The Novel's Extra (101-200)

Chapter 198 - A Not-so Restful Rest Day (3)

In Prestige, where the difference between day and night was unclear, the flow of time was still identifiable even without the help from the magnificent invention called the 'clock' by the virtue of the moon-like mass up in the sky.

When this mass sprinkled fragments of light on Prestige, it was daytime. But these white particles of light only signified half of a whole day. Currently, the particles were shining faintly from beneath the western horizon, so it had to be dawn.

"...Haa."

To Chae Nayun who hadn't slept a wink since yesterday, the dawn was rather long.

She was on the 3rd floor in Essence of the Strait's Hideout. Lying on a bed in a room full of other guild members, she was deep in thought rather than asleep.

She kept thinking about the accursed words she had heard the day before in Splendor.

—Hajin really came to see Chae Nayun?

—Ah, hey, quiet! Keep your voice down. That's still a secret....

—...When?

—A while ago, when Nayun was cursed by a banshee.

The moment she heard those words she clenched her teeth.

'I shouldn't have trusted anyone.'

The ashes lying deep inside her heart had once again lit up.

But at the same time, Chae Nayun realized that this wasn't a big deal, at least to them.

—Ah... no surprises there. Hajin isn't the type to stay still after hearing about that. So? What happened?

—Well, I really shouldn't talk. Anyways, that's why I'm wondering... is it true that they used to date?

Yi Jiyoon incited Kim Suho to speak more to lure something out of him, to simply satisfy her curiosity.

—I don't know exactly. Ask Nayun or Hajin directly later.

—...Come on~ Then what was the point in me telling you all that?

Chae Nayun didn't have the guts to call her out and complain.

After 'that incident', she was confident that she had become more audacious, yet, at that moment, all she could do was stay hidden in the shadows and listen in on them. Plus, she felt it would be strange for her to get angry when she was the one eavesdropping on them.

Chae Nayun joined them a while later pretending not to have heard anything.

She tried to act normal in vain and returned to the hideout after a day of training. She then handed the prizes to Kim Youngjin. The 'contract' was that she would yield everything she earned in the Tower to them. Although Yoo Yeonha said that wasn't necessary, Chae Nayun did so anyways.

Contrary to Chae Nayun's expectation, Kim Youngjin took a liking to the [Lv.3 Infinitely Multiplying Origami Letter]. He praised Chae Nayun in front of other guild members saying that he now had a way to communicate even when the messenger was dead.

When he put it like that, it did seem like a good item. She blamed herself for not being able to come up with a use.

In any case, as a reward, she was allowed to keep the remaining items to herself.

That was 6 hours ago.

For six hours, Chae Nayun had trouble sleeping.

Thoughts and anxiety drove off her sleep.

According to Yi Jiyoon, Kim Hajin had come to see her when she was unconscious and hovering between life and death.

She tried hard not to think about why, because the image of him looking down on her in pity filled her with disgust and anger.