# 72
“Hey, make a promise with me.”
“What kind of promise?”
“First, never do anything that harms civilians.”
“Come on, I’m not some gangster. Of course not.”
“Second, don’t do anything illegal. Stay away from dangerous situations.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t do anything illegal, and he’ll handle all the dangerous stuff.”
At those words, Seok-ho nodded nonchalantly and defended Cha Ki-young.
“I like that you pay well. I even got 5 million won as a performance bonus when I came back from the US.”
“…You can have more if you want.”
“Really? Thank you!”
His eyes sparkled as he asked, looking so energetic despite not even being the boss. Jin-ha wondered where on earth Cha Ki-young had found such a person to employ.
While Jin-ha was inwardly marveling, Cha Ki-young actually completed the bank transfer to Seok-ho’s account. After checking the deposit message, Seok-ho smiled broadly and bowed at a 90-degree angle to Jin-ha.
“I’ll work hard!”
Why was he bowing to him instead? And Cha Ki-young watching this with satisfaction was equally baffling. Jin-ha wasn’t sure what Seok-ho was thinking, but it was clear that Cha Ki-young’s deposit was payment for helping to prevent a lecture bomb.
Jin-ha somehow felt his energy draining.
“Lastly, if you encounter something you can’t handle, contact me.”
“So you’ll help?”
“Try to behave so you won’t need to call.”
“Ah, but if you help, I’ll have to repay you again!”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
Jin-ha glared in annoyance, but Cha Ki-young just kept grinning. Somehow, the kid was getting more and more shameless and sly as he grew older.
Sensing that Jin-ha was about to start nagging again, Cha Ki-young quickly changed the subject.
“Dr. Jo Sung-hyun visited last night.”
“The status ailment cure potion, the one from the black market?”
“Yes! I bought it and gave it to you, but your condition is still weird. You should go to a Hunter hospital, but I thought it would be better to talk to the doctor. When I contacted him, he came by helicopter.”
Well, he’s someone who has his own helicopter. Jin-ha made a mental note to call Dr. Jo and thank him for coming during his busy schedule, cutting into his sleep.
“The doctor checked your condition and said the status ailment doesn’t seem to be resolved.”
“My physical condition feels fine though.”
“Seok-ho, mirror.”
Seok-ho quickly brought a desk mirror and placed it in front of Jin-ha.
[ Lee Jin-ha ]
Status Ailment: O%?g? � 이 i�& (13 days)
Fever(B), Mana Depletion(F), Nausea(A), Sexual Urge(B), Tachycardia(D)
It was true. When Jin-ha checked with his Information Eye, the status ailment was indeed still present. However, some symptoms had cancelation lines through them, and the severity of the other symptoms seemed lower than yesterday, suggesting the status ailment cure potion wasn’t completely ineffective.
“You’re right. It’s improved but hasn’t disappeared.”
“The doctor said you’d probably need a top-grade potion to completely remove it, but as you know, top-grade potions aren’t available on the market.”
Currently on Earth, top-grade potions could only be found hidden in buildings inside dungeons or gates. As a result, they were extremely rare, and countries managed them as items prohibited from export.
They could probably get one through the World Gate Information Association somehow, but…
“Since you can check your status, he said if the ailment duration is short, manage the symptoms with a high-grade status ailment cure potion, and if it’s too long, request help from the Association. Oh, and he asked me to tell you something.”
When Jin-ha looked up, Cha Ki-young cleared his throat and said:
“‘Jin-ha, if you’re going to do dangerous things, quit your dispatch to the Anomaly Management Agency.’ For the record, I agree.”
“…Thanks for telling me.”
“So how long will it last?”
“13 days left. The symptoms are at a level that can be managed with a high-grade potion.”
“Thank goodness…”
Cha Ki-young pushed a pouch that he had placed on one side of the table toward Jin-ha. It was what had been rattling on the coffee table earlier.
“He said to take just enough each day or you might get addicted. I’ve divided up what I prepared plus the bottle the doctor left. There are twenty bottles, do whatever you want with the extras, but drink one bottle now.”
Jin-ha took out one bottle, drank it, and checked his status again.
[ Lee Jin-ha ]
Status Ailment: O%?g? � 이 i�& (13 days)
Fever(B), Mana Depletion(F), Nausea(A), Sexual Urge(B), Tachycardia(E)
Jin-ha’s eyes narrowed as he scanned the symptoms. The mana depletion was gone, and the tachycardia level had decreased. While it was good that the potion was effective, why wasn’t that annoying “Sexual Urge” disappearing? Setting aside the fact that this was a symptom he had never seen before in all his years as an information Hunter, he couldn’t understand why this symptom in particular wouldn’t weaken even after taking the potion.
With distaste but curiosity, Jin-ha turned to look at Cha Ki-young.
“Hm? What is it?”
“…Nothing.”
Shifting his gaze, he saw Seok-ho with his eyes wide open.
“Me?”
“…No.”
Thankfully, he felt no strange urges. Since the symptoms shown in his Information Eye couldn’t be wrong, he guessed that it might be affected by mental strength.
Fortunately, Jin-ha’s mental strength was quite high, so the bizarre status ailment symptom of “Sexual Urge” wouldn’t likely be a problem.
With Jin-ha’s sudden status ailment issue resolved, Cha Ki-young finally relaxed, slumping his upper body onto the table and gesturing vaguely to Seok-ho. Though it was barely a wave, Seok-ho nodded and disappeared into the kitchen, saying he would brew some tea.
Turning his head slightly to look at Jin-ha, Cha Ki-young asked as if just remembering:
“Did you see the materials I sent?”
“…Yes.”
“It’s certain your father was American. There are lots of photos, and I confirmed records from the hospital where he was born. The items from the safe are too many and heavy, so they’re being shipped by boat now, but when you see them, I don’t think you’ll have any more doubts.”
“Show me the photos.”
With an expression that suggested he had much to say, Cha Ki-young sighed deeply but brought over the album he had set aside. Jin-ha took it and skimmed through his father’s entire growth process from beginning to end, then went back to the front and opened the page with the photo he wanted.
When he first asked Cha Ki-young to track his father’s past, it was based on such a small suspicion that it was difficult to explain in detail.
But now it seemed time to speak.
“That day, you know, I saw the words ‘Born in Abon’ on father.”
“…By that day, you mean that day?”
“Yes. The day we got caught in the gate overflow.”
Even though it had been revealed that his father was American, his past was still suspicious. Not only was it unclear how he came from America to Korea, but it was also suspicious that his past was being covered up at a governmental level.
“But beyond the portal, there’s a country called Abon.”
“Are you saying the world beyond the portal that opened at Mount Yonghwa was connected to America in the past, and your father was born there?”
“What else can I think?”
“…Ugh, okay. I’ll check again. It didn’t seem fake to me… Right, if they covered it up so thoroughly in Korea, it could be even more thorough in America… So that’s why you asked if he was adopted. Hmm…”
Cha Ki-young scratched his head, lost in thought.
“One more thing. What do you think of this doll?”
Jin-ha pointed to a photo showing a cradle with a baby and animal-shaped stuffed dolls, asking. Cha Ki-young craned his neck to look closely, then shrugged.
“I don’t know who made it, but the needlework isn’t excellent.”
“It doesn’t look mass-produced, right?”
“Right. Seems handmade.”
“I saw something exactly like this in that other world.”
“…This was over there?”
“We’re staying in a place called a magician’s tower over there. In the secret room of the tower’s previous leader, giant versions of these identical dolls were moving around.”
There must be a connection between Master Senistry and his father in some way. Otherwise, how could the handmade animal doll in his father’s cradle and the moving large dolls in Master Senistry’s vault be of the same form?
Though he couldn’t tell Cha Ki-young, Jin-ha was even thinking that he might have been born between those two. Though there was no evidence, he wondered if the reason he could enter Senistry’s vault, which was now closed again, might be because he had inherited her blood.
He’d already had suspicions that his mother wasn’t his biological mother. After all, evidence that he had been near when Riyekan’s soul had been shattered was present in this very body.
To think his biological mother might be a great magician from another world. If this conjecture was true, then he wasn’t a half-breed of two worlds but 100% from the other world. That is, from the same world as Riyekan.
“Lee Jin-ha?”
Lost in speculation about the secret of his birth, Jin-ha snapped back to reality at the sound of his name and looked up.
“What are you thinking about so intently?”
“…I might not be my mother’s biological son. If my guess is right…”
If his guess was right, his father was born in that other world, had a child with Master Senistry, then came to Earth alone through the American portal, moved to Korea, laundered his identity, and then met his mother.
It was like a makjang drama. If his father was also responsible for Master Senistry’s disappearance…
“Hmm? I don’t think that’s the case?”
Cha Ki-young munched on cookies that Seok-ho had just brought and replied lightly.
“Our Mrs. Cha said before that she personally delivered you when you were born.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
