Chapter 249: Gift 1

Elise was checking on her tree when she heard a loud alarm from her tablet.

“What is the matter?”

[A dimensional tear has appeared.]

“Appeared? You weren’t expecting it?”

[I couldn’t predict it at all.]

Elise frowned while quickly operating her tablet and said, “How many monsters showed up?”

[There are no monsters.]

“So, there’s been a dimensional tear without monsters?”

[Just the dimensional tear.]

Elise ran toward the research room.

“Show me satellite imagery. I want to see what the tear looks like.”

The image came on screen and zoomed in.

“What is that? Is it a sinkhole?” Elise asked.

[It made a crater with a twenty-meter radius.]

“Where exactly is it?”

[Going by the address, it’s Junhyuk’s house.]

“What?! What happened to him?”

[He is not appearing on the satellite.]

Elise used her phone to call him, but couldn’t get through, so she frowned harder.

“Perhaps something’s happened to him? Connect me to the nearby CCTV cameras and look for him.”

[I can’t find him on any nearby CCTV.]

Elise couldn’t help but scowl and say, “Continue calling him. When you get through, let me know.”

—

He thought a twenty-meter radius would be enough, but after the tear appeared, it generated a huge explosion. The explosion didn’t hurt him, but it burned his clothes and destroyed the entire house.

He noticed that something appeared on his palm. There was a type of red energy moving across his hand. Once he looked at it, he realized that he was naked and teleported.

He got to where his drawer was and looked for some clothes. After placing the red energy inside his pocket, he looked at his house, or what was left of it. The damage looked more like sinkhole than a crater.

He shook his head and left, avoiding the CCTV cameras. Junhyuk didn’t want anyone to find out he had been inside the house when the explosion happened.

If he was lucky, he could still collect the insurance money. It wasn’t a lot of money for him, but he still wanted it.

After that, he raised Artlan on the crystal communicator.

“Artlan, what is this?”

“Did you eat it?”

“What? I haven’t eaten it yet.”

“Then, eat it.”

He couldn’t guess at why Artlan wanted him to eat something that was moving.

“Do I chew on it?”

“Just put it in your mouth.”

He felt strange about eating it, but raised the red energy up to his mouth. As it touched his lips, it went into his mouth automatically. He couldn’t even chew it. It was alive, and it went into his stomach. After that, the energy travelled everywhere in his body.

It felt like ants were crawling around his veins. It felt really itch, and he hunched over. After finding a small sidepath, Junhyuk walked over to it. Then, he teleported to the roof of a nearby building and lay down. The itching was just beginning, and he bit his lips.

However, he couldn’t endure what was happening to him for long because it was taking place inside his body. Suddenly, he heard Artlan’s voice.

“Focus your mind.”

He did it instead of questioning Artlan. Junhyuk was still biting his lips when he heard Artlan again.

“You are experiencing pain now because you aren’t strong yet. Endure it and feel the strength move inside you.”

He focused. It felt really itchy, but it was a process to raise the strength within his body, and as he focused, the itchiness lessened.

He even forgot about who he was in the process. Junhyuk imagined a large field within his body, and the field got larger as his soul got bigger. It was not easy for his notion of self to keep up. He had experienced death, and following the energy inside his body was almost like dying.

The energy finally stopped. It had seeped out of his body, but now it was coming back into it, and he felt his body had changed.

Artlan had taught him how use his muscles. This time, he learned how to use the energy within his muscles by following the pathways. Like Artlan, his muscle strength was beyond just the muscles.

He felt the energy returning to his body and radiating all over, from head to toe. Junhyuk could feel each part of his muscles.

He followed the red energy as it gathered in his gut. Once he felt it there, he took a deep breath.

“Whew!”

An energy pathway had been created, but the pathway was weak and narrow, and he didn’t know how to strengthen it.

He felt the energy in his gut. It was still moving slowly, but it remained there.

Junhyuk breathed in deeply.

“Whew! It stinks.”

Suddenly, Junhyuk heard a voice coming up behind him and got up and grabbed the person neck, slamming the person on the ground. That’s when he saw who it was.

“Elise?”

“Arrgh! Let go of me.”

He let her go, and she caressed her reddened neck and mumbled, “I thought I was going to die.”

Junhyuk looked around. No one else was there.

“What happened?”

“I was going to ask you that!” Elise looked at him and added, “What is that smell?”

He could smell a foul scent coming from his body and distanced himself from her.

“How did you know I was here?”

She crossed her arms and stared at him.

“I was looking for you all over!”

“Me?”

“Your house was destroyed by a tear, and your cell phone is off. I was worried about you!”

Junhyuk frowned.

“Something happened… How did you find me?”

He had avoided CCTV cameras, so it wasn’t easy for her to find him, but she smiled.

“Zaira is connected to 120 satellite. Seven of them were going over South Korea, so I looked all over Ilsan and found you lying down here.”

Junhyuk was astonished by what she had just said.

“You did all that?”

“But it took me a long time.”

He looked up. It was night, and she had just told him that it had taken her long time.

Elise stared at him and said, “Today is Sunday.”

“It’s already been two days?!”

She nodded, and he was left surprised. Then, she continued, “Your house has been sealed off by the authority of Guardians.”

He scratched his head.

“I can’t collect the insurance money, then.”

“Why? Do you need money?”

“I don’t want people getting suspicious.”

“Don’t worry about it. People won’t know.”

He sighed, relieved.

“That’s nice.”

Elise’s eyes sparkled.

“What are you holding in your hand?”

He did not answer her. Instead, he puts it away in his Spatial Bag. Junhyuk should probably get in touch with Artlan, but it wasn’t the time for it.

“I should be going.”

Elise stared at him.

“Where are you going?”

“I should find a hotel and shower.”

“Let’s go to my house.”

“What?!”

Elise continued, “My car is parked below. Shower at my place.”

He thought it over. His body was rancid at the moment, and it would be a good idea to take her offer at that point. He could get in touch with Artlan whenever he was alone, so he nodded. She pointed the way, and he followed her inside the car.

“I am sorry,” he apologized.

“I can clean my car anytime.”

Elise drove while he looked out the window.

“Eunseo must know about this too.”

“Sure.”

He looked over to her and asked, “Can I borrow your cell phone?”

His cell phone was outside the Spatial Bag, so it was destroyed with the building. The burner phone and Max’s cell phone were also gone.

Once he got Elise’s phone, he called Eunseo, but he wouldn’t be able to get in touch with Sarang through it.

“Did you find him?”

Eunseo asked, and he laughed. He felt better knowing that she was worried about him.

“It’s me.”

“Junhyuk?”

“Yes.”

“Are you OK?”

He answered calmly, “Nothing major’s happened.”

“Your house is destroyed, but you are OK?”

“You know me.”

“Whew! That’s a relief. You met Elise?”

“Yes, she found me.”

Eunseo continued, “Why did you not call me?”

“Sorry. I didn’t have time.”

He told her the truth, and she pressed on, “Can we meet now?”

“I’ll call you tomorrow. I can’t right now.”

“Are you really fine?”

He didn’t tell her about his smell.

“I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Sure. Call me tomorrow.”

He hung up and handed the phone back to Elise, who focused on driving. They got to her new house, and she parked the car.

“Come in.”

“I will intrude on your kindness.”

Elise showed him the bathroom.

“Shower.”

“Sure.”

He went inside and washed himself. The water was falling on his head, and he knew he couldn’t contact Artlan while within Elise’s house. She was more capable than he had expected, and her power came from her gadgets.

While he showered, he raised his head and centered his mind as the water hit him, focusing on his gut, where the energy was stored.

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