Chapter 21
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 021
Chapter Title: Residents' Meeting
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Whoosh!
"Kyaa! H-Han-sik?"
Stay calm.
Stay calm, Kang Han-sik.
The impulse surging through me right now was utterly irrational.
To suddenly want to pull Ro Boss—someone who was basically my benefactor—into a hug? That was something that just didn't happen under normal circumstances.
Sure, today had been a bit exhausting.
From morning, I'd been running around Seoul for appointments, met a real magician for the first time in my life and got somewhat acquainted, received some life advice, underwent a physical exam, heard some weird stuff, and became a magus.
It felt like I'd been on an emotional rollercoaster, peaking and crashing about twice.
But even in that state, coming home to find the gloomy white-haired beauty—who'd overcome her personality issues thanks to my morning proposal and gotten up to prepare a party for me—and thinking I wanted to hug her? That was blatantly weird.
No, fuck that—it was totally normal.
Anyone who denied it was the crazy one.
The only people who could just smile and say, "Oh, you prepared all this?" and brush it off were congenital psychopaths lacking basic empathy.
Anyone would want to hug a Ro Boss like this.
Some might even want to go further.
So why was I agonizing over this?
I immediately summoned the angel and devil in my mind. I wanted to hear other opinions.
'Just hug her and die.'
Okay, that one's the devil.
I hadn't expected anything from this bastard anyway.
What a mysteriously fucked-up head. Hug her and die? Is that what you say to your benefactor and boss?
Kiki said I couldn't interact with Mystery, but that was all bullshit. How couldn't I, with a mysteriously fucked-up bastard living in my head?
Anyway, skip this idiot. Next.
'Sex.'
No, fuck—this guy's the real devil.
I immediately banished the angel and devil.
Thanks to that, my rationality returned a bit, so sacrificing those two idiots as offerings was worth it. Two morons for 15 Mental recovery—what better use could there be?
Analyzing my thoughts with 115 Mental, I realized I wasn't afraid of legal repercussions or social backlash.
What I truly feared was Ro Boss herself. If she came to hate me or push me away, my future life would be filled with misery.
It was a paranoid delusion, but given the money, home, and kindness she'd showered on me, it was understandable.
Pat pat.
And as if comforting me in my delusion, Ro Boss patted my back.
"Uh."
My back?
She'd definitely been in front of me—how was she patting my back?
"You must be really tired. Are you okay?"
"......"
The whisper right next to my ear snapped me back to reality.
Only then did the situation sink in properly.
The soft sensation in my arms, the ample pressure against my upper body.
"Hwaaa!"
I recoiled in horror.
What the hell? What just happened?
My activated brain belatedly pieced it together.
The moment I opened the door, I saw her in that party hat preparing the celebration, felt an intense urge to hug her fiercely.
And I did it.
'Kang Han-sik, you fucking moron!'
Acting on impulse in 0.1 seconds—are you an animal?
I immediately prostrated myself on the floor.
"I'm sorry!"
Fuck, this was straight-up sexual harassment—I had no defense if she sued right now.
Honestly, getting sued didn't matter.
As I'd concluded earlier, I could laugh off legal battles and social scorn.
I wasn't always like this, but after over four years of unemployment, it came naturally.
What mattered was Ro Boss. If this made her hate me, then I... I...
"Sorry about what?"
Her voice came then.
What do you mean, what?
Was she making me confess my sin?
It felt like a transcendent being urging me to reflect on myself. I confessed to Ro Boss.
"I-I suddenly hugged you; you might hate it."
But her response wasn't to burn in hellfire or reincarnate as a beast for eons.
"Oh, aha."
A murmur like she'd just realized why I'd done it.
And then, once more, that ample pressure.
Before I could wonder what was happening, her whisper reached me.
"What about now?"
"......"
"This is on my own will, so it's fine, right?"
My heart felt like it would burst.
For real.
Was this her way of saying it was okay?
It was too dreamlike; words wouldn't come.
"......Yeah."
This time, I calmly and slowly felt her softness and warmth.
I didn't leave her embrace until about five minutes later.
There was a minor mishap, but after that, it was a normal party.
Once I'd snapped out of it, I separated from Ro Boss, set out the food, and chatted.
Honestly, it wasn't anything grand.
I wasn't some party expert; it was just a modest mood-setter at best.
But time flew by.
Guess it's true—what matters more in these things is who you're with, not what you're doing.
And before I knew it, my vision blurred and my mind grew hazy.
It was the alcohol.
Truth be told, I suck at drinking.
A few cans of beer is my usual limit, but tonight, my mouth was thirsty, so I kept downing wine.
In the end, before the night was over, I was completely wasted and collapsed into bed.
Amazingly, Ro Boss seemed totally fine even in this situation.
She'd drunk about as much as me, but apparently, she held her liquor well.
"By the way, Han-sik, you picked up something a bit unusual."
Anyway, as I barely clung to consciousness in my daze, Ro Boss's voice came.
Wondering what she meant, I turned my head. She held the magus book.
"Th-that's the magus book. I bought it during my consultation. They said it had to be me."
What the hell was I saying?
The booze made my words come out weird.
Too much omitted—even the gist was barely there!
"Hmm."
But Ro Boss seemed satisfied with that, opening the magus book.
I frantically reached out.
"N-no! Don't..."
They said normal people go mad reading it.
I tried to grab her arm somehow, but before I could, her lips moved.
"I'm fine."
Really?
Ro Boss is fine.
Is she?
Dunno.
Brain not working right from the booze.
"Then sleep well. It was fun today."
Swish, swish.
Her hand touched my forehead.
That softness made all my prior thoughts seem unimportant.
I closed my eyes.
Soon, a bizarre dream followed.
Ro Boss holding a wine glass, sitting with the magus book, lecturing it.
Come here, book, and sit.
'If you're... using it for something weird...'
'......Good.'
'......You're lonely too...'
'Not that... Instead... I'll take care of it.'
'That's enough. Nice working with you.'
What the hell is this?
Maybe because I got rent from Meow the other day.
Anyone could see it was nonsense.
Maybe because I'd chugged wine until I passed out, I woke up a bit later than usual.
Still, no issue for work.
Thirty minutes left, and the guard post was a two-minute walk anyway.
Living and working in the same place has its perks.
I washed up roughly and had leftover pizza from last night for breakfast.
Meow and Ro Boss, who relied on me for meals, did the same—I felt a little bad about that.
They insisted it was fine, but it bugged me personally.
I'll bring proper food tomorrow.
Anyway, right before heading to the guard post, I looked for the magus book.
"Where'd I put it?"
Come to think of it, I had some weird dream, but it must've just been a dream.
The magus book was on top of the shoe cabinet.
Guess I left it there when I came in yesterday and forgot.
I grabbed the magus book and headed to the guard post.
Lately, no one's approaching the apartment, so I'll just check CCTV casually and peek inside.
Ro Boss said it was fine to read or watch TV if there was nothing to do.
My first impression opening the magus book in the guard post? Simple.
"What the hell is this?"
Sure, it was in Korean and readable.
But the meaning? Total gibberish.
Even literature by that genius high school grad author everyone's heard of in Korea was easier to grasp.
'The world this, Mystery that, great beings whatever.'
Too boring and pretentious.
If it's a magus book, teach me magic already.
I sighed shortly, thinking that.
No helping it.
Time for a slightly extreme approach.
"Hey, Bookie."
I said, stroking the inside of the magus book.
Sure, it had that long, hard-to-say name "Mystery from Beyond the World," but screw that—it was Bookie now.
Blame the magus who named it that.
"This how you treat me?"
I poked all over the magus book.
Like it was a red button spewing dopamine with every press.
Suddenly, yesterday's delusion continued.
Imagining the magus book with a flushed, embarrassed face, biting its lip in panic.
Some might call me crazy, but in my view, this was the best solution.
"Don't make me sad. Let's make it easy, yeah? That way, I can keep reading to you while we do stuff together from now on, right?"
After all, it was an ego item.
One that could rewrite its own content.
Why should I bother understanding philosophy-student-level crap?
A magus's item chooses its owner.
So the magus's knowledge should make the student understand.
Choosing and then ditching responsibility? Come on.
Besides, this magus book said it liked me.
And in these things, whoever balks first loses. Just like yesterday when I...
'Fuck.'
Thinking about it made my face heat up again.
Still couldn't forget that sensation from Ro Boss.
Usually hidden under baggy t-shirts, how the hell did she have something so vicious...
I was lost in such thoughts when—
Scraaape.
"Oh."
The magus book's text wriggled, changing form.
The content itself stayed the same.
Just some illustrations added beside it.
But that was enough.
'Showing magic effects in pictures?'
The first page had a drawing of the Iron Maiden from yesterday shrinking.
Told you—it listens better than I thought.
I poked the magus book appreciatively, then checked the content.
The sentences were still arcane.
But I could grasp most effects now.
Like how comic versions of Greek myths are easier than the originals.
Scanning the magus book thoroughly like that, quitting time arrived in a flash.
Riiiing.
The old intercom in the guard post rang.
-Hello, Han-sik.
"Good morning, Boss."
As expected, Ro Boss.
After naturally giving my work report to her freshly woken voice, a thought struck me.
-Got it. Good work today too.
"Yes. Oh, by the way, Boss?"
-Yes?
"You mentioned yesterday you had something to say."
With all the chaos, I'd forgotten.
Originally, Ro Boss had something to tell me yesterday.
We skipped it because I suddenly hugged her and we got smashed.
-That's fine. It was nothing big.
"I still want to hear it."
I grabbed her as she tried to brush it off.
Better to clear these things up. Skipping might leave regrets later.
Understanding that, Ro Boss spoke.
-Well... I was thinking about taking in new residents. Wanted your opinion as a current one.
"Oh, someone moving in?"
-No, not exactly. Just... too many empty rooms.
That was it.
Fair point.
Happiness Apartment had way too many vacancies now.
Four units per floor, sixteen total, only two occupied—the landlord must be crying blood.
'Even filling a few would bring in decent rent.'
So she wanted my input on that.
-But now it's fine. Really. Good work today. See you later.
"Yes."
Click.
I hung up the cut call and pondered.
No matter how I thought about it, this wasn't easy.
I knew now—Happiness Apartment was a Pollution Zone.
No normal person had reason to live here.
If Eun Ha-eun offered me a room in her monster mansion, I'd tell her to fuck off and flip her off.
Even if it's normal by day, that's the reaction—and here?
'Plus Meow.'
Not just Pollution, but home to a Constellation that'd knock out normals just by sight.
And occasional illegal intruders like that old man, Yoru, or Doru.
A sane person had zero reason to live here.
Barring the owner Ro Boss or weird cases like me who can't sense Pollution, it'd only attract people who couldn't find normal housing.
'And those are normal?'
At best, serial killers or equivalent psychos.
The thought of a Kim next door-level maniac made my skin crawl.
'Tricky.'
I got why Ro Boss said it was fine now.
This wasn't solvable by a couple heads together.
Still, I wanted to help somehow...
And then—
My phone rang.
Who? So Boss.
"Yes, Boss."
-Hey, Han-sik.
At the familiar voice, I led with thanks.
"Oh right. Thanks for yesterday's help. Kiki knew a ton."
Come to think of it, I'd forgotten to say that too.
With all the crazy shit lately, my head was everywhere.
-Yeah? Good. Anyway, you free now?
So Boss brushed it off casually, but he'd have nagged later for sure.
The guy's got subtle sentiments and holds grudges.
Thinking that, I replied.
"Yeah, about to head to Sauce Ne anyway."
-Good. Don't come to work today—go where I tell you.
"Pardon?"
-Work. Urgent work. You in?
Suddenly, an emergency quest popped up.