Chapter 47
The Arrow That Left the Bow (6)
This is bad.
My plan to avoid the assault team is about to collapse.
If I run into Hanromi with my bare face exposed, that would be a massive disaster.
I couldn’t help but resent the nameless beastman who had roughly ripped off my mask when I entered Kona, suspicious of me at the time.
The only things hiding my identity were my extravagant mask collection and my Anonymity skill. And even that skill, which was currently usable, could only blur my features slightly.
“Sam, find me an item in the market to change my face—immediately.”
Every step I took toward the birdcage felt like I was losing a piece of my life. I urgently called Sam.
[⁕ Search results: 2,813 items found.]
“Of course, you should filter for the most usable one yourself!”
Even in this situation, it was irritating. Was he doing it on purpose?
I was a step closer to Hanromi.
[> Items available for purchase]
Selkie’s Skin – 31,394G
Mansang Mask – 490,120G
■■■’s Medallion 9 – 1,000,700G
“Ugh, these prices are insane!”
Three million? Forty million? A hundred million?
I hoped the cheapest one would suffice, so I checked the first item.
[Selkie’s Skin (A)
Skin of the seal fairy, Selkie. Transform into a seal upon wearing.
Death occurs if encountering the original owner.]
Nope. Becoming a seal beastman wasn’t an option. I’d have to spend more money for another choice.
[Mansang Mask (S)
A silver mask created by the Archmage of Akemenes to conceal their identity.
When worn, it can perfectly replicate the appearance of any being you have seen even once.
This transformation reproduces not only appearance but also voice and body shape, lasting for a certain period.
/Potential ability/ Maintaining the appearance of the same individual for an extended time may result in partial memory loss.]
[■■■’s Medallion 9 (S+)]
An ancient magical device used by mythological races to hide among humans.
When worn, it conceals the wearer’s original features and transforms them into the desired appearance.
This is the 9th medallion remaining out of the original 10, after the crafting method was lost.]
These items were definitely worth their multi-billion prices.
“Damn it, I didn’t plan on spending this much on the 51st floor.”
I hadn’t worked like a merchant just to blow all my gold like this.
Still, if I emptied my remaining gold, it was possible.
With tears in my eyes, I purchased the Mansang Mask.
A quick errand turned into a 4.9 billion gold expense. My luck couldn’t be worse.
Now, which face should I choose…
“Hmm, human, didn’t you have long hair originally?”
“…No?”
“Did I misremember? Strange. Anyway, come here.”
The wolf beastman seemed only capable of getting angry, but clearly lacked observation skills.
I was 15 cm taller, my voice a bit lower, my facial features more defined, and my hair had gone from shoulder-length to a short cut.
“This works.”
I stepped in front of Hanromi wearing Lee Haewon’s face.
Who’s Lee Haewon? My older brother.
He had gone missing, and though I didn’t know if he was alive or dead, I hoped he still lived.
Since he was already registered as deceased in Babel, using his face should be… okay.
“If my brother comes back alive, he’ll understand.”
Probably.
“Who… are you?”
Hanromi’s vacant question made me turn my head to look at them.
For some reason, the human before him had piqued his curiosity. His eyes widened slightly, then returned to a drowsy half-lidded gaze.
“I… I’m a human under house arrest.”
“Oh… you live in the trees, huh…”
I was stunned by how relaxed and unconcerned he sounded.
‘Does he really have no prejudices?’
Yes, Hanromi was famous for wandering around like a smartphone on the brink of battery depletion, just like the Greenwoods’ vacation lodge. Unlike the overworked government official Park Ji-woon, Hanromi seemed naturally low-energy.
With his stark white hair and pale ochre eyes, he seemed slightly detached from the world.
But does he even act like that inside a cage?
At that moment, the eagle beastman standing next to me tapped my shoulder.
“You, interrogate this human.”
This was another level of absurdity.
“…Technically, I’m also being monitored, right?”
I usually tried to obey instructions without complaint.
But the situation was ridiculous: the human they’d captured was suspicious, so they summoned Echo, and now they wanted me to interrogate them.
“I… I don’t even want to talk to this human! They’re unbearable!”
Wow.
The eagle’s wingspan must really be impressive.
I absorbed the new information and instinctively nodded.
Then I stepped back, ignoring the wolf and eagle beastmen who glared at me, and slowly approached the cage.
Hanromi leaned against the cage bars, looking up at me.
Even as a support-focused Awakened, if Hanromi wanted to leave, he could do so easily.
But his slightly downturned, gentle eyes were staring at me without any energy.
In other words, he was completely listless.
I crouched and met his gaze.
“Why did you come here?”
“Just… I saw some herbs.”
Hanromi answered more honestly than I expected.
“What kind of herbs?”
“Blended herbs…?”
“What’s blended herbs?”
“Uh, you don’t know…?”
Suddenly, I understood why the eagle beastman was furious.
Even now, the beastmen behind me were emitting waves of anger, which I barely managed to suppress.
“I don’t know. Please explain.”
“Hmm, it’s a hassle… so blended herbs increase the combination rate between herbs. And the most effective blended herbs I’ve found are here…”
“But how did you know blended herbs are here? You can’t come into humans’ territory, can you?”
I almost said ‘assault team.’
“That’s because of my skill…”
“What skill?”
“That… I can’t tell you…”
As a citizen of Korea, I guessed it was probably a well-known Hanromi skill. I was just a puppet of the beastmen behind me.
I whispered as desperately as I could.
“I know it’s rude, but I have to impress those behind me right now.”
“Ah…”
Hanromi nodded weakly. Even someone indifferent to everything wouldn’t ignore such a sincere request.
“One of my skills allows me to hear the voice of the leaves. They told me this…”
“Really?”
It seemed like the answer was correct. I turned around and gave a thumbs-up.
But the wolf beastman muttered distrustfully.
“Skill? What nonsense. You expect me to believe that?”
“I’m not asking you to believe it!”
“I heard it too…”
Hanromi blinked slowly and extended his hand outside the cage.
Then, from his empty palm, green energy slowly began to flow.
The energy sprouted like small buds, stretching upward like vines.
‘This is the story of the leaves…’
Hanromi’s most famous skill, Story of the Leaves. It reads memories left in leaves; recent memories, like two days ago, can be accessed without issue.
A warm, life-affirming energy with no hostility at all.
For that moment, both the beastmen and I forgot everything and stared at the green light.
When the green energy touched the leaves above…
Hanromi looked directly at the two beastmen with rippling green eyes and spoke.
“You two, wolf and eagle, last night here—”
“I got it! We believe you!”
The eagle beastman jumped up and cut off Hanromi’s slow speech in an instant.
The wolf beastman covered his mouth and looked away.
…What?
“What?”
“Watch your mouth, human!”
“What?! I’m really curious!”
Forget that I’m human and suspicious!
What happened between you two last night?
I quickly looked at Hanromi, but it seemed he wasn’t going to reveal any more.
“Shut up!”
“Ah, but I want to know!”
“Don’t forget that you’re currently under confinement, human!”
“I haven’t forgotten! So what actually happened last night?”
“So, what should we do with this human?”
He completely ignored me.
Finally, I snapped back to reality.
Ah, my brain, already rotting from romance after meeting Clara, got distracted by another dopamine hit.
I was in a serious situation, yet I got sidetracked.
The wolf beastman responded seriously to the eagle’s words.
“She doesn’t seem to be lying, but even so, we can’t just release you—”
At that moment, someone shouted from near the ladder.
“Wanda! Tom!”
I couldn’t see what kind of beastman it was, but their voice was loud.
“This is bad! The warriors sent to the front line have returned, and they’re all severely injured!”
“What?!”
“A stray bomb hit the explosives! The warrior leader is critical!”
The atmosphere around the wolf and eagle couple froze instantly.
I also froze at the word front line, thinking of someone.
The kind rabbit warrior, Onak.
I instinctively grabbed the wolf’s arm and asked,
“Is the warrior leader Onak?”
The wolf stopped mid-motion when he saw my face.
“…You know the warrior leader?”
That was confirmation.
‘Of all people, it’s Onak!’
The fact that it was Onak made my mind go blank.
Normally, I wouldn’t care for the NPCs in the tower, called Performers, but the 51st floor remained after clearing, so I could still meet Echo and Onak.
‘He can’t possibly die…’
I didn’t know how critical his condition was.
Could a beastman’s body, slightly more resilient than a human’s, survive severe injuries?
I imagined Onak’s funeral and Echo left alone, placing a bouquet on his grave, and squeezed my eyes shut.
Normally, I could’ve searched the market for a solution.
But I had spent all my gold buying the Mansang Mask, leaving me no options.
“I can heal him…”
If only Hanromi were here.
Hearing that slow, calm voice was like a ray of sunlight.
‘Right, Hanromi is here!’
Even in this place full of injured warriors, frontlines, and hostile beastmen, a healer was here like a miracle.
Trapped and listless, yes.
But still, the pride of Korea… the guild leader of the Greenwoods, Hymn of Healing, Hanromi.
