Chapter: 311
It’s a gloomy hour when the moon rises at the center of the night sky.
All the students should’ve been asleep by now.
If anyone were to be caught wandering outside the dorm, it could lead to a rather unpleasant situation.
Moreover, with the students on night watch and instructors patrolling from time to time…
What on earth is going on here?
“Why are you here?”
I asked, utterly baffled.
Because, no matter how much I thought about it, I just couldn’t make sense of it.
Why is this sleeping dragon here right now?
And furthermore…
‘I didn’t notice,’
Let’s say Wi Seol-ah originally had a unique presence, which might explain things.
As for Cheonghae Ilgeom? Well, his level is so high that maybe he wouldn’t know.
But…
‘If you’re telling me you didn’t even sense the sleeping dragon’s presence…’
It appeared that there was something quite powerful surrounding this area.
Let’s just hold that thought for the moment.
“Why are you here at this hour of the night?”
To my question, the sleeping dragon tilted his head.
He didn’t say a word, but from his expression, I could tell what he wanted to say to me.
“…Why am I here?”
“Oh, I was wondering whether or not to tell you. I appreciate that you’ve done it for me.”
He said this with a grin.
It was a rather refreshing smile.
This was definitely a quite unpleasant night—seeing a handsome guy’s face at this hour.
“I was curious about where you were going so late. So I decided to follow you… What on earth are you doing here?”
The sleeping dragon looked around as he said this.
My eyes bulged wide as he spoke.
You followed me?
“Where did you start following me?”
“Hmm? From the moment I saw you through the window.”
You saw me moving outside the dorm window?
‘No way that’s true.’
I’m not an idiot.
How well did I know the route here over the past few days?
I hadn’t moved in such a way that a late riser would notice,
while also being cautious of where people stayed.
Since I had suppressed my presence as well.
Unless you approached someone of Cheonghae Ilgeom or Geomhu’s level…
It wouldn’t be easy to get caught.
“You spotted me?”
“Well, to be fair, I heard you rather than saw you.”
That’s a baffling statement.
What did you hear again?
“To be more precise, rather than saying I heard… should I say I found the place where things couldn’t be heard?”
“What are you talking about? If you’re going to say something, make it clear. So I can understand, please.”
I was scratching my head, unable to follow a single word he said.
‘First of all, what’s more important than that is…’
Not being able to comprehend what he’s saying isn’t the main issue here.
After all, it’s not like I didn’t feel anything.
The fact is, the sleeping dragon somehow made it here.
‘What should I do?’
It doesn’t really matter yet.
The sleeping dragon probably hadn’t realized there was a formation here.
‘First, I need to go back.’
I mean, time is already slipping away.
If the sleeping dragon has seen this…
This is certainly not a situation where I can wrestle with the formation.
But at the same time, I can’t just deal with this sleeping dragon.
‘…Another opportunity will come.’
It was my fault for trying to rush things.
I can’t help it. The safest option is to just head back for now.
‘I realized that I can’t handle the formation alone. Next time…’
Should I really bring Wi Seol-ah along to figure this out?
I feel bad for the inspector, but given this situation, it’d probably be better to ask again.
If that doesn’t work, I’ll need to find another way.
Having thought that much,
I immediately got up.
Then I looked at the sleeping dragon and spoke.
“…I just came out for a walk.”
“That excuse is pretty weak.”
As expected, he didn’t believe me at all.
I wouldn’t have believed that excuse either.
The sleeping dragon chuckled softly.
Right then, he glanced around.
Is this the right time? Should I hit him from behind, knock him out, and make a run for it?
It feels like it might work.
An unconscious sleeping dragon could just be tossed into a room.
Yeah, that would definitely work.
Just as I was about to move,
“It’s so quiet as expected.”
I felt frozen at the casual words coming from the sleeping dragon.
“What?”
“I thought I was mistaken, but it seems I wasn’t.”
Yeah, it’s nighttime, so of course, it’s quiet.
Am I losing my mind because I’m sleepy?
“Next to you, it’s quiet. It’s just amazing.”
“That’s strange, it wasn’t a noisy time to begin with.”
I was careful not to get caught fooling around, spreading out my breath.
Naturally, it should be quiet. If it were noisy, that would be a problem.
Despite my blunt words,
the sleeping dragon simply chuckled.
He looked genuinely cheerful.
“I don’t believe you when you say you went for a walk.”
“…No, I’m telling you, I’m really out for a walk!”
“I guess that’s true.”
It felt like a lie to say he’d be kind enough to believe me.
What do I do? Can I hit him once?
Will he faint from that?
If I mess up my strength control, it could turn into a big issue.
But really, why is he being so friendly?
I mean, I have memories from my past life, so that explains me being different.
But to him, I’m just a complete stranger.
And if I think about it, it took a while for us to warm up to each other in our previous life, too.
It’s hard not to think that this current situation is a bit abnormal.
Did he swallow a poppy? Why is he acting like this?
‘…This is not the time to ponder this.’
First, go back to the accommodation.
The priority is to explain things to the inspector later.
“I’ve seen all there is to see… I guess I should be going now.”
Just as I was about to lead the sleeping dragon back before Cheonghae Ilgeom arrived,
the sleeping dragon strolled past me and said,
“Is this the problem you were talking about?”
“Yes, so I want to go back… What was that?”
He gestured toward empty space and spoke to me.
“…!”
The moment I glanced at the tip of the sleeping dragon’s finger, I took a sharp breath.
“You…!”
He was creating ripples in the air just like what Wi Seol-ah showed before.
It flowed so naturally.
Watching that, I widened my eyes and asked,
“Can you see that?”
“No.”
The sleeping dragon responded promptly.
So what in the world am I witnessing right now?
Before I could voice my confusion, the sleeping dragon offered another answer.
“But if you listen, you can hear it.”
“…You can hear it?”
“The sound of the flow. Even if the noise disappears when you’re next to me, I can still hear this well. It’s unfortunate, though.”
His words came out as if they were amusing and turned my head into a whirl.
‘If you can just hear it, you can cut through whatever you want.’
It brought back memories of the sleeping dragon casually cutting through formations with his sword in my previous life.
It was similar back then.
Namgung Bi-ah was also like that.
‘Am I seeing some sort of difference in sense that I don’t possess?’
A question arose within me.
It seems these folks are different not merely because they’re geniuses but because their domains are somewhat dissimilar.
As I had that fleeting doubt,
the sleeping dragon, still gesturing in the air, paused his hand, seemingly having found something.
With a quick swish,
he plunged his hand into the waves.
Surprisingly, his hand disappeared into the flow as if it passed through a wall.
“Even if it’s just a coincidence, I have found out one of your secrets, so I’ll share one of mine too.”
Amidst this unfolding enigma,
the sleeping dragon continued smiling.
I stared at his face quietly.
Bam-!
Suddenly, I heard something shatter in the air.
And at the same time…
Crash-!
Centered around the arm of the sleeping dragon that was submerged,
golden threads spread out beautifully like a spider web.
Although the area wasn’t very wide,
the gold slowly expanded, forming a border.
It took shape.
‘A door?’
It looked like a door large enough for a person to enter.
Then…
Clang!
In a matter of moments, it shattered with a sharp sound,
and the fragments of empty space, like falling raindrops, were carried away by the wind and disappeared in an instant.
What remained was just a door that seemed to lead somewhere.
“…Huh…”
As I gazed at that in a dumbfounded stare,
the sleeping dragon, having brushed his hand, spoke to me.
“So now we each have one of each other’s secrets?”
His brightly smiling expression felt incredibly awkward.
“Now we’ll be able to get even closer.”
The casual words made me go pale in disbelief.
“…What’s with that expression? Isn’t this what you were hoping for?”
“No, that’s true, but it sounds a bit dirty.”
“…Dirty?”
The sleeping dragon felt confused by my response for a moment.
Then, as if he figured it out, he clapped his hands.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I have a fiancée. I appreciate your feelings, but…”
“What the hell are you talking about, you idiot? Why are you the one apologizing?”
I got a fiancée too, you jerk…
I’m just sitting here, so why is there a difference? And also, he’s a guy!
‘Wait a minute. A fiancée?’
I felt a surge of anger and shot back,
but mixed in there was some bizarre information.
“You mean you’re engaged?”
‘I swore he wasn’t engaged?’
I didn’t remember hearing that in my previous life.
And besides…
‘Isn’t he a Taoist?’
Can a Taoist really marry?
Of course, they say some masters can.
But a shaman?! Surely that’s not allowed.
In that moment, all sorts of thoughts spun through my head.
While I was dazed, the sleeping dragon called out to me.
“Aren’t you going in?”
He pointed at the open door in the air.
Looking at it, I couldn’t help but respond, incredulously.
“…Why on earth would you want to go in there?”
“I opened it.”
“…”
I had nothing to say in response to the sleeping dragon’s words.
Because, to be honest, he had a point I couldn’t argue against.
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