ALL NOVEL #022
#022
“Um, Center Director. Just a moment.”
I mustered up the courage to walk up to Hyun Dowoon and carefully tugged at his arm. As if he had sensed me approaching, Hyun Dowoon turned and smiled at me.
“Is something wrong?”
He spoke in a kind voice and gently grabbed my wrist, leading me to the side. Hyun Dowoon looked at me, shielding us from others’ gazes by turning his back to them.
‘Should I mention forming a pair? Or should I register as a mercenary?’
After a brief moment of consideration, I decided to do both.
“Well, um… about what you said about forming a pair.”
“Have you finally decided to become my pair guide?”
Hyun Dowoon’s eyes curved into crescents. Seeing his pretty eye smile made my heart flutter for some reason.
‘Right, it’s just like getting married in a game.’
There’s absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. Even though my heart is racing for some unknown reason, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about!
I slowly nodded, letting out a sigh-like “Neheh…” with a trailing end.
Suddenly, Hyun Dowoon pulled me into a tight embrace.
“I’ll treat you well. Really.”
I didn’t understand why Hyun Dowoon was clinging to me like this… but it felt strange, as if I had just received a proposal.
I slowly took Hyun Dowoon’s hand. When I registered as a mercenary, I saw a box filled with (2/2).
“Also… since I can fight now, I’ll guide you.”
This is a quest, so I can’t refuse. As I looked up and spoke earnestly, Hyun Dowoon smiled freshly again.
“Why would I refuse when it’s such a good thing, even if you don’t look up at me like that? I’ll go tell them I’m going to receive some guiding for a moment.”
Good. To prepare fully for comfortable guiding, I selected and took out a tent from my inventory.
Instead of the cloud camper I used last time, this time I took out a spaceship I had acquired during the shooting star event. It was an ultra-rare item that could detect all enemies hidden in the fog with its automatic surroundings detection feature, and nullify all attacks when inside.
‘It would be good to guide here, and then load everyone up and sweep through afterward.’
I didn’t know about other monsters, but I had to nullify the attacks of the monster that had thrown Shin Haejun and me far away. It would be disastrous if people scattered in an S-grade dungeon.
I was fortunate or unfortunate enough to fall with an S-grade Esper, but if a powerless guide fell alone somewhere else, it would be catastrophic.
Honestly, I’m not interested in other guides and don’t think they’re particularly good people, but I still don’t want to see anyone die in the dungeon we entered together.
“A UFO…?”
Hyun Dowoon, who had come closer, muttered in disbelief as he saw the huge spaceship. It was an item that existed because Limitless Nine was an RPG mishmash that spanned from ancient to modern civilizations, which was ridiculous but true.
“My constellation bestowed it upon me…”
At times like this, it’s best to blame it on the constellation. When I spoke in a dejected voice, Hyun Dowoon burst into laughter.
“I’m sure it will be helpful in this situation. Shall we guide inside?”
“Yes! Please come in.”
The boarding method was UFO-like, being enveloped in bright light and rising up with a whoosh. Unlike the writer who abandoned historical accuracy and plausibility, it was a UFO-appropriate detail.
Ignoring the murmurs of people, I guided Hyun Dowoon to the compartment with a bed. Hyun Dowoon’s lips twitched slightly at the sight of the reclining bed.
“Please sit here.”
I sat on one side of the bed and patted the spot next to me. Hyun Dowoon sat beside me with an ambiguous expression. Without minding, I took both his hands, and Hyun Dowoon’s brow furrowed.
“Hmm…”
Before I could even start guiding properly, a languid moan escaped Hyun Dowoon’s lips. His brow remained tightly furrowed as if he was trying to hold something back.
‘I should probably check his status, right?’
Since it had come to this, it seemed like a good idea to open the status window and guide Hyun Dowoon.
*View Mercenary Status*
[Name] Hyun Dowoon
[Occupation] Esper
[Constellation] Absolute of Life (L), Wind Spirit King (S)
[Awakening] S
[Pair] (Contract in progress)
[Equipped Items]
Weapon: Auspicious Five-colored Cloud Orb (Doubles attack and healing)
Defense: Hell’s All-Piercing Armor (2.5x defense, 5% chance to reflect enemy attacks)
[Status] Chronic Berserk
[Passive Skill] Life Drain | Drains life for 1 minute from the moment of attack (1% per second)
[Active Skills]
– Psychic Summoning | Can summon alien enemies killed at least once. Maximum summons: 5
– Teleportation | Can teleport within a 10km radius
– Wound Healing | Heals wounds of targets within a 100m radius
– Healing Barrier | Creates a barrier that heals all living beings within a 50m radius
‘What’s this chronic berserk state… and why isn’t my name in the Pair column?’
I didn’t know what the former meant, and as for my name not being listed as the pair guide, it was probably because we hadn’t signed a contract and reported it to the Awakened Center.
‘Wait, then what’s the mercenary contract?’
Is it different from forming a pair?
Come to think of it, even after contracting with Shin Haejun, when I looked at the status window, only Kim Sehyun’s name was written in the Pair column, not mine. It was also strange that I could contract with two mercenaries, unlike the 1:1 matching pair system.
It seems that pairs and mercenaries are different concepts in the system.
‘Come to think of it, to cancel the contract, I’d have to hold Shin Haejun’s hand again…’
That window appeared when I held his hand while thinking about guiding, so I guess the same conditions would need to be met.
Even if I think hard about guiding now, that window doesn’t appear.
While pondering how to deal with this, I figured it would be fine to leave things as they are if there’s no problem. After all, I don’t have any excuse to hold that hand again.
“Um, Jaeha…”
Suddenly, Hyun Dowoon cleared his throat slightly and called me. I must have been spacing out while holding his hand. I quickly started guiding.
Earlier, I thought my guiding had caused Shin Haejun’s abnormal state, but Hyun Dowoon seemed fine. Maybe it wasn’t because of holding my hand, but Shin Haejun was just weird.
As I was thinking this, I suddenly noticed Hyun Dowoon’s earlobe. It had turned pink like it was dyed with balsam.
In a daze, as if magnets were sticking together, I touched Hyun Dowoon’s earlobe. The redness spread from his earlobe to his entire neck.
“No matter what, if you touch me like that… it’s hard to endure.”
“Ah…!”
Seeing Hyun Dowoon’s shy expression, I too felt embarrassed, as if my body was twisting up.
‘It seems like from the moment of mercenary registration, you start feeling… lust.’
Wasn’t Shin Haejun like this too? Or was he strange even before that?
I felt like I was missing something, but I too felt a tingling sensation from my fingertips, making it difficult to think clearly.
‘My face is hot.’
I felt more embarrassed not knowing what kind of face I was making in Hyun Dowoon’s view, and this embarrassment made my face even hotter, creating a vicious cycle.
“Ah, this…”
Hyun Dowoon twitched the hand I was holding. It seemed like he wanted to brush his hair back, but not wanting to let go of my hand, he just shook his head.
His sapphire eyes wavered with a sinister energy. It was an intensely sparkling gaze like Shin Haejun’s.
I felt dazed staring into his eyes that sparkled like a lake. Hyun Dowoon, with a face burning with lust, carefully traced my wrist and fingers.
“Is it because you’re certain you’re my guide? It feels… more delicious.”
Hyun Dowoon whispered softly in my ear and pulled my arm. As I fell into his arms, he adjusted his hold and lifted me onto his lap.
I, who had been very tense, slowly rested my head on his shoulder as I felt him fidgeting with my arm.
“…Do you like it?”
Wondering if the guiding was working well, I cautiously asked, feeling sorry for guiding in small 5% increments. Hyun Dowoon brought his face close to mine with a serious expression.
“Does this look like I don’t like it?”
I felt like I shouldn’t have asked. Hyun Dowoon muttered that he should express more and hugged me tightly. Being pressed against him with no gap between us while guiding with my whole body was very embarrassing.
“This is strange. To think you’d suggest becoming a pair guide…”
I stiffened when I heard Hyun Dowoon’s whisper. He had said he liked my guiding, but I got a bit scared thinking he might regret it in just a second.
“Maybe I should have asked you to marry me instead. A pair can be broken someday.”
But soon, hearing the words that came out of Hyun Dowoon’s mouth, my eyes widened. I felt heat rising to the top of my head.
‘Why am I feeling this way after receiving something like a proposal from a man?’
This must be the author’s mischief, no doubt about it.
Why are men doing this to each other when there are women in this world? Who came up with the setting that guiding releases sexual desire?
As I closed my eyes tightly in embarrassment, I heard Hyun Dowoon chuckle softly beyond my closed eyes.
Comments (18)
Xp****: Why isn’t Seyeon’s guiding working properly?
└ It’s Sehyun
└ 예요 → 에요
Bu****: Ah, frustrating;;
GG****: Is it possible that Jaeha is somehow interfering with Sehyun’s guiding ability?
In the midst of continuous guiding, suddenly a comment window popped up in front of my eyes.
Kim Sehyun’s guiding isn’t working properly? And it seems to be because of me?
‘What nonsense is this.’
What did I do to be involved again!
Both the author and readers of this novel are hopeless. Still, it was somewhat productive to know that something was wrong with Kim Sehyun. Since the guiding didn’t work properly, both Shin Haejun and Kim Sehyun would be in a bad mood. This gave me even more reason to run away and avoid them diligently.
As I was making this resolution, another very meaningful comment popped up in front of me.
Comments (19)
Cu****: How can he be worse than Jaeha who isn’t even a pair… He’s accumulating bad karma with his words
He even said such things? Kim Sehyun must have found out about my guiding!
‘But it seems my guiding was satisfactory…’
Although it was a childish emotion, I didn’t feel too bad hearing that I was better than Kim Sehyun. Even though I thought it might have been said to accumulate regret stacks.
‘No, I should only think about my Esper.’
Hyun Dowoon stared at my lips with blazing eyes, then bit his lip once and pressed his cheek against mine. Seeing his passionate gesture somehow made me feel cute and affectionate.
This emotion is because of the original work. Even while thinking that, I couldn’t ignore the feelings that had arisen, and eventually wrapped my arms around Hyun Dowoon’s neck.