五月天激情片

She tried to stay still like always, but a desire to move compelled her. She stood, swept the floor, cleaned the cigarette ash and coffee on the table, threw everything in the trash, and went to the front door.

Rachel turned around and looked at the dirty house that became clean again.

“Where is this place?”

She finally made out the house’s layout after cleaning all the mess. This small house only had a living room, kitchen, and bedroom.

Bedroom…

Rachel looked around before grabbing the bedroom doorknob.

“Hoo…”

She had no idea why she felt so nervous just opening a door. She tightly gripped the doorknob before letting go and grabbing it again. She let go in the end and couldn’t muster the courage to open it.

Rachel turned around and spotted a picture frame on the desk. She slowly approached and looked at the three people in the picture. Kim Hajin stood between a middle-aged couple. Anyone would recognize this as a family picture.

“...?”

She couldn’t help but question something strange.

Did Kim Hajin even have a family to begin with?

“!”

Rachel’s eyes shot open and a dark ceiling lay in front of her. She had returned to reality in her room.

“Hoo…”

Rachel wiped her face and sat up in bed. She didn’t know why, but the dream felt more vivid this time. She went to the bathroom and washed her face. Then she left her room. The corridors looked empty as usual at this hour.

Rachel went down to the training area in the basement to clear her mind.

“Huh?”

However, she found someone else there already. It seemed he fell asleep while training. Kim Hajin slept on the ground without moving in the slightest.

Did that person have the same dream by any chance?

Rachel sat beside him and looked at his sleeping face. She poked his eyes, nose, and lips simply because she felt like being mischievous.

“Umf… Ebebe…”

Kim Hajin moaned as his eyes peeked open. He grumbled when he saw Rachel.

“What the heck? Did you come to train?”

“Yes.”

She replied with a smile.

“Sigh… I’ll help you then. Ughh…”

He groaned like a grandfather when he stood, which made Rachel giggle. His half-asleep eyes looked cute to her for some reason.

“Now, try sending your spirits to me. Ah, wait a second. I’m so thirsty. Let me drink some water first…”

***

Xtra’s exhibit attracted massive interest from the nobles. It only displayed seven paintings, but various counts and viscounts came to praise Kim Hajin.

“It’s a relief everything went smoothly.”

The exhibit went on for around seven hours and ended in huge success.

“I think this will be more than enough. Please leave the auction tomorrow to our guild members and get some well-deserved rest.”

Yoo Yeonha looked satisfied and went over the auction schedule with Rachel in the lounge.

I stretched my arms and asked, “Will we even be able to meet the king by doing this?”

“It’s strange that there hasn’t been any reaction so far, but I’m certain something will happen as long as we keep—”

Bam!

The lounge’s backdoor swung open and knights poured in.

Rachel instantly stood on guard.

“Halt! Stop moving at once!” one of the knights shouted.

I simply sat there and blinked a few times.

The dozens of knights that barged in surrounded the room. Then a person with their face covered by a silk veil waltzed into the room. They wore simple clothing that exuded luxury.

“How dare you? Try and see what happens if you pull that out!”

The knight shouted in a threatening manner when Rachel moved her hand towards Galatine.

Rachel looked angry and wanted to retort, but the veiled person spoke first.

“Enough, you may leave.”

The woman had a strong and commanding voice.

I slightly tilted my head because I had heard that voice before.

“B-But Your Majesty!”

“Leave, Ruten. I have something very personal to discuss with these people.”

“Yes, Your Majesty… We will be guarding the perimeter outside.”

The knight wore a sullen expression and led his subordinates out.

“…”

I couldn’t comprehend this situation and the other two next to me couldn’t as well. We simply sat and stared at the person referred to as Your Majesty.

Her Majesty turned towards me. I couldn’t see her face, but I could tell she was smiling for some reason.

Yoo Yeonha carefully knelt on one knee and offered a greeting.

“It is an honor to meet Your Majesty—”

“Nice to meet you too.”

Her Majesty cut off Yoo Yeonha and completely disregarded her. Instead, she directly approached me.

Yoo Yeonha bit her lips in disappointment.

“It’s been a while…”

Her Majesty’s tone sounded as if she spoke to a servant.

Only then did I finally smirk. I knew this voice from a distant past and figured out her identity without even seeing her face. Rachel seemed more certain than me judging from her expression.

I carefully said her name.

“Tomer?”

“Ah, it’s been a while since I heard that name.”

Tomer took off her veil and looked the same as I recalled with her Latina features, sun-kissed skin, and proud look. She stared at me with nostalgia.

“Good to see you again, Kim Hajin.”

“I guess you can say that. It’s so good to see you that I’m speechless.”

Rachel stepped forward with a face that said, Please notice me too.

“Ah, and Rachel too.”

“Geez…”

Yoo Yeonha got up with an upset look after being left out. She raised a brow at Tomer, who somehow became the king here.

“What is this situation? Can you kindly explain what’s going on?”

***

“You didn’t have to do something so bothersome like an exhibit.”

Tomer guided us to the palace’s banquet hall, which lived up to its name with an extremely long table filled with all sorts of scrumptious food.

Rachel’s eyes sparkled at the sight.

“Your paintings weren’t bad,” Tomer nonchalantly said.

“Is that so?” I replied.

Tomer somehow went against my story settings and appeared here, which made me relieved and confused.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” she asked with a smirk.

Rachel, who engrossed herself in eating, suddenly turned towards me.

“Anyways, we want to cross the bridge. Please?”

I tried to sound respectful at the end just in case.

Tomer smacked her knee and laughed. “Kekeke! Hey, no need for the formalities. Just be comfortable. It’s only us here.”

“Ah, alright… sure… then… there are four continents in this third test, right?”

“Yeah, there are four.”

“Is there a kingdom where Lancaster is king?”

Rachel dropped her lobster and focused on our conversation.

“Yes, that’s correct. Lancaster is also here and he recreated England on the largest continent.”

As expected, I guessed right on the money. I continued asking with a hint of anxiety.

“Do you know what that bastard is planning?”

“Hmm… No idea…”

Yoo Yeonha couldn’t stand the current atmosphere. No, did she not like the food? She kept poking at a lobster with her fork and mumbled to herself. I wonder if this will taste good with ramyeon?

“Do you know what the people here are?” Tomer asked me with a smile.

“Beats me. Aren’t they created by the General Assembly?”

“It’s similar, but different. They’re the souls of people who used to live in Central Asia. The dead were granted new life within the General Assembly. Those people can’t survive outside this place.”

Tak! Tomer stabbed her lobster.

“Also, Lancaster is trying to recreate the former England here.”

“…”

Rachel seemed mortified at those words and Tomer bitterly smiled.

“That bastard is… he’s trying to resurrect the people who died that day at the Hampton Palace. However, it’s impossible to resurrect the dead even if this is the general assembly.”

Tomer transferred her lobster to another plate and continued.

“The spirits of the dead can be briefly resurrected, but their memories and habits can’t be perfectly recreated. That bastard refuses to accept that fact and is stubbornly trying to recreate England.”

“What is he doing over there right now?” Rachel calmly asked.

“I can say with certainty that he’s recreating the past. He’s trying to make his England overlap with the real England and he claims that everyone can return or regress to the past once he succeeds.”

It couldn’t be understood with common logic. Yoo Yeonha quietly listened the entire time and asked.

“Is that even possible?”

“It might be with a miracle or sacrifice.”

Tomer looked at Rachel again and continued.

“I mean, it’s possible with the General Assembly’s miracle and if millions of English people are sacrificed.”

“…”

Rachel clenched her fists and I gently held her trembling hands.

“Also, you won’t be able to cross the bridge since Lancaster destroyed it.”

“Then—”

“However, there’s still a way with an underground path.”

“Underground path?”

“This place was a vast area when I first came. I think it was around three years ago? The four continents were actually one and the underground path is a remnant from those days.”

Tomer opened her hand and an image of the underground path appeared in the air.

“Only a maximum of three people can use it at the same time. Lancaster will immediately notice if more than that uses it. You’ll be able to reach his fake England if you walk for two to four days, but there could be monsters lurking underground. It’s been neglected for quite a while.”

“That’s fine,” Rachel shook her head.

“What about the other continents?” Yoo Yeonha carefully asked.

“The other continents? Ah, the other continents should be fine. They aren’t as greedy and ambitious as Lancaster. Anyways, one is a Lego world and the other’s setting is the Joseon[1] Dynasty.”

Diririring!

An emergency siren suddenly cried out from our smartwatches.

Tomer stopped talking and Rachel looked at me.

[Kayle: Hey, where did all of our money in the safe go? I mean, our cash and all the other stuff.]

[Fermin: ??? What are you talking about? It’s all in the safe.]

[Kayle: No, it was in the safe until I checked just now and everything is gone. Did Vice Leader take it? The contribution points we converted into checks all disappeared as well.]

[Fermin: No way. Hey, wait a minute. I’m on my way. Who was standing watch over our safe today?]

[The English Royal Court’s guild member, Marcus, has left the guild.]

[Fermin: Huh? Ah, fuck… wait a minute… That bastard Marcus…]

“Ah…” Rachel gasped in horror.

I bit my lips and sighed.

“What happened? Is it something big? Let me look,” Tomer asked.

Rachel showed her the messages on her smartwatch.

“Oh… This guy must’ve been one of Lancaster’s minions.”

Tomer nonchalantly stated and shrugged.

“But where else would he run to? Wouldn’t it obviously be England? You want to use the underground path right now?”

I looked at Rachel and she stepped forward with a cold look.

“Yes, I would like to.”

“Alright then. Follow me.”

Tomer stood from her seat and guided us out of the banquet hall. Two of her servants each carried over a huge sack.

“I packed some rations and other stuff you’ll need in there. Feel free to use it.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

We took the sacks and followed Tomer. I spoke formally since several others watched us outside the banquet hall. The royal palace had something similar to an elevator and we took it to the basement.

“Wait a minute,” Tomer said.

She stepped forward into the pitch-black basement and lit a torch. Our faces turned orange from the flame’s glow.

“Continue climbing down. Be careful,” Tomer warned.

We descended the stairs spiraling into darkness and continued for fifteen minutes.

Tomer finally stopped walking.

“This is it.”

She illuminated the wooden door with her torch as we stood in front of it. Tomer took out a smartwatch from her pocket and smiled.

“Here, send me a message if things get too dangerous. I’ll immediately summon you.”

[The Great Emperor, Yutor, has proposed an alliance with Xtra of the English Royal Court.]

“How is it? Does it work? My smartwatch is a bit old.”

“Yeah, it’s working great.”

I immediately entered an alliance with Tomer.

“Have a safe trip, I guess? You don’t have anything else to prepare, right? After all, your entire safe just got robbed.”

She was absolutely correct. Most of our cash and equipment had been stored there.

“Thank you,” I said.

“Thank me for what? I should be thanking you.”

Tomer returned my gratitude and opened the door.

A cold, damp breeze blew from the passage. I held Rachel’s hand as we stepped inside together. We walked for a while when I suddenly noticed someone else. A black silhouette seemed to be glaring at me, so I instantly turned around. Chills went down my spine.

Yoo Yeonha had followed us.

“Ack! Hey! You surprised me! Why the hell are you here?” I shouted after jumping in fright.

“What do you mean? I was here the whole time?” Yoo Yeonha retorted with a scowl.

“What I mean is, why would you follow us?”

“We’re allies, right? Then I have the right to follow, no? Also, I was with you from the start. Why are you so surprised?”

I felt flabbergasted and glanced at Rachel. She nodded as if to say Yoo Yeonha could tag along. Rachel always cared about connections and networking, so of course she would use this opportunity to build some rapport with Yoo Yeonha.

“Alright, I give you permission to tag along…”

“Hey, what are you talking about? I said I was here from the start. What do you mean by permission?”

1. Joseon is the ancient kingdom of Korea. Most Korean historical movies are set in the Joseon Dynasty. ☜