Chapter 6

Psychopath (4)

I then froze like a statue.

I realize that if [The Successor's Eyes] haven't resisted it, I would have been possessed with that voice and lost my mind and rage in anger.

"!!!"

My heart had begun to beat like crazy. This was a skill that had been planted by someone unknown.

It did not end as a single shot, but the effect remained in the target and affected steadily.

Curse Skill. This was a fact unknown to the future. Was the Celestial Dragon Guild's successor cursed?

The sly 'whisper' that made me frenzy was suppressed by [The Successor's Eyes] and made weird noises instead of tempting whispers.

'Screech! ··· Screech!'

It made a noise that a small beast in pain would usually make. My mind had begun to run fast.

'Among the symptoms of Seo Jin-wook, there were anger issues and hallucinations!'

Now I knew. Seo Jin-wook did not suffer from mental illness. Ever since he was very young, he had been manipulated by this curse.

The existence of curse skills was yet to be known on Earth in this era. People didn't even know how to recognize it. Unless one could see the Mana like me, they couldn't possibly prove it.

If so, the fact that a curse caused Seo Jin-wook's mental illness would not be known by anyone aside from the caster of that skill.

"You do not have a reply."

The silence was gradually cut off, and Seo Gyu-cheol's voice began to subside.

"But you don't let all hell loose yourself, unlike before as well."

The Mana, which looked like a tangled blood vessel rolled around on a coil, tried to come up to my head several times after that, but each time [The Successor's Eyes] suppressed it.

'Screech! Screak!'

When the same thing repeated several times, the red energy eventually stopped trying and returned to where it was in, gradually becoming dormant.

After barely swallowing a sigh of relief, I looked at Seo Gyu-cheol again. As soon as our eyes met, he spoke up.

"Park Chang-hee is an outstanding prospect. His age is relatively young for a Hunter, so he will greatly contribute to the guild in the long run. There is nothing to lose by maintaining a relationship."

I swallowed back my words as I tried to question what I had experienced now. Whose curse was this curse from? Until where was this connected to?

Nothing was certain yet. It was not too late to decide fully understanding the situation around me. I tried to calm my beating heart and barely responded, pretending to look calm.

"I heard that I am going to be sanctioned for this."

"I don't know what you expect, but know that you're both going to end in a few days of unpaid vacation. If Park Chang-hee responded sincerely in the first place, you wouldn't have woken up again. Even if he used Mana, it wasn't a fatal attack. Thanks to his split decision to control the Mana output at that moment, you lived."

Seo Gyu-cheol changed the topic.

"Secretary Kim seemed to worry a lot. He insisted that you have to go through more of the thorough examinations, but, while you were unconscious, you went through most of the university hospital level examinations."

It was said that the medical room in the basement of the company house was equipped with hospital-level medical equipment. A thorough examination must have been held to see any abnormalities in the successor's body.

"What do you think? You should know better about your state. The level of action that can be done within the company house has already been done. Do you want to be hospitalized?"

I shook my head. My mind was still perplexed by what I just had found out.

"I don't think it is necessary."

There was no information at all about the medical symptoms associated with possessions. Things would get difficult if they found something strange from me while performing more than this test.

"Yes, only rumors will leak out for no good reason. That would be complicated. Especially at this point, there's only a week before the Awakening."

Seo Gyu-cheol seemed to be focused on nothing but awakening me as a Hunter. He wanted to cut off the possibility of me sprinkling any dirt on that big event.

He seemed to want to continue, then closed his mouth again and looked at me still. He tilted his head and spoke again.

"You're strangely calm today. Quiet, too."

He spoke in a strange tone for him, but the emotion that came along with it wasn't negative at all.

I looked down a little and listened to him. It was because I didn't want to reveal my unsettling feelings.

At first glance, it was an attitude that would seem like obedience, and it seemed to place Seo Gyu-cheol in a better mood.

Actually, in light of the memories that just came to mind, Seo Jin-wook had to go through by listening to him instead of taking the evil side and refuting every word that he says was already hellish.

"Did you realize anything from today's experience?"

When talking with that type of person, it was better to choose what the other person wanted to hear rather than what one would want to say.

I gave an answer that he might like.

"I was a little surprised as this is the first time my memories weren't stable."

Seo Gyu-cheol raised a brow.

"I think that if I keep making the mistakes that I have made today, I could be in a really dangerous situation one day. And I think that I can't think I can live this way forever..."

As I watched Seo Gyu-cheol nod his head, I continued.

"As my father said, I was lost in my thoughts for a moment to find ways to control myself as soon as possible."

There was a faint smile on his lips.

If his son said that he had amnesia symptoms, it would be normal for a father to be shocked, but he didn't seem to worry much about that.

Was he satisfied that his son was not showing violent behavior like before?

"I'll do my best in finding a solution for that as well. And, don't worry too much about the memories. All the test results were normal, and in this case, it was said that most of the memories would come back soon."

He began to mumble in a quiet voice.

"It seems to have been a good opportunity. Well, about time as well."

As he meant for me to go away, his eyes headed towards the door.

"Go and get some rest."

Did this convince him? Instead of revealing my inner feeling, I quietly said goodbye. The moment I was about to exit, there was a thought that passed through my head.

Now that he seemed to be in a better mood from his son's changed attitude, I decided that it might work.

So, I asked Seo Gyu-cheol one request, and he easily agreed.

*

Secretary Kim was standing outside the door of the office, waiting. As I came out, he began to look at me with a strange expression.

"Why?"

"It's intriguing that I didn't hear a sound of breaking and shattering, nor the sound of yelling and swearing."

"It never happened."

"You didn't fight each other?"

"Not at all."

I explained the conversations exchanged and what kind of atmosphere it was.

"In the end, he means to keep quiet from now on. Don't go in and out of the hospital and spark rumors."

"I got to go to some other place instead of the hospital. Let's get ready to go out."

"Yes?"

Secretary Kim asked as if to question what kind of absurdity I was talking about.

"What do you mean to go out? Coming from a man whose memories fade in and out by waking up from being unconscious? You should get some rest at home. "

"I already got permission from Seo Gyu... Father."

Secretary looked at me with a gaze that seemed to protest, "Could it be?" but before he could open his mouth, I shut it down with my own words.

"I need to do some shopping. For a dungeon item."

"Item? You still have a week left for the Awakening. Why? Anyway, after the Awakening, the guild will set the equipment. Do you necessarily..."

"It's because I need it."

I told Seo Gyu-cheol that I wanted to see what equipment and items were available in advance to prepare for the Awakening, and that I would like to buy items that interested me personally.

Then, Seo Gyu-cheol pretended not to be interested and then asked if I suddenly changed my mind and proceeded to permit it. He allowed it happily and even prepared a budget that was more than I expected.

"Phew... Well, I have no choice then. Then I will contact the Guild's Hunter Store in advance."

"You don't have to."

I already knew exactly where the object was. And at this point, the Celestial Dragon Guild did not have the item I was looking for. I was sure of it.

"I'll give you the address. We're going to a different kind of store."

"Tell me the name of the item. I'll send someone to buy it."

"No, I have to see it with my own eyes."

"What the hell are you going to buy... Oh, never mind. If it is, it must be."

Now was the time for a summarization.

Unless this was a dream, the afterlife, or the hallucinations I encountered on the verge of death...

Then I was in Seo Jin-wook's body, who died several decades ago, with the memory and unique skills of Choi Seung-hyun.

Who had done this to me?

'I haven't heard of such abilities as [Time Reversal] and [Possession].'

Of course, among Earthlings and the otherworldy races, I had never heard of someone with such skills.

However, the situation wasn't relaxed to pass the time, doubting whether this was indeed reality.

Instead of falling into such thoughts, I decided to act on the premise that my senses and cognition now exist and are not illusional. And focus on how to get through the situation that I'm in right now.

Now, once I knew that Seo Jin-wook was under a curse, I needed to take measures.

The dungeon items that had not yet been properly evaluated in this era would help my situation.

Those were what I had been looking for.