Chapter 73
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Contamination
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Well.
No signs appeared above Mary's face.
No changes in expression, no movements in her fingertips, no trembling in her pupils. I'd been watching her intently ever since stepping into the room, but she was perfectly normal.
Visual observation alone couldn't confirm anything.
That was the frightening thing about contamination.
However, my ability let me peer into Mary's true inner thoughts.
Having seen that, to put it calmly...
For now, everything seemed fine.
I smiled and spoke up.
"From what I can see, it doesn't look like it."
At my words, Mary's round lilac eyes flew wide open.
A sigh of relief escaped her, fogging the glass wall white.
And she broke into a radiant smile.
"As expected, right? I knew Seon-woo would spot it."
Such cases do exist.
When you're near a contaminated hunter, their contamination levels can register on you too.
Hunters exposed to powerful contamination sources—like prolonged dungeon stays—can show readings from the lingering curse.
It's more like a temporary foreign substance clinging to the body.
Right now, the association's probably going mad analyzing the nature of this contamination.
Once they have results, her status should become clear.
Mary peeled away from the glass wall and dragged over a metal chair from the corner without hesitation.
"I felt so wronged, honestly."
She grumbled, jutting out her lips in extreme grievance.
"Go on, ask away! Whatever you want!"
She spun the chair around and sat on it cross-legged.
Then she flung her arms wide open, as if urging me to get on with my goal.
A seductive smile crept onto Mary's lips.
"Go ahead, ask now. Doctor."
"Freely. Whatever you want to do."
"Thanks."
I sat down on my chair, facing her.
A cooperative attitude suited me just fine.
It was only a little bitter that my first words to a colleague I hadn't seen in ages weren't pleasantries, but testimony gathering.
I met her gaze and slowly opened her status.
First, take the case of Kang Min-ho, whom I'd just met before Mary. His negative emotions had been massively amplified.
Utterly opposite from his media image.
He'd come across as cheerful and carefree.
So first, I needed to check if Mary's negative emotions were amplified too.
No negative emotions, as expected.
In that case.
Thoughts branched in several directions.
'Mary hasn't been mentally contaminated.'
Or...
'Mary might have a different kind of mental contamination.'
Such a notion.
The yellow paper mentioned that positive emotions could also be amplified.
Thus, I needed to gauge her condition through conversation.
The status window was capable, but it didn't reveal every emotion.
As I thought, the system presented two options.
[Suitable Response] [Satisfaction Fit 70%]
How... are you feeling right now?
[Suitable Response] [Satisfaction Fit ???%]
If okay, shall we open the glass wall and talk comfortably?
The first question was straightforward and textbook.
The second... well, we'd end up opening the door for conversation anyway, so it wasn't outright dismissible.
Odd.
Normally, completely unreasonable options that should be rejected immediately showed up as '???%'.
Yet this time, a perfectly normal question lacked a probability.
[ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° ) ]
What was that.
Anyway, I made my choice.
"How... are you feeling right now? The more detailed, the better."
My voice echoed into her room through the speaker.
At my words, Mary relaxed her outstretched arms and sank deep into the chair.
She pressed one finger to her red lips thoughtfully, pondering.
Her gaze stayed fixed on me the whole time.
"Hmm... not bad... I suppose."
She slowly lowered the finger from her lips and continued.
"Just got out of that stuffy dungeon, and the raid... well, I'd call it a success."
She nodded in satisfaction.
"Good. The lighting isn't too bright or uncomfortable, is it?"
When positive emotions overwhelmingly dominate, excessive neural overstimulation can sometimes make it hard to process external stimuli like light or sound.
"Nah, it's perfect."
Doesn't seem like it.
... Then it was time to venture into more sensitive territory.
I'd roughly grasped Mary's condition.
Assuming she wasn't lying...
Now I needed to probe what had happened inside.
Kang Min-ho wasn't in any state to answer.
"I got the rough details on this raid from the association."
I continued, gazing at her through the glass wall, infusing my voice with reassurance.
"Normally, it'd be top guild secret, but this consultation's a special exception. Any questions about the internal raid situation are authorized."
Mary nodded.
She didn't seem to mind.
"If you're okay with it... could you recount what happened in the dungeon, in order? Even tiny details. Suspected contamination sources... or just any feelings you had."
I waited for her response.
A brief silence fell.
Mary's lips curved up.
"Sure. Where to start..."
Her gaze drifted into space for a moment.
"At first... nothing out of the ordinary. Just a regular dungeon. Even an S-rank one's no different. Aside from being a bit tougher?"
Her voice gradually softened.
"But the trouble kicked off in the center. Probably the central guardian."
Dungeons typically ramp up with more bosses as ranks increase.
The final one's the boss.
Midway bosses are called guardians.
Mary paused briefly. She furrowed her brow slightly, as if recalling something.
"After taking down the guardian, there was this sudden boom, ears ringing. Then a really foul wave blanketed the whole dungeon... and we were trapped inside it."
"That's when it started. The frontline tank with the shield screamed about bugs crawling on his arm. Hallucinations popped up everywhere. We should've retreated—no question. That's what I thought, anyway."
She shook her head.
"But that bastard Choi Si-hyeok... no, he was different. 'Don't whine, it's nothing,' he said, and pushed to advance anyway."
Mary's voice dripped with the absurdity of it.
"Truth is, Deputy Guild Master Kang Min-ho's just a figurehead. So we went ahead."
She winked at me.
"Ah, that's a secret. Just between us."
Mary's tale continued.
Surprisingly, just as Choi Si-hyeok claimed, the team's conditions improved as they pressed forward.
Screams died down, hallucinations faded.
Even Mary wondered if he was right.
Just a temporary affliction, she thought.
"But then... one of the support team's male hunters just stood up, no words. Eyes totally glazed... and he started ripping off his armor like a maniac."
"Then he lunged straight at the female healer across from him. We were all too stunned to react..."
What shocked me was the healer's response.
A hollow chuckle slipped from Mary's lips.
"She didn't scream—instead, she threw her arms open like she was thrilled. They tore at each other's clothes and rolled on the floor right there..."
"No one—no one—could stop them. Who'd even touch that?"
Mary said lowly, staring me straight in the eye.
Then another nearby hunter whispered it to her.
Turns out, those two hunters were a married couple.
"That's when we realized."
She added.
"Ah, emotion amplification."
Mary continued with a laugh.
"But I was to~tally fine? So I figured nothing was wrong... but here I am, locked up. Hing."
Mary gestured at the room and stretched languidly.
Her explanation clicked things into place.
Once the central guardian was gone, the curse latched onto them.
The brief improvement afterward? That was the curse spreading through their bodies.
An incubation period, basically.
Exact analysis would confirm, but their judgment seemed spot-on.
My personal hunch: Mary's fine because she's just too damn strong.
Her background alone sets her apart.
"Thanks. I get the picture."
I understood the big picture.
Now cross-reference with the association's analysis and the others' statuses for results.
That's when Mary's figure in the room caught my eye.
Confined right after clearing an S-rank dungeon.
She deserved national fanfare and praise...
Yet here she sat, locked in a room on a chair.
The sheer ridiculous injustice stirred a surge of pity.
I felt bad for her.
The urge to comfort her immediately flooded my mind.
"Hm... mind if I pop the door open and come in? I'll whip up something tasty."
[[?!?!??!? ( °ᗝ° ).ᐟ]]
Like with Seol Yu-wol, slipping into the kitchen for a simple dessert seemed feasible.
I felt absolute certainty that it was the best thing I could do for her.
Besides, the status window never offered truly dangerous choices.
At my words, Mary's eyes widened big.
She rested her hands on her knees and began tapping her fingertips against them: tok tok tok tok.
She seemed to ponder for a moment.
Then she smiled faintly.
"Yeah... no. It's fine. I'd love it, but..."
She looked me dead in the eye.
"For your sake."
I tilted my head at the cryptic words.
"It's fine. This falls under counselor privileges."
No issue.
Me opening the door on my own wouldn't change much...
The association had to respect my judgment.
My response deepened her smile.
"Really? If you say so..."
She shot up from her seat immediately.
"No cameras outside the room, right?"
She glanced up at the corner of the room.
"Yeah, living area onward's a privacy zone."
I nodded.
Respecting the rights of those in isolation.
"Sounds perfect."
She pointed at the door with a swish of her finger.
"Got it. Open 'er up."
Her mood clearly brighter, she swayed her body lightly.
I stood and reached for the control panel button to unlock her isolation room.
But right then.
- Ah, ah! Counselor! Can you hear me? Forensics results just came in! Head to the control room now...!
"Damn."
Mary on the other side of the door shook her head regretfully.
"Too bad."
"Yeah."
I agreed.
Timing sucked.
She jerked her chin, urging me to hurry.
"Go on. Seon-woo."
I gazed at her for a moment.
"Yeah. Get some rest."
Then I turned toward the control room.
"I'll be right back."
Tasty food... I could make anytime.