Chapter 140 A Shard Within (2)
“This is our Guild Leader’s private home within the guild facilities. You don’t have a location tracking device with you?”
“I don’t.”
I have a spirit instead of an item. However, I was hesitant to enter because my fear resistance level was still C level and what had happened yesterday. He was even in a bad mood, and things would probably not end well.
“About that hunter who could read information from a corpse.”
“Corpse?”
Soyoung Kang widened her eyes and tilted her head. I thought I might be able to ask for help without bringing Hyunjae Sung in, but she really did not seem to know and looked like she only knew what was going on domestically or dungeon conquests.
I prodded at her, but she did not seem to know much about what happened in Hong Kong. She only knew that Hyunjae Sung helped in rescuing me. I had to meet him directly. Soyoung Kang looked at me with a worried gaze as I sighed.
“How about coming back tomorrow since there’s something’s off?”
“I want to, but this is urgent. I have to meet him as soon as possible.”
I should have asked for cooperation last night, but I had been too tired. I did not want to stay long with that damn guy, and the me of today was suffering because of yesterday’s me. I wish I could procrastinate all this to tomorrow’s me.
“Yes. Well, the thing is, we have not received permission from our Guild Leader to let you in.”
“What? There’s no permission?”
“Yes! We have been unable to establish contact with him.”
Soyoung Kang answered with a bright voice. What was she talking about?
“He’s not answering us, and we were afraid to go in. So, I asked around, and every one said to just let you in.”
“Hey, can you just let an outsider go in like this?”
“It’s all right! I have talked with our Head of Security and others.”
Was this protocol, Sesung? Of course, I am an F class hunter, and he was the top of all S class hunters, and no one would worry about safety since I would not be able to harm Hyunjae Sung even if he was sound asleep.
“He would not eat you guys up because of a bad mood. Why couldn’t you go in?”
“Normal company employees would not want to go to their CEO’s house for reasons other than business.”
That was right, and since this was personal business, I should not bother other Sesung Guild members. I had to be thankful that they had let me in despite being unable to get in touch with Hyunjae Sung. I bowed my head a little to Soyoung Kang.
“Thank you for your trouble.”
“It’s quite alright. Please smooth things down and tell us how he’s doing.”
Was that the reason why they were letting me in so easily? I used a damage negation item before going into the portal. The magic stone must not have been digested yet, and how long had it been used last night? It should last at least an hour.
A door opened when I went across the miniature portal. I pressed the bell, but there was no answer. I was already beginning to feel nervous, and I went in with the key Soyoung Kang had given me.
“Mr. Hyunjae Sung? Are you there?”
The house was large, and I walked in, looking around. The space I assumed was the center of the house looked like a hotel lobby because the ceiling was two stories high. There was a small garden in the middle, and a pillar-shaped aquarium came down from the ceiling.
The light illuminated the waves, and the glass of the aquarium was so transparent that a body of water had taken shape. Colorful fish were swimming inside, and I wondered how he fed them and cleaned the aquarium.
‘Where is he?’
How many floors were here? The height of the ceiling was at least two but maybe about three because of the sheer size of the aquarium.
“You live in too large a house for one. How about marriage?”
Actually, I felt sorry for the woman. Riette would be the only one to be able to stand up to him, and then everyone else would suffer. The two would make a hell of a pair.
The mere thought of searching this place tired me, and I sat on the bench that looked like an interior decoration in front of the garden. He had to know I was here, and I wanted at least a hint.
“Tell me what floor! Directions, too, if possible.”
A tired and weary stat F class should not have to wander around this massive manor, but there was no answer. I stood up to search from the first floor when I saw something move in the grass.
‘Did this guy also raise a monster in his garden?’
I saw something snakelike in front of me as I instinctively stepped backward. It was a golden chain, and I was thankful I did not have to lose my way. The searcher’s chain tied around me and pulled my body, so I fell. It then started to drag me across the floor.
“That crazy bastard! Hey! Hyunjae Sung!”
The stairs, damn, the stairs! I would definitely be bruised from all the hits. I just wanted a guide and walk on my two feet.
I thought the endlessly long stairs finally came to a stop, but there was another floor. Then, there was that long corridor. I found myself cursing all the way because he seemed to be set on cleaning the house with my body. I had to say that the house was clean without a trace of dust.
I finally arrived in a large room where I could see the aquarium from the center of the floor. Raindrops hit a glass ceiling, and something tingled in me that said a scary person was here without looking around. I quaked a little, but I needed to say what was required.
“I have legs, you bastard.”
There was no answer to my grumbling. I thought Hyunjae Sung would at least say that he had forgotten about carrying me around everywhere. However, everything was quiet, and I stood with the chain wrapped around me.
I felt chills run down my spine and raised my head, thinking everything has went to hell.
Hyunjae Sung stood in the middle of the room. The glass floor was thin and transparent, so he looked like he was standing on water. His eyes were darker than usual as he looked down on me with his neck slanted.
“How about saying something?”
“Yoojin Han.”
The chain moved again towards Hyunajae Sung, and it dragged my body over the aquarium. I was face to face with deep water, and the sight of the garden vaguely reflected all the way down there scared me a little. The glass was really too thin to believe it was there.
“The older brother of Hayeon’s leader.”
Hyunjae Sung mumbled as to remember, and the way he said it implied that he did not remember me well.
“Are you already becoming that absentminded at your age?”
He did not answer again, and instead, my lower body was thrown in.
“What?”
My body sunk inside the water with a splash, and I reached the ground in a flash without being able to do anything because of the chain. I looked up to see that crazy bastard standing on water. So, the glass had been something special.
I was not able to breathe, and the little air I had in my mouth had gone up in bubbles.
‘Damage negation does not work against drowning.’
I learned something new, and I could not violate the eleventh article of the contract. Irin could not see and hear anything except certain pre-set conditions as a tattoo, and other skills and protection from the earrings would not work.
However, I did not think Hyunjae Sung would let me die.
A yellow and blue fish swam in front of my dimming eyes. At least say the reason, bastard. That was my last thought before I lost consciousness.
***
It was an annoying gap.
There was something not quite right. Hyunjae Sung confirmed the date after he had that intuition. August summertime passed as he remembered, but did he not go on a dungeon conquest? It was Soyoung Kang’s words that confirmed that something was twisted compared to his memory.
“I wish Comet would grow faster. Training will begin soon.”
Hyunjae Sung looked at her with surprise because he had no idea what she was saying. Soyoung Kang stepped backward with the same smile and quickly went out of the office.
Other disjointed points came into Hyunjae Sung’s attention, and he felt something akin to anger in a long time on hearing that he had been at the site of the dungeon break yesterday. However, he could not vent that emotion outside of the dungeon, so he had to go home.
The phone rang while he was organizing his thoughts, and the name was ‘My item.’ It was a name Hyunjae Sung had to ponder, and while he wanted to press the call button, he repressed the urge because the gap would increase.
It was not long after that someone came into the house. Hyunjae Sung connected the security system in the house to his phone when the bell rang. The face the front door security camera caught was a strange one, or only vaguely familiar.
The man who looked in to be in his mid-twenties came in with a key.
[Mr. Hyunjae Sung? Are you there?]
The man looked around and stood in front of the garden. He looked up at the aquarium and muttered to himself.
[You live in too large a house for one. How about marriage?]
What was he saying? Hyunjae Sung’s surprise increased when the man shouted what floor he was on. He sent in the searcher’s chain. The man looked weirded out but not surprised when the chain wrapped around him, and he cursed instead. He looked like he was used to the searcher’s chain, and when the man was brought in front of Hyunjae Sung, he opened his mouth despite withdrawing from the intense pressure of an S class awakened.
“I have legs, you bastard.”
I forgot since I always carried you around. Hyunjae Sung swallowed back a reply. How could he carry around a person? The man raised his head as Hyunjae Sung was silent in his surprise, and Hyunjae Sung remembered another individual when he was facing the man in person.
Yoohyun Han, and it had to be…
“Yoojin Han.”
Hyunjae Sung brought him in closer with the chain, and Yoojin Han shook a bit, perhaps because of the water right under him.
According to his memories, he was the older brother of the Hayeon Guild Leader and not an awakened. However, the Yoojin Han he saw was an awakened, but his stats had to be low from the way he could not move inside the loosely wrapped chain. Also, those red earrings.
‘Why does Yoojin Han have them?’
The earrings looked ordinary, but Hyunjae Sung remembered them because he had got them himself. While the essence increase option was useless, there was a B class barrier skill that made them quite valuable. He had never given or sold them.
Yoojin Han again popped his mouth off in Hyunjae Sung’s confusion. His words did not irritate Hyunjae Sung, but he felt that there was a need to show him who was the powerful one in the room to have a comfortable conversation.
Hyunjae Sung opened a part of the special item that shrouded the water, just where Yoojin Han’s body was. The chain pulled him down, and Yoojin Han looked up at him at surprise. While there was no way out for him, he did not move a muscle despite running out of air. He only blinked up at Hyunjae Sung.
‘He thinks I will not harm him…”
That was an expression of trust. However, Yoojin Han lost his consciousness soon due to his low stats, and Hyunjae Sung knew that he would die by drowning soon. While that was not an unpleasant thought, Hyunjae Sung moved the chain to bring him out of the water.
***
‘The guy’s definitely insane.’
I woke up with a curse in my thoughts. I remembered what happened before I fell into the water. Hyunjae Sung’s eyes had a light curiosity, and his voice looked like he was trying to remember something.
‘Does he really have Alzheimer’s?’
That was not possible, but it was evident he had a problem remembering me. Did the memory before the return in time affect him? That would be a serious matter, and I woke up. While my hair was still wet, someone had changed me into dry clothes. He was too kind or just did not want to get his sofa wet.
“How long was I out?”
I asked Hyunjae Sung, who was sitting on the sofa across mine.
“About thirty minutes.”
I grabbed the phone on the table and sent Yoohyun a message before I did anything else. The phone had been thankfully waterproof, so I did not lose the phone two days in a row.
“Do you remember anything else except my name and face?”
“My item.”
“I said to lose the possessive.”
“It was you.”
He seemed to have guessed rather than remembering. I thought that Hyunjae Sung’s memories had mixed with those before the return from hearing that the way he spoke changed, this was but a complete switch. While they were the same person, it would be awkward to face one who did not remember me.
“What kind of relationship were we in?”
“We recognized each other’s usefulness and would exploit them under mutual agreement.”
“Anything else?”
“A tour guide and an irritated guest. You were the guide.”
“What?”
“I’m also raising your child. You came rescuing me when I was captured by a dragon, and we did something close to a dance. You bet an eye and arm on me, and we participated in an auction together. You were the guest, and I was the product. The eggs were half-cooked.”
“Are you saying nonsense?”
“I’m telling you one hundred percent truth. Also, we caught two SS class monsters together.”
Hyunjae Sung’s eyes opened wide and silently laughed. Was it me, or did he look younger than normal?
“Did I tell you I fell for you?”
“You also gave me roses.”
“When?”
“When we brought down the new association building. You weren’t there. I told you to come and watch, but you refused.”
“That was my bad.”
Hyunjae Sung laughed out loud. It was jolly that he looked like he was enjoying himself, but now what should I do?
“Mr. Hyunjae Sung, I know this is like the first time we met each other, and it is too much to ask of you. But can you trust me for this time?”
I have no other choice but to go inside you.