CH 19

April 14th, 2023

“I’ll take care of these two, Han Chasoo-ssi, and you can have a look.”

In response to Jung Yiheon’s kind gesture, Han Cha-soo brought up the system window from a reasonable distance.

He was moderately puzzled by the baptism of unidentified messages that followed.

[–Hidden Boss ‘Frostgiant Shaman’s Desire’ has been defeated]

[–Dungeon Defeated–]

[Notification!]

[–Calculating rewards for contributing to the strategy]

[Calculating contribution…]

[Calculation complete]

[Congratulations]

[Top Attack Contributor: Han Cha-soo]

[Do you want to publish your contribution? Y/N]

At the bottom of the page, a message said that I hadn’t published my contribution in time.

‘There was a loud noise in front of my eyes when I blacked out, and this must have slipped through.’

Normally, dungeons don’t give you a credit ranking like this when you complete a raid.

This was an exceptional situation.

Han Cha-soo calmly scrolled through the messages.

“What do you think, just as what I said?”

Geum Myeong-yeol whined from his position on the floor.

Regardless, Han Cha-soo scrolled down.

His grey eyes swept through the air as lightly as dust.

‘By the way, it’s weird, but when I looked at the inventory window, I didn’t see anything that looked like a reward.’

“Ah.”

Something caught his eye as he scanned the message window.

[Please claim your reward within one hour]

[Unclaimed rewards will be placed in a draft locker]

[Please note that items in the draft will disappear after 30 days]

[Item to be lost: Earring of Cursed Resonance]

Drafts.

Han Cha-soo cleared the message window and opened his inventory.

In the bottom right corner of the inventory window.

A red light flickered over a dull grey icon.

Now that I’ve done that, I can’t see it. After tapping the icon, Han Cha-soo frowned at the overflowing storage bin.

“What kind of junk is this….”

His silent muttering came to a halt.

He spotted a pair of items that emitted a brilliant blue light.

[Earrings of Cursed Resonance]

They were obviously the reward for defeating the hidden boss.

I moved the earrings into my inventory and looked up the information, and a system window popped up.

[Earring of Cursed Resonance]

Earrings once worn by a priest of a sinister god. The owner’s blood has dried on them.

The detailed effect required an expert appraisal skill, but that was enough.

Han Cha-soo sighed and scratched his head.

The moment he saw the description of the earrings, he remembered the verse from the original that he had thought of before entering the gate.

[“A message has arrived from the leader of the Jung Yiheon Heavenly Spirit Guild.”

After reading the message, a ferocious aura emanated from Geum Myeong-yeol.

“It was that bastard who broke the Reverse God’s earring.”

Han Cha-soo, the lowly squire who had toyed with the Heavenly Spirit Guild had taken my life in his hands.

“I’ll let you see hell even after you die.”

A cruel light flashed in the eyes of the S-class Curser Geum Myeong-yeol].

‘I was going to hand over the item anyway.’

Even if he didn’t know what he wanted from him, he was willing to comply.

He was going to remain an innocent B-grade potion maker.

I wasn’t going to hold a grudge, even if it was for the future, when everything was settled and I was gone.

But….

Han Cha-soo took a slow breath and turned his head slowly, unobtrusively.

Geum Myeong-yeol was sending him an intense gaze.

‘I see.’

Han Cha-soo lowered his hand, clenching and unclenching his fist.

He hadn’t noticed because he didn’t have a habit of checking men’s earlobes.

S-class curse mage Geum Myeong-yeol.

He had come to him in order to obtain a replacement for the Earring of the Reverse God, which had been destroyed by the original Han Cha-soo.

‘He said that his combat power nearly doubled after he got his hands on the Earring of Reversal. It’s a shame.’

Han Cha-soo’s eyes were serious as he stared at Geum Myeong-yeol.

The only good thing was that Geum Myeong-yeol hadn’t discovered his crime and come to kill him.

‘If he had, I would have died on the bridge long ago.’

But that didn’t stop his heart from pounding uncontrollably.

The back of my neck stiffened from the stress.

How could things have gone so wrong?

As he rubbed the back of his neck and calmly reflected on the situation, Han Cha-soo soon realised the cause.

‘It’s all because I’m possessing the body of a villain.’

And it wasn’t even the main villain in the original, but a minor, insignificant supporting character.

But what can you do now?

The damage was done, and there was no turning back.

Even if he could find a way to go back….

“Han Cha-soo.”

“Ah, Guild Leader.”

“Are you alright?”

When did this guy come this close?

Han Cha-soo stumbled backwards, close enough to breathe.

At the foot of the burnt bay debris splashed.

“I must have startled you, I’m sorry.”

Jung Yiheon stepped back with an awkward smile, straightening his bowed back.

“It looks like the paralysis over there is about to lift, so I thought I’d let you know.”

“Ah.”

I poked my head out to look behind Jung Yiheon and saw that Geum Myeong-yeol was swaying his body this way and that.

From the looks of it, he was ready to break free of his bonds and run at any moment.

“What can I do for you?”

Flames lit up overhead.

“Do you want me to leave it talking, or ddo you like it rare?”

The question was like asking if Steak was better well done or rare.

“Neither.”

Han Cha-soo shook his head thoughtfully.

“All I want is to know the reason for the attack and an apology for it.”

He Cha-soo still hadn’t received a proper apology, but Han Cha-soo didn’t dwell on that.

‘It’s enough that I let Jung Yiheon step on him.’

If we went to hand-to-hand combat, we wouldn’t win.

I’m an A-class and he’s an S-class.

He decided to settle for watching Jung Yiheon get his ass kicked.

‘It’s better to leave him alone than to provoke him and create a mess.’

It was much better for survival.

“Is that so?”

Jung Yiheon looked surprised at Han Cha-spp’s decision.

But the victim was Han Cha-soo.

Besides, he’d seen how stubborn he could be, so he agreed.

“I see, if that’s what you mean.”

With a shrug, Han Cha-soo walked over to Geum Myeong-yeol.

He was just about to sit up when the paralysis lifted.

“Wow, what a stab in the back.”

“Guild Leader Geum Myeong-yeol.”

“Mr Han Cha-soo, how can you make someone like this with such a sweet face?”

Instead of soothing him, Han Cha-soo took out a vial of reagents from his inside pocket.

“Guild Leader Geum Myeong-yeol. Who was the one who attacked me first?”

“Hmm.”

“And who’s the one with the Gate Returning Stone right now?”

Behind Han Cha-soo, Jung Yiheon crossed his arms and smiled.

“…….”

Finally, he’d shut him up.

He had to borrow Jung Yiheon’s strength, but it was enough for now.

Han Cha-soo slowly extended his hand towards Geum Myeong-yeol, who raised his eyes in frustration.

“You said you were looking for these.”

A pair of earrings rested in a fairly firm hand.

At first glance, the earrings looked unremarkable.

Slender silver strings dangling like raindrops, dotted with blue gemstones.

Without any sense of urgency, Geum Myeong-yeol unconsciously reached for the earrings, which were lying loosely on his palm, and clenched his fist.

As he gazed at Han Cha-soo, an unexpected emotion appeared on his face.

A rare item dropped by a hidden boss. An item that he had even crashed his car to get.

There was no way he would give it away so easily.

Sure enough.

“I’d love to, but I don’t think it’s possible.”

“Oh….”

“It’s come to this.”

Looking at Geum Myeong-yeol’s despairing face, Han Cha-soo placed a pair of earrings on Geum Myeong-yeol’s hand.

Naturally, the earrings stayed there.

But the next moment.

“Damn, why?”

He noticed that only one earring was resting on his palm.

The other pair had somehow ended up on Han Cha-soo’s hand.

The implications were obvious.

“Are those a couple’s item?”

Nodding at Geum Myeong-yeol’s nervous question, Han Cha-soo scanned the item information once more.

[Earring of Cursed Resonance]

Earrings once worn by a priest of a sinister deity. The owner’s blood has dried on them.

Under the main description of the item, it said

-Couple item (attributed)

The Frostgiant Dungeon’s hidden boss drop, the Earring of Cursed Resonance, was a couple item that had to be worn by two people.