I tamed the First Rank Chapter 141
***
“Um?”
The young man, who had been leaning back on a long chair as if asleep, opened his languid eyes. A strange light flickered across his pale amber eyes.
"The door closed again as soon as it opened? What happened?"
The young man raised an opaque window into the air. The name of the area where the door had briefly opened was Ganghwa Island, an island known in this land. But there was no change. He tapped his chin rhythmically with a long, elegant finger, as if puzzled.
"If that child had crossed over, I would have sensed it right away. Something must have happened.... There's nothing I can do. Connecting worlds isn't easy. Should I try sending Cufflinks again? Are there any Cufflinks left? Sora, what do you think?"
He lowered his gaze and asked, but the woman, whose eyelids closed and slept peacefully, didn't respond. The young man smiled and moved his hand in the air, as if stroking her forehead.
"No matter what happens, I'll definitely bring my son back. So you don't have to worry about him."
***
After a terrifyingly heavy silence, Hyeon Gyu-ha groaned and pressed his head against his chest. A terrible headache, something he hadn't felt since the third Ursitoare he'd met at age nine, suddenly surged forward.
'Come to me, to our world, my son.'
With that curse-like sound.
The eerie sound of teeth clinking together echoed through Hyeon Gyu-ha's teeth. The ring's inability to wear was ultimately overlooked because In Yoo-shin was safe. But, but this...
The murderous intent he'd harbored for most of his life suddenly boiled over, but that rat belonged to In Yoo-shin. The disparity made Hyeon Gyu-ha unable to take any action, and the veins on his hardened jaw stood on end.
In Yoo-shin also didn't blindly protect 8-se. He was so shocked that he urged 8-se on.
"8-seya! Do you have any idea what you've done? What are you going to do?"
“Squk!”
8-se, shaking his head, crawled up his master's body. Quickly reaching his right shoulder, he extended a short forepaw and tapped In Yoo-shin's earlobe. It was right where the symbol of the artifact was engraved.
"Artifact? Are you telling me to use the artifact now?"
“Sqieak!”
"No, right now there's a problem with the artifact......."
"Squeek! Squk!"
Somnoros, who had been frozen with his mouth wide open, finally stammered out a word.
『Uh, uh. He is saying that you'll know why once you try it... Ah. He says you just have to release some of it.』
It wasn't a refreshing explanation, but 8-se's eyes were serious, and with no other option at the moment, In Yoo-shin cast the binding artifact with a perplexed heart.
[Partially releases the bound artifact 'The World Beyond the Seven Gates'.]
A vision of Inanna descending into the underworld flashed through his mind, and a young girl's voice echoed in In Yoo-shin's head. It was a voice transmitted through his will.
『We finally meet! I'm so glad we succeeded! Honestly, it was almost like gambling, so I was almost giving up. Ah, Doomnezeul. Thank you.』
“W-who are you?”
As In Yoo-shin opened his mouth as if talking to someone, Hyeon Gyu-ha and Gong Tae-seong also came to their senses and looked at him.
The sudden voice startled In Yoo-shin, but he felt a sense of foreboding. He had clearly heard it before. Not so long ago, and just moments ago.
"Well, whenever I met Gyu-ha-ssi and the elderly women, I heard some voices asking for help.”
『As expected, unlike Gy-uha, you can hear the voice I planted in the key! There's a different voice in Gyu-ha's head.』
The owner of the voice chattered in a very excited tone.
『I'd love to talk at length, but there's no time. My name is Stoya. You could say I'm Gy-uha's aunt. How much do you know?』
"That, you were buried underground...?"
『Yeah, that's right. Was it Kallikantzaros who prevented me from using my heart?』
"Yes. I got a message saying it was damaged."
『I'm sorry to startle you. But I shouldn't have come straight to Iad. Stoayn would have detected Gyu-ha as soon as he had arrived at lad, and I really wanted to meet you before that...』
"Can you open the door again?"
『I can't tell you the exact timing, but it is possible. Sometime a rift will open in your world, and there, you must use my heart and bloodline.』
Stoya's voice brightened as she quickly explained how to use it. I couldn't actually see her face, but I could feel her smile in her voice.
『I don't know for sure, but you're with Gyu-ha right now, right?』
"If you have anything to say, may you tell me?"
『No. I'll tell you when we meet in person. But more importantly, what's your name?』
"My name is In Yoo-shin. My last name is In and my first name is Yoo-shin."
『Yes, Yoo-shin. Thank you so much for meeting Gyu-ha. Thank you so much for being by Gyu-ha’s side.』
With those words, Stoya's voice vanished, seemingly lost in the darkness. He tried using the artifact again, but the voice never returned.
Hyeon Gyu-ha, who had been keeping his mouth shut the whole time, asked quietly.
"......Did you meet my aunt?"
In Yooshin, who was taken aback by the sudden change in circumstances, stammered and answered.
"Uh-uh, I guess so. More importantly, I heard you can go to ®AÇ through the rift between the worlds......."
All three people's gazes turned to one place simultaneously. Somnoros, who had been absentmindedly listening to In Yoo-shin, blinked, realizing belatedly that all eyes were on him.
"Unn?"
Once inside the villa, 6-se, who woke up and started to get active, was eating his food. The conversation resumed in the living room.
“Squeeak!”
『I guess you had to connect with ®AÇ once to use that power to speak to his lover, even if only briefly. Apparently, 8-se came to this world for that very purpose. I don't know the details myself, but it was the dead king's plan.』
"Really? I almost killed him when I received 8-se as a gift……”
“Squek.”
『Even so, I couldn't force them to follow through with the plan, so there was nothing I could do. And the dead king had already made various arrangements for this matter, even within his reach.』
Somnoros, who had been interpreting 8-se's words, furrowed his eyebrows.
『What's wrong with ®AÇ? Are the two kings are at odds?』
“Squuueak.”
『Don't you know that? What do you know?』
“Squeak!”
『Of course you know better than me! I haven't even heard anything from home in a while!』
Hyeon Gyu-ha looked at In Yoo-shin, leaving the two who had started arguing for some reason behind.
"Anyway, did my aunt tell you how to get to ®AÇ, right?"
Hyeon Gyu-ha let out a low sigh as he watched In Yoo-shin nod his head.
"I'm really annoyed that she took advantage of Yoo-shin-ssi.”
"Could it be because of my hidden attributes?"
“Damnit."
For some reason, when he brought up the topic of hidden attributes, Hyeon Gyu-ha looked even more irritated. He gently rubbed the back of his hand, as if to cheer him up, and his expression softened, intertwining our fingers.
Feeling the warmth enveloping his hand, In Yoo-shin recalled his conversation with Stoya. Though she hadn't said a word of coercion, she seemed to subtly wish In Yoo-shin would accompany him to Iad.
And that’s the same wish as In Yoo-shin.
"That, that rift in the world."
Somnoros, who was bickering with a hamster smaller than my pupil, turned his eyes.
"Can multiple people pass through the rifts in the world?"
『Unn. Sometimes, monsters wander off and pop out. I crossed through that rift when I came to the Iron Age, but I don't know if they're still around.』
Hyeon Gyu-ha sighed again.
"I saw a monster coming out of a rift a while ago, so there must be some left."
"Gyu-ha-ssi, I…”
“You can’t.”
Before he could even begin to speak, Hyeon Gyu-ha cut In Yoo-shin off like a knife. His firmness was a far cry from the usual laxity he'd shown with In Yoo-shin.
"I want to go with Gyu-ha-ssi too."
"As I said last time, it's a world on the verge of destruction. You can't even eat Korean beef or chicken there."
"It's okay to just take protein supplements three times a day."
“Last time, you ran away because you didn’t want to take protein supplements.”
“The bigger problem back then was health!”
"No way. Absolutely not."
It was an attitude that seemed like it wouldn't even work. In Yoo-shin frowned, trying to find a way to persuade him, but Gong Tae-seong intervened.
"If it's okay for several people to come along, I'd like to go and find Anna's cure myself."
“Do whatever you want.”
Unlike when he spoke to In Yoo-shin, Hyeon Gyu-ha gave Gong Tae-seong a cool, no-nonsense approval and even returned the blood sample. In Yoo-shin was dumbfounded.
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Credits:
Translator: Hoshi Miya
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