The People Of Baengnyeong Forest (10)

‘If it’s not in the middle, that means it’s hidden somewhere along the edges….’

There were several bundles of straw scattered around the perimeter. Ye Hyeonseong started rummaging through the pile stacked closest to the stairs.

‘Nothing here.’

Even after shoving her hand in and digging around—and even after swallowing it into the Infinite Corridor and checking the item list—she found nothing. She moved on to the next pile.

‘Here… there is something.’

This time, she felt several small, hard objects inside the straw. She grabbed one at random and pulled it out—it was a silver coin.

After putting the straw bundle into the Infinite Corridor and checking, she confirmed a few gold coins and silver coins, and several gemstones.

She moved on to the next straw bale. This time, there was someone already standing in front of it.

“Find anything?”

Ye Hyeonseong asked Kwon Seojin, who had his hand buried in the straw.

“Not yet. But I think there’s something here.”

As Kwon Seojin said that, he pulled back his arm—and an arm bone came with it in his hand.

“The remains the monster brought were here.”

Kwon Seojin said, lifting the skeletal arm.

‘This… isn’t in monster-state.’

Ye Hyeonseong quickly checked the remains’ information. Unlike the wyvern bones that had risen as a monster, the child’s remains were in item status.

“Let’s take it out and check.”

Ye Hyeonseong said, sweeping the straw aside. Kwon Seojin carefully lifted the remains out from between the bundles.

Tak

When Kwon Seojin raised the upper body, there was the sound of something rolling and tapping against bone.

“What is that? That thing inside the ribs.”

The Otherworlders who’d come up beside them peered down at the remains.

“It looks like a bead….”

Ye Hyeonseong pulled out the sphere lodged inside the ribcage.

It was a sphere with dense deep-green energy swirling inside.

It was an absurdly simple description for an item of that rank.

“Soothe souls filled with grudges…?”

Someone muttered after reading it.

“Then does that mean we can use this to pacify all the undead awakened in this dungeon?”

“Or it might be something that purifies or removes the Blood Jade of Grudges.”

A few people looked at Ye Hyeonseong. The implication was obvious.

“Isn’t it too early to test it right now? We still don’t even know how the blood jade is used.”

Ye Hyeonseong said.

“That’s true. If we try purifying it recklessly, we might end up unable to use it where we actually need it….”

“And it’d be a problem if that thing disappears after a purification attempt. There are multiple blood jades, but we’ve only found one of these so far.”

Soon, they decided to abandon experiments for now. The downside risk if things went wrong was too big.

“But… why was this kid carrying something like that?”

Someone voiced the question, looking at the remains.

“Yeah. This isn’t a normal object.”

“Maybe they found it by chance and just thought it was a pretty bead….”

“Even if that’s true, then why did the wyvern specifically bring these remains?”

“Digging around the nest turned up quite a bit—gems, gold coins, that kind of thing. It seems like the type that covets shiny things, so it might’ve spotted it while roaming and brought it back.”

Various guesses floated around about the child’s remains and the green crystal. But no one could be sure of the answer.

“…For now, let’s go down. We’ll find another clue somewhere.”

Someone said after a moment.

“Right. We’ve checked everything there is to check, haven’t we?”

“Then we grab what we can and go down to the Underground Prison.”

“If we can take those wyvern bones with us, there are lots of ways we could use them….”

“But… what about these remains?”

Someone asked, pointing at the child’s remains.

“Yeah. Leaving them behind feels wrong….”

“But taking them is a hassle, isn’t it? It’s not like we can bury them properly.”

“Uh… carrying them isn’t a problem, though?”

Ye Hyeonseong cut in.

“Ah… right. Carrying them isn’t an issue.”

“I’ll take the remains with us for now. More importantly, decide how we’re splitting that already.”

Ye Hyeonseong pointed at the Bone Wyvern’s corpse. Unlike the other junk, that was clearly spoils of war. It needed to be distributed by merit.

“For us, we can split it outside anyway, so we only need to split out the two of your shares. Hmm….”

The Otherworlders examined the corpse briefly, then pointed at the tail that had been torn off separately.

“Would that much be okay?”

Ye Hyeonseong looked to Kwon Seojin.

“That’s more than enough.”

Kwon Seojin nodded. Ye Hyeonseong immediately collected the Bone Wyvern corpse. She put the long tail bones into one compartment first, then the remaining parts into another.

Lastly, as if cleaning out the nest tower, she swept the miscellaneous junk into the Infinite Corridor. She even found a few more gemstones and a couple of coins that she’d missed between the straw piles.

“Does anyone need more rest or treatment?”

Milena asked. Everyone answered that they were fine, and the party went straight down the tower.

‘Is there really nothing outside?’

Back at the front gate, Ye Hyeonseong’s eyes turned beyond the castle walls. Outside, a small portion of the village sprawled out.

‘It’s not large, but it’s still part of the dungeon’s area….’

There had been nothing when they first arrived, but that didn’t mean it was still the same now.

Hadn’t the Bone Wyvern appeared only after they rang the bell carved with the dark formation?

“Do we really not need to check outside again?”

Ye Hyeonseong said to the group as they were about to go inside.

“Outside?”

People looked beyond the walls.

“Didn’t we already conclude there was nothing out there?”

“We don’t know that anymore.”

“Ah, now that you mention it….”

Only then did the others seem to recall that a monster had appeared after the bell rang.

“What do we do?”

“If we’re going, we should go now. Once we go down there, we don’t know if we’ll be able to come back up.”

“But even if we go, will there be anything new?”

“Still, ignoring it and not going feels… unsettling.”

After a brief hesitation, opinions began to converge.

“Better to check once than leave something nagging at our backs.”

“And we still have time.”

They still had more than three-quarters of the remaining time left. It was the result of saving significant time on item investigation.

“Alright. Let’s do one quick sweep outside and come back.”

They turned and headed out.

“Huh? That’s a ghost, right?”

Not long after stepping outside, someone pointed in a direction. Looking where the finger indicated, Ye Hyeonseong could also see something faint and pale.

“It is.”

Milena confirmed.

‘Did it come out because the weather got darker?’

Ye Hyeonseong looked up. The weather had passed “overcast” and entered the territory of “dark.”

“Is it a monster?”

Someone asked while pulling an arrow from a quiver.

“No idea.”

“Should we attack?”

“Wait.”

They were debating whether to attack when the ghost approached them first.

‘It doesn’t feel hostile.’

To Ye Hyeonseong, it didn’t look like the ghost had any intention of attacking.

“Let’s wait.”

Since the others seemed to see the same thing, the weapon tips that had been aimed at it lowered.

As the threatening weapons vanished, the ghost came closer. With the distance closing, Ye Hyeonseong could examine it in detail.

‘It’s not fully formed. Still, you can tell it was probably a villager.’

Unlike the ghosts on the third floor of the castle, this one barely had a human outline. Its facial features and fingers were all blurred, as if smudged away.

Its clothing was the same—details were smeared, though the overall shape suggested plain commoner attire.

‘More importantly… what is it doing all of a sudden?’

While Ye Hyeonseong observed it, the ghost drifted closer to her, circling around as if it wanted something.

“It doesn’t look like it wants to attack. What is it?”

“Hard to say. If it could talk, we could ask.”

The Otherworlders looked just as puzzled.

“Could it be that it wants something among the items Ms. Hyeonseong picked up?”

Kwon Seojin said.

‘That makes sense.’

Ye Hyeonseong agreed. Nothing else fit.

‘Something a commoner ghost might want, without hostility….’

Ye Hyeonseong opened the Infinite Corridor low to the ground. The child’s remains descended carefully from inside.

The instant the remains came out, the ghost flinched—then flew straight toward them.

Judging by the way it tried to embrace the remains, it seemed to be family.

“Good thing we brought them.”

The Otherworlders muttered as they watched.

“Then are we done and can go back now?”

“Seems like it still has something it wants.”

The ghost straightened, then gestured to the party. When they focused on the gesture, the ghost pointed at the remains.

“Does it mean ‘carry them’?”

Someone muttered. The ghost nodded. It couldn’t speak, but it seemed to understand.

Someone carefully lifted the remains into their arms. The ghost motioned for them to follow and set off first. The party followed behind.

Before long, the ghost slipped into an empty house with its door shut. Pablo checked it, then opened it using a lockpicking skill.

The house was narrow, so not everyone could enter. Only the person carrying the remains and a few others—including Ye Hyeonseong—went inside.

Once inside, the ghost pointed at a straw bale covered with cloth. It seemed to mean for them to place the remains there.

When they set the remains down atop the straw, the ghost stroked the skull. After a moment of that, it bowed to the party.

“So we’re really done now, right?”

It looked like the ghost’s request had been fulfilled, so the party started to return to the castle.

Then the ghost moved again. It passed through the wall and went outside, so those inside followed out as well.

They followed the ghost as it set off again. They reached the destination quickly.

This time, it was a dry well nearby. The ghost pointed into the well.

“Looks like there’s something down there….”

People walked up and peered in.

“What is that?”

“Something’s glinting, I think….”

“I’ll bring it up.”

Yana sent down her spirit bird. The spirit bird returned carrying something from the bottom of the well.

“This is….”

People examined the object resting on Yana’s palm.

It was an ornament with a simple design of lines and curves, yet with an abstract quality to it.

“It’s a holy relic.”

Milena said after inspecting it. Hearing that, Ye Hyeonseong opened the item information.

“A holy relic? Then….”

A few people’s eyes widened.

“Does this mean we can drastically cut down on combat?”

“No telling. The ‘forsaken’ part is the problem.”

Someone pointed out the item’s name. It was certainly a concerning detail.

‘Still, if it’s S-rank, it’s definitely important.’

One way or another, there was a high chance the relic would play an important role in clearing the dungeon. Ye Hyeonseong stored it in the Infinite Corridor.

“Uh, over there.”

Someone pointed at the ghost. Its form was slowly fading. Seeing it depart on its own, it seemed it had no more business.

Milena and a few others offered a prayer for the departed soul.

“Alright. Let’s return to the castle.”

The only place left now was the castle basement. The party returned to the castle.

“Once we go down, we’ll likely be fighting nonstop. Final check, everyone.”

Back at the castle front, Ivan spoke. Everyone checked their condition, weapons, and ability status one last time.

When all preparations were done, they went inside.

“The first floor’s the same as the beginning.”

“Except it feels more unsettling now.”

The Otherworlders spoke as if sensing something.

‘They did say the deathly energy got denser.’

All Ye Hyeonseong felt was that the air was colder than before, but she could roughly understand what they meant.

They moved through the quiet corridor and soon arrived at the basement door.

“Alright, opening it.”

Pablo found the basement key in the key bundle and opened the door. With a creak, a barred door swung open.

Before going down, Yana and Danilo sent their spirits down first. The spirits returned quickly again.

“They say undead are gathered right from the entrance.”

Danilo relayed what he’d heard. What Yana reported was similar.

Hearing that, everyone tightened their grip on their weapons. Milena cast a skill on those who needed holy power applied.

Ye Hyeonseong also couldn’t go down empty-handed, so she took out the pickaxe again. Ivan looked at her like she was pathetic, but Ye Hyeonseong ignored it.

‘It’s not like I can go barehanded.’

If she’d joined as a porter like usual, or if she were leading the raid, she wouldn’t need to do this.

But right now, she was basically tagging along in someone else’s dungeon clear by accident. Even if her day job was porter work, she still had to contribute a little in combat.

“Let’s go down.”

With Ye Hyeonseong receiving holy power on her pickaxe, combat preparation was complete. The party headed down the stairs at once.