Dusk (BL Light Novel)

I came out through the western exit of the trading market to continue the quest. Since it was a route mostly used by the Jeopa race, nearly all the players I passed were Jeopa, but here and there, I spotted other Bia users like me who had crossed over for questing.
Just like during the initial investigation, I marked off every path I’d passed on the map as I ran around for a while—and eventually, I found the final quest item. I thought it’d show up right away, but six minutes had already passed.

No way they put this item this deep in unless they were trying to screw with players... Cursing internally, I clicked on the item.
[(It’s the corpse of a creature you’ve never seen before.)]
[(Its entire body is covered in fur that resembles that of the Eunseo race, and where its wings seem to have been, there are long, oval-shaped, stiff feathers densely layered along the grain. In contrast, its legs are hairless, with four toes and hard, sharp claws.)]

▷ Take the corpse.
▷ This might be a rare creature I’ve never seen before. Let’s not touch it unnecessarily.
Like with the leaf earlier, everything I picked up was being described with “never seen before,” and now they were just openly calling it an unknown corpse.

I didn’t hesitate. I chose the first option.
[(It’s a bit gross, but you took the corpse of the unfamiliar creature.)]
[System] You have acquired 1 .

When I opened my quest inventory, the newly acquired item was marked with an N. The icon showed a dead bird. So the earlier description—“long oval stiff feathers on the wings”—must’ve been referring to bird wings.
There hadn’t been any birdlike monsters or races in the game up until now. Why had one suddenly appeared? The most likely theory was that a new region was being opened. After all, whenever a new map drops, new monsters come with it. Last time they said they were working on the new continent, so the timeline fit perfectly.
I closed my inventory and checked the quest. After investigating all four objects, the objective changed to returning to Abrea. I assumed he’d still be at the trading market like before, but when I opened the map, he was actually nearby. I immediately sprinted in that direction.

It didn’t take long to arrive. I spotted Abrea holding the mineral, looking around, and walked up to speak to him.
[- Abrea: Oh, finished the investigation? Good timing. Look at this.]
Abrea showed me the mineral. The light it emitted swayed in only one direction, almost as if pointing the way.

[- Abrea: I don’t know what that bastard Adam did, but ever since I talked to him, this light’s been showing me a path. Could you come with me?
If this really leads us to something unbelievable, no one’s going to believe a guy the Temple’s branded a lunatic. I need someone who can prove I’m not just rambling. And if Adam really pulled something, things could get dangerous.]
[(You nod in agreement.)]

[- Abrea: Great. Then I’ll follow the light—stay close.]
With that, the conversation ended and Abrea began walking at a brisk pace, eyes locked on the glowing mineral. From his point of view, he was walking fast with wide strides, but from a player’s perspective—where we always sprint—it felt painfully slow.
At first, I just trailed behind him quietly, but I got bored quickly and rushed ahead. At a three-way fork, I picked the far-right path, guessing it was the way. But when I checked the map, Abrea had gone down the middle route.
I scrambled back and returned to his side. He popped a speech bubble: “Tsk, always so impatient,” clicking his tongue.

Still... isn’t it just natural for a HotSpicyKimchiKoreanGamer to get twitchy in a situation like this? If they’d just tell us the destination, we could run ahead and wait there. But walking like this for ages? It was torture.
I started circling around him, dashing ahead and back, jumping over his head—pulling all sorts of antics. Eventually, Abrea snapped with a line about how annoying I was. It felt almost too human, which only made me act even more obnoxious. But NPCs are NPCs. All he did was sigh a few times and then shut up.
After about 40 seconds of walking, the cave grew noticeably gloomier. The torches lighting the path were burning low. In some spots, the sconces had fallen to the ground and shattered—maybe due to the earthquake damage.

[- Abrea: …I think this is it.]
Abrea finally stopped. He was staring at a small tunnel, freshly dug like someone had just burrowed through it.
The quest marker popped up above his head. I immediately clicked to talk.

[- Abrea: The light is pointing into that passage. But I’m not sure if we should go in...]
[- Abrea: What do you think? Do you think it’s okay to enter?]
▷ Even if it’s a trap, I’ll protect you—let’s check it out.

▷ I don’t think Adam was lying back then. It’ll be fine—let’s go in.
Both options were saying to enter. Obviously, the quest wouldn’t continue if we didn’t.
Playing my role as a tank, I picked the first one.

[- Even if it’s a trap, I’ll protect you—let’s check it out.]
[- Abrea: Hoh. And what if it’s a trap you can’t handle? Then again... considering how many disaster-class monsters you’ve cleared, I guess that confidence is earned. Alright—I’ll go in first. If I give the signal, come help.]
With that, Abrea crouched and began crawling into the tunnel. A swirl of white light started circling the entrance—an indication that interaction was available. It was practically begging me to go in.

When I approached and pressed F, a message popped up about a cold, unsettling air drifting out—and the zone transitioned.
***
TIP – The Jeopa and Bia are collectively known as the ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) “Shin-Ah Tribe,” which means “Children of God.” While both races take pride in this title, they’re extremely displeased that they have to share it with an enemy faction.

***
When the loading finished, a cutscene began automatically.
My character arrived with Abrea in a place that was stark white, surrounded by mirrors and glass. It was so pristine that it was hard to believe we’d come from a cave.

High above, the ceiling was adorned with glass chandeliers and mobile sculptures, dangling in elegant formation. The walls were made of flawless mirrors and panes of glass, not a single speck of dust to be seen. Following the wall with my eyes, I spotted a massive castle gate standing shut—so massive, it was hard to take it all in at once.
The gate was formed with flowing engravings and curved designs, so transparent it looked like it was made of ice or crystal. Maybe it actually was.
Abrea had been admiring the grandeur of the place, but before he could even really explore, he noticed something off. He looked down at the mineral in his hand. At that moment, the light peeled off from the mineral, shrinking to the size of a grain of millet and floating into the air.

Startled, Honeybread and Abrea widened their eyes, following the glowing speck. The little light circled Abrea once, then zipped off toward the giant gate, its movements accompanied by a weirdly high-pitched chime like a fairy’s voice.
The camera zoomed in on the floating speck, following its path at high speed. Just before it hit the castle gate, the video slowed down. As it touched the surface, the reflection of a small figure with angel wings flashed in the crystal and vanished. The scene ended there.
When the screen faded back in, I looked around. The place seemed to be a single-player instance—no one else was here but me and the NPC Abrea. I’d kinda hoped Retaking might be here, but...

Pushing aside the disappointment, I checked the quest. It now read: [Speak with Holy Guardian Officer Abrea Shediana to complete the quest], and a reward icon had appeared. Looked like the next dungeon and quest would unlock next week.
Abrea was now standing in front of the castle gate. I walked up to speak with him.