Damn System

Episode 49

Chapter 12 Exchange (3)

“A chat message has arrived from Nam-gyu Lim, codename.”

Unlike Kim Yul, it was the first time he had communicated with Nam-gyu.

After I entrusted him to the NIS, I never took care of him.

‘Rather, Kim Yul and Yang Hye-won took care of it.’

I heard that Nam-gyu, who was on fire because of the 10-day grace period, went on a mission with Kim Yul’s party.

Yang Hye-won said that she talked about it first.

‘If my child had died on the mission, I would have felt uncomfortable about my dream seat.’

Thanks to that, I was able to let go of an hour. It wasn’t to the point where I had to step out and say thank you.

‘I wish I had put my name on it.’

Isn’t that enough to do for a kid you’ve never seen before?

Namgyu was young and had an accident.

It wasn’t enough to solve that problem, it gave me the role of a link to me so that I wouldn’t be blatantly rejected.

All I can do for a kid I’m seeing for the first time is really do everything.

So there is no need to feel sorry for not taking care of the child anymore.

I swallowed the uncomfortable feelings as I read Nam-gyu Lim’s messages one after another.

But my resolve to be unrelenting was short-lived.

– Lim Nam-gyu: Mister, I couldn’t say hello at that time, so I’m resending. Thank you so much for your help. I didn’t text him because I didn’t know if he would call me first.

It’s because I saw a message with poor spelling and spacing.

– Lim Nam-gyu: I’m doing well. The guys here teach me well, so I’m learning at ten o’clock.

– Lim Nam-gyu: I look after the uncle’s baby, but I don’t talk. I won’t tell you in the future.

My pupils shook slightly. I had never seen such a messed up dictation before.

Even when the twins were younger than Namgyu, it wasn’t like this.

‘In the first place, they look like me and are good at studying.’

I’ve never seen a number that went below 80 on the two guys’ test papers.

‘This kid shouldn’t even be able to go to school, so he doesn’t study separately?’

I clasped my hands nervously, questioning like a parent would have.

In the meantime, Namgyu’s message continued.

– Lim Nam-gyu: Yang Jo-cheol says he has something to say. I will write as you wrote.

– Lim Nam-gyu: Hello, K. This is Yang Jo-cheol, the leader I greeted the other day. Have you been at home so far? I heard that you recently started a level 3 mission… … .

It was an introduction that clearly felt like it was written by an adult.

That alone was quite long, but the main topic beyond that was a little longer.

I skipped the introduction as quickly as possible and read only the body and results.

It wasn’t that light, so his expression hardened slightly.

To hide it, I had to turn my back to the party and retreat to a corner.

– Lim Nam-gyu: The superficial purpose of entry is tourism, but it is a suspicious situation at the moment. In fact, after I started wiretapping, the word player was mentioned several times.

– Lim Nam-gyu: Moreover, for nearly two weeks, more than half of them were intentionally hiding their accents. Obviously, they used to speak American English, but three hours ago, two people suddenly spoke with British accents. It is seen as an act to hide one’s origin.

– Lim Nam-gyu: I received a report because articles about K’s activities were often posted in the community. I contacted you because I thought it would be better than not knowing.

The process of discovering and monitoring them at the NIS was not explained in detail.

However, there were people with British accents in Korea, and the result of them mentioning the player was clearly mentioned.

‘In England… … .’

Could be David. They’re the active side of finding players and securing their personal safety.

“Tsk.”

I clicked my tongue briefly and sent Ethan a message.

Was there any movement targeting Korea or Asian countries?

Soon, Ethan replied that he would find out.

After that, silence fell for a moment. Blinking in that silence, I closed and opened my eyes a couple of times.

“under.”

Laughter came out. It is because of the momentary sense of helplessness.

All I did was ask Ethan to check the situation.

I couldn’t think of anything else I could do.

I rubbed my face roughly in an attempt to unleash the hardened expression I didn’t know.

‘I can’t just wait until the answer comes.’

If those I found on Yang Jo-cheol’s side are related to David, my identity must never be revealed.

‘It’s already been confirmed that he’s looking for me.’

This was the conclusion I came to by looking at the story I heard from Edan objectively.

He has already classified players as ‘dangerous’.

That’s why they tend to be obsessed with keeping players in their line of sight and monitoring them.

‘He must be trying to control it.’

If you think you can’t control the risk, you’ll be anxious.

So, the moment my name is revealed on the surface of the water, I will lay my hands on my family first.

‘Just like what I did to Ethan.’

Taking hostages is a very effective method for me as well as for him.

Just imagining the gun being pointed at Yeon-woo and Jin-woo sparked a fire inside.

‘Don’t get excited.’

I caught my breath and comforted myself.

‘The units haven’t been narrowed down to individuals yet.’

I chewed and chewed and chewed again, but there was no room for that.

At most, the community started talking about being Asian.

Other than that, even if you look at the anxiety factor, it is a line that nationality is exposed because of the traces left without knowing it in the guidebook.

I’m still hiding in the crowd

So you have time to use your hands before your face or name gets caught.

‘Should I hide deeper?’

Even now, I haven’t moved without revealing myself, so what else can I do here?

‘Or make me look the other way?’

In what way exactly?

‘Should I rather ask the government for protection?’

What if the choice is to go into the tiger’s den?

The sigh that leaked out was deep and heavy.

‘I wouldn’t have worried about this if I was alone.’

You might have considered taking a bolder move.

If I were the only one who had to take the risk, I wouldn’t have been so cautious.

Maybe they were prepared to target David’s family in the same way.

But when I think that even my precious people will get involved because of me, I become cautious.

Sitting astride a nearby rock, I pondered over and over again with a serious expression on my face while holding my pod.

Then, feeling a rustle, I hurriedly turned around.

“Oh, excuse me.”

He was a man about my shoulder height and a small build for a man.

Even in the dark, the vision beyond human limits caught the orange hair, albeit faintly.

The pupils beneath them were probably gray.

It is Ahel who regained consciousness a while ago.

The first ally I rescued, the patient who had been unconscious until now.

“My name is Ahel.”

He reached out to me as if to shake hands.

“I think I was thinking about it, but I’m sorry if I interrupted you.”

There was nothing to be called a hindrance. Even if someone hadn’t intervened, I wouldn’t have found the right solution.

“This is Kay.”

I shook my head and held Ahel’s hand.

‘Can I move already?’

His complexion was so pale that it stood out even in the dark, and it was natural to think so.

When I glanced over to examine the mood of the party, everyone except Ahel was looking this way.

Even that quickly dispersed when Ahel looked behind him.

Of course, Rashar was an exception. She fixed her gaze on me and Ahel, as if on watch.

Are the vigilance towards me still affecting me?

Before even thinking about how to solve that, Ahel said.

“Could you give me a moment?”

“… … There is nothing that can’t be done.”

There was no hesitation in accepting his offer.

Since he had never shared a word with him, his curiosity was piqued.

It wasn’t long after I woke up, because I wondered why you came to me.

Ahel grunted and sat down on the edge of the rock where I was sitting.

As he moved, the shackles appeared and disappeared under the sleeves of his wide foam hood.

After I settled down and took a breath, I felt a sense of incongruity.

With a pale complexion reminiscent of a sick person, and smiling as if he had embraced all the happiness of the world, it was inevitable that something was out of place.

“I heard you were the one who saved me… … .”

It was Ahel who initiated the conversation.

“It’s too late to say hello. thank you so much.”

“I’m not an inconsiderate person to the point of arguing that with a person who fainted.”

Ahel’s eyes widened slightly as he answered flatly.

I added a few words as I looked him up and down lightly.

“It’s worth the hard work to see that you’re safe.”

Ahel had the most potions, but I didn’t think it was a waste.

It’s because I’ve earned more mana than I’ve already spent.

“You are a cheerful person.”

“Because I hate things that don’t matter.”

“Then, wouldn’t you think I was being rude if I mentioned the business right away?”

“Yes, what.”

Ahel indicated that he wanted to go straight to the main topic after being polite.

‘It sounds good.’

Excessive use of courtesy is just a waste of time.

In that case, it is better to simply do the business and finish it.

I waited patiently for what he would say.

Then Ahel took a deep breath and smiled with a relaxed expression.

The eyes that were looking at me for a moment seemed to shine.

A chill ran down his spine.

“Do you have any intention of exchanging magical powers with me?”

“… … yes?”

“My attribute is level 3, but it’s a space system.”

He lifted the pendant of the necklace he was wearing around his neck.

For a while, I looked at Ahel and the pendant in silence.

How did he interpret my actions, Ahel continued talking a little faster than before.

“It is very useful. Not as good as you.”

“… … What’s not better than me?”

“hmm? It is your magic.”

what is this again

When I just looked at him without replying, Ahel scratched his cheek and smiled awkwardly.

“is not it?”

“… … .”

“Are you offended? I’m sorry if that’s the case. I felt the reverberation as it was, so I thought I had no intention of hiding it.”

“I don’t understand a single word of what you mean.”

“… … It wasn’t just my eyes that looked like that.”

I felt like I was hearing a foreign language even though I could understand the meaning.

‘Grade, spatial system, element, magical power, reverberation… … .’

As I repeated the unfamiliar word, I was able to recall what Rashar had just said.

‘Flame-based magical power.’

Obviously when we talked about whether there was a colony of parasites or not.

‘It’s not magic, it’s magic.’

As if the types of magical power were divided.

‘Are you referring to attribute magic?’

I chose to ask rather than keep thinking to myself.

“Level 3 or Space? What exactly does that mean?”

Ahel’s words and actions are basically goodwill.

It wasn’t formed just because they liked me or because they were grateful.

Rather, it would be closer to an intentional action to get a crush on me.

‘Because I want something.’

Didn’t I say it with my own mouth? Let’s exchange magic power.

Not sure what that is. I don’t even know how to do it.

But I’m not going to dismiss my question as it’s still off the mark.

“Magic power basically means ‘nature’.”

As expected, Ahel, who had been silently looking at me for a while, smiled and opened her mouth.

“And it is divided into grades according to the properties of that magical power.”

“… … .”

“More specifically, it’s easy to think of magic power as being graded according to the level at which it can interfere with or go against nature.”

I raised my index finger and focused on him as he continued to explain step by step.

“Non-attribute magical power that does not have a specific attribute is 1st grade, and the academic world believes that about 90% of sub-species fall under this category. to nature.”

Among them, more than half of them do not even feel their innate magic power.

“Of course, it’s not like there aren’t people who feel magical powers among them. But being a wizard is hard. Most of them pursue their career as an engineer.”

Shamanism cannot interfere with nature or go against it.

The vocabulary Ahel chose contained quite a bit of information.