Hueum.

The diameter of the hole was about three adult hands.

With Na Rin’s small size, she would be able to easily slip in without difficulty.

But is it really right to recklessly enter a place when you don’t even know where it leads to?

‘It might be a dead end.’

But it’s not like there’s anywhere else to go.

If this hole is the only exit in Hyeon Cheol’s room, which is practically a secret chamber, then there’s no other choice.

So what to do.

“I’ll have to check it out.”

Na Rin rolled the Luminous Pearl she was holding into the hole.

Rumble rumble rumble.

Along with the sound of the Luminous Pearl rolling down, the blue light gradually grew distant.

Rumble rumble rumble.

The sound of the Luminous Pearl rolling for quite a while suddenly stopped with a ‘splash’.

‘Splash?’

Na Rin tilted her head as if puzzled.

A splash. Just what is at the end of this to make a splashing sound?

‘It didn’t shatter to pieces, so I guess it’s okay for now.’

It must have fallen on something like wet moss.

Without overthinking it, Na Rin moved her body.

Even if it doesn’t directly lead outside, it’s certain that it at least connects to another space.

Na Rin tore her outer clothing into a long strip and wrapped it around the blade, tying it to her back. She had made a makeshift sheath.

And……

“Here goes!”

Na Rin’s small body leaped up without hesitation and vanished from the room in an instant.

It was because the passage lined with purple sand pulled Na Rin’s body downward like a water slide.

Swish this way, swoosh that way.

Riding along the walls of the passage that twisted and turned like an ant tunnel, Na Rin ignited Samadhi True Fire at her fingertips as she descended for a while.

Whoosh!

‘Where’s the end…… Huh? It’s now?’

The moment the end of the passage came into view, Na Rin focused her inner energy on the tips of her feet.

Her body that was sliding almost lying down instantly straightened up and the sliding speed rapidly decreased.

It was an action to avoid exiting the passage at an excessively fast speed, but there was an overlooked point.

“Ah, hot!”

Startled by the friction heat concentrated on the soles of her feet, Na Rin lifted her feet and her entire body somersaulted forward, rolling once.

Thud!

Na Rin’s body that rolled out of the passage end soared in the air like a flying squirrel.

“……!”

Hwa Ryeon’s gaze, witnessing that scene, followed Na Rin and stared at the air in an arc.

Then, splash!

Na Rin’s body plopped into the mud.

Right next to where the Luminous Pearl had landed earlier.

‘So that splashing sound from before…… was this.’

Hwa Ryeon, who had rushed over in an instant, asked.

“Are you alright?”

Hwa Ryeon tried to carefully examine Na Rin’s condition, but it was dark and Na Rin’s face was buried in the ground first, so it wasn’t feasible.

She couldn’t have died, right?

The moment Hwa Ryeon cautiously approached Na Rin.

“Pwah!”

Na Rin abruptly raised her head and shook it vigorously, splattering mud while making a ‘pududuk’ sound.

“Ugh, I almost suffocated……! Pfft! It got in my mouth!”

Relieved that the young bodyguard target was unharmed, Hwa Ryeon took a step back to avoid the mud Na Rin was flinging and asked in a small voice.

“It doesn’t seem like you’re hurt anywhere. How did you get here?”

“About that, let me tell you.”

“Shh. Speak quietly.”

Hwa Ryeon pointed behind herself with her thumb.

Naturally sharpening her senses, Na Rin could feel something lurking in the darkness.

‘There’s something there…….’

It seemed like a single huge mass like a rock, or a cluster of very small things.

The movement of something small and numerous wriggling in unison in the darkness sent chills up from the tips of her toes.

“Ahhh! What is that!”

“Shh.”

Despite the warning just a moment ago, Na Rin had carelessly raised her voice, so it would be understandable for Hwa Ryeon to be annoyed, but she only placed a finger in front of her lips with an expressionless face.

Na Rin hastily covered her mouth with both hands and nodded.

[What is that monster?]

When Na Rin used the voice transmission technique that only masters were said to use, Hwa Ryeon was startled and asked back.

“You know how to use voice transmission?”

[Yes, well. I’m not confident in speaking quietly.]

Hwa Ryeon was confused about which was the more difficult skill between simply speaking quietly and voice transmission, but it wasn’t a situation to nitpick, so she just nodded.

“I don’t know what it is either. What’s certain is that its eyesight is extremely poor. And it seems to have good hearing.”

So that’s why she told me to be quiet.

Na Rin glanced towards where the monster was.

It seemed to be searching for Na Rin after hearing the scream from earlier.

‘Its hearing doesn’t seem particularly good either.’

Perhaps Hwa Ryeon had been detected while making noise, and when she hid to silence herself to avoid its eyes, it couldn’t find her. Na Rin roughly deduced what had happened to Hwa Ryeon and said.

[So you’ve been hiding here the whole time?]

“No.”

Hwa Ryeon pointed to the collapsed stone wall visible beyond the passage Na Rin had jumped from and continued.

“Originally, there was a stone wall engraved with the Eight Trigrams in that spot. But suddenly, there was a sound of something like a rock shattering from somewhere, and as if a wedge had been pulled out, the stone wall collapsed and the monster burst out from inside.”

Eight Trigrams?

Somehow, she had an ominous feeling.

Na Rin carefully asked.

[Around when was that?]

“A little less than a quarter of an hour ago.”

Na Rin crossed her arms, tilted her head, and made a “Hmm” sound.

The sound of a rock shattering on a stone wall engraved with the Eight Trigrams. Most decisively, the timing of a quarter of an hour.

‘This…… must be because of me, right?’

It was too obvious to deny.

Exactly a quarter of an hour ago, she had been gleefully inserting and removing the puzzle structure that applied the Eight Trigrams, believing she had discovered a clue without a doubt.

‘Now I understand. Why the name of the monument was Ma Bong Bi, not Bong Ma Bi.’

She had considered it insignificant since it wasn’t a big difference, but there is a slight difference in meaning between Bong Ma Bi (封魔碑) and Ma Bong Bi (魔封碑).

Bong Ma Bi, with the verb at the front, can be interpreted as “a monument commemorating the sealing of a demon.”

And Ma Bong Bi……

‘A monument with a sealed demon.’

Na Rin’s head throbbed. Why did she only realize this now?

Come to think of it, the inscription also kept warning about a demon or something.

Na Rin, who had read the inscription sporadically, had excitedly unsealed the monster.

‘No, should I say a demonic creature, not a monster?’

Anyway, the important thing was that it was a case of reaping what she had sown.

Na Rin clicked her tongue, pulled out the Luminous Pearl that had plopped into the mud with her, and lightly dusted off the mud.

“What are you trying to do?”

[I’m just trying to see what the demonic creature looks like.]

“What?”

“Take this!”

By the time Hwa Ryeon realized what Na Rin was trying to do, the Luminous Pearl had already left Na Rin’s hand.

Swish!

The Luminous Pearl emitting a blue light flew through the darkness, illuminating the surroundings.

Stalactites and stalagmites protruding up and down like predator teeth were momentarily illuminated before sinking back into darkness, evoking an unknown fear.

When her gaze reached the end of that sight.

Clang!

“Oh.”

Despite Na Rin’s deflated “Oh,” the Luminous Pearl collided with a stalagmite that soared like a horn, shattered to pieces, and scattered light around as if laying eggs.

“Urp, ugh!”

It was no wonder Hwa Ryeon vomited.

The appearance of the demonic creature illuminated by the Luminous Pearl was so bizarre that it would have been better not to know.

‘It’s not easy even though I was prepared.’

Na Rin took a deep breath and calmed her mind.

It was like a giant living intestine, or a cluster of small things like the eggs of fish or insects.

The slimy tentacles protruding from countless pores had round shapes at the end of long stalks like snail eyes, and they were wriggling and blinking as if trying to sense something.

Just looking at it made one’s mind go blank, and it wouldn’t be strange for an ordinary person to lose consciousness.

Even Na Rin, who was used to all sorts of chaotic situations, felt chills down her spine at the sight of the demonic creature with an appearance she had never seen before in her life.

[It doesn’t seem to be a problem for the lower-level warrior exam, right?]

At Na Rin’s calm question, Hwa Ryeon’s face contorted instead.

How can she call that a question?

There’s no way a mere lower-level warrior examinee could deal with such a horrifying demonic creature that wouldn’t even appear in the Classic of Mountains and Seas (山海經/the oldest mythological text in East Asia).

“……Yeah. It’s not.”

Na Rin nodded as if she had expected it and grasped the hilt of the sword on her back.

As she lightly circulated her inner energy, the cloth wrapping the hilt exploded into shreds.

At the appearance of the sword emitting an even brighter light than the Luminous Pearl, Hwa Ryeon was startled and asked.

“Are you going to fight?”

[Nah, fight? I’m just going to catch it.]

Hwa Ryeon urgently grabbed Na Rin’s hand and shook her head.

“No.”

[Why?]

“Because life is precious.”

It’s not like she had ever said it wasn’t precious.

Na Rin tapped her chest and spoke with a confident attitude.

[You know, I’m a bit stronger than you think. Just hide and wait here quietly.]

The moment Na Rin lightly leaped and tried to charge at the rear of the demonic creature.

“No.”

Hwa Ryeon’s fingertips were holding the hem of Na Rin’s clothing.

[No, really, it’s fine.]

“No.”

There was not the slightest wavering in Hwa Ryeon’s eyes.

Ugh, this stubborn girl!

‘How many times do I have to prove how strong I am?’

As Na Rin irritably swept back her hair, Hwa Ryeon spoke.

“I’ll be the bait.”

“Are you crazy?!”

“Shh.”

Na Rin, who had unintentionally raised her voice, covered her mouth with both hands and made a “hup” sound.

But this wasn’t Na Rin’s fault.

It’s the fault of Hwa Ryeon who said something ridiculous.

[So you’re saying you’ll be the bait for a nameless demonic creature in your right mind?]

Hwa Ryeon calmly pointed at Na Rin and retorted.

“The person who said she’d fight that demonic creature.”

That’s because I’m the mighty Bloody Plum Blossom Ju Na Rin!

Na Rin wanted to say that, but what meaning would it have even if she did?

In a world where not only the terrifying notoriety of Bloody Plum Blossom Ju Na Rin was unknown, but even her existence was absent.

[Didn’t you say life is precious?]

Flinch.

When Na Rin pointed it out by directly quoting what Hwa Ryeon had said earlier, Hwa Ryeon’s momentum noticeably diminished. Certainly, volunteering to be bait isn’t something a person who values their life would do.

After a moment of silence, Hwa Ryeon spoke again.

“……You’re right. Life is precious.”

And with an even firmer gaze, she looked at Na Rin and continued.

“So I’ll stake my life as well.”

“What do you mean……!?”

“Value it.”

Na Rin was so dumbfounded that she couldn’t close her mouth.

Where in the world is there a person who takes their own life hostage?

‘There’s no separate self-harm blackmail group. Ugh, it’s burdensome.’

But what can you do?

A personality like Hwa Ryeon’s is not only difficult to persuade with words but even more difficult to suppress with force.

She would constantly try to get in the way and impose her will, only increasing variables.

Na Rin had no choice but to sigh and nod.

[……Alright. Do it. Be the bait.]