chapter 58
We were on our way to the hotel by car, guided by a guide named Laura.
“Unnie! There’s a kangaroo over there too!”
Even on the way to the hotel, Ha-eun was looking out the window and exclaimed.
Sure enough, as Ha-eun said, we could see a kangaroo lying in the middle of the street, without blocking traffic too much.
“That’s a traffic-control kangaroo. Usually, they lie around like that, but when there’s a lot of cars and the road gets crowded, they help with traffic control.”
Laura seemed to notice our curiosity about why a kangaroo would be lying in the middle of the street and explained it to us.
… Wait, why would a kangaroo control traffic…?
“Wow! Kangaroos actually control traffic too?”
Unlike me, who found it ridiculous, Ha-eun’s eyes shone with excitement as if she really wanted to see that scene.
Seeing Ha-eun like that, Laura smiled and spoke to us.
“Yes. Besides the boxing kangaroos and traffic-control kangaroos you’ve already seen, there are kangaroos all over Sydney.”
“(Why are there kangaroos…?)”
“(There’s actually a druid-type Awakener who trains animals.)”
Rachel muttered this in English without realizing it, and Laura responded fluently in English.
Right, Australia uses English. … Now that I think about it…
“Laura, are you an Awakener? You speak Korean so fluently.”
To my senses, this woman Laura didn’t feel like an Awakener at all… Could my instincts be wrong?
“No, I’m not an Awakener. I work as a translator, so I’m just familiar with various foreign languages.”
Ah, of course.
It’s not like only Awakeners can be good at foreign languages. Still, it’s impressive. Rachel, who had lived in Korea for several years with the help of the Awakener system, sometimes spoke Korean a little awkwardly, but Laura spoke it as fluently as if she had grown up in Korea.
‘Ah, that must be why she was assigned as our guide.’
Yeon Mirae is probably one of the most skilled Awakeners sent from Korea. Assigning the person who speaks Korean best to her is only natural.
“This is the hotel where you will be staying. Other Awakeners are staying here as well.”
While thinking that, we arrived at the hotel. Following Laura’s guidance, we got out of the car and noticed many other Awakeners coming and going.
‘I can see some Koreans too… and people from other countries as well.’
It’s not just Korea that lacks dungeons. Other countries also probably had fewer dungeons relative to their number of Awakeners and actively sent Awakeners overseas. Of course, countries with low population density, like Australia, would want to invite foreign Awakeners to their country.
“(You are accompanying Korean Awakener Yeon Mirae.)”
“(Confirmed. The assigned room is….)”
Laura reported our identities to the hotel staff and received our card keys.
“The rooms assigned to you are suites. Would you like to unpack first?”
“No need for luggage. I just want to recover from the flight fatigue.”
Yeon Mirae replied to Laura. Since all of us except Rachel already had personal subspaces, there was no need to unpack. Rachel’s luggage was probably already stored in Arthur’s personal subspace.
“Understood. If you need anything in the hotel, please call room service. If you want to go to the dungeon or sightseeing, call me.”
Laura handed her business card to Yeon Mirae as she said this. After receiving it, we parted ways with Laura and headed to our assigned rooms.
As soon as we entered, Rachel admired the room.
“…Wow, it’s a suite! Suites like this must be really expensive.”
Arthur responded to her muttering.
“That just shows how much they expect from Yeon Mirae. Other rooms might not be bad, but few people get rooms this good.”
There were many Awakeners sent to Australia this time, but finding someone of Yeon Mirae’s caliber among them would be difficult. Highly skilled Awakeners, like Aura Masters or Archmages, often hold high social status and can’t move freely. Yeon Mirae’s case is exceptional.
“Of course, since I got such a good room, they’ll expect me to clear as many dungeons as possible in Australia.”
Yeon Mirae said that while checking the room service menu, probably intending to order. The menu was primarily in English, but there was also a Korean version, likely for our convenience.
“Wow! They even have chicken!”
“…And kimchi fried rice too.”
Seeing familiar food names abroad felt a little strange. We each chose what we wanted, ordered room service, and rested individually.
All the women, except Arthur and me, lightly washed up and then lay down due to flight fatigue. Arthur, being a doll, felt no fatigue, and I, having recovered with light energy exercises, just watched TV in the living room.
“By the way, Artist.”
“Hm?”
“Will you be taking a break from your artist activities in Seoul?”
Arthur asked. He had been performing artist activities almost every two days, and he seemed worried that a gap caused by my being in Australia could reveal the identity of the artist.
“It’s fine. I left the doll behind.”
“…What? You can control dolls from here?”
Arthur widened his eyes in surprise at my words. Even Arthur, who could think and move independently, could not stray far from his master Rachel.
No matter how far, if they’re in the same country, it’s fine, but being in another country or continent could stop him from functioning entirely… Yet I basically told him I could control dolls across continents.
“My puppetry isn’t ordinary—it combines sorcery. I’ll explain the principle later, but in short, it won’t work on you, Arthur. You can’t get further from Rachel than allowed.”
“No, I wasn’t asking that because I wanted to get away.”
Arthur denied that he wanted to distance himself from Rachel. Yet his panicked denial made it sound like he wanted to…
“No, really!”
“I know, but there’s a saying: a strong denial is a kind of affirmation.”
“Exactly…!”
Seeing him, a doll, flustered for the first time, I couldn’t help but tease him. Of course, I knew he didn’t actually want to distance himself from Rachel.
“…Sigh. By the way, Artist, what will you do when Yeon Mirae and I enter the dungeon?”
“Changing the subject?”
“Ah, a little…!”
I laughed lightly and answered his question.
“Why do you think only the two of you are going? Ha-eun and I will go with you.”
“Huh? But….”
“And Rachel will go too.”
Arthur’s expression stiffened. Did he think I was taking Rachel to a dangerous place? I decided to explain slowly to prevent misunderstanding.
“I’m here under the pretext of being Yeon Mirae’s student. Ha-eun too. The reality is different, but to give Yeon Mirae a reason to bring us for practical experience, we have to enter the dungeon.”
“…That doesn’t justify bringing Rachel along.”
“No, we have to. Do you want me to leave Rachel alone at the hotel?”
This isn’t Seoul, where almost all criminals are gone.
“Even though there are many Awakeners and strong security in the hotel, someone could get strange ideas about Rachel.”
“…Right. Leaving her alone isn’t safe. Better to have her in the dungeon with us.”
Finally, Arthur nodded and accepted my reasoning.
“…But in the dungeon, you’ll protect Rachel, right, Artist?”
“Yes, don’t worry. If something dangerous happens, I will.”
Since Rachel doesn’t know I’m an artist, I won’t intervene unless necessary, but I promised to protect her if serious danger arises. Arthur relaxed.
A few hours later.
We called Laura with the women, who had rested well. After about five minutes, the hotel door opened, and Laura entered.
“I’m here. Ready to go to the dungeon?”
“Yes.”
Yeon Mirae nodded in agreement. Laura then took out a tablet and asked her:
“Going alone?”
“No, all of us are going.”
Hearing that even I and young Ha-eun were going, Laura flinched slightly, but realizing we were Yeon Mirae’s students, she didn’t question whether it was okay to bring children.
“Alright. Let’s go to the rooftop.”
“…Huh?”
“The rooftop. We’ll take a helicopter to the airport, then a plane to Broken Hill Airport in western New South Wales. From there, we’ll take another helicopter to the dungeon.”
“…That’s far.”
According to Laura, the direct distance was about 1,000 km. Still, it would take much less time than traveling from Korea to Sydney. I thought it would’ve been simpler to book a hotel in Broken Hill from the start instead of Sydney.
“Anyway, let’s go to the rooftop. The helicopter will arrive shortly.”
Following Laura’s guidance, we headed to the rooftop helipad. Approaching the rooftop, we could see the helicopter coming.
“Wow…!”
For Ha-eun, it was her first close look at a helicopter, and her mouth dropped open. She wasn’t the only one.
“It’s my first time on a helicopter…”
“(This is the one coming to pick us up, right?)”
“(Wow….)”
Yeon Mirae, Rachel, and Arthur—all were seeing a helicopter up close for the first time, except me. I had experience from before my regression, so I felt no excitement.
While everyone marveled, the helicopter landed, and Laura opened its door.
“You may board now.”
We silently boarded the helicopter at her instruction.
