Chapter 86

**Episode.86 The Story of the One Left Behind**

[Baek Harin SIDE]

When did it start to feel like this?

It feels like the moments I briefly spent in the same space as Shiwoo are fading away.

“… Is no one here?”

Waking up again today, I slowly sit up from my bed, feeling the cold air around me.

Whether I’m drifting into sleep or waking up to greet a new day.

My vision is always dark.

“Cough, cough.”

I coughed softly.

Did I catch a cold from the chill?

There’s no medicine here.

But thankfully, I realized that it wasn’t a cold-induced cough.

That’s because I felt the sensation of warm liquid in my hand.

The metallic smell of blood.

It started after I performed ‘precision treatment’ on him and he began to cough blood.

“Ah… Really, at least the association had a warm space.”

This place is nothing like that.

It’s not even the world I’ve lived in.

“Shiwoo is gone…”

It’s frustrating.

Really, when did it all start?

**********

Before the lightning struck the gate, when we were sucked into it.

It was when I was visiting his cold house.

He coughed blood for the first time in front of me.

And as he threw up blood, he attempted to heal, but… it didn’t mean much.

So I put him under anesthesia and tried to initiate ‘precision treatment’ by sharing senses with Shiwoo.

And then I heard that fox-like woman’s voice again.

Unfortunately, this time he had his eyes closed, so I couldn’t see her.

She was like a ghost, always floating in the air, and normally you wouldn’t hear her voice unless you shared his senses.

As his senses were shared, the voice of the fox-like woman resonated.

【… Is it really okay to leave this to such a crazy kid…? I wonder what on earth she was thinking when she willingly got anesthetized…】

“Ah, normally I should be annoyed…”

In this situation, I can’t help but smile.

Shiwoo is unconscious.

It seems like a chance for revenge against this fox-like woman who is always clinging to him.

“Hehe.”

I slowly started to take off my clothes.

【Huh? What’s she trying to do? Is she not going to stop?】

With him lying on the bed completely undressed, I caressed his skin and fully removed my clothes.

Both Shiwoo and I were in our underwear.

【Ah… She wouldn’t hear this… What can I do? How can I stop this situation?】

It was a shame not being able to see the flustered ghost woman directly, but… I was quite pleased with her reaction.

And I pulled the blanket nearby to cover our naked bodies so that she couldn’t see us.

【Wh-what is she trying to do under this blanket…? Surely it’s…】

I wrapped my naked form around him, ensuring our bodies were pressed against each other.

My chest was millimeters from his lips.

The more I did it, the tighter I hugged him; even if my chest was slightly crushed, I did my best to try and kiss him.

【Ugh… Is there no way to stop this…? If I just watch, I might go crazy…】

I wanted to enjoy this forever, but it’s time to treat him.

“Divide.”

This technique has a different effect from Healing.

Both are techniques meant to save people, but this ‘divide’ allows me to share the illness, so I can take on half of it.

For ordinary ailments like a cold, splitting it doesn’t make much difference… but with an incurable disease, this technique is effective.

The drawback of this technique is that it could jeopardize my life, and while using the technique, the other party might feel extreme pain instead of me.

That’s why I anesthetized him, and by the time he wakes up, the pain will likely be completely gone.

The pain caused by Divide is brief and intense.

Anyway, the treatment is now complete.

All that’s left is to wait for him to wake up without pain as the anesthesia wears off.

For now, I guess I’ll just rub against him until he wakes up and put my clothes back on.

It’s a shame that I can’t have sex while he’s under anesthesia.

Next time, I’ll have to tie him up tightly while he’s sober.

– Rub, rub.

【Ugh…】

I continued to rub against him… No, I didn’t stop feeling his skin.

But it seemed my actions were a bit too intense, causing the blanket hiding our naked bodies to slip off.

【Ah… So, that’s what it feels like to visually see something like this in real life…! I didn’t expect to see it like this, especially since that guy is involved…】

Hearing the words of the ghost, who seemed somewhat despairing, echoed in my heart.

As a woman, I could feel an overwhelming sense of superiority filling me.

“How does it feel?”

I wanted to ask, but there was no need to take the risk of revealing my power.

So where are you looking?

You fox-like woman.

**********

After that, nothing much happened.

He woke up, flustered, and the ghost woman looked broken.

We ordered delivery food as well.

And his friends? Colleagues? came to his house for drinks.

I did feel angry that they were all women.

One day, he wore the white coat I gifted him and matched up with my outfit to carry out a mission assigned by the association, using an app to find the gate that the association had created. It guided us to a mountain.

I even held his hand while climbing the hill.

We looked like a couple that matched perfectly… I was happy, very happy.

Up until that time, we were truly having a wonderful time.

Before the lightning struck that gate.

“It seems there’s a gate nearby.”

“There’s a black gate over there. What about that one?”

“A black gate? I thought blue would be better, but… still, if it gives me time to date you, the black gate is the best choice. Let’s go.”

We began to move towards the direction of the black gate.

“It’s such a nice day, but—”

Suddenly, Shiwoo stopped me and spoke.

– Crackle, boom!

The sound of lightning striking.

We couldn’t withstand the shock and were pushed back a bit, and I didn’t forget to hold onto Shiwoo.

Perhaps lightning struck right in front of us.

“W-What’s happening?”

I was almost about to sit down, relying on Shiwoo for balance.

“Lightning struck the gate in front of us.”

“Y-Yeah?… What did you say?”

I hoped I hadn’t heard wrong.

“Lightning… struck the gate?… The black one?”

What bad luck.

“Y-Yes, that’s right?”

I wished he would say I misunderstood.

“Let’s get out of here quickly!”

The tingling sound of lightning grew progressively louder in my ears.

It felt like the sound of the gate mutating was lingering, as if all life forms were being sucked in by a swirling vortex—it felt as if we were astronauts facing a black hole.

“Hurry!”

As I called out loudly, I felt him scooping me up like a princess, trying to carry me as far away as possible.

But the gate’s suction seemed even stronger.

– Woooooosh.

Shiwoo held onto me tightly, making sure I didn’t get hurt and trying not to drop me.

But he couldn’t withstand the gate’s pull, losing the ground beneath his feet and floating in the air.

We had no choice but to be sucked into the gate.

I could sense how fast it was spinning even if I couldn’t see it directly, feeling dizzy made it apparent.

Anyway, we were forcibly sucked into the gate.

**********

“Kyaah, are we in the gate now? Suddenly it’s snowing. It definitely wasn’t snowing when we were climbing the mountain.”

Since I felt a strong headache, I couldn’t confirm if this was inside the gate, so I asked Shiwoo.

Not being able to see ahead was still uncomfortable.

A sharp pain was hitting my head.

Thanks to that, it seems it will take some time to open my eyes.

However, he told me it was difficult to check because he bumped his head.

“Oh no, seems like the bump on your head is making it hard to open your eyes. I’ll heal you… But not being able to see ahead is quite scary, right?”

I fumbled around to feel him, who seemed to be lying next to me.

“Ah, right… you’ve always lived in such a dark background, haven’t you? That must’ve been tough.”

“Hehe, it’s not like it was difficult…”

Just him thinking about my struggles made me feel good.

“Heal.”

I healed him.

“You should start coming to your senses, so listen to me.”

“What is it?”

“Remember earlier when the lightning struck the black gate?”

“Yeah?”

“I heard that among the people who got sucked into the gate that turned crimson from the lightning, none have returned intact.”

“What, is that… really true?”

The truth is, each gate could lead to different places, but nonetheless…

“Yeah, though some didn’t return alive, the most important thing is the state of those who did.”

I brushed off the dust from my backside and stood up.

“I’ve heard that those who returned looked like mummies, all emaciated. I haven’t actually seen it myself, though.”

“Then… where did they lose all their strength?”

He seemed to be getting up as well.

“Yes, they said they returned with a lifeless appearance like a corpse, lacking any color.”

“Is that so? It’s probably the work of the monsters around here. As long as we’re careful, we should be fine.”

– Step, step.

“Hmm, is the ‘foreigner looking for the mansion’ that the master mentioned that gentleman over there? And there’s also that strange blind lady with him.”

I turned my head toward the direction of the sound.

Then it seemed like the ones making that sound were inviting us to the vampire mansion where they were living.

For some reason, I felt like they were targeting Shiwoo.

Monsters…? Hearing that word makes me uneasy, but there is no other choice.

We have no other way.

What would have happened if we hadn’t gained the mansion?

**’If we hadn’t gained the mansion, we probably wouldn’t be confined like this right now.’**