NOVEL NEXT #016
#016
A translucent window shimmering in five colors. Each time I blinked, the menu items in the list changed one by one.
*View Mercenary Status*
*Enhance Mercenary* – Consumes Gold/Love Coins
*Mercenary Rest* – Currently partially sealed (5% efficiency)
*Hire Mercenary* – (0/2)
*Dismiss Mercenary*
Is this how it appears?
Limitless Nine had a mercenary system. It was a system where you could hire sub-characters besides my character and use them together in battle.
Since mercenaries are a kind of NPC, I could freely enhance their skills and upgrade their levels. For some unknown reason, all the mercenaries I had raised to the highest level had disappeared.
Seeing this window appear while thinking about guiding, could it be… that I can now register the Espers of this world as mercenaries?
‘What’s Rest?’
There was never a concept of resting mercenaries before. Could it be referring to guiding?
‘They said guiding is about releasing the residual energy that builds up when Espers use their powers.’
Then it might be a similar concept.
I bit my lip for a moment, wondering how I should act. Then I felt the grip on my hand tighten.
“As expected… is it difficult to guide?”
Hyun Dowoon asked me with a somewhat dissatisfied face. He’s asking this after making me do something unreasonable, knowing I’m F-grade.
I pouted and used my eyes to select the ‘Mercenary Rest’ menu. I’m not sure what it means by partially sealed, but since it says there’s 5% efficiency, I guess it’s possible.
Immediately, some kind of energy was drained from my body.
As I lowered my eyes and focused on sending energy through my hand, Hyun Dowoon’s hand gripped mine tighter and tighter. The hand that was lightly held like a handshake now moved freely according to Hyun Dowoon’s will. His long fingers traced between my fingers and interlocked them.
Energy flowed through our fingers and palms, perfectly interlocked without any gap.
‘That’s…’
When I closed my eyes completely, surprisingly, I could see the flow of energy. As my energy flowed to the distorted parts all over Hyun Dowoon’s body, they straightened out as if being ironed. It was like unblocking clogged blood flow.
‘Ah, I’m hungry.’
Every time energy left my body, I got hungrier. As if my energy was being sucked away, my stomach started to growl.
“Are you hungry?”
Hyun Dowoon asked as I opened my eyes in embarrassment and looked down at my stomach. Somehow, his voice sounded very satisfied.
“I’m quite full. You taste delicious, Lee Jaeha.”
“Yes… what?”
“I’m saying your guiding suits my taste quite well.”
When I raised my head to look at his face at this unexpected statement, I saw a very satisfied smile.
“My power is already exhausted since I’m F-grade anyway…”
“It seems we have good compatibility. Even if the guiding efficiency is low, honestly, this is the best match among all the guidings I’ve received so far.”
“Oh… I see. That’s interesting.”
This isn’t the time to say thank you, is it…? I didn’t know how to respond, so I rolled my eyes. Then Hyun Dowoon looked at me with a very affectionate… no, amused expression.
“Anyway, that’s good. It was the final confirmation, and I like it.”
“What… did you confirm?”
“Jaeha, won’t you become my pair guide?”
…What?
***
‘It’s not a bad offer. I can protect your abilities, and of course, I can get help too, and it seems we have quite a high matching rate. Think about it carefully.’
After completing the dungeon conquest, Hyun Dowoon treated me to a hearty meal, left those words, and dropped me off in front of my house.
Did he like my items that much…? Honestly, Hyun Dowoon shouldn’t be pairing with me, but should be looking for an S-grade guide like Kim Sehyun. Because when I looked inside his body earlier, it was a mess of distortions and tangles.
I can only release a measly 5% bit by bit…
‘Is it like a refreshing drink that clears a blocked throat?’
How high must our matching rate be for him to say that? I frowned, ran my fingers through my hair, and spun around.
“…Huh?”
And coincidentally, I spotted Shin Haejun and Kim Sehyun. The two were looking at me with very strange expressions.
Kim Sehyun, who made eye contact with me first, awkwardly smiled and asked:
“Jaeha, do you know the Center Director personally?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, really…? How do you know each other?”
“We just got to know each other. Why?”
“Ah… Ah! I thought he might have called you because of the mistake you made in the dungeon last time…. I was worried you might get scolded unfairly.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Oh, I see….”
I just answered as asked, but somehow Kim Sehyun seemed to lose energy and close up. On the contrary, his expression looked very frustrated. Is it because I didn’t explain everything in detail? But there’s no need to chat on the street when the author hasn’t directed it.
“Ah! Right.”
I understood why Shin Haejun’s expression was strange. I shouted out of habit and then sneakily looked around. He probably doesn’t want to see me, but how did we end up meeting like this?
“…It’s not my fault we met like this. You know that, right? Hey, I’m leaving.”
I casually said this to clear up any misunderstanding and passed by, making sure not to touch even a hair of Shin Haejun.
When I glanced back, Shin Haejun was looking at me with a very displeased expression. He seemed about to say something, his lips moving, but I quickly ran away, sure it wouldn’t be anything good.
“Ah shit, how was I supposed to know I’d meet them here…”
Suddenly, I felt really bad. Is this street yours? Did you lease it or something?
Oh right, Shin Haejun provided this house, didn’t he…? Suddenly, all my energy drained away.
‘As expected, a free house is uncomfortable…’
And with a personality that gets angry just from meeting on the street, I wonder how Kim Sehyun manages to deal with that guy’s temper. Thinking they were well-matched, I hurriedly slipped into the elevator.
***
Shin Haejun was in a bad mood the entire time.
It was because the image of Lee Jaeha’s hand dripping with blood, his small curled-up body, and his large eyes dropping tears kept floating before his eyes for three days.
Moreover, Lee Jaeha truly kept his word faithfully. He said he wouldn’t appear in front of Shin Haejun, and indeed, not once did he even slightly linger around.
It’s not like he wanted Lee Jaeha to hang around in front of him, but he couldn’t understand why he felt bad about it.
Shin Haejun’s mood was so bad that Kim Sehyun couldn’t even come out of his room properly the whole time. It was because Shin Haejun would silently get irritated just by seeing Kim Sehyun’s face.
They ended up going out together unavoidably because of a call from the center. The wavelength measurement showed that an S-grade Red Dungeon would occur in 48 hours, and the center called them to form an appropriate conquest team.
An S-grade Red Dungeon can’t be solved with just one S-grade Esper. At least two, and preferably three, are needed for a stable conquest. Even with two, it’s only possible if their attribute combinations match well.
“Haejun, are you feeling a bit better?”
How annoying. Shin Haejun frowned, ignoring Kim Sehyun chattering beside him. While he was boiling inside, Kim Sehyun seemed purely happy.
He had refused guiding for days, annoyed at having to put up with the trickle of guiding, and perhaps because of that, Kim Sehyun seemed very happy to be out together for once.
However, he realized that Kim Sehyun wasn’t actually happy but was just smiling anxiously, trying to match his mood, when they suddenly met Lee Jaeha at the entrance of their apartment building.
“Why is Jaeha…?”
Kim Sehyun’s expression, which had been smiling constantly, shattered like broken glass. The corners of his smiling mouth trembled.
Not caring about Kim Sehyun’s emotions, Haejun clenched his fist.
‘Isn’t the very existence of your gift here terrifying in every way?’
Unlike the Lee Jaeha who had said those words and left that day, he seemed somewhat embarrassed but didn’t reject Center Director Hyun Dowoon’s hand reaching out from the car window. He wasn’t awkward with Hyun Dowoon, didn’t push his hand away, and even managed an awkward smile.
Shin Haejun stared intently at Lee Jaeha, suppressing the rage rising inside him. Lee Jaeha, who had watched Hyun Dowoon’s car leave as if seeing it off, finally turned around.
‘How will he react?’
Shin Haejun stared at Lee Jaeha turning around as if watching in slow motion with his superior S-grade Esper physical abilities. The hair slightly swaying in the air, the still ambiguously smiling face, and then the expression that quickly cooled upon discovering them.
While he was scrutinizing every detail of Lee Jaeha’s face, Lee Jaeha didn’t look at Shin Haejun, as if not feeling his gaze. He only answered Kim Sehyun’s questions.
Kim Sehyun was useful for once. He asked what Haejun wanted to know. However, Lee Jaeha didn’t give easy answers.
It was irritating how Lee Jaeha seemed to be answering with his whole body that it was none of their business what his relationship with Hyun Dowoon was. The fact that he didn’t know why it irritated him made his mood even worse.
“…It’s not my fault we met like this.”
Lee Jaeha’s last words before he fled into the building.
Shin Haejun finally exploded. He had decided to acknowledge that Lee Jaeha was bothering him.
Why Lee Jaeha of all people. The fact that he couldn’t understand the reason continued to nag at him…
***
The team gathered for the S-grade Red Dungeon conquest had to pause their meeting and wait for the Center Director. He had just finished his personal dungeon conquest and had only now received information about the S-grade Red Dungeon.
‘It seems he’s returning after dropping off Lee Jaeha and going home.’
Usually, Shin Haejun had no personal feelings about Hyun Dowoon.
Six years older, the first awakened in Korea with an L-grade constellation. The eldest son of a political family.
Because of this, he had been told since his awakening not to make enemies with Hyun Dowoon, even if he didn’t build a special friendship. Their Esper attributes were completely different, so there was no particular reason to get entangled, and above all, as the Awakened Center Director, there was no real chance to meet in the field.
That was the extent of his perception.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
That all changed when…
Shin Haejun felt like he shouldn’t think any further and stopped his thoughts. Hyun Dowoon sat at the head of the conference table with his usual gentle smile.