* * *

I stood up.

This wasn’t the time to be preoccupied with traits.

I was in the middle of a dungeon.

If a rescue team came, they’d see me in this blood-drenched state.

No way was I letting anyone see me like this.

Especially not him.

If he heard about the blood vomiting, I’d have no explanation to give.

If a solution existed, I’d have sought advice.

But there was no way to resist a system-assigned trait.

If it were possible, I wouldn’t have lived such an accursed life until now.

“Ugh…”

“Heewon, don’t get up!”

“Heewon… be careful.”

“Meeeeow!”

“I’m fine…”

I managed to reply weakly.

Stripping off my blood-soaked clothes, I wiped away the remaining traces with whatever clean parts were left.

Then, I used an item to burn them and destroy the evidence.

The only spare clothes I had… were the ones Baek Gunho gave me.

There was no time to fuss over the giver, so I changed into them.

I just hoped I wouldn’t vomit blood again.

Feeling uneasy, I crouched behind cover with my gun drawn, waiting for rescue.

Clearing this dungeon would be a breeze, but if I did that, people would find out I was S-rank…

How much time passed, I couldn’t tell.

The sound of multiple footsteps grew closer.

Thinking it might be the rescue team, I stood up.

“…”

The person leading the group was none other than Baek Gunho.

“What are you doing here?”

“Got caught up in the dungeon.”

His response was nonchalant, and I frowned.

I meant, why did he get caught up in it?

The way Baek Gunho pretended not to understand was infuriating.

“Is this the friend you were looking for?”

Before I could snap at him, a schoolgirl standing behind him asked.

Baek Gunho nodded, and the girl’s eyes sparkled.

“Wow, how cool!”

What’s so cool about this?

Suppressing my annoyance, I chose not to react.

Fighting in front of others wasn’t an option.

“Are you hurt anywhere? Looks like there’s some blood…”

A boy standing beside the girl, who looked about my age or slightly younger, asked cautiously.

I must’ve missed some spots while cleaning up.

I waved my gun vaguely.

“Must’ve gotten splattered.”

“Oh… so you’re an Awakened.”

“Yeah. F-rank, though.”

The boy, who’d looked a bit expectant, visibly deflated at the mention of F-rank.

But his spirits quickly revived—after all, he was with Baek Gunho.

There wasn’t much to worry about.

“This is a closed dungeon.”

“…I know.”

“Don’t stress too much and follow me. Alright?”

Baek Gunho spoke in an oddly gentle voice, almost like coaxing a child.

Reluctantly, I nodded.

The monsters here weren’t strong.

At most, they were B-rank.

There were quite a few of them, but nothing Baek Gunho couldn’t handle.

Baek Gunho was strong.

With each regression, he grew more experienced and powerful.

Without my trait [Villain’s Qualities], which doubled my stats when committing evil, I wouldn’t have stood a chance against him.

Would I stand a chance now?

As memories of Seo Heewon’s traits and skills returned to me, so did the experiences.

In terms of experience, I wasn’t inferior to Baek Gunho. But…

✧✧✧

Name: Seo Heewon
Rank: S
Traits: Villain’s Qualities (EX)], Tamer (SS), Addicted State (A)
Skills: Shadow Nest (S), Burn Offering (S), Nightmare (S), Telekinesis (S), Sage’s Eye (S)]

Of these, the Tamer trait had lost its former strength due to a lack of tamed monsters.

The Burn Offering skill, which sacrificed tamed creatures to restore health, was out of the question.

The only usable skill I had now was [Nightmare].

If a fight broke out, I’d struggle to win unless I went full villain mode, collecting monsters left and right as the system seemingly expected.

And if anyone discovered my unstable trait and its berserk potential… would Baek Gunho lock me up somewhere again?

Thinking of the current Baek Gunho, I wanted to deny it.

But remembering the past him, I couldn’t be sure.

If that happened… I’d…

✧✧✧

“Excuse me…”

While I watched Baek Gunho slaughter monsters, a student called out to me.

I forced a smile and turned to them.

“What is it?”

“Is it true Baek Gunho Hunter is dating Moon Haeyoon?”

“…”

My energy drained at the absurd question.

Just when I thought they’d ask something serious, it turned out to be gossip.

Casting Baek Gunho a sidelong glance, I shook my head.

“No, that’s a baseless rumor.”

“Really? Aww…”

The student pouted, disappointed. Watching this, the boy beside her spoke up.

“Then… does that mean…”

“Yes?”

“Are you… dating Baek Gunho?”

“…”

I stared at him, dumbfounded.

Of all the things he could’ve asked, this wasn’t one I’d anticipated.

Realizing how ridiculous he sounded, the boy quickly backtracked.

“Ah, no, it’s just… there are rumors online. It was a joke!”

“Yes. That’s a baseless rumor too.”

Thanks to Baek Gunho and that old man, I’d occasionally browsed Hunter forums, so I was aware of such rumors.

But I never imagined someone would ask me directly.

At that moment, Baek Gunho, having finished off the monsters, wiped the blood off his blade and approached.

“It’s not entirely baseless, though.”

“……What?”

“I’m chasing you. I want us to date.”

Both the student and the man stared at him, mouths agape.

I shot a surprised look at Baek Gunho.

“Are you crazy?”

“Why? It’s the truth.”

“……”

“You don’t believe me even though I could treat you well?”

Baek Gunho said, gazing at me.

The more he spoke, the worse it seemed for him, so it was probably better not to respond.

“Let’s go.”

Instead of saying more, Baek Gunho turned around and led the way.

The student and the man alternated glances between us before following Baek Gunho.

Reluctantly, I had no choice but to follow him.

As soon as the monsters appeared in droves and Baek Gunho went to fight, the two of them crowded around me.

“Is it true? I’ll keep it a secret.”

“……It’s not true.”

“Really?”

“If it were true, I’d still deny it…”

“Oh, I see.”

“That’s right.”

“……It’s really not like that.”

“It’s okay, I’ll keep it a secret.”

“Me too. No one would believe it anyway.”

Neither of them seemed to listen to me.

I barely managed to swallow a sigh and glared at Baek Gunho.

My head was spinning, but I wasn’t sure if it was because of the blood loss or the mental attack.

I just wanted to get out of the dungeon quickly.

Baek Gunho continued to crush the dungeon with ease.

He soon took care of the dungeon’s boss monster without much trouble.

“……”

I stared at the fallen boss monster.

Even though it had nothing to do with me, the sight of it lingered in my mind.

It might be one of the monsters I had tamed countless times, though I couldn’t remember.

I forced myself to look away and headed for the exit leading out of the dungeon.

Outside the dungeon, hunters from the Hunter Administration were stationed.

They seemed to have no idea that Baek Gunho had gotten caught up in the dungeon, and upon seeing him, they looked greatly relieved.

After greeting the two who had been trapped in the dungeon, I was about to head home when Baek Gunho started following me.

“Are you hurt?”

“……”

“You look pale.”

Maybe it was because I had just bled.

Rather than telling him the truth, I ignored Baek Gunho and walked ahead.

However, despite being ignored, he stubbornly followed me.

“You should get checked out.”

“……”

“I checked the drug Woo Hoyeon had, and it’s definitely not a strong enough drug to make you suffer like this. If you were affected by that kind of medicine… there must be something wrong with you.”

I glanced back at Baek Gunho.

For now, it seemed like he was concerned… but I wondered if he had any ulterior motives.

However, I didn’t bother asking.

“I’m fine.”

“Don’t just say you’re fine.”

Frustrated, Baek Gunho reached out toward me, hesitated awkwardly, then withdrew his hand.

As we walked, my house came into view.

“Heewon.”

Just as I was about to enter, Baek Gunho called me once more.

“Get checked.”

“……Alright. I’ll go see Hyung.”

I reluctantly responded.

If I kept being stubborn, he’d tell my uncle, and I didn’t want to add more worries for him.

I entered the house and opened my status window again.

Seeing the unchanged stats from before, I sighed.

It would be better if something abnormal showed up in the test.

That way, at least I could rule out the possibility that the blood I coughed up was caused by this ability.

I staggered to the bathroom, took a quick shower, and crawled into bed.

Whether it was just my mood, I felt cold and shivery.

I closed my eyes and drifted into a deep sleep.

As always, my dreams were nightmares.

* * *