“Kek, kuk, ptu-ptu…”
I spat out the blood pooled in my mouth.
When my mouth got sealed, the nosebleed went down my throat and I thought I was going to die. Forget a stomach full of water—my stomach was full of blood. Drink any more blood and I really would throw up.
This is all Jang Yijung's fault.
That son of a bitch…
I rolled my eyes over discreetly. Jang Yijung's profile reflected in the mirror. He was quietly looking at the blood I'd thrown up. With a face whose thoughts I couldn't read.
…Our eyes met dead-on. I hid my anger with a smiling-eyed look.
“This is a nosebleed, a nosebleed… hahaha.”
An excuse came out reflexively.
When I recall the way he sealed my mouth roughly with an expressionless face, Jang Yijung doesn't look as stupid as before.
He looks far stupider than before.
To call that kind of thing first aid—is his brain really a blank slate? I thought I was a goner for sure. Fortunately, my Karma went down by as much as the suffocation had pained me, so the penalty lifted, but.
I'd been too out of it to even resist properly… It was humiliating in all sorts of ways.
If I ever do get to kill you, I'll be sure to strangle you to death, Jang Yijung.
When I checked the mirror again, my state was a disaster.
The gray suit was a mess of dust and blood, and my sweat-drenched face had dried nosebleed on it too. He'd gripped so hard there was a red mark left on my jaw. No wonder it stung.
I turned on the cold water and washed my face. As I was wiping off the dried blood and buttoning my shirt, a small voice came.
“Hey…”
“Yes?”
Jang Yijung crunched down on the candy in his mouth.
“What age did you join the organization?”
“Who knows.”
I put on the mask resting on the sink.
“I don't know my exact age.”
Strictly speaking, it was less that I didn't know and more that I couldn't remember. When you live a busy life, at some point you forget your own age.
And on top of having lived busily, I'd even regressed recently, so it was natural to forget.
“But why do you ask?”
“…Never mind.”
“?”
I'd wondered if I should calculate it even now, but Jang Yijung shook his head.
What an anticlimax.
Leaving the now-quiet Jang Yijung be, I opened the Karma window.
[Quest: Settle your karma.
!If the quest is not completed within a set period of time, a penalty will be applied.]
[Karma: 59395(-5)]
Through this incident I'd learned firsthand that penalties stack with each other.
“Flame of Purification,” which vanishes when you lower your Karma, was one thing… but the penalty called “Sealing” was definitely threatening. I'd have to be careful not to use my ability on people out of habit.
The system threw too many sudden situations at me. Having been humiliated like this, I wasn't even sure anymore whether the choice to just try clearing the quests was the right path.
…
If Jang Yijung had truly harbored other intentions, I'd have died helplessly.
The moment I get out, I'm signing up for a gym.
The instant I was firming up the resolve in my heart.
“…!”
“Kyaa…!”
Crash!
Out of nowhere, things got noisy outside.
My eyes met Jang Yijung's. Jang Yijung quickly put on his mask.
After tidying up my appearance one last time and stepping out of the restroom, a strange scene came into view. People were plastered against the wall, avoiding something.
And in the center of it stood Yeom Hajae, sword in hand.
How is that guy standing?
He definitely couldn't even walk earlier. What happened in the short while I'd stepped away?
There was a vivid sword mark on the wall beside the restroom. I wondered if a monster had appeared, but there was no griffin in sight. Instead, rock dust scattered around Yeom Hajae came into view.
The first suspicion that arose was of the bystanders. I looked around. I saw people huddled in a corner so as not to stand out.
When I paid attention, I could hear small voices.
“You're a Hunter, aren't you?! Do something about it.”
“There are tiers to Hunters too, you know—how am I supposed to stop Yeom Hajae? And quit poking me.”
The chance that those people cowering over there had provoked Yeom Hajae was slim.
As I was watching that scene with contempt, someone tugged my sleeve.
“P-please, help.”
It was the woman with the radio. When our eyes met she flinched and lowered her gaze, but kept speaking gamely in a trembling voice.
“That person, the moment he opened his eyes he seemed to be looking for someone, and then suddenly he attacked-”
Then she trembled and quietly hid behind me. I'll pass on the meat-shield role, but just this once I generously let it slide.
I got a clue from the woman's words. The Yeom Hajae who'd whined at me not to go came to mind.
Aha.
So he threw this fit because his hyung disappeared? Even now Yeom Hajae was muttering bizarre things alone.
“You… you took him away.”
I'd thought his state was off, but I hadn't expected it to be this off. He looked just like he was possessed by a ghost.
I examined Yeom Hajae's face carefully. His eyes were out of focus. Since seeing me might bring him to his senses, I tried calling him once.
“Hunter.”
“My hyung…”
Whoosh—.
“You took him away.”
Yeom Hajae swung his sword through the air. It seemed he couldn't recognize me after all. Maybe during the time we were apart, my mask's effect had started working on him again.
Yeom Hajae, sword in hand, swayed precariously again and again. Looking closely, the way he swung the sword seemed somewhat like Choi Haegang. The speed was slow, and maybe because he wasn't in his right mind, it wasn't threatening, though.
Should I just leave him be for now?
No sooner had I thought that—
Whoosh—.
“Uh-oh.”
Flames climbed up the sword. A development like entering phase two.
That's dangerous.
Play with fire in a sealed-off space like this and you die of suffocation. Carbon monoxide? Carbon dioxide? I'd heard something like that was dangerous.
Harboring a small hope, I looked back. Jang Yijung was watching Yeom Hajae with that stupid-looking face. Maybe feeling my gaze, he pulled the candy stick he'd been gnawing out of his mouth.
“What?”
“Shouldn't we at least try doing something about that?”
“You're right… give it a shot. Kill him while you're at it.”
“…”
I'd have to give up on getting a free ride.
Even while I hesitated, Yeom Hajae's sword blazed away.
Since it had come to this, forget the collapse risk—boring out an escape hole took priority. But that didn't mean I could use my ability directly and conspicuously.
For now I quietly analyzed Yeom Hajae's behavior.
“Hyung… where are…”
Even in that state, his fixation on his hyung was strong. To stimulate him, mentioning his hyung would be best. While being careful not to make him angry, though.
And from what I'd seen, Yeom Hajae's current mental age was below elementary school.
“Ahem, ahem.”
I cleared my throat for some proper level-appropriate teaching.
I recalled a kindergarten teacher I'd met once. Approaching to a distance just barely out of the sword's reach, I asked gently.
“Yeom Hajae chi… ld? Why is he so angry?”
“…”
“Where did our friend's mommy go?”
Now that I'd tossed it out, it felt kind of like a your-mom dig, but that hadn't been my intent. Yeom Hajae, reacting to my voice, slowly turned his head toward me.
“Hyung…”
I gathered up as much information in my head about the “hyung” Yeom Hajae spoke of as I could. He'd said he resembled me, so roughly…
“Hyung? Ahh. You're looking for that handsome hyung who's always smiling, right?”
I clapped my palms together exaggeratedly, as if I knew all about it. Yeom Hajae nodded silently. His attitude was gentler than I'd expected.
“I saw him. That hyung, he was heading over that way.”
I pointed toward the collapsed exit.
“Is he trapped in there and can't come to our Hajae chi… ld?”
“In there…”
Yeom Hajae, as if entranced, looked in the direction I'd pointed and muttered something.
I was half in doubt whether this kind of thing would work, but I decided to trust Yeom Hajae's deeply lowered mental age.
Yeom Hajae approaches the collapsed hallway. Meanwhile, I edged backward and put distance between us.
For the rest, I can only hope the Association built the building sturdy…
“Hyung…”
Yeom Hajae, muttering with unfocused eyes, swung his sword in a wide horizontal arc.
Crash!!
Along with a thunderous boom, an enormous amount of dust flew up. For an instant Yeom Hajae's figure vanished from sight.
…Did it work?
A moment later, the dust gradually settled and Yeom Hajae's silhouette appeared. He stood still, gripping the sword.
!
Red hair fluttered. It meant air was flowing through.
The view opened up. From across, Hunters who'd taken combat stances were looking at us. Realizing the other party was a human and not a monster, the Hunters set down their weapons one by one.
“Ooh…”
Applause came out on its own.
This actually works.
[‘Monster Terror’ at the Heart of the Special Abilities Command… Public Anxiety Spreads.]
Tap.
The newspaper was tossed down onto the desk.
“Good… nice.”
Hoo—.
Exhaling smoke into the air, the Boss said dryly.
“Better results than expected.”
I wish it ended with that. But the Boss hadn't even opened his mouth, and I could already predict the words to follow.
“But, you see…”
Four fingers wrapped in black gloves drummed the desk in sequence. It was a habit that came out whenever the Boss fell into thought. Just hearing that tapping sound made a cold sweat break out on its own.
After briefly sweeping over Jang Yijung and me, the Boss's gaze turned to the photo in the newspaper.
“Yeom Hajae.”
The Hunter Who Aided the Escape. Above the words printed huge sat a photo of Yeom Hajae. The Boss ground out his cigarette over it. The face looking straight ahead charred black.
“Why is this guy still alive?”
