The contract I brought in drew everyone’s attention. The party members carefully read through the contract, nodding along until they exploded at one point.
“This damn b*tch! What does ‘cut’ mean? I’m going to go deal with her right now—!”
As expected, it was Bae Joo-ah who lost her cool first. It took Ah-rin to stop Bae Joo-ah, who looked ready to storm out.
“Just let it be. By my standards, she’s already paid enough.”
“Oh come on, that’s frustrating. If she opens a portal to magic again, she’s going to come for you first, you know?”
“I just need to get stronger! And with this, she’ll be rotting in jail for a few years; by that time, she’ll forget all her abilities!”
“Well, there’s that, but… it still feels off…”
Joo-ah eventually sat back down, disheartened after Ah-rin’s persuasion. She kept glancing at Heo Min-sol’s house, looking like she couldn’t easily let it go.
‘I feel uneasy too, but if she says it’s on her…’
“How can she be so thoughtless? Doesn’t she think about what she’s done?”
“We should take action…”
“It’s fine!”
On the way here, Ah-rin had told Heo Min-sol she wouldn’t touch her anymore. I just followed suit. Honestly, if I think about her little sister, it might be better to just clean it up neatly, right? Hm. Well, she’ll figure it out.
Whether it caused trouble years later or just fades away like this, it’s no longer my business.
Anyway, since the rest of the contract wasn’t far from what I expected, we could calmly proceed.
“This should be enough evidence. Yoon Il-wol, can you confirm that the magic used in this pact belongs to Heo Min-sol?”
Tap-!
“Ha-ha! Yes! That b*tch Heo Min-sol better have some tough time in jail!”
Joo-ah wore a triumphant smile. Even though it wasn’t her ordeal, she seemed more satisfied than the one directly involved, probably due to the many stories she had heard from Ah-rin.
Baek Ah-rin finally exhaled a sigh of relief.
“Thank you, Yeon-hee!”
“Huh? Oh, no. What did I do? It’s all thanks to Il-wol—”
“Il-wol is yours, so it’s essentially what you did!”
“That’s true.”
After hearing Joo-ah and Ah-rin, Yeon-hee’s lips curled into a smile.
“My, my part… right. Well, um…”
In a whispering voice, Yeon-hee slowly placed her hand over mine. It was as if she adeptly found the right spot even though it wasn’t visible. Her sensing ability is really getting better…
Anyway, we decided to leave. Heo Min-sol would definitely face punishment, but investigations into the theft could also take place later on, so there was no need to linger here and deal with annoyances.
*
That night, Yeon-hee went into her room at midnight like the night before but didn’t lock her door. Of course, she did hesitate for a moment at the door.
For thirty minutes, she lay in bed wide awake, muttering something to herself.
She now knew that I could detect even the smallest sounds if I focused, so she kept her voice low, just murmuring to herself.
I had given her a slight push until we left the gate, so now it was time to pull her closer. Still, I shouldn’t push her to the peak like I did a few days ago; that would only put her in an awkward position.
Nevertheless, I needed to create a situation she could expect.
After thirty more minutes passed.
– Guide Yoon Han-gyeol successfully activated [Mimicry].
“Oh my head…”
I held my throbbing head, trying to piece together memories amidst the flood of information. I needed to find another ‘Great Evil One’ to gain Nam Yong-seok’s abilities.
Several names came to mind, but honestly, there wasn’t a single weakling among them. Most were already in their prime or had surpassed that stage. In short, no one seemed manageable with my current abilities.
‘One guy does come to mind, but… it’s impossible to catch him right now.’
I might not even reach a Great Evil One, but one notorious villain flashed in my mind.
A guy known for capturing villains and dubbed the ‘Crazy Judge.’ His blank mask appeared above my head.
At first, the general public cheered for him as he took out some troublesome villains.
But as time passed, he began to label even hunters—who were hard to call villains by any standard—as evil and started killing with a judgment he decided on his own.
Over two hundred hunters he killed weren’t judged enough to deserve death by his standards. Among them were plenty of high-rank hunters, contributing significantly to the world’s imminent collapse.
‘Hmm… while he has quite the infamous reputation, he doesn’t come close to Nam Yong-seok…’
Even if he doesn’t fit into the criteria of a Great Evil One, if I capture him, I’ll at least get a rough picture of what level of scum would meet those conditions.
He began his activities in earnest two years from now, and currently, he’s probably busting dungeons while hiding his true nature.
Calculating that period backward, I estimated his current rank to be between upper C-rank and mid B-rank. It would be worth attempting after my third job change when I grow stronger.
But there was one thing that bothered me.
‘Gravity manipulation is going to be… tricky to deal with.’
He possesses a uniquely powerful ability: gravity manipulation. There’s talk that hunters with rare abilities get an extra 0.5 ranks on their capability scoring. In the worst-case scenario, if his ability was mid B-rank, he would actually wield strength enough to qualify as the bottom of A-rank.
‘Okay. I’ll keep this information for now; who got caught today?’
I activated [Mimicry] and checked my mini-map for any scheming groups.
‘Huh? None today either. I’m getting a bit disappointed at this point.’
Two days in a row with no hits. The devious group was over 10km away, and I didn’t feel any oddities in our neighborhood.
‘Could it be that this neighborhood has finally found peace!’
Feeling that I played a part in that brought a slight sense of pride.
After clearing my throat, I called out.
“Ahh— Yeon-i. I am Il-wol. (I am Il-wol.)”
Good. Definitely getting better. I never thought I’d enjoy growing in language skills alongside combat prowess. I nod with satisfaction while glancing at my reflection in the mirror.
‘Was my face always this pale?’
But I wasn’t interested in my face. I glanced down at my attire.
Tie, suit jacket. Still the same.
I had tried a few experiments, but things I took off disappeared along with the termination of [Mimicry] and returned to normal when I activated it again. I might be able to use this someday; better remember that.
After adjusting my clothing, I naturally opened Yeon-hee’s door and walked in.
“Ugh…!”
As the door opened, Yeon-hee quickly inhaled and covered her mouth with her hand. Wrapped in her blanket, she curled up, trying to hide herself as much as possible.
I didn’t bother pulling away the blanket she was hiding under. Today, I wasn’t planning on holding her or anything.
I lay next to her, waiting quietly. Yeon-hee peeked out, glancing at me.
“……”
When I smiled at her, she jumped back startled, burying her head back under the blanket. Not like a meerkat or anything—cute.
But when I showed no reaction, she uncovered her face again, eventually meeting my gaze.
The awkward time between us melted away, and we quickly resumed our normal relationship. Even though we lay silently in the same space, it felt completely natural.
“Phew… Hehe…”
Yeon-hee finally couldn’t hold in her laughter. I slowly moved closer to her, and we found ourselves again in that perfect distance—not too close, not too far.
Her heart started to thump fast, but this was still within acceptable limits; she wouldn’t be uncomfortable with this closeness.
Gently, I placed my hand on her head, giving it a light rub. The sound of my fingers gliding through her hair was quite pleasant.
“Ah…”
I swept her hair back softly while giving her ear a little touch too.
“…!”
Yeon-hee jerked back, surprised by my touch. Her flushed cheeks and bewildered expression seemed to ask what I was doing.
I gestured for her to come closer again.
She approached shyly, taking little steps towards me—now she’s obedient.
Again, I placed my hand on her ear, taking care of her earlobes. She still squirmed, but it didn’t look like she disliked it. She even playfully squinted one eye while her lips curled upwards.
I gently touched her not-yet-chubby cheeks and continued to pet her hair, showing my affection just like one would to an adorably cute puppy.
Slowly, her head began to follow my hand movements. Today, I was only using one hand… maybe I could use the other elsewhere… no, that might be too soon.
Her breath quickened, stuttering twice, three times, as she began to exhale. Could I send her off just by caressing her face? Honestly, if time allowed, I believe so.
“Haa… Hah…”
After a few minutes of delighting her, she started to warm up. Her eyes closed gently, and she began rubbing her face against my hand eagerly.
‘Well then.’
This seems like it’s time to stop.
I pulled my hand back without regret, and Yeon-hee looked up at me with wide eyes, as if waking from a pleasant dream.
After staring at me blankly for a moment, she showed a glimpse of disbelief as if to say, ‘Is that it?’
I’ve never seen that kind of expression before. It’s overflowing with amusement—hard to hold back a laugh. I can’t believe I’ve missed this kind of fun all this time.
But I stood up as if nothing had happened, and Yeon-hee rose alongside me without realizing it.
Sitting awkwardly, looking up at me, her posture resembled a baby bird waiting for food. Hm… should I give her just a little more?
I knelt down closer to her. Bringing my head near her collarbone.
“Haah…”
Yeon-hee shut her eyes tightly for a moment. I took a second to appreciate the sweet scent floating from her neck, then I did what I wanted to do.
Smooch—
“Ugh!”
I kissed Yeon-hee’s cheeks, blushing like spring flowers bloomed. Her eyes widened even further in surprise.
When I tilted my head and smiled, she sheepishly brought her tiny hands to cover her already small face and buried her head low.
“… Ugh… Hiiing…”
Yeon-hee seemed on the brink of tears as if asking me why I did that, squirming away.
I gently caressed the back of her head while she hung her head down. Her shoulders trembled with my touch. The warmth radiating from her hair was extremely pleasant. I gently scratched her scalp with my fingers.
“Ugh…! Eek…! Mmm…”
After a few more gentle strokes to her head and ears, I slipped out of her room. I felt the gaze piercing through me from behind her curled fingers, still hiding her face. I must have overdone it a bit.
‘This is tough.’
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