"Yes, I'll try my best!"
Someone may think Ae-rin has jumped into this a bit too fast. But that warmth from everyone there, she definitely had craved in her 'previous life'. It was too warm here, like a home… a real home. Would this trade-off be too hasty?
'I can't let them down' That went through her mind.
"Oh! That's wonderful. Welcome to our team! And I know these people who have been eavesdropping from the start would like to greet you the same way." Daeshim looked over his shoulder towards the gawking stares from behind the doors.
"Now, come out and say it, you punks!"
There were everyone, well, except Yeong, Kwang and Tae-geum. They were most likely back to their duties. But the rest of the group, even "some new faces," were there, if Ae-rin didn't already know them from the manhwa. They might have found the conversation itself between their coach- sorry, priest and a stranger more interesting.
Some were just made excuses *Ahem* Jihoon *ahem* that he was just passing by, and some of the faces that she met earlier welcomed her to the group. And the three whom she hadn't 'met' before introduced themselves…. With rather bashful faces. Ha-neul, Minho and Eun-woo
-------------------
Well after all that hassle, Ae-rin finally asked the 'main' question.
"So, how am I supposed to get started?"
"Started?"
"I mean, what am I supposed to do to awaken 'these powers'?
"Oh, I have no idea, actually."
The 'HUH?!' expression to that is going to go down in history.
"Y-You don't know?!"
The priest and the master simultaneously swung their heads left to right and right to left.
"Then-" "Oh, don't worry! You'll get it."
'How are they so optimistic?!'
Before Ae-rin could say anything else, A gust of wind blew suddenly and left a piece of paper(?) on Daeshim's palm.
"It's from Yeong. The Northeast of the 4th district near the border is being attacked by some of those underworld creatures. They need help."
'That's some crazy communication system. Blow off the wind- Ae-rin no! not the time for memes!'
"I am going!" "Me too!" That's our rival duo right there. Il-seong and Yu-jun stormed in front of the priest for permission.
"You should come with us too, Ae-rin!"
Ae-rin gave them a blank face.
"But I know nothing about magic. I might be-"
"Il-seong's right. Even if you don't know anything, you'll at least know who your primary enemies are, no? Or maybe get to understand how to awaken the powers or something." Yoon-Hwan added.
'I am clueless, please, the plot twists are too fast! Uff… But Yoon-hwan definitely had a point…. ok scratch that, he always has.'
"Why are we waiting for? C'mon!"
"Wait- Il-seong, hold on-"
"Eun-woo!"
"Yeah, yeah. There you go."
Eun-woo didn't just 'open' a door; he seemed to manipulate the very air. A dense layer of hydrogen began to warp, bending and bending the fabric of space itself until it tore open into a shimmering tunnel. It was beautiful, but the way the space distorted felt like a warning—
"Stay safe, all three of you, be careful." Do-hoon was almost unfazed by the whole ordeal. Too used to their shenanigans.
"Yeah!" "Hu!"
'You are too calm for this situation, Sir!'
Ae-rin looks at Do-hoon, and he stares back at her with a soft, knowing warmth. A message you can interpret as 'why don't you try to live a little?'
And she stopped arguing in her head.
'I mean, even if the world is to end or… more like, my world is to end, why not live it a bit, maybe I'll find myself in another world like this. Well, it clearly is much more welcoming here, unlike my 'other' world.'
-----------------
Once Aerin, Il-seong and Yu-jun crossed to the shimmering tunnel, she was hit by darkness, pitch darkness.
"Well, wh-?!"
Il-seong shushed at Ae-rin and pointed at something not too far away from them, and her mouth felt open, whether in shock or terror-
It was an army of giant, tall, dark figures.
'What is this place- No, no way. Who knew the MCs had to stare up at these massive monsters! Being MC is underrated!'
But then she also noticed that the sky had turned to black, not a night sky, black. It had torn open and the massive beasts were passing through the space. How were they still able to see them, you ask? Magic.
Il-seong started in a whisper.
"Ae-rin, I didn't know they had attacked. I wouldn't have let you come with us otherwise. They're very dangerous, and seeing this darkness, it gives them an advantage to fight against us." Il-seong rubbed the back of his head.
'yes, I… should've known it wouldn't be a damn walk in the park. What were you thinking, Ae-rin!'
"The portal's closed, we could've sent you back. It must be because of the magic barrier around here. They are tempering with the communication portals." Yu-jun added.
"Il-seong, Yu-jun, is that you?"
"It's Jae-geum! Yeah, we're here."
"Who were you talking to?"
"Ae-rin, we'll introduce you to her later."
"NOW LISTEN YA ALL-" Kwang starts but gets interrupted.
"Wait! What's Ae-rin doing here? It's not safe."
"She is here and we can't send her back, the portal's gone!"
"No way! Don't worry, angel-chan. I'll protect you!" Yeong held Yu-jun's hand insead.
"Ekk! Geez! Don't hold my hand, Dude!"
"Heh, thank you though, Deity-ssi" Ae-rin sweat-dropped.
"NOW LISTEN WE HAVE TO TAKE THEM OUT ONE BY ONE!"
"Keep it down, Kwang. If they spotted us, we're doomed."
"Ah- so, what I was saying is that we need to distract one of them at a time and take them down one by one!"
"We don't have any other options."
"You rock, man!"
"Let's do that, then."
"Then, over there everyone."
'Huh… Never really a 'dull moment with these guys around''
They all got a little far away from where they were and left Ae-rin about 300 meters away from the group.
Il-seong murmured something and glowing crimson flames oozing out.
The flame sorcerer jumped super high…I mean yeah it's Il-seong, what else. He was so famous for his jumps in the manhwa too. That jump caught attention of the last creature in their group. That thing looked like a moth to flame in Ae-rin's eyes, getting attracted to his flames. But she can't deny that those flame were alluring and beautiful. A flash went right through the monster. A purple lightning in massive force. It's Jae-geum. He cut it right through the middle and the huge tall figure desipated into the air while falling halfway.
'What in the heavenly power is that! Are we sure they are not the powercreep MCs in the story? Boss, who, where, what??'
It was like a chain effect that had started. Another of those monsters came chasing, sensing the magic flow. Kwang had two traditional Korean drumsticks in his two hands, and he just slammed it over on the air. There were red soundwaves that hit the monster. It was definitely in pain. All of a sudden, Yeong, gliding through the air with his two wing opened, slashed his hands and blades, after blades of wind cutting through the monster.
'Since when does Yeong have wings?! I guess lore accurate… but what!'
It too dissipated the same way as the other one. After that, two monsters came, and one of them tried to stomp on Yeong.
He easily dodged, though.
The competing duo couldn't possibly stand idly around. Il-seong held out his hands. He focused down his mana, and a phoenix came flying out from those flames and engulfed one of their heads. And Yu-jun pulled out his sword and jumped through the air like he is flowing through a stream of water almost. The flow of the sword brought a gaint water dragon to life.
'Excuse me! You guys have no right to be this OP! I object! Where is the point of me being here! I'mma a noob!'
Needless to say, seeing her favorite volleyball players fighting monsters like that was something she had never imagined ever reading in fictions even but here she was, seeing it with her own eyes.
No need to thank me, dear Ae-rin!
They all fought 6 more of those monsters. When the last 4 of them got alerted. They zoomed through, stomping on the ground. Well, bad luck or whatever, one of them spotted Ae-rin. It took her in his hand, almost squashing her to death. Even though the others had noticed that, they couldn't get past the other three of them shiftly. "Ae-rin!!"
The monster that was holding Ae-rin, took her closer and closer to its 'mouth'. Then it stopped and roared loudly. Ae-rin could feel her senses going down. She wasso close to losing her consciousness. It was scary, she couldn't move, she couldn't breathe properly. But…
At that very moment, she felt warmth spreading behind her back, from the back of her neck, that same warmth from her mother, the same warmth she craved desperately for all those years and the same warmth that she finally felt again after coming to this world.
The warmth of familiarity.
"I prayed, I wished for someone to care, to accept me for all these years, and now… now that I found it in a completely different world, you think… you dare to think I would let go so easily? You think I would disappear just because you want me gone?! Just because you think I don't deserve it?! Huh?!"
No!! *Ring* Everyone heard something, a very distinct sound ball ring and something mixed with a ripple.
"you disappear!"
In an instant, all four of those monsters burst from the inside out. The darkness barrier disappeared too. And here Ae-rin was falling from the sky, unconscious but she got her saviors. Yeong caught her mid-air. But he didn't say a word. Everyone else surely was shocked to see the power Ae-rin already held. A Divine priestess's power.
------------------------
Yeong laid her down on the grass, and Il-seong stayed guard while the others scouted the place around to make sure there is no more threats lurking. Once she came back to her senses, he and Il-seong jumped on her for their questioning with starry eyes staring at Ae-rin.
"Ae-rin, what was that?!" Il-seong's excited voice echoed through the woods. "Ya! At one second, that 20 feet walking blasphemy was about to gobble you up whole and the next- BOOM!!! And they are all gone! ALL FOUR OF THEM!!!" Kwang was clearly amazed, out of his mind. They are their nation's protecters but Ae-rin's power is almost on par with the big names already!
"Angel-chan!! You're getting more and more awesome by the second! That was so cool!" Yeong might just become Ae-rin's biggest fan… for now. *Ahem* I am pretty sure there'll be way too many people fighting over that one spot at some point *Ahem*
"Wait, wait! Hold on. Didn't you say your world doesn't use magic?..." Yu-jun mentioned.
"Ya, That's right." Ae-rin was still in a daze after what happened.
'Damn, thank god, Adrenaline is still a thing here. It sure is doing overtime today'
"I don't know what happened myself…um, it just happened?"
"Wait! Would someone tell me about her? I still haven't introduced myself either. What was that?." Jae-geum was so out of his depth here, laughable considering he can be counted as a giant himself.
"Oh, ya! Angel-chan, this here is Choi Jae-geum."
"It's nice to meet you, Jae-geum-ssi. I am William Ae-rin. Please call me Ae-rin."
"It's nice to meet you, too, Ae-rin-chan. I didn't know we had someone with that much power in Goguryeo sun."
"I actually don't know what I did…"
"Huh? HUH?!" – everyone.
Ok, time to fill Jae-geum in on all the details the other 4 knew about Ae-rin.
--------------------
"So,… you're supposed to be the person in the legends?!"
"Well, what I was told… and seeing what I just did, at least it proves I won't be useless, right?" Ae-rin smiled sweetly.
'What am I doing? I am so lost… Is it ok for an MC'
"With that much power! No way! What're you talking about, Ae-rin!" Kwang shook Ae-rin violently.
"So, that's your first time using magic?" Yu-jun rubbed his face, disbelieving.
"Hmm." Silence...
"? Is everything ok? Guys?"
"I didn't even think about it! WHAT??!" Il-seong freaked out.
"Hey, what are you!" Yu-jun's brain fused, ya.
"Your highness!" "Your excellency!" Both Kwang and Yeong went all on four and bowed.
Ae-rin was weirded out at first, but their reactions were too hilarious.
"Heh, hehehe."
Trust me when I say Ae-rin's smile and laugh have the sweetness of the sweetest honey and warmth of a thousand springs.
"What are all of you doing!" And her happy laugh was way too beautiful. One can easily just get lost. She sure has missed the look on her new friends then… mesmerized.
"Come on. We have to go back and let Do-hoon and Daeshim-ssi know what just happened, no?"
"Oh! Oh! Yeah!"