The People Of Baengnyeong Forest (5)

Hyeonseong took the finished blood jade back out of Infinite Corridor. Even when she opened the info again, there was nothing at all about “opening a door to another world.”

“Maybe there were additional conditions? Like needing more blood jade, or requiring a specific place or timing…”

One of the Otherworlders offered an opinion.

“Or it could easily have been a baseless rumor. That’s how filthy things like that usually are, isn’t it?”

Ivan said coldly.

‘That sounds more plausible.’

Hyeonseong agreed. This was an item made by squeezing people dry.

Even if it did open a door to another world, that world would obviously be something like hell or a demon realm.

“That’s true. The reason people usually make things like that is to amplify the power of black magic, or…”

“To summon demons.”

“Or to corrupt humans into demons.”

The Otherworlders continued. It sounded like all of that had happened in Baengnyeong Forest’s world as well.

“But is figuring that out even important?”

Anna turned to Hyeonseong.

“I thought it might lead to useful info later when we’re hunting monsters.”

Hyeonseong answered vaguely. It wasn’t a completely false excuse—information about the dungeon’s world really could help with clearing it.

But that wasn’t the only reason she was curious.

‘If I’m going to dig into the Interstellar Network, I feel like I need to know.’

Hyeonseong remembered the Interstellar Network acting strange during the previous dungeon clear.

Whenever she tried to investigate the dungeon’s world in detail, it kept censoring information.

‘Like researching other worlds is something disadvantageous to them.’

“That makes sense.”

“If it’s something we truly need, won’t we learn it during the investigation anyway?”

Another Otherworlder said.

“Well… that’s possible.”

Hyeonseong nodded lightly. For now, that was the best way to treat it.

‘I can’t just stand around thinking forever.’

After checking the diary, they checked the log as well. This one wasn’t anything special—just notes about how they acquired sacrifices, the physical and mental condition of those sacrifices, and how many they consumed.

“So in short, the residents’ resentment here must’ve been pretty deep?”

One of the Otherworlders said.

“Of course. If you squeeze them this hard and they don’t resent you, that’d be weirder, wouldn’t it?”

“But the castle lord’s family said this was ‘minor,’ remember?”

“You believe that? People who do this always talk like that.”

“It could still be true. When they get caught, they always act like they’re the most wronged person in the world.”

“Hmm… that’s not wrong. There were plenty who, after getting caught, started ratting out every colleague in the same line of work without anyone even asking, right?”

“So if this really was minor—or ‘normal’—then…”

The Otherworlders’ faces twisted with disgust. They’d reached a pretty horrifying conclusion.

“Anyway, let’s keep investigating. What can we open next?”

The Otherworlders’ gazes turned to Hyeonseong. She took out the one remaining key from Infinite Corridor.

“Here.”

Hyeonseong handed the key to Pablo. Pablo found the door it fit.

“This way.”

“Just looking at it, it feels like an important place—like a study or the lord’s bedroom.”

Someone said after checking the door Pablo indicated. Sure enough, the door looked more refined than the others.

They unlocked it. The room beyond was a study packed tight with books and documents.

‘We should skim it first before deciding whether to sweep it all up.’

After a quick look around, Hyeonseong decided. There were so many books and papers that swallowing everything at once would probably make it harder to sift out clues.

“Let’s all look through this place together first.”

Hyeonseong told them. The others nodded.

“Check the books and documents—and also look for anything like a hidden safe.”

“Hmph. You don’t have to tell us what we already know.”

Ivan snorted. As Ivan turned his back to start searching, Hyeonseong quietly raised her middle finger behind her.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing.”

Hyeonseong answered vaguely to Kwon Seojin, who had come over to ask. She had already lowered the hand that had made the unhelpful gesture.

“By the way… you’re pretty quiet today.”

Since they were talking anyway, Hyeonseong asked what had been bothering her. Kwon Seojin was usually the type to jump in the moment there was any opening, but today she’d been unusually restrained.

“That kind of sounds like you’re saying I’m normally noisy.”

“That’s not what I mean. I remember you participating actively in the clear every time, but today it feels different.”

“Are you saying I’m being lazy today?”

“That’s not what I meant, either.”

Hyeonseong answered while shifting her gaze to a nearby bookshelf.

“Mm. There isn’t a place for me to step in yet. Not yet.”

Kwon Seojin answered and started examining the shelves next to Hyeonseong.

“Not yet?”

“Yes. I’ll probably end up taking a frontline role carrying heavy weapons, but we’re not in a situation where a fight is likely yet.”

She wasn’t wrong. It did seem unlikely that combat would break out on the floor they were searching now.

“Still, you said there might be something hidden, right?”

Kwon Seojin asked next.

“Yes. In a place like this, there’s always at least one thing hidden.”

Hyeonseong replied, scanning the spines on the shelf.

‘This section is more ordinary than I expected….’

“Like this?”

With Kwon Seojin’s words, there was a thump of a book dropping to the floor. Hyeonseong looked down.

Kwon Seojin had pulled several books out from the lower shelf. Inside the emptied space, a small door was visible.

“How did you know?”

Hyeonseong frowned. Kwon Seojin had found a hidden safe immediately, without any noticeable searching process.

“I figured if I were the castle’s owner, I’d hide it around here.”

“Really? That’s interesting. Why?”

A few Otherworlders, overhearing, came over to ask.

“It’s simple. If someone who makes what you’d call cursed items wanted to hide something, I figured they’d hide it in a tucked-away spot like this.”

Kwon Seojin answered with an awkward smile. Her answer, at least, flowed smoothly.

“Isn’t that basically saying you guessed?”

“But it does sound kind of plausible.”

Sure enough, some looked skeptical. But surprisingly, quite a lot of them nodded.

‘They’re buying that?’

Naturally, Hyeonseong wasn’t. It would’ve been more believable if Kwon Seojin had just said she got lucky.

‘It’s obvious something is hidden, but somehow you can’t guess what it is….’

Hyeonseong stared at Kwon Seojin looking into the hidden safe door with a conflicted expression.

Prophecy abilities were still not the answer. And it wasn’t just combat ability—her behavior itself didn’t match “prophecy” at all.

‘What prophecy ability would tell you that? This is less prophecy and more like… a cheat sheet….’

“It’s the kind that opens with a dedicated key. We’ll have to find the key.”

Kwon Seojin said as she stood up, and Hyeonseong’s train of thought scattered.

“Then we need at least two keys.”

“Searching everything one by one here sounds annoying…”

“Yana—can you ask Beter to help?”

“And Danilo’s spirit too…”

The Otherworlders turned their eyes to the two wind users.

“Shall we ask?”

“He’s good at finding paths, but…”

Yana stroked her spirit-bird as she spoke to it. Danilo gestured and called forth a small wind spirit.

Soon the spirit-bird and the wind spirit made a light circuit around the study. With their movement, a gentle breeze brushed Hyeonseong’s forehead.

“It says it sensed something that seems to be made of metal.”

Yana spoke, settling the spirit-bird back onto her shoulder. Danilo said the same thing.

“Where?”

“One was around there, and the other was…”

“Over there. And there, and there, and there too.”

Yana and Danilo pointed around the study—five spots total.

‘It’s unlikely all five are keys… so there’s a good chance there are more safes.’

In fact, one of the spots Danilo indicated was where Kwon Seojin had just found the safe. If another point was also toward a bookshelf, it likely meant another safe.

“Search.”

The Otherworlders started digging through the areas they’d pointed to.

Under a rotted carpet, they found a key that looked similar to the study key. When they lifted the false bottom of a desk drawer, they found a small key hidden beneath.

“This one’s a safe.”

“This one too.”

In the end, there were two keys. Pablo kept the larger key that resembled the study key. The small key went straight to the safe Kwon Seojin had found.

“This is the right key.”

The small key fit perfectly into the safe’s lock. With a faint metallic sound, the lock released.

An Otherworlder opened the safe and checked inside. Within were another key and a thick record book.

“That key will obviously be for that other safe…”

People’s gazes turned to one of the safes they still hadn’t opened—the kind that opened with a key.

“And that other safe is like a password type, right?”

Then their eyes moved to the remaining safe. It was a safe where you had to flip small wooden tiles attached to the door to form the correct pattern before it would open.

‘Since each tile is basically front-or-back only, it’s essentially a binary code.’

Hyeonseong’s eyes went to the record book they’d taken out.

“Should we check this first?”

The Otherworlder holding the record book asked. The others agreed. The record book was opened immediately.

“This is a ledger.”

The moment they opened it, rows of numbers and categories came into view. Even at a glance, it was a ledger recording taxes and other territorial income and expenditures.

“Can this be a clue?”

“Hard to say. It’d matter if you were investigating embezzlement or cracking down on illegal experiments.”

“But that’s an on-the-spot crackdown.”

“If we read more, maybe something will show?”

The Otherworlders flipped through further with puzzled looks.

“The more I read, the more it just feels like they stole really diligently.”

As the pages turned, the Otherworlders’ eyes grew colder. Even to Hyeonseong, the lord had siphoned off money and supplies thoroughly.

“So should we just remember that they were aggressively diverting funds?”

Someone asked.

“That seems right. The items listed are all ordinary.”

“What if this is some kind of cipher?”

“Eh… if you go that far, it gets too complicated. Unless a new clue shows up.”

After a brief exchange, they reached a conclusion. For now, they’d interpret the ledger only as one more reason the residents hated the lord’s family.

“Then let’s open the remaining safes.”

Using the newly found key, they opened one safe. This time, they found a small notebook.

“It’s not quite a diary… but calling it a log is kind of off, too.”

An Otherworlder said after opening it first.

“What does it say?”

“It’s like… random notes about various things…”

Others began checking the notebook’s contents too. Soon the notebook ended up in Hyeonseong’s hands. She skimmed it quickly.

‘Usually, separately from the ledger, it’ll list sacrifices to skim off, or goods to offer as bribes….’

She skipped past notes like how much money had been received, or how many gems were prepared. After flipping a few pages quickly, a strange sentence appeared.

‘A revelation?’

It looked suspicious at a glance. She kept reading.

Various notes continued after that. There wasn’t much else worth highlighting.

‘Other than the fact they started using stolen taxes to fund blood jade production instead of filling their vaults or greasing palms… no, that’s not it.’

Hyeonseong realized there was a noteworthy point—but it wasn’t on the pages of notes themselves.