Chapter 2
《tree.wiki》
This is a document regarding the search term 'Seong Dohyeon'.
Seong Dohyeon
(Photo.jpg)
Name: Seong Dohyeon
Physical: 178cm / 55kg
Family: None
Education: Daehan Ability School
Ability: S-rank (Classified)
Skills: Classified
1. Detailed Information
A Hunter who miraculously survived being caught in a Dungeon Break at age 14 and awakened as an S-rank.
Though a top-tier Hunter with skills comparable to Baek Eunseong, he is more famous for doing absolutely nothing with those abilities.
Currently unaffiliated, except when taking jobs from the Association as a freelance Hunter, he spends his time chasing after Baek Eunseong and interfering with his work.
"...I see."
So that's why that person told me to stop following Baek Eunseong yesterday.
I was about to close the search window but stopped to stare at Seong Dohyeon's expressionless face in the photo. As I met those golden eyes, memories that had been inhabiting Seong Dohyeon's body in the novel came rushing in.
'Seong Dohyeon' was someone who truly, really, enormously hated Baek Eunseong.
It wasn't just that he hated him; he hovered around Baek Eunseong and picked fights over everything. And not even boldly, but in petty, annoying ways that wouldn't lead to legal action.
It was lucky that Baek Eunseong just scoffed and let it slide. If it had been another Hunter, Seong Dohyeon would have definitely been punched.
The reason Seong Dohyeon hated Baek Eunseong so much was obvious.
Because Baek Eunseong was better than me—no, better than 'Seong Dohyeon'....
What a twisted bastard. I clicked my tongue and closed the search window.
"Are you done viewing?"
"Yes."
I was about to open the door and leave, but let out a small sigh at the sight of people shrinking their shoulders when they saw me. Seong Dohyeon must have shoulder-checked people so much that whenever someone made eye contact with me, they hurried to hide their shoulders.
Humans, honestly. As I sighed and headed toward the Association President's office, puzzled voices erupted here and there.
"Why is he letting it slide today? I thought he'd throw a fit over yesterday's incident."
"I heard he got badly hurt."
"Guess he knows to be embarrassed at least?"
The snickering voices stuck in my ears.
[I Hear Day Words and Night Words Too]
It was because of this skill.
Come to think of it, I should probably look up what Seong Dohyeon's other skills do as well. I brought up my status window and glared at it quietly before greeting the person entering the Association President's office.
The gray-haired man threw off his cloak and looked at me with a serious expression. According to Seong Dohyeon's memories, this man was the Association President.
"So, you don't remember anything?"
"Yes."
Amnesia.
That was what I thought would be the easiest way to adapt to this world inside the novel.
No matter how perfectly I acted as Seong Dohyeon, there would definitely be people who found it strange.
But there was no need for such concerns.
"You don't even remember that you're a Hunter?"
"No."
"Then that's fine."
In this world, no one cared about Seong Dohyeon.
Even if I stood on top of the Association President's head and danced, the atmosphere was such that people would just dismiss it as "Well, that's Seong Dohyeon for you."
Actually, they didn't seem to believe the amnesia claim either. Even now, the secretary standing beside the Association President was openly keeping a wary eye on me, wondering what kind of chaos this troublemaker would cause.
It wasn't just one or two people—most people reacted this way. Seong Dohyeon lived however he wanted, but since he was one of the few S-ranks, they apparently turned a blind eye to a certain extent. Seong Dohyeon seemed to have taken advantage of that well too.
"What about using skills?"
"I'm not sure. Please lend me a practice room to test them."
"Alright. Finish up and keep tomorrow night free."
"Yes."
Thanks to having checked Seong Dohyeon's information on Tree Wiki, I could accept the request naturally. Actually, if it was going to be like this, there was no need to even mention amnesia, was there?
Frowning, I was about to leave the Association President's office when I pricked up my ears.
"It seems like there's really something wrong with him."
"I think so too. He only ever tried to get involved in matters related to Hunter Baek Eunseong, but this job has nothing to do with that."
"Whether he really lost his memory or not, it's a good thing for us. Work him as hard as possible until his memories return."
Still, the original 'Seong Dohyeon' seemed to have relied on the Association President, thinking of him as a trustworthy adult, but it seemed the other side viewed Seong Dohyeon as a money-making tool.
With a sigh, I headed to the practice room.
What should I do from now on?
Should I keep living as Seong Dohyeon like this?
Changed into training clothes, I first opened my status window.
[Awakener: Seong Dohyeon / S-rank]
I stared at my three-syllable name with a troubled face. It seemed this world already recognized me as 'that' Seong Dohyeon. In other novels, they'd at least put something in parentheses like (Possessor).
[Skills: Splash Splash S / I Hear Day Words and Night Words Too A / Heavenly Command S / Ariadne's Thread S]
"Let's see..."
Crouching down and trying out each skill one by one, I got a rough sense of them.
All entities, including people, had their own kind of flow, and I could intervene in that.
'Splash Splash' was the skill I had used when taking down the wolf head earlier—the one that shook up the flow to attack. 'I Hear Day Words and Night Words Too' was a passive skill that pulled all flows created by sound toward me.
'Heavenly Command' was a skill that let me play with the flow emanating from entities however I wanted. When I asked for permission and used it on a person, it was no different from a lullaby. There were no particular restrictions when reawakening a stopped flow either.
'Ariadne's Thread' was a kind of guide where the flow transformed into the shape of a thread and showed the path I should take.
The Association President called me over as I was playing with my skills and suggested we go to the field together, saying real combat was the best way to master skills.
* * *
Magic beasts were crawling out through the seal blocking the dungeon, creaking and groaning.
Yesterday it was a wolf walking on two legs, today it's a flatfish walking on two legs.
Holding a trident, I turned away from the flatfish head that was opening and closing its mouth and opened my skill window.
Um... what should I do? Should I just strike first? But the Association President has a higher position, so should I yield the order?
While I was hesitating and gauging the situation, the flatfish head suddenly opened its mouth.
Unlike me, who jumped back in surprise, the other Hunters standing nearby plugged their ears. Seeing them grinning at me, I sensed something was off and belatedly plugged my ears too, but—
Screeeeech!
"Ugh..."
I was already too late.
I fell to my knees from the scream that seemed to shake my brain. My ears felt like they would tear, to the point tears were about to come out.
With watery eyes, I looked at the skill window and turned off the 'I Hear Day Words and Night Words Too' skill before I could barely come to my senses. A moment later, when I shakily got up, the grinning people were openly laughing at me.
It seemed they knew Seong Dohyeon had sensitive ears but deliberately didn't tell me...
Is Seong Dohyeon really hated that much?
I briefly tried to recall how Seong Dohyeon had lived, then gave up.
I don't know.
Anyway, they picked a fight first.
Wiping my tears, I glared in turn at the skill window, the flatfish heads, and the guys who were still grinning.
[Heavenly Command]
As I sang a lullaby, a ripple formed beneath my feet, and the fish that had been running while making squeaking sounds started falling one by one. The ones who had been laughing at me were the same.
"Dohyeon!"
The Association President called me with an urgent voice, but I don't know. I turned off my skill. I can't hear anything. And they struck first anyway.
[Splash Splash]
When I used the next skill, I could see ripples forming around the flatfish heads. The ripples gradually deepened and became a single thread. I grabbed the thread and pulled hard.
The flatfish heads followed my hand like fish caught in a net, and after gathering them in a circle like donuts, I kicked the two grinning guys and pushed them into the middle of the flatfish heads.
[Heavenly Command]
When I used the skill to wake up the sleeping flatfish heads, the grinners also came to their senses. What happened next was as expected. As soon as they covered their ears, the flatfish heads started screaming, and the grinners suffered, shedding all sorts of bodily fluids including tears and snot.
"Seong Dohyeon!"
Looking at that scene expressionlessly, I reluctantly flicked my fingertips at the Association President's shout pulling my shoulder. At the same time, the ripples flowing from the flatfish heads shook violently, and a moment later, the monsters fell while bleeding from their noses.
The grinners who crawled out of the pile of corpses avoided the corner without even making eye contact with me.
Try laughing at me again. I smirked as I looked around, and the Hunters were watching me with either envious or fearful eyes.
Somehow... it was thrilling.
I knew Seong Dohyeon was strong, but am I really this powerful?
Admiring my own power, I was dealing with the flatfish heads that charged at me again when one that had been fleeing turned back and attacked me. Raising my hand to block the trident swung by the flatfish head, I grabbed the shaft and swung it widely.
Watching another Hunter deal with the flatfish head that flew far away, the Association President approached.
"...Are you okay?"
At the Association President's question, I looked at my wound and nodded.
It didn't hurt at all.
"Can you handle it?"
"Yes."
Handle it? More than handle it.
Maybe because I'm S-rank, it doesn't hurt even when I'm hit, and handling my abilities was much easier than I thought.
It felt like I had grown invisible limbs, so it didn't feel real.
And above all... it was fun.
Yes, it was like a game.
"Seong Dohyeon, come here."
"Why?"
I took off the hood I was wearing and looked at the Association President. The excitement that had built up while fighting monsters still faintly remained in my body.
That was how fun fighting monsters was.
The Association President, who had backed up a few steps, looked at me covered in blood and scratched his forehead.
"Take care of your body a bit."
"Come on, if anyone saw this, they'd think I came here on my own."
It was the Association President who dragged me here and there under the pretext that I needed practice since I lost my memory. Ignoring the Association President clicking his tongue, I checked various parts of my body for injuries. This was because my sense of touch became dull during fights, so I often didn't notice when I was hurt.
The Association President tossed me a potion.
"Your heel is injured there."
I looked at the Association Hunters who had a healer treating them, then down at my scrunched-up sneakers.
I had looked into other guilds because I found this treatment distasteful. The Seong Dohyeon in the novel seemed satisfied with using these great abilities to torment Baek Eunseong, but since I possessed an S-rank body, I wanted to make the most of it.
However, because of how much chaos Seong Dohyeon had caused before, every famous guild refused his membership. Some places suggested becoming a mercenary, but that didn't particularly appeal to me.
Setting those aside, the guilds that approached me first were all ones trying to stick straws into my back to suck me dry.
For all that, the Association President was the only one who worried about 'Seong Dohyeon'—about me.
So I should have listened when he told me to take care of myself.
"Hunter Seong Dohyeon!"
I couldn't move at all as I saw the pitch-black shadow pouncing on my body in an instant. Only after my arm was bitten and my leg was broken did reality set in.
The moment I realized this wasn't a game but reality, terrible fear washed over me.
Ironically, it was only then that I truly felt that my body wasn't an avatar in a game but a real, physical body.
'Seong Dohyeon' could die at any time, and if he died, I would die too.
At that moment, I desperately missed my original world.
I didn't want to die in a place like this. If possible, I wanted to die peacefully in my original room, with all my limbs intact and no particular pain.
But that was when it happened.
A hand that suddenly sprang from the floor swept away the monsters surrounding me.
Terrified and cowering, I scooted backward on my rear.
"What on earth are you doing."
What I saw at that moment wasn't Baek Eunseong looking at me with disgust, nor the monsters mangled by his hand—
[Viewing Conditions Acquired!]
It was the golden letters sparkling before my eyes.