154 – HGL 154

—…J?

Eui-jae also answered with a voice full of suspicion.

“Nam Woo-jin Hunter? Why are you answering?”

Nam Woo-jin seemed flustered, but Cha Eui-jae was even more surprised. Thanks to his numerous experiences, his negative thought circuits were working busily.

In a situation where Jung-bin couldn’t answer the phone, the healer Nam Woo-jin answered it instead. If so, it was certain that something had happened, and the possibility of injury could not be ruled out.

Injury?

‘It hasn’t been long since we talked in Mokpo, has it?’

It was the moment Eui-jae gritted his teeth.

—Can I say this? …Can I? Don’t tell me to? What?

A murmuring voice was heard over the phone.

—No, wait. Who are you trying to use as a messenger pigeon? Hey, wait. I’ll let him talk directly.

After a moment of silence, a gentle voice was heard.

—J. I’m sorry. I couldn’t answer the phone right away.

“Jung-bin, what happened?”

—Ah…. It’s nothing. Is Lee Sa-young really awake? Is he okay?

Eui-jae looked at Lee Sa-young, who was curled up, using his lap as a pillow. The redness was less than before, but his eyes were still swollen. He covered Lee Sa-young’s eyes with his hand and answered.

“Yes, he seems to be fine… but something else has gone wrong, so we have to go to Hong Ye-seong.”

—A problem? What is….

Eui-jae tried to organize the story in his head as much as possible, but his brain, which had been overworked for days without proper sleep, only spat out summaries like ‘There are two Lee Sa-youngs’. He seemed quite exhausted. He hadn’t realized it because he was always tense. The tension was completely relieved the moment he saw Lee Sa-young.

In the end, he swept off his mask and replied.

“…It’s a long story. It’s hard to explain over the phone.”

He unnecessarily grabbed and stretched Lee Sa-young’s cheeks with his hands. His beautiful brow furrowed slightly.

—I don’t think I’ll be able to leave my post for a while either. Hmm….

Jung-bin, who seemed to be contemplating, said.

—I have no choice. I’ll hear the story later. Can I pass the pass to Very Small Miracle Mingi Seo?

“Is that okay?”

Jung-bin replied gently.

—J will be fine. I’m currently handling work at the Seowon Guild. He would have naturally marked the coordinates at the Seowon Guild. Do you remember the location of The Artisan Village?

“Yes, I remember.”

—Then I’ll be waiting.

The call ended. Eui-jae looked at the driver’s seat. He was also talking to someone, and judging by the booming volume that pierced through the earphones, it seemed to be Bae Won-woo. He and his direct team were going through all sorts of Dungeons to fill Lee Sa-young’s vacancy.

‘He must have come out of the Dungeon.’

Mingi Seo, who felt his gaze in the rearview mirror, blinked his eyes behind his sunglasses as if asking what was wrong. Eui-jae shook his cell phone.

“Mingi Seo, they want you to come and get the pass. To the Seowon Guild.”

“Vice Guild Leader, just a moment….”

Mingi Seo, who took off one earphone, looked at him with a puzzled face.

“Yes? Suddenly?”

“They said that you would have naturally marked the coordinates at the Seowon Guild, Mingi Seo. Is that not true?”

“Is that what the public servant said?”

“Yes.”

Mingi Seo slammed the steering wheel with a resentful face.

“Damn it! He knows me too well.”

‘Is that something to be so upset about?’

Very Small Miracle Mingi Seo, a specialist in stealth and infiltration, was panting to calm his anger, but he smoothly parked the van in front of the wall that Ga-eul had climbed over. Ga-eul, who was about to get out of the van, suddenly handed something to Eui-jae. It was a yellow post-it note. With her personal number written on it.

Ga-eul smiled awkwardly.

“If, um, if you ever need to contact me, please text that number.”

“Ah, I will. Thank you.”

“Hehe…. See you again next time!”

Ga-eul, who got out of the van, waved her hand towards the window and returned to school, climbing over the wall like a flying squirrel. Eui-jae was fiddling with the post-it note when he heard a click and raised his head. Mingi Seo, who had parked the car in a quiet parking lot, was releasing his seatbelt with a grim face. He grumbled.

“I’ll go get the pass, so please talk to Vice Guild Leader Bae Won-woo in the meantime. He must be going crazy with curiosity because the report was cut off in the middle.”

Eui-jae, who was obediently looking for Bae Won-woo’s number, asked.

“You’re not going to do it yourself?”

“I don’t have time to do it myself.”

Mingi Seo, who was about to disappear into the shadows, stuck his face out and grumbled.

“I guess you don’t know because he’s so kind to you, but among Hunters, the public servant is notorious for nagging a lot.”

Jung-bin rubbed his itchy ear and put down his cell phone. He was wearing a sky-blue gown and white gloves, a typical surgical gown.

“Anyway….”

The smell of disinfectant and the acrid smell of burning mixed together and bothered his nose. Jung-bin adjusted his mask. Matthew, bound by Black Chains, was lying lengthwise on the operating table, connected to numerous machines. Beep, beep, beep…. Machine sounds continued in the quiet operating room.

On the makeshift bed next to it was a small charred body that had been burned so black that its original form could not be recognized, and was dented in places. However, only the bead-like green eyes remained, shining brightly without being burned. Jung-bin, who approached the makeshift bed, looked into the green eyes.

“…I survived thanks to this friend. Did The Artisan give it as a gift?”

Nam Woo-jin, who was checking the machine’s readings, slowly nodded.

“Yeah.”

“Can it be fixed again?”

“I don’t know. I’ll have to contact them.”

The moment Matthew suddenly had a seizure, it was Marionette who stood in front of Jung-bin. Marionette blocked the flames and thorns pouring down on them, then collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

“……”

Jung-bin covered Marionette’s face with a white cloth and approached the operating table.

Nam Woo-jin was drawing blood from Matthew’s arm. Dark red blood filled the syringe.

Matthew, he was clearly trying to say something. But at that moment, he lost his ego and showed signs of trying to ‘mutate’. He shouldn’t be able to use his ability since he was bound by Black Chains, but Matthew spewed out fire along with thorns.

‘Is it because of the drug?’

Wasn’t it like a drug that deviated from the laws of the System? Jung-bin slowly swallowed.

“…Was it a restriction or a curse? That.”

“I have to find out from now on. I have to detoxify him if I don’t want to see him acting up again. My assistant has become like that, so the public servant has to help me.”

Nam Woo-jin picked up a scalpel. A white aura began to surround the blade. He muttered in a cold voice.

“There should be a harvest equal to the assistant’s sacrifice….”

Puck, the scalpel pierced the skin.

“Cluck! Bring me some Sweet Rice Drink!”

“Cluck.”

“That’s right, I have some scorched rice that I made. I’ll bring that too! Wait.”

Cluck raised one wing, shook its neck back and forth, and disappeared through the door. Hong Ye-seong also disappeared in a hurry, as if his tail was on fire. A stream of smoke rises from the kiln in the yard. It was The Artisan Village on Inwang Mountain, where Hong Ye-seong stayed.

Mingi Seo seemed to have had his Soul threshed out in the short time it took to get the pass from Jung-bin. With dark circles reaching his chin, he declared that he would stay at the foot of Inwang Mountain. So Eui-jae climbed the mountain alone, holding Lee Sa-young.

A lukewarm breeze tickled his hair. He looked around. The quiet thatched-roof house built only for Hong Ye-seong was as quiet as if it were separated from the world. But he wasn’t uneasy. Maybe it was because he could hear something breaking with a crash.

“……”

Eui-jae glanced at Lee Sa-young, who was lying lengthwise on the bedding in the main room, and then straightened his posture and sat down. After Mingi Seo left to get the pass, Eui-jae called Bae Won-woo. To let him know that Lee Sa-young had woken up.

But he threw out an unexpected word.

‘Was he being annoying to J? Like… getting angry. Or throwing a punch.’

‘…A punch?’

He was annoyed, but he didn’t throw a punch. Eui-jae stared blankly at the sleeping Lee Sa-young and waited silently for the next words. Bae Won-woo stammered.

‘No, that’s… When he can’t control his body, he’s quite… uneasy and unpleasant, you know? His personality too. Yes. That’s what the results of the psychological examination after the rescue showed.’

‘…….’

‘What was it called, trauma? Something like that. PTSD?’

‘Trauma?’

‘Yeah, that’s right. The Captain was guessing that being restrained and experimented on had traumatized him. Anyway, when it’s severe, he makes a fuss… Oh, I’m sorry.’

Cha Eui-jae recalls the young boy who was surrounded by numerous machines and unable to move. The boy who struggled to even twitch a finger at his own will.

Lee Sa-young, who was particularly sensitive when he was bound by Black Chains at The Artisan Exhibition. Lee Sa-young, who was annoyed that he wasn’t crying of his own will. If all of that was because of trauma.

Even the way he clung to him, unlike himself. Even the way he asked him to call his name. If it was to regain a sense of control.

Through Cha Eui-jae.

Eui-jae forgot that he was wearing a mask and stopped, about to touch his lips. It was a strange feeling.

No, this is….

“……”

Is he satisfied?

That Lee Sa-young is relying on him.

It was a sudden realization. The moment he realized that fact, Eui-jae slammed his head on the table! Fortunately, it was Hong Ye-seong’s Artisan-made table, so it didn’t break. He heard Hong Ye-seong’s scream from afar!

“What, what exploded? You can’t break the house!”

Eui-jae replied with his face buried in the table. His modulated voice was dry.

“It’s nothing.”

“Huh? Is that so?”

Eui-jae rubbed his masked face on the table and sighed.

“Ah…….”

The ears revealed between the faded ash-colored hair were flushed bright red.

“This is hopeless….”