It’s Not Night - Chapter 52

Chapter 52

“Miss Avellin!”

Andra was startled by the voice calling her and opened her eyes. Then the first thing she saw was Hone, looking down at her with worried eyes. Andra blinked her eyes.

“Miss Hone…?”

How did this happen? Andra looked at Hone in front of her with a look of disbelief. Why was Hone standing in front of her after they had gotten separated due to an earthquake in the dungeon before?

Hone sighed in relief as Andra responded to her call.

“Are you okay? Are you awake now?”

“What’s happening right now…”

Andra looked at Hone and then raised both hands to look at it. She was fine with no injuries. Her body was healthy with no pain. If so, did she not die? And did Hone find her unconscious? But the rock fell down…

Andra looked around her to see that the other crew were also nearby, and she looked even more startled. Bomenta, Eureas, Fyun, Zidaya. All of them were huddled around her.

“Fortunately, there are no major injuries. I think you were simply in shock.”

Doctor Eureas reached out his hand and examined Andra’s complexion. After making sure she had no fever as he felt her temperature over her forehead, he lowered his hand. In the midst of this, Hone came out and explained for her, who was still confused.

“As soon as we entered the dungeon as a group, we collapsed. Rest assured, Miss Avellin is not the only one.”

“What? The group collapsed? Then this is the entrance to the dungeon…”

Andra was soon able to find a red magic circle on the floor. And as she said, this place really was still the entrance of the dungeon. But, the dungeon entrance…? Andra was surprised by that fact again. She must have gone inside with Dustin and solved the mystery of the dungeon. But she was with the crew at the entrance to the dungeon?

It was as if everything that had happened to her had not happened.

“Nonsense…”

Andra still looked confused, and Hone bowed her head seriously. After all, it was too much for an ordinary person.

“I have to go back this time. It’s my first time doing something like this, so I guess I’ll have to go back and find a precedent. As soon as we entered the dungeon, we collapsed as a group.”

“Yes. It’s not a good start. It would be nice to go back this time.”

“Yes. I don’t know if anything else will happen if I go in like this.”

“I agree too. This is a bad omen.”

With Andra, the crew members shared the same sentiments. Meanwhile, Andra began to understand the situation little by little. They passed out as a group as soon as the crew, including herself, entered the dungeon. She was the last of them to wake up,

So, was it all just a fantasy?

‘What were the last two things we got?’

Andra rummaged through her arms unknowingly, and then she grabbed something and stopped upright. A round circular plate. She seemed to know what it looked like without taking it out. At that moment, her eyes met with Dustin, who had been away from her without a word since before.

Dustin’s green eyes dimmed strangely.

“…….”

“…….”

The two’s eyes met immediately. Andra saw Dustin staring at her as she was grabbing something in her arms, and he shook his head quietly. It meant not to take things out in front of the crew. Andra calmly put down her hand.

In the meantime, the crew were making the decision to return after discussing each other’s opinions.

Hone held out her hand to Andra.

“Hold on, Miss Avellin.”

“Ah, on my own…”

“Not for anyone who had just fainted before. Now, don’t hesitate and hold it. There are times when you need help from others.”

Reluctantly, Andra took Hone’s hand and stood up from the spot.

“I’m sure You must have been listening, but… We’ll have to delay entering this dungeon for a while. We should go back and do some research first. There’s nothing wrong with being cautious.”

Andra nodded at Hone’s explanation. Soon, the crew entered the magic circle in line as they had come. They soon got back into the magic circle that flashed red light once more.

* * *
When they came out of the dungeon, a week had passed. The crew explained the incident that occurred at the entrance of the dungeon to the researchers, and after a brief examination, they decided to go back to their dormitory and rest.

While the crew and the research team were in serious trouble, Andra had to return to the dormitory first. It was because Hone had informed Andra of her condition earlier.

“You must never overdo it. I don’t know what’s going to happen. Get some rest and I’ll see you tomorrow, Miss Avellin.”

Shamune sent Andra back to her quarters and left.

Andra returned to her quarters, washed her body, all while in a daze. She was engulfed in a sense of detachment from reality. It was because she couldn’t tell if everything that was unfolding to her was reality or a mere hallucination.

What if she were to find out that this moment wasn’t real, just like what she had been through in that dungeon? No, was it a hallucination in the first place?

‘It’s so weird. It was terribly vivid.’

She paused as she walked over to the bed, wiping the water out of her hair with the towel. She soon found on the table the round circular plate she had put down before she entered the bathroom, and she picked it up.

It was the only thing that proved that what she had done in the dungeon was not a fantasy. The reward of the dungeon she solved with the help of the dragon.

Sitting across from the chair, Andra looked at the circular plate in more detail. It seemed like it could be put together in a short time at best, which was a jumbled up picture.

It was at the moment she was just trying to concentrate to match the picture by turning the board little by little—someone knocked on the door.

Andra tucked the hem of her robe and walked out of her bedroom to the door. And she identified through the small hole who had come to him. It was Dustin Airak, with dark hair, towering stature, broad shoulders and a toned body, looking tired.

‘Why did you come to me?’

Andra, horrified, opened the door, reached her hand, and hurriedly pulled Dustin inside. She then poked her head out to see if anyone was coming and going in the hallway.

No one should have seen Dustin come to see her. Why was Dustin coming to see her in the first place?

After confirming that no one was in the hallway, Andra entered the room, closed the door tightly and walked over to lock it. She then turned and opened her mouth to Dustin, who was standing a few feet away.

“Are you crazy? Why do you suddenly come to me at this time? What if someone saw it!”

“Is that important now? Check this.”

Just as Andra got angry, Dustin, with an annoyed look on his face, handed her the scroll he had been carrying. It was also one of the rewards he got in the dungeon. Andra quickly grabbed it. She then unfolded it at once.

When she unfolded the scroll, the entire parchment was still filled with ancient characters. Andra looked down at it without saying a word. Her eyes quickly narrowed.

“…Can you read it?”

After a few minutes, Andra’s eyes fixed on the ancient text and she was speechless, so Dustin spoke like he was nervous. Andra nodded her head after a long silence.

“I can read it.”

“Then everything that happened in the dungeon was real.”

“Maybe.”

Dustin, relieved, asked as he sat down on a nearby sofa. He then looked around her room lightly.

The whole room was cluttered. It wasn’t that it wasn’t clean, but it wasn’t that it was tidy either. Things were scattered irregularly here and there. In particular, every table and desk was full of papers, books, and documents.

Fortunately, he was sitting on the only sofa that was clean.

“What are we going to do now?”

Dustin, having roughly finished his appreciation of the room, asked Andra, who still had her gaze fixed on the scroll. Andra let out a long sigh.

“…Anyway, we’ll have to solve the puzzles and solve the riddles again this time.”

Andra left the scroll with Dustin for a moment, then she approached the desk full of books and rummaged through it. With a loud bang, Andra immediately grabbed the book in her arms and brought it to the table and put it down. The amount was so large that it made a huge thump sound as she put it down.

Dustin looked at the books with a look of what is this, and then frowned at her. All the books were thick and had hardcovers. Dustin didn’t seem particularly attracted to it, as he wasn’t very familiar with books.

“Books related to ancient times. Among them, it is a book that intensively studies and explains myths. I’m sure you can find a clue in the myth. As you can see in the dungeon, this has some hidden story with the old gods. We have to figure it out.”

Andra moved her hand in her hurry. She immediately picked up a book with a purple cover, and as she rummaged through the book, she opened a page and held it to Dustin. Dustin saw it and looked at Andra with a puzzled look. Andra stared at Dustin with a look of disgust, then pointed to a part with her fingertip.

“We have to start here.”

“What…”

Dustin looked at the part Andra was pointing at. It was an interpretation of when Dean stole the fire. The hypotheses Andra had told him in the dungeon the other day were lined up underneath it.

“You have to read up on Dean. There must be some clues in Dean’s actions. They said Anat was punished because of Dean. And what is the eighth karma, what is Basham’s prank? That is one of the things we need to figure out.”

“So?”

Andra put the scroll down on the table.

“We will have to unravel this riddle by uncovering the myth’s hidden secrets. Specifically, we need to find the clues inside here. I’m sure it’ll tell us what to do next.”

But that in itself was already difficult. Andra was very worried about whether she would be able to solve the riddle properly. She couldn’t even talk to any of her professors, so she wouldn’t get any help. She had to solve this ancient riddle on her own and move on to the next one. Fortunately, there are no life-threatening traps like dungeons.

Dustin looked at Andra with his arms crossed.

“How long do you think it will take?”

Andra’s eyes narrowed at that question. Why was he looking at her like that? So you’re going to solve this? Dustin added. At that remark, Andra put on an absurd expression on her face. He’s so brazen in his words that he’s going to sit back and enjoy it.

Of course, she didn’t think that Dustin would be able to solve the riddle in the first place. However, Dustin’s attitude of trying to push the solution entirely onto her was just annoying.

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────