Chapter 256 - Mu of Medsang (5)

“Noah-ssi, you'll always be real to me. Forget about acknowledging it, even thinking of you as fake is impossible.”

Even before that, if I were to say "oh, that person is fake", would they really be fake?

With Sigma... it hadn't been that clear, actually. I wasn't sure.

“Moreover, Noah-ssi…”

"I don't want to stay here," I wanted to say, but I swallowed the words. If it weren't because this world has been destroyed. Then the best choice between Noah and Mu... wasn't for me to decide, but Noah-ssi had definitely said he was envious.

I looked at Noah. Noah was looking at Sigma with a slightly frozen expression.

“What do you mean by maybe I can stay here?”

“Exactly what I said. If you want someone else's position, why not take it? You're already Mu right now.”

When he said "what's wrong with trying?", Noah's brow furrowed slightly.

"I'm not the real Mu."

“And what about it? It's not asking you to do something impossible to just stay in that position. How childishly stupid.”

With Sigma's attitude openly finding him pathetic, Noah's face turned cold. This... is kind of dangerous, isn't it? Sigma's behavior just reminded me of someone. Riette, that was.

“He really looks like him only in appearance, Yoojin-ssi. It would be much better if he were the leader of the Seseong guild.”

“That idiot Sung Hyunjae again? If he's a human like me, then your praises are quite offensive. It won't do.”

“Enough already, Sigma!”

He was just looking for a fight openly. What problem did he have with Noah?

Was he upset about being captured and dragged here by force?... That would make sense. I guess this guy also held a grudge for years.

“If he's not the leader of the Seseong guild, then we don't need two of them here, right?”

Noah said coldly. Wait a second.

“There's a patient here!”

Don't tell me you're going to fight here. Telling me not to worry, Noah raised a finger. At the same time, Sigma pulled out his chains.

Crr-rrk!

The golden chains embedded into the walls on both sides of the hospital room. Seconds after Sigma's hands grabbed the tense chains, a round magic circle appeared beneath his feet. The space beyond the circle, wherever it was, rippled. It was a teleportation portal. If it hadn't been for Combat Foresight, Sigma, lacking flight abilities, would have been thrown elsewhere without a second to react.

“It seems you can't move your opponents directly without touching them.”

Said Sigma, swaying slightly and climbing the chain like a gymnast. Noah's eyebrows rose as he erased the portal.

“I was going to let you go in good condition. Anyway, you can't use combat abilities on this ship. Look what you're doing.”

“I'm definitely weaker than you right now. So, rank C.”

Chk-rrng, Sigma released the chains and let himself drop. Then he approached and drew closer to my seat. His golden eyes narrowed into a smile.

"Protect me."

...Oh boy.

“What nonsense are you telling Yoojin-ssi!”

“What do you mean nonsense? The rank C said earlier that he would protect me.”

At Sigma's words, Noah's expression became completely disturbed.

“That's a lie, right? Isn't it?”

"Uh, for now, it's true..."

I told him to let me protect him. Still, I didn't expect to have to protect him. Even if his attack abilities were sealed, his stats were SS rank.

“And rank C belongs to me. According to our contract.”

“Y-Yoojin-ssi?”

“...That's, well, also true for now. I haven't received any details about the dungeon raid, but they said that Sigma-ssi had to be kept safe. That's all. It's necessary for us to get out of here, so I'll protect him for that.”

“You said you'd take responsibility. Are you already backtracking on your words?”

“No, it's... Step back a bit!”

I pushed Sigma. Naturally, I was much weaker, but he passively took a step back, obviously looking at me. Noah also looked at me with a somewhat offended expression.

"...So, it's alright as long as that man is unharmed?"

“As long as he's alive, it's enough.”

The response didn't come from me. It was Yoohyun's voice. My younger brother, who had woken up without me noticing, rested his chin on my shoulder.

"Although I don't know what's going on."

"Yoohyun, are you okay? They said they made you sleep deliberately."

"Irin woke me up. ...What's this?"

I quickly stopped my brother when he tried to remove the intravenous needle. When I explained that it was neutralizing, he got upset, but didn't remove it.

"Anyway, if you don't like it, you can attack as much as you want."

My idiot brother provoked them. He even wrapped his arms around me, trapping me so I couldn't interfere. No, what will you do if you fight here? Plus, don't we need all the help we can get right now? Losing an SS rank would be a huge loss when we don't know what might happen.

"...I have no intention of attacking. I was just trying to fire him a moment ago."

"Noah-ssi, I'm really sorry, but I think we should keep Sigma by our side."

"Why are you sorry? And he... wasn't exactly wrong. I can't even properly maintain a position I'm already in without feeling insecure."

"What? Don't listen to that guy! The original Mu is a different person, so it's natural for you to feel uncomfortable. Noah-ssi is normal."

Sigma was shameless. Bitterly smiling, Noah looked at Sigma and then at me.

"Hunter Han Yoohyun woke up, so you should eat first. I heard you couldn't eat properly yesterday or today. Both the hunters from Akates and Lancea are on board. And the wounded are being treated."

So they had also taken care of everyone else. Getting up from my seat, I approached Noah, who was about to leave the hospital room.

"Noah-ssi. I never thought anything would happen to you. You're genuinely a good person. At least I've never doubted it. And I'm sure Myeongwoo and the people from the lab think the same way."

"...Thank you."

Noah spoke softly. He was smiling, but his expression was far from bright.

"But I'm not that good a person. You're a good person, Yoojin-ssi, that's why you think that of me. You've accepted my childishness."

"No, that's not it! You've been so kind to me. How can one person unilaterally accept something? It might be different if it were for a short time, but after a long time, you'll soon tire of it and find it difficult. Because you're a good person, so am I."

"Shouldn't you help Hunter Han Yoohyun?"

At Noah's words, I reflexively looked back. Yoohyun had gotten up from the bed and was looking at the IV solution hanging.

"Just lower it, isn't there a portable IV stand here? Maybe he's never been hospitalized because he doesn't seem to know what to do."

"Come with me. The cafeteria is this way."

As I hesitated, Noah left the hospital room. I was worried about him, but I had no choice but to turn to Yoohyun. We found the IV stand in the corner, moved it, and left together. Sigma followed us silently.

"So you two are awake!"

Moon Hyuna arrived first at the cafeteria. Although it was called a cafeteria, it looked more like a small luxury restaurant than a public facility on a ship. There was a long table and two individual tables, and a chef was waiting in the kitchen. The decorations around the place also seemed high-class.

"The food here was delicious."

Said Moon Hyuna, pouring wine into a glass with relaxed hands. Her attitude was as if she had been invited as a guest rather than being captured. To the point where I envied her calmness.

"Yoohyun, sit down. What do you want to eat? Can you eat?"

The kitchen was open, so I asked if I could prepare something for him, but my brother shook his head.

"It's okay. You must be tired too. Just eat."

Resistance to poison, should I feed him? I didn't think Noah would do something like that, but my brother might feel uncomfortable. Noah and Sigma also sat down. The chef came out and took our orders personally.

"We've put out the urgent fires, so what do we do now? We can't keep protecting the Mana Hall like this."

Moon Hyuna said once we dismissed everyone from the cafeteria. As she said, we couldn't keep lingering around here.

"We should find Yerim and Peace and install the discs."

I explained to Noah about the discs. Including the part about the city each person likely landed in being a potential installation site.

"Medsang is quite far from here. We arrived in a day, but that was because we teleported halfway. Also, even though my teleportation ability is high-ranked, it's impossible to travel extremely long distances while connected to the Mana Hall."

However, Noah said, if he disconnected from the Mana Hall, the mana consumption would be too high.

"You said you were connected to the Mana Hall of Medsang, right? Can't we pass through there?"

"That's... mana and living creatures are different enough to... I'm not sure it would work. I'm not the one who made the passage to the Mana Hall."

"I'm using what the original Mu created," Noah said softly. Apparently, he still wasn't as good with teleportation.

"If you manage to master it properly, it'll be extremely useful."

Yoohyun, who was eating the steak I had cut for him, looked at Noah and spoke up.

"There are several ways to apply it well. In particular, since you can use poison, you'll be able to inject poison directly into your target's body."

Yoohyun seemed a bit jealous of him. But as my brother said, the teleportation ability was really useful. It would be good even as simple support, but combined with combat abilities, it wouldn't be a joke. At Yoohyun's words, Noah's gaze landed on the table.

"Frankly, that's unlikely. It's too difficult to handle. And I think it's related to Mu's attributes."

"Attributes?"

"Yes."

At my question, Noah nodded.

"It's rumored that one of Mu's ancestors was an elemental."

- Yes, elementals!

Irin popped in and exclaimed.

- Rin felt them too. There are elementals in this world other than Rin!

"Really? What kind of elementals?"

- Maybe water. I don't think there's fire. The Mana Hall also had a strong water energy. But elementals can harmonize, so that also helped Rin-ie!

Water elementals, she said. Yerim automatically came to mind. Couldn't we take an elemental from here? Rin alone had been a great help, so I'm sure it would be the same for Yerim.

"Considering that, if we go to our original world, I... don't think I can use teleportation."

His voice, lacking confidence, broke my heart. Seeing Noah like this, I quickly stopped Yoohyun from trying to say something. Cracking the whip would be too much for Noah-ssi.

If it were me, I would have liked to be treated comfortably while I was Mu, but it was a pity that I had drawn a line, saying that it wasn't really him.

He could have much more confidence than now. He was someone who deserved it and was capable enough for it.

"Then it would be better for hyung-nim to install the discs first, right? Let us handle this."

Moon Hyuna finished her drink and said.

"It won't be long until Lancea."

She said it didn't take her more than a few hours by helicopter. The issue was with Medsang and the two remaining places. Looking up again, Noah spoke in a calm tone.

"I think we should give up on Akates, as expected. Anyway, with the current situation, the city can't function properly."

"Yes, it's a pity, but let's first move the citizens of Akates to Lancea. We can't do anything about the Mana Hall anomaly right now. Fortunately, Lancea can afford to host refugees."

Having said that, Moon Hyuna looked at Sigma. I also turned my gaze to him. The monsters coming out of the Mana Hall... were probably related to Sigma after all. And their target would be Sigma.

Sigma, who was delicately cutting the skin of a roasted squash-like vegetable with a knife, looked at us as if asking what we wanted. I guess that guy would even peel the crust off bread before eating it. I wanted to see him eat.

"What do you think, hyung-nim? If we take him to Lancea, will monsters come out of Lancea's Mana Hall?"

"I don't want to find out. Akates was enough."

If Lancea descended into chaos, what would happen to its poor citizens?

Regardless of how "real" this was, I didn't want to see that panic.

"Hunter Noah, can you escort him out of the city for a while?"

At Moon Hyuna's words, Sigma took the vegetable to his mouth with a slightly sullen look. He sure was eating a well-balanced meal. Yoohyun needed to eat vegetables too. Was there any fruit?

"I can manage half a day from here . Should I send him away now?"

"We're feeding you and bidding you farewell. It's a simple experiment, so it doesn't violate our contract. You understand, right?

"...Can you trust Mu?"

"Of course, I trust him more than you, Sigma-ssi. And Noah-ssi?"

"Yes?"

"While they fix Yoohyun-ie's engraving, can I fix mine too?"

"You can get one, but you said this was your real body, right? You won't be able to modify or remove it when you go back. Because there are no Mana Halls, of course, but also because the technology isn't there."

"I don't plan on having it removed."

Keeping an eye on Yoohyun, I continued speaking.

"I heard there's also an engraving along the entire spine, along the main mana channel. I want to undergo that procedure."