IBSSSCEA Chapter 74

Chapter 74

 

Hesitantly, I approached the source of the sound, where surprisingly, there was an antique-looking telephone with a rotary dial and receiver attached.

I slowly lifted the receiver, without saying hello, and listened intently. A mischievous male voice came through from the other end.

[“Hey, Rahab. You said we’d carry out the operation today, why no report?”]

What should I say in this situation? Or should I even answer?

The fact that he didn’t bother to ask who was speaking made it clear this phone was used by only one person.

He’d notice immediately if the voice was different.

When I didn’t respond, the man on the other end spoke again.

[“We’re already near the Paju shelter.”]

“…!”

[“We don’t need ‘Goliath’ here. We’re enough. Use it to crush Ganghwa Island to your heart’s content.”]

Goliath? …Is that referring to those rock golems?

Are they planning to wake those up to conquer Ganghwa Island?

‘When did they install this base?’

At least before Seo Jae-hyun came to settle on Ganghwa Island.

No, since Yoo Hyun-min also knows the original story…

I hugged my goosebump-covered arms.

‘They installed this from the beginning, even before the camp was established…’

Because this Ganghwa Island camp was what survived till the end and troubled the evil god’s group.

Yoo Hyun-min had predicted that humanity’s largest camp would be built on Ganghwa Island and installed the golems in advance.

To deliver the greatest despair when enough people had gathered.

As there was still no response, the man seemed to finally notice something was off.

[“…Hello? Why are you so quiet?”]

I quickly slammed the phone down.

Though it was a brief call, I learned important facts.

They had clearly planted a spy called ‘Rahab’ on Ganghwa Island.

Just like they had done in previous camps.

But when I investigated the village with Yuga, there was no one suspicious?

‘Who is it? Who on earth…’

I hurriedly looked around the base interior to find clues.

The phone being connected here means the spy had lived in this place.

Indeed, not far away, I saw a small door.

I ran to that door quietly, trying not to wake the sleeping golems.

The door wasn’t locked, as if they hadn’t expected an intruder.

Fling.

I opened the door and quickly scanned the surroundings.

‘…A very simple room.’

It was a crude space carved out of a cave, barely worthy of being called a room.

A very small bed, and equally small table and chair.

That was all the furniture there was.

But something felt off.

“…The furniture is small, but isn’t it too small?”

It seems like no adult could use this, only a very small child…

Shudder.

I stopped in my tracks, struck by an ominous premonition.

Could it be Minseo, that child?

Something had seemed off.

Her sudden appearance by the stream, and how she was unusually wary of me and trying to frame me.

But I hadn’t suspected her because to contract with an evil god, one needs to be filled with pure evil.

In this room beneath the sea, devoid of any human warmth, I muttered with a pale face.

“No way…”

Can even such a young child have a purely evil nature?

💎

“….A nightmare.”

In the silent living room of the house.

After keeping quiet for a while, Baek Yi-heon finally spoke with a coldly hardened face.

“You’re saying Noah told you that? Even about my nightmare she saw in the Mangsang Dungeon?”

Minseo eagerly nodded and exclaimed with an excited face.

“Yes! That’s what I’m saying! Do you believe me now, Oppa?”

Yi-heon, staring down at that innocent face, asked again.

“…Exactly what details did Noah tell you?”

“She said all of Oppa’s family died! That you cried a lot and were very sad!”

“…I see. After meeting an old man collecting cardboard on the college entrance exam day, right?”

The child hesitated for a moment, staring at Yi-heon, then nodded vigorously.

“Yes! That’s right!”

“I see.”

Baek Yi-heon briefly replied and closed his eyes slightly.

As if trying to organize complex thoughts.

“…You.”

When he slowly opened his eyes again.

Gone was the kind gaze that had looked at the child, replaced by a face as cold as a yaksha’s.

“As I thought. You’re no ordinary child.”

At those words, a flash of surprise crossed Minseo’s face.

But quickly composing herself, the child laughed awkwardly and watched his reaction.

“O-Oppa. What are you saying? Minseo is…”

“Noah doesn’t know about me meeting that old man collecting cardboard that day.”

“…..!”

“She walked into my memory after that and hugged me.”

The self that seemed to be standing at the end of the world.

The self that wanted to die trapped in that sweetest of nightmares.

“T-that’s…!”

“You. You can read others’ thoughts, can’t you?”

Yi-heon slowly drew the dragon’s fang from his waist.

“You just read my thoughts again.”

Those words, or the drawn sword, were decisive.

The flustered look on the child’s innocent face disappeared as if washed away.

With an expressionless, cold face, the child glared at Yi-heon and clicked her tongue.

“Yesterday too. You’re sharper than you look, huh?”

 

“…You, you’re hiding something. Aren’t you?”

 

Recalling what Yi-heon had whispered in her ear last night, the child smirked coldly and added.

“I thought that adorable youngest sibling was your weakness.”

“……”

Seeing his eyes waver slightly at the mention of his sibling, the child cackled mockingly.

“Your heart was so strong I couldn’t easily infiltrate it. But as soon as you saw me, you couldn’t stop thinking about that sibling! Haha! How foolish!”

Yi-heon gritted his teeth at those words.

It was very rare for him, who rarely shows emotion even in battle.

“What are you? Are you also one of Yoo Hyun-min’s subordinates?”

“Don’t tell me, Noah’s departure was your doing too?”

Choi Yudam, quickly grasping the situation, shouted.

“Where did Noah go?”

“Where else.”

The child raised the corners of her mouth wickedly.

“That much wasn’t my doing. You all had already guessed it, hadn’t you?”

The child raised her transparent eyes, staring at Choi Yudam, and murmured.

[“Didn’t Noah want to run away alone all along? She’s been acting strange lately.”]

“…No. That’s not true!”

“Choi Yu. Control your mind. Don’t let that child infiltrate at will.”

Yu urgently intervened, but the child’s gaze immediately turned to Sehun trembling in the corner.

[“What if Noah Noona really abandons me and leaves?”]

Sehun quickly covered his ears.

[“Was it because I wasn’t helpful that Noah Noona came to hate me…?”]

“…Stop this at once.”

Baek Yi-heon muttered in a low, angry voice.

But even with a weapon in hand, he couldn’t rashly attack the child.

The same was true for Lee Yudam.

At this, the child smirked as if her mouth would tear and float into the air.

“Ahahahah! You foolish humans, shaken by mere shells!”

💎

Thank you for reading! ♡