Chapter 116

There was talk about these 'yellow charms' from very early on. It was just a story that went around on the Internet. The civil servant exam didn't cover it, and the rumors were never officially proven.

'It was said that yellow charms brought luck, and in some cases, even activated a gate.'

Of course, no one believed it. People just bought it as a joke because it was trending. But now, it seemed like it wasn't just an empty rumor. The proof was clearly before my eyes.

[Yellow Charm]

The Yellow Charm can activate a gate.

The description window can only be activated by the eyes of one with the qualifications to activate the gate, and entry is limited to 1 person.

According to the Internet story, the 'Yellow Charm Gate' had a huge reward.

'Come to think of it…'

I vaguely remembered the difficulty being low and the reward being big because it was a charm imbued with one's wishes, or something like that.

'Can't believe that was actually true.'

The lethargy I felt was too severe for me to do anything right now. I had to activate the gate after recovering my stamina a little, so I closed my eyes, deciding to rest.

"Oppa, come eat."

I woke up to someone shaking me.

"Sunhwa?"

"You must have been really tired. You were sleeping for so long I came to wake you."

"Really? What time is it now?"

"11 AM."

"11 AM?"

"E-le-ven in the morning. You slept for over 24 hours. It's Saturday."

Saturday? That meant I slept through the entire day.

'The Yellow Charm?'

I couldn't see it anywhere.

'Where'd it go?'

Was that Yellow Charm all… a dream?

'No. It wasn't a dream.'

It felt far too real to be a dream. Cold sweat ran down my back, my shirt wet with perspiration.

"Sunhwa."

"Yes?"

"You said I slept for over 24 hours, right?"

"Yes. I thought you were dead, you know? Mom and Unnie are worried too. Hurry and come eat."

I slept for over 24 hours, so how was my back still soaked in sweat? On this very dry early-October day?

"Ah. Noona worried a lot?"

"She did. I think Unnie really loves you."

"That so?"

"I'll wait outside."

I called Sunhwa back, who was turning to leave.

"Sunhwa."

"Yes?"

"Come over here for a sec."

"Why?"

Tilting her head, Sunhwa came up to me.

"You're coming in without knocking, huh?"

"Uh, uh, um, th-that's…"

Pak!

I flicked Sunhwa's forehead with my pointer finger.

"Owww!"

"Knock before you come in next time."

Sunhwa clutched her forehead, her eyes tearing up a little.

"Nngh. Violence is bad."

I activated Observer's Eye, the eye that discerned the true nature of things and read their flow.

My back, which remained wet after 24 hours. The 'Yellow Charm' that disappeared. And the genius tank Kim Sunhwa, who yelped in pain from a mere forehead flick.

"Make sure you knock next time."

"Okay."

"My head hurts a little right now, so I'll come out after stretching."

I had experienced this feeling of strangeness before, when I was in the distortion created by the Thin Hobgoblin using the power of the mana crystal.

I was sure of it.

'This is the inside of a gate.'

The Sunhwa who had just gotten flicked by me wasn't the real Sunhwa.

'The Yellow Charm activated the gate.'

Something might have happened while I was asleep. In any case, the Yellow Charm Gate was triggered while I was sleeping, and I was inside of it.

'A gate with no existing strats.'

So how should I clear this gate? I closed my eyes and focused my mind. I concentrated on my innate power, Eye of Perception, and specifically drew on the 4th aspect of the traits.

Resistance towards illusory attacks or apparition magic

My level of concentration could maximize my ability and strength. While I was focusing, I heard a notice.

[The power of the Yellow Charm Gate…]

* * *

Kim Hyukjin sat onto his bed. He didn't deliberately sit down; his body just automatically moved into that position. He closed his eyes, his legs crossed in the lotus pose.

He saw nothing, and he heard nothing.

[The power of the Yellow Charm Gate has begun to permeate the Player's body.]

[The power of the Yellow Charm Gate has begun to influence the Player's body.]

Words flowed out of Hyukjin's lips.

"Illusions and apparitions, distortions and lies, cannot covet me."

What he spoke was more like an incantation, a mantra that bubbled out of him involuntarily. Just like how humans were unable to control the beating of their heart, he could not control his instincts or the incantation.

"No matter what ravine of evil in this world I must traverse."

Hyukjin's body began to glow faintly with golden energy. It quickly formed a circular shape around him.

"No evil power that seeks to harm me can violate me."

The golden energy encircling Hyukjin's body began to whirl fiercely around him.

"Such is the power of intuition."

The light flared.

"The eye of insight that sees the true nature of things."

Hyukjin's eyes opened. The world surrounding him began to contort. It twisted and distorted, and the hour and minute hands on the clock hanging on the wall began to spin. From his mouth came a voice that was not his, almost like when Sunghyun and Sung-gu chanted magic incantations.

But there was something that set it distinctly apart from a magic incantation. Magic incantations were composed of an incomprehensible, unknown language.

[May all lies.]

But the meaning of Hyukjin's words was clear.

[Be shattered.]

The twisting and distorted space around him shattered like a window with a shrill crash. His eyes opened.

"...What was that?"

I had the hazy feeling I had a dream and had said something within that dream.

'Why am I…'

Why was I sitting here in the lotus pose? I thought I was in the Yellow Charm Gate, but my bed was nowhere to be seen, and everything around me was entirely gold. It was like I was in an empty room painted completely in gold.

'Something definitely happened.'

My head felt clearer, and I knew I had been mumbling something.

'Just now…'

I didn't remember it in detail, but it felt like something was engraved in my instincts.

"It feels like I… just uttered an incantation…"

The sensation was elusive, like it was dangling just out of my grasp, that intensely uncomfortable feeling of needing to reach out just a tiny bit more to be able to touch it.

'Let's not rush it.'

I took a deep breath to steady myself. It was hazy, but it felt like I had a taste of something on the next level, like I dipped my toes in a new world before returning to reality.

Just then, I heard a notice.

[You have passed the test of the Yellow Charm Gate.]

[The power of the Yellow Charm Gate commands thee.]

[The Yellow Charm Gate's quest has been activated.]

'A quest is a quest. What's with the power commanding me?'

Not long afterwards, the quest window popped up.

[Sacrifice of a Strong Wish]

This is a space imbued with a strong wish. The power of that wish is infinite and carries a noble will. The wisher's will has life and wishes to bestow a power.

Offer the wisher as a sacrifice.

A great reward will be granted depending on the power of the wish.

Information surged naturally into my mind. I found out what the 'Yellow Charm Gate' was, what the 'wish' was, and what the power that 'wish' possessed was.

I was so dumbfounded I couldn't help but smile.

'This… is Noona's wish?'

As absurd as it was, Noona had a wish like this:

I wish for my little brother to be happy.

But the intensity of her prayer for my happiness was far from ordinary. I had no idea how it was possible my sister could have such intense emotions for me. She wished for my happiness more than her own life, and that manifested as this 'power of a wish'.

By offering a sacrifice, I would achieve happiness. That sacrifice was my older sister herself.

'Is she crazy?'

This wasn't something I could evaluate with my mind or logic. Questions like why and how didn't even apply.

'I don't deserve it…'

Who was he to deserve such feelings from Noona? Regardless of the reason or motive, the fact was that Noona had such feelings, and those feelings satisfied some kind of condition and created this situation.

Someone—no, something—walked over to me, appearing in this golden room that definitely had no one else in it.

"Noona."

"Where is this place?"

My Eye of Perception captured the true nature of that figure. It was her, but not her.

Offer the wisher as a sacrifice.

This 'image' before me was definitely not Noona. But if I offered this image as a sacrifice—in other words, killed it—my older sister would die in reality. That was the kind of place this was from the very start.

"We're inside a gate right now."

"A gate?"

Noona looked completely the same as usual. I heard a notice.

[The power of the Yellow Charm Gate commands thee.]

[Offer the wisher as a sacrifice.]

[Offer the wisher as a sacrifice and be granted the 'Badge of Glory'.]

Badge of Glory. I didn't know what it was. I stood up and approached Kim Ahyoung.

"Noona."

"What?"

"Nothing."

I didn't tell her the words that were on my lips. That I was already more than happy enough.

[The power of the Yellow Charm Gate commands thee.]

[Offer the wisher as a sacrifice.]

I steeled my resolve.

'I'll give up on this gate's reward.'

This place never factored into my expectations or plans to begin with. I didn't need the reward it offered, especially if it was earned through sacrificing my sister's life.

[The power of the Yellow Charm Gate commands thee.]

[Offer the wisher as a sacrifice.]

An invisible force pressed down on me. My body throbbed with a compulsion that pushed me to move, move, move. I clenched my teeth.

'A place where will has life.'

That sentence didn't escape me. Here, 'will' had life.

'My will has to be stronger than Noona's.'

The desire to draw out the future with my two hands, unlike the past. The desire to bring happiness to the people I held dear this time. The desire to not let anyone sacrifice themself for me. If all of those could have life breathed into them, I would be able to ignore this place's power.

'I'm sure of it.'

Even if I gave up on the reward, I could leave this gate.

[You are disobeying the authority of the Yellow Charm Gate.]

[Submit to the authority.]

Who gave a shit about some authority?

'I'd be bringing shame to my regressor name if I were so weak I surrendered to an authority of this level.'

I focused my mind and closed my eyes, strongly refusing the compulsion taking effect on me. I measured the flow of each and every breath, each individual inhalation and exhalation, falling into a trance. I'd experienced this state once already. Earlier, it was an unconscious trance, but this time, I moved with intent, and an incantation spilled from my lips.

"Illusions and apparitions, distortions and lies, cannot covet me."

"No matter what ravine of evil in this world I must traverse."

"No evil power that seeks to harm me can violate me."

"Such is the power of intuition."

"The eye of insight that sees the true nature of things."

My voice changed to a voice belonging to someone else, one that echoed outward in a low tone.

[May all lies.]

[Be shattered.]

____