CH 12

The article was uproarious, but the intent was simple.

‘Hey, let’s see the face of that production B-rank hunter!’

I’ve been in hospital for over two weeks, why can’t they give me an interview? It was obvious that the newspaper was trying to keep the cover story tight.

They even said they had secretly interviewed some of the hunters and were planning a follow-up article.

[The hunter who was with Mr. A at the time said.

“Thanks to him, Healer B’s life was also saved, but the guild has remained silent….”]

In the next paragraph, the reporter excitedly asked about Healer B.

[“So, Healer B didn’t do anything in the dungeon?”

The hunter was unable to answer the reporter’s question….]

Han Cha-soo slightly raised his gaze. When their eyes met, Baek-dam smiled brightly.

Han Cha-soo was sure. The Healer B mentioned here was Baek-sun.

And Baek-dam was furious at the mention of his brother.

“Oh, don’t worry, the article was taken down as soon as it went up, and the bastard who posted it will never think of posting it again.”

Unless you want to lose both your hands.

It was scary to say that with a big smile.

“…I don’t think it’s the guild leader who’s leaving the reporter half dead.”

“Excuse me?”

”Just saying.”

Han Cha-soo muttered, looking away, but feeling a chill in the pit of his stomach.

‘It’s a shame, but I’m glad Baek-sun is alive.’

If he had died, it might have been a lost cause to keep Jung Seoheon alive. Baek-dam cared about his brother as much as he did, and he would have pounced on him immediately, demanding to know what had happened.

Anyway, it was the people who were crazy about their brother.

Luckily, the topic quickly died down thanks to these crazy people.

“The guy who interviewed you is a dick. How hard was it to tell him to keep his mouth shut?”

It wasn’t Jung Yiheon who came to him today, but Lee Jin-ryul. While grumbling, he drank the green juice eagerly.

I don’t know why he bought it if he was going to eat it all himself.

Han Cha-soo looked at the half-empty box of green juice and turned his head.

“What happened to the favour I asked for?”

“Is that all you have to say to me, Han Cha-soo?”

Han Cha-soo tilted his head, feeling somewhat regretful. He had said goodbye earlier. What more does he want…. Ah.

“If you want a life contract, it’s over there. Take it.”

The stack of contracts on the table had already reached seven copies. Every time Jung Yiheon came to visit, he brought a newly renewed contract.

“While you’re at it, I hope you’ll also tell the Guildmaster that I don’t need an eighth version.”

Lee Jin-ryul’s eyes grew vacant. He sighed heavily and pulled something out from behind his back.

It was the mobile phone Han Cha-soo had asked for.

“Here it is. Take it.”

I don’t know why he’s disappointed, but he takes it. Han Cha-soo immediately switched on his phone. The bright light of the screen cast a glow on his face.

When he saw Han Cha-soo scrolling through the screen, Lee Jin-ryul spat out.

“There won’t be any mention of that reporter.”

Han Cha-soo glanced from the current affairs column to Lee Jin-ryul. Lee Jin-ryul shrugged, as if that wasn’t what he was looking for.

“It wouldn’t do any good to spread the word, and neither would the hospital.”

Well, it was more likely that the hospital covered it up. Han Cha-soo was quickly convinced.

With that, Lee Jin-ryul turned, and Han Cha-soo was left alone to collect his thoughts.

‘It’s time to get out of the hospital.’

The desire to leave the hospital, which had been forgotten in his solitude, came back to him as a reporter.

The loner and the reporter. Each with different intentions. But their targets were the same. Han Cha-soo, himself.

The problem was his own situation: what was he supposed to do while he’s stuck in the hospital?

Moreover, the man who was now ‘protecting’ him was the original protagonist.

Han Cha-soo is a ticking time bomb that could go off at any moment if his evil deeds are revealed.

I couldn’t stand by his side with the anxiety of being found out at any moment. As long as I was possessing the villain, I had to protect my body.

So, there was only one answer.

‘Let’s go home. Let’s go find a diary, a notebook, anything that might give us a clue.’

Right now, he had too little information about the original Han Cha-soo.

He needed to narrow down who might be trying to kill him. To do that, he needed to find some trace of the past.

“Okay, then….”

Let’s leave the hospital.

Han Cha-soo looked around the hospital room and said goodbye.

The neat and delicious meal was over now.

“What? Discharged?”

The reaction was unexpectedly intense.

For a moment, I wondered if my doctor was actually Hunter.

“…Yes.”

I didn’t expect to see a doctor jumping that high here.

‘He must have springs in his thighs.’

Han Cha-soo looked at the doctor with suspicion.

In the previous world, there were such people They were usually people who wanted to delay their discharge date….

The doctor’s voice broke through his thoughts.

“You’ve only been awake for over two weeks!”

The doctor’s face was stern, if not sterner. His grip on the chart was violent.

“Look here. Just two days ago you suddenly collapsed with a headache, and now you’re suddenly being discharged, for what?

It’s because of the penalty…

But he can’t say that straight out. Instead, Han Cha-soo held up the white porcelain as a shield.

“Certified by an S-class healer, further treatment is pointless.”

I was about to have a meaningless healing because I heard Baek-dam talk every day.

“They said there was no place for me to heal anymore, that there was no point in using healing skills.”

The doctor’s eyes shook when he delivered Baek-dam’s story. Watching the scene, Han Cha-soo continued calmly.

“You can’t say that the S-class healer is wrong, can you?”

“No, I wouldn’t. You’re a special case, as you know. I mean, your injuries are healed, but you’re not cured, are you?”

I’m cured, but not fully healed. What the hell is he talking about?

The doctor started rambling when things didn’t go his way. Han Cha-soo was gracious enough to listen to all of his nonsense.

It went something like this.

“Are you saying that I should just stay in the hospital because my body is so fragile that I don’t know when I’m going to collapse?”

“No, I’m not saying that, I’m just trying to keep you safe.”

Han Cha-soo’s eyebrows drew into a sharp mountain.

‘What a ridiculous excuse.’

It was pointless to waste resources on a workforce that could no longer function.

It was pointless.

‘It must be because of Jung Yiheon.’

You’ll lock me up until I sign the life contract, is that it?

‘I thought you’d given up when you didn’t show up for a few days….’

After Baek-dam caught the reporter spying from the window, Jung Yiheon’s momentum subsided.

The man who had been urging him to sign a contract every day had suddenly stopped coming.

Whether it was because of a strange sense of responsibility or because he was busy with other things, he didn’t know, but he didn’t care.

It was easier for him not to come in many ways.

‘I have nightmares every time he comes over.’

A terrifying dream in which he is captured by Jung Yi Hoon and taken to a cave for failing to Jung Seoheon.

Luckily, he woke up just before he was tortured, but he still felt dirty.

“Patient, why don’t you just go through the tests one more time and think about it? If you go home and collapse again.”

The doctor’s awkward voice snapped Han Cha-soo back to focus. He shook his head.

“Then let’s go and get treatment at the hospital.”

“Th, that’s….”

“In any case, I understand what you’re saying, Doctor. I’ll let the Guild Leader and I talk to you separately.”

“Ah… Hahaha, thank you for your understanding.”

With a superficial laugh, the doctor fled with his tail between his legs, saying he was busy with work.

Left alone, Han Cha-soo scratched his head and let out a long sigh.

There was no point in talking to the guild leader in private.

“There’s no way that bastard is going to let me go.”

At the end of my glance was a thick, unsigned employment contract.

It was a contract that pressured me with its very existence.

I would be entrusting my life’s work to a man who could strangle me at any moment.

Knowing the original story, it was creepy.

The moment Han Cha-soo was found out, it was not a life contract, but a body waiver.

“I’d better disappear as soon as possible.”

Even the man who wanted to kill him had appeared.

He wanted to disappear as quickly as possible and get away from the maelstrom of confusion.

After much deliberation, Han Cha-soo slowly opened the door to his room.

He could see hunters standing at either end of the wide corridor.

Specialised bodyguard hunters hired by Jung Yi Hoon. They were recruited after the reporter was captured the other day.

Watching them carefully, Han Cha-soo closed the door and leaned back.

‘I’ll give it a try.’

There’s nothing you can get away with without getting hit.

“Huu…”

Grey eyes peeked out from beneath thin eyelids.

[Dilute Presence (A)]

“Eum.”

The air surrounding him thinned with the tension of his body tightening and loosening.

The faint breathing that echoed through the hospital room gradually faded to reveal the silence.

[ Shadow Curtain (C)]

A hazy veil fell over him, and the solid form disappeared in an instant.

However, the opaque presence didn’t last long.

“Crack!”

[ Warning! ]

[ Behaviour inconsistent with your cover identity will be penalised! ]

[Penalties will be randomised. ]

[ You have contracted the condition ‘keratosis’! ]

His stomach heated up quickly.

Han Cha-soo’s body twisted in pain as if he was being scraped by a thick blade.

It was a good thing he had tried it out before using it in real life.

‘If I use both of them at the same time, my stamina will be drained quickly.’

Han Cha-soo gritted his teeth and tried to collect himself.

He looked at the handful of blood he had vomited onto the floor and contemplated what to do next.

“I’m coming in, Mr. Han Cha-soo.”

With a languid voice, the tightly closed door swung open without hesitation.

“…”

“…”

In the chilling silence, only the sound of unwiped blood dripping was clear.