The halls were dim, but a few lights there illuminated a singular pathway.

Jinyoung walked quickly with Youngho keeping pace. Hana couldn’t be far off, but they had yet to see any sign of her.

The atrocities of the northern barony were all too clear now. Opening gates hadn’t just unleashed the Frostbite on their own people, but it’d exposed them to danger and widespread death.

Not only that, but now they knew there were others out in the world who wanted to continue this research somewhere else. Regardless of anything else, they had to make sure that not a scrap of it made it out of the north.

Youngho’s voice broke the quiet silence and awakened Jinyoung from his thoughts. “He’s not a bad man, you know.”

“You mean Seunghyo?”

Youngho nodded.

“You’re defending the guy who left Hana behind?” he countered. “Seriously?”

He looked at his adoptive father, but Youngho didn’t return his gaze. The man just stared straight ahead.

“What do you know about expedition missions, boy?”

It was a simple question, but Jinyoung hated the tone of the old man’s voice. It was warm, inviting. But it was also condescending as hell.

“They’re for newbies.”

“Ha!” Youngho barked out a laugh. “Of course that’s what you’d think. But what else?”

Youngho knew more than enough about expedition missions. He had planned on focusing on them when he graduated from the Academy. Most young and inexperienced players took them on so they could learn the ins and outs of dungeons. And he explained as much to Youngho.

“Right, you are. Then what about outbreaks?”

Outbreaks were the polar opposite of expedition missions. Most players focused on moving quickly and silently during expeditions while the focus was on combat for outbreaks.

Jinyoung felt the clamminess in his hands. The Seokrak Outbreak had been his first encounter with such a mission. He never told Willow or Hana, but the amount of combat was shocking. Especially in open ground.

“When Hana’s mission went sideways…” Youngho’s voice became hoarse at the thought of recounting what had happened. “After those kids died and Hana… well, she barely made it out herself. I went down as soon as I heard.”

Jinyoung spoke the words before he recognized the thought that birthed them. “And that dirtbag left her.”

“No.”

Jinyoung’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “No? Hana told me he left her to deal with all this on her own-”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“There were two boys and a girl,” Youngho interrupted. “They were maybe in their mid-twenties, kids really. Only one made it out, one of the boys I think.”

Youngho struggled to think back.

“We didn’t know until later, but one of the ones who didn’t make it out… was related to the president of the Cha Bell Corporation. And uncle, I think.”

Jinyoung sighed. The Cha Bell Corporation. Again.

Before he went into the shrine, the corporations were a shadow of their current selves. But, even then, they were known to protect their own.

The corporations were initially formed to provide support and stabilize the economy after the Break. But it wasn’t long until they were peddling influence and amassing power. Today, some of them weren’t more than gangs specializing in organized crime. And if gangs were known for one thing above all else, it was protecting their own.

The loss of life, even a relative, wouldn’t be taken lightly. The corporation would have demanded payment.

“What happened?”

Youngho paused thoughtfully. At that moment, he felt old. Nothing weighed heavier on his shoulders than the secrets of others and this one was a heavy one.

“The Cha Bell Corporation put a bounty out on Hana,” he recounted. Word spread quickly among the less reputable caste of players, but Hana’s recent fame as the Shield Knight of the Blade cast an aura of protection around her.

“Eventually Seunghyo tried to reach out to the president of the Cha Bell Corporation to work something out.”

“Wait, are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Jinyoung stared at the old man and waited for an answer.

Youngho’s voice sounded tired when he answered. “Seunghyo got word that the president of the Cha Bell Corporation wanted to work out a deal. He asked me not to tell Hana until he came back, but…”

“But he never came back,” Jinyoung finished for him. “And you never told Hana.”

An emotion flickered across Youngho’s face before he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Was that guilt or relief? Jinyoung thought to himself.

Jinyoung had more to say, but he thought better of it. Every decision he’d made in the name of getting stronger or quenching his curiosity had only led to more trouble. The wraith was the most recent example of that.

He reached into his pockets and felt the Dragon’s Hidden Scale and the Wrath’s Shroud he’d recovered earlier. Whatever was coming next, the shroud would doubtless come in handy. The item was unique as far as Jinyoung knew. And the effect it offered could change the tide of any fight.

While he saw both items as trophies of his accomplishments, seeing the burns on Willow’s hands had soured that. Now, he realized that his selfishness could easily get them killed.

[Scan].

“She’s just ahead,” Jinyoung said. “If we pick up the pace, we’ll catch up in a minute-”

The lights of the hall flickered on. Not the emergency lights, but the bright fluorescent bulbs. All at once, the entire structure was completely lit, meaning Jinyoung could see every crack and broken tile. He hadn’t noticed with the dim lighting, but the place looked like it was falling apart. The pipes were rusted over like the walls were crumbling. It was a wonder the place was still in one piece.

Then, there was the hum. It started low and grew into a quiet rumble. Jinyoung looked at Youngho and the old man stared back. In a few seconds, it grew into a roar.

Jinyoung tried yelling to be heard above the din, but he couldn’t even hear himself.

The ground beneath their feet shook and rubble rained down from the ceiling.

A strong hand grabbed Jinyoung by the shoulder and forced him to move forward. He stumbled from the force of the shove and turned around to see Youngho following after him shouting one word that could barely be heard above the noise.

Run.