Chapter 39 ….
A long while after the deafening sound of space collapsing had finally stopped.
The children who had been trembling, heads covered as they cried, cautiously lifted their heads one by one.
“W–We’re back…!”
“Hah… we survived!”
“Waaah! Mooom!”
Some of the children, seeing the unmistakably real surroundings, burst into relieved sobs and tears.
“My grandchild, are you alright?!”
“Little sister!”
Grandfather and Older Brother hurried over, checking me over from head to toe.
“I’m fine!”
Spin, spin, spin.
“Are you really not hurt anywhere?”
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
“Yes! …I’m dizzy!”
Only after being spun around about thirteen times by Grandfather’s pot-lid-sized hands did I finally manage to stand upright again. Whew!
“Thank heavens.”
Grandfather let me go, looking as though he’d aged ten years in that moment alone.
“And the little one… she seems alright as well.”
After checking on us both, Grandfather pulled us into his arms.
“Unbelievable…”
“My goodness… I can’t believe what I just experienced.”
“So that really was a dream…”
After staying in Grandfather’s embrace for a moment, I wriggled my way out.
“My grandchild?”
“Just a second!”
I walked toward a figure lying a short distance away.
Her long, snow-white hair—tied into a single bundle—was spread across the floor, and her catlike, delicate eyes were peacefully shut.
“She looks fine. Whew.”
Unlike the adult form she’d had in the dream, Yeon Rahwa looked to be her original age.
“Thankfully, she doesn’t seem injured either.”
Older Brother and Grandfather, who had come over at some point, said the same as they looked at Yeon Rahwa.
“Yes. Thank goodness.”
Considering she’d been the host of a demonic entity, she looked surprisingly unharmed.
‘Is it because her mind was being controlled?’
I’d been worried since the possession had progressed quite far.
[Nanyeong.]
“But why isn’t she waking up?”
“Didn’t she exhaust herself too much?”
“Oh, right.”
“We should move her first. We can’t just leave her lying on the floor like this.”
It didn’t seem like Grandfather or Older Brother sensed anything particularly strange.
But still…
‘Something feels off…’
The host of the dream wasn’t waking up—something wasn’t right.
[Not yet…]
“Try harder!”
At that moment, a commotion from the direction of the door cut Duri off.
“What? It’s locked!”
“Why won’t it open?!”
The door wouldn’t open?
“…Ah.”
Only then did I realize it.
In the relief of escaping, I’d failed to notice something crucial.
“My grandchild. What is it?”
“Little sister?”
The two, about to move Yeon Rahwa, looked at me with puzzled expressions.
“…It’s too quiet.”
“What?”
“Outside should be total chaos right now, Grandpa.”
“…!”
Outside was a living hell due to the demonic creature’s attack. There should’ve been noise everywhere!
Yet there wasn’t a single sound coming from outside the building.
[It seems we haven’t fully escaped yet.]
I murmured quietly.
“It’s still a dream?”
Bzzzt— the interior trembled faintly.
“H–Huh? We’re still dreaming?!”
“…Honestly, this is enough to make a ghost cry.”
‘What is this— a dream within a dream or something?!’
This is driving me crazy!
[Calm down. It’s not as strong as before.]
Duri soothed me calmly.
[That’s why we need to deal with it quickly.]
‘Yeah.’
Right. No choice!
It was a bit depressing to cause another mess like earlier, but judging by the state of the space, the demonic creature’s power had definitely weakened.
I quickly stood in front of Yeon Rahwa, who was lying on the floor.
‘If I can finish this in one go with a talisman…’
I tried channeling my spiritual energy into my right hand.
Or rather—I tried to.
“…!”
At that moment, a sharp pain stabbed through my abdomen.
What’s going on?
[…You used too much spiritual energy.]
Duri said worriedly. What?
I rolled my eyes around, looking at everyone in the building.
Grandfather and Older Brother’s protective talismans, the spells that sharpened the other kids’ sight—
And on top of that, Duri had been protecting me nonstop since we entered this space.
Gasp!
‘Duri-duri! Don’t tell me you used up all your energy?!’
That couldn’t be, right?
[What are you talking about? …Not me. You.]
‘Me?’
Duri continued, sounding exasperated.
[With your body as it is now, it’s too much. This isn’t even reality—it’s a space the demonic creature created to favor itself.]
Ahh, so it was my problem…
[Use only as much as your body can handle. Drawing another talisman right now is impossible.]
‘Okay. I will.’
Then there’s no helping it.
‘I’ll wake her up in the most efficient way possible.’
After a brief moment of thought, instead of drawing a talisman, I infused a small amount of spiritual energy into both hands. Then—
“Wake up from the dream, Yeon Rahwa!”
I slapped both of her cheeks—smack, smack!
I’m really sorry!
“My goodness, child!”
“G–Gah!”
Older Brother and Grandfather, watching from beside me, stared in shock with their mouths hanging open.
Smack, smack, smack!
“Wake up!”
Bzzzt—
Thud. Rumble—
The space shook.
Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! The crisp sounds echoed one after another.
“Wake up from the dream!”
Smack, smack!
“Wake up, Yeon Rahwa!”
Smack! The final blow!
A scream filled with the demonic creature’s rage rang in my ears. Hmph. If you don’t want to get hit, then get out of her body!
At that moment, Yeon Rahwa’s tightly shut eyes fluttered open slightly.
“Ah!”
It worked!
Seizing the moment, I grabbed her shoulders and shook her hard.
“Ugh… what is it…?”
The instant Yeon Rahwa completely woke from the dream—
Bzzzt, bzzzt—
.
.
.
KWAANG—!!
Like a transparent glass wall shattering, the space broke apart into pieces.
This time, truly and completely.
At the same time, noise flooded in like a burst dam.
Kiiieeeek—!
Clang! Clang!
“This is the last one! Finish it off!”
The sounds of battle from outside—soldiers shouting, the demonic creature roaring.
‘Thank goodness!’
This time it’s really reality, right?!
[Yes. It is.]
Who would’ve thought the sound of fighting could feel this comforting and joyful…!
“It’s finally over…”
“Ah.”
Yeon Rahwa suddenly pressed a hand to her forehead, as if struck by a headache.
Only then did I notice a thin black line wrapped around her forehead.
Ssslide— the line moved on its own, slipping free from her head…
“Huh?”
It darted toward the entrance as if fleeing!
Looking closer, it wasn’t a string but the tail of a long black snake.
Its extremely long, thin body had wrapped around the room like a spider’s web, completely dominating the space.
And now, the demonic creature that had created all these nightmares using Yeon Rahwa as its host was escaping!
[It’s running! We have to catch it now, while it doesn’t have dream power!]
At the end of its path were the other children standing near the entrance.
It seemed to be planning to take another body as its host.
‘You think you can run?!’
I hurriedly gathered my remaining spiritual energy to throw a purification talisman at it.
Unlike before, when we were in the dream, I didn’t feel pain when drawing out my energy. I was a bit dizzy from overexertion, but—
At that moment—
Slash—!
A sharp flash of sword energy streaked past me.
The demonic creature, struck directly, split cleanly in two without even letting out a dying scream before falling to the floor. Gasp!
“So that was the source of all this?”
“Huh? Y–Yes. Probably…”
Behind me, I heard Grandfather’s low, steady voice as he cleanly cut down the creature with a single strike.
I nodded blankly at the sound.
‘That scared me!’
The sword energy had passed right beside me. This wasn’t the first time something like that had happened.
‘As expected of Father… they’re exactly alike.’
The Seol family’s single strike—strong, precise, and aimed only at the target.
Just then, the waiting room door burst open with a bang.
“Hyun-ah!”
It was Father, his entire body soaked in blood. Speak of the tiger and it appears.
Gasping for breath, his eyes rapidly scanned the room. When his dark eyes landed on the sprawled corpse of the demonic creature, they wavered slightly.
“Father!”
“My lord!”
“Are you okay? You’re not hurt anywhere?”
“Yes, Father!”
“…Phew.”
Only then did Father let out a sigh of relief and ask,
“Did Father take care of it?”
“I did nothing. My grandchild handled it all.”
“If it weren’t for Yeong, it would’ve been disastrous!”
Father looked at me with an expression of disbelief.
“Why didn’t you evacuate and stay here…?”
“Uh, well…”
I just rolled my eyes around.
“No. It’s fine. What matters is that you’re safe. …You’re really okay, right?”
“Mm. Yes.”
Though he clearly had a lot to say, Father held it back, his worried gaze scanning me over.
For some reason, meeting that gaze made my head feel warm.
“Eldest one. How is it outside?”
“It’s mostly under control. Let’s go out first.”
As I listened to the exchange between Grandfather and Father, I looked over at Yeon Rahwa.
