"We did see a woman on our way here. But I can't say for sure if she's the same person you're looking for."
My words were carefully chosen, meant to soften the blow.Still, the woman's eyes were full of desperate hope.She quickly nodded in response.
"That's alright. Right now, I'm willing to cling to anything. If it was just long black hair, I wouldn't be so sure. But a yellow dress? That's almost certainly her."
"Even so... the dress was torn to pieces. We could only confirm part of it."
"W-What… did you say?"
The woman stammered.U Jeong-min, Seon Yu-woon, and Cheon Seung-hyun all clenched their fists, clearly bracing for what was coming. But the woman still hadn't given up hope. Her voice trembled as she spoke again, filled with the hope that she was wrong.
"W-Why… why was the dress torn?"
"When we found her, she was slumped against a tree. And upon checking… she was already dead."
"Hye-yeon…!"
As soon as I finished, the woman — apparently named Won Hye-soo — went slack and collapsed. Cheon Seung-hyun quickly caught her, but it was clear her legs had completely given out.
Having experienced the pain of losing someone dear myself, I felt a deep sympathy as I watched her.
For a moment, silence hung heavy in the air.
"…How was she when you found her?"
It was U Jeong-min who broke the silence, his voice calm but heavy with restrained grief.I paused briefly, but he gestured for me to speak.
"It's fine. I already expected the worst. Just… tell me honestly."
"…There was blood at the corner of her lips. I believe she bit her tongue to kill herself."
"No. No way. She wouldn't do that. She would never—"
"When we found her, she was almost completely naked. And… there was still bodily fluid leaking from her lower body — likely from one of those monkey-like creatures."
The moment I said it, the atmosphere froze.
U Jeong-min's eyes filled with fury as his clenched fists trembled. Seon Yu-woon's eyes were bloodshot as he stood silently. The loss, the anger — it all filled the air with tension.
Then, from the side, the blankly staring Won Hye-soo let out a scream.
"Ha… Haha… Ha… HAAAAAAHHHH!!"
"Hye-soo! Get a hold of yourself!"
"AAAAAAAHHHHH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!"
Even Cheon Seung-hyun, normally the composed one, backed away at the force of her madness. She clawed at the ground, screaming uncontrollably.
"No! Hye-yeon! Hye-yeon can't be dead! You're lying! It's a lie! Hye-yeon!!!"
"Hye-soo! Pull yourself together! We lost Jin-tae too, remember? You told us not to let our emotions control us — to face reality! What are you doing now?!"
"Shut up! Hye-yeon… Hye-yeon…!"
Whipping her head around like a madwoman, Hye-soo locked eyes with me. Twisted with rage, she suddenly lunged at me. Though Seung-hyun and Yu-woon managed to grab her arms in time, she still screamed at me with venom.
"Liar! You're lying! She's not dead, is she?! SAY SOMETHING! TELL ME SHE'S NOT—AAAGHHHH!"
"Hye-soo… Let's go see for ourselves. Please. Calm down, okay?"
Cheon Seung-hyun kept trying to console her, but she was beyond reason. I quietly watched, then finally spoke in a low voice.
"If you follow this path for about 30 minutes, you'll find her. It's not densely wooded, so you can't miss it. I'm sorry for your loss."
"You bastard! You killed Hye-yeon! Don't lie to me! You ran away, didn't you? You left her behind to die! You COWARD!"
"What?! This crazy bi—Oppa?"
Yoo-jung, furious at her accusations, nearly jumped in, but I placed a firm hand on her shoulder and shook my head.Though still fuming, she backed off upon seeing my expression.
At that moment, U Jeong-min — who had been silently staring at the sky — slowly raised his right hand.
Smack!
Hye-soo's head snapped to the side as his palm met her cheek. She looked at him in disbelief, her eyes fixed on his hand. He looked down at her, face full of disappointment.
"Enough, Hye-soo. This is disgusting."
"What…?"
"Reality… No. You wouldn't understand anything right now. Stop lashing out and accept the truth."
"Hah… Of course. It's not your sister. To you, she was just someone you met four days ago. But me? I knew her for over twenty years! And now you're telling me to accept this?!"
Her voice was filled with bitterness. Yu-woon glanced at her with pity but couldn't meet her eyes. As he turned away, Hye-soo began to sob again.
Even as a bystander, it was painful to watch. She was spiraling into hysteria — grief, despair, denial, confusion…Every negative emotion surged within her.
"Hye-soo, what the hell is wrong with you?! I threw a dagger at someone, and even I'm telling you this is too much! Calm down. Snap out of it!"
"Yeah, I've gone crazy. I want to go crazy. So let me go. Let me go!"
Her hysteria was worsening. Jeong-min sighed deeply, then spoke in a heavy voice.
"I don't think you're crazy. We lost Jin-tae here too. I understand what it feels like to lose someone you love dearly. And… we don't even know for sure if it was Hye-yeon."
"Don't lie. That's a lie. Maybe they're lying. Didn't they say they only saw part of the dress? I'm going. I have to go. It's not her. It can't be her."
Humans are creatures of rationalization. Hye-soo, who had seemed so certain earlier, had completely flipped. From pleading to denial, then rage, and now hope again. She was breaking down.
It wasn't my first time seeing someone like that, but it was still hard to watch.
"You saw her getting taken by those monkey monsters, didn't you?"
"If you won't go, I'll go myself. Let me go. I'm leaving now."
"…Jeong-min. Let's just go. We'll check… see if it's really her…"
Seung-hyun, trying to gently suggest they confirm the body, stopped mid-sentence when Hye-soo shot him a sharp look. When they finally released her, she glared at me one last time and took off in the direction I had pointed.
Yu-woon and Seung-hyun exchanged awkward glances, then hurried after her.
Only Jeong-min remained.
"…Sorry to drag you into this. Even though I only saw them together for a few days, it was clear how close those sisters were."
Ahn Hyun nodded sympathetically, holding An Sol protectively. Jeong-min looked at them, then turned back to me with a serious expression.
"Still… thanks for avenging her. It saved us the trouble. But… you weren't lying, right?"
"What?"
Yoo-jung immediately flared up, but Jeong-min looked at Han-byeol and Sol, then chuckled.
"Yeah… you don't seem like the type. Sorry. I'll get going now."
"I'm truly sorry for what happened to your friend. Unfortunately, we're on a tight schedule, so we should go too."
"Wait. You with the crossbow. Come here for a second."
He called out suddenly.I approached him, and after glancing at his team to make sure they were out of earshot, he leaned in and whispered.
"Consider this a bit of a thank-you. You're heading for the central warp gate, right? Don't answer. Just nod."
I gave a small nod.
Then, in a quiet voice, U Jeong-min whispered something in my ear.