CH 335

Identifying something within the pitch-black darkness was no easy feat.

Most of the time, the 'darkness' people thought about wasn't really dark at all. Especially for those who lived in cities where the sunset heralded the incoming night and the thriving nightlife--trying to understand what 'true' darkness was like would be quite difficult for them.

Within the pitch-black darkness where not one ray of light could enter, human eyes would lose their capabilities and become unable to discern anything.

For such a reason, Choi Yeon-Ha briefly had to wonder seriously about if she had gone blind. Despite her concerted efforts to focus her eyes and look at her surroundings, she couldn't see anything. A lot of time had to go by before she finally detected a blurry something above her.

Drip...

And then, a liquid droplet fell from that blurry something to Choi Yeon-Ha's face.

'Isn't this...?'

She thought this droplet was water. But this droplet felt too viscous to be purely water. Besides, her sense of smell, now heightened after the loss of her sight, was ringing alarm bells in her head. This smell was somewhat familiar but also not quite familiar to her.

'...It's blood!'

The liquid droplets falling around her brows had the acrid scent of blood. That was when Choi Yeon-Ha finally realized what was happening here, and her jaw dropped. This was blood. Which meant someone was bleeding from his wound. Back when the tunnel collapsed, the only other person with her was Kang Jin-Ho...!

“M-Mister Jin-Ho?!” Choi Yeon-Ha urgently cried out. At least, that's what she tried to do. Her strained, withered vocal cords couldn't produce proper sounds. Only a tiny little voice, turbid from dust and pain, leaked out from her throat.

“A-are you... okay?”

Her mind was fully awake now. Thankfully, Choi Yeon-Ha had definitely survived the cave-in. And, judging from the dripping blood, Kang Jin-Ho seemed to be injured quite badly.

'How long was I out for?'

Choi Yeon-Ha tried desperately to cling to her fading consciousness. She couldn't see anything, and her entire body was screaming in pain, too. On top of that, she even witnessed the horrifying sight of the tunnel crumbling and falling on top of her. After looking at all these factors... It seemed crystal clear what kind of situation Choi Yeon-Ha was in.

Choi Yeon-Ha tried to reach up. Even a simple movement like this was enough to intensify her body's screaming, but she still focused as much as possible not to be rough with her touch, then carefully felt around the space above her.

“Urgh...”

She thought she could touch something warm up there and soon, was greeted by a subdued and pained moan that wasn't hers.

“...! Mister Jin-Ho!”

As she suspected, Kang Jin-Ho was above her, facing her. Judging from how she couldn't sense much weight pressing down on her, he must be on all fours to keep his body weight off her.

“Mister Jin-Ho!”

“...Keep it down, please,” Kang Jin-Ho replied in a half-cracked voice. It was a hushed little whisper, the kind that told the story of how difficult things were for him just by listening to it. “Please... don't shout. It's ringing in my head.”

Choi Yeon-Ha silently nodded. She couldn't tell if her head movement could be seen in this pitch-black darkness, but there was nothing she could do other than desperately follow Kang Jin-Ho's commands.

'I'm scared.'

Once her confusion died down, it was quickly replaced by a tidal wave of fear. Her fully-functioning mind analyzed her current situation, her reality. The darkness without a speck of light signified how she and Kang Jin-Ho were trapped within the collapsed tunnel. Although she should celebrate not dying immediately as the debris came down on top of them...

'Can we even get rescued?'

Choi Yeon-Ha's mind quickly wandered into the worst-case scenario, where it might have been better to die when the cave-in occurred. At this rate, the two of them might starve to death pretty soon. Or even from dehydration.

The darkness suddenly grew misty in Choi Yeon-Ha's view. She failed to notice the tears in her own eyes while touching Kang Jin-Ho's face. “Y-you are... bleeding...”

“It's nothing to worry about,” said Kang Jin-Ho.'

“But, you are...”

Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly shook his head. Choi Yeon-Ha sensed his head movement from her hand, then clenched her teeth.

'I... I need to get a hold of myself!'

If their situation could be improved by her throwing a hissy fit or pouring out a series of tearful curses, Choi Yeon-Ha would've done it dozens of times. No, make that hundreds of times! However, reality didn't work that way. Nothing would change even if she lost her mind.

Tears continued to trickle out of her eyes as her emotions tried to run wild, but Choi Yeon-Ha knew she mustn't do that. Anxiety and fear were infectious, after all.

“Are you okay?” Choi Yeon-Ha cautiously asked.

“Yes, I'm okay.”

“Really? Are you... really okay? You're not badly injured, are you?”

Kang Jin-Ho wryly smiled.

'What a funny woman...'

When facing a situation as dire as this one, most ordinary women would have entered a panicked state, utterly out of their minds right about now. But the first thing Choi Yeon-Ha did after regaining her consciousness was worry about someone else.

Kang Jin-Ho knew she was not exactly ordinary, but to think her mentality would be this tough...

'She probably thinks I can't see anything.'

Too bad, Kang Jin-Ho could clearly see all the tears flowing out of Choi Yeon-Ha's eyes. She was obviously trying so hard to hide how scared and in pain she was.

It seemed Choi Yeon-Ha was a lot stronger mentally than Kang Jin-Ho had given her credit for.

'That's that, but...'

Kang Jin-Ho carefully inspected his own body. He remained conscious as the tunnel collapsed, but then... It seemed he had blacked out briefly afterward.

'This isn't good.'

It felt like one of his legs had become a shredded mess judging from this vague feeling coming from there. And the bones in his left arm, currently propping up his torso, were broken, too.

Even if he had a pretty high cultivation realm, withstanding all the weight coming down on him from a tunnel cave-in, plus the incredible pressure afterward, was extremely challenging. If he hadn't instantly unleashed all of his stored qi to the point of exhaustion, Kang Jin-Ho would've become a flattened pancake by now.

'At least I've managed to create some space for us.'

Kang Jin-Ho pushed aside all the falling bedrock and soil to the side and created strong-enough supports in the blink of an eye to prevent all the pressure from crushing down on them, but... Doing all this in the middle of a cave-in meant he had no choice but to withstand about half the weight with his physical body. The pressure from that broke his arm bones and shredded his flesh.

As for the numb-feeling leg, it must be trapped under one of the falling boulders. Kang Jin-Ho calmly finished analyzing the current situation, then bit his lower lip.

'I let my guard down!'

How stupid had he been...!

'Being strong isn't everything, so how could I...'

Kang Jin-Ho had been too arrogant. Despite knowing that not just one or two random enemies were coming after him, he believed he could deal with them no problem, regardless of how many of them chose to show up. And he thought this wasn't arrogance but sheer confidence.

However, he had overlooked a crucial point. One didn't necessarily need to stick to martial arts when dealing with a stronger enemy.

Kang Jin-Ho believed he could defend against any and all enemy attacks, regardless of what petty tricks they might resort to. And this was the result of his beliefs.

“Urgh...”

Another pained moan leaked out of his lips.

“A-are you okay?” Choi Yeon-Ha tried to look at him, a worried expression glued to her face.

Instead of a moan, a sigh came out of Kang Jin-Ho's lips next.

'Looks like I've put her in harm's way.'

He got careless and caused Choi Yeon-Ha to get caught up in his matter. She wouldn't have gotten into trouble if only they hadn't been traveling together. Kang Jin-Ho felt guilty for putting her through such a wringer.

As he was stewing in his guilt, a corner of his chest stung when Choi Yeon-Ha started showing concern for his wellbeing.

Choi Yeon-Ha tried to sound reassuring. “Please be more patient, Mister Jin-Ho! The rescue team... will arrive soon!”

'The rescue team, is it...'

Kang Jin-Ho could only grin bitterly.

From what he saw before they entered the tunnel, this particular structure seemed to go through a hilltop. Something like that collapsed, so Kang Jin-Ho estimated that the rescue team might need at least a fortnight just to reach this deep. Not only that but the previously-collapsed soil was bound to get weaker than before. Blindly and urgently digging through the dirt could potentially trigger a second cave-in. And that would spell doom for both the rescue team and the trapped victims.

'But the bigger problem is whether others know we're trapped in here or not...'

This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

The cave-in happened during the early hours of the morning. And there was no one nearby. The Yeongnam Group should be the only people who knew that Kang Jin-Ho was heading this way, and it was unrealistic to expect them to tip the authorities off out of compassion.

Objectively speaking, expecting to be rescued in this situation was a pipe dream. And there was one other, more urgent problem to consider: the lack of water in this place.

The survivors pulled out from the rubble of collapsed buildings often attributed their survival to water. They either drank rainwater or the water leaking out from the burst pipes to keep themselves hydrated until the rescuers came.

A human being could go without water for three days before they started breaking down. For Kang Jin-Ho, he probably could last the whole month without many issues, but that wasn't the case for Choi Yeon-Ha. She probably wouldn't last three days.

No matter how Kang Jin-Ho dissected their current situation... It seemed they couldn't idly wait to be rescued.

'Right. We need to get out of here through our own strength...!'

Not doing so would subject Kang Jin-Ho to the sight of Choi Yeon-Ha slowly withering away and dying from dehydration right underneath him. As far as punishments went, this seemed way too cruel for letting his guard down only for a brief moment.

“Are you listening, Mister Jin-Ho?”

“...Yes, I am.”

“I'm sorry, but...”

“Mm?”

Choi Yeon-Ha raised her shaking hands and covered her face. She was still trying so hard to stem the unstoppable tears even now. “If... If it's not too much trouble... Can you say something to me? I... I'm really scared right now, you see…”

“Ah...!” Kang Jin-Ho lightly bit his lip.

Indeed, it must be terrifying. Even Kang Jin-Ho was feeling lost and unsure right now, so how much worse must it be for her?

Being trapped in darkness after a tunnel collapsed on top of them was more than enough to drive anyone mad from the intense mental trauma.

“There is... no need to worry so much, Miss Choi,” Kang Jin-Ho muttered while doing his best to sound calm and composed. “We'll get out of here soon enough.”

“Really...?”

“Yes.”

Although Kang Jin-Ho wasn't confident, reassuring her this way didn't require his complete confidence, to begin with. He wasn't lying about getting out of here soon, after all. Whether they were physically getting out of here or only their souls would leave this place... Well, that was a separate issue, but still.

“So, I recommend you get some more sleep, Miss Choi.”

“...But, I've been unconscious until now.”

“Even then,” Kang Jin-Ho spoke in a firm voice. “Remaining awake consumes your energy. And you'll lose water from your body if you keep talking like this. That's why sleeping is the best option for now.”

“I... I don't think I can sleep...”

“Close your eyes and relax.”

“...I'll try.” Choi Yeon-Ha's trembling eyelids slowly closed. Kang Jin-Ho confirmed that and quietly clenched his fist.

'I'm responsible.'

Choi Yeon-Ha getting trapped in here was all Kang Jin-Ho's fault. No matter what he said in his defense, he'd not be able to avoid this responsibility. As such, it was his sworn duty to get Choi Yeon-Ha out of here as safe and sound as possible.

No matter what it takes!

“Mister Jin-Ho, I can't sleep.”

“It's fine. Just stay still and be calm.”

“...Can I ask you something, Mister Jin-Ho?”

“Yes, you can.”

Choi Yeon-Ha's lips parted cautiously before closing shut. She seemed to be hesitating for a bit, then a pained voice finally escaped from her mouth. “We... We can get out of here alive, yes?”

Kang Jin-Ho could tell how much Choi Yeon-Ha thought about this question from her tone of voice. Despite knowing that she couldn't see him, Kang Jin-Ho nodded anyway. “Yes, we can.”

“...Really?”

“Yes.” Kang Jin-Ho nodded again and then even did something he normally never did—adding more to his answer. “Believe in me.”

Choi Yeon-Ha opened her eyes again. She silently looked up, and Kang Jin-Ho briefly wondered if her still eyes could see his face right now.

She probably couldn't. But she kept staring as if she could before closing her eyes again. “I do believe in you.”

Kang Jin-Ho didn't say anything else, then reached down to her with his still-fine arm. He lightly tapped on her pressure point, sending her into a blissful slumberland. Once he confirmed that she was asleep, crimson streaks of light began leaking out of Kang Jin-Ho's eyes.

'I will... get out of here alive!'

I don't care what I must do, but both of us will get out of here alive. And when I do...!

I will make you all regret it!

Those who dared to do this would soon learn what it meant to attack him like this. The crimson aura began oozing out of the enraged Kang Jin-Ho to fill up the surroundings.

Its color seemed so vivid despite the lack of light in this space.