Chapter 29
So you noticed I can suppress the curse on your heart.
When you pushed me away earlier, you had a surprised look on your face. It seems you didn't know I could suppress the curse until then. Otherwise, Baek Hamin might have told you while I was talking to Baek Eunseong.
Baek Hamin, who had been quietly listening to the conversation between me and Baek Eunseong, gripped my hand tightly.
Ignoring those deer-like eyes staring at me so brightly, I gazed into empty space. There was one thing holding me back from readily agreeing to Baek Eunseong's proposal right away.
[Use viewing right]
[Do you want to view information?]
When I secretly nodded, the status window flickered rapidly.
[Information viewing is only possible while in contact with the target.]
'Then why did you even ask...?'
Exasperated, I glared at the status window and focused on the flow emanating from Baek Eunseong. If I made contact with Baek Eunseong, I could easily read his information, but I didn't want to repeat the bizarre experience of having all my mana drained just to read a single line of abnormal status information.
Comparing the flow from Baek Hamin's curse with Baek Eunseong's, Baek Eunseong's curse was denser. Seeing its dark red color, Baek Eunseong's curse seemed to be the same "Medusa's Gaze" as Baek Hamin's, or a stage higher.
For someone at the level of Vice Guild Master of Baekwoo Guild, they would have more than enough money and manpower to obtain an antidote. Yet seeing him still suffer from pain until now meant... probably that my power was the only antidote.
I imagined Baek Eunseong groveling at my feet begging me to save his life, then stopped and asked the status window instead.
'Can my power suppress Baek Eunseong's curse too?'
Seeing the status window blink exactly once, I unknowingly cheered inwardly.
If I could obtain materials every time I suppressed Baek Eunseong's curse, what's 10 years? I'd be able to return to my original world within a year.
After finishing sorting out the situation, I looked at Baek Eunseong, who was smiling softly, and smiled back.
"Then let's just call each other whenever we need something."
"Let's do that."
The conversation ended without even a handshake. Leaving behind Baek Hamin, who kept staring at me anxiously until the end, I came inside my home, turned on the status window, and held the Dark Bat's claw in my hand.
[M's Belt Repair Progress ? / ?]
Now with this... what am I supposed to do?
While I was pondering, Asil appeared and peered at the status window. Then on the status window...
[Dark Bat's Claw (0/1)]
The text appeared.
What, so what am I supposed to do with it? Is it saying to give it to them if I brought it? I tried to interpret the status window's meaning and asked.
"Put it in here?"
The status window blinked exactly once again.
For a moment I doubted whether this was right, but thinking that since it served as a guide, it wouldn't tell me something wrong, I brought the claw to the status window. Then the status window, which had been shaking like rippling water, instantly swallowed the claw.
A moment later, golden text rose from the now-still status window.
[Dark Bat's Claw (1/1)]
"Did it... work?"
Blink.
It worked.
As I stared at the repair progress text, a golden ribbon swayed in the air. I thought it was Asil, but Asil was curled up quietly at my feet.
Is that M's Belt...? Can I see it because it's been repaired?
I narrowed my eyes to look more closely, and suddenly an unbearable headache rushed in. It was a pain as if someone was forcibly tearing me out of my body.
My vision flickered rapidly. Curled up on the floor, I grabbed my splitting head and rolled several times before barely coming to my senses.
It was similar to the pain I felt in the dungeon.... Don't tell me I have to feel this crap every time I enter a dungeon, and every time M's Belt is repaired by one stage?
Still rubbing my throbbing temples, I clicked my tongue. It was a relief that the pain was short and sharp; if it had lasted long, I might have given up on the dream of returning to my original world.
"...It's certain that I can return to my original world, right?"
At my question, the status window glowed brightly and blinked once.
* * *
No contact came from Baek Eunseong even after a week, despite him acting as if he would call me any moment to suppress his curse.
Waiting until my neck stretched, I eventually headed to the Academy first. To see Baek Hamin as well, and to check how much Do Yudam had grown. If Baek Eunseong continued to not contact me, it might be better to follow Do Yudam around, so I needed to build a good relationship with him too.
[Ariadne's Thread]
"Where's Do Yudam..."
"Oh! Hunter Seong Dohyun!"
I was about to call Asil to find Do Yudam when I surveyed the man who suddenly appeared before me.
'Who is this bastard pointing at me?'
Having been in and out a few times, I roughly knew the faces of the Academy's teachers, but the man now approaching me with his finger fully extended was someone I'd never seen before. What's this? Someone's guardian?
Unlike me standing there indifferently, the man approached me closely with a bright smile and extended his hand toward me.
"Haha. Nice to meet you. I'm Kim Woohyun."
"Right."
I took the man's extended hand and looked at the empty air. The status window, which would usually ask if I wanted to view information at the slightest touch, remained quiet. That meant this man named Kim Woohyun was someone who didn't appear in the original work. Since it wasn't a name in Seong Dohyun's memories either, I figured he wasn't a very important person and decided it was fine to ignore him.
Even at my openly dismissive reaction, the man laughed heartily—hahaha—and followed behind me doggedly.
"No, but what brings you here? Where did Hunter Baek Eunseong go?"
Hah, that damn Baek Eunseong again.
I knew 'Seong Dohyun' chased after Baek Eunseong to a pathetic degree, but since I possessed this body, I haven't chased after him even once! At this point, shouldn't they realize that 'Seong Dohyun' doesn't chase Baek Eunseong anymore?
When I revealed my displeasure without answering, the man pulled his hand back and let out an awkward laugh.
"Uh, umm... well... Guild, no!"
"......"
"Haha... I should go pick up my son now..."
I frowned as I watched the man quickly distance himself. Seriously. If he was going to get scared and leave that fast, why did he even talk to me?
Dumbfounded, I stood there blankly before changing the command I had given to Asil, who was waving around after finding Do Yudam.
"Find where Baek Hamin is."
* * *
"Uncle?"
The place Asil led me was a training room. Baek Hamin, who had been crouching in the corner, smiled brightly when he saw me, then suddenly turned around and started running away in a panic. What? Why is he acting like that?
When I sent Asil to catch him, Baek Hamin gave me an awkward greeting.
'...Something's weird.'
This was the kid who would come running at the slightest thing and cling to my feet. But he ran away when he saw me? I brushed the cold sweat from Baek Hamin's forehead with my hand and asked.
"Did you eat? Have you had food?"
"Yeah..."
"You don't want jelly?"
"...Yeah."
Liar. The moment he heard the word 'jelly,' the flow was shaking completely wildly. How is such a little kid already lying?
I stared down at Baek Hamin, who was avoiding my eyes, then scooped him up in my arms just like that.
Baek Hamin struggled for a moment before settling quietly in my embrace, then let out a sigh of relief. When I gathered strength in my hand and suppressed the curse on his legs, I could see his pale complexion noticeably improve.
No, if it hurts this much, why is he lying? Did Baek Jiseong threaten him or something?
First, I had Asil check if there were people around. Sure enough, there were more than one or two hunters hiding in the training room with their presence concealed. I frowned as I set Baek Hamin down on the floor, who was lightly pushing my shoulder asking to be let down.
Other than the hunters—whether they were monitoring or protecting Baek Hamin—there was no one around him. There definitely seemed to be friends he hung out with before....
Since both kidnapping and ruining the test had failed, were they now trying to isolate Baek Hamin?
If his reputation at the Academy was bad, it would be a major hindrance when forming a team later. It was a fairly plausible guess.
I reached out my hand to Baek Hamin, who was hesitantly hiding in the corner.
"Is Baek Eunseong coming to pick you up?"
"No, today a different uncle is..."
"I'll take you. Let's go."
At those words, Baek Hamin, who had been glancing around, grabbed my hand tightly. I racked my brain trying to find a way to extract information somehow. Thinking they might be talking among themselves, I raised the 'Walls Have Ears' metric to its maximum, but only breathing sounds could be heard.
Stubborn bastards.
Anyway, just as I was about to leave the training ground with Baek Hamin, a strange sight appeared before my eyes.
"What is he doing right now?"
"Not 'he,' it's Do Yudam. Call him hyung."
After correcting the form of address for Baek Hamin, I called Do Yudam over.
Do Yudam approached me with a bright face, carrying a mountain-like pile on his back. Noticing my gaze was on the pile, Do Yudam stopped mid-bow and scratched his cheek as he explained.
"Ah. This is... I made some mistakes during class today. I was in the middle of supplementary training. But still, I! My skills have improved a lot! I only made mistakes today..."
I quietly watched Do Yudam, who was glancing at me, and slowly rubbed my brow.
Class, mistakes, supplementary training....
And soon I realized what this situation was.
That was training that 'Seong Dohyun' had also done—or more accurately, had been subjected to.