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Chapter 12
“You have something to say—something to say…?”
The man’s firm voice echoed in my head.
“Yes?”
At the same time, the question ‘No way?’ took over my thoughts.
No way, no way. It can’t be, right?
Turning my body like a creaking robot, I looked behind me and saw a man tilting his head slightly as he looked down at me.
Gulp. I swallowed without meaning to. The sound rang abnormally loud, and my anxiety only grew.
“What…?”
Kang Jinseo didn’t answer my question. He simply stared at me and lifted one eyebrow.
As if to say, ‘You know exactly why.’
My wandering eyes drifted through the air, and my mouth went dry.
‘No way’ turned into ‘How?’
Mimi clearly said it would be hard to find me! So how did he track me down this fast?
As my thoughts spun in chaos, I suddenly noticed the phone screen of the man standing next to Kang Jinseo.
A single photo attached to a post searching for the Mapo District Hero.
“Ah.”
That was when I realized.
The black-furred alien from beyond Earth was weak against the technology called the internet.
“……”
As if he had read the change in my expression, he turned his back and began walking away.
Then he glanced back at me and tilted his head.
A silent pressure telling me to stop talking and follow him.
Tap, tap.
For a while, two sets of footsteps with different strides echoed quietly through the hospital corridor.
As I hurried after his retreating figure, my head felt like it was about to explode.
‘I’ve definitely been found out.’
In that case, there were only two possible attitudes I could take.
Grovel and beg for forgiveness, or brazenly shove a labor contract in his face.
Which would work better on a man as stiff as artificial intelligence?
As we left the VIP Hunter-only area and entered a corridor used by general patients, the hallway grew noisy.
“I-It’s Kang Jinseo!”
“Gasp! I’m a fan!”
Patients who recognized him began filling the corridor.
Several bodyguards who had been quietly following behind me stepped forward to restrain them and clear a path.
Kang Jinseo, as if accustomed to such situations, simply kept walking forward.
Watching his broad back—receiving everyone’s cheers and praise—while I trailed behind him made me oddly embarrassed.
By the time we reached the rooftop,
he stopped and turned to face me.
An indifferent gaze, firm lips, raised chin.
Every expression and gesture seemed to say the same thing.
You need to apologize first.
“Then I’ll stand guard outside.”
The man holding my photo stepped out onto the rooftop, left Kang Jinseo behind, and closed the door.
At the same time, I felt a thin magical barrier envelop the entire rooftop.
The sound of wind and traffic disappeared all at once.
“……”
It felt as though we had been left completely alone in a sealed space.
After resentfully staring at the tightly shut door, I slowly turned around.
He was leaning slightly against the rooftop railing with his arms crossed.
Even just standing there, he looked like a painting drawn against the blue canvas of the sky.
“Long time no see.”
“Y-Yeah… it has been.”
When did the man who once looked like he wanted to devour me start greeting me so normally?
Unable to hide my awkward expression, I nodded in greeting.
But that was the end of the pleasantries. At the training institute and in society alike, there hadn’t been any real connection between us.
So there was only one reason he would call me out separately. Yes, that had to be it.
“Shall I say it, or will you?”
A thin sigh escaped my lips.
I didn’t even need to hear what he was going to say.
He’d blame me.
Do you know the trouble I’ve been through because you hid your awakening and suddenly disappeared? Why did you conceal your identity and cause all this chaos?
He’d pour out all sorts of sharp words.
The entire world focused on his every action and word, crying out for him to save them. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the burden he carried.
‘He must be… really angry.’
I squeezed my eyes shut.
From what I’ve learned in life, in situations like this, a quick apology is the only answer.
“I’m sorry! You must’ve been put in a very difficult position because of me!”
“……”
“I absolutely didn’t hide it on purpose! I never meant to pin it on you either, sunbae!”
The first words were the hardest; once I started, the rest came easily.
Rambling on without even knowing what I was saying, I kept repeating excuses and apologies.
“It was such a sudden awakening, and I really thought there was no way someone my age could awaken. You know that! And falling into the Gate was terrifying… but when I heard you were the raider, sunbae, I felt relieved in my own way. So…”
“I understand.”
“Excuse me?”
“I understand wanting to hide the fact that you awakened.”
I blinked blankly.
Did I hear that correctly?
Not blame or insults, but… understanding?
“I would’ve done the same.”
His flat voice and monotone delivery carried a deep exhaustion in that single offhand remark.
How could I not know?
Being Korea’s Rank 1 and the world’s Rank 5 meant standing in a position where people remembered the number he failed to save more than the number he rescued.
It was a place more accustomed to resentment—why didn’t you save them?—than gratitude.
I had no choice but to close my mouth.
It suddenly hit me that I had placed yet another burden on someone who had already lived—and would continue to live—such a grueling life.
I had been selfish.
“I’m sorry.”
“I didn’t call you here to hear that.”
He uncrossed his arms and rested his elbows on the railing.
“If you want, I can take the blame all the way.”
“What?”
“You can live normally.”
Our gazes collided midair. After a strange silence, he spoke again.
“You look like you want to ask why.”
“Of course. I thought you’d demand a press conference immediately.”
For a moment, a crack appeared in his stiff expression.
A low chuckle escaped him.
“I’d love to.”
Unlike before, his voice had softened, like newly blooming cherry blossoms.
‘So he can make a voice like that, too.’
“So? Should I do it, or not?”
“……Please do.”
Meeting his gaze head-on, I answered clearly.
“But I’m not asking you to do it for free.”
I swallowed and pulled a sheet of paper from my coat. As if reading my mind, the paper floated up and fluttered before his eyes.
Soon, with surprised eyes, he grabbed the contract.
“These are the things you can gain if you take the blame for me. Please read the terms carefully.”
After quickly reading through it, he sucked in a breath and straightened his lazily leaning body.
“You…!”
For someone famous for not showing a single emotion even with a blade at his throat or a horde of monsters charging at him, this level of reaction meant he was truly shocked.
He hesitated for a moment, then strode toward me. It took only a few steps before he stood right in front of me.
An emotion somewhere between urgency and excitement flickered faintly across his face.
“You can… cure addiction?”
“Yes. If you sign a contract with me.”
“Ha.”
Still biting his lip as he looked down at me, he lifted his head and gazed at the sky. I couldn’t see his face because of his height, but the tightly clenched fist seemed to reveal his turbulent emotions.
Soon, a thin, trembling sigh escaped his lips.
“……Sign it. With me.”
He held out the contract. Taking it, I asked carefully,
“The condition is that you clear all the Maze Gates within three weeks—no, within twenty days. Is that okay?”
“Anything.”
There wasn’t even a trace of hesitation in his eyes. As if he would willingly accept it even if the end of clearing the Gates meant death.
So I didn’t argue further.
‘Let’s see, the contract method was written at the very end of the terms.’
I had read the terms, but I had never bothered memorizing the contract method written all the way at the bottom.
I slowly began reading it.
[The method of concluding the labor contract is as follows…….]
Soon, my face turned red like a burning tomato.
‘W-What kind of contract method is this…!’
