"AARGH!"
The dagger reached scalding hot temperatures, making him let go of his dagger. The dagger dropped to the ground as the Unwanted Guest frowned from the pain of being burnt.
'DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! I- the Unwanted Guest, falling for such traps! Whoever made this building is a genius!'
He had experienced many anti-theft devices and traps in the past but this was something he had never experienced.
'What treasures are these traps and devices hiding? It must be so valuable!'
He had acquired a burn on his hand but it was not enough to make him turn back. The Unwanted Guest decided to give up on the first room and headed into the second room. Right after he opened the door, he was greeted with shelves full of books. It looked like books related to horticulture and gardening.
"Let me see if there is anything good…"
He quietly walked into the room. There was no trap as of yet. He then placed his hand on the book to see if it was okay. Nothing happened.
"If so…"
There was one book that aroused his attention though.
Guide to Spiritual Plants and How to Effectively Use Them.
It was a book that was known to contain knowledge on how to safely use dangerous spiritual plants. The book was said to be lost, but it was right here.
'This is a treasure! I'm taking this for sure!'
At the moment he pulled out the book, a fog-like substance sprayed from the top, and as it touched the Unwanted Guest's neck, it began to make him feel itchy.
'UGH! W-what is this?! Is it poison?'
A poison that makes one itchy. He had never thought about the existence of such a trap. No, it was merely a simple trap and it was he who should've been careful about it. The itchiness kept growing as the area also began to expand.
'Aaaaargh! It's too itchy!!'
He wanted to scratch himself like crazy, but he had already scratched himself up enough to make it bleed, so he couldn't scratch any further without inflicting any more pain.
'Let's go to the third room!'
He quickly got out of the room and headed for the third room.
"Oh!"
What's being stored in the third room were the weapons… no, the tools he was looking for.
'Let's just get these and leave.'
There were two more rooms left, but he was too afraid of going any further. He quickly went into the room and carefully went over to see if there were any more traps. He couldn't find any sign of traps here, but he couldn't be too sure, so he dropped one of the tools that were hanging on the wall.
Surprisingly, nothing happened. It was then that he felt that it was safe to haul these tools into his bag. Then again, he didn't put everything. He had to drop at least one of it, in case he gets caught in his escape so that it diverts the trackers' attention.
'Wait a second.'
He then became worried that maybe the traps in this room will activate if he tried to leave the room. As such, he placed the tool down on the ground and carefully placed his foot outside the room. Surprisingly, nothing happened this time as well.
'Good!'
He then turned his head, and something immediately captured his eyes. It was a motto written on a canvas that was hung up on top of the tool rack. The motto made him flinch.
-How long will you stay that way?
The phrase was certainly aimed at him. If not, there was no way the phrase would hit him so hard like this.
'T-they knew I was going to come?!'
It gave him chills. Expensive weapons… no, tools weren't of any importance right now. He had to leave at once. He quickly moved out of the room without any tools. At that moment, the floor opened up and dropped him into a pit.
"Aaaaaargh!"
It was a huge fall. It was much deeper than the pit he dropped into at the entrance.
'Am-am I going to die here?'
He looked back into his life as he was falling. Starting with the first theft, where he stole something from his neighbor, making his parents beg apology to them, every theft was coming back to him. Now, if he was ever going to survive from this, he just wanted to quit all this thieving and live peacefully while helping his old mother out.
"Waaaah! Mom!"
At last, he was stuck on the bottom. His neck and waist all hurt from the shock of falling.
'Am… am I dead?'
He then opened his eyes and realized an unbelievable truth.
"This… this is the Yeonkyo Garden!"
It was the garden for sure. He wasn't sure what had happened, but he was in the garden, right in front of the storage building.
"Ah-aaaaargh!"
He became terrified and quickly backed off from the storage building. It was too terrifying to even stand close to it, remembering the horror of the storage building. At that moment, he felt tears falling from his eyes.
"Huh?"
He then remembered the phrase written inside the building.
"How long will you stay that way? d.a.m.n you! Stop this stupidity!"
He stood up from the ground. It was not too late for him. The Great Thief Unwanted Guest was now no more.
"I… I should go see mom."
He then slowly walked out of the Yeonkyo Garden.
