The next few days flew by just doing random housework. It was 7 in the morning, and everyone in the headquarters was busy, rechecking everything for the very last time and training for what was to come next. It was the trial day.
Ae-rin and everyone left the house around 7.30. On their way to the floating land, the 'Trial Ground', Ae-rin couldn't find anyone walking around the streets like usual.
'A national holiday or something?'
The view from the 'Trial Ground' was mesmerizing. Ae-rin could stand there forever looking at the scenery. But she had more important work to do. The moment the crew ended up at the arena, the crowd started to shout.
'So, there they are. Everyone came here to support me? Aww, my heart!'
She looked back at her friends. They all had a bright, encouraging smile on their face, except Jihoon, obviously, but it would take much more to deceive her; she could tell they were concerned and scared about whether everything would be fine or not. Regardless of what might happen, she knew one thing for certain: they were someone she wanted to fight for.
'I'm becoming quite the hero type, huh? But it's time to focus.'
Time really is just a number, isn't it? Looking back in her mind…It wasn't as though Ae-rin didn't see all those red flags in her 'best friend', she just brushed it off thinking they might just have fear of being abandoned like her or was it only her who was scared of being left alone? At least, whatever that's worth, those were reasons that she now had so many people she could rely on, ironically so, and she just knew it, not only because they were the same people from her favorite manhwa but also because she could tell they genuinely cared.
Do-hoon was the only one who went with Ae-rin to the center of the arena. He gave her all the instructions- that just being spell out the words he told her prior to go there.
"Ae-rin" Do-hoon called out.
"Huh?"
"If you had thought of signing out of this even once, it's the very last chance to do that. Please, I know I did ask you to make the decision, but you don't have to do it just because we don't know any other fast ways."
"First, I didn't have any thought of signing out of it. And second of all, somehow it feels to be the most efficient one even though it comes with risk." A small pause. "I will make it, I promised, didn't I?"
Do-hoon just smiled at that.
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She was the only one standing in the middle of the million curved lines. The crew went and sat on the seats in the arena.
"Lord Raven, I am here to perform the trial of the imperial; please accept me as a candidate."
The whole crowd dared not make even a single noise. Like a light show, every single curved line on the ground glowed in an intense yellow hue as if challenging the sunlight in the clear sky that day.
'Let the trial begin'
Ae-rin closed her eyes.
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Darkness. Yes, nothing at all. No, eyes can't get used to it. Nothingness. And in the middle of that nothingness stood 'Ae-rin'. That place didn't feel unfamiliar. Quite the contrary, it's too familiar. The cold sweat was rising, taking over her nerves.
As if she were possessed, her feet just started moving on their own, running away from the monster like usual.
Like she always did.
She could hear those painful cries in the distance, the cries that never made a tear tip over from her eyes. Not even once. But who's crying? But Ae-rin couldn't have stopped to figure out the answers. The monster would have caught up to her. She just kept running. Suddenly she heard it. Voices. Terrifying voices. Voices she never wanted to ever hear again. She held her two hands over her ears and kept running.
'But how long?' The last thing she heard.
She felt something brush against her hand, and shivers went down her back. She knew she was about to get caught.
She knew she couldn't run forever.
So many hands grabbed onto her. Her mouth, her arms, her legs.
She couldn't breathe. Water. She was under the water. She couldn't move to save her life. The monster would soon catch up to her.
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It's been almost 2 hours since the trial started. Do-hoon was the first to notice the glow of the curved lines slowly fading. "Ae-rin…"
Oh, the burden was too heavy.
No, that couldn't be right!
Even though everyone else was starting to catch up to the fact that the glow of the curves was fading, Tae-ya was still looking at Ae-rin intently from Jihoon's shoulder as if to say he would stay there forever until she came back.
The grievance was inching towards the max point; just a whimper from someone and everyone might just break down crying right then and there.
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*Blinks*
'What happened? I-I can think now? What just… no… what? What am I thinking? But why can't I recall what happened before? Wait, where even am I?'
Fighting the spinning head, Ae-rin looked and found herself standing beside an oak tree with the 'sun' halfway to the mid-heaven. There was a crow sitting on the tree.
"I have been waiting for you. You have done well, and you're only one step away from the 'victory'."
Ae-rin didn't answer.
"Take this and end it here." A sword appeared in front of her. She took it.
"There." The crow pointed at the ground. It was then Ae-rin realized she was standing on the water. But when she looked at what the crow was referring to, she saw the most terrifying scene in her life.
It was 'her', trapped by many hands, eyes only asking to be freed, and a monster approaching.
"Strike her and be free from your past. Reborn into this world."
Ae-rin's throat felt like it was closing in.
'What did it just say? Strike? Rebirth is the symbol the raven stands for. Yes, I was giving the trial to have the lord's presence. Yeah, Calm down, Ae-rin. Trust yourself.'
She looked down at 'her' trapped under the water. She got on her knees and held the sword up, ready to stab right through the heart of the matter.
"Yah!"
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The last bit of yellow glow faded. "Ae-rin-chan…" Sun-hee was trying to keep Seo-young from breaking apart. But even she couldn't hold her tears back. She remembered what Ae-rin told her the day before.
~Flashback~
"If I am sure? Ya, I just want to give it a try."
"But there won't be another chance if you fail this one and… and we won't be able to even help you if you are in trouble."
"I know. And that's exactly why you all are so concerned, yeah? I mean, what worse can happen? I would just crash-land on another world." A small pause. "But I don't know if I would get friends like you guys in another world. And I promised too, didn't I? I won't burden you all. I won't leave because something tells me it would make everyone sad. And it's just the start of my hero's journey; I can't leave things like this. There is so much to experience still. I'll come back; can't ditch all this fun!"
~Flashback ended~
Her sweet, comforting smile was clouding Sun-hee's mind.
'Didn't you say you would come back? Now what?'
Everyone in the crowd was silent. No one was too close to her, but her presence was way too comforting; the handful of days was enough to get attached to her. To everyone, she was the last hope this world had… and that she was a very nice person.
Only sounds of sniffles could be heard among the people. The crew just stayed quiet with a blank look in their eyes.
The crew got down to where Ae-rin was still standing.
Yu-jun was done keeping his voice to himself.
"It's all your fault."
He grabbed onto Il-seong's collar, enraged, but Il-seong was already depressed about the whole situation to protest.
"If you hadn't told her about the trial, this wouldn't have happened."
Il-seong still didn't say anything.
"Yu-jun, stop. It's not the time for this. Ae-rin didn't want us to be burdened by this, remember?" Yoon-hwan said somewhat half-heartedly.
"Ya? Then why hasn't she come back as she promised?"
Daeshim dared to look at Ae-rin. "Huh?"
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"Ha!"
Ae-rin brought the sword down but stopped right before it touched the 'water'.
'Think before you act, Ae-rin. No, it doesn't feel right. I can't kill myself. Then… what to do?'
Ae-rin dropped the sword and went for a dunk into the 'water'. She grabbed onto herself and tried to pull her out of it.
"What do you think you are doing? I said kill her!" The crowd shouted, but Ae-rin didn't stop.
It was a little hard to pull 'her' out, but Ae-rin relented and succeeded.
"What did you do?!" The crow was almost on her face.
"I can't kill her. I don't need to. She is the reason why I exist. The way I am today. The past me can and will live with me, whether it be as a part of me or in my memories. Whatever I chose back then is what brought me here in this world. No matter what, she has the right to exist, and she will."
"You will never be able to win against your fears!"
"I don't need to. All I need is the consciousness to choose to fight against it. I am, but a person, not a god, and I don't want to be. And if I have to fight you to prove my point, then get on the ground!"
With that, everything started to fade. The crow just kept on staring at Ae-rin until everything vanished into the void.
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Daeshim looked up at Ae-rin with rather dull eyes only to find tears running down her eyes.
"Huh?"
On cue, the curved lines on the ground glowed in a brighter white light with a soothing green hue. And she opened her eyes, looking at the sky with a blank look.
"Did… did she pass the trial? But-"
"Ae-rin-chan!" Seo-young called out, but Ae-rin was still in her head, her stance on alert.
"Is she ok?" Jae-geum asked Do-hoon.
Not even a moment later, the sky turned dark. Everyone in the crowd was already amazed that Ae-rin 'revived' herself, but when the majestic being they called their lord appeared, covering the whole sky with its spread wings, there was only one thing they could do,
Bow before the 'Raven'.
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