Common Sense Alteration - (1)
Common Sense Alteration - (1)
"Ah. Before that, I haven't introduced my name yet. My name is Kang Doyoon."
"...I am Han Seoyoon. Nice to meet you."
The figure in front of me extends a handshake.
"May I call you Seoyoon-ssi by any chance?"
A refreshing smile.
A charming voice.
An attitude of dealing confidently even with someone he is seeing for the first time.
"Please call me comfortably, Kang Doyoon-ssi."
"Ah. Thank you, Seoyoon-ssi."
Hahaha.
I thought while shaking hands with him, who let out a laugh and naturally smiled with his eyes.
'Kang Doyoon... His surname is different from Dabin-yang's, yet he's called oppa, huh.'
While shaking hands, I stealthily swept across his entire body.
'Insight.'
-[ <Insight> : Judging... ]
'You said you were an A-rank Awakener.'
A-ranks can practically be considered the core personnel standing at the forefront of Tower raids.
Up to B-rank, I might not know, but I wouldn't have thought there was an A-rank Awakener in South Korea that I didn't know.
'Suspicious.'
At that moment,
'<Voyeurism>?'
A skill name that feels creepy just looking at it.
'.. Is it a contemplation-type skill?'
"My, my. If you look at me like that, I get embarrassed, Seoyoon-ssi."
Before I knew it, Kang Doyoon took a gesture, placing his hand on the area where my gaze had touched.
'He figured out where I was looking?'
There has never been a case like this until now.
'Is he extremely sensitive to gazes? No, if he's A-rank, it's only to be expected.'
First of all, the action I took was a very rude behavior toward someone I was meeting for the first time.
No matter how much it was an issue related to Dabin-yang, it was a hasty action.
I immediately lowered my head and apologized.
"...Pardon my intrusion."
"..It's fine. I must be untrustworthy."
"..I'm sorry."
An appearance of naturally pulling off a psychological warfare unique to Awakeners.
'He certainly seems to be an Awakener, but..'
It feels unsettling.
Something is strange.
My intuition is telling me.
'A dangerous man.'
And the biggest question is that he is Dabin-yang's oppa.
"Kang Doyoon-ssi. I heard you are Dabin-yang's older brother."
"Haha. That's right."
I thought, watching him laugh it off as if he were saying something obvious.
'Dabin-yang's older brother. And yet a person like that didn't even show his face once at their parents' funeral.'
I remember.
A week ago, Dabin-yang's empty pupils.
That appearance of her, who always sparkled as a magical girl, losing her light and silently staring only at her parents' portrait photographs.
Worried about her like that, I strongly insisted,
And we postponed the raid by a whole week.
As a result, only a few days are left until the resource collection halving date.
'Now we absolutely must clear the 14th floor.'
And today is the day of the raid.
Worried about Dabin-yang, I had even prepared the cocoa she usually liked.
However, when Dabin-yang actually arrived, contrary to my worries, didn't she approach me brightly?
'Dabin-yang? Did something good happen?'
'Ah, yes? Hehe... It's nothing.'
It was a reaction that seemed slightly faded in emotion, but I was still relieved.
Whenever I saw her slumped figure, my heart ached, so I thought it would still be better than being depressed.
'Seoyoon-nim. I have a favor to ask...'
Until I saw her introducing him as her oppa and asking to put him in the raid party.
'He's my oppa. Kang Doyoon. His ability is <Instant Acceleration>.'
Suddenly, when the talk about Kang Doyoon came up, she started being obstinate in a way she normally wouldn't.
'I'm sorry, Dabin-yang. I cannot accept that.'
'Why? He's my oppa... I'll vouch for him.'
Continuing like that, as if she were possessed by something.
And it has led to the present.
"I'm sorry, but it's not that I don't trust Kang Doyoon-ssi, but... participating in the raid seems difficult."
"Ah! That's not a problem, Seoyoon-ssi. Because I have a good method."
"..I'm sorry. Whatever method it is, it's difficult."
It is difficult to participate in a raid with such a creepy man.
As I continued to refuse the conversation, Kang Doyoon called Dabin-yang.
"Dabin-ah. I'm going to talk with Seoyoon-ssi for a moment. Go over to Eunji for a bit."
"Eh...? Un. Okay. I'll be waiting, Oppa."
As he naturally sent Dabin out of here, naturally only I and Kang Doyoon remained in the Team Leader's office.
"Now then, Team Leader. Now that Dabin is gone... shall we have a proper talk?"
As he snapped his fingers, the status window reacted immediately.
[ <Steadfast Will> judging... ]
[ Partial success in judgment! Resisting <Brainwashing>, <Hypnosis>, <Suggestion>. ]
'What?'
Brainwashing, hypnosis, suggestion?
Mental-type abilities, any single one of which is dangerous, rushed toward me.
'Only Kang Doyoon and I are in this space right now.'
Then there is only one culprit.
I immediately pulled out my sword and brought it to Kang Doyoon's neck.
"You bastard. What kind of bastard are you?"
"Ah... How annoying."
The ruffian in front of me suddenly completely changed his attitude once Dabin-yang disappeared.
"Let's make this easy, shall we? I need to clear the 14th floor now and go to the Mascot Festival that Dabin likes."
I tried to swing the sword as is, but a thought that suddenly popped into my head abruptly stopped my arm.
The greatsword stopped near Kang Doyoon's neck.
As if slightly cut, a drop of blood trickled down along the greatsword.
And seeing that, Kang Doyoon lets out a sigh of relief.
"Phew. That was almost a disaster, Seoyoon-ssi. In a situation like this, 'common sense' dictates that you verify first instead of swinging a sword right away."
"...That's right. I apologize, Kang Doyoon."
'Why did I try to swing my sword first?'
Isn't it standard procedure to perform a physical search first to verify such a suspicious person?
I walked heavily to the door and engaged the lock.
"Kang Doyoon. From now on, I will begin a physical search. You know that you must naturally comply if you want to gain trust."
"Of course. I won't do anything, so please proceed."
When there is a suspicious person, 'common sense' dictates that you verify them first.
And when verifying, 'common sense' dictates that you start with a physical search.
I stood the sword slanted against the chair and stood in front of Kang Doyoon.
"If you move even a little bit, I will slice you."
"Yes, yes. I won't move."
I began to strip off Kang Doyoon's clothes, who was taking a T-pose posture in front of me.
I look down at the woman in front of me. Han Seoyoon.
Her beauty seen at a close distance where even breaths can be shared.
A ponytail tied high with cream-colored blonde hair.
Beneath her hair swept neatly back without a single stray strand, her blue eyes were calmly sinking.
Straight eyebrows.
A high bridge of the nose.
Neatly closed lips.
Rather than flashy, it was a proper, upright face.
Staring at that face, I groped my stinging neck.
'Hoo... That was dangerous.'
Han Seoyoon, called the <Knight of Iron Wall>.
She is like a flower blooming proudly on top of a rugged rocky mountain.
True to her moniker of the Iron Wall, she possessed monstrous abilities.
'<Insight> and <Steadfast Will>. Isn't this the ultimate double standard?'
Peeking herself while preventing others from peeking. What a cowardly combo.
Well, anyway.
'To think that I hammered down 4 mental-type skills and all of them except one were blocked.'
At first, I was going to do them one by one, but seeing her guard against me so severely, I changed my mind.
All-or-nothing simultaneous casting of 4 skills.
That was right.
'That aside..'
I try <Voyeurism> once again.
<Voyeurism> still doesn't work.
'Hmm... How inconvenient.'
Originally, my mission is to read the other person's inner thoughts and make them happy accordingly.
Since that's blocked, it's inconvenient.
'Well, it's not like I can't read a person's inner thoughts just because I don't have that.'
Especially in the case of such an upright person, their inner thoughts are bound to be transparent.
Sasreuk.
Before I knew it, she, having stripped me down to even my underwear, stood in front of me.
"...It's over."
"Oh! So it's over now?"
"No. Now verification begins. Isn't it 'common sense' for verification to be conducted with both parties naked, using their entire bodies?"
"Ah. That's right. That is 'common sense'."
"What are you doing? Why aren't you undressing me already?"
"Ah, yes?"
As I pretended to be dazed, Han Seoyoon furrowed her brow and annoyed.
"Since I undressed you, shouldn't you undress me too? Do you have no common sense?"
"Ah, that's right. Haha... Since this is my first time doing verification..."
"Tsk."
With that, I reached out my hand.
"Seoyoon-ssi, your words are too stiff. Can't you be a bit more kind?"
"There is no kindness to be wasted on a suspicious bastard."
I thought, looking at Kang Doyoon in front of me.
'He's a guy I don't like. That kind of guy is really Dabin-yang's older brother.'
An appearance lacking even a shred of common sense.
However, because of that appearance, the funeral incident actually began to make sense.
'Since he's a guy without such common sense, is that why he didn't even come to his own parents' funeral?'
And yet, to think Dabin-yang relies so much on a guy like that.
I couldn't understand what kind of words he used to sweet-talk her into acting like that.
"Hurry up. There are only 3 hours left until the raid party assembly time."
The same goes for the procedure we are doing right now.
Kang Doyoon undresses me so haphazardly that I doubt if he's doing it properly.
"Do it properly."
When I questioned him, Kang Doyoon did it even more haphazardly.
A sigh escaped at the sight of him casually groping bare skin in the process of taking off my uniform.
'To casually make physical contact while undressing someone. He has no consideration.'
"Do you have no consideration?"
"It's a mistake."
"Isn't it obvious that it's too perfunctory to be called a mistake?"
Then Kang Doyoon answers shamelessly.
"Won't we keep touching each other anyway as we verify? Because during verification, it's 'common sense' for both parties to proceed with their entire bodies."
"There is a strict difference between when verifying and when undressing for a physical search."
"Yes, yes. I'm sorry."
Look at that. That attitude.
'I don't like that attitude.'
I'll verify him even more strictly during the verification work.
I frowned deeply because I was displeased.
Then Kang Doyoon smiles slyly.
I thought, looking at him.
'To think he's only now finished undressing my uniform.'
Whether he knows my thoughts or not, Kang Doyoon in front of me utters an incomprehensible exclamation.
"Oof... As expected, Awakeners with big chests must wear functional underwear."
"Wow... Isn't it suffocating? Something this big gets compressed by underwear?"
"Just strip me already."
When I urged him, he answered insincerely.
Pureung.
Before long, all my attire was stripped off.
"It's done. Whew, as expected, women's clothing is harder to take off than I thought."
"What should we do now?"
I groped his slyly smiling body and began the physical examination.
'There are no problems.'
Since there are no special hidden weapons, I think it's fine to proceed with the verification.
"Stay still. I will start the verification first."