Chapter 30: A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step (1)
That good atmosphere didn't last long. Kim Jae-ho was still acting like a feral wild animal.
For days, I'd tried to get close to him, but every attempt ended in failure.
He even tried to bite the hand that was feeding him! And then he lunged at me, shaking the iron bars so hard they rattled violently.
Wow, holy shit.
I was too shocked to speak for a while.
"This is why I said you shouldn't take in a black-haired beast."
How the hell had I gotten close to him in the past?
'Isn't it because of Seol Rokjin's brainwashing?'
I shook my head at the thought.
━Just use your talent, then.
"That would make me no different from that bastard. I don't want to force someone's affection like that, at least."
Kim Jae-ho was going to be my comrade someday. I didn't want our first real connection to start that way.
━Such pointless stubbornness.
Ray clicked his tongue but seemed to respect my choice, at least somewhat.
With the necessary equipment secured, I dove into seriously setting up the base.
First things first: installing the water source. You can't do anything properly without water. Until now, we'd been rationing the 15 liters produced daily by the tent, but with two people, even basic washing had become a challenge.
As time passed, I was starting to look more and more like a homeless bum.
Installing the water source was simple. Just place the pre-prepared artifact in a sunny spot.
It guzzled mana stones like crazy, but since I still had a bunch of unprocessed ones, it wasn't a big deal for me.
Of course, the maintenance costs later would balloon to millions per month—a real headache.
━You know, it would've been nice to build the base by a river instead of this mountainside.
"Where's the style in that?"
Setting. Remember the setting? I'm the behind-the-scenes villain here—gotta have the base in a sunny, feng shui-perfect spot backed by mountains. Gotta look the part.
━Should've known from the mask you wear everywhere.
Ray tsked his tongue. I pretended not to hear and focused on the artifact. Clear water was already bubbling up steadily. Water worries solved.
I jumped straight into a shower.
"Ahh, I feel alive again."
It wasn't as good as soaking in a sauna, but just scrubbing off the grime made me feel human.
"Wanna wash up too?"
I asked Kim Jae-ho just in case, but no response.
"He'd probably freak if I splashed him, right?"
━Is that even a question?
It was frustrating how I couldn't communicate with Kim Jae-ho at times like this. I'd try talking to him several times a day, but he'd always plug his ears in the corner of the cage, ignoring me completely.
"Hmm."
I watched him quietly.
Even after Seol Rokjin scrambled his brain, the guy still had some intelligence left. Mental age of a seven-year-old, sure, but enough to make judgments.
So even if he looked like a mindless beast, somewhere inside, the real Kim Jae-ho was still there.
He was the one who told me his name, after all.
"Jae-ho."
His shoulders twitched at my call.
"Fine. Just eat."
I handed him food. Sweet talk wouldn't reach him right now anyway. Actions speak louder.
I'm not your enemy. I won't hurt you.
After hauling all the bat guano out of the cave, I started leveling the floor. Smoothing out the uneven cave bottom to create a foundation.
Not easy, of course.
"Ugh, I'm exhausted."
At least the cave's natural ventilation had cleared out the stench quickly.
Humidity was manageable too, so no need for extra venting.
For a spot found by chance, it was perfect for a base.
As I patted myself on the back, Ray's sharp voice rang in my head.
━Someone's coming!
It wasn't just Ray who sensed it.
Kim Jae-ho, lounging in his cage, was suddenly alert, growling from the corner. I slowly turned around.
"Uh."
I froze.
Standing before me was a kid in a Hunter Academy uniform. Barely recognizable as one—the thing was torn and filthy from whatever hell he'd been through.
His shaggy hair hid his face, but those soft, downy cheeks screamed "student."
And that was the problem.
Why was a Hunter Academy student here?
Or more precisely, how?
Then the "student" spoke to me.
"Finally found you."
His voice was hoarse and cracked. I squinted at him. Finally found me?
"You know my brother, right?"
At least he was polite. Brother? Huh?
"Your brother..."
I was about to ask who, when a name flashed in my mind.
Han Jo-hee. This kid was his little brother, Han Seohyun.
The realization hit, and I surged mana through my body.
Right now, Han Seohyun probably saw me as the enemy who killed his brother!
I had zero intention of fighting a kid, but if he came here for revenge, I couldn't just let him attack.
A-grade potential in black magic, right? As an academy student, his combat power was probably 3-star or less, but could I take him head-on and survive? Maybe jump him while he seemed off-guard?
As my mind raced, Han Seohyun spoke.
"I know you didn't kill my brother."
The unexpected words made my eyes widen.
"What?"
"I know."
How? The whole world thought I was the killer in that murder. The evidence, the testimonies—it was airtight, even looked guilty to me.
"How do you know?"
He bit his lip at my stunned reply and drew up his mana. Unlike others whose pupils glowed with ability use, his darkened even further.
Looked like he wasn't using anything.
But after taking in Ray, I was hypersensitive to mana flows—I wouldn't miss it.
"What are you doing?"
"Not attacking. You asked how I knew. Just showing you the answer."
A black magic circle began forming before Han Seohyun.
Black magic circle. Black ink bleeding into water—dark magic spread in the air, and a skull popped out.
Skeleton summon.
Han Seohyun staggered, panting. No wonder. Summoning looked simple but drained massive mana and mental energy. Necromancy, dealing with death, was even worse.
No medium, straight from thin air.
A talent straight out of a madman's playbook.
"Necromancer, huh."
"Yeah."
"Still don't get why you pulled out that skull."
Come on. Saying you're not here to fight while whipping out a clattering bonehead? Only screams "let's throw down."
"That's my brother."
My jaw dropped.
"Th-that's Han Jo-hee?"
Sorry for calling it a clattering bonehead...
I muttered internally. He quickly added, seeing my shocked face.
"Had no choice. To read memories, I needed a contract somehow. And I couldn't just let my brother... dissipate."
Once a skeleton, it wasn't Han Jo-hee anymore.
Turning dead family into undead was taboo worldwide, especially in a Confucian country like ours.
But Han Seohyun crossed that line for a reason.
"Why resurrect him..."
"To find the real killer."
I swallowed hard.
His face looked ready to crumble any second. To the kid on the verge of collapse, I sighed and asked,
"You eaten? Slept at all?"
He shook his head slightly.
"Talk after you eat something."
We'd both realized we weren't enemies. Plenty of time to chat.
"Grrr."
Heading to the tent, Han Seohyun spotted caged Kim Jae-ho and looked at me.
"Wh-what is that. An eyesore."
His gaze toward me had turned ice-cold, like I was trash. Not my imagination, huh?
My explanation made his face harden.
"So, to fill a labor shortage, you bought a human slave from human trafficking? One who's not even mentally sound?"
Damn, that's one way to sum it up.
"R-rescue! If it wasn't me, he'd have ended up with some abusive owner and suffered way worse! Yeah?!"
Why was I groveling to a high school kid, explaining myself?
━Meanwhile, he turned his own brother into a skeleton. Pot calling the kettle black!
'Don't bring that up.'
Poor kid must've been desperate. Couldn't even mention it.
Talking about Kim Jae-ho just dug me deeper, so change topics.
I sat Han Seohyun down and handed him bread first. He devoured it with water like a starving man. How long had he gone without? I watched pitifully.
Once he finished, I asked,
"So, what'd you find out?"
He shook his head with a complicated expression.
"The skeleton contract might've messed with the quality. I saw the face of the guy who... tortured my brother to death. That's it."
He looked so forlorn.
"Why come to me..."
"Figured if anyone knew who the killer was, it'd be you."
I hesitated. I knew, of course. But sharing meant dragging him into my mess. If I was sending him back, better say nothing and soothe him.
A necromancer like Han Seohyun would be huge help, but he was a minor.
Academy student—nineteen tops. Looked even younger. Just a tall kid.
I got why he'd turn his brother into a skeleton for revenge, but that made me hesitate more.
Han Jo-hee's wish was for this kid to be happy.
His brother's happiness was long shattered, but was dragging him in right?
"I have nowhere to go back to anyway."
Like he'd read my mind, Han Seohyun spoke.
"I turned my brother into that."
"You had no choice."
"Still, it was wrong. For revenge, I killed my only brother—the one who gave his life for me—twice."
His voice was so raspy.
"What do you want to do?"
"Find the killer. Get revenge."
I squeezed my eyes shut at that.
Couldn't be helped.
Even if I chased this kid away, his life after this trauma wouldn't be normal. I told Han Seohyun,
"Someone once said, don't avenge the dead—think of them and live happy. That's the best revenge."
His eyes chilled.
"If you're telling me to drop it..."
"I think that's bullshit."
He blinked.
"Who knows what the dead think? And honestly, who cares? I'm the one alive. Right? My life's hell every day. Why shouldn't I get revenge? For whose sake?"
I wanted to avenge myself on Seol Rokjin forever.
I'd have done it if I could.
So I extended my hand to Han Seohyun.
"One question. Are you really sure you can do it 'for sure'?"