CH 101

EPISODE 26. Spring has come

“Why are you signing up for that? Stop it.”

Kim Woo-jin hurriedly backed away, avoiding my hand trying to take his cell phone.

“Why, why! I want to join. I want to!”

I was surprised at the speed of his movements and told Kim Woo-jin.

“Give it to me right now.”

“I, I don’t like it.”

“Kim Woo-jin.”

Kim Woo-jin didn’t come close even though I called again with a stern voice. He didn’t stop there, even created a clone in an instant. He came to me as if it was natural to have a clone with a more fierce expression than Kim Woo-jin.

“Ya, Kim Woo-jin.”

I hugged his clone familiarly and looked at Kim Woo-jin. It was clear that he had deliberately pulled out a clone to stop me. Kim Woo-jin looked at me and insisted.

“I’ll just sign up.”

“What’s the point of joining a place like that?”

“Because there are articles that can only be read by signing up…”

“……”

Ah, really? That was another fact I didn’t know.

The clone who watched me and Kim Woo-jin quarrelled, rubbed his face on my shoulder with a dissatisfied expression. Seeing that scene, somehow, my heart that want to say something to Kim Woo-jin suddenly faded.

“…I’ll let you know if I see a strange post.”

Kim Woo-jin, who realized that I had given up, looked at me and I said.

“I don’t need.”

Do as you please. Fan café or whatever, I thought it would be better to just pay attention. As I sighed and stroked the clone’s head, the clone looked at me and smiled brightly.

Kim Woo-jin, who would normally run like a master and separate himself from me, looked at his cell phone to see if the fan café was quite fun.

Clicking my tongue and patting the back of the clone sticking next to me, someone suddenly opened the door to the hospital room.

“Hey!” (In English)

“Team Leader Park Geon-ho?”

It was Park Geon-ho, whom I met after a month, who confidently opened the door without knocking. Park Geon-ho, whose skin had become darker than before, gave me a wink with his characteristic refreshing smile.

“It’s been a while, Han Yi-gyeol. Our famous A-rank mercenary.”

“Are you still talking about that?”

Smiling in vain, I grabbed Park Geon-ho’s big hand and shook hands. Kim Woo-jin, who opened his axe eyes after putting his cell phone in no time, and Park Geon-ho, who looked around and stopped at a blank-faced clone, said in a funny voice.

“I heard the news from Thailand, but it’s true. I can’t believe C-rank re-awakening to A-rank. In addition, he is a clone magician who is very useful in many ways.”

“That word… weren’t you in Korea?”

When I said I couldn’t see him, he was out of the country at all. Park Geon-ho lowered the end of his eyebrows and answered my question, pretending to be sad.

“You don’t care that much about me. Isn’t that too much?”

I snorted as I pushed the heavy arm of Park Geon-ho that came up to my shoulder, secretly.

“You must have been so busy. And from the beginning, I had no interest in it.”

“You’re cold-hearted. Well, that’s the charm.”

You were saying something like a charm. Park Geon-ho, who giggled at my disgusted reaction, sat down on the opposite bed and continued the conversation.

“There is a guild that has cooperated in Thailand, and they asked for help to clear the gate where the abnormal phenomenon occurred. At the time, my schedule was empty, so I went as the representative.”

“A gate where anomalies were found. Even it’s an overseas country, isn’t it too dangerous?”

“It was an S-grade gate, but it wasn’t that difficult. Han Yi-gyeol, it was easier than the N23 Area gate where you were injured. Unfortunately.”

Park Geon-ho’s face that explained that way looked really disappointed. I really couldn’t understand.

“When did you come to Korea?”

“Yesterday. I’ve heard of everything that happened while I was away. It was very exciting and fun.”

“It’s not that fun for me.”

When I hit it coldly, Park Geon-ho smiled and looked over my body carefully.

“Before going to Thailand, he was seriously injured and passed out. How ridiculous it was to hear that he was still in the hospital room even though he had been there.”

“……”

This kidnapping was definitely my fault. I couldn’t. I should change the topic of conversation.

“So, what is the purpose of your visit me?”

“Hm. There are two things.”

Two things? As I tilted my head facing Park Geon-ho, he pulled something out of his arms and held it out.

“What is this?”

It was a white paper that had been folded two or three times. Why were you giving me this all of a sudden?

“Love letter.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“I don’t deceive.”

Would you deceive? Park Geon-ho, playfully shrugging his shoulders, opened his mouth.

“Open it.”

What was written on it? I glanced at Park Geon-ho suspiciously and slowly unfolded the folded paper. Kim Woo-jin, who was close behind my back, and the eyes of the clone gazed on my side, turned to the unfolded paper.

“This…”

What was written on the note was a strange picture that looked like a number or a pattern. I tried to figure out the meaning by turning the note around, but it wasn’t easy.

“What is this?”

“I don’t know either.”

“Pardon?”

In response to my question, Park Geon-ho tapped his temple with a thoughtful expression and immediately opened his mouth.

“Five days ago, I cleared the gate safely and got out. Guild officials, gatekeepers, and various media gathered together, and in the midst of a frenzy, the person I had never met for the first time approached me.”

He was a tall man with pure white silver hair and dark sunglasses that caught the eye. The man, dressed in the form of several layers of wrinkled and worn cloth, exuded a refreshing scent as if he had been in the forest, unlike his appearance.

“He pointed exactly at me and said this. ‘Talented Park Geon-ho of Korea. I have something to give you.’ Then, without hearing an answer, he forced the paper into my hand. How embarrassing it was.”

“…why are you giving it to me?”

“I was only asked to deliver it. ‘When you return to Korea, there will be someone who had the most difficult time. Give it to him.’ At the time, I didn’t know who he was talking about, but after I came and saw it, it was a very easy problem.”

‘Someone who had the most difficult time,’ he said. Unfortunately, I couldn’t refute it. I folded the paper again and sighed.

“What if I receive something suspicious like this?”

“It was suspicious.”

Park Geon-ho, with his arms crossed, stretched his long legs and smiled.

“But it’s fun.”

“What the hell is it?”

“Is it just that a suspicious person gave me such a thing?”

So he just accepted it and gave it to me. I put the paper in my pocket and said to Park Geon-ho.

“Well, thanks anyway.”

“As expected, there must be something you can guess. It was good to pass it on to you.”

“You just did it because it looked fun, so what are you pretending to think about?”

“The results are good.”

Shameless. I clicked my tongue and asked for another thing.

“You said there are two things. What’s the other one?”

“Hm, that’s not something we can fix right away.”

Park Geon-ho touched his chin and rolled his eyes. He seemed to be contemplating how to begin the explanation.

“What is it?”

“First of all, Han Yi-gyeol. You know the current situation is very bad, right?”

Were you talking about kidnapping? I frowned and nodded my head. Of course, I knew. But I didn’t expect Park Geon-ho to mention this.

“Actually, I got a mission from Master.”

“Master… Is it Master Cheon Sa-yeon?”

“For me, the only Master is Master Cheon Sa-yeon, of course.”

What was wrong with Cheon Sa-yeon again? Anxiety surged up in my mind. Sensitively aware that my condition had changed, the clone blinked and grabbed my arm tightly.

“He told me to hire a bodyguard.” (호위 기사, the bodyguard is better than escort knight, right?)

“Pardon?”

What? Hire what?

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

“It’s true. He told me to choose a guild member to protect you. Maximum occupancy is 2 people.”

Park Geon-ho, who raised the corner of his mouth and smiled, pointed to Kim Woo-jin next to me with his chin.

“I heard that he’s a member of the physic support team now, so he can’t be used as your bodyguard.”

“Physic support team?”

Surprised by those words, I turned to look at Kim Woo-jin, and the guy averted his gaze and smoked a smirk. That kid. What if you didn’t tell me something so important?

I thought that if Park Geon-ho went and asked him properly, I looked back and asked.

“Did Master Cheon Sa-yeon really give that order?”

“If you keep asking me like that, I wonder if you don’t trust me or if you don’t trust Master.”

“……”

He was quick to catch on. I narrowed my eyes and asked the question I had been curious about for a long time.

“But why is Team Leader in charge of that?”

“Well, I just returned home and I don’t have any work to do. Is it because I’m close with all the guild members?”

Indeed. Someone who knew the guild members well was Park Geon-ho.

Even so, it wasn’t a matter to be taken lightly. First of all, I wasn’t a member of Requiem. I was pressing the middle of my forehead, which kept getting complicated in mind, but Kim Woo-jin intervened with a hard voice.

“The physic support team doesn’t have much work and I will always be by your side, so there’s no need to forcefully hire someone.”

“Hm…”

To be honest, I didn’t want to have a person I didn’t know well as a bodyguard and by my side. Besides, it was Cheon Sa-yeon’s command.

‘You were disappointed. You act like you’re going to throw me out at any moment, and suddenly you’re protecting me?’

Wasn’t it too awkward to just accept it? I was worried because I couldn’t give an answer in a hurry, but Park Geon-ho opened his mouth with his characteristic smirk.

“If the opponent has the physical ability, a clone magician would be sufficient, but since a mental ability person intervened, I think we need the manpower suitable for that. He is a psychic talented person at the level of strong mental control over S-rank Master Kang Seung-geon. You shouldn’t look at it lightly.”

“Are you saying that there is someone capable of dealing with the mental world?”

“It’s certain that the mental world is dealing with the mental world. In the physical world, if you stay by his side for nothing and get mentally controlled, things will only get complicated.”

Kim Woo-jin pouted his lips at the exact words, but he didn’t bother to refute whether he was worried about me.

“It’s better to have at least one person with you. There are many applicants, so you can choose the one you like the most.”

“Applicants?”

What were these applicants? Seeing me speechless, Park Geon-ho said in a natural voice.

“About 60 people applied. We only got it from our guild, so it’s that much. If it had been received from other guilds, it would have been a few hundreds.”

“No way.”

“Why are you so negative? How many people did you rescue, Han Yi-gyeol, from the Gangnam incident? Isn’t that obvious?”

I bowed my head avoiding Park Geon-ho’s gaze. An uncomfortable feeling pierced my chest like a sharp needle. After licking my lips several times, I struggled to open my mouth.

“…it’s just, it’s my fault, too. If I had been more careful and hadn’t been kidnapped in the first place…”

“Han Yi-gyeol.”

Kim Woo-jin cut me off in an angry voice. Unlike Kim Woo-jin, who distorted his face as it was, Park Geon-ho tilted his head and asked in an interesting voice.

“Why are you thinking like that? Han Yi-gyeol. You are the victim of being kidnapped. The fault is the one who kidnapped you.”

“……”

“Because he’s under mental control, no matter how you dealt with it, Master Kang Seung-geon must have been bitten and stretched out to kidnap you. That’s why mental control is so dangerous.”

Instead of answering, I smiled awkwardly. I thought so too in my head. However, the feeling of blaming oneself didn’t go away easily.

“I think it’s good. Anyway, the more applicants, the easier it will be to choose.”

Uum. Park Geon-ho, who looked at me in a difficult situation for a moment, got up.

“For now, rest today, and I’ll call you in three days, so let’s talk about it then. Think about it slowly.”

“I understand.”

“In my personal opinion, it is better to accept it. People with mental abilities are more likely to regret it if they don’t prepare in advance.”

With those words, Park Geon-ho left the hospital room without any regrets.

Click. I sighed as I heard the door closing. It wasn’t that Park Geon-ho was wrong.

Obviously, it would be more comfortable to deal with people with mental abilities in the mental world. I should think about it seriously.