NOVEL NEXT #020
#020
I couldn’t even scream as my vision spun wildly.
After being slammed to the ground in that state, when I came to my senses, the surroundings had completely changed.
‘What is that?’
There were many people around before, but they had all disappeared, and I was alone in a foggy place. Far away, I could see a large shape on the ground. To check what it was, I’d need to approach and illuminate it with the sky lantern.
“Is anyone there?”
I called out cautiously while looking around. But there was no answer.
As a second option, I opened the map and saw one green dot in front of me, and the rest of the green dots clustered far away. This was almost from one end to the other. Moreover, the problem was that there were other red dots around this area.
‘I guess the green dot in front of me must be Shin Haejun…?’
Shin Haejun was the only green dot without a sky lantern.
“Hey, are you alive over there?”
I really don’t know what’s going on. Why did only Shin Haejun and I fall here when we touched the monster?
To understand the situation, I had to wake up Shin Haejun. Since he didn’t respond when I called from a distance, it seemed I had to approach and check his condition directly.
‘Why can’t I move my body?’
I tried to get up quickly, but I couldn’t move, at best I could only crawl. Worried about my condition, I took out my phone to check my status and saw that I was afflicted with a poisoned status effect. My health was about to hit bottom. No wonder I couldn’t stand up straight, my HP bar was completely depleted.
‘I’m going to die at this rate!’
Shit, after all this, I can’t die from poisoning in a dungeon. I hurriedly set up auto-potion, and my health kept rising whenever it dropped, making it bearable.
When I shook Shin Haejun from up close, I heard a small groan before he suddenly opened his eyes.
“What happened?”
‘That’s what I was going to ask…’
I looked at Shin Haejun with a disgruntled expression. He also seemed to know nothing about this situation.
“I remember up to the point where you attacked the monster, Shin Haejun…”
“…Ah. Right after that, my vision rippled and flipped.”
Shin Haejun’s story was exactly the same as what I experienced. I’m not sure, but it seems it was a type of monster that kidnaps you to another place when touched. I don’t know why I was kidnapped along with him though.
“Ugh…!”
Suddenly, he let out a short groan. He touched the back of his head as if it hurt, and when he removed his hand, it was soaked in red blood. Judging by the location, it seemed he was injured when he fell to the ground.
“Quick, take this.”
I don’t want to get involved with Shin Haejun, but I can’t ignore an injured person. I held out an elixir to Shin Haejun.
“No, I’ll apply it myself.”
It seemed difficult for Shin Haejun to apply it himself since it was on the back of his head. I moved closer, examined the back of Shin Haejun’s head, and poured the potion. As per the elixir’s effect, the injured head healed instantly.
‘This should be enough that he won’t suddenly attack me asking why I’m here instead of Kim Sehyun, right?’
As I was thinking this, I saw Shin Haejun grab my arm with his brows deeply furrowed.
Shit… I guess no matter how hard I try, someone like me can’t improve Shin Haejun’s mood.
As I tensed up and shrank back, Shin Haejun’s face became strange. His hand slid down from my arm and firmly grasped my hand.
“Um, Shin Haejun?”
What on earth is wrong with this person?
I moved my arm quickly to shake off his hand. However, Shin Haejun’s hand stuck to me like a snake and wouldn’t let go of my hand.
‘…He’s really handsome.’
Shin Haejun’s face, with a subtle blush, was even more devastating up close. I found myself praising Shin Haejun’s face in a daze, inappropriate for the situation.
Due to our faces being close, I could feel everything from the trembling of his eyelashes to his rough breathing.
‘Wait. Rough breathing?’
Shin Haejun was staring at me with somewhat dazed eyes and breathing roughly. The way he was looking at me as if in pain somewhere made the atmosphere feel ominous.
“Shin Haejun, are you hurting somewhere?”
This is bad… There are red dots moving around nearby. I’m not sure how effective an ailing S-grade Esper can be.
‘Ah shit, why does this keep popping up?’
*View Mercenary Status*
*Enhance Mercenary* – Consumes Gold/Love Coins
*Mercenary Rest* – Currently partially sealed (5% efficiency)
*Hire Mercenary* – (0/2)
*Dismiss Mercenary*
Perhaps because holding hands automatically put us in a guiding preparation state, the mercenary-related window kept popping up.
While one side of my vision was dizzy, Shin Haejun’s hand came closer.
‘Is he going to hit me?’
The moment I shut my eyes tightly, a large hand grabbed the nape of my neck. As my fragile neck was caught in his firm grip, I instantly felt a surge of crisis.
“W-why are you doing this?”
My voice cracked in panic. But I wasn’t embarrassed. Instead, thoughts like ‘What is this? I’m screwed’ kept running through one side of my head.
“Ha, fuck…!”
Shin Haejun suddenly cursed. His cursing voice was softly melted. His long fingers intertwined between my fingers. I don’t know what this inappropriately intimate action means.
‘I can’t pretend not to know anymore…’
It’s clearly a touch with sexual implications that anyone would recognize. I couldn’t even say how this is possible between two men. The world I entered is one where love between men is possible.
What’s perplexing is why it’s happening to me and not Kim Sehyun…
‘Ah… Is the purpose of this to make Kim Sehyun jealous?’
For some reason within the dungeon… like the protagonist Shin Haejun affected by a status ailment of seduction or something, having skinship with an antagonistic supporting character. And then when the other protagonist Kim Sehyun finds out about it, he feels jealous and quarrels with Shin Haejun, leading to progress in their relationship or something like that?
‘Author, please let me go…’
While I’m only thinking about how to defeat the monsters and safely rejoin the team, Shin Haejun seems to have different thoughts.
Lust was dripping from Shin Haejun’s gaze and his hand that was roughly caressing my earlobe. It was a look that I couldn’t ignore by telling myself a man wouldn’t do this to me.
‘Oh please, this isn’t it…!’
I struggled to shake off Shin Haejun’s touch. But my efforts didn’t yield any positive results. Unable to overcome the will of an S-grade Esper, I just collapsed onto his firm chest.
Shin Haejun now embraced me and started fumbling with my nape and earlobe while staring at my lips. At this rate, the chastity of my lips is going to fly away.
Thinking I had to do something, I hurriedly selected Mercenary Rest.
“Kuk…!”
But this seems to have been the wrong choice.
As soon as the guiding started, Shin Haejun’s face became much redder. Sweat dropped from his face. And as if his lust was intensifying even more, the hand supporting me slid up my waist to my spine.
“Ah, huk…!”
My head was spinning. Every time Shin Haejun stroked my spine, it felt like sparks were flying from where he touched. I’ve never experienced anything like this before. I couldn’t understand why I was feeling this sensation from Shin Haejun’s simple caress.
‘Guiding isn’t going to work…’
It was obvious that if I got swept away like this, an irreversible situation would occur.
Shin Haejun might come to his senses and blame me for everything, maybe even slitting my throat. I didn’t want to act like a villainous supporting character, vaguely stealing my friend’s man.
‘If I enhance him, wouldn’t he be able to break free from the status ailment?’
I hurriedly directed Mercenary Enhancement. However, a message in golden letters saying “You cannot enhance an unconnected mercenary” appeared immediately.
‘Ah, that’s right, he’s an unregistered mercenary.’
Come to think of it, Shin Haejun had no connection to me. I can only enhance him if he’s registered as a mercenary.
“Um…”
I softly called out to Shin Haejun to gauge if it would be okay to register him as a mercenary. Shin Haejun looked down at me with a feverish face and rubbed my cheek with his thumb.
This action should have sent chills down my spine, but my face was burning. I shrank even smaller and gently pushed away Shin Haejun’s arm.
“You’re not my guide… why are you so sweet?”
Shin Haejun whispered as if lamenting or sighing, trying to bring his face even closer to mine. As if he wanted our entire bodies to be tightly intertwined without any gaps.
‘Shit, if this continues, I’m really screwed.’
I detected the crisis and decided to register him as a mercenary, with or without his consent.
As soon as I designated the mercenary registration slot, the status changed from (0/2) to (1/2).
Shin Haejun had now officially become my mercenary.
‘I’ll have to release him when we get out.’
It’s unlikely, but if Shin Haejun ever finds out about this situation, I’m really finished.
I quickly checked Shin Haejun’s status using View Mercenary Status.
*View Mercenary Status*
[Name] Shin Haejun
[Job] Esper
[Constellations] God of the Battlefield (SSS), Lord of the Earth (A), Spirit King of Ice (S), God of Affection (S)
[Awakening] S
[Pair] Kim Sehyun
[Equipped Items]
Weapon: Sparkling Frost Crystal Water-colored Sword (Attack x3 amplification)
Defense: Night Starlight Travel Ice Freezing Earrings (Defense x1.8, Magic Defense x1.1)
[Status] In Heat
[Passive Skill] Air Barrier | Constantly protects body with compressed air
[Active Skills]
– Gravity Manipulation | Can manipulate gravity within 1km radius as desired (3 times per day)
– Matter Manipulation | Can adjust objects at molecular, atomic level. Shape transformation and decomposition possible
– Frost Storm | Radiates -40°C ice storm towards 1km front
– Affection Frenzy | Fascinates up to 10 alien enemies within 10m radius
Damn it! He really has a status ailment of ‘In Heat’. I’ve never seen such a bizarre status ailment before, but it was clear that this situation was abnormal.
I quickly selected Mercenary Enhancement. Then something like a slot machine appeared before my eyes.
Enhancing a mercenary requires 10,000 gold and 10 love coins.
Current Gold 999,999,999 / Love Coins 2
What the hell are love coins?