A Tingle at the Back of My Head
The back of my head was tingling. It happened right as Ilwol was deep in training inside the Dark Space. Denar Panigial, the man who had crossed over from another world, had been unable to do what the locals called “going to work” for several days now.
“Damn it all!”
A tremendous crash rang out. After suffering a crushing defeat in a direct clash with the man who kept disrupting his plans, Denar had barely managed to flee. Now he hid in his secret shelter, breath held tight, devoting every ounce of focus to healing his wounds.
“To think he was that strong… Is there really a human in this world stronger than me? How is that even possible?”
Of course, after living here for several years, he knew full well that this world had plenty of formidable figures worthy of respect. Yet none of the information he had gathered mentioned a man with that face, so the questions only continued to pile up.
“There’s no way I would forget a face that smooth…”
Even to Denar, who had come from another world, the man’s appearance had been exceptionally striking. That was precisely why he still couldn’t understand it and had ordered his subordinates to update the list of those called the strongest.
“If the information isn’t wrong, then it must be some kind of ‘disguise’ ability. But how can it be so flawless, without the slightest sense of incongruity?”
Denar felt as if he were staring at an immense wall. For days he had been unable to break free of that feeling. He had been overwhelmed in every aspect and had even resorted to a pathetic escape. It was a perfect defeat that left no room for excuses.
“The aura I felt from that bastard was definitely a blackened dragon… A man using the power of a dragon that has become an evil god… No, perhaps it was—”
The final form he had witnessed resembled the dragonkin race spoken of only in legends, which was why he had been so shaken.
“Luvia… does light truly have no chance of overcoming darkness?”
Denar cried out to the god he once served. The enormous weight of responsibility on his shoulders suddenly felt crushing, twisting his face in agony.
“No… I must not grow weak. For now, I need to avoid encountering that bastard again. To do that, I’ll need variables… Yes, I need variables.”
The handsome man’s eyes had carried a piercing gaze that seemed to see through everything. Ordinary methods would never be enough to divert that bastard’s attention.
“I haven’t gathered even half the malice I need yet, so summoning a Great Calamity would be difficult. But something on that level should still be possible.”
After calculating how many days it would take to bring forth a disaster, Denar summoned another species he controlled.
‘I didn’t want to use these things…’
He had realized the incomplete “fangs” his master kept sending him had reached their limit. In the end, he had no choice but to borrow the power of the Blue Eye.
“Open a rift. The location… will be the place in this city with the highest concentration of humans.”
“……Understood……”
They answered in unison with gloomy voices and vanished at once.
“Disgusting creatures…”
Yet the one asking a favor of such beings was himself the filthiest existence of all.
“Hmph! It doesn’t matter! I will absolutely fulfill Master’s wish. For that, I will gladly cover myself in any amount of filth.”
Denar wiped his dry face. His eyes burned with more determination than ever before.
The moment I was summoned back home, I found a cute little creature waiting for me in front of the summoning gate, shifting nervously from foot to foot.
“Y-you’re back? How was it? It wasn’t too scary, right?”
“Clack, clack, clack.”
Yeonhee seemed to have accumulated a lot of questions overnight. She stuck close to my side and bombarded me with them. Even though the Dark Space was basically my home, the image she had gotten from my stories made her think of it as a frightening place she should never visit.
“It does sound scary, but… I kind of want to see it too. If I went with you, Ilwol… it would be okay, right?”
‘I really hope that never happens…’
I gently stroked Yeonhee’s hair and listened quietly to her story. The little bird kept chirping away until she had shaken off everything weighing on her, then headed to the bathroom to wash up.
These days I no longer needed to block my senses while she showered. Feeling the graceful curves of her body through my perception, I took out my greatsword and ran a finger along its edge.
‘Hmm… It really is perfect.’
The smooth, flowing curve of the blade—much like Yeonhee’s own figure—filled me with satisfaction. At some point I had developed the habit of staring at the greatsword whenever I had nothing else to do.
Chew, chew—
“The side dishes from that shop are so good—”
I only cooked dinner for Yeonhee. The rest of her meals came from side dishes bought at the shop a short distance from the house, or she simply ate bread. Yet the rice cooked with water from Irmana’s lake must have had a natural savory flavor, because she polished off three full bowls without any side dishes at all.
“All right! Shall we get going? I already told Miss Black Fang we’d be about an hour late.”
I nodded. Instead of heading straight to the dungeon, we stopped by the White Knight Guild headquarters first.
“Let’s pay off the debt right away!”
I nodded again. Yeonhee used the commission money she had received from Helen to first repay the surgery costs for her mother that she had borrowed from the White Knight Guild. The amount came to a staggering 700 million.
It had been a loan at a mere one-percent interest rate—practically interest-free—but hospital bills were so expensive that it still represented a huge expenditure. She had felt good about paying it back, but only now did we discover the dirty trick Jo Giman had hidden in the contract.
Upon awakening, the signer must contract exclusively with the White Knight Guild.
Should the signer fail to faithfully participate in guild activities for a period of seven (7) years, they shall pay a penalty of up to fifty billion (50,000,000,000).
‘And that’s legal? Fuck… seriously.’
According to the revised Hunter Law from a few years ago, contracts between hunters could have “no limits depending on the circumstances.” That single added phrase was the problem.
‘I’ll have to look into which insane bastard proposed that outdated law later.’
Kang Yeonsu apparently hadn’t known about that clause either; she kept apologizing to Yeonhee. She hadn’t been involved when the contract was signed, and her apology—though only through text—seemed sincere. Yet she judged that further involvement wasn’t her place and offered no additional help.
‘She really does keep a clear line.’
Yeonhee scolded herself for being foolish enough to fall for the scam, but the gratitude she felt for the guild keeping her mother—who should have died long ago—alive for nearly a year was greater. No matter how much it cost, she seemed determined to repay every penny by working her hardest.
Still, her feelings toward Jo Giman had been heavily damaged. She had suspected his help wasn’t purely out of goodwill, but to think he had visited her home, put on an act, and convinced her to sign a contract that only revealed its hidden clauses the moment she tried to pay off the debt and finalize the paperwork.
“It’s too much… Forcing someone to join the guild from the start, then coming to their house and acting like that just to persuade them—what on earth was he thinking? Are there other victims like me in the guild?”
Tap…
Yeonhee seemed to believe Jo Giman had done it for the money. But Jo Giman had already transcended such worldly desires. The most important hidden clause was the one at the very front: “Must join the White Knight Guild.” The home visit had simply been an excuse to check on her condition.
‘A scam worth up to 50 billion… That would make anyone’s head spin. But in society, scammers are everywhere. Consider it a learning experience. And it’s a good thing we discovered Jo Giman’s true nature this early.’
Even Jo Giman probably hadn’t expected Yeonhee to repay the debt this quickly.
‘How does he feel about Yeonhee, who has changed so much from the previous loop?’
Thinking about it filled me with both fear and doubt.
‘Hmm… Why go through all this trouble when he could just kill her…?’
As I quietly watched the tasks Yeonhee handled from morning onward, that question kept surfacing.
Jo Giman found Lee Yeonhee annoying. That much was certain. Otherwise he would have no reason to keep her close and watch her. Perhaps he still remembered being badly burned by her in the past. And he probably planned to use her for something later.
But even that didn’t fully explain his irrational behavior.
……
‘What if… Jo Giman is unable to kill Lee Yeonhee directly? Could there be some kind of restriction?’
Yeonhee was a mysterious being in many ways. I had seen countless hunters, yet none were as alien as her. Even without any special enlightenment, her mana continued to grow by a fixed amount each day. She could also pour every stat point gained from leveling up into a single ability. And hadn’t I myself received every possible benefit simply because of my connection to her?
‘Unexpectedly… I might not need to fear Jo Giman quite so much…’
What I had feared most was Jo Giman harming Yeonhee. If that was impossible, then there was no need to keep cowering so much. Of course I wouldn’t neglect the checks and preparations I had been making, but the range of choices available to me had clearly widened.
Before long, Yeonhee had regained her cheerful demeanor.
“The money from the mine will start coming in two weeks from now, and our recent income has skyrocketed! If we endure for a few years, maybe we won’t even have to work the full seven. We could just pay the penalty and leave, right?”
“Clack, clack, clack!”
“Good! Let’s do our best!”
Even after paying off the loan, we still had a considerable sum saved. I even held a faint hope that we might be able to repay Kang Yeonsu for the housing funds she had helped us with before we merged parties.
In that sense, the tongues of the Frog Folk and the hearts of the Nixie Sirens were excellent sources of income. They sold for quite a high price to alchemists and potion makers. Of course, obtaining their tongues and hearts in perfect condition was no easy task, which was why the price was so steep. Most people damaged the materials in fierce battles, whereas we usually took the heads off cleanly from the start, allowing for smooth supply.
We entered the Frog Folk’s Village a full hour later than the day before. The four members of Veil had requested to stay in the dungeon a few more days to gain exploration experience and additional benefits. We also didn’t want to pull too far ahead of the other party members, so we had agreed.
Even though we left an hour late, we soon left every other party behind and took the lead once more. We reached the third of the five safe zones and, just like yesterday, ended up chatting with the Veil group.
“By the way, have your party members still not reached level 60?”
Red Fang already knew the answer but asked anyway to move the conversation along. Yeonhee gave a small, regretful nod.
“The others are all very talented too, so they should reach it soon.”
“Of course! They’re all much more amazing than I am!”
“Miss Yeonhee… that’s not quite right.”
“Huh?”
“You still lack a bit of self-awareness. Even the guy next to you…”
“……”
“Never mind. The established theory is that no matter how little talent someone has, as long as they don’t die they can at least reach C-grade. You don’t need to worry about it.”
“I… see…”
The reason it was hard for the party members to gain even a single level was simply because they had entered the section that required nine times more experience; there was no other reason.
“Anyway, did you hear the news? They say a villain has appeared in the Dire Wolf Dungeon.”
“Ah… Isn’t the Dire Wolf Dungeon the next one after this?”
Black Fang wore an unusually serious expression as he delivered the fresh piece of information.