The all-knowing Player (Solo Leveling)

A second family

A/N: The image above is Seon-Ji post glow-up she'll have in a few chapters. 

Time seems to have stopped in this room since I visited Park Kyung-Hee. Maybe it has always been like this. Everything in this room—the hospital bed, the unwavering beeping of the machines, the small seat, even the nearly wilted flowers gathered in a white vase above the bedside table—seems to have fallen into the eternal slumber of its resident. She breathes softly without moving, lying under her bedsheets as if she could wake up anytime. But I know she won't. All energy has left her, imprisoning her in such a weak and emaciated body that the smallest movement would exhaust her, could she open her eyes. Her unnaturally pale skin and her sunken cheeks evoke nothing but pity that swells in my heart with throat-tightening sadness.

I sit down on the chair and unconsciously slow my breathing down to match hers. But I don't waste any more time staring at her figure. I twist my fingers and call all the mana particles floating around the room towards me until creating a gate. And, for the first time since I learned to use this skill, I step into my dungeon.

Some followers stare back at me with perplexed faces. They gathered around the gate, surely waiting to be called. But, instead of leaving the dungeon to fight some enemies, they watch me join them in their new home for the first time.

To be honest, I never really cared about the inside of the dungeon. It's the home of my followers and therefore must be an appropriate living terrain for them. I never expected it to be much. Yet the sight lying ahead of me takes my breath away as soon as I lift my gaze to take in the beauty of my surroundings. An open space full of contradictions, a world with landscapes clashing against one another and yet fading together to create a place where all types of followers can live peacefully.

A volcano towers on my right. It spits out flames and lava that rise high enough for me to see its red glow from the distance as if it was welcoming me. A large pillar of smoke and ashes builds up in the sky from the tip of the mountain, surrounded by the sparks of flying embers. Streams of lava cascade down the black rocky surface. They flow through crevices and gather into lakes at the bottom of the valley, around which caves have been carved. The occasional glinting of golden and white scales through the darkness of the caves betrays the presence of dragons hiding in their home. Some prefer to rest on boulders rising from a lava river, enjoying the warmth of the rock against their scales. They raise their heads to meet my gaze before letting it sink back on the stone to resume their naps. A few growl as a dragon flies too close to the river, unknowingly disturbing the peace with its loud wing flapping.

The volcano gradually turns into a peaceful chain of mountains as my gaze drifts to the left. If the sunbeams couldn't get through the thick clouds of smoke looming above the volcano, they bathe the forest of the valley in a golden light. The soft rustling of leaves as wind rushes through the branches joins the soft shuffling of beasts in the forest. The landscape flattens towards my left. The clear green of young leaves is gradually replaced by a deep one as the forest evolves into one of pines covered in snow. A frozen stream leads through the pines, tracing a path through the canopy of white.

"Can one of you show me the way towards the hyakki tribe?" I ask the followers around me.

A wolf wags its tail and turns around, pointing with its muzzle towards the frozen river. I follow it deep into the forest until bumping into two adult elves who transport a cut trunk towards a clearing.

"Our queen!" they greet me, leading me towards the clearing. "What brings you here?"

"I was wondering if Olwen was busy. I'd like to take her outside. I have a mission for her," I explain.