Dusk (BL Light Novel)

Adam—the mad Jeopa medic. He had just broken the fundamental lore of this world by speaking the Bia language aloud.
After running into Retaking during the hidden story, I thought nothing could surprise me anymore. But the moment I let my guard down, something like this popped out and caught me completely off guard.

And for good reason. The lore had always hammered in that interspecies communication between Jeopa and Bia was essentially impossible. This wasn’t quite as shocking as seeing Retaking here, but it came pretty close.
My character instinctively reached for the sword at his waist in shock, while Abrea’s mouth fell open in disbelief. Even Retaking, who usually only interacted with Adam via quest scripts, seemed confused at first when Adam began speaking in unfamiliar words—until his eyes suddenly widened.
[- Adam: “Why so surprised? Are you shocked that I can speak the Bia language? Hmm, well. I suppose it makes sense. I’m the only one who’s broken through the formula the ‘gods’ sealed. Of course I’d be the first Jeopa to talk to a Bia.”]

[- Abrea: “W-Wh-Wh-Wh-What…! How is this even—!”]
[- Adam: “More importantly, you. Can you see this mineral glowing?”]
Abrea’s question was mercilessly ignored.

Adam now held the mineral that my character had previously kicked away. This time, no dialogue options appeared—Honeybread simply nodded, confirming that the mineral was glowing.
At that moment, I caught a glimpse of Retaking’s character sharply turning his head to glare at Honeybread.
[- Adam: “Interesting. A Holy Guardian, sworn to the gods, can see something even a medic can’t?”]

[- Abrea: “W-Wait. Are you… Bia? No, that can’t be right, you’re clearly…”]
[- Adam: “Are you blind?”]
Abrea flared up at the insult, but then exhaled sharply.

[- Abrea: “Fine! Whatever. I don’t know what’s going on, but if we can actually talk, that’ll make things faster.”]
[- Abrea: “You—do you know what this is?”]
When Abrea asked, Adam’s eyes narrowed slightly.

[- Adam: “And what would you do with that knowledge?”]
What the hell? Didn’t he start the conversation? Usually, when an NPC walks up and starts talking, it’s because they’re about to drop a lore bomb or explain some big twist.
Apparently, Abrea was just as taken aback, because he scoffed and glared at Adam like he was about to clock him upside the head—if only this wasn’t the Eunseo Tribe’s territory.

[- Adam: “If you were an Eideas, I might’ve told you. But you’re a Witerahit. I don’t feel like wasting my time explaining it. And even if I did, it’d only cause confusion for someone like you.”]
[Please choose a dialogue option. 15 seconds remaining.]
▷ Then why did you even start talking?
▷ If you don’t want to talk, piss off.

If this had been real life, I would've just said "piss off." But since this was a game, curiosity won out. I picked the first option.
[- Then why did you even start talking?]
[- Adam: “I was curious. That Holy Guardian over there specifically picked out this mineral. And the puppet Supreme Commander can see it too. I wanted to confirm it for myself.”]

[- Adam: “Well. For a puppet like you, not being able to see it would’ve been more surprising.”]
As he spoke, Adam slowly scanned both Honeybread and Abrea from head to toe with a condescending gaze.
[- Adam: “That got me wondering. What kind of outcome will it lead to now that you two can see this? What will the gods’ faithful—those priests—do once they learn the mineral’s secret?”]

[- Adam: “And what will the ‘gods’ do? How will the world change as a result? That sort of thing.”]
[- Abrea: “What do you mean? What even is this mineral?”]
[- Adam: “Didn’t I already tell you? I have no intention of explaining anything to an ignorant Witerahit. If you want to know, and you think you can handle the aftermath, investigate it yourself.”]

Abrea, who had been silently listening until now, ran a hand through his hair and muttered irritably.
[- Abrea: “Ugh! This is why I hate scholars. They’re always muttering shit they only understand themselves, never giving a straight answer, and when you ask, they just say you’re too stupid. Is it fun? Talking to yourself while someone’s standing right in front of you?”]
And I’m the one you told not to pick a fight. Sure, this was infuriating, but still.

Abrea now looked like he was about to lunge at Adam, his glare cold as ice. But Adam met his eyes calmly and said in a whisper:
[- Adam: “No matter what I say, if it goes against your principles or doctrines, you’ll just call it heresy. So what’s the point of explaining it?”]
Not exactly wrong. Just like he said, Holy Guardians often dismissed anything that contradicted divine doctrine as heresy.

They wouldn’t outright insult you to your face—they’d politely ask you to be respectful—but at the end of the day, anyone with opposing views was treated like a blasphemer. That wasn’t just limited to Guardians either. Priests and Clerics were the same. They claimed not to have personal opinions, yet called their belief in the doctrine their "own belief." Given that almost every priest acted that way, Adam’s judgment wasn’t entirely off.
But that didn’t apply to Abrea.
[- Abrea: “Why would you assume I’m that kind of person?”]

Adam looked genuinely surprised.
[- Abrea: “Just because I’m a Holy Guardian? I hate that crap. I believe you have to hear people out and judge for yourself. At least, that’s how I think. Why do people always assume every Guardian only listens to godly sermons and blindly obeys? Have you ever actually talked to me before?”]
[- Abrea: “Even if other priests are rigid and make people sick of them, you can’t just assume the worst about someone without even trying to have a conversation—especially if you’re a scholar.”]

There was a long silence.
Retaking, who couldn’t understand a word of the conversation, darted his eyes around nervously, sensing the sudden tension. Eventually, his gaze met Honeybread’s.
He stared, confused, and gestured toward Adam and Abrea as if to ask, “What the hell is going on?” But since there was no way to explain, Honeybread just pursed his lips and shrugged helplessly.

The one who broke the silence was Adam.
[- Adam: “Now I think I understand why you were able to see the glow.”]
[- Abrea: “There you go again, saying weird stuff no one understands…”]

[- Adam: “You wouldn’t believe me if I explained it anyway. And it’d be hard to accept all at once. I’ll give you a hint. See it for yourself. Experience it. Decide for yourself.”]
Adam suddenly cupped the mineral in both hands and brought it to his lips, whispering something too soft to distinguish—whether it was in Jeopa, Bia, or a completely different language, I couldn’t tell.
Then he flicked his eyes toward Abrea and tossed the mineral his way. Abrea caught it reflexively before he could even ask a question, and Adam spoke again.

[- Adam: “There’s a child inside that will guide you. Follow the path they show you, and you’ll learn what’s hidden in this mineral… and what the ‘gods’ have tried to conceal.”]
[- Adam: “And if, after seeing that, you still want to talk to me… I’ll become someone worth having a real conversation with.”]
[- Abrea: “…Fine.”]

[- Abrea: “But if this turns out to be a stupid joke, I’ll find you and kill you. Just wait.”]
Adam, finally smiling for the first time, flashed a sly grin—not a warm one, but the kind of grin that said, This is gonna be fun. I’d seen that exact expression during Retaking’s streams before. That guy was a # Nоvеlight # straight-up curiosity-obsessed maniac.
[- Adam: “Alright then! But before we go back to investigating…”]

Adam suddenly changed the atmosphere and called out to Retaking.
[- Adam: “As an apology to our Supreme Commander, who had to just stand there all this time, I’ll offer one translation—ah, no, not translation. A live interpretation, shall we say.”]
What the hell was that supposed to mean? I watched Retaking’s character fumble, clearly flustered.

Then came the message:
[The other party is choosing a dialogue option. 30 seconds remaining.]
Seemed like a big one. I waited, curious what kind of options would even require such a generous timer.

Despite the time limit, Retaking made his choice quickly—about 7 seconds in. The message vanished, and he could be seen saying something short under his breath. Adam listened, then tried not to laugh as he gestured for Honeybread to come closer.
What. Why’s he laughing? What the hell did he choose?
As Honeybread approached, Adam cupped his hand around Honeybread’s ear and whispered something.

And as he did, the script popped up.
[- Adam: 🖕]
“……Huh?”

I just stared blankly at the text box.
🖕? Was that… the finger? Did he just give me the finger? Korean consonant ㅗ = middle finger?
I stared for a while. Yup. That was definitely the finger.

I took my hand off the mouse, raised my own middle finger in return. Then raised my other hand and flipped him off with both fingers.
Still dazed, I hit the screenshot button, then advanced the script. Adam, who had just dumped this bombshell on me, cheerfully waved and walked off.
The scene ended. The cutscene was over.

Standing in front of my character was Retaking.
[Normal Chat] Honeybread: ?
I sent a question mark.

Retaking clicked me, selecting me as his target, and just stared.
So I returned the favor, setting him as my target too.
Then, he used the kneeling emote and respectfully knelt before me.

Wait. So that bastard typed 🖕 at me manually? That’s what he selected? And now he’s kneeling in front of me to apologize?
A quest update notification pinged, but I couldn’t focus on it. I was too busy trying not to burst out laughing from his ridiculous flustered recovery.
I bit my lip and tried to breathe through my nose, calming myself. When I finally managed to compose myself and looked back at Retaking—

He was still kneeling. Still deadpan. Still staring straight at me.
That was it. I burst out laughing, unable to hold it in anymore.
Not just with my voice—my fingers joined in, too. The chat window filled with the letter k replicating like a virus.

[Normal Chat] Honeybread: Ah fck
[Normal Chat] Honeybread: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Normal Chat] Retaking: ; - ;).....4 & 6|-|.......

[Normal Chat] Retaking: uyii...uyii... uyiiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiy
Even if the Jeopa language auto-translated to alien text, you could roughly guess what letters they’d pressed. And I knew that consonant.
That was the Jeopa character for “ㅠ”.

Retaking was clearly panicking and feeling bad. In the chat, he basically screamed “I love you” while crying.
[Normal Chat] Retaking: ; 0 ;)52......52 52 52 52 52 52....,,.., uyiiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyi
[Normal Chat] Honeybread: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Normal Chat] Ju-gok: ????
[Normal Chat] Negotiable: What the fuck;; what the fuck are you two laughing and crying about
[Normal Chat] Honeybread: No like

[Normal Chat] Honeybread: Someone please just tell him to stop crying;;
[Normal Chat] Honeybread: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ