Chapter 27

The reason I chose a piercing for Joo Seowon’s comm device was simple. First, I didn’t trust a guy like him to wear an accessory every day. Second, if I gave him one, he’d definitely use that excuse to slip it off whenever he felt like it.

Honestly, it also just seemed like a piercing would suit him.

Seowon shrank back, voice desperate.

“No, no! Wait a second. Then at least—what’s the function? What does it even do?”

“It’s a comm device. Didn’t I tell you I’d guarantee your safety? You’re not gonna contact me?”

“If it’s a comm device, it could be an earpiece, or a clip-on for clothes. Why the hell is it a piercing?”

“What if it falls out inside a dungeon?”

“Then why the fuck is mine a piercing when Do Yehyun’s is a ring?”

The way he scrambled to argue was almost funny. Of course Yehyun’s was a ring. I gave Seowon a look of pity.

“Yehyun’s... a healer, Seowon. What if he pierces his ear and then tries to heal it?”

“Then give me a ring too!”

“Why? This is more convenient.”

Seowon gripped my wrist tight to stop my hand from moving.

“Just... just because! And it’s not like I have to wear it all the time.”

Wrong. He did have to wear it all the time. It wasn’t just for communication; it was a tracker too. I didn’t care much where he or Yehyun went day-to-day, but if they ever tried stabbing me in the back, I needed to know from which angle.

And in a dungeon, tracking was essential. The Status Window had range limits. From my experiments, vision distance in a dungeon was a bit longer than outside, but outside it barely reached ten meters.

While I was mulling that over, Seowon picked up on it fast.

“...You stuck something weird in there, didn’t you?”

“Just a tracker.”

“Hey! Fuck, that’s the kind of thing you mention first!”

“So, you not doing it?”

Not like I was gonna force it through his ear if he refused. Worst case, I could convert it into a necklace or bracelet.

But instead Seowon screamed to himself, buried his face in his hands, rubbed like he was washing his face, then started acting nuts. Finally, he asked like he’d made some huge decision:

“...Is it gonna hurt a lot?”

How should I know. A needle’s punching through your ear—of course it’ll hurt.

But I smiled kindly and played with his ear.

“You’ll find out once we do it.”

“Fuck, it’s gonna hurt like hell, isn’t it?”

“If it hurts, just curse. You’re good at that.”

“You bastard.”

“Yep, like that.”

“Ah, you fucking bastard!”

See? Perfect.

Before his half-assed resolve faded any further, I quickly disinfected the area. Seowon flinched every time I touched his ear, all hunched up like a kid afraid of pain.

'It’s not like I’m shooting a bullet through it. What a drama queen.'

Hmm. I was going to pierce the cartilage, but a little lower might look better. Shouldn’t get caught in his hair either. Just in case, I pushed his hair back while holding his ear. Looks fine.

“...Just hurry the hell up, will you?”

Tch. Coward.

“Alright.”

“Hey, hey! Wait, wait. Let me count to three. Do it on three.”

For a single piercing, he had way too many demands. But I indulged his tantrum patiently.

“Fine. Count.”

“Huuh... one, AARGH! You son of a bitch!”

The moment he said “one,” I shoved the piercing needle straight through his ear.

As the needle punched through flesh, Seowon screamed.

“Aaagh—!”

I ignored it, quickly slid the piercing in, and locked it. Easier than I thought.

When I let go, Seowon brought his hand up to touch it, then trembled and pulled back. Not bad—holding out despite all that whining.

“See? Manageable.”

“You psycho son of a bitch.”

“You’re fine.”

I tuned out his curses and fiddled with the watch strapped to my wrist. Time to test it—location’s coming through....

“Go check yourself in the mirror.”

I was testing the comm function when Seowon glanced between me and the watch with disbelief.

“Fuck, Do Yehyun gets a ring, you get a watch, and mine’s a piercing?!”

“What about it.”

“Why the hell don’t you have a piercing, then?!”

What the hell kind of logic was that? Why would I pierce myself? I looked him up and down.

“You want matching couple piercings with me?”

“Fuck off....”

He dragged his hands down his face again, then fidgeted around his ear. The newly pierced ear was at least three times redder than normal.

“Don’t touch it. It’ll get infected.”

“...I’ve lived my whole life without a piercing and now this shit....”

What was he even mumbling. Still, he finally got up and headed to the bathroom. Once I was sure he was inside, I waited a bit, then spoke through the comm.

“Seowon.”

—Ah fuck! You bastard, you just wanted to test it!

“Works fine.”

Better than a phone, actually. The sound was practically like face-to-face conversation. After disconnecting, I waited. Sure enough, he came back quieter, hand covering his ear.

“What’s with you?”

“...I don’t know. Feels weird.”

“Looks fine.”

At that, Seowon frowned slightly, then muttered awkwardly:

“Coming from you, hearing that feels....”

Even compliments get this reaction.

Anyway, it was about time I made a call. I turned toward the TV, where the news was on.

[Unusual waves in the Sokcho dungeon... according to Haeseong’s guildmaster interview....]

'Hmm.'

The unknown number that had been blowing up my phone all this time was almost certainly {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Im Haekyung. Ever since the Sokcho clear, the calls had been relentless. No doubt about it.

The reason I hadn’t answered was simple.

'I’ve got nothing to say!'

I’d planned to pretend I was an empath, sure, but I never intended to reveal my other skills inside that dungeon. The plan was to let Im Haekyung do the heavy lifting, scoop up the SH Guild hunters, and hand them to Song Hwayoung, showing off my good heart and “empath” skill.

And hell, I hadn’t even known Mimic worked that way. Copying an S-rank skill for two seconds? Ridiculous. Even if I collapsed right after, an F-rank body spitting out that kind of firepower was broken.

Honestly, even if I told him, it wouldn’t cause a disaster. The Status Window would stop me from mentioning its own existence, but saying I had a related skill wasn’t blocked.

But still—

'Why the fuck should I?'

Even if he believed me, why spill all my cards? What if he decided to kill me just to steal the skill? Sure, I had Mental Strength, but at S-rank vs. S-rank it worked. In an F-rank body, the penalties would knock me flat.

And if someday I could actually block his mind-control, just having that ace in hand would be huge. Why throw it away by blabbing?

Really, all those excuses aside, the bottom line was: why the hell explain myself to Im Haekyung?

'If he doubts me, that’s his problem, not mine.'

If anything, I’d handed him free content for his boring life. He should thank me.

Still, I had one prepared repertoire in case he pressed too hard. Not that I’d give in easily—I planned to probe whether he had issues with SH Guild first. If he didn’t answer, I wouldn’t either.

The only thing that bothered me was his running the Night Market.

I’d checked: the Night Market was the most private of the hunter markets, which also meant it was a goldmine of information. No way a guy like Im Haekyung ran it just for profit. He wanted data—what hunters were buying, what they were doing, what rumors circulated inside.

'Time to start cleaning up this kind of rot. Even Korea’s top guild hoarding intel is bullshit.'

That said, I was low on items. Avoiding the Night Market wasn’t an option. Sneaking around would be hard, though.

Wait.

Why sneak at all?

If Haekyung was gathering intel to keep threats in check... was I really big enough to count as one?

“What are you thinking about?”

“The Haeseong guildmaster.”

I answered while staring at the news. Seowon’s face instantly went weird.

“Why?”

“No reason.”

“If you’ve got something to say, say it now.”

Pressed, he cleared his throat and asked seriously:

“That time in Sokcho—did something happen with him?”

“No.”

“He’s not trying to kill you, right?”

“...The fuck?”

...Wait. Could that actually be possible? I’d been dodging Haekyung’s calls for over ten days. Not because I wanted to cut ties—just because I had no excuse.

'Maybe I should set up a meeting.'

Time had flown faster than I thought with everything else going on—checking my own records, finding the missing house, moving Yehyun and Seowon in. I had my reasons.

My silence dragged, and Seowon asked again, voice uneasy.

“...He’s not trying to kill you, is he?”

“...Not impossible.”

“Hey! What the fuck did you do in there? No wonder I’ve been nervous. I watched his interview—he didn’t mention you at all, which is weird as hell.”

That was because he’d honored my request, dumbass. I ignored Seowon’s endless muttering and stood. I’d reach out to Haekyung soon. If he tried to kill me...

'Then I’d pray.'

If the Status Window had gods, maybe it was time I developed a hobby in faith. That’s why people pick religions, right? If it works, credit yourself. If it fails, blame God. Perfect setup.