Chapter 100 – LV.Seven Priest Seo Rayeon – [Two]

It seemed the goddess was now giving some sort of quest, but Han Siwoo couldn’t pay attention to that. Looking at the goddess’s face, dazzlingly radiant against the backlight, he thought.

Why on earth that girl? Could it be that the girl he’d been traveling with until now was some kind of avatar of a goddess hiding her true identity?

「Since you’re here anyway, why not clean up the other filthy things as well? Your generous and beautiful hostess here will pay the slave who finishes cleaning.」

No, looking closely, the goddess before him was not Seo Yun. Looking not at her face but at her body, her figure was clearly different.

Unlike Seo Yun, who seemed to have stopped growing since she was 14, the goddess before him had the definite physique of an adult woman. Unlike Seo Yun, who always covered her entire body with a poncho, this goddess wore a form-fitting dress, making that fact easily discernible.

Yet, only the goddess’s face was still Seo Yun’s. Even that was slightly different, though…

The Goddess of Beauty, using the brilliant divine light behind her as a spotlight meant only for herself, opened the mouth of the girl he knew well.

「If you’ve heard everything, will you go now? You’re not hideously ugly, but you’re not particularly beautiful either, so you’re not worth conversing with for long.」

As those arrogant words, which that girl would absolutely never say, reached him, Han Siwoo felt his consciousness being pushed back.

When he closed and opened his eyes again, he saw the same scenery as before.

Seong Juri looked at him and asked.

“What’s wrong? The three of you suddenly…”

Confused, Han Siwoo shook his head and asked.

“Three of, what?”

“You, Seo Yun, and Eulbi, the three of you. You all just seemed out of it… Like you were feeling dizzy or something.”

“Just the three of us? So you guys didn’t see that scene just now?”

“What scene?”

Then Gaeulbi spoke.

“There was something like that. I just met the Goddess of Beauty…? I guess the three of us were considered one party, so only we three saw it and you guys didn’t.”

“So what did the goddess look like? Was she very pretty?”

When Lee Jongho asked, Gaeulbi dodged the question.

“She was pretty, but it’s a bit hard to describe…”

As she said this, Gaeulbi glanced at Seo Yun, seeming to ponder whether she should say this or not.

Then Seo Yun spoke.

“The Goddess of Beauty looked like me.”

“Like you?”

“Not exactly the same, more like a grown-up version of me? For the record, this isn’t me being conceited. Remember those Misters outside asked me if I was a goddess? They must have seen a resemblance too. So, if those Misters show strange reactions again later, it would be good for you all to keep that fact in mind.”

Seo Yun explained this quite nonchalantly, not seeming particularly surprised even though she had seen a goddess with her own appearance.

Han Siwoo couldn’t understand how she could be like that. Did she already know something?

He glanced at Seo Yun’s face but then turned his head away.

The appearance of the Goddess of Beauty he had just seen came to mind. It wouldn’t leave his head, as if engraved in his brain. It truly was an intense appearance and aura. Even though he was already accustomed to that girl’s looks, and the only differences between the goddess he just saw and that girl were her physique and the lighting behind her, it was still like that.

In the midst of this, he couldn’t bring himself to look directly at that girl…

“Shall we go then?”

After the two priests used Light Spells to illuminate the surroundings, everyone descended the stairs.

Han Siwoo also stepped into the underground, trying hard to calm his pounding heart.

He looked around the area illuminated by the magical light. And he tried hard to think of other things to drive the goddess’s image from his mind. Considering that the temple in the Mortal Realm resembled a subway station, this underground place might have been a subway station.

He could also see a space that might have been tracks where subways once ran. That area was filled with water, forming a kind of waterway.

The water flowing in the waterway seemed calm, yet something moved within it. It was too dark to see clearly what it was…

「Lalala―」

A singing voice came from somewhere.

Han Siwoo focused his mind on that song, then startled himself with a jolt.

In this quiet place, any music, whether classical or a nursery rhyme, would inevitably be eerie. Yet he had been blankly appreciating it? It was no ordinary singing voice.

Sure enough, when he looked to the side, Lee Jongho was approaching the front as if entranced. Seo Yun shouted.

“Lee Jongho, stop! There’s water over there!”

It was just as Lee Jongho seemed to snap out of it and stopped.

Now Lee Jongho was standing stopped right in front of the waterway. And the water surface in front of him splashed, as something emerged from the water.

Han Siwoo’s eyes widened. What on earth was that?

It was a hand made of bone.

That gaunt, grayish hand grabbed Lee Jongho’s ankle. Lee Jongho’s scream echoed in the narrow passage.

“Ah!”

If it had been just one bony hand grabbing that ankle, Lee Jongho’s Strength could have easily shaken it off. But the hands emerging from the water were not just one or two.

Dozens of bony hands that had surfaced pulled at Lee Jongho’s ankles. Han Siwoo rushed over and swung his sword, cutting off all those hands.

“Thank…”

“Save the thanks for later, get back!”

At the sharp cry, Lee Jongho stepped back. And Han Siwoo, holding his sword and shield, saw Skeletons crawling out of the water.

The Skeletons he’d grown sick of seeing lately; Park Taeyang shouted.

“Everyone, close your eyes!”

As he said this and extended his palm, it was immediately clear what he was about to do. After Han Siwoo closed his eyes, Park Taeyang’s trembling voice was heard.

“Be—Light!”

An intense light that pierced his eyelids and stimulated his pupils—a Flash Spell.

Han Siwoo frowned and opened his eyes.

It seemed a whole pile of Skeletons had been caught in that light. Their bone fragments were scattered on the ground.

It was a rare moment of action from the Sun Priest, an expert against the Undead, but it held little significance. Because more Skeletons were lurking in the water.

“No…”

Jagged blades poked out from the water, glinting bizarrely. He could tell those weren’t mere ethereal weapons but Magic Weapons. Proof that this was not a low-Level Dungeon.

Soon, Skeletons emerged from the water. Water clung to their bony bodies, reflecting the light and shimmering eerily. They felt much, much more dangerous than the Skeletons he usually fought.

“Everyone, raise your shields…”The Skeletons charged. The Warriors raised their shields to block them. Han Siwoo also stood with them, forming a wall to protect the rear.

A Skeleton’s mace slammed down on the shield Siwoo held out. At the moment of impact, a pained grunt escaped his lips unbidden. The Skeleton’s Strength was nothing special, but his shield hand went numb. It seemed the mace had some kind of lightning Spell on it.

“Damn it!”

After shoving his shield forward to shatter one Skeleton, only for another to immediately take its place, Han Siwoo gritted his teeth.

The number of Skeletons gathered here was far too many. A terrible melee was about to ensue.

Han Siwoo considered calling a Troll as he gripped his shield. Seong Juri’s voice rang out.

“Park Taeyang? Make a Small Sun!”

Park Taeyang, though trembling, did as he was told. Park Taeyang’s shaky, anxious voice chanted on, and soon, a sphere like the sun itself floated up in this dark space.

Bright sunlight filled the surroundings. The bodies of the Skeletons touched by that sunlight crumbled, and the Skeletons that had been advancing retreated.

But it was a temporary measure. Now the Skeletons began attacking from a distance, and with every arrow or javelin they shot or threw that hit it, the Small Sun shook violently. It seemed it would shatter and disappear at this rate.

“Should we charge out?”

In response to Seong Juri’s words, Seo Yun answered.

“No, everyone stay put.”

Then Seo Yun began muttering, reciting a Spell. Unlike Park Taeyang’s Spell just now, it was calm and fast.

“…Phoenix.”

Finishing the Spell, Seo Yun stretched out her hand. For a moment, the air around them grew thin enough to make breathing difficult, and then, using that air as fuel, a mass of fire appeared before Seo Yun.

The mass of fire soon transformed into the shape of a Firebird larger than Seo Yun’s body. The Firebird Summoning Spell, a Hearth Priest’s Fourth-Tier Spell.

The Firebird flew towards the gathered Skeletons.

“Wow…”

The Firebird pierced through the Skeletons’ bodies without stopping its flight. Everyone blinked as they watched dozens of Skeletons crumble instantly where the Firebird passed.

Meanwhile, a path of crimson fire was left in the Firebird’s wake. When Seo Yun gestured, the fire swiftly spread to both sides, sweeping over the surrounding Skeletons. The half-burnt remains of the Skeletons piled up and spewed smoke.

Soon after, the Firebird disappeared, but few Skeletons remained. Now the Warriors just had to deal with the remaining ones.

After finishing that one battle, while resting to catch their breath, Lee Jongho muttered.

“It feels like just yesterday we were all shitting ourselves fighting that Basilisk, but what the hell… She’s become a one-woman army all by herself.”

Hearing the praise-like words, Seo Yun wore an expression of complete nonchalance. Han Siwoo once again turned his head away from the girl’s face.

“What was that song just now?”

In response to Seong Juri’s words, Gaeulbi answered.

“Must be a Siren, I guess. We didn’t see its form, but…”

“A Siren? Well, there’s water around, and if we were charmed by a song, that’s the only thing it could be.”

“Right? Thinking about it now, I’m pissed. The Troll said there were a lot of Undead in the water, but he didn’t say anything about Sirens. Did that bastard really scout properly? He just went invisible, skimmed over the place, and came back, didn’t he?”

Then Kim Jihyeok stood up and spoke.

“Should I go scout if you’re worried?”

“You want to?”

Kim Jihyeok nodded and disappeared into the darkness.

Everyone remained there, waiting for his return. Seo Yun spoke.

“Something’s approaching.”

Sure enough, footsteps echoed from behind. Had it been drawn by the noise of the recent battle and the light?

“That earlier…”

The five men seen earlier on the surface were approaching here.

They were pointing a wooden barrel-like object this way, and light was shining from it. At first, it seemed like some kind of Magic item, but seeing the lens slightly exposed on the outside, it wasn’t. It looked like they had wrapped wood around a battery-operated flashlight to make it look like a Magic item fitting for a medieval fantasy.

Seo Yun stepped forward to interpret, and the five men flinched. Seo Yun and they began a conversation while maintaining distance.

“What are they saying?”

Gaeulbi, at least, knew a little English. She listened to their conversation and provided a rough translation.

“That Mister just asked Seo Yun if she’s really a Goddess… Seo Yun said no. She said she just looks like her, so don’t mind it. When the Mister asked if we were going inside, Seo Yun said yes.

When Seo Yun asked why they came here… they say they originally live here?”

“They live here? How, with Monsters around?”

“They say the Skeletons here don’t harm them. They say they are Devotees of the Goddess of Beauty?”

Han Siwoo looked at the waterway the Skeletons had emerged from earlier. Seeing the water flowing unfrozen, it was indeed warmer than the surface. So they lived in these underground passages? Like the homeless who used to gather and live in old subway stations?

“The Goddess of Beauty is an evil god, why worship her? Those guys don’t seem moved seeing Seo Yun who resembles the Goddess; they seem scared instead. Looking at that, it doesn’t seem like they worship her because she’s attractive…”

In response to Seong Juri’s words, Han Siwoo answered.

“Isn’t it because you can get Nutrient Porridge if you have Faith in the Goddess of Beauty?”

“Nutrient Porridge?”

“You know how Hearth Priests can create fire and Sun Priests can create sunlight, Spells helpful for daily life? Priests of Beauty can create Nutrient Porridge.

And when I was wandering around with just Gaeulbi, we had a small portable Divine Statue, remember? That was a Goddess of Beauty statue, and if you prayed to it while putting in Monster Souls, Nutrient Porridge came out. We lived on that for a while… Since this is a Temple of Beauty, they probably have something like that here too.”

Meanwhile, Seo Yun continued conversing with the five men who feared her. Gaeulbi translated the important parts.

“The Mister is asking if they can collect the Souls we defeated… Seo Yun said go ahead.”

Thus, when Seo Yun gave permission, the five men bowed deeply to Seo Yun as if greeting a real Goddess, then each began collecting the scattered Souls around them into Glass Vials.

The Souls of the Skeletons. They would probably offer them to the Divine Statue to obtain Nutrient Porridge.After that, the five men sat far away and stared at this side with uneasy faces. Presumably, they were anxious because they still feared the girl who had revealed she wasn’t the Goddess, yet couldn’t bring themselves to ignore her.

It was about twenty minutes later. Lee Jongho muttered.

“Kim Jihyeok said he was scouting, so why isn’t he back yet?”

But even after another ten minutes, Kim Jihyeok did not return. Seong Juri said in an uneasy voice.

“If we go in looking for him, we might miss each other… Should we call Teacher Troll?”

And that was when it happened. From the darkness, Kim Jihyeok’s voice was heard.

“I’m here.”

A moment later, Kim Jihyeok’s figure appeared. Lee Jongho scolded him.

“Why are you so late?”

“Sorry… Anyway, shall we go now? I’ll guide you.”

Just as everyone was getting up, the five men who were still watching this side shouted something.

Han Siwoo, who didn’t understand the words, asked.

“What did they say?”

And Seo Yun answered.

“They said to be careful.”

“Of what?”

“Doppelganger.”