EPISODE 38. The Prophet
A street market crowded with people.
Wearing the changing items, Ha Tae-heon and I headed to the centre of the market, being careful not to get lost in the crowd.
Unlike me, who only changed the colour of my hair and eyes, Ha Tae-heon, who became a child like yesterday, raised his small hand and pointed to the right.
“Over there.”
Perhaps because of the shortened tongue, the pronunciation was almost like ‘peck there’. I laughed inwardly and moved in the direction Ha Tae-heon had told me. (저쪼기다, it translated ‘peck’ meanwhile what Tae-heon said ‘저쪽이다’ meant ‘over there’ with a bit similar pronunciation)
We wandered through the Chinese-speaking market for a long time because we didn’t use interpreter items and finally found an alleyway with less people. I asked Ha Tae-heon, who was touching his ears, which had tingled thanks to the Chinese people with strong pronunciation and loud voice.
“Is this the right place?”
“Yeah.”
“When you first came here, you said you followed a white cat, right?”
Before coming to China, I was told how Ha Tae-heon met the Prophet at his house. He said that as he followed the white cat that appeared in front of him, he found a narrow alley in the corner of the market.
“It was by no means an ordinary cat. I felt similar energy to the monsters I encountered inside the gate.”
“Monster…”
The situation was the same as when Ha Tae-heon met the Prophet in the novel ‘Abyss’. I slowly made my way down the alleyway, which was stinky and wet with dirty water.
“Just in case, it would be better not to remove the changing items and go ahead.”
Ha Tae-heon nodded his small, round face. I looked down at him and raised my gaze forward.
‘…he must have been drunk, right?’
What Ha Tae-heon did to me yesterday seemed like a mistake made by his drunkenness. Even in the original story, there was never a scene where Ha Tae-heon drank until he got drunk, though I didn’t know he had such a habit of drinking.
Even though he was SS-rank, he couldn’t rest properly for two days and he might have been drunk because he drank beer and wine in a row.
It was very embarrassing, but it seemed like he didn’t even remember what he did because he was drunk anyway… Even for me, it would be better to bury this matter.
“Ha Tae-heon-ssi.”
After wandering for a while through the alleyways that were tangled like a maze, I frowned at the dead-end road that appeared in front of me.
“This road is blocked, what should we do?”
“That’s strange. It wasn’t blocked last time.”
I touched the wall in front of me with my hand, just in case. Strange energy was felt from the damp and cold wall.
“It doesn’t seem like an ordinary wall.”
“It looks like someone with space control ability touched it. Or they used an item.”
“Umm.”
I was at a loss. I couldn’t come back now.
I sighed as I stared at the solid wall and heard the sound of stepping on a puddle of water behind me. I turned around and saw a white rabbit with a strangely glowing light in the dark alleyway, with its ears pricked up and standing on its two feet.
“Ha Tae-heon-ssi, look at that.”
“A rabbit?”
“Isn’t it similar to the cat that Ha Tae-heon-ssi met?”
The rabbit, which had raised its upper body and twitched its nose, soon came out and rushed towards Ha Tae-heon. The rabbit, as small as my two fists combined, ran around its feet and then rested its forehead against the wall.
Then, to my surprise, the rabbit’s head slipped into a wave like water on the hard wall. Startled, I stepped backwards, but the rabbit that had gone completely through the wall came out again.
“……?”
The rabbit stared at me and rubbed its face hard with its paws. I tilted my head, not knowing what the act of washing face meant, and Ha Tae-heon opened his mouth with a serious expression.
“Does it mean glasses?”
“Glasses?”
“I think it’s telling us to take off the changing items.”
Is it real? Just in case, I took off my glasses, the rabbit’s eyes twinkled and twitched the tip of its nose harder.
Ha Tae-heon, who got out of my arms and took off the brooch on his chest, also returned to his original form. Ha Tae-heon, who was much bigger than me, shoved his hand over the wall without hesitation.
“We couldn’t enter because of the changing item.”
His hand went into the wall without much difficulty. Following Ha Tae-heon, who took the lead, I walked over the wall.
A wide hallway appeared in front of me, filled with warm sunlight. Contrary to the dark alleyway, this place was filled with green leaves and vines along with several doors.
Along with the explanation I had heard from Ha Tae-heon in advance, it was completely different from the situation in Abyss. In the original story, he met the Prophet in an old shack at the end of an alley he arrived after chasing a white cat. This was the first time I had come to see the wall that controlled the space and beyond.
Oh my goodness. I clicked my tongue out of embarrassment and suggested Ha Tae-heon.
“First… shall we take a look at the room?”
“That would be nice.”
Since I had come this far, I had no choice but to keep moving no matter what.
As we went to the nearest door, a strange pattern engraved in the centre of the door caught my eye. It was in the form of several small triangles surrounding a round circle.
“I don’t know if it’s okay to open it.”
“Wait behind me.”
Ha Tae-heon, who sent me behind his back, carefully grabbed the doorknob and pushed it. The gently opened room was filled with fresh grass and trees, throwing over the nervousness. A blue bird that was sitting on a branch and eating red berries flew away.
“I don’t think it’s here?”
Closing the door, I looked at the pattern once more. Just in case, I looked around and found that each door had an unknown pattern engraved on it.
‘Maybe this is…’
A similar pattern appearance suddenly flashed across my mind.
“He forced the paper into my hand.”
A paper handed to me by Park Geon-ho, whom I met right after the Gangnam incident. A strange picture that looked like a number or a pattern that was drawn on it.
“I was only asked to deliver it.”
I was sure he said that. The shape of the painting was so unique that I still remembered it clearly.
“Let’s take a look at the patterns.”
“Patterns?”
I accelerated my pace and crossed the hallway. I walked out, carefully examining the doors and patterns on either side of the long hallway. Ha Tae-heon, who was following me in a hurry, grabbed my wrist and at the same time, I found a pattern that exactly matched my memory.
“Han Yi-gyeol, what the hell…”
“This is it.”
Five figures reminiscent of the number 8 above, with a star-like shape in the centre and leaves surrounding it.
“It’s here, Ha Tae-heon-ssi.”
“Han Yi-gyeol.”
“Let’s go in.”
Ha Tae-heon overlapped my hand that was holding the doorknob.
“Wait. Don’t open it recklessly.”
“But…”
“Stand back. I will open it again this time.”
There was concern in the resolute words. I took a step back, gently crossing the doorknob.
Ha Tae-heon hesitated for a moment then opened the door with strength. As before, a cool breeze blew through the gently opened door.
As I opened the door a little wider, white petals fluttered with the sound of the wind brushing the gentle grass. The scent of acacia passed through the tip of my nose.
Above the tree full of white flowers, I could see the blue sky and cotton candy-like clouds. Was it the door leading out, not the door leading into the room?
Click.
The door closed by itself behind my back. I was mesmerized by the beautiful unexplored scenery that unfolded before my eyes, and Ha Tae-heon, who was standing next to me, suddenly let out a rough breath.
“Gasp, keueuk…”
“Ha Tae-heon-ssi?”
I quickly grabbed him as he staggered while covering his mouth. Ha Tae-heon, who frowned, gasped.
“Han Yi-gyeol, be careful…”
“Ha Tae-heon-ssi!”
Ha Tae-heon couldn’t stand it any longer and fell forward. I shouted as I held him in my arms that he wouldn’t hit the floor.
“Wake up, Ha Tae-heon-ssi!”
Why did the SS-rank Ha Tae-heon have a problem, not me? My anxiety soared as to whether something went wrong. Biting my lip, I calmly looked at his condition.
Fortunately, his complexion was fine and his unstable breathing returned to normal. Then why…
“He just fell asleep, don’t be surprised.”
“……!”
My shoulders flinched at the unfamiliar voice. Holding Ha Tae-heon’s upper body and lifting my face, I saw a man standing opposite me wearing a deep grey robe.
“…who are you.”
“Don’t you already know about me?”
My mouth was dry at the soft answer. I didn’t relax and opened my mouth slowly.
“Prophet, right?”
“You can call it that.”
“The person who gave the paper to Team Leader Park Geon-ho and the person I met in my dream… they’re all you?”
“Correct.”
The wind blew once more. The robe fluttered through the fluttering grass.
“What did you do to Ha Tae-heon-ssi?”
“Like I said, he just fell asleep. The conversations you and I will have are things that the child shouldn’t hear.”
He slowly raised his hand. Then, a butterfly with pale pink wings flew out of Ha Tae-heon’s arms. Glittering powder flew from the butterfly that flew and landed on the white fingertips.
“This butterfly has the power to make the opponent fall into a deep sleep.”
“The power strong enough to put the SS-rank to sleep…”
“That’s not the case usually. But this child was born and raised by my side. So it’s quite possible.”
His white fingers snapped slightly and the butterfly flew high into the sky again.
“Your face seems to have a lot of questions.”
“……”
“Follow me. Let’s move.”
Follow me? After thinking for a while, I shook my head without letting go of Ha Tae-heon.
“I can’t leave this person behind.”
“You are afraid of me.”
He smiled as if he understood and walked towards me slowly. At the end of the long robe, white bare feet were slightly exposed and sprouts were visible.
“It seems easy but very difficult to act carefully without making hasty decisions.”
Standing in front of me, who was sitting holding Ha Tae-heon, he leaned his upper body slightly and lifted my chin with a very careful touch.
“If you give me faith that I won’t harm you, I will follow you.”
“…how are you going to convince me?”
“That’s easy.”
A white cat and rabbit appeared from somewhere and flocked around Ha Tae-heon. Meow, the cat which lightly tapped Ha Tae-heon’s cheek with its pure white paw cried as if it was nice to see him again.
“Han Yi-gyeol. The book you read probably didn’t mention the Prophet properly.”
“What are you…”
“Right? That’s why you can’t be sure that even the Prophet is right in front of you.”
He slowly took off the robe that had covered his face.
“Abyss. There is no record of what the Prophet looked like or what conversation he had with Ha Tae-heon. It just shows you what happened after he met the Prophet.”
The first thing that caught my eye was the soft hair shining as white as silver. His long silver hair, which reached his waist, fluttered in the wind.
“Will you trust me now? Han Yi-gyeol. No, Kwon Se-hyun (권세현).”
Golden eyes that sparkled with light powder as if studded with stars and black eyes with darkness reminiscent of the night sky turned to me. My fingertips trembled at the friendly eyes that were clearly revealed.
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