Baek Tae-beom widened his eyes as if asking what I was talking about, but my gaze remained fixed on Yoo Jin-woo’s pocket. From what I remembered, unless it was a special dungeon like the Small Purgatory, even scenario-type dungeons like this one should drop by-products when monsters were defeated.
And the monster Baek Tae-beom killed must have dropped something as well. I hadn’t had a chance to check due to the chaos earlier, but I was certain I saw something fall. These bastards probably followed it around, picking up everything like Hansel and Gretel.
I was irritated that they’d thrown me down there without so much as a damn apology, but securing the by-products was more important than my pride.
Yoo Jin-woo, flustered by my words, bit his lip, then immediately lifted his chin with a nasty scowl.
“Why the hell should I give you this?”
“Did you just say ‘why’, really?”
“We agreed to split items seventy-thirty, remember?”
He said it so shamelessly while rummaging through his bulging pocket, pulling out something that looked like red shards. About a dozen of them, gleaming like rubies.
[Heart of the Crimson Mist – D]
[Heart of the Crimson Mist. Can be combined with specific materials to craft an item.]
I did my best not to show how shocked I was.
‘That drops here?’
Even the protagonist Kang Si-hoo only managed to obtain that item well into the middle of the story. For it to appear this early… It really showed just how badly Baek Tae-beom had been exploited from the beginning. They must’ve pushed him around, robbed him of every item dropped in dungeons, and used him like a damn pack mule.
In the original, Baek Tae-beom was the worst kind of villain, but unlike the source material, he’d formed a contract with me during the early stages of his awakening. I couldn’t stand by and watch him fall apart—or let the world be destroyed like that.
“So what, you’ve got a problem with me holding onto them?”
“How could you treat Ga-hyeon like that and—!”
“I’m fine, Tae-beom.”
I said it calmly, then held out my hand with confidence.
“You people didn’t do a single damn thing.”
“What?”
“All you did was trail behind while Tae-beom carried the whole thing, crying and whining. What the hell are you even talking about? Just leave everything and get lost.”
“The fuck did you just say, you bastard?”
Yoo Jin-woo took a step forward, face twisted in fury, but Baek Tae-beom immediately drew his sword as if ready to confront him. At that, Kim Yong-tae, looking instantly panicked, yanked on Yoo Jin-woo’s sleeve.
“Just give it all up and let’s go.”
“What the hell’s your problem now?”
“You saw it too! The way he swings that sword! What if he decides to kill us?”
Baek Tae-beom wasn’t the kind of person to actually kill anyone—not yet, anyway—but I said nothing. I just stared at the whimpering cowards. Honestly, I was relying entirely on Baek Tae-beom’s presence to pull this off.
After a bit of hushed bickering among themselves, the two scowled and threw several Hearts of the Crimson Mist onto the ground like garbage.
“Here. Go ahead and eat it or whatever! Disgusting bastards…”
“Hey!”
“We gave you everything we had!”
Kim Yong-tae shouted back at us, then stormed off toward the car they’d come in. Baek Tae-beom didn’t even bother watching them leave, as if he couldn’t care less. I knelt to gather the discarded Hearts of the Crimson Mist from the ground.
“Ga-hyeon….”
“It’s okay. These are useless if you don’t know how to use them. Those guys probably don’t even have a clue. They’ll just sell them off or something. Still, with this many….”
“That’s not the point.”
Huh?
He grabbed my arm, pulling me to my feet in one swift motion. My fingers lost their grip, and the items I’d been holding scattered onto the ground again. I didn’t even think to pick them up. I could only stare at Baek Tae-beom, who had lifted me up.
His expression was calm. Not even a trace of anger—but for some reason, it felt… strange.
“Why did you let them go?”
“What do you mean?”
“You just let them walk away.”
“But we got the items. They didn’t take any Coins. You got the Coins, right?”
“……”
Baek Tae-beom’s brow twitched.
“Ga-hyeon.”
“Yes?”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-six….”
“I’m twenty-four.”
[Your Contractor feels anger.]
‘Anger?’
I shivered at the thought that Baek Tae-beom might have already succumbed to corruption.
“Speak comfortably.”
“Speak… comfortably?”
“Yes. I’ll call you hyung then.”
“Uh…”
“You can call me Tae-beom. Or just Beom, if that’s easier, hyung.”
He said it so gently—was he planning to hit me right after this? Tell me not to butt into his business?
Then, as Baek Tae-beom raised his hand, I reflexively shut my eyes.
‘I’m screwed…!’
But what I felt wasn’t the violent impact I’d braced for. It was a gentle hand brushing back my damp hair.
“Hyung. Please don’t do that again.”
“Huh?”
“I really appreciate you helping me. I do. But seeing you get hurt like that… it hurts me too. In a way that feels strange.”
As he spoke, Baek Tae-beom lowered his head and leaned in slowly. His golden eyes, now so close, seemed to devour everything around them—and me along with it. The intensity of his gaze made it hard to breathe.
The sunset behind him colored the world in a haze, and something felt surreal. I was standing in front of a man who’d only existed in the pages of a novel, holding a real conversation.
“If you’re going to do that again, then I don’t want to go with you next time.”
“Uh… right. Beom?”
“Yes, hyung.”
I gave in to his request, no choice but to ask.
“Are you… mad?”
Baek Tae-beom admitted it.
“Yes.”
“…Why?”
“Why? Did you seriously just ask me that, hyung?”
His expression twisted. His eyes sharpened, and he suddenly grabbed my wrist in one rough motion. I let out a gasp at the jolt of pain, which seemed to soften his expression—just a little. But that was it.
“Hyung. You got hurt just now because of those assholes. Do you even realize that? You could’ve died. You would’ve died if I hadn’t been there!”
“……”
He wasn’t wrong, so I couldn’t say anything. I had carelessly assumed that Baek Tae-beom would save me, but for him, it clearly hadn’t been so simple.
Still, he seemed a little too angry. Like we had some deep personal connection. Sure, I’d rushed in recklessly, but this was only our second time meeting, wasn’t it?
‘Is it because of the contract?’
We had shared a portion of our emotions when we formed the contract, after all. Maybe that was why Baek Tae-beom was reacting so emotionally to me. Or maybe… I reminded him of his sick little brother.
“Are you even listening?”
“But still, you couldn’t kill them.”
“Hyung…!”
“I’m sorry. I get what you’re trying to say. I won’t do that again.”
There. Promise. I held out my pinky, and Baek Tae-beom reluctantly hooked his around mine.
“Let’s go to the hospital first.”
Just as he said, I ended up going to the hospital. For a moment, I was worried my head might be fractured, but thankfully, it was just a small tear on the back of my scalp—nothing serious. Since becoming a Constellation, my healing ability seemed enhanced, and minor wounds like these healed quickly. Even the soreness in my wrists and ankles began to fade as soon as they were wrapped in bandages.
Still, I couldn’t exactly tell Baek Tae-beom, “No worries, I’m your Constellation,” so I let him pay for the hospital visit without protest. It stung my conscience, receiving help from someone two years younger who worked part-time to support a sick brother, but Baek Tae-beom was so unwavering that I couldn’t stop him.
“But hyung, what is this?”
Baek Tae-beom fiddled with my bandaged hand as he glanced at the Heart of the Crimson Mist on the table. After the hospital, we were sitting across from each other at a café, and because of his height and striking looks, we were drawing quite a few eyes. It was… a bit much.
“Something good.”
“Something good?”
“Give me your sword.”
At my request, Baek Tae-beom began rummaging through his inventory and pulled out a sword. The inventory was a special feature available to Awakened individuals. Though the number of items it could hold was limited, it was a sort of extradimensional space that ignored size or volume constraints—like in a video game.
The fact that he was already using it so naturally made this hyung proud. Though, to be honest, I was a little worried about how trustingly he just handed the sword over to me.
“See the hilt here? It has three slots, right?”
“Yeah.”
“If you take this and fit it in like this…”
The fit wasn’t perfect, so I had to force it in a bit, but the important part was the act of inserting it. With a little more pressure, I pushed the Heart of the Crimson Mist into the slot. The sword vibrated briefly, and the item embedded cleanly into place.
I repeated the process two more times, and the sword’s appearance started to look much more formidable. I couldn’t help but feel proud.
[Sword for the Meek – D+]
[A toothless sword that now at least looks the part. Grants a new skill when used. (No duplicates allowed)
The crimson mist lingers on the blade, allowing for stronger attacks.]
“How is it?”
“Hyung.”
But Baek Tae-beom, eyes scanning the weapon with a curious expression, looked at me and asked,
“How do you know all this stuff?”
