Chapter 9

　　"Hey, Uncle…"

　　I was washing Hamin’s hair and checking whether the curse had faded a little when I finally tuned in to the hundredth round of his "Hey, Uncle…"

　　"At our house, we have a really, really big pool. Do you like swimming, Uncle?"

　　"Not really."

　　To me, swimming was nothing more or less than flailing your limbs when you fell into water.

　　I rinsed the soft brown hair that slipped through my fingers, then used Splish-Splash to dry it lightly. In an instant, he was fluffy and dry. Halfway through putting on his blue pajamas with Bbani printed on them, Hamin suddenly flung himself into my arms.

　　"Sleepy already?"

　　"Mhmm…"

　　I finished tugging his pajamas on while he fussed sleepily, then ruffled his hair. He’d asked me to put him to bed, but once he was actually lying down, he didn’t seem sleepy at all; he chattered away, listing all the good things about his house.

　　He’d been pretending otherwise, but clearly, life here had been uncomfortable for him. Bragging about how soft his own bed was, he let out a small yawn.

　　"And then…"

　　How big was that house that he still had more to brag about?

　　I was debating whether to just knock him out with ‘Heavenly Conduct’, since it looked like Eunseong would show up early in the morning, when Hamin rolled over and wriggled into my arms.

　　"You know, it’s a secret."

　　"You’re not supposed to blab secrets."

　　"But I can trust you, Uncle."

　　Wearing a needlessly grave expression for a seven-year-old, he grabbed my pinky.

　　"That thing on my leg… my uncle has it on his heart, too."

　　With that, Hamin drifted off, breathing softly.

　　I waited until he was fully asleep, then rolled up his pajama pants and looked at the curse etched into his leg.

　　I already knew Eunseong was under the same curse. In the original story, the reason Hamin opened P’s Box was to save him.

　　Letting out a quiet sigh, I looked down at the sleeping kid. The reason he kept bragging these days was probably—no, definitely—because he wanted me to come to his house and suppress his uncle’s curse, too…

　　Sorry, but I couldn’t grant that request.

　　Partly because the memories of this body’s owner, Dohyun, wanted Eunseong dead. But more importantly, for me to go back to my original world, Hamin had to open P’s Box. And for that to happen, Eunseong had to be in danger.

* * *

　　"Uncle, aren’t you… going on a mission?"

　　"I’m taking today off."

　　I had to be ready; I had no idea when Eunseong would show up. As I stacked Hamin’s bags by the front door, he glued himself to my leg.

　　For once he didn’t babble, just fiddled with the strings of his hoodie in silence before suddenly asking, "Uncle, why do you always wear hoodies?"

　　"They’re the most comfortable."

　　If I pulled the hood up, I could avoid getting bodily fluids on me, and the front pocket held pretty much everything I needed. It’s very convenient.

　　"My uncle, he wears a uniform. Don’t you wanna wear a uniform too?"

　　Watching my face, Hamin hesitated, then whispered in a small voice.

　　"If I ask, the Guild Master might let you join White Domain."

　　Ha. Eunseong would kill me before that happened. And of course, Jiseong would never allow it, either.

　　Dohyun had harassed Eunseong so much that the entire Baek family hated even going near places he’d been. The fact that Hamin followed me around was the real mystery.

　　I wondered if, once he found out how much his uncle hated me, Hamin would still cling to me as he did now.

　　Also, why was Eunseong just "Uncle" and Jiseong "Guild Master"? The kid was way too drilled in hierarchy. Frowning, I felt Eunseong’s energy flow brush against my senses and stood up.

　　"Speak of the devil."

　　A vicious pounding rattled the door, and Hamin, terrified, latched onto me.

　　"It’s okay, it’s your uncle."

　　I soothed him and undid the lock. The door flew open like it was about to be ripped off its hinges.

　　"Hamin!"

　　"Uncle!"

　　Hugging Hamin tight, Eunseong checked his nephew over with gentle eyes. Wow. So that guy could make a face like that. I almost gagged, then met his gaze as his eyes narrowed.

　　"What the hell do you think you’re doing?"

　　‘Hell’? With an attitude like that, there was no way I could treat him nicely even if I wanted to. My own posture went crooked in response. At that moment, Hamin yanked on his uncle’s hair.

　　"Don’t talk to Uncle Dohyun like that!"

　　"Unc… what?"

　　Kicking off from Eunseong’s chest, Hamin jumped down and ran over to cling to my leg.

　　"Uncle Dohyun protected me! Why’re you talking like that?"

　　"What are you talking abou—"

　　"Looks like you ran over here without asking anyone what actually happened," I added.

　　I took in his usually neat hair, now a mess, and his dirty uniform, then shut the front door. I didn’t want to accidentally invite him in.

　　Handing Hamin back to him when the kid asked to be picked up, I summoned Ariadne’s Thread. As the tangled ball unraveled, the kidnappers rolled out onto the floor.

　　"Perpetrator, victim, witness, evidence."

　　I pointed in turn at the kidnapper, Hamin, myself, and the other kidnapper.

　　"I witnessed the kidnapping, and while we waited for his guardian to show up, I did the work of protecting the victimized child. Any other questions, Hunter Baek Eunseong?"

　　He seemed to finally grasp the situation. He stared at Hamin, who was plump and uninjured, then shut his mouth. A minute ago, he’d been radiating killing intent and growling; now he just stood there. I snorted.

　　He probably knew he should apologize, but the words wouldn’t come. No, he’d rather die than say them. Imagining myself in the same situation made goosebumps rise all over my body.

　　Clicking my tongue quietly, I held out the receipts I’d kept separate from Hamin’s luggage. I dropped them at arm’s length so I wouldn’t accidentally brush his hand, then waved at Hamin, who was stuck between us, not knowing what to do.

　　"Time to go."

　　Before I’d even finished speaking, Eunseong turned on his heel. Hamin, on the other hand, ran straight to me and latched onto my leg.

　　"Uncle, you come too."

　　"Hamin!"

　　At Eunseong’s voice, Hamin’s face crumpled. I sighed, already knowing what was coming.

　　"Uncle, come with meee…"

　　He flopped down in the hallway and looked up at me with big, watery eyes. I avoided his gaze and flicked my eyebrows at Eunseong.

　　It meant, Do something. But for once, he looked flustered, glancing between me and Hamin. Seriously, what kind of uncle didn’t know how to calm his own nephew?

　　Clicking my tongue, I crouched down to meet Hamin’s eyes.

　　"Hamin, stop."

　　"Hnng."

　　Even as he pouted, he clapped his tiny hands over his mouth. He clearly hated the idea of parting; tears welled up in his green eyes.

　　Wiping his tears, he grabbed my hoodie drawstring in one hand and Eunseong’s cloak in the other, and said, his voice trembling,

　　"Together…"

　　Together where, exactly? If you’re going to throw a tantrum, at least make it a coherent one. I dug in my pocket, pulled out a gummy, and popped it into his mouth.

　　"Cough."

　　"What was that? What did you feed him?"

　　Like someone about to pry open a puppy’s mouth after it ate something it shouldn’t, Eunseong demanded an answer. I tossed him the bag of gummies and met Hamin’s eyes.

　　"You remember my phone number, right?"

　　His mouth was too full to answer, so he just nodded and then held his arms out. The small warmth that hugged me wrapped tight around my neck.

　　"If you want gummies, call me."

* * *

　　A few days after Hamin went home, I fell into deep thought.

　　Up to now, the reasons Dohyun had worked as a hunter were to earn a living, and to use that money to sabotage everything Eunseong did.

　　But I didn’t need to do that anymore.

　　Not only did I have zero desire to get in Eunseong’s way—since I wasn’t the original Dohyun—I didn’t even want to get tangled up with him enough to see his face.

　　And I didn’t have to worry about living expenses. Because White Domain had paid an absolutely insane reward.

　　Maybe they were worried I’d make trouble later; when I first saw the amount deposited, I thought they’d added an extra zero by mistake.

　　So all I had to do now was figure out how to get back to my original world…

　　[Use Reading Ticket]

　　I flipped through the book floating in midair and scanned the required materials.

　　[(Salamander’s Egg 0/1), (Mosland’s Wing 0/1), (Seed of Hawanu 0/1), (Kraken’s Eyeball 0/1), (Red Death Scorpion’s Tail 0/1), (Dark Bat’s Claw 0/1), (Swamp Toad’s Venom 0/1), (Ballroom Chandelier 0/1), (M’s Key 0/1)]

　　…When was I supposed to get all this?

　　Every single one was rare. Even if I emptied my entire bank account, I couldn’t afford even one of them.

　　So, my options for getting home were: grind like a dog, earn a fortune, and buy each material one by one… or wait until Do Yudam turned twenty.

　　The odds of saving up enough to buy the materials were… close to zero. Which meant I had to wait for Eunseong to get poisoned…

　　I’d have to live here another ten years. For a moment, my vision went dark.

　　And even after ten years, I’d still have a problem. To enter dungeons, you needed a team, but thanks to the trash reputation Dohyun had built up, no guild would take him.

　　And it’s not like I was strong enough to solo dungeons.

　　Letting out a long sigh, I checked my account balance, then headed to the market that dealt exclusively in hunter goods.

　　I was embarrassed every time I had to sing to use Heavenly Conduct, and since I’d have to go back into the field soon, I needed some way to protect myself…

　　But for some reason, the merchants’ eyes on me were… not normal.

　　Dohyun, don’t tell me you stole from people, too? No, right?

* * *