STC chapter 19

I slowly lifted my eyelids. My feebly swaying arm and rigid shoulder came into view.

I sensed an unfamiliar scent. Ye Ilhu was carrying me.

I wondered if there had ever been a time I had been this close to him outside of sparring. As my limp body twitched, Ye Ilhu realized I had regained consciousness.

He turned his head toward me and asked,

“Hey, Kang Balbal. Are you awake…?”

Suddenly, Ye Ilhu’s face came very close to mine as he turned his head. Our breaths mingled, and I instinctively raised my upper body to distance myself from him.

‘Whoa… that was surprising.’

I thought I had become immune to being close to him, considering how he always tried to punch me in the face during our sparring sessions. But I was mistaken.

His breathtakingly handsome face, different from Ryu Min’s, suddenly appeared before me, and it felt like my breath caught in my throat.

No matter how much I didn’t consider men as romantic interests, sudden beauty was always something I could never get used to.

In any case, the hallway was familiar. The scene overlapped with what I saw yesterday while heading to the infirmary for cold medicine.

Could Ye Ilhu have personally carried me to the infirmary? That Ye Ilhu?

It’s true that meeting Ye Ilhu every morning had brought us closer than our first encounter. But we were still far from being as comfortable as I was with Jeong Yeonji or Heo Taekgyun.

Who knows what mean things he might say later to mock me. I squirmed on his back.

As I wriggled, Ye Ilhu reprimanded me sharply.

“What are you doing? Are you trying to fall off?”

“I can walk. Put me down.”

I wasn’t severely injured, just a simple fever. It seemed I had fainted for a moment because the fever was too high. It wasn’t something to make a big fuss over.

As I continued to squirm, Ye Ilhu sighed as if suppressing something and soon set me down on the floor.

I thought he’d just drop me like a sack of potatoes, but he even knelt on one knee to make sure I wouldn’t get hurt.

But the problem wasn’t Ye Ilhu. As soon as my feet touched the hallway floor, my legs gave out, and I staggered just like in the training room.

Once again, Ye Ilhu’s quick reflexes caught me. He frowned in displeasure, with an expression that screamed, ‘I knew this would happen.’

“Why do you insist on making things difficult for yourself when you could just take it easy?”

“Why do you always have to be so mean? I appreciate the help, but I can walk now.”

I was surprised he was helping me personally, but he probably regretted it halfway through. After all, what am I to him…

Then it happened.

Without any warning, Ye Ilhu slipped his hand behind my knees and lifted me up.

Already dizzy, my vision suddenly elevated, and I was lifted off the ground. Startled, I instinctively clung tightly to Ye Ilhu’s neck.

His scent, which had been faintly lingering, suddenly became much stronger.

Flustered, I stammered,

“Just put me down…”

“I get that you don’t want to be touched by me, but can you just stay still?”

Even though I was a grown man, he lifted me so effortlessly. It was a bit humiliating, more than I was grateful.

Ye Ilhu finally looked at me quietly as I remained still in his arms and spoke.

“I thought I finally met a decent opponent, but you’re weaker than I expected.”

“Are you mocking me?”

Already feeling humiliated by being in Ye Ilhu’s arms, his taunting only made my tone sharper.

But surprisingly, instead of his usual snarky retort, he looked genuinely taken aback. His sharp cat-like eyes widened as he gazed at me.

“That’s not what I meant.”

I had planned to defuse the situation with a sharp exchange of words, but… seeing the embarrassment in his silvery eyes drained my will to fight.

The atmosphere suddenly became strangely calm. Like a deflated soda, I shrank quietly in Ye Ilhu’s arms.

Anyway, I was grateful for the help. I finally thanked him.

“Thank you, Ye Ilhu.”

“…”

“And I never said I didn’t like being touched by you. Why would you think that?”

“Well…”

“I thought you were the one who didn’t like being close to me.”

Maybe it was the fever, making my mind foggy. Words I had kept locked up inside flowed out easily.

“Why would I.”

With his blunt response, my eyes began to droop again. The fever made me sleepy and groggy.

* * *

When I opened my eyes again, I was on a bed in the infirmary. Ye Ilhu seemed to have left after bringing me here, as it was completely quiet.

A square fever patch was stuck to my forehead. I sat up and looked around. The fever still hadn’t gone down, and now I had a slight headache.

‘…Ye Ilhu must have gone to the gate by now.’

He had mentioned only being able to spar early in the morning because he could be called to the gate at any time. I didn’t expect him to stay, but waking up alone felt a bit lonely.

It was a strange and unfamiliar experience. Previously, with my larger physique, no one had ever lifted me so effortlessly.

‘I guess I really can’t go back to my old body.’

It was bittersweet, but I had to get used to being in the small body of Kang Balbal.

Accepting this fact calmly made me feel a bit melancholic. I had to forget the athletic, sociable Kang Balbal.

“Is anyone there?”

My hoarse voice echoed in the air. My throat was dry. I wanted to call for someone, but my head was spinning too much to get out of bed.

There was no answer, no sign of anyone. I considered shouting again but decided against it as my head throbbed.

“I want some water.”

The thirsty dig their own wells. Just as I was about to get up, something square suddenly appeared in front of my eyes.

“Ahh!”

Letting out a bizarre scream, I toppled forward. Thankfully, my previous life’s training in falling prevented any injury, but I ended up sprawled awkwardly on the ground.

At least no one was around to witness my embarrassment.

“Ugh…”

Barely lifting my head from the floor, I looked above. The system window, which I had grown accustomed to seeing often, appeared out of nowhere.

I wasn’t mistaken. A slightly bluish, semi-transparent status window was floating in midair.

With a groan, I adjusted my posture. The floating system window glided smoothly to hover in front of me.

“What the…?”

It was one strange event after another. First, Ye Ilhu brought me to the infirmary himself when I collapsed, and now the system window appeared without any of the side characters around.

I decided to see what it had to say this time. But the content displayed was completely different from what it usually showed.

[System://wj durl… I’m here! ^ㅁ^]

It was as if… the system was talking to me.

But that couldn’t be. The annoying emojis and conversational tone were the same, but the system had never directly spoken to me before.

The system window only appeared to inform me of the affection levels when side characters showed interest in me.

“And now it’s talking to me?”

I muttered to myself. The system window wobbled up and down as if responding, then displayed a new message.

[System://To preserve the necessity of this world, I had to appear before the main player! Were you surprised? ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶]

Although it used a friendly tone, the system’s presence, which had only caused confusion until now, wasn’t particularly welcome.

Main player? Was it referring to me?

“What do you mean by that?”

The system window tilted from side to side.

[System://What do you mean?]

“You said main player… wait, never mind that. What do you mean by ‘the necessity of this world’?”

The system window seemed pleased with my interest. Assigning emotions to an inanimate object was silly, but that’s how it felt.

The system window bounced up and spun in a circle, then quickly moved closer and displayed new text.

[System://You’re right! You’re the main player, and the necessity of this world refers to the constraints placed on you! Also, as the main player, you must interact with the side characters, but avoiding them has caused you to fall ill! (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧]

I was at a loss for words. My head was already spinning with fever, and this was too much to process.

But the system window might disappear at any moment. I needed to stay calm.

“What do you mean by ‘necessity of this world’?”

I asked about the most ominous phrase.

[System://The necessity is the constraint placed on the main player! You must progress the game with the side characters, but you avoided them, so now your body is suffering!]

The system added an explanation to clarify my confusion.

It was getting worse. What was going on?

“Suffering… what do you mean? Wait, so what happens if I keep avoiding them?”

The system window cheerfully responded with a grim message.

[System://You’ll die!✧*｡٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و✧*｡]