Chapter 3
—You better rest properly!
"I understand."
—Rest properly this time! Don't come popping out on the scene! And say thank you to Hunter Baek Eunseong for saving you…!
Who asked to be saved?
Being saved by that person of all people was what pissed me off the most.
Cutting off the Association President's shout, I hung up the phone and glared at the text that had been floating around me without disappearing since earlier.
"Status window."
As the light blue status window floated up, [Viewing Condition Acquired!] was pushed back before floating up above the status window as if rebelling.
"Hmm."
After pondering for a moment, I pressed the golden text that was glowing as if demanding to be seen. At that instant, bright light spread throughout the room, then gathered small and became text.
[Viewing Right Used]
[Skill Acquired!]
[Viewer: Seong Dohyeon]
…A skill?
I glared at the book floating in the air, half my body size. What the hell was this? The letters were packed so tightly that I couldn't properly read even a single character. Frowning deeply, I flipped through page by page, and only when I reached the very last page did I find readable text.
[Repair of M's Belt]
Is this… like a quest? When I pressed the text, the letters spread out like unrolling a scroll.
"What is this… Salamander's egg, Mosland's wings…."
So to repair something called 'M's Belt,' these are needed, right? When I tilted my head, the text blinked.
"Ah, it's dizzying. If I'm right, blink once; if I'm wrong, blink twice."
As if understanding my words, the text blinked slowly once.
[M's Belt Repair Progress ? / ?]
"There are eight parts needed, so why does it show question marks instead of 0/8?"
In response to my question, the text blinked once, then after a moment, blinked twice. Is that a yes or a no?
"Are you saying you don't know?"
Blink.
I glared at the text with my arms crossed, then rummaged through my memories.
Did Seong Dohyeon have such an ability? One that could restore items? As I examined the book with a frown, the text blinked twice as if reading my mind.
So he didn't.
"Then why did I gain this ability?"
At that moment, text large enough to fill the room appeared.
[Viewing Condition Acquired!]
…When did I see this text before?
Ah, that time. When I thought I wanted to die in the world I knew with all my limbs intact, when I thought I wanted to go home.
The book that had momentarily disappeared revealed its existence again and spread wide open, and the text 'Repair of M's Belt' blinked.
"…If I want to return to the original world, repair this?"
Blink.
I can… go home.
I suppressed the excitement that threatened to run wild and examined the list again as calmly as possible before groaning.
Now, in the worldview of 『To Prevent the World's Destruction』, the point in time I was currently possessing was hundreds of years after the first awakened Hunter appeared.
The chaotic era had ended, and the Hunters' job was to catch monsters crawling out of rifts formed in sealed dungeons or clean up after dungeon breaks that occurred when seals burst.
It was more profitable to periodically clear the monsters that spilled out rather than deliberately breaking weakened seals and resealing them.
Entering dungeons to hunt monsters like before was something only large guilds responsible for their own sectors could do. There were a total of five existing large guilds, and I was an S-rank Hunter who had been rejected by all of them.
"Trading window."
Looking around the market where Hunters sold items, there were some things I needed, but the prices listed were absurdly expensive.
Seong Dohyeon, what were you doing not saving any money? For an S-rank, it's not an annual salary but a monthly salary in the hundreds of millions. Thanks to being so blinded by tormenting Baek Eunseong that I did nothing, I didn't have a lump sum of money, let alone a proper house.
Sighing deeply, I looked up at the empty air.
There was a place where all those items could be obtained.
But for me to go there, the novel had to start first.
* * *
At this point, to go over the novel's content, we need to talk about the villain Baek Hamin first.
Throughout the novel, the protagonist Do Yudam meets numerous villains, but among them, Baek Hamin was a significant villain with enough importance to have a separate spin-off with its own point of view.
Baek Hamin lost his older brother and parents in an accident when he was young, but thanks to his uncles filling his parents' place and his cousin filling his brother's place, he was able to grow up as a beloved child. Baek Hamin, who grew up receiving all kinds of love, opened P's Box, which should never be opened, in order to obtain an Elixir when his youngest uncle Baek Eunseong was severely injured.
Along with obtaining the Elixir, the sealed dungeons all opened at once, and the world fell into chaos.
The novel, which began with the sentence 'On the day of the graduation ceremony, Do Yudam heard the sound of the world splitting apart,' ended with Do Yudam, a protagonist so strong that no one dared to even covet his position, barely managing to seal the dungeons.
Of course, Do Yudam was an S-rank like me, but the disparity among Hunters within the S-rank category was too large to compare simply by rank.
It's like games.
Just as characters are judged comprehensively by the weapons in hand and the armor worn rather than just level, Hunters were ranked again depending on what their main weapon was. And compared to Do Yudam who was attack-oriented, I was a Hunter closer to the support type.
The moment my thoughts reached that point, I finally realized something.
'What do I do from now on?'
I looked at the ceiling and slowly rolled around on the bed.
Thanks to Seong Dohyeon living like trash, even if dungeons opened, there would be no one to help me, and I'd have to beg Do Yudam to take me with him…?
Wait, hold on.
How old is Do Yudam right now?
* * *
"Yudam, in that situation, you don't use the core. You should put them in a combat-disabled state first and then use your ability."
"Yes. Understood, teacher."
"Hahaha…."
I stared at the silver-haired kid who barely reached my hip, then wiped my face with dry hands. He's only 10 years old. Since Do Yudam graduated from school at 20, I'd have to wait another 10 years for the novel to begin.
How do I wait until then?
I stood at an angle and looked at Do Yudam.
Unlike me who was making all sorts of expressions, the teacher who was smiling with satisfaction spoke to me.
"Yudam is quite mature, isn't he?"
I just nodded without answering.
According to Seong Dohyeon's memories, the Academy conducted classes in small groups of about ten, and among them, Do Yudam was a noticeable child.
Not only was he highly focused during class, but he also couldn't stand leaving distracted kids alone and would drag them to join the class, and he even followed along well when the teacher demonstrated in front.
Anyway, I was worried that outsiders couldn't freely enter and leave since it was a school where young Hunters gathered, but fortunately, it seemed Seong Dohyeon hadn't caused any trouble here. No, not just no trouble—he was even secretly sponsoring Do Yudam.
This was my guess, but Seong Dohyeon seemed to have overlapped himself with Do Yudam. That was how much Do Yudam and Seong Dohyeon had in common.
Losing parents in a sudden accident, awakening as an S-rank Hunter through that accident, and having a rival they would forever be compared to—both applied.
Just as Baek Eunseong was to Seong Dohyeon, Baek Hamin was to Do Yudam. The two had nothing in common in appearance or personality, yet Seong Dohyeon was projecting himself onto Do Yudam.
Probably, he wanted to give Do Yudam what he couldn't have.
Just as Baek Eunseong marched forward with the support of the Baekwoo Guild, he must have wanted Do Yudam to do the same. So he sponsored him, but…
There was a huge difference between guild sponsorship and individual sponsorship, and the gap that opened was not easily closed.
There were limits to what Seong Dohyeon could provide Do Yudam. And then, unable to watch Baek Hamin's continued success, he kidnapped him. As if that would increase Do Yudam's value.
Well, as a result, Seong Dohyeon was put on trial and lived a miserable life with his abilities sealed.
If only Seong Dohyeon hadn't kidnapped Baek Hamin and waited just a little longer, he could have watched Do Yudam become a national hero.
Well, whatever the reason, Seong Dohyeon was just trash who kidnapped a child, blinded by jealousy.
"How long until Hunter Do Yudam graduates?"
"Yes…?"
The teacher's eyes grew round before furrowing their brow deeply and sizing me up and down. Since there were trash Hunters who used young graduated Hunters as shields, I could understand receiving such a look, but I was just curious.
Seong Dohyeon, how the hell did you live that even after sponsoring for two full years, you get this kind of look?
Sighing, I came outside and thought about what to do next.
Whether to adapt to this world as is, or wait for the original story to begin after Do Yudam graduates and then repair M's Belt to return to the original world.
—Emergency! Emergency!
The moment I was pondering, sirens blared and monsters surged up from a rift.
Haha. What's there to think about? I need to go back to the original world.
Since things turned out this way, I'll overhaul Seong Dohyeon's image that's been a complete mess so far, pretend to turn over a new leaf, and become a member of Do Yudam's monster subjugation squad. The moment I made that resolution, 'Ariadne's Thread' suddenly floated up in the air.
"Why?"
When I asked the reason for its sudden appearance, the golden-glowing thread swayed as if telling me to follow it.
Following the thread that dragged my wrist like a puppy begging for a walk, I suddenly realized flowers were blooming on the ground. Seeing the flowers drawn along a fixed line like a red carpet, I squeezed my eyes shut.
Ah, it feels like I'm about to get deeply entangled in something annoying.
Sighing heavily, the place the thread led me to had people scattered everywhere. White uniforms, house-shaped emblems. It was the Baekwoo Guild.
Don't tell me… the one who called me is Baek Eunseong? I don't want to get involved with Baek Eunseong.
The moment I shook my head and tried to back away, the flowers blooming on the ground suddenly grabbed my shoes.
"What, what's wrong?"
Looking around, I closed my eyes and read the surrounding vibrations. I could sense people entangled not far away.
"Ah…."
Sighing, I ran toward that direction without hesitation.
It wasn't because of a sense of justice or anything like that, but because of the Hunter Law.
Before a proper Hunter Protection Law was established, selfish people who valued their own lives over Hunters kidnapped young Hunters to use as their shields.
What was created then was a legal clause stating that adult Hunters must protect young Hunters. If an adult Hunter saw a minor Hunter being kidnapped and pretended not to see it, that Hunter would receive the same punishment as the kidnapper.
Even with such a law, Seong Dohyeon who kidnapped Baek Hamin was out of his mind, and those currently kidnapping a young Hunter right before my eyes were also out of their minds.
"Excuse me."
I called out to the suspicious people with a gesture, and the moment I locked eyes with the child they were kidnapping, I furrowed my brow deeply.
'No, why are they doing what I'm supposed to do?'
The one in the kidnappers' hands was Baek Hamin.