‘No wonder there were so many things off.’
Either way, even with the truth of the blessing laid bare, Jin Haedo looked unfazed.
Staring down at Ryu Taejun collapsed on the floor, Jin Haedo answered in a flat tone.
“Awakening the capacity one already possesses.”
“Mm... so, kind of like a talent developnt team? I get it.”
A blessing was a kind of performance show anyway, so it wasn’t all that surprising. The shock was that the believers had been fooled wholesale.
Whether you cast a support to create a montary illusion, or grind the body and squeeze out mana to make it look like the skill is at max—either way, it wasn’t the real thing.
Only after Ryu Taejun fell over did Jin Haedo look our way and speak slowly.
“There must be a reason you ca all the way here by deceiving the boarding list....”
“.......”
“Shall I guess?”
With one corner of the mouth tipped into a slanted smile, Jin Haedo began.
“Every now and then, there’ve been intruders who made it this far. Those intruders get sorted into a few types. Broadly, there are two. Curiosity, or desperation.”
“.......”
“Curiosity is, of course, easier to handle.... Desperation ans the goal is crystal clear, whereas curiosity is just... without a goal, easy to sway at any ti.”
True enough. It’s easier to target those without backbone than the ones clawing for a purpose.
Having said that much, Jin Haedo bent down and turned over Ryu Taejun’s body where he lay facedown.
Jin Haedo looked quietly at the revealed face and stroked the cheek with a hand. There was no sense of affection or tenderness. If anything, it looked like wiping sothing off his cheek.
In a dry voice, Jin Haedo went on.
“Those who co this far with curiosity mostly co set on mocking or looking down on . Or they want to prove I’m wrong.”
Breaking off neatly, Jin Haedo slowly straightened and faced again.
“Now then....”
“.......”
“You don’t look particularly desperate, and you’re an outsider who slipped in by cheeky ans—so why did you co this far?”
“.......”
“To satisfy your curiosity, you’re free to ask as much as you like. I’m quite kind.”
Huh. Odd thing to say with Ryu Taejun collapsed on the floor.
Purely out of curiosity, I asked:
“Why answer things like this?”
To which Jin Haedo replied, unruffled:
“Because once you hear it, you’ll realize there are no gaps.”
So you’re going to justify a cult doctrine... with logic?
I fiddled with my watch and stared at Jin Haedo.
‘He’s not flustered.’
Right, and that was what was truly strange. Marionette is, strictly speaking, a ntal-type skill, but it’s not like he can manipulate psychology like Im Haekyung.
“Then do you persuade the curiosity-driven ones and accept them as believers, too?”
“Yes.”
Curiosity.... Jin Haedo drew a line between curiosity and desperation, but in practice they weren’t so different. Unless soone’s a real lunatic, no one gets this far on “curiosity” alone. Look inside and everyone’s got their own desperation in there.
“But I’m not an intruder.”
“Even though soone who’s never been on the boarding list is standing in front of ?”
Sure, I was both desperate and curious in my own way, but....
‘Strictly speaking, I’m an invite.’
Terrible timing, and there was the small issue of beating up the ssenger with the invitation and sending it to Im Haekyung, but still.
I opened my mouth slowly.
“I happened to et Believer Bae Hogyeom before.”
“.......”
“We crossed paths briefly in Busan and—well, let’s skip the minor issue of us stabbing each other and fighting.”
“.......”
“He told Lord Haedo had called for .”
When I stopped there, a sudden smile rose on Jin Haedo’s hitherto quiet face.
‘So Jin Haedo really did have him bring ?’
Given how deranged that bastard was, I hadn’t fully ruled out the possibility it was a flat-out lie to the very end.
Letting the smile fade, Jin Haedo sighed slowly.
“Ahh....”
“.......”
“That changes things....”
As if mulling sothing over, Jin Haedo suddenly brushed past and slid the door wide open.
“Believer Gyeon!”
At the call, the ever-faithful Gyeon Taeri, /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ who’d been waiting outside, ca right over.
“Yes.”
“Please show our guests to a guest room. Oh dear, I’ve given poor hospitality.”
With a small, madcap chuckle in that crazed tone, Jin Haedo snapped his head back to lock eyes with .
Regardless, Gyeon Taeri—eyes still fixed on Jin Haedo—asked:
“Shall I take all three to the guest room?”
“Do so.”
As if that weren’t important, Jin Haedo answered halfheartedly, then added while staring straight at :
“You’ll need adequate rest... and being together will bring greater peace of mind.”
Watching the lifted corner of his mouth, I tapped my watch.
‘Did I... poke the wrong spot here?’
***
Following Gyeon Taeri’s guidance, we moved to a guest room.
“Please go in and rest comfortably.”
Perhaps the word “guest” carried its own tone—he treated us a little more courteously than before.
“What about Believer Ryu?”
“We’ll bring him shortly.”
“Hm.”
Or not? It sounded like they were treating Ryu Taejun like luggage.
Tilting my head, I looked around the room.
It looked like a simple lodging with wooden floors and folded bedding. On the low table in the middle, sothing like a refreshnt spread was lined up.
“Then please wait a mont.”
Timing it to our glance around, Gyeon Taeri closed the door and left.
“...Hyungnim.”
“Mm?”
Once his silhouette had fully disappeared, Do Yehyun called to quietly.
“Did sothing go wrong?”
“Could be. Don’t know yet.”
When I answered honestly, his expression darkened at once.
“Is sothing bothering you?”
“That person... he didn’t die, right.”
“Who. Ryu Taejun?”
“Yes.”
“He’ll be alive. They said they’ll bring him here. Looks like his mana’s just bottod out.”
Judging by his state, the internal damage wouldn’t be light either. Also, you didn’t care till now—why the sudden concern?
“Worried?”
“Yes.”
The answer ca firr than expected. Studying his expression, I asked again.
“Specifically about what?”
“Just....”
He parted his lips slightly, then added:
“I think he’ll be in danger.”
“What do you an?”
Saying that, Do Yehyun looked like soone for whom sothing was rubbing wrong.
‘Did he see sothing before?’
I jerked my chin, inviting him to talk while he hesitated like he was choosing his words.
“If you know sothing, say it.”
“It’s not that I know. Just... I think it’ll be more dangerous than we thought.”
“A hunch?”
“...I worked at the Infinite Guild shop.”
Staring at the door Gyeon Taeri had gone through, he shared sothing surprisingly significant.
“I’ve seen that person.”
“Who? The one who just brought us here? He was wearing a mask—did you recognize him?”
He nodded calmly.
“VIPs had to ‘rent’ Hunters for to... survive, so I watched my manners and read the room. In doing that, so things got familiar.”
“Such as?”
“The voice... the way of speaking. Even the overall silhouette is the sa. Only the face is covered. And there were almost no female VIPs at the Infinite Guild shop, so it’s hard to miss.”
“Yeah?”
So Gyeon Taeri is soone at the level of a VIP?
‘That’s unexpected.’
The clipped, businesslike tone, the squared-off movents like soone who’d lived in the military.... Honestly, he didn’t look like the type to buy Hunters and shove them into matches.
‘Is that my bias?’
And instead of the cackling madman Jin Haedo from monts ago, the fact that he felt the seriousness while looking at the obedient, soft-spoken Gyeon Taeri—that was unusual too.
“Hyungnim.”
“Mm?”
“Just... I think we should be careful. The VIPs were polite, but....”
“Yeah.”
“...they’re strange people.”
Right on cue, the door opened.
“Ah, I didn’t realize you were in conversation.”
With Ryu Taejun slung over his shoulder like a sack, Gyeon Taeri greeted us in a calm voice.
“Excuse . Where should I lay him down?”
“Anywhere out of the way.”
Setting Ryu Taejun down where he wouldn’t block our path, he glanced at and Do Yehyun for just a mont, then left the room again.
Do Yehyun waited for him to go, then turned his gaze back to —as if asking for an answer.
“We’ll be careful. I always have contingencies.”
“...Really?”
“Yeah.”
“.......”
Well, damn. To be trusted this little....
‘Kind of hurts my feelings.’
But this ti, it was true. Because I really had brought soone.
Since arriving, I’d made a habit of tapping my watch—an intentional tic that produced a faint noise.
In response, the voice that had been on the line since we boarded answered.
—Mm, Jehyun, you really do only ever do fun things.
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