Killing the Possessor - Chapter 138

Not that the game ever had much of a conscience to begin with, but this was something else.

“Wait, am I actually lost?”

Somehow, the maze—which should have been easy to get through—kept stretching on and on. I even caught myself humming the chapter title, Lost, Where Should I Go? It didn’t matter how much I walked, I just felt like I was looping through the same spots over and over again.

“There’s no way this place is supposed to be this hard.”

Even a seven-year-old would have no trouble finding their way out of here with a little wandering. Sure, I’d been distracted, but…

“Wait a second.”

A sudden, uneasy thought struck me. What if this was the work of the evil spirit? If it was an illusion-type spirit, it’d be entirely possible for it to trap me in a never-ending maze until I starved.

“Oh, come on. This isn’t fair, at least show yourself!”

I was all ready to shout out the full name as soon as I saw even a shadow, but this was just cheating!

For a moment, a primal sense of panic washed over me. What if I really did starve to death here? I stopped walking and stared blankly at the endless green hedges.

There was no point in wandering aimlessly until my tendons gave out. If the spirit was too lazy to show itself even while on the hunt, then I’d just have to force it out.

“Fire.”

I grabbed the artifact on my wrist and called out the command. As I pulled my hand away from the jewel on my bracelet, a massive jet of flame burst out from my palm.

“Whoa!”

It felt like I’d turned into a human flamethrower. Not that this was the time to be excited, but it was my first time actually using this in real combat, so I couldn’t help but feel a little rush.

As I watched the hedge catch fire, I shouted:

“Burn! Burn!”

Just as expected, the moment I started destroying the garden, the evil spirit reacted.

“Stop it! Why don’t you try feeling it for yourself? That’s not fair!”

The boxwood leaves rustled and shivered, as if something with mass was moving through them. The wind only ever blew in one direction at a time, brushing through the hedges, sometimes toward me, sometimes away.

“It’s hard for me. You know that.”

The voice was trembling and tearful. It was definitely Aveline. When I stopped using fire and simply listened, she seemed to decide it was safe again and started conjuring up a new wall right in front of me.

“Aveline.”

I called her name gently, trying to soothe her.

“Aveline Boderein.”

The growing wall of green froze halfway. At the same time, the wind that had been blowing chaotically from all directions abruptly stopped.

By now, I’d gotten used to what would come next. I closed my eyes and waited patiently to be transported somewhere unknown.

My feet suddenly lifted off the ground, and I felt my entire body being pulled somewhere. As soon as the dizziness faded and I felt solid earth beneath me again, I slowly opened my eyes.

This time, the scene was my old high school.

I’d lived in the dorms here for three straight years, so I recognized the building at a glance. A lukewarm breeze ruffled my hair, and in the blink of an eye, the once-empty campus filled with chattering students.

I found myself standing on the slope leading up to the dormitory, wearing the same uniform as everyone else.

I absently reached up and touched the amethyst ribbon at my neck. It was so vivid, I wondered when I’d last worn one. It had been so long since I’d graduated, I couldn’t even remember how many years it had been.

This was the place where I’d buried all my joys and sorrows, back when I thought college entrance exams were everything. Looking back, there were some good memories here.

But I had a feeling that what was about to happen would be the opposite.

That’s how it had always been. Whether it was Go Hyeji or Jang Minsoo, the spirits I’d had to purify always managed to prod at some painful spot in my past.

And the moment I saw the school building, I had a pretty good idea who it would be this time.

“Han Bori!”

Even after all these years, I still remembered that name. Someone shouted it, loud and clear. The name that had weighed on my heart for so long. I closed my eyes tightly and opened them again, bracing myself.

Bori. It was you all along.

You were Aveline.