Chapter 31
"Huh? Baek Eunseong?"
Baek Eunseong? That coward with guts smaller than an ant's booger would do such a thing?
When I asked in genuine disbelief, the Association President seemed embarrassed and burst out laughing.
"Well, you're right. Baek Eunseong isn't that kind of guy, is he?"
Isn't that obvious? If Baek Eunseong had such intentions, he would have dragged Baek Jiseong down when the previous Guild Master died in an accident. Or maybe he couldn't because of the curse.
"But Association President."
"Yeah, what?"
"Why do you keep calling Baek Eunseong 'that guy' and 'this guy'?"
The Association President looked at me with a flustered face at my question.
Well, honestly, it bothered me a little. Sure, Baek Eunseong was an insufferable bastard who deserved to be called worse things. But if anyone was going to insult him, it should be me. Why was someone else doing it?
"Huh? Did I?"
"Yes. Continuously."
After lightly pointing it out, I let the Association President's continuing words go in one ear and out the other. Had this old man lost his mind early? Half of what he said was nothing but praise for Baek Jiseong.
Then suddenly, something felt off.
If he was such a caring older brother who doted on his younger sibling, why did he let 'Seong Dohyeon' approach Baek Eunseong? With a fly buzzing around his precious sibling, wasn't it stranger that the great Baekwoo Guild Master had just sat back and done nothing?
I quickly searched through the memories remaining in my body to see if Baek Jiseong had ever approached 'Seong Dohyeon,' but the memories that were still clear in the early days of possession had now become quite hazy.
I stared blankly into space before suddenly springing to my feet.
"Oh my, you startled me. What's wrong?"
"Is this all the work for today? I'm going to use the training room before I leave."
This was no time to be idly passing the time. I needed to gather the materials and return to my original world as soon as possible. At this rate, I might become so accustomed to 'Seong Dohyeon's' body that I'd forget who I originally was.
"Sure, go ahead. But since when do you train?"
After shaking off the Association President who followed me, asking what wind had gotten into me to make me train, I headed for the training room—when something suddenly grabbed my ankle.
Feeling goosebumps rise in an instant, I immediately looked down. Something on the floor was waving at me.
"What is this?"
Crouching down to take a closer look, it was a withered morning glory. I stared at the morning glory crumbling in my hand, then realized something and called Asil.
"Find Baek Hamin."
Asil, who nodded, quickly returned to my side not long after. Following its guidance, I saw Do Yudam running toward me from the training ground direction, carrying Baek Hamin on his back.
"Hunter Seong Dohyeon! Please help!"
"Hey!"
I shouted first, ran over, and embraced the children while scanning the surroundings.
"Did you two come out alone?"
"Ah, well..."
I tucked the unconscious Baek Hamin under one arm along with Do Yudam who was trying to explain what happened, and first went inside the Association.
"I asked if you two came out alone without a guardian."
"We didn't come out on purpose."
Do Yudam, while watching my scolding eyes, calmly explained what had just happened.
After all the classes ended, Do Yudam was watching Baek Hamin wait for the car as usual. Then he saw hunters who weren't from Baekwoo Guild approaching. When he saw Baek Hamin trying to escape, he asked for help from people around, but since it was well past the other children's dismissal time, there were no teachers or hunters around to help.
So he just scooped Baek Hamin up and ran, and Baek Hamin kept calling not for Baekwoo Guild people but for Hunter Seong Dohyeon.
"So I ran all the way here, and Hunter Seong Dohyeon appeared right on time!"
I looked at Do Yudam with sparkling eyes and wiped my face with dry hands. First of all, thank goodness. No matter how S-rank they were, for two kids to be wandering around without a guardian and come out unscathed was truly a blessing.
Avoiding the surrounding gazes, I entered the training room and checked Baek Hamin's condition. The curse that had spread from the legs was now spreading all over Baek Hamin's body, undulating all the way up to the shoulders.
"What, why is it like this."
I peeled off the curse trying to latch onto me as well and pushed Do Yudam back. Gathering mana to suppress the curse, I pulled back Baek Hamin's eyelids as the child breathed comfortably.
The same vivid green as usual. Since it hadn't been consumed by the curse, it was a relief, but...
"Is Baek Hamin okay?"
"Probably."
If Baek Hamin, who received an A-rank curse, was in this state, Baek Eunseong's condition must be even more serious.
After calming the anxious Do Yudam down, Baek Hamin let out a small groan and opened his eyes not long after. The moment Baek Hamin met my eyes, he burst into tears.
"Uncle, *hic*, I, *huu*."
"Okay."
I wanted to demand what he had been doing without answering my calls until things got this bad, but comforting the child came first. Baek Hamin, who had been wailing, hiccupped and buried himself in my arms when he met Do Yudam's eyes. After patting Baek Hamin's back and comforting him for a while, I asked when the child had somewhat calmed down.
"So, why didn't you answer the phone?"
"The Guild Master— no, it doesn't hurt that much so..."
"Are you going to keep lying?"
Baek Hamin, who had been sobbing with what seemed like a walnut stuck in his throat, poured out tears again at my words.
"*Hwaa*, what do I do. Uncle Eunseong is going to die!"
"What are you suddenly talking about? Is Baek Eunseong dead, or is he dying?"
"Uncle, went to the dungeon and now he just sleeps, *huu*, he just keeps sleeping."
While listening to Baek Hamin's explanation—unclear whether he was speaking or just crying—Baek Hamin, who had been sniffling, suddenly pulled a phone out of his pocket.
When I received the phone he held out, he was calling Baek Eunseong. Soon the call connected, and a low voice came through the receiver.
—Hello.
Wow, he never picks up when I call? I let out a scoff of disbelief and raised my eyebrows at Baek Hamin.
"So what?"
When I asked what he wanted me to do about it, Baek Hamin just kept bawling, so I focused on Baek Eunseong's voice over the phone.
—Hamin-ah?
Wow, I could tell just from the voice. Baek Eunseong was, just as Baek Hamin said, in the process of dying. At the voice that was not only deeply submerged but also rough, I, who had been listening quietly, opened my mouth.
"Looks like you're still alive?"
—Hunter Seong Dohyeon?
"I thought you forgot about the contract since there was no contact."
—That's not it...
When a cough came, perhaps because he moved away from the phone, Baek Eunseong's voice became muffled. Looking back and forth between Baek Hamin with swollen eyes and Do Yudam standing quietly with his hands clasped together while pressing the phone to my ear, I pondered for a moment at Baek Eunseong's voice that was clearly ill.
If Baek Eunseong collapses now, wouldn't the original story begin? Baek Hamin would open P's box to save the collapsed Baek Eunseong, and then I could join forces with Do Yudam, feign ignorance, gather the materials, repair M's belt, and return to my original world.
—Hunter Seong Dohyeon.
"What."
—...That thing we talked about before. The promise to call each other when needed. Is it still valid?
"I don't think I said it that grandly. Didn't we agree to exchange what we each need?"
—Haha...
Listening to the feeble laugh, I looked at Do Yudam. Do Yudam, disheveled and sweaty from carrying Baek Hamin on his back, looked far too young.
Ah, should I help Baek Eunseong or not?
Biting my lip, I reached out my hand to Do Yudam. Looking at that small hand that wasn't even half the size of mine, a sigh escaped me involuntarily.
Ugh, if only Do Yudam were an adult, I wouldn't be agonizing like this!
"So. What do you want."
—Right now... I need you.
"Got it. Hanging up."
After hanging up, I scooped up Baek Hamin and took Do Yudam's hand.
"Let's go."
"Mm."
Unlike Baek Hamin who clung quietly, Do Yudam stepped back.
"Me too?"
"Obviously. Are you going to go back to the Academy alone? If I send you back alone, I'll get reported."
At those words, Do Yudam, who opened his blue eyes wide, pressed close to me. I borrowed a car from the Association staff who couldn't close their mouth at our odd trio, then headed to Baekwoo Guild.
* * *
"Welcome, Hunter Seong Dohyeon."
I wasn't sure if Baek Jiseong had given separate orders or if their evaluation of me had changed, but the atmosphere was different from before when I had been turned away at the entrance.
After declining the employee who came to guide me, I looked for Baek Eunseong who would be waiting for me. I sat on a chair in the lobby and waited for a while, but he was nowhere to be seen.
This bastard, seriously.
If I came all the way here, he should have come out and waited in advance. I alternately called Baek Eunseong using Baek Hamin's phone and my own, but only the ringtone I'd grown familiar with over the past few days kept playing without him picking up.
Whatever, should I just go home and rest? As I was pondering, Baek Hamin tugged at my hoodie.
"Uncle must be sleeping... Can we go to his house?"
"House?"
"Yeah... Uncle just keeps sleeping, *huu*..."
Tucking the about-to-cry-again Baek Hamin and Do Yudam under my arms, I followed Baek Hamin's directions and entered the Baekwoo Guild building.
After passing through several security measures, we arrived at what looked like a massive rock mimicking a modest two-story house. Living quite modestly, I thought—is this even a house? That thought shattered the moment I opened the front door.
Of course. As the Vice Guild Master of Baekwoo Guild, this is how he should live. Looking around the splendid interior, I frowned with all my might at the dark red flow of curse undulating on the stairs leading to the second floor.
No wonder Baek Eunseong couldn't come to his senses.
I earnestly told Baek Hamin and Do Yudam not to come up to the second floor, then climbed the stairs.
Raising my hand toward the empty air, I opened the skill window.
[Splash Splash]
Every time I threw mana like throwing stones, I could see the curse undulating like ripples. Gathering the curse with the skill like scooping fish with a net, I opened the door and immediately covered my mouth at the surging nausea.
It was a curse of such viscous density that I couldn't even begin to guess where or how to suppress it. Moreover, it filled the entire room, making it hard to even breathe.
Good grief. He put such a terrible curse on his own sibling and he's a caring older brother? That's bullshit beyond bullshit.
I muttered quietly, then relied on Asil to find where Baek Eunseong was. Soon I was able to spot a large figure lying on the bed.
The cursed area was the heart, right?
The moment I carefully reached my hand toward Baek Eunseong's chest.
Thump—along with a sound, the moment I registered my wrist being grabbed, my field of vision was instantly flipped.
"What—ugh!"
Wasn't he asleep? I swung my hand to push away the curse blocking my vision. When my vision cleared, Baek Eunseong, who had pinned me down, came into full view. Meeting his eyes, I quietly shut my mouth.
His originally pale red pupils were gleaming with blood.
'Don't tell me he's been consumed by the curse?'
Baek Eunseong breathed heavily and slowly before lowering his body. Then, as if checking who had entered his territory, he began to smell my scent.
When my eyes met his like that, I swallowed dry saliva without realizing it.
...What's wrong with this bastard's eyes.