Chapter 38
"Ugh, my head..."
"...Are you awake?"
Barely opening my eyes, I grabbed Baek Eun-seong's outstretched hand and pulled myself up. Because of the pain that felt like my stomach was twisting, I covered my mouth, but only after dry heaving a few times from the constant nausea was I able to look around.
"...Where is this?"
"Pardon?"
"No, never mind. I remember."
Looking at the surroundings covered in white fur, I remembered passing through the gate with Baek Eun-seong, the desert fox running rampant, and suffering from a mouthful of fur. And then...
"What the hell happened to make my lips hurt so much?"
As I muttered softly and felt around my mouth, Baek Eun-seong glanced at me shiftily. What is it? That was exactly the reaction Baek Ha-min had when he broke the cup. Narrowing my eyes, I glared at Baek Eun-seong and then snatched a desert fox hiding under the sand.
The desert fox looked toward Baek Eun-seong and screamed as if it were dying of fright. What? Why is it so scared again?
"Um, Hunter Seong Do-hyun."
"Wait. Let's talk after we get out of here first."
When I said that while shaking the yelping fox, Baek Eun-seong nodded.
While putting the desert fox that was running around spewing fur to sleep, my lips hurt to the point I couldn't stand it. Touching my swollen lips, I reached my hand out to Baek Eun-seong, who was moving the desert fox with a golem.
"Give me a potion."
"...I gave you the bag."
"I know."
"Then why are you..."
"Isn't yours better? Hurry up and give it to me. My lips feel like they're going to burst."
At those words, he, who was about to open his eyes into triangles and argue, snapped his mouth shut. Baek Eun-seong, who rummaged through the bag and handed over a potion, turned around without a word.
This bastard, was it that hard to give me one? And why is his face so red?
I shot Baek Eun-seong a look of disbelief and gulped down the potion while observing the atmosphere. Something's been a bit weird since earlier...
After intentionally closing the potion lid with a click, I calmly observed Baek Eun-seong's flow. Calling back the scattered golems, he seemed like he was angry, but at the same time, he didn't.
What? What does that guy have to be angry about?
While I was pondering, Baek Eun-seong drove the desert fox into a corner and stomped it dead with a hand of dirt, finishing it off in one go. No, if he was going to step in like that, why was he absent earlier?
'...Huh? Was he absent...?'
For a moment, it felt like my memories were getting tangled up again. I tried to organize my dizzy thoughts and stepped back to avoid the shifting floor.
"This way."
Baek Eun-seong instantly created a staircase in midair. Holding his hand and stepping onto the stairs, I looked down at the shifting floor and gradually raised the 'Day Speak, Night Speak' skill that I had lowered. Moving my head to follow the direction the magic beasts were moving, I suddenly felt an unusual energy.
"Hey... is there something wrong with you?"
Your heart is beating way too fast.
Wondering if he had been scratched by the desert fox's claws while I wasn't looking, I tried to lift his cloak, but Baek Eun-seong snatched the cloak away with a swoosh!
"I drank a potion, so I'm fine."
"O-oh, yeah. Then whatever."
He said he drank a potion, so it should calm down after a while. Ignoring his bothersome heartbeat, I dropped my gaze toward the ground.
"Over there."
A moment later, when I pointed in a certain direction, Baek Eun-seong swung his hand that way. A hand made of dirt rumbled up from the ground and grabbed a giant earthworm, pulling it up.
As the earthworm—which had such a deep color that I wondered if it could be that vivid—struggled to escape the dirt hand, its mucus began to splatter everywhere.
'Crazy, if that's a Soho earthworm, its mucus has acidic properties!'
It was the moment I raised my arm to cover my face while watching the flying mucus.
Baek Eun-seong took off his cloak and swung it forward. With that gesture, a fierce wind of dirt arose, and the mucus flying towards us was swept away in an instant.
"Oh."
I thought he just wore it for show, but it can be used for this kind of purpose too. I stopped unwinding the cloak wrapped around my shoulders and glanced at Baek Eun-seong. It's my first time seeing him in techwear.
Actually, what he was wearing could generously be called a uniform, but it was really just techwear with a cloak draped over it. Because of the tight-fitting mock neck, Baek Eun-seong's upper body contours were clearly revealed. Glancing over it with my eyes, I unknowingly slid my hand over my own stomach.
No, we're both hunters, is it okay for our bodies to be this different? I move around pretty hard too, so why is my stomach like this?
I let out a small sigh and focused on the flow emanating from the earthworm caught in the dirt hand as I opened the skill window.
[Splash Splash]
Gathering my mana together and throwing it, a large ripple formed on the earthworm that was hit by the mana. Watching the waves gather to become a thread, I took a small deep breath. Perhaps because of its large size, what extended from that guy wasn't a thread, but closer to a rope.
I'm not dealing with a magic beast right now. I'm playing tug-of-war. Telling myself that, I pulled on the thread, and the earthworm struggled wildly.
Do earthworms have ears? Can I put that to sleep too? While I was pondering, the earthworm began to resist like crazy. Because of that, my body holding the rope also lost its balance and staggered. I was conflicted about whether it would be better to go down to the ground or hold out on the stairs like this, when Baek Eun-seong grabbed my shoulder.
"Hold on tight."
"To what?"
Before I could even figure out what to hold on to, I reflexively grabbed the rope tight, and Baek Eun-seong pulled me hard toward him.
'This bastard, you could at least say you're pulling!'
Cursing inwardly, I pulled on the rope until my hands went numb, and at some point, the earthworm's breath was cut off. After confirming that it had stopped moving completely, Baek Eun-seong and I went down the stairs.
Then, examining the earthworm's corpse dripping with transparent mucus, I asked Baek Eun-seong, who took out a spare cloak and draped it over his shoulders.
"Can I take this? Like with the gumiho earlier."
"I don't mind. Why?"
Lest he change his mind, I quickly unfolded my Asil and started making a bundle.
"I'm going to sell it and buy something."
"If that's the case, I'll sell it myself and give you the money."
"Why would you?"
When I looked up at him as if genuinely curious, Baek Eun-seong crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side. What is it, why is he making that kind of expression? Feeling a sense of competitiveness, I asked again.
"I asked why."
"...It costs less commission if you sell it through the guild."
Ah, is that so?
I paused packing the earthworm for a moment and fumbled through the original story and 'Seong Do-hyun's' memories. However, Do Yoo-dam had no need to trade through the market because the materials brought to him from all sides were more than enough, and 'Seong Do-hyun's' memories were gradually blurring and fading, providing no help.
Besides, now that I thought about it, I had never traded with the market except when I bought the bracelet, so I couldn't even tell whether Baek Eun-seong's words were true or false.
Perhaps it showed on my face, but Baek Eun-seong, who was packing the earthworm with the dirt hand, lowered his eyes and let out a small laugh.
"If you're anxious, you can come with me. And."
"And?"
"If you don't like receiving guild benefits, you could live with me and receive cohabitant benefits."
At those words, I stopped brushing off the sand and genuinely admired him.
"Are you really hitting on me without taking a break?"
"If you live with me, I can do this much anytime. I can even do more."
I was about to flip Baek Eun-seong the middle finger, but got goosebumps and shuddered for a moment. Even now, I'm spacing out, and if I'm not careful, I'll fall for his tricks, but more? What the hell is he going to do? At that moment, an anxious thought crossed my mind.
"Hey."
"If you don't like the house, we could go to another..."
"No, forget it. I'm warning you, don't mess with my house."
Do you know how much I suffered to save up the money to buy that? It was a house I bought by literally scraping together coins one by one because of 'Seong Do-hyun,' who didn't have a single penny in his bank account. It was a house I barely managed to get by begging the real estate agents, who shook their heads the moment they saw Seong Do-hyun's face because his credit score was so low.
Baek Eun-seong let out a hollow laugh at my words.
"Why would I bother doing such a thing?"
"I'm warning you in advance."
"What if I just move in without messing with it and live there?"
"Is this guy crazy."
I glared at Baek Eun-seong, only to let out a hollow laugh. As if a young master raised so preciously would live well in that cramped place.
"Please let me know anytime if you change your mind."
Looking at his gentle smile, I let out a silent sigh. Seeing him smiling as usual, I finally felt relieved.
I don't know what it was, but until just now... should I say he seemed like a different person?
I had never thought of Baek Eun-seong as threatening before, but when I came to my senses and opened my eyes, I was worried that I might actually be harmed by him. That was how terrifyingly cold his expression was.
I secretly breathed a sigh of relief and stepped toward the gate created along with the sandstorm. As I was about to head outside with Baek Eun-seong, I suddenly remembered something I had forgotten and whipped my body around.
"Hey, that... do you not need me to suppress the curse?"
"I'm fine."
...What? Baek Eun-seong's state, which seemed to have somewhat softened until just now, became subtle again.
'He suddenly got angry again?'
I blinked at him with a puzzled face, but no further words followed. If he says he doesn't need it, it should be fine. Thinking that, I exited the gate.
And at that moment, with a ding! sound, the status window popped up.
[The ranking has been updated.]
What, again?
No, what did I do for the ranking to be updated? It wasn't like I caught some amazing magic beast; it was just the all-too-common desert fox and Soho earthworm. I really couldn't understand the system governing this world.
"Hey, did you see this?"
I called out to Baek Eun-seong right away without even checking the content, but he was standing still, frozen solid.
'...What's wrong with him?'
Baek Eun-seong's face, looking up at the empty air, slowly began to pale.
[5th Place: Baek Eun-seong ▲3
8th Place: Baek Ji-seong ▽3]