CH 6

Baek Tae-beom looked at me with his eyes wide open as if to ask me what was happening, though he didn’t know that my gaze would fall on Jin-woo’s pocket. As far as I can remember, even if this was a scenario-type dungeon, there wasn’t a special dungeon like <Little Purgatory>, so loot would come out of dungeons where monsters appeared like this.

And the monsters that Baek Tae-beom had killed would also have left some items. I couldn’t check because I was in a hurry earlier, but I definitely saw something falling. And these guys must have followed like Hansel and Gretel, picking it up.

I was a bit annoyed after he pushed me down and didn’t even bother giving me a single apology, but it was more important to make sure that the supply and demand of items was stored out than that.

Yoo Jin-woo, who was puzzled by my words, bit his lip, and made a threatening expression.

He raised his head with a groan.

“And why should I give them to you?”

“Why are you saying that, now?”

“Didn’t you agree to divide the items into 7:3?”

He spoke rather brazenly as he rummaged through his bulging pocket and pulled out something like a red shard. About a dozen or so seemed to be and were shining as red as rubies.

[Heart of the Red Mist D]

[The Heart of the Red Mist. When combined with a specific material, items can be created.]

I tried my best to not seem surprised.

‘That came from here?’

This item was not obtained until the middle of the development of the main character, Kang Si-hoo. I can’t believe it came out from the beginning. It was a part where we could see how Baek Tae-beom was captured from the beginning. I’m sure they were forced to do it, and all the items from the dungeon were taken away and rolled like dogs. [ED/N: rolled like dogs means that the many other people took advantage of such items and had authority.]

Baek Tae-beom was the most ominous villain in the original novel, but unlike in the novel, he had signed a contract with me in the early stages of his awakening. I couldn’t wait to see Baek Tae-beom’s downfall and the destruction of the world.

“So, do you have any complaints?”

“How could you push Ga-hyun-ssi like that…!”

“It’s alright, Tae-beom-ssi.”

Having said that, I confidently held out my hand.

“You didn’t do anything, did you?”

“What?”

“Why are you saying so much about Tae-beom-ssi after all that you’ve done was dragging his feet and having him carry you? Just leave it all there and get lost already.”

“What’s with this, bastard?”

As soon as Yoo Jin-woo took a step forward with an infuriated expression, Baek Tae-beom drew his sword as if he was going to deal with him right away. Then, Kim Yong-tae, who was quickly squirming with a wrinkled expression, pulled the hem of Yoo Jin-woo’s clothes.

“Just hand it over and let’s go.”

“What are you going to do, you bastard?”

“You saw it, too! That bastard was wielding a sword! What if they try to kill us too?”

The current Baek Tae-beom would not have wanted to kill anyone, but I did not dare to say anything and looked at the poking bastards. To be honest, it was right to trust Baek Tae-beom and act like this.

They chatted amongst themselves, and soon frowned and threw a few <Heart of The Red Mist> on the ground.

“Here, have it! It’s too filthy….”

“Hey!”

“We gave you everything we could!”

Kim Yong-tae shouted and went back to the car we used. Baek Tae-beom didn’t watch them as they left as if he was dumbfounded. I started picking up the <Heart of Red Mist> that had fallen on the floor.

“Ga-hyun-ssi….”

“Oh, even if you have a lot of these, they aren’t worth it if you don’t know how to use them, so it’s okay. They’ll probably try to sell it because they don’t know how to, but with this much….”

“That’s not it.”

Huh.

My arms were grabbed, and my body was raised up at once. The strength in my hands slackened, and the items I was holding dropped into the rainwater on the ground. I didn’t even bother picking them up again, as I had no choice but to look at Baek Tae-beom, who was holding me. His expression was calm, and there were no signs of anger, but I felt something subtle.

“Why did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“You just let them go.”

“We got the items. We didn’t even divide the coins. You received the coins, right?”

“…….”

Baek Tae-beom’s eyebrows twitched.

“Ga-hyun-ssi.”

“Yes?”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-six….”

“I’m twenty-four.”

[Your contractor feels enraged.]

‘Enraged?’

I shivered, in the thought that Baek Tae-beom had already started to turn evil.

“So, you can speak comfortably to me.”

“Speak comfortably? Yo. Like this?”

“Yes. I’ll call you Hyung as well.”

“Ah….”

“Call me just Tae-beom. It’s nice to be comfortable with each other, Hyung.”

Are you going to hit me after all this sweet talk? Because I wasn’t supposed to meddle in your business? At that moment, Baek Tae-beom raised his hand and I closed my eyes reflexively.

‘I’m done for…!’

However, what I felt was not the violent sensation like before, but a gentle touch that brushed away my wet hair.

“Hyung. Don’t do this again from now on.”

“Uh?”

“Thank you so much for helping me, but it breaks my heart to see you get hurt like this. Strangely enough.”

With that said, Baek Tae-beom lowered his head and slowly came closer. The golden eyes that came near swallowed everything around me and were so intense that it felt like I was going to be devoured too.

It felt strange, seeing the sunset behind him. The man in the novel was right here, talking in front of my eyes.

“If you’re going to be like this next time, I don’t want to go with you.”

“Oh, then. Beom-ah?”

“Yes, Hyung.”

In the end, I had no choice but to ask in response to his request.

“Are you mad?”

Baek Tae-beom admitted.

“Yes.”

“…Why?”

“Why? Are you really asking that now, Hyung?”

Baek Tae-beom’s face contorted. His gaze shifted into something sharper, and he grabbed my wrist harshly. Baek Tae-beom’s expression softened a little when I felt a sharp pain and let out a groan. But that was it.

“Hyung. Just now, you got hurt because of those people. Do you understand? If I had made even one mistake, you could have died. You could have died without me!”

“…….”

I had nothing to say because he was right. Of course, I had a conceited feeling that Baek Tae-beom would save me, but it seems that it was not that simple for Baek Tae-beom.

But anyway, I thought he was too angry. It was as if I had a close relationship with him. Even though I’ve been a bit reckless, wasn’t this the second time seeing each other?

‘Is it, because you signed a contract with me?’

When we signed the contract, it was said that we would share some of our emotions, so maybe Baek Tae-beom became more emotional with me. Or I could have reminded him of his sick brother.

“Are you listening to me?”

“But still, you can’t kill those people.”

“Hyung…!”

“I’m sorry. I know what you’re trying to say. I won’t do that next time.”

And now, to seal the promise. As I held out my pinky finger, Baek Tae-beom wrapped his little finger around mine with a reluctant expression.

“Let’s go to the hospital first.”

As Baek Tae-beom said, I went to the hospital. I thought my skull had busted, but fortunately, only the back of my head was a little torn, so I didn’t need any major treatment. After becoming a constellation, my resilience seemed to have increased, so these wounds healed quickly. Most of the pain was gone by the time I bandaged my wrists and ankles.

However, as I was being treated, I wondered whether I should tell Baek Tae-beom that I am his constellation, but I couldn’t, and Tae-beom ended up calmly paying for the hospital bills. My conscience was hurt when I remembered that I got help from a person who was two years younger than me and had a sick younger brother, but I couldn’t help it because Baek Tae-beom was firm about it.

“By the way, Hyung. What is that?”

Baek Tae-beom, who was fiddling with my bandaged hand, said as he looked down at the <Heart of the Red Mist> on the table. After going to the hospital, we were sitting face to face in a cafe and chatting, but because of Baek Tae-beom’s aura and appearance, it was quite burdensome as eyes were drawn to our side.

“Something good.”

“Something good?”

“Give me your sword.”

Hearing my words, Baek Tae-beom pulled out his sword from his inventory. Inventory is a special function that the Awakened can use, and although the quantity that can be stored is limited, it is a super-dimensional space where things could be stored without being bound by conditions such as place or size, like in games.

This Hyung is proud that he has already learned the function and used it. Although I was a little worried that he was entrusting the sword to me without a single doubt.

“See these three slots on the sword handle here?”

“Yes.”

“If you put it in here, like this….”

I forced it to fit because the shape didn’t match, but the important thing was the act of ‘putting it in’. When I pushed the <Heart of the Red Mist> into the slot with a little more force, the sword vibrated shortly, and the item was embedded as it was before.

After repeating the act two more times, the shape of the sword became quite credible, and I was proud of it.

[Sword of the Lowly D+]

[It’s a bit chipped, but its shape is of a proper sword. New skills may be acquired when used. (Cannot use duplicates)

The energy of the red mist hovers over the sword. More powerful attacks can be created.]

“What do you think?”

“Hyung.”

But Baek Tae-beom glanced at the sword with a mysterious face and said while looking at me.

“How do you know this?”