EFME 11

[‘Traveler of the Eternal Night’ advises you to worry about when he was sick.]

The constellation’s advice didn’t really resonate with him. Even if he had been sick, he couldn’t remember it at all. When he let it slide, it started to nag, but Sunyul ignored it with practiced ease.

After getting ready to leave, he went down to the first floor to find Muyoung eating breakfast at the dining table. It would be nice if we could eat together. After briefly thinking that, Sunyul sat on the sofa and engrossed himself in his smartphone.

At first, he had tried searching for various things on the internet, but there were times he would unexpectedly see stories about himself and get hurt.

Noticing this, Muyoung advised him not to use the internet as much as possible when he was alone. Sunyul diligently followed his advice to just ask if he was curious about anything.

What Sunyul was doing now was a game called ‘Squishy Farm.’ It was a game where you hired various animals, assigned them to facilities to grow crops, processed the harvested crops to make goods, and then sold those goods.

When he logged into the game, icons popped up everywhere, indicating that the production of crops and various other products was complete.

Sunyul diligently harvested the crops and started new production. A variety of animals like dogs, cats, rabbits, deer, and tigers began to move about busily, starting their work. Seeing their cute forms, Sunyul smiled without realizing it.

Next, he looked at the requests from his in-game friends and gifted them the items they asked for. In reality, everyone disliked Lim Sunyul, but in the game, they approached Lim Sunyul without hesitation.

Sunyul’s heart grew warm even from the small act of sharing items. After scraping together all his items to complete the requests, he saw Muyoung finish his meal and stand up.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay!”

Sunyul turned off the game and followed Muyoung. Now quite used to it, he went to the garage, got into the passenger seat, and fastened his seatbelt.

He had grown quite accustomed to the scenery outside, but he still enjoyed looking at it.

Entering the break room of the Guild Master’s office, which had completely become Sunyul’s hideout, Sunyul picked up a book from the side table. It was a book from the library on the 24th floor of the Cheongyeon Guild.

The humanities book, which Muyoung had chosen for him when they went together, was Muyoung’s selection, taking into account Sunyul’s wish to learn common knowledge.

Sunyul read the book all morning. After finishing the entire book and playing Squishy Farm for a bit, Muyoung knocked on the door. Yes, he answered cheerfully, and the door opened.

“Come out for a second. We have guests.”

“……”

“They’re not scary people, so don’t worry.”

Noticing he was momentarily frightened, Muyoung spoke reassuringly. Sunyul nodded and came outside.

There, two strangers were sitting on the sofa with Kim Jaehoon. It was a man and a woman, and they looked so strangely similar that they seemed to be siblings.

“This is Park Heena and Park Haemin. They’re item crafters and……”

“Why did you introduce me second?!”

Haemin protested, cutting Muyoung off. Muyoung sighed.

“It’s in Korean alphabetical order.”

“Do it in alphabetical order.”

“Love the Korean language, Park Haemin,” Heena said sullenly. Haemin loudly argued that he couldn’t accept it. Jaehoon sighed and shook his head.

“You’re both such brats, honestly.”

“Shut up.”

“Shut up.”

Heena and Haemin spoke at the same time, then got annoyed with each other again. In a way, the two of them seemed to get along well.

[‘Traveler of the Eternal Night’ advises you that they’re foolish, but they’re more useful than they look, so you should try to get on their good side.]

How does it know those two are useful? The constellation didn’t answer his question. Instead of probing further, Sunyul sat down quietly and waited. Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long.

“If you two don’t behave, I’m kicking you both out.”

“Sorry.”

“Sowwy.”

Thanks to Muyoung suppressing both of them at once.

“The two of them are twins. They’re famous for awakening at the same time. Of course, what’s most famous are their abilities.”

At Jaehoon’s explanation, the siblings’ noses shot up into the air.

“I’m Park Heena. My Hunter name is ‘Rich Overnight,’ and I have an S-rank Alchemy skill.”

“I’m Park Haemin. My Hunter name is ‘Landlord.’ I have an S-rank Item Crafting skill.”

“Don’t copy my introduction.”

“You’re the one who stole the introduction I was going to give.”

After a brief snarl, the two ended their fight by turning their heads away from each other. However, the heads that had turned to opposite sides soon faced forward again.

“And you’re Lim Sunyul.”

“The hottest item these days.”

“Can I try using alchemy on you?”

“Can I try using you as a material?”

You said they weren’t scary……. Sunyul recoiled from the two who were getting in his face.

“You must want to die.”

As Muyoung murmured lowly from the side, the siblings quickly tucked their tails between their legs and backed off. Muyoung warned them coldly.

“I told you to keep it within reasonable limits.”

“Then what’s the limit?”

Haemin, having regained his composure, grumbled.

“The limit of what you can do to a person.”

“It’s okay to take a closer look, right?”

“Lim Sunyul, are you okay with that?”

At Muyoung’s question, Sunyul nodded his head.

“I’m okay.”

Before he could even finish his answer, the siblings approached Sunyul. Then they began examining him all over, touching his skin or using unidentifiable skills. Sunyul stiffened at the excessive contact.

[‘Traveler of the Eternal Night’ is indignant, asking how dare they touch someone he can’t even touch.]

Between Heena and Haemin touching him all over and spouting incomprehensible words, and the constellation saying strange things, it was utter chaos.

“Ah, but your skin is soft.”

“Seems softer than the average for men.”

“Does it hurt if I press? How about it?”

“That much doesn’t hurt……. That last one hurt.”

Even in the midst of the chaos, Sunyul diligently answered the questions thrown at him.

“Hmm, it leaves a mark. This much would be like a non-awakened… do awakened people get marks like this too?”

“They said his regeneration is good.”

“I can’t just feed him poison to check……. No, I’m saying I won’t feed him anything.”

“Hey, there’s a mole here too.”

“Oh, for real. If it was artificially made, they probably wouldn’t have implemented moles.”

“They could have been aiming for realism. Do you have moles anywhere else?”

“I’m not sure about that.”

At Sunyul’s answer, Haemin licked his lips. Then, he slyly grabbed Sunyul’s clothes.

“Let’s see.”

“Ah. W-wait……”

[Stop.]

Just before Haemin’s hand could lift Sunyul’s clothes, Muyoung’s Command was activated. Haemin and Heena froze stiff, and only became free after Muyoung released the skill.

“I didn’t lift it, why me too.”

“Can’t I just take a little peek?”

“Peek at what. There’s not much difference from a human.”

At Muyoung’s words, Haemin’s expression suddenly turned serious.

“Have you seen it? All of it?”

“Yes.”

“How is it? Does it look the same?”

“It’s the same.”

“It’s the same? All of it?”

“Yes.”

Heena and Haemin’s eyes widened.

“Even if he is an item……”

“This kid looks like he’s around twenty, and Hunter Kwon Muyoung is over thirty, but all of it……”

“Don’t tell me… you haven’t laid a hand on him, have you?”

[Get out.]

The Command was mercilessly activated. Being controlled by the Command and walking out on their own feet, Heena and Haemin began to shout desperately.

“W-wait! Just a second!”

“We’re sorry! We won’t mess around!”

“Trust us just one more time!”

“Ah, seriously. Please. For the sake of our friendship, just once!”

After much pleading, Heena and Haemin barely managed to return to their seats. Sunyul stared at the two, who looked a bit exhausted, with an awkward gaze.

Amidst this, Haemin spoke up, looking extremely cautious.

“Can I ask just one more thing.”

“What.”

“By any chance, have you confirmed if it’s functional?”

“……”

Muyoung’s face became the coldest it had been so far. With an aura that suggested he might throw him off the 28th floor, Haemin hurriedly made an excuse.

“No, it’s an important question! If it’s functional, that means reproduction is possible, which means the likelihood of him being a living creature increases!”

“That’s……”

It seems to make sense. Everyone’s gaze fell on Sunyul. Sunyul’s face was beet red.

“He feels shame, too.”

“Treat him like you would a human.”

At Muyoung’s frosty warning, Heena clicked her tongue.

“Picky, so picky……”

“I wonder if he has some kind of charm ability.”

“I’m suspicious of that too.”

Jaehoon, who had been listening quietly to the conversation until now, chimed in. Heena and Haemin’s gazes simultaneously turned to Jaehoon.

“Kwon Muyoung isn’t a man who falls for things so easily. But he’s doting on this one like he’s his own kid.”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

Heena and Haemin once again examined Sunyul. Except for the fact that he was obtained from a dungeon, he looked and felt just like a human, no matter how they looked at him.

“Well then, putting aside whether it’s functional or not. Can we go into a dungeon as we first requested?”

“I don’t think it’s necessary to go all the way to a dungeon.”

Muyoung was reluctant. He didn’t feel it was necessary for the investigation of Sunyul to be conducted in a dungeon. The fact that Sunyul probably wouldn’t want to go also played a part.

“You got him from a dungeon. I think we need to go to a dungeon to know for sure.”

“We’re not suggesting going to the S-rank dungeon where he was originally found, are we? Just going into any old dungeon is fine.”

Instead of retorting right away, Muyoung fell into thought.

He could just ignore a request like this. But if Heena and Haemin acknowledged that Sunyul wasn’t an item, it would help with public opinion. That was the reason he had called them in the first place.

At the very least, the number of people insisting they had to find a use for Sunyul as an item would decrease.

In the end, after much deliberation, Muyoung nodded his head.

“Do as you please. But we’re going into a D-rank dungeon.”

“Sounds good!”

Having been roped into going to a dungeon out of the blue, Sunyul looked at Muyoung anxiously. Muyoung reassured him.

“A D-rank dungeon is nothing, so don’t worry.”

“……Okay.”

“If worse comes to worst, use one of those two as a shield. They don’t have combat abilities, but they’re S-rank, so they’re pretty sturdy.”

“If you’re going to use a shield, use Park Haemin.”

Hearing Heena’s quick reply, Haemin glared at her, his eyes blazing.

“No, use Park Heena. She has a lot of fat, so there’ll be plenty for the monsters to chew on.”

“What the hell, you wanna die?”

“I don’t want to die, that’s why I’m telling them to let it chew on you.”

“I oughta just.”

Heena and Haemin started growling at each other. It was truly a chaotic scene. Muyoung ignored them and began to search for a dungeon.