Free Web NovelAfter all that cursing, Joo Seowon apparently had a lot he wanted to know and kept sidling up with questions.
“...You dated men? When? Where?”
No matter how I looked at it, this bastard seemed to like men.
“Are you sure you don’t like men? Think it over. You’re way too interested.”
“What? Hey. No, the— I don’t, okay?”
I let his words go in one ear and out the other and just shrugged.
Anyway, in my experience, when someone made a big show of hating someone, there was a high chance they actually liked them. Men only, of course.
After throwing a fit, he quietly slipped in another question.
“Then... you’ve actually dated someone?”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
First time anyone’s treated me like some kissless virgin.
“So you met someone and went out? For love?”
“Seowon, I gave you a present and you’re paying me back with bullshit?”
“You’re... a psycho.”
“Want a beating?”
“No, fuck. Seriously?”
If I stayed here any longer, my IQ would drop. I got up without regret.
“I’m leaving.”
“...Hey! Why? Where are you going?”
“If you follow me, I’ll just pick you up and toss you outside. Got it.”
“Son of a bitch....”
Still, before I came home, all the absurd crap had left me feeling off, and thanks to shooting the breeze with Joo Seowon about nothing, my head felt clear. My IQ also felt suspiciously lower.
‘Came to drop off a present and wound up in something weird.’
Anyway, since I hadn’t actually fused with the thing in my hand, it looked like I’d be fine until I brought back Aquarion’s Heart from the auction. I needed to be.
I’d rolled around a dungeon and gone straight to the lab, so I felt grimy; I showered the moment I got to my room.
Afterwards, I changed into something comfortable and went back downstairs to eat, and at some point Do Yehyun had arrived.
‘Did he just get here?’
“Hey.”
“When did you get here?”
Killing time in the kitchen, he set down a cup and asked,
“An hour ago? Maybe more.”
“Ah....”
“Why’d you come so late?”
“...My report got tangled.”
Got tangled? I lifted a brow, and he glanced at Joo Seowon, who was on the sofa with a laptop.
“Let’s talk upstairs.”
“Okay.”
Only after I took him to his room and closed the door did he start.
“Hunter Kim filed the urgency as ‘very dangerous’ at the time. But since there weren’t any casualties, the report got kicked back to revise. ”
“Yeah.”
“I said you and I held out by using skills to heal through it, but Hunter Choi reported that when he arrived, thankfully, the lava’s advance had stopped... and somewhere in there our stories didn’t match.”
That’s what I get for blowing off the report to run to the lab. I clicked my tongue and swept my hair back.
‘How should I fix this.’
While I was mulling how to fudge the paperwork, he spoke quietly.
“I already fixed it.”
“How?”
“I put it down that Hunter Choi arrived late and missed the scene. The lava was threatening, but only at first—the movement stopped in line with the dungeon clear. And since the injuries were minor, I said I used a skill.”
Nice cover. Clean stitch-work too.
I stared at him with real fondness. Things had been so urgent I hadn’t spared a thought for the aftermath, and seeing him lie smoothly on his own—he’d grown well.
“Good job.”
“......”
“Thanks.”
Praise and thanks both, but he stayed quiet.
After a long moment, still staring at the floor, he asked,
“What’s your Hunter rank?”
“F.”
“Tell me for real. I won’t tell anyone.”
“E.”
“......”
That one was actually true.
I sat on his bed and looked up at him. He stepped close and met my eyes. Maybe because he was blocking the light, his face looked a shade colder than usual.
‘Because he’s so pale?’
“If you’re high-rank, I’m glad. Means you’re less at risk.”
“I’m E. For real.”
“Even after what I saw today?”
“Hm....”
“What was that on your cheek?”
With the question, he suddenly reached out and cupped my cheek.
“What did it look like?”
“I don’t know. Lots of lines... like veins, but the color was light....”
“Yeah?”
“...What is it?”
I hesitated. Getting caught by Sung Uijae had been unavoidable, but I really didn’t want to tell Joo Seowon or Do Yehyun.
Common sense: if the guy living in your house is keeping a beast—yeah, I’d kick me out too.
Sure, his loyalty ran high, but that didn’t mean he’d swallow anything I said. Especially with his safety trauma, the odds of a “good” reaction to beast fusion were slim to none. And with Im Haekyung’s “Mind Control” still a big unknown, I wasn’t keen on exposing a weakness.
‘What do I do?’
If I bullshitted, it’d probably go worse. I’d never had to think like this before, and here I was stuck choosing. Tell him or not.
After a moment, I smiled, took the hand on my cheek, and held it.
“A beast.”
“......”
Just explaining that a beast was bound to me was crazy enough.
As expected, his hand flinched.
“A beast?”
“Yeah.”
“What....”
I gently took his hand off my cheek, leaned back on my hands against the bed, and met his eyes squarely. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
“Exactly what it sounds like. I’m partially fused with a beast. What you saw today—my rank wouldn’t cut it... it was the beast’s ability.”
“You were a beast-fusion hunter?”
This time his voice actually went up. I tipped my chin with a faint smile.
“As far as what you saw today... I’ve never fused that far before.”
With that, I held out my right hand. His gaze dropped to the faint snowflake mark there.
“It used to just sleep quietly in my palm.”
“...Then.”
“Today was the first time it was like that. That’s why I went to get it researched.”
He pressed his lips together like something had clicked.
“Back when... you split your palm open.”
“Ah....”
“Was it ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ fused then too?”
So that’s what he meant.
He was recalling when I’d cut my palm to bring a sample to Sung Eunha. It helped my story’s credibility quite a bit.
“Yeah.”
“That’s why you cut it?”
“Yeah. You were going to heal me.”
“What the hell...!”
He clenched a fist like he wanted to grab me by the collar. I glanced at it and shrugged.
“Anyway, that’s in the past.”
“......”
“And that’s why I rushed over there today. That’s all.”
“Are you really F-rank?”
“I was originally. I’m one step up now.”
“Because of the beast in your hand?”
“Quest-type dungeon reward.”
A flicker of confusion crossed his eyes. I added quickly and apologized.
“You had a high contribution.”
“But after that you still told me you were F-rank.”
“E or F, same difference... still a chump. Sorry?”
“......”
From his face, he had about a hundred counters lined up. But I’d actually laid out the truth now, and I had nothing else to say.
I waited for his silence to break, then spoke first.
“Common sense says beast-fusion hunters don’t have a great reputation. I swear—it wasn’t intentional.”
“...When did you fuse?” freёwebnoѵel.com
“Also in a quest-type dungeon.”
“......”
Again, he looked like he had plenty to say. Even after I patiently gave him room to talk, his lips just worked without forming words.
After a long beat, he started condemning me.
“You’re... insane.”
“Why?”
“You only tell me if I ask...! No, why did you hide this?”
“Because beast-fusion hunters have a bad rep. Could you live in the same house as a beast?”
“Why couldn’t I. I... no! That’s not the point.”
Weird thing to say. Then what is the point?
‘If you die sharing a house with a beast, does it finally become the point then?’
While I was elsewhere for a second, he suddenly gripped my shoulders hard.
“...Huh?”
“Then... back there, when you told me to go up, there really was no other way?”
“What do you mean?”
“You said you’d never fused that much before. So you told me to go up even though you didn’t know if the skill would come out like today?”
Even if I said nothing, he could spin a whole fantasy on his own.
‘Not wrong, but.’
Given the situation, it wasn’t some noble “I’ll sacrifice myself” thought. Knowing the bastards I was with, there was no way they’d leave one behind and climb; telling him to move was just “stop wasting time and get on with it.”
“If we dawdle in the gray zone and then everyone dies, that’s when it gets interesting.”
“What if you died there?”
Then the world wouldn’t end and would be a prettier place, that’s what.
But I only tilted my head slightly without answering. He stared at me, then let his hands fall from my shoulders.
“You’re going to pass out once we hit a high-difficulty dungeon.”
“......”
“Anyway, we’re alive. Isn’t that enough?”
To comfort this hopelessly emotional guy, I patted the spot beside my thigh. He glared at me.
“I want to cry.”
“You’ve already got some tears pooled.”
“...I’m annoyed.”
I snorted and said,
“Don’t tell anyone.”
“Tell who....”
“No one. Seowon doesn’t know either.”
“...Why doesn’t he?”
Is there a reason he should? I answered blandly.
“Because I didn’t want to worry him, so I didn’t say anything?”
