Chapter 161. The Perfect Escape Route (1)
“Oh, there you are.”
Yukgap casually picked up Seryun’s severed head.
Even then, Seryun’s head did not move.
“...”
“Lee Seryun, I know you can hear everything we’re saying. Open your eyes.”
Yukgap spoke in a bored tone.
Then Seryun’s eyes suddenly snapped open.
“You’re too much.”
“I was doing my best to play dead.”
Nova screamed in horror.
“Aaaaaaaaaah! The severed head is talking!”
Seryun looked confused by her reaction.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Give her a break. She’s never seen an undead before.”
As if making introductions, Yukgap held Seryun’s head out toward Nova.
Left with nothing but his head, Seryun politely greeted her.
“It’s unfortunate that we have to meet like this.”
“My name is Lee Seryun. I’m an alchemist and the owner of Brothers Kimchi.”
“I mainly supply kimchi to Restaurant Shelley.”
“Aaaaaaaaaah!”
Nova had completely lost it.
She could only scream at the grotesque sight.
Seryun sighed and tried to calm her.
“Could you please settle down a little?”
“I can’t even have a conversation like this.”
“Aaaaaaaaaah!”
Nova’s reaction did not change.
Then again, anyone would probably react like that after seeing a severed head calmly talking.
But that was not important right now.
“Why were you lying around like this?”
Yukgap asked as he set Seryun’s head down.
Seryun answered casually.
“Oh, that?”
“That bat Archon we met last time came by.”
“No. 8?”
Seryun nodded.
“He saw me before, remember?”
“He remembered my face.”
“He suddenly showed up and asked where you people were.”
“When I said I didn’t know, he attacked me.”
Apparently, Abraxas was searching through everyone around them while trying to track them down.
Only then did Yukgap understand why Seryun had been lying around like this.
“So you were pretending to be dead?”
“I thought another Archon might come by, so I was planning to play corpse for a while.”
“But you found me immediately.”
“We haven’t known each other for just a day or two.”
“This much is obvious.”
At Yukgap’s casual boast, Seryun looked around with an unimpressed expression.
“Anyway, if all of you came here, I assume something happened?”
That struck the heart of the matter.
Victoria quickly answered.
“Yes.”
“It’s a long story, but right now we need somewhere to hide.”
Seryun replied flatly,
“We’ve known each other long enough that I can’t exactly throw you out.”
“I’ll help.”
“I’m undead anyway.”
“It takes quite a lot to kill me.”
Thankfully, Seryun did not refuse them.
Victoria picked up one of the severed arms and cautiously asked,
“Should I start sewing the arm back on?”
Seryun glanced toward his torso.
“Let’s start with my upper body.”
“It’ll make conversation easier.”
“So, to summarize what’s happened so far...”
Seryun continued speaking while stitching his severed body back together piece by piece.
“A tantrum-prone child with future-prediction abilities is tracking you through the entire world’s internet network.”
“And biological weapons, each with monster-level abilities, are wrecking everything around them under her orders.”
Victoria reluctantly nodded.
“That’s the short version.”
Seryun let out a deep sigh.
“How did an ordinary citizen like me get dragged into something this ridiculous?”
“All I ever wanted was to live peacefully and make kimchi.”
For some reason, that rubbed Yukgap the wrong way.
“So you’re saying you won’t help?”
“I already said I would.”
“But if you stay like this, you don’t stand a chance.”
“Korea is an IT powerhouse.”
“Wherever you go, you’re basically under this Alpha woman’s surveillance.”
It was a fair point.
Wi-Fi was everywhere in Korea.
CCTV cameras were everywhere too.
No matter where they went, they would still be within Alpha’s reach.
“Then what do we do?”
Victoria urgently asked.
Seryun answered as though the solution were obvious.
“Go somewhere without internet.”
“Does a place like that even exist?”
Seryun glanced at the darkening sky.
A strangely warped new moon hung overhead.
“Tonight happens to be a new moon.”
“Perfect.”
Seryun led them down into the basement beneath the kimchi shop.
The entire way, Nova kept sneaking frightened glances at him.
“What exactly is your problem?”
Seryun asked irritably after noticing her stare.
Nova still looked at him fearfully.
“So... you’re kind of like a zombie?”
Seryun immediately clicked his tongue.
“Tsk.”
“How many times do I have to tell you I’m a lich, not a zombie?”
“I’m an intelligent being.”
“I’m not some creature being controlled by someone else like a zombie.”
“I overcame death through my own will.”
“We may both be undead, but we’re on completely different levels!”
Apparently, being compared to a zombie offended him deeply.
“I’ve heard about undead before, but I’ve never actually seen one.”
Nova offered the excuse.
Whatever else could be said, she had never seen someone get horribly dismembered, keep talking, then sew their own severed body parts back together.
The stranger part was that Victoria and Yukgap did not even blink at the grotesque sight.
At this point, Nova was starting to wonder whether she was the strange one.
Victoria noticed and tried to reassure her.
“Don’t worry about it too much.”
“He’s an alchemist who’s helped us a lot.”
“And Seryun’s kimchi is delicious.”
“All the customers at our restaurant loved it.”
“The kimchi we use at Restaurant Shelley is his too.”
Seryun immediately looked proud.
“I’m a genius, after all.”
“My kimjang technique combines biotechnology and alchemy.”
“I can confidently say it’s the best.”
Nova had many questions about why making kimchi required biotechnology and alchemy.
But Seryun looked so serious that she could not bring herself to ask.
“We’re here.”
They stopped in front of a small storage room in the basement beneath the kimchi shop.
Yukgap looked at it in disbelief.
“Here?”
“Don’t tell me you expect us to hide in the basement of your kimchi shop.”
“Of course not.”
Seryun knocked on the storage room door and recited a familiar incantation.
“Knock, knock, knock. Who is it?”
“Knock, knock, knock. I brought apricot pie.”
“How many guests?”
“Knock, knock, knock. There are four of us.”
“Please prepare the dishes.”
“Knock, knock, knock. Welcome.”
“Knock, knock, knock. On the night of the new moon.”
“Knock, knock, knock. To this utterly useless place.”
A strange current began rippling beyond the door.
Seryun slowly opened it.
Bustling noise and endless rows of tents filled their vision.
“This place is...?”
Yukgap trailed off as he recognized it.
Seryun calmly spoke.
“Welcome to the Crescent Moon Auction.”
The Crescent Moon Auction.
The greatest black market in the world, said to have been founded by nine transcendent beings.
Yukgap had visited several times before and knew exactly what kind of place it was.
“Why is there an entrance to somewhere like this beneath your kimchi shop?”
“To be precise, I purchased a building that was already connected to the Crescent Moon Auction.”
“Afterward, I started using it as both my alchemy workshop and kimchi shop.”
“I’d kept it secret until now, but I suppose the secret’s out.”
Then Seryun explained why he had brought them here.
“The Crescent Moon Auction exists everywhere and nowhere.”
“More importantly, it operates under the rules of the Gatekeeper Clan.”
“Even Alpha shouldn’t be able to cause trouble here.”
“That makes sense.”
If someone caused a disturbance here, the Gatekeeper Clan would intervene.
No matter how many Archons Alpha sent, even they would not be able to act freely inside this place.
More importantly, the Crescent Moon Auction belonged to the hidden side of the world.
No matter how omniscient Alpha seemed, there was no way she had complete control over even this place.
In many ways, it was the perfect refuge for their current situation.
Seryun led the way into the Crescent Moon Auction and urged them onward.
“Come on.”
“The night is short.”
“And more importantly, we need to meet the most annoying, unpleasant woman in the entire Crescent Moon Auction.”
The group crossed between rows of connected tents.
Before long, they arrived at one tucked away in a corner.
A flag bearing the symbol of a brain fluttered above it.
“Welcome.”
“You must be tired from coming all this way.”
As soon as they arrived, a man named Leon, whom they had met before, greeted them.
Seryun recognized him and gestured with his chin.
“Tell your master she has visitors.”
Leon nodded and guided them inside.
“She has been expecting you.”
“Please come in.”
Apparently, the owner of the tent had already anticipated their arrival.
It felt unpleasant, but they had no other choice right now.
Yukgap and Victoria exchanged a glance before slowly stepping inside.
“This place is creepy no matter how many times I come here.”
Seryun complained while looking around.
He had a point.
Pink brains floated inside flasks, connected to countless wires.
The sight was grotesque.
After walking for a while, they reached a massive flask in the center of the tent.
Only an enlarged brain floated inside.
“We’re here, Doctor Mozg.”
Yukgap recognized her and greeted her.
A mechanical voice came from the speaker beneath the flask.
[It has been a while.]
[Doctor Frankenstein.]
[Doctor Nova.]
[Chef Yukgap.]
[And...]
[My irritating, unpleasant ex-husband.]
Seryun immediately scoffed.
“Oh, please.”
“As if you’re such a pleasant person yourself.”
True to form for a divorced couple, the two looked ready to start bickering again.
But there was no time for that.
Yukgap immediately got to the point.
“Doctor Mozg, there’s only one reason we came here.”
Before he could even finish, Doctor Mozg answered.
[I know.]
[Abraxas is currently hunting all of you, isn’t it?]
