She muttered to herself and by quickly grabbing my hand, she led me away from the stall.

We were already in a place where there were really few people but after taking a few steps away we reached a place where there was no one.

Then, not only did she stop, she also slowly got down and sat on her feet, with her elbows on her knees and her hands covering her face.

I glanced down at her from above and also sat on my feet, then tried to embrace her and comfort her.

’I may not know what had happened or what her connection to them was but I think she needs me right now.’

So with my arms around her I began to caress her towel-covered head.

"Why? Why did I let that happen?"

Once again she mumbled and then went quiet.

Whatever she was feeling guilty about was in the past now. There was nothing she could do to revert it back. Nor did I have the strength to ask her about her past cause I knew it would just hurt her even more.

A few minutes passed, yet she remained frozen in the same position. Even my legs had started going numb from kneeling beside her.

Soon, she moved her head and leaned it against my arm. After that she faced the sky, closed her eyes and took a deep breath, a really deep breath before she let it out again.

"Haaaa..."

Even after sighing so heavily she still kept her eyes closed. And I also kept my mouth closed and let her process her thoughts.

"Woo Jin..."

"Hmmm...?"

"Can you take me back home? I don’t want to stay here anymore. Please."

She pleaded and I helped her stand up before leading her back to the villa. She seemed so heartbroken that it made some pain appear in my chest too.

I was curious. I was worried. And most importantly, I was afraid of the feelings she was having right now. Because she might be replaying the event that was hurting her in her mind which was worse.

First, her parents and now someone she knew once. She was slowly coming to realize that she had lost everyone. It didn’t matter if it was someone close or not.

Also, from her words it felt like she blamed herself for what happened to the previous stall owners.

Now, her past seemed even bigger than I had imagined. That was even more of a reason to quickly make her stronger.

....

After reaching the villa she went to her room and told me that she needed some time alone.

I also somewhat tried to comfort her by saying that maybe they were at home or somewhere else but she didn’t even react to my voice and just went inside her room.

’Who am I to tell her that they were alive if they weren’t at stall?’

I went downstairs and chugged down a whole glass full of water and sat in the chair.

It was the best time to sneak out and meet Black but now the situation had changed a lot. I didn’t want to leave Viora alone.

Who knows what she might do, because emotions sometimes can be really creepy.

On second thought I also didn’t want to miss this Gate which might be the easiest to clear and consume goblin traits.

It was hard but I decided to go and clear this Gate first. Since, I might not get a chance to enter one soon in the future.

So, I got up... And went out.

....

Reaching the destination where Black had told me to meet him, I saw the masked mercenary party standing in front of a gate.

Fox, Tan, and Black were standing in front of the swirling blue smoke, and were waiting for me.

"Are you sure he is coming today too?" Fox asked Black, who then replied, "Yeah, he has to."

When Black said that, for a split second I saw my figure standing in front of him and then it vanished as instantly as it had appeared.

’What was that?’

I wondered but I didn’t let it bother me since it might be my mind playing tricks on me.

Ignoring it, I walked closer to them. The moment the sound of my footsteps reached their ears, all three of them turned toward me at once.

Tan was the first one to react.

"Finally," he muttered as he adjusted the big shield, "we were starting to think you weren’t going to come."

Fox didn’t say anything. She just stared at me for a second longer than Tan, then slowly looked away like I wasn’t worth her attention.

Black on the other hand, nodded at my appearance.

"Right on time."

His voice was calm which sent a chill through my whole body because of last night’s warning about him. But now the system wasn’t doing so. It was staying strangely quiet.

"Let’s go inside."

Black said and we all entered the Gate.

....

Unlike the place we left behind where there was greenery everywhere and a lake with flowing water, here the lake was completely empty, and there were trees, but there was no greenery.

Moreover this place was scorching hot and the ground had cracks like a spider’s web in it due to the over-the-top heat.

The air on the skin felt different immediately. It was heavy and dry. Like the world itself had been drained of moisture.

As we walked deeper into the Gate everything around us became quieter. It wasn’t normal silence. Instead it was the kind where even our footsteps sounded wrong.

Crack.

Crack.

The gray ground beneath our shoes kept breaking apart with every step while hot wind swept past us from time to time.

My nose could only pick up dust and the ozone smell of something burnt. I wiped the sweat forming near my neck by slightly moving my paper mask.

Everything around us was creepy. The dead trees were twisted in unnatural shapes. Some of them had blackened trunks while others looked hollow from the inside.

"This place feels disgusting," Tan muttered while he dragged his shield through the cracked ground and Fox walked ahead without replying to him.

Meanwhile, Black simply kept moving forward calmly like he had entered this kind of place hundreds of times.

That alone made me even more cautious of him.

Creeeak...

One of the dried branches above us suddenly bent downward slightly. Instantly, my body tensed. But nothing happened.

"..."

I looked upward for a moment before continuing to walk. Then, as we kept moving smell of rotten meat reached my nose.

My eyebrows furrowed immediately. The smell wasn’t strong yet, but it was definitely there. And judging from the expressions of the others, they noticed it too.

Black slowly raised one hand, signaling everyone to stop.

"We are close."

Hearing him, Tan adjusted his grip on his shield and sword while Fox silently pulled out the two daggers from behind her waist.

Meanwhile, my hand slowly tightened around the dagger Black had given me last night.

My heartbeat was also getting faster. This would be my first real fight inside a Gate and I had to survive no matter what.

Rustle.

Suddenly, something moved behind one of the dead trees. Soon, another rustle followed after that, then another. Even the dry branches ahead of us began shaking one after another.

And slowly... Several figures began emerging from the dead forest.

They had green skin, sharp ears, and crooked yellow teeth as all of them giggled.

"Hehehe..."

Everything was the same but there was one big problem. It was their height. They weren’t small at all. Their height was that of an average human.

"Tall Goblins?" Fox muttered as her eyes widened while looking at the goblins.

One of them sniffed the air loudly before its eyes locked directly onto me. Then a disgusting grin stretched across its face as black saliva dripped from its mouth.

"Krrrkk..."