Chapter 525: Partial Confinement (3) |
‘So when will I be allowed…’
I knew that it would be difficult to change Kim Hyun-Sung’s mind once he had made a decision, and he also looked more determined than ever. The way he ended the conversation as if he didn’t want to hear any more of my words wasn’t the actions of the Kim Hyun-Sung I was familiar with.
It wasn’t bad that he was obsessed with my safety, but he was going too far here.
‘Maybe it’ll be for the better if I tell him that I remember everything.’
Perhaps I could tell him at the right time, but...’
‘It’ll still be a problem…’
I had no idea how he would react once I started acting like I was in disbelief and started crying about what I had done. It was highly likely that he would tighten the security around me, especially when there were unknown threats.
I have heard about the appearance of some people who were shouting that I had to be examined and interrogated. I was sure that there weren’t many of them, but it was impossible to guarantee that they didn’t exist at all.
I was the symbol of Benigoa, but it was true that I had been corrupted once. The people of the Sacred Democratic Country would probably not say things like that, but I couldn’t say for sure for the people outside.
Right now, I was sure that people within the same parties were fighting over each other about who was correct.
The crisis had already ended, but I was sure that many people would want to keep the Blue Guild in check.
After all, they were trying to split the Federation.
It was possible for mankind to unite, but it was impossible to avoid working for the benefit of one’s nation or group.
‘It’s human nature.’
The best way to keep the Blue Guild in check was to abduct me. Perhaps that was the reason why Kim Hyun-Sung was being overprotective. He was probably thinking that it wouldn’t be a good idea to deploy me while rumors were still rampant.
‘Are there really that many bad rumors about me?’
There was no way that was true. If they were in their right minds, then their conscience should render them incapable of criticizing me directly. Of course, conflicts couldn’t be avoided, but I was confident that the conflicts so far hadn’t been serious.
‘I’m so curious that I feel like going crazy...’
I really wanted to know the state of affairs outside. I wanted to know just how far they had progressed in the restoration of Lindel and if the joint training was still ongoing.
Benigoa had already appeared, so the systems should already be working properly. I was sure that the closed dungeons and hibernating named monsters had awakened once more. Of course, there could be small changes as well.
Benigoa had gained a massive amount of holy power from the crisis, so she probably created new dungeons and content as well.
I couldn’t help but feel anxious because the patch for Benigoa 2.0 might have already started. I was anxious because I was suddenly not receiving any information when I was used to receiving a ton of information every day.
I had been waiting for the visit of my one and only ally, Lee Ji-Hye.
“You went too far. I guess you reap what you sow. You should have acted in moderation; things wouldn’t have become like this if you had simply done that. You got too invested in the production, the situation, and your acting. These are the consequences of your actions. You even abandoned your faithful wife here. You didn’t call me even once…” Lee Ji-Hye grumbled.
“...”
“Were you really unable to appear in my dreams?” she asked.
“I’m sorry, noona. I’ve been repenting on it,” I told her.
“I’m not whining because I want to hear your apology, oppa. I’m not jealous, either. I don’t know if you believe me, but I kind of suffered because of you. It was kind of fun after realizing what was going on, though. Ahem, so what are you curious about?” she asked.
“What’s the situation like outside? Give me the details if you can…” I answered.
“...”
“No, I can’t tell you…” she replied.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“There’s a ban,” she said.
“...”
“...”
“Here, look at my tongue. Outsiders need to have this to visit you. No one is an exception. It wasn’t so bad for me because they knew I was close to them, but people they were unsure about had to go through an even tougher evaluation. Ah, not only am I forbidden to talk about it, but I’m forbidden from answering your questions as well,” she continued.
“Is that really necessary?” I asked.
“It’s probably because they want to prevent any unforeseeable situations. People tend to say things unknowingly, so they’re trying to prevent that from happening. Of course, the process was pretty difficult,” she answered.
“...”
“They told me to fill out the paperwork ahead of time, and they even patted me down. That bitch Park Lian or whatever patted me down as if she was enjoying it. I was really uncomfortable,” she commented.
“What exactly is banned?” I asked.
“We’re not allowed to use certain words, and we can’t write anything either. We can’t carry around dangerous items or items that could potentially trigger something. The only thing I can tell you is that a new volume of How the Alchemist and the Genius Swordsman Loves was released, and they’re selling like hotcakes, but you know…” she paused.
“Yeah?”
“I actually get all this,” she continued.
“What do you mean…” I asked.
“Just think about it. Does it even make sense for someone who was just on the brink of death two weeks ago to start working as soon as possible? A doctor even suggested that you should rest for at least half a year, but this method wasn’t suggested. I guess they decided to do this because they were worried about your mental health,” explained Lee Ji-Hye.
“But still…”
“They’re also worried that you got traumatized or something. If that’s the case, then this imprisonment protection method is—you’ve become a lump of meat, a bunch of tentacles groped you, and who knows what happened between all that until you got corrupted? It’s not strange that Kim Hyun-Sung is nervous because you’re not acting like a traumatized individual at all. The guild master cherishes you a lot… It must be nice,” she explained.
“...”
“Who’s the one whose mental health actually needs to be taken care of? Trash like you is pretty rare…” she added.
‘You have no right to say that.’
“It’s not the first time that I had this thought, but your existence really makes me feel relieved. I’m able to comfort myself by saying that at least I’m not as shitty as you. The incident this time has reinforced the idea that you’re truly shittier than me. Anyway, this is the only thing that I can tell you…” she trailed off.
“What?”
“I don’t really know what you’re thinking, but I’m sure most of it is correct. We’re handling it pretty well. I’d like to tell you the details, but I’m forbidden from talking about this, so I can’t say anything. More importantly, it’s been a while since we had se—Ah, I forgot that Jung Ha-Yan decided to cast that useless spell on you…” she said.
“What?”
“All mature words have been banned. This wasn’t in the oath, but are you really sure that she changed?” she asked.
“She definitely changed, but there’s not much I can do about her smaller habits. After all, people don’t change that easily,” I replied.
“Anyway, she’s more problematic than the guild master. I’m sure she’s enjoying all this the most,” she commented.
I was sure that everyone, including Cha Hee-Ra and Lee Ji-Hye, had agreed to lock me up here because it was still too early for me to face reality.
Unfortunately for me, they were probably thinking of keeping me here until Lindel recovered or until the bad rumors disappeared.
There wasn’t any way for me to get out of here. I even expressed my anger at Kim Hyun-Sung, but it didn’t work at all. Of course, it wasn’t that strange because he had to have already considered my possible reactions before doing all this.
‘Damn it…’
I thought Lee Ji-Hye would be a reliable source of information, but it seemed that she wasn’t of much help.
Of course, she told me that most of my assumptions were probably correct, but I wouldn’t be able to understand what was going on unless I was there.
I was her soulmate, so Lee Ji-Hye should have been more empathetic toward me, but she started talking nonsense rather than trying to be helpful.
“Anyway, you look like a bird locked up in a bird cage, and you look kind of se—Ah, seriously? That word is banned, too?” she mumbled.
“...”
“I can’t say anything. Damn it, let’s just eat. I’m getting hungry,” she suggested.
“I’m not eating today,” I told her.
“What?”
“I’m on a hunger strike. It has been a while, but I’ve been telling them that I have no appetite. I’ll probably see some results in a few days, though,” I replied.
“Oh, that’s a classic. How long has it been?” Lee Ji-Hye asked.
“About twenty days?” I answered.
“That’s pretty long, but it’s not like you can’t do whatever you want. You can go on walks and eat delicious food whenever you want, and look at those luxurious items! Doesn’t this remind you of the trend that was popular on the Internet? I remember people becoming millionaires in exchange for being locked up in a room without doing anything for an entire year. Just think of this as something similar to that There are many things that’ll keep you entertained here, but you have to relax to enjoy them,” she suggested.
“Relax, my ass…” I mumbled.
“I want you to lock me up like this, too, oppa. However, I want to see your other look if possible,” she said.
“Stop saying things you don’t mean, noona,” I told her.
“I’m being serious, oppa. Oh, it looks like this isn’t banned. She banned strange things instead of things that actually matter. Well, since I’m one of the people closest to you, she must’ve thought that I wouldn’t talk about things like this. Nice,” she said.
“...”
“Can you turn into your other form right now?” she asked.
“I can,” I replied.
“Really? Can you show me?” she requested.
I could see that she was excited, and the Lee Ji-Hye in front of me was different from the Lee Ji-Hye I knew. I had seen her excited before, but she was currently the most excited she had ever been.
I thought about what I should do, but I felt like it shouldn’t matter.
I felt bad, but I still decided to activate Job Change to change my job.
I could feel myself changing.
“This is crazy… Seriously, you don’t have a mask? Did it break?” she asked.
“It restored itself, but it doesn’t have any other function aside from self-restoration. Fortunately, it’s a legendary-ranked item, so I don’t have to rummage through the Inventory to store and equip it. A third party also can’t remove the mask,” I answered.
“Forget about the item. Wear your mask, hurry up,” she urged.
“Why all of a sudden…”
“Wow, you’re giving off a different vibe. Seriously… completely different… Seriously. You’re really se—xy. I wish I had my camera with me. They won’t even allow me to bring it with me… Do they know about this?” she questioned.
“Of course, they don’t. How could I tell them about this, noona?” I replied.
“Can you use any offensive skills?” she asked.
“Of course, but it won’t be that strong since Belial isn’t here. Still, I don’t think it’ll be bad. It won’t be really strong, but the silver lining is that my mana perception has sharpened. Actually, I did some experiments because it has been so boring here, and I found out that I can create spirits and use basic black magic. This form is already useless to me, but it’s better to have it than not, I guess,” I said.
“Why won’t you use it? You have to use it no matter what. Just use it unofficially. If possible, I would like you to use this form whenever you’re with me… well, it’s just my personal greed. Anyway, you want to go outside, right, oppa?” she asked.
“Of course,” I replied.
“How about leaving it to me?” she suggested.
“Huh?”
I wouldn’t hesitate to let her handle the matter for me if she was confident that she could handle it. Of course, Lee Ji-Hye wouldn’t really volunteer to do a task if she wasn’t confident of succeeding, so I nodded in delight.
However, she suddenly pinched my thigh and broke the magic shield surrounding me.
“Ack!” I yelled unknowingly.
Bang!
Kim Hyun-Sung kicked the door open.
‘You… crazy…’
I turned my astonished gaze to Kim Hyun-Sung. I couldn’t help but think that the crazy bitch was still holding a grudge because I didn’t appear in her dreams, but there was no way she would do something like that.
I surreptitiously glanced at Lee Ji-Hye and saw her acting demeanor.
Seeing that, I instantly knew what she was trying to do.
‘She’s really scummy. It hasn’t even been that long since I started recovering…’
However, the top priority right now was to play along.
Kim Hyun-Sung stared at me, confused.
“Mr. Hyun-Sung. I-I think there’s something wrong with me,” I said.
Kim Hyun-Sung’s confused face immediately turned pallid.
Comments 1