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[ Special Mission (4) ]
God sleeps until dawn I tossed and turned without being able to achieve it.
This was because Joo Sang-wook, who had gone for a drink with Young-ju, had not yet returned to his lodgings.
‘What if something happens?’
Shin was so nervous that he couldn’t sleep. Eventually, I raised my upper body and sat down.
“Cool…”
Lily was fast asleep in the bed next to her. God stared at that innocent face.
“…….”
It was already the second time. The group was in trouble because of him.
Shin recalled the image of Joo Sang-wook he saw during the day and at the dinner party earlier.
‘Why are you protecting someone like me?’
Joo Sang-wook made excuses for himself that he didn’t need to make to Inspector Soma and wasted unnecessary time trying to save Hotaru from the lord.
Shin couldn’t understand Joo Sang-wook’s actions.
‘Well, there’s no benefit to it…’
The world the boy lived in for the past few years was a jungle. The strong reign over the weak, and the weak submit to the strong.
The only time humans helped each other was when there was some benefit.
According to God’s common sense, neither Joo Sang-wook nor Lily were here, but they were beings that even Daein could not understand.
‘I said Korea is different from Japan. ‘Is that so?’
Shin recalled the stories Lily often told him.
Most of it was about delicious food, but there were also stories about many people the girl knew.
About wizards, different races, aliens, and even people who worship themselves as gods. Lily talked to God in small words whenever she had time.
Among them, Lily’s eyes lit up the most when talking about great people.
“My uncle’s hobby is doing good things. Whenever you go somewhere, be sure to find good people. “Then they later give us delicious food and gifts?”
Every time Shin heard such a story from Lily, he thought it was like a fairy tale.
It’s the kind of story I only saw in the storybooks my mother read to me when I was young.
“Ugh…”
Lily turned over and kicked off the blanket. Shin got off his bed and walked over to Lily. He covered the blanket up to the girl’s neck and headed back to his bed.
At that time, a small sound was heard outside the door.
Knock…
It was a knocking sound so small that you couldn’t hear it unless you were concentrating. God put his hand into his arms. I touched the dagger I always carried with me.
Knock knock….
Another knock. Shin wondered if he should wake Lily up.
At that moment, this thought occurred to me.
‘If the other person is your enemy, why are you knocking?’
Shin carefully walked to the door. It could be that Joo Sang-wook came back drunk.
The door was thick and locked from the inside.
As I got closer, I heard a faint voice coming from beyond the door.
“Shin…”
It wasn’t Joo Sang-wook. However, Shin immediately recognized who the voice calling him was.
‘Hotaru!’
The boy was so surprised to see himself at the banquet hall earlier that he broke his plate.
Hotaru was one of the friends who broke up after escaping from the orphanage together a year ago.
Knock knock….
“God. “It’s in there, right?”
Hotaru could not make a loud noise and called to God in a low voice. It seemed like he was aware of someone coming.
Shin hid the hand holding the dagger behind his back and slowly opened the door.
Squeak…
I saw Hotaru with a nervous expression. There was no one else but him. The moment she saw God, Hotaru let out a low cry.
“god!”
“Shh! “Come inside.”
Shin let Hotaru inside and locked the door again. Hotaru collapsed on the floor and breathed a sigh of relief.
“He was truly a god. I wasn’t mistaken…”
Hotaru’s face was a mess, as if she had been hit by someone. God hid the dagger back in his bosom.
The two boys talked in a whisper in the corner of the room.
“It’s been a while, Hotaru. “I’m sorry for pretending not to notice earlier.”
“no. “I would have done the same.”
Hotaru shook her head. The boy looked at the god dressed as a woman in wonder.
“Do you know how surprised I was just now? “She was so pretty I almost didn’t recognize her.”
“You’re funny.”
“Well, you’ve always liked pretty girls.”
Seeing him giggling and laughing, he seemed to have relaxed a bit. Shin said as he looked at Hotaru’s bruised face.
“What’s wrong with your face?”
“not a big deal. I got beaten up by my seniors earlier for breaking a plate. “I’m glad it ended like this.”
Hotaru grinned. My left eye was so swollen that I couldn’t open it properly.
Shin forced a smile. I felt uncomfortable because I felt like my friend was hurt because of me.
“How have you been? “What about other kids besides you?”
The children who ran away that day after killing the devil-like director of the orphanage split up and dispersed in groups to the east, west, south, and north to avoid the police pursuit.
Hotaru was a friend I met a year after breaking up with her.
“Except for me, everyone else was caught by the police or killed. Kento came all the way here with us… but he got sick and died soon after.”
“Didn’t they treat you here?”
“They gave me medicine once and it didn’t get better, so they left it as is.”
Hotaru lowered her head and there was a moment of awkward silence between the two.
“…….”
Shin thought about the friends he had separated from a year ago, the friends who died in Orochi, and the friends who died here.
And I thought about the director who took his own life.
‘It was the director who harassed and abused us. When we went to the police and reported it, everyone ignored us. What I did was in self-defense!’
Ugh…
the anger that had subsided like a soggy coke began to boil up again.
Hotaru said while looking at the god.
“thank god. “I can go and see your face one last time.”
“You mean the last time? What are you talking about?”
“I’m going to run away from here. “An opportunity like this will never come again.”
Hotaru got up and left. The boy placed his hand on the shoulder of the god who was slightly smaller than him.
“The lord was completely preoccupied with the guest who came with you. The same goes for warriors. “The party is in full swing now.”
“…So that’s why he hasn’t returned yet.”
Youngju and Sakura held a grand party to win Joo Sang-wook’s favor. Joo Sang-wook was still held there.
“Thanks to you, security was relaxed and I was able to come see you. Besides, because of what happened earlier, only I was given a probation order.”
“Hotaru. “It’s too dangerous to run away without a plan.”
Shin spoke because he was genuinely worried about his friend.
All of the friends who ran away to Orochi died.
‘Now, out of all the friends I knew at the orphanage, Hotaru may be the only one alive.’
But Hotaru’s eyes were serious.
“Anyway, if you and the guests leave, the lord will kill me. At least one arm will be cut off. “If that’s the case, I’m at the mercy of the judge.”
“Sorry. I suddenly appeared…”
“What do you mean? Thanks to you, I was given this golden opportunity. “I’ve been looking for every hole to escape for several months now.”
I couldn’t tell if that was the truth or just a bluff to reassure God.
Hotaru has always been good at acting.
Even the director had been fooled several times in the past.
“You know me. “My name is Swift Hotaru.”
Hotaru grinned. When I looked closely, I saw that there was no front tooth.
“Then since I saw your face, I’ll go.”
However, even after saying hello, the two boys hesitated. It seemed like he wanted to say something more.
In the end, Hotaru spoke first.
“Hey God, do you want to run away with me?”
“…….”
God could not answer. Then Hotaru scratched her head awkwardly.
“Did I say something unnecessary? You are in a different situation than me. His face looks really good, I don’t know why he dresses up as a woman… haha. sorry. “I asked something pointless.”
“……”
Hotaru’s every word pierced Shin’s heart painfully. I felt guilty.
All of his friends were dead, but he seemed to pretend not to notice his one remaining friend in order to live alone.
‘What is friends’ revenge?’
Not long ago, Shin had vowed to avenge his friends. And now, I was trying to ignore my one remaining friend.
That can’t be possible.
“okay. Come with me.”
“uh? really? Is that okay?”
Hotaru looked at Shin with a surprised face. God nodded heavily and said.
“Go out first and wait a moment.”
After sending Hotaru outside, Shin took off his wig and changed his clothes into sports clothes.
After briefly packing, Shin walked to Lily’s bed.
Lily was still sleeping.
No, I was pretending to sleep.
“Lily. “Are you awake?”
“…….”
“You don’t have to pretend to sleep. There’s no way a superhuman like you wouldn’t know if someone came into the room.”
Lily opened her eyes. The girl looked at God with a sullen expression.
“Are you really going?”
God nodded. I closed my eyes tightly to keep from feeling weak.
“Sorry. And thank you.”
“…….”
“Anyway, I’ll just be a distraction like today. “I don’t want to cause any more trouble.”
That wasn’t an excuse, it was sincere.
Shin was thankful to Daein and his party.
People who saved you from nothing, protected you from threats, and patted you on the shoulder without getting angry when you lied.
They were adults who broke some of our prejudices about the world.
“I will definitely survive and repay this favor later.”
His resolve was so strong that it was useless to tell him not to go.
“okay.”
Lily sighed. But it didn’t stop Shin from going.
Because it’s because of my friends, not for any other reason. The girl also had the experience of losing a precious friend on the Gaia continent.
Instead, Lily lent Shin an item that her uncle had given her to use in an emergency.
“Then take this.”
Lily placed a red brooch directly on God’s chest.
“what’s this?”
“Lucky charm!”
Although the actual purpose was slightly different, God accepted the girl’s gift without question.
When I thought about breaking up with Lily, I felt empty.
God said goodbye to Lily.
“Thank you. “Then sleep well.”
side.
Shin lightly kissed Lily’s forehead. The habits I used to teach my younger siblings at the orphanage emerged unconsciously.
“I’m going now.”
God immediately turned around. Hotaru was waiting outside.
“…uh?!”
By the time the girl, who was as frozen as a stone, started screaming, the boy had already left the room.
***
“Black. “I finished my chi training today.”
[The young laborer is showing off his pride…]
“Um… Black?”
[Where is the end to training? Do ten more sets!]
Due to Black’s sudden nervousness, the Shinjuku Rangers had to train twice as much as usual that day.
***
The night of the full moon was not a good time to run away.
But the two boys were in no position to worry about their circumstances right now.
“Huh, huh…”
Shin and Hotaru ran, hid, lied down, and crawled for over an hour.
While lying down in the grass and waiting for the guard to pass by, Hotaru asked Shin out of breath.
“What kind of exercise did you do? “Why are you so physically fit?”
Shin, who was lying down next to him, tilted his head. Unlike Hotaru, not even the sound of her breathing was disturbed.
“I didn’t really exercise.”
“I used to have better physical strength…”
“I guess it’s because I eat well.”
I definitely felt like my physical strength had improved these days. My strength and eyesight seemed to have improved compared to before.
“The guards were circling the alley. let’s go.”
The security in the castle was weaker than expected. Hotaru found her way, and Shin had good eyesight even in the dark, so he knew when someone was approaching.
So the two boys arrived at the foot of the castle wall. Once we got past this point, escaping would be no different from success.
“How are you going to get over the castle wall?”
“There is a hole that I looked at in advance. “This way.”
Hotaru found a hole. It was literally so big that only a dog could pass by, so it seemed impossible for an adult to pass by.
The two boys squeezed inside.
And after a while, the two boys passed through the castle wall through the hole and escaped the Mandala territory.
“It’s a success.”
Hotaru smiled weakly at Shin, who smiled brightly.
“god. “I have something to say.”
“What?”
“Sorry.”
“…what?”
Hotaru said, slowly backing away. The boy’s expression became increasingly hard.
“They said they would kill me if I didn’t do as they told me, so there was nothing I could do. Sorry. I’m really sorry.”
“You can’t believe it…!”
Paaaaat!
Lights from all directions pointed towards God.
“Don’t move!”
Shin covered his eyes with his arm from the strong searchlight light.
The boy remembered something he had forgotten for a while.
The fact is that Hotaru has been good at acting since long ago.
“I finally caught it. “You rat.”
Shin, whose eyes had adjusted to the light to some extent, lowered his arms and saw Inspector Soma approaching, grinning.
“What was it like earlier? Lena?”
A victorious smile appeared on Inspector Soma’s lips. Shin gritted his teeth and glared at Hotaru.
“Did you sell me to that son of a bitch?”
“That’s not it…”
Hotaru looked like she was going to cry at any moment.
And from behind the boy,
“Well done, from beginning to end.”
Kiyoshi, the lord of the Mandala, has appeared.
[ Special Mission (4) ] End
ⓒ Ganjjajang
