Chapter 127

In the pitch-black darkness.

With Noa’s question, a heavy silence settled over the hall. Ulan looked at Noa, recalling what she had just said.

“You remember your past life, right?”

That hit the nail on the head.

Looks like she somehow figured out my secret.

But Ulan didn’t just agree right away.

“What made you think that?”

“Well…”

Noa trailed off, as if pondering her response.

After a moment, her eyes sparkled as she seemed to come up with a fitting answer.

“You know, there’s a saying: ‘If your tail is long, you’ll get stepped on.’ Have you heard it?”

“Never heard that before.”

“It means that no matter how much you try to hide it, if you keep acting suspiciously, you’ll eventually get caught.”

She continued with a detailed explanation.

Ulan tilted his head.

“What does that have to do with my question?”

“Uh, to put it simply, it’s because you’ve provided so much information that I figured it out.”

The initial suspicion started with Ulan wanting to enroll at the Academy. Just that alone showed that the story was completely different from the original.

‘And from here…’

Ulan made some bold moves.

He reached the Master level faster than in the original, saved Ivella who was destined to drop out, and rescued Delia from Abyss Worshippers.

Plus, he already knew about the Lord of the Abyss and was even using techniques that shouldn’t be available at this stage.

This made Noa certain.

Her guess was correct.

“So let me ask you again.”

Her bright blue eyes sparkled.

Noa licked her lips.

“Do you remember your past life?”

Once she finished her question, she closed her mouth.

In truth, she didn’t really need an answer. With this much evidence, it was safe to say her assumption was spot on.

‘But…’

Noa wanted to hear it.

Directly from Ulan’s mouth.

For some reason, it felt like it would make it more real. As she tensely waited for his answer,

“Yeah. You’re right.”

Ulan licked his lips.

Then the awaited response came.

“I remember my past life. Everything, from the seven heroes to the Abyss.”

“……”

Just as she thought.

Noa’s gaze trembled.

At the same time, a surge of questions arose.

How on earth did he retain the memories of his past life? Just as she was about to ask, Ulan suddenly turned the tables on her.

“What about you?”

“Huh? What about me?”

“I’m asking if you’re the same as me.”

His crimson eyes glimmered seriously.

It was a valid question.

Feeling strange about Ulan’s actions meant that Noa also knew about his past life.

“Um, let’s just say I’m similar.”

Noa smiled ambiguously.

Unlike Ulan, who admitted his secret readily, she had no intentions of revealing hers.

‘There’s no benefit to exposing it.’

No matter how she thought about it, the drawbacks were much more significant.

Of course, she couldn’t hide it forever, but she didn’t want to be the first to bring it up. Just when she hoped to smoothly change the subject, Ulan spoke up.

“Did you say that about the tail being long?”

“Huh? Oh, yes, I did.”

“Funny enough, I know a similar saying.”

“A similar saying?”

“It’s an old saying passed down in my tribe.”

After suddenly blurting that out, Ulan continued the story.

“If you see a suspicious tail in the stable, cut it off immediately. It might belong to a monster pretending to be a horse.”

“……That’s not similar at all!”

Noa shot back, dumbfounded.

And why wouldn’t she? Aside from the commonality of the word ‘tail’, the meanings were completely different.

At that moment,

“Noa.”

Ulan suddenly called her name.

He spoke in a dry tone.

“I want to ask you something too.”

“Huh? What is it?”

Just as she casually asked back, a sudden feeling of unease washed over her.

It was an instinct.

A primal instinct telling her that she needed to escape this topic immediately. The urge to shift the conversation right away bubbled up.

But there was no time to react.

Ulan’s question came out quicker.

“Who are you?”

“……Huh?”

Noa was momentarily flabbergasted.

The suddenness of the question threw her off, but more than that, it reminded her of the same question she’d heard from someone else.

A little later,

Noa recalled the memory.

“Who are you?”

During a friendly mock battle, Laurea had asked that question upon arriving at the base. Remembering that moment, Noa took a step back, hesitating.

But she couldn’t create distance.

The reason was simple. She was currently holding hands with Ulan.

“Hey, why are you suddenly asking this?”

Noa forced a smile.

Trying to break free from the grip of the situation, and escape Ulan’s question.

But it was impossible.

Not only because Ulan didn’t let go, but also due to the name that slipped out from his lips.

“Outsider, Yoomina.”

“……!”

“Does this make you want to talk?”

Noa froze in place.

Not just her expression, but every movement stopped, she even forgot to breathe, and her thoughts halted.

The trembling transmitted through their clasped hands.

It was a feeling of disturbance. The returning silence fell between Ulan and Noa.

Faced with that,

“Noa.”

Ulan called her name again.

With a voice that shattered the silence, he spoke in a nonchalant manner.

“To me, you’re a suspicious tail.”

At that moment, Noa understood.

The reason Ulan had mentioned his tribe’s old saying.

“But I don’t want to cut off the tail. Even if it’s suspicious, I believe there are no monsters in my stable.”

His crimson eyes shone.

“So answer me.”

“…….”

“So I can trust you.”

With a calm voice, his strong tone echoed in her ears.

His determination to never back down was palpable in those words. As Noa still remained silent, Ulan ultimately issued an ultimatum.

“This is the last warning.”

Ulan had already made up his mind.

With the Abyss being the enemy right in front of him, he had no intention of keeping a colleague who hid a suspicious secret close.

‘What if, even after all this…’

If Noa still didn’t reveal her secret?

Then he’d have no choice but to cut off the suspicious tail.

Ulan’s gaze turned cold.

Meanwhile, at that moment,

Noa squeezed her eyes shut.

She realized that Ulan’s words were an ultimatum. The moment she realized she was cornered, she slumped her shoulders.

“Haah.”

A sigh filled with resignation.

But the lingering feeling didn’t last long.

She had hinted earlier that such a day would eventually come.

Of course, she hadn’t expected it to be this soon.

“Do I really need to tell you?”

“Of course.”

The answer came back without hesitation.

Noa sighed again. She was aware that there was no escape anymore. A moment later, with her head bowed, she licked her lips.

“…I was scared.”

“What?”

“The reason I didn’t reveal my secret.”

With a trembling voice, Noa muttered weakly.

“Because it’s obvious that once I reveal my secret, the way you look at me will change.”

The moment she finished speaking,

Suddenly, Ulan’s eyes turned sharp.

Because an assumption sprang up in his mind. After a moment, he grabbed the axe and asked again.

“…Don’t tell me you’re an Abyss Worshipper?”

“N-No! Absolutely not.”

“Really?”

“Really, so put the axe down!”

Noa screamed as she felt a chilling sensation around her throat.

Thinking about it, Laurea had said something similar too. Noa wasn’t on the Abyss’s side.

Then there should be no problem.

Ulan lowered the axe.

“Then it’s fine.”

“…What do you mean?”

“I won’t change.”

As long as you’re not on the Abyss’s side.

And as long as she reveals her secret, Ulan had no reason to be hostile towards her. Naturally, the way he looked at her wouldn’t change either.

But Noa thought differently.

“No. You’ll definitely change.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I think I would change.”

Her reply was filled with conviction.

Noa smiled wryly.

“Of course, now it doesn’t matter. If I don’t reveal my secret, I’ll just get kicked out of Ulan’s stable.”

Cutting off the suspicious tail meant he wouldn’t acknowledge her as a colleague.

That would be troublesome.

Even if the way he looked at her changed, it would still be better than being abandoned by Ulan.

‘To face the Abyss…’

She needed the power of the seven heroes.

So Noa steeled herself.

“That’s right. Just as you guessed.”

“Which means…”

“My name is Yoomina.”

The real name that slipped from her lips.

Noa placed a hand over her heart and calmly revealed her identity.

“And right now, I’m the unfortunate player who has possessed the named character, Noa Darshen, from the Chronicles of Arsen Continent.”

“Possessed? Player?”

Ulan looked completely confused.

All of those words were foreign to him.

Just when he wore a face that said he had no clue what was going on, Noa sighed and muttered.

“I feel like this is going to be a long story.”

“But I still want to hear it.”

“Sure, I don’t plan on hiding anything. But…”

“But?”

“It might be better to discuss the details after we get out of here, right? As you know, there’s no good reason to stay here for long.”

That was a reasonable suggestion.

This was a place where the Abyss was encroaching. As Noa said, staying here for a long time wouldn’t yield anything good.

And one more thing.

Before the encroachment happened, Delia had said a rift to the Abyss had opened. So it wasn’t the time to leisurely discuss things in a place like this.

“Got it.”

Ulan nodded.

It seemed he accepted Noa’s proposal.

“Then we’ll talk again on the weekend.”

“Huh? The weekend…?”

“I’ll be listening with Laurea.”

That sounded like this.

He intended to use the power of the Reflective Eye. In other words, Ulan still didn’t trust Noa.

“Alright. Let’s do it.”

“Good, it’s a promise.”

Unlike Noa, who nodded with resignation, Ulan smiled contently. He seemed happy to finally uncover the secret.

After finishing the conversation with Noa, Ulan quickened his steps. He was looking for the other colleagues. After extending his senses to the max and roaming around,

he sensed a familiar presence from a distance.

‘That’s…’

Four men and women.

As soon as he recognized this fact, Ulan realized their identities. And so did they.

“Ulan! Over here!”

Laurea’s voice soon rang out.

A little later, when he reached the area where the voice came from, everyone was gathered there.

“You were all together?”

“Yeah, Laurea came and found us first.”

“Really? How?”

Noa asked back in surprise.

It was reasonable to be shocked. Laurea didn’t have any tracking skills like Ulan did.

Just then, Laurea, who stepped up, reached out to Noa’s face. Then, she lightly tapped the corners of her eyes and smiled brightly.

“Like this.”

“Ah, no way…!”

“What you just thought is right.”

With that, Noa realized.

Why she could see through the darkness.

‘Reflective Eye.’

The ability to pierce the essence of everything.

Thanks to that, Laurea had easily found their comrades who were beyond the darkness of the Abyss.

The Abyss itself had no essence.

As she understood the situation,

“But you know…”

Laurea spoke again.

With narrowed eyes, she cast a suspicious glance at Ulan and Noa.

“You two, why are you holding hands?”

“Ah, well, this is…”

It was unavoidable since she couldn’t see ahead.

Noa was about to answer that. But before she could, there were others who reacted first.

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Just now, what did you say?”

The owners of the sharp voices.

It was Ivella and Delia.

At their reaction, Noa hastily pulled her hand away from Ulan’s. She had a bad feeling.

But it was already too late.

“Hehe, it doesn’t matter now. I saw everything.”

Laurea was persistently on the case.

At the same time, the two girls grabbed Noa’s arms.

How they managed to close the distance when they couldn’t see ahead was a mystery.

And at that moment,

“Oh, oh no!”

Noa shouted in a panic.

Then she added an explanation.

“I just borrowed his hand because I couldn’t see! There’s no other meaning! Absolutely none!”

After saying that much, surely they would understand.

That there was no ill intent.

But the ominous aura of the two girls didn’t diminish one bit. After a brief moment, they asked in cold voices.

“…Really?”

“On your mana, swear it?”

No, they wanted her to swear on something like that?

Noa had an incredulous expression. But she couldn’t argue against it. If she did, she couldn’t even begin to predict the situation that would unfold.

“Yes! I swear on the world and the name of Noa Darshen on my mana! Is that enough?!”

As soon as she finished swearing properly,

the two girls, without hesitation, hugged Noa tightly. And then, as if they never had an ominous aura, they brightened up.

“Of course, we’re friends.”

“I always believed in you, Noa.”

“……”

The transition was top-notch.

It was absurd, but she didn’t say anything. After all, the situation was resolved.

After the commotion settled down,

“Alright, let’s get to the main topic.”

Laurea opened her mouth.

It was about the darkness that had engulfed Zone 2, specifically the phenomenon of Abyss encroachment.

Chapter 30: If Your Tail is Long, You’ll Get Stepped On.

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