After a brief reunion, all of us gathered in the central living room. An Sol was nowhere to be seen, but I could hear faint breathing from the next room—seems she was still unconscious.
The air in the living room, filled with the others, felt heavy with unease. It was like the eerie calm before a storm. I couldn't help but feel I'd arrived at the worst possible time.
It wasn't a tearful or joyful reunion by any means, and happening in this kind of atmosphere made it even more uncomfortable. I could see Ahn Hyun's awkward expression, and Lee Yoo-jung and Kim Han-byeol were shooting sharp glances at each other—clearly a conflict had broken out. I'd caught a bit of Han-byeol yelling at the end, but I decided to ask about it later.
After a stretch of silence, the one to speak first was Ahn Hyun, his face tired and guilt-ridden.
"Soo-hyun hyung… I don't even know where to start. I'm really thankful you led us out of the forest. And I'm really sorry we didn't wait for you and went ahead on our own. I know no excuse can justify it, but… I still had to say this."
Looking at Ahn Hyun bowing to me, I smiled inwardly. He could be firm when needed, but he also knew when to bow his head. His neutral, balanced personality had always made me a little uneasy, but it was clear now—he wasn't a thoughtless brat. I shook my head and gently spoke.
"You guys weren't there... I'll admit I was a little startled at first."
"I'm sorry. I really don't have an excuse."
"You don't need to keep apologizing. I figured you had your reasons. But where's your sister?"
"Ah… That's, um, what happened was…"
"Hey, Ahn Hyun. Wait a sec. I'll explain it. Okay, oppa?"
Just as Ahn Hyun was about to speak, Lee Yoo-jung cut in quickly. She had naturally started speaking casually to me now—her friendliness was hard to ignore. I would've preferred to hear from the calm and composed Kim Han-byeol, but she seemed irritated, her brows furrowed, so I just nodded silently.
"So, you led those things into the forest, and…"
Once Ahn Hyun nodded in agreement, Yoo-jung threw a side glance at Han-byeol and began explaining. Her explanation was a little sparse but clear and straightforward. Since I already had a rough idea of the situation, there was no need to dig further. Except…
"Wait—you said something ghost-like appeared from thin air?"
"Yeah. But thinking back on it now, 'ghost' isn't quite right. It wasn't fully transparent, just... blurry. Like it had wings, and you could kind of see its path. But no matter how much Hyun slashed at it, it wouldn't go down."
That part caught my attention. I turned to look at Ahn Hyun for more details. He closed his eyes, seemingly trying to recall the moment. After a pause, he slowly opened his mouth.
"Yoo-jung's right. I slashed with everything I had, but it felt like I was just cutting air."
Cutting only air. Not fully invisible. Had wings. Putting all that together, a memory surfaced in my mind.
Wraiths. The moment I heard about semi-visible winged figures immune to physical attacks, I immediately thought of Wraiths. They're monsters that can't be harmed by normal weapons. Instead, they phase through you and torment your mind. Hearing that Ahn Hyun withstood their attacks for so long made me think the Rite of Passage must have toned them down somewhat.
Still, one thing nagged at me. The group had no real way to defeat Wraiths. So how did they get away? I decided to use An Sol as the context to dig deeper.
"So those things... they're what hurt your sister?"
Ahn Hyun shook his head slowly. What followed left me speechless. Apparently, the Wraiths concentrated on attacking him since he resisted the most. He was in pain, overwhelmed, and eventually dropped his sword and shield. In that moment of crisis, it was An Sol who saved him.
I asked him to go into more detail, but even he couldn't explain well. Neither could Yoo-jung or Han-byeol. All they knew was that An Sol suddenly screamed, and then a burst of white light flared from her body, erasing all the Wraiths attacking them. Right after that, she collapsed and hasn't regained consciousness since.
After hearing everything, I nodded. Ahn Hyun remained silent for a bit before finally asking, anxiety in his voice:
"Hyung… Is Sol going to be okay? Will she wake up?"
"How's her condition?"
"She's breathing normally. Her pulse is steady too. But sometimes she grimaces, like she's in pain, and she moans a little now and then."
Magic Overdrive… Don't tell me An Sol has already awakened her magic? It sounded unbelievable, but maybe it wasn't. I had a rough time at first due to my low magic stat. Even after passing the Rite and entering Whole Plane, it took me time to bring out sword energy.
But An Sol started with a magic stat of 75—it made sense that her experience could be completely different. The subconscious mind is impossible to research, so maybe something was going on that I didn't understand. One thing was clear: with her body still untrained, 75 magic would've been too much to handle. If she hadn't overexerted herself, I was sure I could help her recover.
"I'll need to check her myself to know for sure, but it doesn't sound too serious. Don't worry too much."
"Th-Then could you…"
Just as Ahn Hyun eagerly opened his mouth, I felt a soft hand wrap around my left wrist. Surprised, I turned to see Lee Yoo-jung pouting at me.
"Hey, Ahn Hyun. You seriously saying that right after he just got back? Oppa, aren't you hungry?"
"Huh? I'm okay. Sol comes first, though…"
"We already took turns watching her. Unless you're a doctor, there's no rush. You've heard our story—now tell us yours. I'll whip up a snack real quick. You can eat while we chat, yeah?"
What's with her today? Her sudden assertiveness was a bit unusual, but I couldn't say I disliked being cared for. Ahn Hyun gave an awkward smile and nodded as if the tension had eased slightly.
"Here, have this water. I had some earlier but saved the rest."
"Huh? Ah, thanks."
Kim Han-byeol pulled a water bottle from her coat and handed it to me. I reached out automatically, but Yoo-jung smacked it away and sent it rolling back to Han-byeol. Taken aback, I froze as Han-byeol's sharp voice rang out.
"What was that for?"
"You were drinking from it. I'm giving him a new one. You drink your own."
"What are you two…"
Before I could finish, Yoo-jung got up and walked to the kitchen.
I heard the rustling of things being prepared and the clinking of dishes—it seemed she really was making something. Glancing back at Ahn Hyun and Han-byeol with a puzzled look, I saw Ahn Hyun smiling sheepishly and Han-byeol coldly staring at the floor. It was unexpected, but I decided to quickly change the subject.
"Did the rest of you eat?"
"…Yes, hyung. We ate earlier. We were starving, haha…"
"No problem. It's not like you knew when I'd show up. Waiting would've been pointless."
As I replied, Ahn Hyun scratched his head, looking apologetic. Just then, Yoo-jung returned and plopped a new water bottle and plate in front of me. She'd even gone to the trouble of plating it nicely—definitely not the Yoo-jung I remembered. On the plate were crackers with canned tuna, like tuna canapés. She opened the bottle for me and spoke with a forced cheer.
"Tada~! Special crackers by Chef Yoo-jung!"
"Ooh, looks good. Let me have a—ow!"
As Ahn Hyun reached out hungrily, Yoo-jung smacked his hand away with lightning speed. Rubbing his reddening hand, he pouted, but her glare quickly shut him up.
"Wow. Really? Fighting over food?"
"I made that for oppa. Why would you eat it? He hasn't even had any yet."
"Tch."
"Oppa, go ahead. I promise it's good."
"O-Oh? Thanks. I'll dig in."
I laughed despite myself, watching Yoo-jung turn away smugly and Ahn Hyun grumble. I took a cracker and popped it in my mouth. Cheap tuna and biscuits—not exactly gourmet, but not bad either. At times like this, you can't be picky. I made sure to chew thoroughly.
Thankfully, the mood had relaxed a lot. Just as I reached for another cracker, the expectant eyes on me became overwhelming—I had to say something. Of course, I couldn't outright say I wiped out over twenty Deadmen, so I planned to spin it a bit. After complimenting Yoo-jung's cooking, I began recounting how I lured the creatures away in the forest.
"Wait—hyung, you almost got bitten back then?"
"I was weaving between trees in an S-pattern. I didn't expect one to pop out right next to me. If my left hand had been just a bit farther out, I'd have definitely been bitten. Still gives me chills thinking about it."
"Whoa… We seriously almost lost you."
"Pfft. You should've seen her, hyung. Before you arrived, she was going nuts. Grabbed a sword, yelling we had to save you, that maybe you were still waiting... Totally over-the-top."
"You wanna die? I wasn't that dramatic."
"See? She admits she said it."
"You little—!"
Watching Ahn Hyun and Yoo-jung bicker and laugh made me feel at ease. I let out a small breath of relief—but then my gaze caught Kim Han-byeol's frozen expression. Her cold face was watching us quietly, so unlike before that I felt a chill creep into my chest.
I thought it was nothing… but suddenly I couldn't shake the feeling that what she shouted earlier wasn't something to be ignored. I made up my mind—after this, I'd talk to Ahn Hyun alone.