Chapter 80
"You seem to have a fever."
"…!"
Kang Yoo-hyun's forehead was slightly hot. I put one hand on Kang Yoo-hyun's forehead and tilted my head. His forehead felt as hot as my palm when I had just used that skill.
"What are you doing?"
"Huh?"
Kang Yoo-hyun, who was frowning, grabbed my wrist. I finally noticed his face contorted in displeasure.
Oh no! I put my hand on the main character's face without fear. Have I lost my mind? Startled, I withdrew my hand which had been resting on his forehead.
"Oh, I'm sorry."
“…”
However, his hand that caught my wrist didn't budge. I looked up in confusion, and Kang Yoo-hyun looked at me coldly.
"Why, why?"
"You're really…”
Kang Yoo-hyun spoke a little and sighed again. At the sight of him, I cowered like a herbivore standing before a predator.
If he couldn't control himself, I wished he would release his stress elsewhere. I hoped he wouldn't resort to swinging his fists at me just because he was in a bad mood.
"Ugh!"
When Kang Yoo Hyun raised his hand while holding my wrist, my body also lifted up. And I fell backwards then I could feel the touch of a soft fabric.
Could it be a bed? Was there a bed behind me? Because it was dark, I couldn't see the surroundings clearly.
"Hey…!”
"Stay still.”
A growling sound came from Kang Yoo-hyun's throat as he pressed his body against mine. I opened my eyes wide, pinned beneath him.
"Wha—What's wrong with you?"
“…”
Kang Yoo-hyun's eyes were glaring more fiercely than usual. I didn't know what he was going to do, but he was definitely angry.
Is he going to strangle me like this? The image of Kang Yoo-hyun when we first met flashed in my mind. I was scared and squeezed my eyes shut.
"Wait…!"
But it wasn't his hands that reached for me, it was his face. He lowered his head, and fell flat.
"Ugh…"
"…Hm?"
Kang Yoo-hyun breathed heavily as his head drooped next to my face.
Is this the side effect?
I gently pushed him away and got up. The drama I watched is over. The ending credits were playing on the black screen.
The duration was one hour. A drama with each episode lasting one hour. What amazing timing.
"Are you… okay?"
I carefully asked Kang Yoo-hyun, who was still motionless, and his sharp gaze turned towards me.
"Damn, not again…"
"…"
Unfortunately, I don't know why he got the side effects. So, this is something I really can't help with. If he wants to blame someone, he should blame the system that regulates these side effects.
"I'm going to go now"
“…Wait."
"Sorry!"
I quickly got out of bed, grabbed the potato chips I hadn't finished, and sprinted out of Kang Yoo-hyun's room.
"Phew, thought I was gonna die."
I felt like I had escaped from the lion's den. I felt a chill around my neck, so I rubbed it with my palm.
"Hyung!"
"Do-gyul-ah!"
I spread my arms wide, and Do-gyul ran towards me and hugged me. I tapped his thin shoulder with my palm.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I watched Hyung and Yong-sik on YouTube!"
"You watched that?"
"Of course! Hyung, you were so cool."
"Kkyau!"
"And Yong-sik was cute too."
Do Gyul reached out and stroked Yong-sik's head. I looked at them with a happy face.
Today was Do Gyul's visiting day.
Even though today was the visiting day rule, I didn't have to strictly follow it because I knew it wasn't his illness that was making Do-gyul sick. However, because we initially agreed to follow the story that Do Gyul was hospitalised, I had to pretend to follow the visiting date.
"Let me see. Did you eat well?"
"Yeah."
"Hospital food sucks, doesn't it?"
"But it's better here than where I was before."
"Really?"
"Yeah!"
Smiling at Do-gyul who nodded, I searched my inventory. Then, I took out the snacks I ate at the accommodation.
"Wow."
"Eat whatever you want."
"Can I eat all of this?"
"Yeah"
Even though the Odin Guild was taking care of him, I tilted my head to the side when I saw Do-Gyul's still thin body. With such a small body, I don't think he could eat half of the snacks I had taken out.
"Eat as much as you can."
"Wow."
Do-Gyul needed to gain more weight. I was upset every time I saw him so skinny from the previous hospital, wondering how much they had starved him there, with his bones protruding.
"Yong-sik-i, don't touch that."
"Kkyuu…"
Seeing Do-gyul eating deliciously, Yong-sik continued to look at where the snacks were. I said something and shook my hand, and Yong-sik looked at me with drooping ears.
I felt my resolve weaken, but then I remembered Yong-sik eating the finest mana stones and expensive Yggdrasil twigs until his stomach burst and then taking a nap.
No, I can't. What if he got sick from eating human food? This time I was firm, and Yong-sik reluctantly backed away with a whine.
"This is delicious."
“Do you like that?”
"Yeah."
"I'll bring more next time."
What Do-gyul particularly liked was a snack coated with a lot of chocolate. He really likes chocolate. I nodded, mentally noting it down.
"Do-gyul-ah."
"Hm?"
While sipping the juice, Do Gyul's eyes widened. Looking at those eyes, I recalled what Park Yoon-sung had mentioned.
While I was in the dungeon, Do Gyul officially received an S-class rating at the Awakening Center. But, they didn't immediately announce it. He wasn't ready to leave the hospital.
Do-gyul has now started to talk to people other than me. It was thanks to Oh Seo-hyun, an excellent counsellor and heroine. She said that when she started her counselling session, he and others would exchange brief conversations, but they didn't last long.
I heard that non-hunters find it difficult to hold long conversations because they quickly get caught up in Do-gyul's emotions.
To live freely without drawing attention from the Association or being monitored by national agencies, Do Gyul needed to control his abilities.
"How's Director Seo-hyun doing these days? Is she well?"
"Seo-hyun noona?"
"Yes."
He already called her noona. I'm glad they've become so close.
"Yeah, she's kind and nice. But…"
Do Gyul's smiling face darkened a little. He lowered his head and muttered in a low voice.
"She seems to be having a hard time with me."
"…"
Do Gyul must have noticed it. Even though Oh Seo-hyun tried to hide it.
With a conflicted look, I looked at Do Gyul and spoke.
"I told you before, it wasn't your illness that made you sick."
"…Yeah, you mentioned that I'm an ability user."
"Your ability… If you can't control it, it makes people around you feel the difficulty. Like you're in pain."
"…"
"It's okay, you'll get better with training."
"Training?"
I nodded at Do-gyul's question.
There weren't many hunters in Korea with mental skills. Let alone S-class. An expert to train him would probably have to be invited from abroad.
Even though Oh Seo-hyun could stabilise Do Gyeol's mentally devastated mind, she won't be able to provide much help in terms of abilities or skills. So, first of all, I had to find out what type of mental skill Do-gyul had.
"Do Gyul, can you bring up your status window?"
"Uh… Maybe?"
Looking a bit flustered, Do Gyul awkwardly moved his hand. And he looked at me as if he had summoned his status window.
"Move it there and check the skills part."
"Yeah, I saw it."
"Could you let me know what skills you have?"
"Hmm… that's…"
Do-gyul, who was staring into the air as if he was looking at his status window, opened his mouth after a while.
"The first one is ‘False Truth.' It's S-grade, and the ability is…"
Do Gyul started reading the contents of his skills from his status window. Seeing him so vulnerable, I raised my hand.
"Wait, wait. Do-gyul-ah."
"Yeah?"
"You shouldn't just tell everyone the details of your skills."
"Why?"
“What do you mean why?”
I felt perplexed when I saw his innocent face.
It was natural for a hunter to hide their skills to some extent. In fact, Han Yi-jin had hidden from Jang Tae-san that he had an auxiliary skill.
Skills were crucial for hunters.
To control other competing guilds or hunters, one must not reveal one's skills carelessly. After all, Do-gyul, who just found out that he was a hunter, definitely inexperienced.
I tried to explain the reasoning to him, but Do-gyul widened his eyes and spoke.
"But, hyung, you're not a stranger.”
"…"
I was momentarily speechless. The fact that Do Gyul trusted me like this made me happy and inexplicably stirred my heart. Why do I feel like this? Suppressing my panicking heart, I replied to Do Gyul.
"Well, it's true, but among hunters, we usually don't disclose our skills casually."
"…"
"Especially an S-class with a rare ability like yours, you have to be careful. You never know when something will happen.”
"… Okay."
Do Gyul pursed his lips as if he was dissatisfied, but nodded his head quietly at my words. I felt relieved and opened my mouth again.
“Then can you tell me roughly what kind of skills you have? Starting with the highest-level skill.”
"Well, um…"
Do-gyul looked through the contents of his skills with his eyes but he just smiled and closed his mouth. He couldn't get the words out easily. Do-gyul continued to tilt his head.
"What's wrong?"
"This… I don't know what it means."
"…?"
What kind of skill is it?
Feeling curious, I asked Do-gyul.
T/N: Will update C.81 tomorrow. C81 is available here if anyone can't wait. Also feel free to check out my new project. Thanks 🌹🌹