These Lunatics are Obsessed With Me

"Why… Are you doing this? You crazy… Bastard!"

"…"

I was suffocating. I struggled, but Baek Si-hoo didn't budge. Why? Baek Si-hoo had no reason to kill me at this moment. Had he suddenly changed his mind? A chilling sensation ran down my spine.

"Kyaa!"

"Yong… Sik…"

I could vaguely hear Yong-sik's loud cry. Then, I felt excruciating pain in my neck. It felt like my neck could break at any time. My neck was twisted obliquely by a strong force.

"Ugh…!”

I gasped and opened my eyes wide. I had no strength left to struggle.

Bite.

I heard a crunching sound, and I felt the pain belatedly. Along with the pain—a pungent—fishy scent also hit my nose. I instinctively recoiled. Through my shaky vision, I saw Baek Si-hoo's black hair.

Baek Si-hoo suddenly grabbed my neck and bit me. The pain in my neck intensified as soon as I realised it. The sensation of blood oozing out of my neck was unfamiliar.

My vision spun. It felt like something inside me was being drained along with my blood.

"You… Crazy…"

"Haa…"

His hot breath spread over my nape. Was it because of the blood? Baek Si-hoo's eyes—meeting mine—looked red.

"Indeed…"

"…!"

I felt danger in his gleaming eyes. At that moment, I suddenly remembered Baek Si-hoo's skill. As an S-rank hunter with dark attributes, Baek Si-hoo possessed a unique ability called ‘Blood-sucking.'

Although the exact name of the skill wasn't mentioned in the novel, he used it to steal the abilities of other hunters and brutally kill them.

However, he didn't actually suck their blood like a real vampire, so I don't know what's going on here. I wondered if Baek Si-hoo had some unusual condition similar to the Catnip skill.

"Ugh…"

As I was lost in thought, my blood-stained neck became very hot. Seeing me in pain, Baek Si-hoo's eyes had returned to their pitch black colour.

【Stop.】

At that moment—a familiar voice sounded in my head—and my body suddenly became stiff. It seemed that Baek Si-hoo was no exception either. He froze for a moment. Then, a strong gust of wind blew in.

"Ugh…!"

My body was instantly swept away by the strong wind. I couldn't struggle because I couldn't move. But not long after, a strong arm wrapped around my body.

"Yi Jin-ah!"

"…Eden?"

Eden held me while floating in the air. My eyes widened when I saw his eye-piercingly bright pink hair.

"Hyung, are you okay?"

"…Kang Soo-hyun?"

Kang Soo-hyun also floated in the air. I blinked stupidly in confusion, then furrowed my brows at the pain I felt in my neck.

"Ah…!"

"Hyung!"

"Yi Jin-ah!"

They both called out to me in shock as I groaned, clutching my bleeding neck. I wasn’t really okay, but I held it in and opened my mouth.

"I–I'm okay…"

"Baek Si-hoo, that crazy bastard!"

"Baek Si-hoo? Is that person really Baek Si-hoo?"

Eden was furious when he saw my wound, while Kang Soo-hyun asked with a serious expression. Kang Soo-hyun looked surprised when I nodded slightly.

Baek Si-hoo from the Loki Guild was surprisingly well-known among the public, almost achieving urban legend status due to the bizarre rumours surrounding him.

Kang Soo-hyun, being a high school student, seemed to have heard many rumours about him.

"But that person just… Huh?"

Kang Soo-hyun mumbled and tilted his head. I glanced down at where Baek Si-hoo was. Kang Soo-hyun's complexion quickly paled.

"No, what is this…?"

"Quick, move!"

Baek Si-hoo had only been momentarily stopped by Kang Soo-hyun's mental ability. As soon as he broke free, he started chasing us fiercely.

“How can he move already? Even if he is an S-class, a mental skill should…"

"Sorry, I applied my auxiliary skill on him!"

"…"

Kang Soo-hyun and Eden's faces turned pale at my answer. They looked at me as if asking why I did that, and I could only smile awkwardly. Well, I don't know what I was thinking either.

"Kyaaak!"

Yong-sik tried hard to fend him off—but it was impossible to stop Baek Si-hoo—who had received my auxiliary skill. It seemed like Baek Si-hoo would catch up with us at any time. Feeling anxious, I gripped Eden's clothes tightly.

I wished I could use my auxiliary skill on Eden, but it was just as mentally draining as mental skills. With my mind and body still unstable from the blood flowing from my neck, I couldn't activate it for Eden or Kang Soo-hyun.

It was only thanks to Eden's wind ability—which specialised in speed—that we were able to maintain this distance. If it were any other wind ability user, Baek Si-hoo would have caught us long ago. I frowned as I glanced at the desert landscape passing by.

We seemed to be heading to the raid team's location with Kang Soo-hyun's detection ability, but could they stop Baek Si-hoo? With Kang Yoo-hyun, Sung Yoo-bin, and Yong-sun occupied fighting the boss monster, there weren't many S-rank hunters left in the raid team. Seo Ha-joon wasn’t very reliable either.

It was hard to think clearly as my head spun. Even though the situation was urgent, my exhausted body felt heavy and sluggish. Suddenly, a ‘ding-dong' sound accompanied by a system’s voice was heard.

[‘Shake the Catnip(S): Blood Contract’ has registered 2 affected individuals.]

[Would you like to perform a random summoning?]

[Remaining attempts: 2]

"…What?"

I opened my eyes wide in disbelief at the absurdity of this situation. And suddenly, a familiar status window appeared in front of me.

Level: 59

Rank: A

Title: Loved by Animals (S)

Stats:

HP: 30

Strength: 29

Agility: 35

Mental Strength: 70

MP: 82

Skills:

…

"…"

It was a random summoning that I couldn't perform in the ‘Realm of Fire'. What's with this ‘Blood Pact'? It looks ominous… Ah.

I immediately remembered the time when I tried to give Hae Song-ha my auxiliary skill. His summon—Lati—suddenly bit my hand—and I bled profusely.

Despite this—I managed to apply my skill to him—and he successfully navigated the path in the SS-grade dungeon even though he was A-class.

And Baek Si-hoo just bit my neck and drank my blood. Could this Catnip skill be…

[Would you like to perform a random summoning?]

[Yes/No]

[Remaining attempts: 2]

"…!"

Once again—the system window popped up—urging me to use the random summoning skill quickly. I frowned subconsciously.

I think the only one I could summon right now was Hae Song-ha. But, what's the point of summoning him? I'm not making fun of him, seriously!

It seemed like this random summon didn't display nearby targets on the list. When the window first appeared, Kang Yoo-hyun wasn't included among the random summon targets, even though he was nearby.

Only two individuals were affected by this cringey name ‘Blood Contract'. Baek Si-hoo—who chased me fiercely—and Hae Song-ha—whom I accidentally used my auxiliary skill on him with blood on my hands.

However, no matter how much I pondered, the only ending that came to mind was that we would all die from Baek Si-hoo's sword.

[Would you like to perform a random summoning?]

[Give it a try first.]

[Yes/Yes.]

[Remaining attempts: 2]

So, the system told me to just try it? Does the system think human lives are like flies1? Will the system be responsible if Hae Song-ha dies?

"…Ah, seriously."

"Yi Jin-ah, haa… What's wrong?"

"No, it's nothing."

Eden looked exhausted while carrying the two of us, flying as if he had suddenly undergone endurance training.

‘Damn.'

Anyway, Eden couldn't hold on much longer. I closed my eyes and shouted inwardly.

‘Yes!'

Bright red lights flickered around us as we flew across the desert. It felt different from the summoning circles I had seen before. At the same time, Eden's power seemed to have run out, and we plummeted onto the desert.

"Argh!"

"Ugh…"

"Hey, Eden. Are you okay?"

While examining the groaning Eden, a light flashed one last time. I frowned as it dazzled my eyes, and someone appeared.

"Oh…?"

"…!"

It was Hae Song-ha. He stood in the middle of the desert with a bewildered look on his face, then he looked at me and smiled brightly.

"Hunter Han Yi-jin-nim!"

"Hunter Hae Song-ha…"

"What happened to you? I was really worried."

"Well, that…"

Hae Song-ha rushed over to me and spoke like a chirping bird. When he noticed me pressing on the wound on my neck with my hand, his eyes widened.

"Are you hurt?"

"Yes, but that's not the problem now…"

"Potion, quickly, a potion!"

"Jjyu, jjyu!"

"Hm? What?"

Lati cried out urgently to the panicked Hae Song-ha. Hae Song-ha looked at Lati and tilted his head—but at that moment—he saw a sharp blade flying towards him.

"Hunter Hae Song-ha…!"

"Uh…?"

The blue-glowing sword pierced Hae Song-ha immediately.

1. A life in which a sudden death can occur easily and is likely to occur.