Chapter 82
Chapter 82
"Please speak."
"Um… Well."
I sat across from Park Yoon-sung in a small meeting room. I cleared my throat, and opened my mouth.
“About Do-gyul, if his training goes well, he should be discharged and leave the hospital, right?”
"That's right."
I had summarised the information about Do-Gyul's skills that I learned about on my last visit and passed it onto Yeon Seung-won. Based on the information, Yeon Seung-won stated that he would invite an expert to schedule the training. But, my Do-gyeol is smart, so he should be able to control his skills quickly.
The problem came after his training. Once Do-gyul was approved by the association, he would be able to leave the hospital, but I'm worried about where he would stay after that.
Do-Gyul signed a temporary contract with the Odin Guild like me, so I'm sure they would provide assistance, but I doubt they would let him stay with me in this accommodation. Still, I decided to ask Park Yoon-sung just in case. If he said no, I had no choice.
"Would it be okay if Do-gyul stays here with me?"
Park Yoon-sung's eyes widened when I asked carefully. He answered with a confused expression on his face.
"Yes, of course. He can stay here."
"R—really?"
"There is no more secure accommodation other than Odin Guild."
"Oh…"
Contrary to my concerns, Park Yoon-sung nodded firmly. Moreover, he sent me a look as if to say, "Why worry unnecessarily?" It made me feel embarrassed.
"Is there a problem?"
"Um, you see…"
Now that I thought about it, I realised that once the official announcement about Do-gyul being an S-class mentalist was made, he might attract as much attention as I do. He could be targeted by association or villain guilds, and would certainly be at risk if he lived in lower-security accommodation.
Still, the landlord was Kang Yoo-hyun, and he was willing to make his house a shared accommodation. However, accepting someone like Do-gyul was a different matter. After all, Kang Yoo-hyun hated children the most.
"Do you think Kang Yoo-hyun… would be okay with that?"
"You mean Hunter Kang Yoo-hyun?"
"Yes."
I nodded enthusiastically, and Park Yoon-sung's eyes widened. Then he started laughing. No, I'm serious, why is he laughing?
"Don't worry about that."
"Really?"
"Haha, yes."
I looked at Park Yoon-sung suspiciously, but he continued to speak with a smile on his face.
“I thought you two had become closer from the last dungeon, but I guess not.”
"Me and Kang Yoo-hyun?"
What is this person talking about?
Getting close to the main character is the perfect death flag. I'm going to keep my distance from Kang Yoo-hyun and cut ties with him safely. I will return to a perfect world without protagonists or hunters killing me.
"Anyway, you don't need to worry about that."
"Haa, yes."
I let out a sigh of relief and walked out of the small meeting room. The large meeting room was empty.
Kang Yoo-hyun had missed the briefing from the start because he was busy with something, and Eden and Kang Soo-hyun were probably in the game room as I said.
"Kkyau."
"Yeah, yeah. Let's go."
After carrying the sleepy Yong-sik back to my room and putting him to bed, I left my room again. I headed downstairs to the game room.
"Oh? Where's Soo-hyun?"
There was only Eden standing in front of the VR machine in the game room. When I asked him while looking around, Eden answered indifferently.
"He's probably in his room."
"I see."
Kang Soo Hyun apparently did not really like VR games. Even though we played together a few times, he always went back to his room as soon as I left.
Surely, young people nowadays don't think VR games are boring, right? I felt like I had become one of those old-fashioned people who got into outdated games belatedly.
"Let's get started, Yi Jin-ah."
"Oh, sure."
Hearing Eden's words, I hurriedly put the VR equipment on my face. I gripped the controller tightly with both hands, looking forward to playing my usual zombie shooting game. Soon, the world before my eyes changed.
"…Huh?"
I looked around in bewilderment as I realised it wasn't a familiar scene. The zombie game starts in front of a collapsed building.
Normally, you go through a tutorial and then move on, but since we had finished the tutorial, we could go straight to our saved location.
However, our surroundings are now very dark. Eden and I continued to look around in the middle of a pitch-black place.
"What? Where are we?"
"Sorry, I must have pressed the wrong button."
"Then quickly…"
For some reason, it felt eerie and uncomfortable here. However, I saw something like a tombstone in the distance. Seeing that, I stopped moving with a shiver. I realised what kind of place this was and stopped thinking.
"Huh? Why isn't this working?"
Seeming frustrated with the controller, Eden muttered in annoyance. Then, he shook the hand holding the controller up and down. Suddenly, something approached us.
[Hihihihi.]
"Aaaah!"
I frantically moved my body to avoid the approaching female ghost with her eerie laughter. This VR game was too realistic in its appearance and movements, making it feel like a real ghost was attacking me.
"Go away!"
"Yi Jin-ah, calm down…"
"Aaaah!"
I couldn't hear anything Eden was saying next to me. Almost cornered in the VR zone, I shivered and screamed, and finally the scenery around me changed.
"Hok, hok…"
"Yi Jin-ah, are you okay?"
"…Huh?"
I was breathing heavily, and Eden’s voice sounded very close. I took off the VR equipment on my head.
"Hok, that scared me."
His pink eyes looked at me with concern in front of me. I was so shocked by the VR game ghost that suddenly appeared that I instinctively clung onto Eden.
"I—I'm fine."
I cleared my throat and pushed Eden's chest away with my hand. However, Eden's body didn't even budge as he hugged me.
Fuck. Just as I got out of a dangerous situation, another warning echoed in my head this time.
"It looks like our Yi-Jin-i was really surprised."
"Ah, just leave if you're gonna make me upset!"
I kept pushing Eden, who didn't seem to want to let me go, and I shouted in frustration. Why does this bastard always joke around like this? Goosebumps crawled up my arms.
Frustrated, I ended up swinging the VR equipment in my hand towards Eden's head.
"Ack!"
There was a hit sound and Eden screamed and staggered, the grip on my body loosening as I quickly slipped out of his arms. Looking at me, Eden rubbed his forehead with his hand.
"That's mean."
“Do that again and I'll break your wrist.”
"Really?"
A suspicious look appeared on Eden's face as he asked again with his eyes wide open. Despite the pain of being hit in his head, his eyes were filled with strange anticipation, and it felt strangely familiar. I furrowed my brows.
"I'm looking forward to it."
"Ah, fuck."
What a creepy bastard. Why does he enjoy doing perverted things?
Swearing at him would only stimulate this pervert even more. I kept my mouth shut as if I was about to spit out a string of swear words. My heart was still beating fast because of the surprise from the ghost.
"You're so scared of ghosts? How is it different from zombies?”
"What did you say? Of course, there's a difference!"
Eden tilted his head as he picked up the controller and VR equipment I had thrown on the floor. I ranted at him for not knowing the difference between zombies and ghosts.
"You can shoot zombies with a gun, but you can't kill ghosts!"
"I was thinking about shooting and getting rid of the ghost. It was the same shooting game."
"Huh…?"
No, what kind of game is that? How do you kill a ghost with a gun?
And it happened in a dark cemetery, and a ghost just appeared. How can you do that without a tutorial on how to shoot them?
I was stunned and speechless, so I frowned and grumbled.
"What kind of game is that?"
"Wanna play zombies again?"
"Fuck."
I glared at Eden, who was giggling, holding my VR equipment, and then snatched it back from him. But, I still wanted to play the shooting game. After confirming that Eden changed the game correctly, I put the VR equipment back on my head.
"Snore, snore…"
When I returned to my room, I checked on Yong-sik, who was snoring and I smiled upon seeing that.
Perhaps because it was difficult for him to fight the boss monster in the dungeon in his adult form, after returning to the accommodation, Yong-sik suddenly ate a lot of mana stones and slept a lot. I wondered if he would be okay for tomorrow's dungeon exploration.
I looked at Yong-sik with concern and went to the bathroom to take a shower.
I continued to ponder while taking a hot shower, but I knew it wasn't a good idea to leave Yong-sik alone with his severe separation anxiety.
I went back to my room and picked up my phone. I got some notifications on KakaoTalk that I hadn't checked while playing the game.
[YunaYuna: Have you seen this?]
[Attached photo.]
[Attached photo.]
What I saw was a photo that fans had edited into a close-up meme of Yong-sik in a YouTube video. I hit save as soon as I saw it. Save and save for the next photo.
I thanked YunaYuna for sending me the photos and checked other messages.
My eyes widened when I saw the new message that had just come.
[Sim Dante: Customer-nim~ I heard you're going to enter the Muspelheim Dungeon tomorrow~?^^]
"…"
How the hell does this bastard know…
I frowned and pressed the call button.
T/N: Apologize for the delay. Things have been hectic these days and my relatives also coming to visit us. So I've been accompanied them these days. Thank you for the wait. Happy Holidays! Thank you for your support throughout the year. Wishing everyone a festive holiday season and a New Year filled with prosperity and success, and I look forward to continuing our journey together!! 🙏🙏🎇🎆❤️💋💋
A new year is like starting a new chapter in your life. It’s your chance to write an incredible story for yourself. May the dawn of the New Year bring new opportunities and the promise of a brighter tomorrow. Happy New Year in advance!
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