Chapter 165 – LV.? Goddess of Beauty – [Six]

Seo Yun continued the work of reviving survivors from the battlefield or recent casualties for half a day. By the time she finished, Han Siwoo and Gaeulbi had come to join her.

“Why did you come? To escort me?”

At Seo Yun’s question, Gaeulbi answered.

“No, it’s because the three of us have something to do, right? Regarding Rayeon…”

She easily understood what that meant.

The three of them had been with Seo Rayeon at her end. If they had even a shred of decency, they had to follow her request as she had asked.

Soon, the three set out to find survivors in the neighboring village. It was harder than expected. Following the Troll’s guidance, they visited various survivor groups and asked, “Have you seen any strange cult devotees who worship some angel?” but they couldn’t obtain any useful information.

After wandering around here and there with little gain, the three headed directly to the neighboring village.

And indeed, as the Troll had said, that place had long been occupied by Skeletons. The deactivated Skeletons staring blankly into the void hinted at the deaths of everyone who had lived there.

Seo Yun sighed and activated her Spirit Vision. And when many shimmering Souls appeared in her sight, she blinked for a moment. What is that? According to the Troll, they all seemed dead, but how…

Heading toward where the Souls were visible, a familiar face was waiting.

“Angel Seo Yun?”

Unlike when she had seen her last time, a Naga woman with a disheveled appearance, unable to apply makeup, looked surprised upon seeing her. Seo Yun also asked in surprise.

“You’re Na Gahui… You’re alive?”

“Yes…”

“With so many Skeletons up there, how?”

“Well, I’m a Priest of Beauty, right? So, or maybe because we’re a Naga Race that collectively believes in the Goddess of Beauty, it seems we weren’t targeted for extermination.”

“Anyway, I’m glad you survived. But it seems there are other survivors, perhaps…”

“This way.”

Following Na Gahui, Seo Yun entered a church building. Seeing the towering Stone Statues there, clearly over a hundred, she realized what had happened here.

“Did you turn people into stone so the Skeletons would pass by without killing them?”

“Yes. When I unlocked the Naga Racial Trait, I gained a Petrifying Gaze ability like a Medusa, so I used that… The Skeletons didn’t bother trying to break people who had turned to stone and couldn’t move.”

The Petrifying Gaze was an ability that could be used over a wide range, so she made all the devotees see it, ultimately allowing the group to survive together. She said she had considered removing the Petrification one by one afterward, but there were still too many Skeletons up there, making her uneasy, so she had postponed the removal.

When Seo Yun informed her that all the Undead had now stopped, Na Gahui rejoiced.

And Seo Yun told her that it was the work of their Angel, that their Angel had become the Goddess of Beauty. Finally, when she conveyed the last words Rayeon had spoken, Na Gahui’s eyes widened, and she muttered.

“Is that so. For us…”

It felt like she accepted it too easily, so Seo Yun raised an eyebrow.

“Is it easy to believe?”

“Yes, I believe it.”

“How? Because your faith is strong?”

At Seo Yun’s question, Na Gahui answered.

“That’s part of it, but last night I had a dream where Angel Rayeon appeared and told me I could now die in peace. She also said she was satisfied with how I handled things as her Priest.”

“Ah, she brought reality into dreams…”

“She was always dignified, but the figure I saw in the dream felt like something akin to Lucifer, and even after waking up, my heart was pounding. It didn’t feel like an ordinary dream at all.”

It’s a world where both Magic and Miracles have become common. Na Gahui must have grown accustomed to the changed world by now, but even so, her voice trembled as if this was astonishing.

It was quite a while later that Na Gahui’s voice calmed down. She asked.

“This time, I couldn’t save everyone. Many died fighting during the attack, and I couldn’t even petrify everyone with the Petrifying Gaze under the pretense of saving them. But they’re all in a good place now, right?”

“Probably.”

“Then… since it’s all over now, can I smile with a light heart?”

“Please do.”

“Then…”

The Naga woman smiled. It was a beautiful smile, lovely even without makeup. Seo Yun said.

“Then we should free the petrified people now, right?”

“Yes. If it’s okay, could you help…”

And so they did. The two Priests repeatedly chanted Petrification Removal Spells to restore blood flow to the bodies of those turned to stone.

Thus, half a day later, in front of the freed people, Na Gahui conveyed the last words their Angel had spoken. Seo Yun, Han Siwoo, and Gaeulbi attended their mass and vouched for the truth of those words.

Seo Yun could swear she had never seen such a religious atmosphere in her life until that day.

Only after finishing all that work did Seo Yun return to Happy Village with her two teammates. And even from afar in the middle of the night, she could see that restoration work was already underway in the village.

Small Suns shone around the village, illuminating the darkness, and there were even people working in the fields, perhaps trying to restore the damaged farmland. One of them saw them, shouted, and ran into the village.

And a short while later, when Seo Yun entered Happy Village, the sound of a Horn Trumpet echoed. ‘Boooooooooooooooo…’ As the sound ended, a man’s voice, seemingly amplified by Magic, resounded.

“Give them the highest praise!”

Seo Yun immediately thought, ‘Ah, that’s a Lord of the Rings line…’ They had called her something like Frodo, and it seemed they really intended to treat her similarly.

A short while later, upon entering the village, there weren’t knights in shining Armor lined up like in a movie, but disheveled Warriors and people, along with Hobbits who had finished their work, had gathered to welcome them.

All the people of Happy Village came forward to greet them.

“Come sit here, hurry! The food will get cold!”

A Warrior grabbed her wrist and led her forward.

In the center of the village, a table with food and chairs were prepared. At the table, Oh Haengun and the revived Players were already sitting, receiving hospitality from the people with dazed expressions.

Arnold was also visible. The Barbarian Warrior was picking at his food with a tired face; even though he must have received Healing Spells, traces of gunshot wounds were clearly visible all over his body.

‘He probably doesn’t even have decent Armor to cover himself, and it looks like he took dozens of bullets while fighting again.’It seemed to be a feast for heroes like them. More precisely, it was a feast for the Mage and Warrior who had died fighting for the village, and for the three boys and girls who had returned from a distant journey.

Seo Yun also sat down beside Oh Haengun. People who had gathered without sleeping even in the cold night clapped their hands. Seo Yun was momentarily flustered and remained still, then finally smiled.

This made it clear that they had truly overcome one crisis, that they had weathered one storm.

Throughout the feast, Gaeulbi and Han Siwoo were also praised alongside Seo Yun.

However, Gaeulbi’s expression remained dark the entire time. As if not wanting to ruin the party atmosphere, she occasionally forced a smile when someone spoke to her, but even so, she couldn’t hide the weary look etched on her face.

The people participating in the feast probably assumed this chimpanzee was just too tired and let it pass. But her teammates were not among them. Even Han Siwoo kept glancing at Gaeulbi with concern throughout the feast.

And after the party ended, the three of them entered one tent and fell into sleep. Seo Yun also fell asleep for the first time in a very long while, and when she woke, it was already dawn.

And it was only near dusk that Han Siwoo woke up. He walked around the village with a bright expression while eating a late lunch-cum-dinner, but Gaeulbi, who woke up even later, did not do the same.

Just like during the feast, Gaeulbi remained deathly pale throughout. Unable to bear it any longer, Seo Yun asked if she was still tired or if she should cast a Spell on her, but Gaeulbi shook her head.

“It’s fine, Seo Yun. It’s just a mood thing.”

“What’s wrong with your mood?”

“We went to the neighboring village yesterday, remember? Back then, when Rayeon said she had Ascended for them, some people were happy, but many more were sad.”

“That’s right. Why does that matter?”

And Gaeulbi muttered.

“Rayeon… she was good to me. She treated me like a friend, according to her memories.”

Han Siwoo nodded.

“To me too.”

“But at the end, when Rayeon was about to Ascend, I just grabbed Seo Yun without hesitation. Rayeon must have been hurt watching that, right? She even fried chicken for me, calling me a friend, but then I just waved my hand, telling her to sacrifice herself instead of her real friend…”

“Why are you doing this again?”

“Sorry. I just feel bad remembering how I acted like trash again. During the journey, I deliberately tried to keep my spirits up, but now that the work is done, I’m exhausted.”

Han Siwoo’s expression turned serious. It was probably because while the girl’s depression had been ongoing since that day, this was the first time she was depressed enough to complain like this.

“Keep on—”

“I feel like I don’t know why I should live from now on. What right do I have to live, me who pointlessly killed so many people… this feeling…”

Han Siwoo’s mouth gaped open. With a dark expression, he hung his head low, and Seo Yun inferred his feelings. Han Siwoo had aided that girl’s slaughter spree and, despite her warnings, had not stopped her. He must have felt guilt, a sense of obligation, about all of it.

So when Han Siwoo’s mouth opened, Seo Yun expected words like ‘I am also a sinner,’ ‘So if you’ve committed a sin, let’s share it,’ or something similar to flow out.

But that wasn’t it.

“For my sake…”

“What?”

Frowning at the sudden words, Gaeulbi waited. And Han Siwoo spoke.

“I have something to confess.”

“What confession—”

“I like you.”

Gaeulbi’s eyes widened. Han Siwoo hastily added.

“I’m actually not gay.”

Gaeulbi blinked her still-wide-open eyes a few times, then seemed to finally realize what was happening.

Gaeulbi tightly closed her eyes. It was only after a long while that she spoke as if muttering.

“I know…”

“You know?”

“If I really thought he was gay, I wouldn’t have bluntly told Seo Yun, ‘Hey, this guy’s gay.’ It was obvious he wasn’t gay, just pulling some act, so I thought it was okay to say…”

Gaeulbi said her intention was to claim, ‘I’m a girl and he’s gay, so our Party is safe,’ to easily recruit a girl Priest who clearly seemed to have suffered from men’s confessions.

And she said she allowed him to follow her even though she knew he was deceiving her because she was afraid of wandering alone without any significant Strength, and that she pretended not to know even though she could roughly guess Han Siwoo’s intention for following.

So it seemed she was asking if he could still say he liked her even though she was such a bitch.

But disregarding that, Han Siwoo spoke.

“It’s a relief you already knew everything. But the fact that you allowed me to travel with you until the end means you didn’t dislike me that much, right?”

Han Siwoo’s face asking that was filled with tension, and even in Seo Yun’s eyes, it was understandable to be that anxious.

Not only was he worried his confession might fail, but hadn’t there been a precedent where a Troll did something similar and ended up leaving the village? He must have already realized that deceiving even his sexual identity and then confessing after traveling together was no less than what the Troll did.

A brief silence flowed. In this situation where time seemed to have stopped, the first to show change was Gaeulbi’s side.

Gaeulbi’s face flushed slightly. As if even the depression from moments ago was now buried under her heart’s pounding, her eyes and mouth trembled faintly.

That expression alone was enough to infer the confession was half successful. Han Siwoo started to smile slightly, then stopped. Even he coughed awkwardly with a flushed face.

Gaeulbi, trying to act nonchalant, forced a calm voice and muttered.

“If two people in the team are dating, it ruins the team atmosphere… What if Seo Yun feels awkward being alone…”

Seo Yun hurriedly spoke.

“I’m fine, so date, go ahead. Should I go out for a bit so you can kiss?”

Gaeulbi gave her a slight glare, then looked back at Han Siwoo. And then she muttered softly.

“Alright, then…”

Han Siwoo clenched his fist as if emotions were surging. Meanwhile, Gaeulbi still had her head hung low.

Seo Yun felt the impulse to applaud that a love that had leaped over a bell had come true, but she didn’t actually do it. Acting maturely, she simply went out of the tent and closed the flap.

Along with that, she thought. Now that he’s confessed to Gaeulbi, he probably won’t do the same to me. Surely he doesn’t think he’s so great that he can date both girls…

Thinking that made her feel even more at ease, and she finally felt that everything had turned out well. Seo Yun smiled once more.And a year and several more months passed.