CH 10

Baek-sun hadn’t appeared in the hospital room since he got the damned glass body trait.

In his absence, Han Cha-soo shuffled through a book, crumpled and folded.

“Ha, I need to know what you’re doing.”

Han Cha-soo’s hand tapping the sheet became faster.

Putting aside his glass body, he couldn’t calm down when he remembered the words they said.

‘If you do something weird and get hurt, you’re in trouble.’

If I got injured while doing something crazy for no other reason than to make myself healthy, it was all on me.

[…cut off a limb and throw it in a dungeon.]

[I’m the only one here who worries about you. You’re thankful, right?]

Visions of the bloodbaths of crazed brocon protagonists flashed through my head.

No, I can’t let that happen to me.

As he stared into thin air, there was a knock on the door.

“You’re up, I see.”

“Good morning, Guild Leader.”

Han Cha-soo greeted Jung Yiheon without turning his head. It was a terribly rude way to treat a guild leader, but he didn’t care.

This was the fifth time today. It was the same reaction every time he brought the contract.

“Are you here to accept my resignation?”

“Haha. Say hello, this is Mr. Choi Cheol-min.”

Casually ignoring Han Cha-soo’s questions, Jung Yiheon introduced someone. It was a thin man with horn-rimmed glasses.

“This is the man who will help you draw up the contract today.”

While Jung Yiheon and Han Cha-soo were both saying what they had to say, the lawyer in the middle, Choi Cheol-min, broke out in a cold sweat.

“I’m Choi… Cheol-min.”

“I can help you with the contract.”

“Uh, uh, sure.”

“But I won’t sign it.”

Choi Cheol-min’s eyes widened as if he couldn’t believe it. Han Cha-soo turned his head to look at the source of the situation.

Jung Yiheon had left Choi Cheol-min to his own devices and was distracted. His long fingers touched an opaque glass bottle on the nightstand.

The neatly labelled glass vials were the restorative potions Jung Yiheon had airlifted in two days earlier.

‘Did I say it was an item from an overseas, S-class.’

He urged him to take the pills, saying that even if his recovery was slow, it couldn’t be helped. But even without the taste, it was too much. Every time I took the potion, my esophagus became bitter…

At this point, Jung Yiheon grabbed one of the glass vials and shook it. It was like he was fiddling with a gut.

“Guild Leader, are you listening to me….”

Pow!

The entire vial of the potion burst into flames.

“…”

“…”

“…”

In the silence, Han Cha-soo was dumbfounded.

‘Are you protesting against me?’

But the silence was short-lived. The lid popped open with a jaunty sound, and a fluttering centipede popped out of the charred jar.

“Eek!”

The lawyer shrieked and jerked back. The bright blue centipede wriggled in Jung Yiheon’s hand.

Han Cha-soo bit his lip silently.

“What is that?”

Three times a day, one bottle at a time.

A potion that had to be taken on time, so much so that the nurse checked to see if it was finished after every meal.

And out of it came something that shouldn’t have been there.

Han Cha-soo’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Jung Yiheon’s hand.

“Could it be… It’s that.’

The larvae of the saduzine, or ‘loners’ as the Hunters conveniently called them.

It was a monster that parasitised on its host’s body, killing it or controlling its movements, just like the loners in martial arts.

‘Some madman put it in a pill.’

The saduzine larvae were hard to come by in the first place. They had to be dragged out of the dungeon with the monster still breathing.

‘And he used it on me?’

Han Cha-soo was stunned.

He’d barely escaped death by saving Jung Seoheon, and now he was being threatened in this way.

He swallowed a sigh and held out his hand to Jung Yiheon.

“Guild master, there’s no point in hiding it now.”

“…”

“Show me.”

I needed to see if that was really saduzine.

“You almost made me ate it.”

Jung Yiheon looked down at his pale hands without speaking.

Then he opened another potion bottle, poured out the contents, and placed the writhing centipede in it.

“Han Chasoo-ssi, if you worry about too many things, you’ll only stress yourself out.”

“What?”

“Just focus on getting yourself back to health.”

Tuk.

Instead of a centipede, Jung Yiheon placed a life contract in his hand.

“I’ll take care of the rest.”

Han Cha-soo almost wanted to bash the guild leader’s head in right then and there.

But instead, he chose to harass Jung Yiheon over the papers.

“That potion, I know you brought it.”

“…”

“Did you really think to give me a bug-infested potion?”

Jung Yiheon gave me a puzzled look and turned away.

“That’s not it.”

The back of his head pulled violently. Han Cha-soo stood up resolutely, rubbing his throbbing head.

“At least I think I have a right to know.”

Han Cha-soo boldly reached for him.

He had only intended to take the jar of centipedes.

But as was his habit, he twisted his wrist, looking for his weakness, or was it because he was his opponent.

Suddenly, my vision blurred.

[Warning]

[Health is consumed].

[Health is consumed. ]

[Penalties are randomised. ]

[ You have contracted the condition ‘Tinnitus’! ]

Beep-!

“This… again, ugh!”

Han Cha-soo was stunned. This thing was draining his stamina so arbitrarily.

Meanwhile, Jung Yiheon quickly cut off the centipede’s breathing. When he saw that Choi Cheol-min was at a loss, he said.

“Mr Choi Cheol-min, please help Han Cha-soo.”

“Yes!”

Choi Cheol-min quickly picked up Han Cha-soo and laid him down on the bed. As if waiting for him, Jung Yiheon stomped out of the hospital room.

“…”

“…”

“Would you like something to drink…?”

“No thanks.”

Han Cha-soo sighed deeply, rejecting Choi Cheol-min’s trembling offer.

Ah.

I want to be discharged.

BANG!

As Jung Yiheon walked out of the hospital room, people followed behind him.

A woman with long hair tied into a tight bun and two men with solid physiques.

Each with a refined airway, they didn’t look like ordinary people.

“Did something happen?”

The stern-looking woman asked, following closely behind him.

Instead of answering, Jung Yiheon asked a question.

“Who has been in and out of the hospital room since I last visited?”

“Baek-sun, Jung Seoheon, and Philoso’s Vice Guildmaster have been in for routine care, and one raiding team and one potion-making team have requested visits but have been declined.”

None of the visitors stood out in particular.

Yiheon’s brow furrowed at the unremarkable report.

‘There’s no way Noir would have messed with my stuff.’

He forced himself to admit that he couldn’t make it now, since he didn’t have the materials.

There was no way he could have tampered with something I cared, unless it was hidden away somewhere and pampered.

There was only one answer, then.

‘Someone in the medical staff tampered with Han Cha-soo’s medicine.’

‘Why?’ Jung Yiheon’s face was filled with questions.

He’s a tough guy. A man who needs help with every breath.

‘I haven’t even changed my mind yet and this happens.’

Quack. Jung Yiheon realised that he had been clenching his fists without realising it. He almost broke the bottle.

With a sigh, he forced himself to relax.

“Guild master.”

As if secretly sensing the change in his mood, the more hollow-cheeked of the two men asked softly.

“Is there something wrong with the patient?”

Jung Yiheon stopped in his tracks. In the middle of the deserted corridor, he took a deep breath and turned.

“Look.”

At first, the three of them looked at each other like, ‘What is this?’ but then Jung Yiheon opened the lid, and they had different reactions.

“What is this?”

“It looks like a worm… but the colour is strange.”

“Is it loneliness poison?”

The last voice belonged to a woman with a stern air.

“Most likely.”

Jung Yiheon shook his head at the cold, hard face.

“I’ll hand it over to the analysis team, and I’ll tell me as soon as I get the results.”

Even as he handed over the solitary to the woman, Jung Yiheon’s expression was not happy.

The larva of the saduzine called Loneliness. It has the property of liquefaction, which means it dissolves when immersed in water or beverages for a period of time.

The problem is that dissolution doesn’t mean death for the larva.

‘Once it has merged with the liquid and taken up residence in its host’s body, it sucks blood to regain its form.’

The bodyguard’s face contorted as he looked at the worm he’d been handed.

“Where did it come from in the patient’s room?”

“It was in Noir’s potion.”

“No way.”

The three of them looked deeply shocked.

“…It’s the medical staff I’m suspecting right now.”

The words were speculation, but the woman was certain.

Jung Yiheon agreed with her.

It was a potion that went directly from my hands to Han Cha-soo’s doctor.

If there was any shenanigans along the way, it had to have happened inside this hospital.

“Shall we go searching?”

“…Yes, and if you catch it by the tail, bring it back to me.”

Jung Yiheon looked at the bug.

“I’ll see what the guy who is fooling around with his life looks like.”

A cold fire burned in his red eyes.