The candle was half-melted. As I calmed my startled heart and relied on the faint light to look around, blurry outlines came into view.
The room, resembling a medieval castle chamber, was cluttered yet orderly with various items like a storage room.
The pale light flickered, causing the characters on a wall plaque to dance along.
Was this a language from another world? It seemed more complicated than Latin. As this thought crossed my mind, my lips moved on their own.
“[To honor the sacrifice of the great king?]”
Despite the characters being unreadable, I could understand them.
A surge of elation filled me. Could these characters be related to my memory? If so, could recalling my lost memory lead to my awakening…?
‘[System:: Unauthorized access detected.]’
There was a sense of clarity returning to my vision. Before being swept up into the Gate, I clearly saw a system window pop up before my eyes.
Even if it was an error, I clung to that vague hope. It’s okay. I can survive this. Whether I awaken in a moment of crisis or someone comes to rescue me…
Clank, clank.
While I was suppressing my fear, footsteps of metal clashing against metal echoed from somewhere.
Simultaneously, the stench of death grew stronger. I couldn’t breathe.
The meaning behind those sounds was clear. Something was approaching from beyond the door.
My gulp sounded unusually loud.
Teeth clenched, I pressed my body against the wall beside the door. Please, just pass by without any incident…!
Clank, clank. The footsteps that had been echoing from afar stopped abruptly.
Had it gone? Or why had the sound ceased? Those few seconds felt like hours. Holding my breath, I peeked through the door into the corridor.
“……!”
There stood a headless horseman.
The blackened aura, dark armor, a cloud of black sand where the head should be, a sword, a helmet held in hand.
This clearly indicated one thing: a Dullahan, a harbinger of death.
The Dullahan patrolling meant this Gate’s estimated grade was undeniably S-rank.
Only after the clanking faded away did a hollow laugh escape me.
An S-rank Gate? Even an E-rank would drastically lower the survival rate for ordinary people, let alone S-rank.
Right, it had to be at least S-rank for such an anomaly to occur within the guild’s territory.
At that moment, I felt as if the ground beneath me had given way.
I had left paradise to return here. To find someone… Who was I looking for again…?
Ah, family. I came back to find my brother.
Being alone would be lonely, so…
But if I were to die here like this.
…Was there any point in coming back?
To die without having achieved anything?
A strange sensation enveloped me.
It was as if I was being separated from myself.
Not of my own will, but something else seemed to be controlling me…
Numerous tinnitus sounds rang in my head.
I was dizzy. Amidst the noisy tinnitus, my instincts warned me, but futilely, my hand reached for the doorknob.
The candle snuffed out instantly, and as acrid smoke rose, the man who had been in a nightmare screamed and woke up.
“AAAAAH—!”
My hand froze. As the ringing ceased, my rationality returned.
What was I about to do?
The man who had awakened with a loud scream was panting heavily. Still unable to discern reality, he mumbled something ominous.
“Better off, with destruction… Huh?”
“…Are you back to your senses?”
“What, where am I?”
“Where else? Inside a Gate. You’re an awakened, don’t you know that?”
“Ah, don’t call me old man! But seriously, this is a Gate? Here?”
“Yes. And it’s presumed to be an S-rank Gate. Want me to recite some Gate information?”
“Gate information? Woah, what’s this!”
The man, having regained his senses, rambled nonsensically.
Is he still out of it? Plus, he seemed pretty clumsy for a hunter. I had an intuition that this man wouldn’t be helpful for survival.
I sighed and said somewhat scornfully.
“Are you really a hunter, mister?”
“Of course I am! What do you know, little one!”
“What grade is this place?”
“…….”
Better to stay silent.
“You know less than me, a non-awakened. That seems serious…”
“What, what’s that! Besides, how strange are you?! How did you know this place is an estimated S-rank?!”
“Your name, not mister. I’m Park Ha-young. A Dullahan just passed by. Dullahans are at least A-rank monsters. Seeing one patrolling as a regular mob, this place is at least an S-rank, or maybe Unknown. Anything above S-rank is classified as Unknown…”
“….I’m not mister, I’m Kim Myunghak. Wait, you’re Park Ha-young?”
“Yes, Park Ha-young. Is there a problem?”
“No, it’s just…”
Kim Myunghak, the annoying guy, I mean, mister, had a complicated expression when he heard my name. Did my name cause some issue? As I wondered, he suddenly sighed deeply, looking rather troubled.
“So, a Dullahan passed by…”
“You know what a Dullahan is?”
“Of course! The headless horseman, right?”
“….Can you recite the Gate information you checked earlier?”
With a doubtful tone, I asked him. Narrowing his eyes, he grumbled and shared the information.
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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