Chapter 82
Chapter 82
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: Guild Master Isn't Enough with Just the Game
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Finally, Helcannon had woken up.
My ultimate fantasy was to be right there beside him the moment he stirred.
The instant I heard the news, I started toward the room where Helcannon was staying, only to be hit by a wave of regret that had me shooting a glare at Kim Je-hyun.
"Why'd you have to be the first one he sees when he wakes up instead of me?"
"......You're weirdly fixated on the dumbest stuff. What even is this 'choaeonji' thing anyway."
He stared at me like I was pathetic, which got under my skin enough to snap back.
"Don't dismiss my otaku heart. My devotion to Helcannon is the noble kind even everyone in Viva acknowledges."
"Yeah, real noble."
While I'd been swamped with guild business, the one who'd discovered Helcannon awake was Kim Je-hyun, who'd been fretting because the patient hadn't stirred in a full day.
To be honest, if he hadn't woken up by today, I was seriously considering hoisting him onto my back and rushing him to the hospital.
Glad he pulled through safely.
"So the imprinting failed, huh."
"It's not like he hatched from an egg like some duckling. Quit with the weird headcanons and go see him already."
Fair point.
Helcannon wasn't a duckling. And he sure as hell wasn't an NPC.
"The first thing he did when he woke up was ask for you."
"Really?!"
I bolted upright to dash out of the room, then backpedaled.
I checked my face in the mirror, clutched my racing heart, and stepped into the hall.
The heroes lounging on the living room couch, eyes glued to the TV, turned to look at me.
I was on the TV.
Flashing a fond smile at my heroes thriving even in this strange new world, I hurried through the living room.
Kim Je-hyun muttered under his breath.
"But damn, his looks are unreal even on second glance. Your heroes are all gorgeous, but that guy's on a whole other plane."
"As expected of my ultimate fave."
"Locked eyes with him and nearly fell myself."
"As expected of my ult—hold up, why the hell are you crushing on my man!"
I froze.
Hand on the doorknob to Helcannon's room, I replayed my blurted words and realized.
I still hadn't adjusted to reality.
Grip tight on the knob, I took a serious moment to sort out how to treat Helcannon—the guy I'd been eye-fucking like crazy back when I thought he was just an NPC—as an actual person.
Kim Je-hyun, who'd trailed after me to catch another glimpse of Helcannon, spoke up.
"......The hell you waiting for? Go in already."
"Adapting to reality."
Creak—
I eased the door open.
"?
What the—.
The room where Helcannon should've been lying in bed waiting for me was completely empty.
My civilized vow to draw a line between reality and the game, treating Helcannon like a person? Shattered in all of one second.
"......Where's my man."
"You're the one 'adapting to reality.'"
Ignoring Kim Je-hyun, I whipped around the room, then bolted to the window.
No way he jumped, right? This was a penthouse high up! Had that bastard Dart summoned him away without a second thought?
"No—Helcannon!"
I lost it and yelled, just as the bathroom door clicked open. Helcannon poked his head out, our eyes met, and he slammed it shut again.
His steady voice soon drifted from inside.
"My current state is too unkempt. I'll see you properly later. You, sir—could you lend me a hand?"
Embarrassment laced with unflappable calm.
"Unkempt? What're you talking about! Your face is handsome no matter wh—"
Before I could finish my horrified outburst, Kim Je-hyun flashed that smug grin and yanked me back.
"Out you go, troublemaker."
"Tr—troublemaker......"
Stunned by the word I'd never heard before, I got booted straight out of Helcannon's room.
Slam!
Elfer, lurking by the door for who knows how long, flinched and eyed me.
A brief silence hung.
"......Why'd you get kicked out?"
"......Beats me."
It was so unlike Helcannon that I was left blinking in confusion.
Midgard's rank-and-file NPCs had so much personality and drive you'd swear it wasn't a game at all, but Helcannon? His whole vibe screamed "NPC" so hard it made Viva feel legit.
Why the fuck was Kim Je-hyun grinning like that, though? The more I thought about it, the more it pissed me off.
If Helcannon was royalty getting attended to by Kim Je-hyun, he'd strip down without batting an eye.
I had to stop this now!
Sensing disaster, I spun back toward the door.
"Kaisha-nim."
"Uh—yeah?"
"New look's cute."
"......"
Elfer pulled me into one of his game-habit hugs, nuzzling his cheek against my head.
This wasn't a customization.
Sure, Midgard folks figured user avatars could swap looks on a dime, which made things convenient all around.
"And you've gotten way shorter."
"......"
Over 170 cm wasn't exactly short.
But my Viva character topped 180, so yeah, it was a downgrade.
Elfer's build was slim yet solid, and he towered pretty tall.
With him a smidge above me back then, our eye lines matched up fine—but now? Felt like I'd shrunk. Made sense.
Elfer asked gingerly.
"You're not......planning to bind Helcannon as a hero, are you?"
I'd kill to, but that sneaky Dart wouldn't release the bind.
If I could? Hell yes.
I stayed quiet, and Elfer shot me a pouty glare.
"I'll give you that Helcannon's strong, but you've only got six bind slots. Who're you dropping?"
Ah. So that's what had him on edge.
"Not you."
My firm tone melted the edge off Elfer's face.
"......Then who?"
"Won't it mess with someone busy?"
Like Terra with her rank, or Valen, or Poon Whistle.
"Of course, that hinges on Dart actually letting Helcannon go—which seems unlikely."
Stroking Elfer's silky golden locks, I led him to the living room.
"That what was bugging you?"
"......Kinda. But mostly, I wanna be the one you trust most, Kaisha-nim."
I dropped onto the sofa, and he slid right down to cling to my waist, peeking sideways.
Threw Messiah a quick side-eye, then gazed up at me with those puppy-dog eyes.
"Second place stings enough. Third? No way."
"Eek."
Adorable.
Who'd have thought Elfer—sharp-edged ice prince back when we met, warm hair aside—could melt into this.
"That so? My good boy."
Mmwah, mmwah.
Brushed back the blond strands and planted one on his forehead. Elfer dissolved into a dopey grin.
Our household heroes, who'd been watching stone-faced, shrugged it off one by one—no big shock anymore.
Messiah was pint-sized and cute, so sure, I doted. But truth was, none of our heroes fixated on my affection, Messiah included.
They ate it up when I gave it, but their personalities? All chill, grown-up vibes.
Balen, Diperonta's young prince, came closest—always eyeing Elfer's clingy demands with envy. But he wasn't around.
"Ha. Our crew's too cute and badass for their own good. Wanna drag Valen and Terra out and flex 'em to the world."
Gilgamesh suggested vlogging with the heroes—maybe time to try.
I'd skipped streaming 'cause I hated doxxing my face, but it was already globally famous.
Glanced at the TV.
Ever since city war wrap-up that evening, world news had been looping me and the hunters nonstop.
Frankly? Seeing the hype firsthand had me buzzing inside.
Up until Kim Je-hyun's warning: if Mom calls, don't pick up or call back. Ever.
"......"
Smart move texting via the internet instead of my phone.
The one from before gate dive. After? Zero contact, no new number risk.
No plans to see Mom anytime soon anyway, but hearing that warning from him soured my mood.
"Kaisha-nim?"
"Yeah? Oh—just mulling work."
I snapped to at Elfer's voice, stroking his golden mop again.
Elfer piped up.
"Can you get me some clothes too? Those Western guys had the local threads—got me jealous watching."
"That right?"
"Yeah."
Elfer clocked that stuff too.
Drove home they weren't NPCs. Real people.
Now that I thought about it, Helcannon had shooed me off over his own outfit—hadn't even let me look.
Heroes on the sofa eyed me as I stood.
"Outings still too much, so online shopping it is. I'll pull it up on the screen—pick what you like."
Elfer and the rest traded puzzled looks at the TV idea but nodded along quietly.
* * *
With Je-hyun's help mastering the bathroom basics, Helcannon emerged in a robe.
Helcannon had showered solo, so nothing like Ga-hyun's imagined scene of Kim Je-hyun playing bath butler.
"Might not fit your height. I'll look away—give it a shot."
For the tall Helcannon, Je-hyun had grabbed baggy free-size short-sleeve tee, sport shorts, and fresh trunk briefs still in the pack.
As Helcannon slipped into the clothes, he snuck a glance at Je-hyun.
Didn't really resemble Ga-hyun.
"So......you're Kaisha-nim's kin, Kim Je-hyun-nim?"
"Yep. Close cousins."
"......"
Sharing a home like this, Helcannon had pegged the neat, mild-mannered guy as maybe Kaisha-nim's husband.
No such intro, though—so probably not.
Still, in Helcannon's worldview, noble kin like that screamed prime marriage material.
The silence stretched, so Kim Je-hyun helpfully elaborated.
"To be precise, Kaisha—Ga-hyun—is my dad's little sister's daughter. Oh, and folks here drop family names usually, so Je-hyun's fine."
"......I see."
Ga-hyun.
A name so unique it felt straight out of another world—exotic, almost alien.
Learning Kaisha-nim's true name here? Felt profoundly intimate somehow.
Flashes of Kaisha-nim's past words and actions raced through Helcannon's mind.
So that's why she called me that.
*‘Come to me. I'll treat you better than Dart. There’s gotta be a way to force the bind off.’*
*‘No chance.’*
*‘There is.’*
*‘Nope, you overimmersed otaku.’*
*‘Fucking piece-of-shit lowlife binding my poor Cannon like this.’*
*‘......You done?’*
Kaisha-nim and Dart snarled every time they crossed paths, but to Helcannon, the two gods seemed thick as thieves.
Dart never dodged their banter, for one.
Dart's face always softened around Kaisha-nim. Never shied from her jabs. Subtly hung on her every word.
Plus, gods scrapped then allied all the time—so Helcannon hadn't trusted her.
Figured even if she claimed different, she was Dart's kind through and through.
That's what he'd thought.