like you never existed || TSCTIR

snowy plains (2)

The earth rumbled, cracking the ground below and shaking the snow off nearby trees. The group who tried to remain calm immediately backed off the rising lump that brought covered soil to the glistening snow.

The monster revealed its torso, which was six metres high, and valiantly growled. The group immediately began attacking, and so did I. It was a yeti; something only seen in mythology is our boss.

But several questions came to me while I fought. Why was it hiding in the snow? When I was fighting with ice, the reflection showed me nothing; The yeti wasn't real. I guessed it could only mean one thing.

This wasn't the boss.

So where could the real boss be? With a skill in illusion, I could only guess that it could be related to the missing people of our group. I focused on my senses. This is what they do in these stories, right? Puppets must trace back to the puppeteer, and I was right. There was a faint trace of energy leading to a certain point.

"Hey, Chaewon?! Where are you going? The boss—"

Sorry, little puppy. This is a solo mission.

I followed the trail. As if it detected me, monsters appeared one after the other to obstruct my way. Since I managed to learn the ability to see the energy trails, I cut those first. The original trail got stronger and stronger the closer I got, so I was sure I was on the right track. It led me into a dark cave of ice; a woman clad in white clothing and long white hair was seen, sitting upon a web of silk. Her eight eyes blinked at me, angry that I intruded her nest. I took the chance to break the connection for the Yeti.

"Sorry about trespassing." I snapped off an icicle and presented it as a housewarming gift, delivering it right into her torso. She suddenly rose close to the ceiling, wailing in pain. She wasn't standing; she was lying, stomach down. Her abdomen was in the figure of a giant white spider, previously hidden by the shadows. She gurgled in anger, and raised her human hands, as well as two of her spider legs. She was a little gross to look at, so I was glad she sent in something else.

Six humanoid figures formed from silk dropped from the ceiling, their movements rigid as if they were mannequins. At once, four of them charged at me, while two stayed at the back, casting skills.

'It's impressive she understands the concept of a team. Perhaps she's seen us battle, and copied us.' Still, dealing with six in a body that wasn't mine proved to be challenging, but it wasn't like me to back down. Whenever I tried to aim for the spider, the four would immediately jump in my path, blocking my way, and land a combo. Whenever I tried to cut the paths of mana that controlled them, another would jump to distract me. It was getting annoying.

Actually, why did I come here alone? Solo mission my ass...

I did my best to counterattack, too. I figured the best way was to use their attacks. As one mage fired its water-type skill, I formed a wall in front of the silk warrior as I dodged so that it'd take the hit instead of me. In an instant, the soaked silk was dragged down, and I took the chance to slice the path of mana that connected it. It flopped to the ground, and I encased it in ice.

I did this again with another warrior. Then, 5 to go.

She realised the tactic I'd been using and stopped the mages, though it led to more holes in her formation. I seized the chance and broke their formation, severing their connection and encasing them in ice.

What will you do now, miss? You've lost all your pawns, and you're now faced with an irritated awakened.

"Chaewon!" I turned around. It was the puppy.

He followed me here? No, more importantly—

sshck!

Blood splattered onto my face. A thin tentacle with ends shaped like a spear, caused a deep puncture mark on the puppy's abdomen, clearing all that was meant to be there. Shock overcame me, but so did anger. I cut off the tentacle and caught the puppy. Losing a limb caused the being above to throw a tantrum, icicles dropping from the cave. I tried to use psychokinesis to keep the puppy's blood in. What happened? What killed him? And... why did he shield me?

"Chae...won...! Run..." His body was cold. His breathing was ragged. His heartbeat was weakening. What was he saying? I wasn't sure why I was feeling like this. I didn't know him for long. It wasn't enough for me to get attached like this.

Oh... I see. It was the previous owner...

A few tentacles reached into the cave. I carried his body and hid in one of the corners of the cave to avoid detection, while it fumbled around until it grabbed the spider boss. She shrieked in dismay, but she was immediately silenced by being consumed.

"Chaewon..." His words finally reached my ears. I listened closely. "Outside... is a boss you can't beat. Everyone was... killed. Take... this gate stone... and get out..." He slowly reached into his chest pocket and pulled out a rectangular prism with a shining inside.

"You need it more." I sternly said, rejecting the hand that reached out with the stone. "I've already got one."

"Liar... You never carry them..." He smiled. "Chaewon... what's your secret?"

"What?"

"The things... you never... told me. I... want... to hear... them..."

His eyelids sunk slowly as if he were exhausted, and I could see the light in his eyes dimming. I wasn't skilled enough to circulate the blood with psychokinesis, and there wasn't much time left. The cave rumbled as the boss outside threw a tantrum, sure of our existence inside. Any moment now, and the cave will collapse.

I looked at his weakly smiling face. Something took over, and memories overflowed me. "...I've always liked horror movies. I just didn't watch them because you didn't like it."

"You... lied about... that? Ha..."

"I also lied about not punching that guy, back in college. They talked bad about you, so I thought they needed a lesson."

"Is... that so?"

"Yeah. When you left home and had nowhere to go, I welcomed you into my house and lied about moving there coincidentally."

"..."

I activated the mind-reading skill. I tried to hear the tiniest of voices he may have. Anything— anything was fine. Just something that told me he was still listening.

It was silent. 

So I clenched my jaw and kept on talking as the cave slowly lost its shape. It was the first time I talked so much about myself. I leapt out of the cave, carrying a body preserved by ice.

"And... I lied about my abilities. I awakened at 18. I thought that if I kept all of it to myself, we could continue the life we had then. I've always been an S-Class, Kang Hayoon."