All Chapters of The new worlder: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

I lost every single round. Monty was a pro, but I didn't mind until I caught a flicker of movement in my peripheral vision. I looked up. M was standing there, leaning his weight onto his forearms against the balcony railing. He was watching us, silent as a ghost. When our eyes met, his narrowed into a sharp, judgmental scowl. I wondered how long he’d been standing there, a shadow over our game.When the rest of the group trickled back in, the atmosphere shifted to the chaotic hum of dinner prep. Everyone was buzzing around doing everything and nothing at the same time, but I stayed close to Jinkyu, fascinated by his cooking. "Is this your power?" I asked, watching him flip ingredients across the stovetop. It wasn't a stove like I knew; it was a thick slab of dark something that glowed with internal heat, with glowing runes etched into the corners that changed intensity as he adjusted the temperature. He smiled. "No. Remember the joke those idiots made when you first arrived?"

I crept closer, listening to his soft, steady breathing, and crouched by the side of the bed. I leaned in to inspect the wound. It was barely there. The skin had knitted together beautifully, leaving nothing but a thin, crusty scab. It wasn't nearly as bad as he had made it out to be. As I moved to stand up, the faint light caught the rest of his upper body. Scars. Row after row of them ran across his shoulder and down his back, jagged and old. "What happened to you?" I whispered, my heart aching. I couldn't help myself, I reached out and lightly trailed my hand over the ridges of the scar tissue. He let out a tiny, soft moan, and a small smile touched his lips. Was it because of my touch? To test it, I did it again, letting my fingers graze his skin. His eyes snapped open. He was staring right at me. "I... I was just checking the wound!" I blurted out before he could even open his mouth to yell. He looked down at my hand, still resting on his shoulder, and then back up

I unrolled the paper.Tough-root, Tinder fungus, blood from a Scutta, water from the Underwater Well, a claw from a Goemul, Highest Peak."What am I supposed to do with this?" I insisted, looking from the list to her. "It is the tea," she answered simply. "Looks more like a potion to me," Ruben remarked, having leaned over my shoulder to read. I groaned, pulling the paper away. "Why do you keep reading my letters? All of you in the Pentagon do it!" He just shrugged, that dorky grin returning to his face. "Curiosity?""I don't trust you!" I snapped at Lucille, clutching the parchment tighter. "I’m not drinking some random crap unless you tell me exactly what it does.""I wouldn't drink crap either," she replied dryly. "I can tell you." She leaned over the list, pointing to each ingredient with a gnarled finger as she explained. "Tough-root makes the curse less potent.""Curse?" I interrupted. She just looked at me, offered a cryptic little

As we stepped through the front door, Jinkyu did indeed have a heart attack, well, almost. He practically collapsed at the sight of us, his face twisting into a mask of pure domestic horror. "Don't you dare!" he shrieked, blocking the hallway with his arms spread wide. "You are not coming in here like that! If you take another step, I’ll be cleaning up five hundred liters of mud for a week!" We were trapped in the entryway like two wet dogs. Jinkyu point-blank refused to let us in. I handed the muddy Tough-root to Monty, who took it with an eager, curious grin. Just as Jinkyu ushered us back out toward the forest, I heard him let out a strangled, "NOOOO!" I looked back just in time to see Monty vigorously shaking the root to get the dirt off, sending clumps of wet mud flying directly onto the floor. I couldn't help it, I doubled over laughing at the chaos as we walked back out into the night. Jinkyu had pointed us toward the lake in the woods beside the house. The forest felt t

I laid out the list of ingredients Granny Lucille had given me. Ruben cleared his throat, looking a little more composed than the day before. "I can’t go with her anymore," Ruben explained to the group. "Only one person is allowed per task, and in the end, it’s all up to her.""Or myself," I added, looking around the room. "No one says you have to come.""Don't be ridiculous," Jinkyu snapped, already mentally organizing a schedule. "Of course we're going to help," Ruth added, though she still looked a little pale at the mention of Lucille."And what happens at the end?" Felix asked, leaning back. "What is this tea actually going to do?""I’m not entirely sure," I admitted. "She told the final details to Ruben." Every head in the room snapped toward Ruben. He blinked, looking slightly overwhelmed by the sudden spotlight."Yeah... about that. I remember that I’m supposed to remember it," he said slowly. Miles let out a dry, hacking cou