Chapter 45 :

Episode 11 : Mist of Deepest Fear (1)

Alaine, having calmed down by Mirai's message, sat next to a tree which was slightly far from the mist.

With Mirai beside her, she wasn't able to do anything, thus she could only wait until JoonChul came back with HwanGi.

"Will JoonChul be okay in there?" Alaine asked Mirai with a nervous tone of voice.

Mirai, who was using her strings to make string art, answered without looking at Alaine. "He'll be fine."

"That's good to know.." Alaine said that even though she was still worried about the men inside the mist.

Alaine meant to ponder but instead she spoke out loud with curiosity. "What does that mist do that I can't get in..?"

Mirai sighed as she answered that question causally. "Let me explain it so that you could understand it more clearly."

Mirai utilized her strings to make her explanation into art. "The ‘Mist of Deepest Fear’ is a curse. Once you get cursed by it, a mist will come forth and you'll be trapped inside it with your worst fear."

Alaine paid close attention to Mirai's string arts, admiring her talent to make such arts easily.

"However, that is just the curse's first phrase. The second phrase is the ‘Illusion of Nightmare’."

"It forced you to live through your worst nightmare. Whether it is your traumatic past or unbearable future that you think of, the illusion will repeat itself again, causing you to live in those nightmares constantly."

Mirai glanced at Alaine for a split second before going back to making string arts. "The fact that your arm freezed when it entered the mist, meant that your fear and nightmare have a significant amount of strength to devour you whole within the mist."

Alaine touched her once frozen arm that was healed thanks to Mirai. "Oh.. but then what about JoonChul?!"

"My captain is a fearless man. He won't faze from such a trivial thing like a curse." Mirai had a smile etched on her face just from speaking about her captain.

Alaine caught Mirai smiling and found that very cute. "You're adorable when you grin like that."

"I wasn't smiling! And I'm not cute at all!" Mirai pouted with her red puffy cheeks.

Raiden who was still here, chuckled, making Mirai very frustrated.

"Why are you still here?" Mirai grumbled.

"Hai, hai. I'll catch the beasts while you ladies stay here." Raiden waved his hand before leaving in a hurry.

After Raiden left, a moment of awkwardness saturated the atmosphere which left Alaine to endure this uncomfortable ambience.

Eventually, a question emerged within Alaine's mind, so to get an answer to the question, she asked Mirai who was still making her beautiful string arts.

"How will JoonChul save HwanGi?"

Mirai replied. "My captain needs to get HwanGi outside by snapping him awake from the illusion. But.."

"B-But? There's a but?!" Alaine felt her anxiety increased after hearing there was a 'but', it even made her have a voice crack.

"Yes, if HwanGi can't wake up, then he'll be encaged inside there for the rest of his life."

"...If that's the case, how will JoonChul rescue him?"

Mirai said this while grinning. "Captain knows what to do. He's pretty intelligent after all." 

"You really like JoonChul.." 

"Of course, I do! He's the best!" Mirai smiled before she mumbled. "And he's my saviour.."

Unfortunately, Alaine couldn't catch what Mirai was murmuring. "Can you say that again? I didn't hear anything.."

"Hmph. It's nothing." 

"Say.. where is that black cat?" Alaine, having remembered that, looked around to find the missing cat, but failed to locate him.

"Maybe he went to find a kitty in heat. pfft! Hehe." Mirai laughed as she spoke.

"Oh. Is it mating season already?" Alaine being naive, couldn't get the joke.

Mirai cleared her throat and continued on doing her string arts. "Ahem. Never mind." 

Alaine tilted her head to the side while saying confusedly. "Eh..?" 

———

In a dark spacious void, HwanGi's eyes opened up, revealing nothing but the pitch-black emptied space.

When HwanGi blinked, the once black space transformed to a familiar scene..

On a mountain road, A man driving through that with his car, along with a woman beside him who sat in the front seat.

With how baffled HwanGi was, he pinched his hand to see if this was a dream. 

To his surprise, it wasn't. However, he realized something was wrong with himself. 

It was his field of vision which was shortened as well as his body. 

HwanGi astoundingly said. "I'm.. 8 year olds again..?"

The woman in the front seat cheerfully said. "Hwan~ Are you excited for camping~?"

Her voice caused HwanGi's eyes to shoot wide open.

Fully denying this situation, he shook his head, holding it before looking at the back of the woman's head. "Mom..?"

"Yes sweetie~?" She glanced at him.

Her face was the final shot to HwanGi's denial. 

HwanGi had no way to refuse the fact that he was back in his childhood again.

He was supposed to be happy.. but he couldn't..

Because he knew something terrible would happen..

"Mom! Get out of here!" HwanGi yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Son, what nonsense are you saying this time?" The man in the driver seat was the one who responded.

"Dad.. Dad! Please..! Turn back! Before the cliff collapses!" 

HwanGi's father chuckled. "Are you in your imagination world again?"

"Aww. Sweetie~ Don't worry, you'll get to imagine as much as you want when we arrive in the campsite." HwanGi's mother reached out her hand to pat HwanGi's head, rustling his hair in the process.

Although it was difficult to move when HwanGi was in a child safety seat, he still processed to grab his mother's hand.

HwanGi couldn't hold back his tears, so teardrops began to fall onto his mother's hand. "Please.. mom.. I don't want you to die right in front of me again.." 

His mother smiled softly, caressing HwanGi's cheek to wipe away his tears. "Silly sweetie.. Don't cry because mommy won't die."

His father interrupted. "Son, you should learn that a man shouldn't cry."

"Dear, don't teach our son that. Everyone needs to relieve themselves by crying." His mother argued.

After a short time of wiping his eyes to finally see clearly, HwanGi discovered the cliff that was triggering his trauma again.

The ground started to rumble from an insane earthquake. 

Accompanied by this, the cliff that HwanGi laid his eyes on, underwent a significant change.

A line of crack formed under the cliff was enough to break off the connection between the mountain and the cliff.

And just like that, a cliff was about to collapse onto the ones who will see their lives flashing before their eyes.

The traumatized HwanGi filled with fear, he screamed out. "Cliff!!"