#40
Ha-seong drowsily opened his eyes. After briefly frowning at the light that suddenly seeped into his vision, he buried his face in his hands. Seeing the damp sensation on his palms, it seemed he had been sweating too.
Why did that old incident have to appear in his dreams again? Moreover, it was rare for him to have such vivid dreams. Thanks to that, even now when he closed his eyes, that dream, that past incident, came back clearly. Cold corpses of colleagues and those resentful gazes. Ha-seong was biting his lips when—
“What, does it hurt that much?”
At the words heard nearby, Ha-seong bolted upright. Rubbing his eyes and frowning as he looked, Do-hyeok was sitting in a chair reading a book.
“……What.”
“Just. I was bored.”
Ha-seong looked around searching for a clock. Looking at the wall clock hanging in the treatment room, it seemed he had slept for quite a long time. That was one thing, but the bigger problem was this guy sitting beside him as if he was nursing him.
“Were you here the whole time?”
“I haven’t been here long. But are you really in pain?”
“What?”
“You were sweating and frowning while sleeping. Or did you have a bad dream?”
A bad dream. Yes. That was, if he had to say, a bad dream and memory. Everyone tells you to quickly forget bad memories, but how great would it be if that were possible? Ha-seong couldn’t simply forget the events of that time that formed everything about the person named Do Ha-seong.
“It’s nothing.”
Ha-seong pressed his tired eyes firmly. It seemed the old incident had appeared in his dream because of today’s events.
“……”
Do-hyeok silently watched that appearance for a moment.
“Let’s call it a day today. It would be better to hear the report later.”
He had planned to talk with Do-hyeok right after coming out of the treatment room. He was going to tell him about what happened today and the facts he had discovered, but his body felt too heavy now. Whether Do-hyeok noticed a bit that it was a mental problem rather than a physical one, or just because Ha-seong’s expression didn’t look good, he didn’t force an explanation.
“I’d be grateful if you did that.”
“Yes. Let’s do that then. Since hyung agreed to help as an informant, nothing is more important than hyung’s condition.”
“Materialistic guy.”
At words that seemed to show concern while revealing his true intentions, Ha-seong chuckled. Well, that was much better than pretending to worry with superficially glossy words.
“I’ll tell Shin-woo. Take the car and go.”
“Hey, Cha Do-hyeok.”
Ha-seong caught Do-hyeok who was getting up to leave.
“You said before. Why did you accept this proposal? Why are you helping me?”
Do-hyeok nodded. Certainly, Ha-seong had explained then that he was the type who couldn’t turn away from someone asking for help, that he was weak to people who needed him.
“Thinking about it now, I think I wanted to do my own kind of atonement.”
The countless colleagues and people he couldn’t save. The reality where everyone died in Ha-seong’s hometown where destruction eventually came because he couldn’t overcome it. Ha-seong had been carrying all of that like a burden. Even when he wanted to shake it off a little and become comfortable, he couldn’t do so.
Perhaps a black crisis that hadn’t yet revealed itself would come to this world too. His decision to contribute to uncovering that might have been because of that sense of debt.
“Atonement?”
“There is. That kind of thing.”
Ha-seong slowly got up from the bed. He roughly arranged the blanket and passed by Do-hyeok to go outside.
Coming down to the first floor like that, Ha-seong found Shin-woo waiting with the car as Do-hyeok had said. He greeted Ha-seong warmly today too, waving his large hands that didn’t suit his build.
“Ha-seong-ssi, are you feeling a bit better?”
“Yes. There’s no danger to my life.”
“That’s a relief. Ah, please get in. I’ll take you home.”
As soon as Ha-seong got in the passenger seat, the car started smoothly.
Actually, thinking about it, he wondered if it was okay to receive this kind of treatment. Of course, he was in a position to help Cha Do-hyeok, but on the surface, Ha-seong was just a purifier. He should tell them they didn’t need to do this next time, and if they were going to do it, to do it somewhere people wouldn’t notice. With such thoughts, Ha-seong leaned back in the car seat.
“But it seems the Guild Leader was really worried about Ha-seong-ssi. While pretending not to be.”
“Pardon?”
When they were stopped at a traffic light, Shin-woo, who had been quiet the whole time, spoke up.
“Asking me to take you like this and all. Ah, earlier he briefly looked at work and then stayed by your side the whole time you were in the treatment room.”
Certainly Cha Do-hyeok had said he hadn’t been there long. Ha-seong recalled the earlier situation. Come to think of it, the book he was holding seemed to have quite a few pages turned. It was behavior that didn’t suit someone who talked about priorities.
Ha-seong felt a strange feeling about such contradictions in Do-hyeok and safely arrived home.
[Ha-seong-nim!]
As soon as he arrived home, the pig came running hurriedly from inside. Like this, the pig these days welcomed Ha-seong like a dog wagging its tail and running over when Ha-seong came home from work. Ever since he started commuting to Nameless, it had been throwing such tantrums asking to be taken along, but after he solved that with one punch, it stopped throwing tantrums and waited quietly at home for Ha-seong.
“How much cabbage did you eat, pig?”
[I didn’t eat much! Huh! But why does Ha-seong-nim’s face look like that?]
The pig asked in surprise as soon as it discovered the wound on Ha-seong’s forehead.
“Just had a bit of an incident.”
Ha-seong first went to the living room sofa and plopped down.
“Hey, pig. I have something to ask you.”
[Yes. What is it?]
“About dungeons.”
The pig had somehow jumped up onto the sofa and settled down next to Ha-seong. At first he hadn’t let it go on the bed and sofa, but whether he had given up on the pig that kept trying to climb up, or just resigned himself, Ha-seong didn’t say anything more.
“Can there be two masters?”
Common knowledge about dungeons had been extensively researched and revealed through the efforts of numerous research teams. But having more than one master, which was an essential key to conquering dungeons, was something he had never seen or heard of even in the previous world.
He thought of the pig first, wondering if a monster that had lived in dungeons might know something.
[No. I’ve never heard such a story before.]
But the pig’s words were also exactly as Ha-seong knew.
“If that were the case, what possibilities could we think of?”
Ha-seong was now seriously engaging in conversation with the pig.
[Um… Ah!]
“Why. What. Do you know something?”
[No. I don’t know. Hehe.]
Ha-seong gave the pig’s head a light flick with a deflated expression.
“Then just say you don’t know, why act like you know?”
[Hng. But why are you curious about that?]
At the pig’s question, Ha-seong headed to the bathroom without answering. The pig didn’t ask more persistently either.
* * *
Ha-seong left home with a tired face. Even though his body was tired, he had tossed and turned more than expected last night. Whether that dream had dealt more of a mental blow than expected, Ha-seong couldn’t organize his complicated thoughts and ended up staying awake all night.
Ha-seong headed to the bus stop with an expression that said he didn’t want to go to work, that he wanted to go back home and sleep right away. There were also several modern people of this era with the same expression as Ha-seong. Soon a bus came and Ha-seong went to sit in his usual front seat.
The bus started like that and at each stop, people began getting on one or two at a time. Still, since it was a bit past rush hour, it wasn’t packed like sardines. When it stopped at another stop like that, a tall man got on the bus. The man, dressed in a suit like an office worker, tapped his card on the terminal.
Beep-
<Insufficient balance.>
With a few more sounds of tapping the card, only the sad message about insufficient balance could be heard. At first, Ha-seong, who had been leaning against the window with tired eyes closed, also raised his head to look forward.
“If you don’t have fare, please take the next bus.”
“Yes. I guess I’ll have to.”
The man put his card back in his wallet with a disappointed expression. It wasn’t the first time seeing someone without balance, and the people on the bus kept whispering among themselves looking at him. Where would people who didn’t even have bus fare live in sorrow?
Ha-seong got up from his seat and stuck his head toward the driver.
“Mister, I’ll pay for this person.”
The driver said sure and pressed some buttons, then pointed for him to tap his card. The cheerful sound of fare being charged was heard, and Ha-seong returned to his seat as if nothing happened.
“Thank you.”
Then the man who had followed toward Ha-seong bowed his head.
Since quite a few people got on at the next stop, he couldn’t talk more with him. Since it wasn’t something he did expecting compensation anyway, Ha-seong thought that was enough and got off at the stop in front of Nameless Guild.
“You’re getting off here, I see.”
Then the man who couldn’t pay bus fare earlier, with a tall stature and kind impression, approached Ha-seong again.
“Ah, yes.”
“Thank you earlier. Thanks to you, I came right away without waiting for the next bus. Could you give me your account number? I’ll send you the money right now.”
“It’s fine.”
Ha-seong waved his hands. Of course, Ha-seong’s dream was to be a rich unemployed person, but he didn’t want to get back such small money one by one.
“Then I’ll be going. I have to get to work.”
Ha-seong bowed his head slightly and slowly walked toward the Nameless building. He thought the man would have gone his own way, but what do you know. When he glanced back, he was following behind him. He’s probably just going the same way, Ha-seong thought and quickened his pace. Then when he almost reached the front of the Nameless building, he turned his head sharply.
“Really, you don’t have to pay back the money.”
Seeing that the man he thought was simply taking the same route had persistently followed him to the front of the Nameless building, Ha-seong finally spoke firmly.
“Yes. Since you say that much, I have no intention of paying it back either.”
The man answered with an unwavering gentle smile.
“But why……”
“Ah, you seem to have misunderstood something, but I also have business here today.”
The man pointed to Nameless Guild.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
