ETHTKE chapter 3

“A contract.”

Baek Yigang’s single word echoed through the air.

Soon, a well-pressed bronze-colored parchment appeared out of thin air, slowly floating towards me.

“Here, sign it, Cheong Dowoon.”

Baek Yigang’s voice was clear as he spoke from behind the paper that was suddenly thrust in front of me.

What the…? Where did this ridiculously long and large contract come from all of a sudden?!

“Wait, wait a second. When did you even prepare something like this?!”

“Is there a problem?”

At my question, Baek Yigang tilted his head nonchalantly to the side.

Seeing him like that, I was left speechless by the absurdity of it all.

“We’ve only known each other for less than an hour, and you pull out a contract like you’ve been waiting for this moment… Does that make any sense…?”

And the writing is so tiny and crammed! I can’t make out a single word of it…!

“You seem to be easily startled by trivial things.”

But Baek Yigang still looked at me as if he couldn’t understand my reaction at all.

And to call this a ‘trivial thing’… Normally, this would be a pretty big deal, you know…

“Yeah, yeah. You’re amazing.”

Thanks to him, I was reminded once again that Baek Yigang is a munchkin character.

As the ultimate antagonist in the original work, he was superior to other characters in intelligence and ability, so something like this must be no big deal for him.

“It’s taking you forever to sign.”

As I squinted at the tiny letters, trying to read them, Baek Yigang, who was watching me, voiced his dissatisfaction.

Tsk, impatient much.

Whatever it is, it’ll probably involve helping him again, right?

Maybe I should just sign it and get it over with…?

The only thing that bothered me was that Baek Yigang was an unpredictable antagonist…

But how complicated could the protagonist’s wishes be?

I’ll just grant them, get my thank you, and be done.

“Alright, fine. I’ll do it.”

In this world, your finger seemed to serve as a pen.

So, I waved my hand in the air, and my signature appeared in no time.

After struggling to finish signing, the contract vanished in a flash, glowing brightly.

I couldn’t even read a single word of it properly, and now it’s gone…

Why do I feel like I just got scammed…?

“Then let’s proceed with the contract.”

Baek Yigang’s face, staring at me with satisfaction, curled into a strange, suspicious smile.

What is up with that suspicious smile? It gives me a bad feeling…

“Hey, you should at least give me time to read the contract. I haven’t even seen what I have to do yet!”

“Signing a contract without reading it… Are you an idiot?”

“You were the one rushing me!”

Baek Yigang looked at me with dry eyes as I protested in frustration, then sighed lightly before telling me that as a contractor, if I said “contract,” it would reappear.

“Contract.”

As soon as I said the word, the bronze-colored parchment from earlier appeared in the clear air again.

But… Wait, why can I suddenly see it so clearly?

The letters look three times bigger than before.

This can’t just be my imagination.

“…Hey, hold on. This is a complete scam.”

Baek Yigang…! Who else but the ultimate antagonist would write a contract this one-sided! That damn scammer!

[Contract]

1. Party B, “Cheong Dowoon,” shall make Party A, “Baek Yigang (Hail Dirzio)”, the Emperor.

2. Party B, “Cheong Dowoon,” shall cure Party A, “Baek Yigang,” of his incurable disease.

.
.

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n. Party A, “Baek Yigang,” shall ensure the safety of the unidentified Party B, “Cheong Dowoon,” until all the above terms are fulfilled.

This shameless…!

There’s only one clause about me, while the rest are all about his own gain…!

“That’s why you should always read a contract before signing it. Isn’t that common sense?”

Baek Yigang’s bright, blue smile as he looked at me was disturbingly radiant.

Is he seriously insane?

He really thinks I’m some wish-granting genie?

…Well, he’s not entirely wrong.

But how am I supposed to make an antagonist the emperor?

That doesn’t make any sense!

The emperor’s position is meant for the main protagonist, the third prince!

How am I supposed to help you, a character destined to be overthrown by the protagonist, become the emperor…?!

And what?

An incurable disease?

Baek Yigang has an incurable disease? That wasn’t mentioned in the original story…

It seems the author didn’t pay much attention to him since he’s not the main protagonist…

Ugh, this is a headache.

“You want me to cure some unknown incurable disease? Do you think I’m some kind of miracle doctor?”

“Insomnia.”

Baek Yigang replied nonchalantly, watching me wave my hands in frustration.

“…What?”

“My illness. It’s insomnia. Now you know.”

He nodded lightly, as if asking if that explained everything.

Wait, why do you expect me to… Aren’t there plenty of renowned doctors around you since you’re the Crown Prince?

“That’s something you should see a doctor about…”

“Unfortunately, no doctor has been able to cure me. As long as I’m the Crown Prince, the doctors I can summon are limited, so there’s nothing more to be done.”

“Haha, you’ve got to be kidding me…”

Hearing Baek Yigang calmly name the disease, I couldn’t help but curse under my breath.

How am I supposed to cure something that even the best doctors couldn’t? This is a complete scam contract!

“No, I can’t do this! This contract is void!”

Every protagonist I’ve met so far has only wished for things that strictly followed the original story.

Since I knew the original story inside out, it wasn’t hard to grant their wishes, and I could easily wake up from the dream without much effort.

But what is this? If you’re a mastermind, you should be asking for something like killing someone or unlocking dark magic, not randomly wishing to become the emperor!

This is practically telling me to destroy the original story with my own hands…!!

If the original story deviates, the future I can predict will be drastically reduced.

If that happens, I won’t be able to fulfill the protagonists’ wishes anymore.

Then even I won’t know what’s coming next.

But isn’t this strange? Baek Yigang is still the perfectly sane Crown Prince, not yet consumed by darkness, right?

Since he doesn’t know the future, he should naturally assume that he’ll become the emperor if he just stays put, so why make this wish?

“Cheong Dowoon, don’t underestimate me.”

The voice from the one who had caused this grand mess in my head was as gently affectionate as it was frustrating.

“Who’s underestimating you…?”

Suddenly, the blue-domed palace behind him shimmered brilliantly.

It was like a halo shining just for Baek Yigang.

At this moment, he looked so stunning that I couldn’t deny he might as well be the main character, not the mastermind.

If he smiled like that all the time, people would surely praise him as a wise ruler.

Too bad he doesn’t seem to have any intention of doing that…

“A magical contract judged by the magic itself cannot include clauses beyond the contractor’s abilities. But when you signed, the contract accepted you.”

“What…! That’s impossible, it can’t be.”

This was truly absurd.

Could I really fulfill all those ridiculous clauses?

The magic judgment must have gone wrong.

Otherwise…!

“So, Cheong Dowoon, you can do it. You must make me emperor, cure my incurable disease, everything.”

His low voice was so chilling that despite the summer weather, I shivered.

On the other hand, his narrowed eyes aimed at me were unsettlingly calm.

“Ugh…”

This is exactly why I never wanted to get involved with Baek Yigang!

The truth is, I knew from the start that the magical contract couldn’t include tasks beyond my capabilities, but I deliberately didn’t say anything.

Most people don’t know this fact, so if I had brought it up, it would only put me at a disadvantage.

But my opponent is Baek Yigang. The mastermind among masterminds, especially well-versed in magic.

Cheong Dowoon, you’re truly unlucky.

Out of all the fantasy characters, you had to end up with Baek Yigang…

Is he going to drag me down with him when he dies? I really don’t want a grim ending.

This isn’t a game, so there’s no saving in between, which means if I lose my life, I go back to the beginning.

Though this time might be different from the previous transmigrations, considering the system’s appearance and escape methods match my previous experiences, the chances are slim.

In other words, I’ll have to repeat the same time over and over until I escape this tedious transmigration.

But how much does Baek Yigang know about the demon world or magic?

For someone who’s just a mastermind, he seems to know far too much.

And he wasn’t even surprised or curious when I told him I came from another world…

“What are you, really?”

My cautious question was met with a slight smirk from Baek Yigang.

Then, as if he had been waiting, his red lips parted.

“Whatever you’re thinking, I’m more than that.”

Ugh, what an annoying bastard…