought he would have eaten such a precious snack.

In addition, you don’t have to eat cold snacks. It was a luxurious snack that could only be eaten in a warm place.

The group followed Song A-young in a happy mood.

After a while, Song A-young arrived at the hotel’s accommodation, not the association.

“It’s hard to check in right away because you don’t have an ID card. If you wait here, the association will visit. Please wait inside.”

“Thank you.”

Baek Ho-min tried to doubt first, but Kang ha-jin replied first.

Baek Ho-min was puzzled by Kang Hae-jin’s surprisingly cool attitude.

The rooms were divided into two people and assigned to one room. The room was not spacious, but it was as clean and warm as Yeongjuseong’s accommodation.

As soon as Baek Ho-min entered the room, he immediately asked Kang Hae-jin.

“Kang hajin, Kang hajin. What the hell is this? There was a place like this on the tower?”

“No… As far as I know, there was no such thing. I’ve never heard of it from my teacher.”

Kang hajin muttered as if he didn’t understand.

“I’ve never heard of it from constellations either. No matter how twisted the tower occurs, these are not buildings that can occur in two days.”

“Don’t you have hallucinations?”

“That’s not it. That’s why I bought ice cream earlier. It definitely existed, and it wasn’t a trick. It’s the same ice cream I’ve tried. That means there is milk, electricity, food material distribution networks and secondary processing facilities.”

“What does that mean?””

“It means that people in this city eat food. Parasites don’t eat. In other words, they are not parasitic species.”

Sometimes it seems to be eating something just to damage the body or to require specific ingredients in the body.

It was widely believed that parasitic species could live only with starlight without meals.

Baek Ho-min was surprised that Kang ha-jin suspected it to that extent.

“You’re such a suspicious person.””

“It’s the job of the lord’s hunter.”

“Haru said there are a lot of old-fashioned things, but we’ve already moved time, haven’t we?”

“In no other era has a building like this built in a tower…”… wait.”

Kang hajin looked at Yeongjuseong with a firm look.

His gaze shook anxiously, but soon shook his head as if it couldn’t be.

Baek Ho-min was worried about hitting Kang Hae-jin in the back of his head.

“It’s real to say ‘no way’ like that. Do you want to just talk first?”

“No, I said it was such a ridiculous idea. Since there has been a time in history when mankind of the Seoul Tower conquered the five-story system. But I couldn’t build these facilities then.”

Kang hajin looked like he didn’t know what was what.

“……I’ll have to watch it by tomorrow and go back to my lord and report to her. I don’t know what’s going to happen. Don’t let your guard down.”

“Baek Ho-min.”

Baek Ho-min opened his eyes to the feeling of Kang Hae-jin touching him.

As the starlight did not disappear, there was no distinction between day and night, but the room was dark because of the thick blackout curtains.

Baek Ho-min, who had fallen into a deep sleep thanks to his soft bed after a long time, grumbled and stood up.

“Didn’t I tell you not to relax?””

“I know right away when someone comes up with a knife.”

I wasn’t kidding.

Baek Ho-min’s sense of malice was as sensitive as when he was awake even when living in an alley.

At that time, Baek Ho-min felt someone else’s presence at his feet. The hand grabbed the dagger under the head pillow.

“Did you have a happy Haru?””

At that time, Baek Ho-min’s body became stiff in the voice he heard.

I could see someone sitting cross-legged in a dark view. I couldn’t see his face, but I could tell just by his voice.

Platinum Lord였다.

There was somehow a death with a complex expression behind her back. Maybe I was able to sneak up through her.

“Youngju, why are you so…”…”

“I’m jealous to think that you’re the only ones enjoying it.”

Baek Ho-min put down the knife and corrected his posture. Kang hajin opened the curtain slightly and looked at the situation outside.

It was no different from what I saw earlier in the city. He relaxed his guard and leaned toward Platinum Lord.

“Did you know what this place is like?””

“It’s the same.”

“What?”

“This place is also a five-story building. It is the same space that you have seen, touched, and fought so far.”

Baek Ho-min and Kang Hae-jin looked like they didn’t know English. However, Platinum Lord seemed rather satisfied with the puzzled expression.

She continued to talk, leaning against the back of the chair like a drowsy cat.

“What kind of place is the 5-story system?””

“He said it was a place to embody emotions.”

“What did you think when you saw this place?””

“Happiness? Peace? Development?”

“Suspicion, conspiracy, falsehood.”

Baek Ho-min answered first, followed by Kang ha-jin. Kang hajin and Baek Ho-min looked at each other with pathetic expressions.

However, Platinum Lord did not say which one was right or wrong. Instead, she leaned with a serious face.

“As you know, your performance has become important because it has changed considerably from my original plan.”

“Say it.””

Kang ha-jin answered seriously as soon as he thought there was something there. But Platinum Lord looked at him and answered playfully.

“Enjoy.”

“What?”

“Enjoy this place as much as you can.”

Baek Ho-min and Kang ha-jin could not tell what she was saying.

However, Platinum Lord continued to talk without allowing their questions.

“When the time comes, I will visit you again. Enjoy a short abundance as if I wouldn’t come by then.”

Platinum Lord smiled and whispered as if heralding an ominous future.

“Sweet Delusion that must be broken anyway.” Awakening will be better if it tastes bitter.”

“What the hell is this place for?”

Mystery said as she went down the valley with a complex look.

The valley was complicated and rough, but that wasn’t the only problem. Numerous ruins that were weathered and buried throughout the valley began to appear.

Although it was worn out, it was difficult to tell what the original shape was because it was randomly compressed and broken.

Among them, the most dominant were the parasitic species.

Countless parasite species appeared and wandered confusedly without floor distinction.

Many of the dogs were either fused to the wall and dead, or were cut off by a sharp cross-section of unknown cause.

“Why does this exist in image world?””

“I think it’s reasonable to say that this place is the afterlife”.”

The phoenix kicked the parasite’s skull like a jegi and said. I looked at the mystery as if it were pathetic.

“This isn’t the afterlife…”… No, it’s not wrong.”

Mystery walked with a sigh. Martial King was looking for a way up to the cross section above the valley.

At that time, Martial King paid attention as if he had found something, and hurriedly jumped down toward the mystery.

“What is it?”

“I think I found Dynamite.”