Hope ~After Dystopia~ - Chapter 3

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**SuA's Strength,** known better in Korean and Japanese as **Undaunted Second Spirit** (겁내지 않는 두번째 영혼, *Geobnaeji Anhneun Dubeonjjae Yeonghon* | オクスル コト ナク・セカンド・セイシン, *Okusuru Koto Naku Sekando* *Seishin*) is the third chapter of Yuhun's Wattpad fan-fiction, *Hope ~After Dystopia~*. It was first published on April 12th, 2021, and is the second of seven chapters to be named after a Spirit of the Tree of Language- this chapter is named in honor of SuA, the Second Spirit of the Tree of Language and Dreamcatcher's main dancer, vocalist and rapper.

It is preceeded by chapter 2, and succeeded by chapter 4.

## Major Events

* The Masked goons, Nyte's soldiers, make their debut.
* SuA, the Second Spirit, takes on a Masked patrol and despite a few setbacks, manages to defeat it.
* Though she remembers being trapped there, Yoohyeon suggests traveling to the House of Nightmares, with JiU praising Yoohyeon for her bravery.
* Gahyeon voices her curiosity about the girl in the drawing, which leads to the Spirits discussing the girl and multiple things: whether she is alive or not and whether they are nearby. However, Dami states that the girl can probably defy the Masked to the point where she could defeat them.

## Characters

* Masked Goons (debut)
* Nyte (mentioned briefly)
* JiU
* SuA
* Siyeon
* Handong
* Yoohyeon
* Dami
* Gahyeon
* The Girl on the Tree-Swing

## Chapter

The Seven Spirits hid behind a large rock, because ten of the Masked were heading their way, weapons drawn.

"I swear to Nyte we saw the Spirits just now," one of them muttered. The others nodded their heads. "They could be n-"

Without warning, SuA sprang, grabbing one of the goons' heads and snapping their neck. Their body disappeared and their mask dropped to the ground. "Eat my dust, haters!" SuA yelled. She turned and delivered a blow to another goon's head, sending them reeling back in pain.

"Take her!" one of the goons screamed, grabbing SuA's arm and pinning it behind her back. The rest of the Masked patrol surrounded her, pointing their weapons. SuA struggled against their grip.

"I need to help her," Siyeon murmured. "She could die!"

Before the other Spirits could move, SuA dropped into a squat, then flung the goon away with her free hand, forcing the others to step back. SuA drew her orange-and-black sword, and stood up, with a big grin on her face. "My good 'ol weapon for bringing down the likes of you lot!" she exclaimed, plunging it into a goon's chest. They too disappeared and their mask dropped to the ground like a stone. SuA proceeded to swing away, and in a few minutes, nine masks lay around SuA. She picked one up. "Perfect for showing the've got no chance against the Spirits and telling them not to mess with-"

The goon that SuA had flung to the ground had gotten up. Before the Spirit could react, the goon delivered a blow to the Second Spirit's head, then chest, causing SuA to go flying and collapse. But that wasn't enough to knock her out. Rising quickly to her feet, she plunged her sword into her target's chest. They let out a groan of pain before their body disappeared and their mask dropped to the ground.

Siyeon gasped. "SuA, are you okay?" she asked. She rushed to her friend's side. SuA rubbed the side of her head. "Yeah, I'm fine," she replied. "That blow to my head will heal up eventually, so don't worry about me for now."

"That was amazing, SuA!" JiU exclaimed. "I can't believe you took them all down by yourself!" She was filled with praise for SuA, and very proud of her. Dami rubbed the side of SuA's head to see if there was a bruise from the blow.

"Yoobin, if there would be a bruise, and there definitely will be, it'll probably show up later," SuA complained. "Don't worry about me too much."

"I'm very impressed, SuA," Dami complimented. "The Masked better watch out for you!"

Handong's eyes were filled with concern. "We must keep moving," she warned. "The Masked are everywhere, looking for us, and who in Gahyeon's name knows where they will be." She raised her head. "We need to find a place to stay. We can't keep moving without a place to stop at."

"I was thinking we could return to the House of Nightmares- it's been a while," Yoohyeon suggested.

"Uhh, isn't the Curse of the Spider still lurking within the House? Remember what it did to Yoohyeon?" Handong reminisced the time the Curse of the Spider had caused Yoohyeon to slip into a coma, and she had to be woken up by lying on the Circle of the Dreamers while the other Spirits stood around her, holding hands.

Yoohyeon cringed. "At some point, we may have no choice but to go to the House, you know," she answered. "Even if the curse that forced me into a coma is still there. We will have no choice but to brave the curse."

"You're brave, Yoohyeon," JiU complimented. "We've got to go somewhere that the Masked can't find us. But they're almost everywhere, and wherever they haven't been, we won't be able to find without running into the Masked, and who knows how big the next patrol will be!"

"Guys!" Gahyeon called out. "You sound like you're despairing. Remember what the note says? Despair is a feeling all must deliver themselves from, not to! Instead of being driven to the point of no hope, we run away from the point of no hope, even if it will be hard! We don't give up! We don't despair so early."

Gahyeon seemed to be having a good feeling about being able to defeat Nyte and the Masked for good. "I believe that we can defeat Nyte and the Masked, and purify the Tree of Language!"

"Spirits!" JiU called. "We must listen to the note and keep ourselves from despairing. If Gahyeon believes we can do it, then we mustn't give up! After all, we can't let the world fall into eternal despair!" She stopped when she saw Gahyeon holding the drawing in her hand. "What's wrong, Gahyeon?" she asked.

Gahyeon sighed. "It's getting on my mind a lot," she whispered. "It really, really is. I just can't stop thinking about it." *Who could've sent the note and drawing? It's already starting to bug me a little...*

Handong tipped her head to one side, clearly confused. "What's been getting on your mind? Is it bad?"

"It's not a bad thing," Gahyeon reassured. "I can't stop thinking about whoever wrote this note and did this drawing. I'm already starting to wonder: who is this person and how they know us? If they are out there and they still haven't been crushed by despair, maybe we should look for them, and ask them if they could assist us in the fight against hatred and despair."

"They could definitely." The voice was Dami's. "But we don't know where this person is or whether they are alive or not. I'd feel bad if I questioned whether they have the strength to take down the Masked with us, but there's no point, because if this person resisted being plunged into despair, then they probably also have the strength to defeat the Masked, whether it's alone or with us."

"But what do we do? Look for this person, or somewhere to hide from the Masked?" Siyeon questioned. "Both things are important to do. *Equally* important. And we're divided on what to do first right now." She looked at JiU. "It's Minji's choice now."

JiU started pacing in a circle again. Eventually, she let out a long sigh and there was a worried look on her face. Gahyeon knew what JiU had decided on doing well before she announced it.

"I hope the person who sent us the note and drawing can hang on a bit longer," JiU fretted. "Because we need to find somewhere to sleep, and stay. We have no choice but to do so-SuA's hurt, and if we stay here too long, another Masked patrol might find us here."

The others nodded, showing they agreed with JiU's decision.

Then, Handong spoke up. "JiU? Which way should we go?"

JiU put a hand on Handong's shoulder. "Don't worry, Handong. Everything will be fine."

And the Seven Spirits began traveling forward.

Down a path that would lead to many battles with the Masked, but a path that would also lead them to their goal of purging the world of this eternal despair and purifying the Tree of Language.

The direction they were heading also lead to the border between the Seven Spirits and the Masked- the very border on which the tree-swing was.

Where the Spirits' secret admirer hid away, defying the despair and hatred.