Chapter 24
I tried to calm myself as I gazed at myself—no, at 'Seong Dohyeon.' When I reached my hand toward Seong Dohyeon's body, my entire body was repelled before I could even touch it, as if some barrier existed.
"Haha..."
They say when a person is too dumbfounded, only laughter comes out.
No, possessing a book wasn't enough, now I have to live as a ghost without a body? If this is how it's going to be, at least send me back to my original world!
I pointed my finger at thin air and stomped my feet loudly.
I knew I needed to calm down and assess the situation first, but I couldn't do anything. Curses only boiled and overflowed from my mouth.
With my hands on my hips, I sighed deeply before slowly surveying my surroundings. The hazy white mist made everything confusing.
Just as I was thinking that if I had really experienced an out-of-body experience, I should quickly find any empty body and jump right in—
'What?'
I grabbed my throat as my voice, failing to form words, vanished into the air.
'...Hoo. Let's assess the situation first.'
I'm really experiencing all sorts of things. Have I actually become a real ghost? Clicking my tongue, I examined below and realized this was outside the cave.
Seeing my translucent hand, I let out a hollow laugh, then calmly steadied my breathing and waited for the mist to settle. While I relaxed my shoulders, 'Seong Dohyeon' was keeping watch with a fully tense face.
It felt, a bit strange.
If it were 'Seong Dohyeon's' body, I would have been able to feel the flow, so even with obscured vision, I should have known what was around. But now I felt nothing.
I guess I'd already adapted even though I hadn't lived in that body for even a few months.
Thinking that it would be a bit stifling if I returned to my original world, I was floating around in the air when 'Seong Dohyeon' muttered something.
"Baek Eunseong... Where's Baek Eunseong."
Wow, he chased after Baek Eunseong looking like that. Seeing 'Seong Dohyeon' with sunken features and only his eyes gleaming sharply, I flinched and stepped back.
Now I understand why Baek Eunseong flinched whenever he saw me.
And there was a reason his fingernails looked like that too. 'Seong Dohyeon' was gnawing at his nails while frantically looking around. Asil was swirling beneath his feet.
'Hm?'
But what emerged from the mist was a wolf head—a werewolf.
I thought it looked somewhat familiar, but before I could even finish that thought, 'Seong Dohyeon' launched an attack.
It's a bit much to compare this dangerous situation to a game, but when dealing with magical beasts, you really had to fight as if controlling a game character.
I mean you had to calculate how much stamina was left, how much mana remained, and engage accordingly.
But 'Seong Dohyeon' seemed to have no such strategy, recklessly using 'Pongdang Pongdang.' No, you should put a few to sleep with 'Celestial Command' which uses relatively less mana, and only use 'Pongdang Pongdang' on the ones coming at you.
Watching 'Seong Dohyeon's' battle that reached the peak of inefficiency, I turned away in frustration. Observing the situation, it seemed like I was looking at a scene from the past.
'It's probably the day I possessed.'
As I expected, a familiar one appeared. A wolf head with a red mane, different from the others.
When that thing swung its arm, 'Seong Dohyeon' flew through the air and crashed into a corner. At the same time, Baek Eunseong's golem came lumbering over and sent the werewolf flying.
And the place where that werewolf flew to was, of all places, the exact same spot where Seong Dohyeon had crashed.
As the werewolf growled, my vision distorted simultaneously.
'......!'
A tall building. Crowds of people. Among them, me from the original world.
And once again, my vision shook. I looked around frantically, but the world I knew had already disappeared, and this was the inside of a book with only dust and dirt rolling about.
Whether I was devastated or not, Seong Dohyeon regained consciousness. And at that point in time, what was inside Seong Dohyeon was me. I clicked my tongue as I watched my fleeing back.
'Baek Eunseong, this bastard. Did he intentionally throw it toward me?'
I watched myself facing the werewolf and closing my eyes tightly, and I closed my eyes too. And a moment later. Damp moisture was felt all over my body.
"Are you alright?"
My vision shook violently. All surrounding sounds buzzed. The surging motion sickness drained all strength from my body. I clamped both hands over my mouth and surrendered my body to the arms that lightly supported me.
I can't... get my bearings. Was that just now reality, or is this reality?
Opening and closing my hands, sensation slowly returned. It was better than living as a spirit, but the thought of quickly gathering materials and returning to my original world only grew stronger.
I didn't want to experience that again—seeing myself from outside, like earlier.
"Uncle! Are you okay?!"
When I calmed my motion sickness and opened my eyes, Baek Hamin, whose eyes were swollen like a goldfish—perhaps from crying—was clinging to my cheek. Baek Eunseong, who gently peeled Baek Hamin off with a soft voice, pressed against my forehead that was covered in cold sweat.
"This must be your first time... entering a dungeon. It could be because of mana sickness, so let's rest a bit before..."
"I'm fine now."
It was real. I just got motion sickness from the sudden switch from third-person to first-person perspective, not because of dungeon mana. Still, 'Seong Dohyeon' is S-rank—what kind of dungeon sickness? More importantly, seeing Baek Eunseong's reaction, it seemed the bizarre scene from earlier was visible only to me.
"You really need to rest now."
I said I'm fine. I waved my hand. Something had felt off since earlier. Was it because I was being worried over by someone who was always desperate to tear me apart?
Tsk, I clicked my tongue and pushed Baek Eunseong away, and the dark cave interior came into view.
Gamgong, one of the eight dungeons managed by the Baekwoo Guild.
It was a dungeon with optimal conditions for Baek Eunseong who handled stone, and the worst conditions for me who handled flow. This bastard came here on purpose.
The subtle atmosphere from earlier had vanished completely, and irritation surged up momentarily, but I steadied my mind with a light sigh. It's fine. I had to enter here anyway.
[Viewing Rights Used]
Let's see, what can be obtained from Gamgong...
[Claw of the Dark Bat]
I stopped examining the list of obtainable materials from the dungeon and turned my gaze to look at the dungeon core. Would a bat really come out of there?
The types of magical beasts living in caves aren't just one or two, and it's not easy for a bat to appear at once. If one does appear... I should definitely buy a lottery ticket as soon as I return to the original world.
While I was making that resolution to myself, Baek Hamin approached me while twisting his body.
"What?"
"Hamin wants to... fight magical beasts too..."
I lifted my gaze from Baek Hamin, who was staring at me with his hands clasped together, to look at Baek Eunseong, and saw him shaking his head.
"He said no."
"Hmph!"
When the guardian is that firm, what can an outsider say? When I also shook my head, Baek Hamin clung to Baek Eunseong and made crying sounds.
As Baek Eunseong continued to only give answers of refusal, Baek Hamin flopped onto the ground and went limp before crawling toward me little by little.
"Uncle Dohyeon, really can't I?"
"Get Baek Eunseong's permission and come back."
"Waaah..."
Holding the crying, tantrum-throwing Baek Hamin with both hands, I called Asil and found the ribbon among Baek Hamin's hair.
As I fiddled with the ribbon together with Asil, Baek Hamin widened his eyes and looked up at me. I stroked Baek Hamin's head to signify it was okay.
"Hey, Baek Eunseong."
"Yes?"
"I have a condition in exchange for lifting Baek Hamin's curse."
Baek Eunseong looked at me as if it wasn't surprising at all and stood at an angle.
"Of course you would. I never thought you'd lift Hamin's curse without any price. You're not the type of person to do that from the start. Just tell me what you're demanding."
Fuck, why does he talk like that again?
I furrowed my brow, then cursed the original 'Seong Dohyeon.' Because of this bastard, I was being treated like this.
Before returning to the original world, I would definitely mess with 'Seong Dohyeon' somehow. Having made that resolution, I reached out my hand to Baek Hamin and spoke.
"Dungeon byproducts. If a Dark Bat appears among the magical beasts today, I'll only take the claws from it."
I thought "claw" literally meant a claw, but when I looked it up, it was a horn attached to the tip of a bat's wing. And it only comes from bats that are at least 10 years old, so I couldn't even guarantee whether I'd be able to obtain it even after going around the dungeon several times.
To make matters worse, the Dark Bat's claw was so valuable as a material for artifact production that it was called priceless. I waited for Baek Eunseong's answer with a somewhat anxious heart.
"That's all? Well, if it doesn't appear here, I'll get it from the guild warehouse, so please just lift Hamin's curse."
"All" he says. Calling that expensive thing "all"! I glared with rising anger, but soon cooled my head.
'The claw is in the warehouse?'
Wouldn't I be able to return home immediately if I just robbed the Baekwoo Guild warehouse? A foolish thought crossed my mind to pretend to be crazy and raid their warehouse, but even I knew it was futile, so I gave up quickly. The security wouldn't be ordinary either.
I looked at Baek Hamin and carefully pulled the end of the ribbon. At that moment, Baek Hamin, who had grown taller, clung tightly to my body.
"Wow!"
Perhaps it was specially made clothing, but even though Baek Hamin had grown several times larger, the clothes didn't tear and stretched along with him.
"Hamin, come here."
Baek Hamin, who had been holding my hand and hopping around, trotted over at Baek Eunseong's call, took his hand, and entered the dungeon. Both of them had light steps as if they were going for a walk.
"Just go inside?"
"Once Hunter Seong Dohyeon's adaptation is complete, we'll go in."
"It's already complete though."
I called Asil and found the way. Asil, sitting on my shoulder, danced buoyantly and guided the way.
"Even when someone worries about you..."
"Were we in a relationship where we worry about each other?"
At a loss for words, Baek Eunseong tended to Baek Hamin, who didn't know what to do between us.
"...Let's go."
"Ah, wait a moment before we go."
Startled momentarily, I stopped Baek Eunseong. Baek Eunseong had a calm expression as if worry was the last thing on his mind. What? Am I the only one who's a bit anxious? The dark environment and the fact that I couldn't leave the dungeon without killing the magical beast both contributed to my anxiety.
But I didn't want to show that I was intimidated. I deliberately straightened my back and followed as Asil guided. The deeper we went inside, the denser the concentration of mana emanating from the dungeon became.