Chapter 8

How did this happen?

The emotion I felt when I first met Ha Tae-heon was surprisingly pleasant.

One way or another, he was the main character of the novel that I enjoyed reading. He was a very strong, righteous, and cool protagonist.

I've been poor all of my life. For me, 'Abyss' was the novel of its genre I encountered. Until then, I couldn't read books very often, and even if I did, they were all too boring and difficult to understand.

'This is fun.'

It was the first time I realized that books and stories could be so much fun. It felt natural to put down the first book and immediately pick up the second book.

I read the story with a heart supporting Ha Tae-heon. When he got hurt, I frowned unconsciously, and when he smiled happily, I felt at ease.

I was jealous of Ha Tae-heon. If I had that kind of power, would I have been able to live a different life?

"Cha Soo-yeon-ssi."

"You—you're really here."

As expected, Ha Tae-heon looked at Cha Soo-yeon as soon as he arrived. No injuries, no fear, no exhaustion. He was relieved only after checking everything.

He came just before attending the meeting, had dark brown, half-curly hair and was dressed in a black suit. His broad shoulders and his scarred hands beneath the sleeves of his shirt showed how much effort he had honed since his awakening.

I knew everything because I read it.

"Hello."

I stepped in at the right time and greeted Ha Tae-heon. His black eyes turned to me.

"As you can see, Cha Soo-yeon-ssi—"

"......"

It was great up until this point.

Ha Tae-heon suddenly used his ability. Dust glistening with black colour quickly gathered, creating a black sword. There was no time to be moved by the fact that I saw the main character using his ability, which I had only experienced in the novel before. A chill ran down my spine. Instinctively, I leaned my head back and used my ability.

Boom!

"This crazy—!"

The place I was just now was horribly broken. I hurriedly shouted at the injustice, "Wait! You're rather impatient. Let's talk!"

"Noisy."

Maybe because he was the main character, the way he talked was cool.

My heart kept beating even though it wasn't the time for this. You'd have to be like that to be the main character. That was really cool. I narrowly avoided the sword that was rushing at me once again.

"Ugh, believe it or not, I didn't even touch Cha Soo-yeon-ssi's hair!"

"You have a lot of nerve as a kidnapper."

Shamelessness was my charm.

I took a step back and distanced myself from Ha Tae-heon. I thought if he attacked again, I could dodge it at least once.

"There is a reason why I used Cha Soo-yeon-ssi to call you."

"I'm not interested."

"Aah." I let out a sigh as I swept my hair back. Of course, I didn't expect you to be willing to listen to me...

'Somehow, Ha Tae-heon is more aggressive than planned. What's wrong with him? Did he meet Cheon Sa-yeon before?'

I said with a bitter smile, "As you may have noticed... I was ordered, too. For me, bringing Cha Soo-yeon-ssi as safely as possible was the limit."

"...what's your relationship with Master Cheon Sa-yeon? Are you a member of the Requiem Guild?"

"Haha, no way."

Those who belonged to the guild couldn't do this kind of dirty work. Guild members had to live in more rigorous procedures than civilians, with the detailed personal information registered in the country.

Han Yi-gyeol did not belong to any guild as he had to fulfil any orders from Cheon Sa-yeon.

"It doesn't matter if you are independent. I just have to catch you and figure it out slowly."

"That's a little... I'd like to say no."

As I reflexively recalled the contents of the novel about how cruel Ha Tae-heon was to villains, I broke into a cold sweat.

"Then how about we do this? If the reason why I brought you here is worth it, please let it slide."

"I have said I wasn't interested."

"You will regret it."

As I said that playfully, Ha Tae-heon tapped the floor a couple of times with the tip of his sword. No matter how much I looked at it, it was a gesture of thinking about how to deal with me, so I immediately gave up my plan to take more time and opened my mouth.

"You know that this gate is pretty special, right?"

"That's why you did this."

"If you could get an item with a similar value to that gate, what would you do?"

"......"

Ha Tae-heon frowned and looked at me coldly. Wow, your eyes are no joke.

"As I said before, this is just a deal. I'll tell you how to get the item, so please do me a favour later. Please let me off the hook today."

"How can I trust you?"

With those words, I sat quietly and glanced at Cha Soo-yeon, who was watching us. You asked the same question as Cha Soo-yeon. Did Han Yi-gyeol look like a fraud? From my point of view, he looked so kind, better than other people in the world.

"Well... I can't force you. But if possible, it would be better to try it once. Even if you beat me and dragged me here, I won't tell you about the item... Even if I was locked up, it would be quite annoying if my boss comes looking for me."

I told half a lie. If my boss comes looking for me. I didn't know anything else, but if it was the original story, he (CSY) was a son of a bitch who would not blink even if I died.

Ha Tae-heon looked at me with a complicated gaze. Probably he was a little shaken by my persuasion. The only chance was now. I turned my head towards Cha Soo-yeon.

"Isn't that right, Cha Soo-yeon-ssi? Aren't I right?"

Go ahead and support my opinion. I also lent you a necklace for your love. Cha Soo-yeon, who flinched from my blazing eyes, nodded her head in a hurry.

"I-I think so. Since you're getting an item, even if you're deceived..."

"Item grade is at least S-class!"

"Oh my!" Cha Soo-yeon widened her eyes and supported me more actively. "It's an S-class item! You can't miss it, Taeheon-ssi! S-class items are really hard to get!"

"Sigh... Cha Soo-yeon-ssi."

Cha Soo-yeon, who was very excited, looked at Ha Tae-heon's sigh and curled up her tail.

"Oh, no... It's just in my opinion... Of course, the decision should be made by Taeheon-ssi because it's Taeheon-ssi's item..."

"......"

Aren't you giving up too easily?

Ha Tae-heon, who stood still with his sword and pondered for a while, walked up to me with a determined expression on his face. The way he walked was as cool as a model.

'What? Are you going to say yes?'

I was a little scared, but I didn't back down and looked at him. If Ha Tae-heon had attempted to attack, he would have swung his sword earlier. Ha Tae-heon liked fair fights like a main character would, so coming close like this was for conversation.

Thud!

"Geugh!"

A strong force hit the left side of my face. My vision flickered and my body, which was out of balance, crashed to the floor. Beep—a sharp ringing sound filled my ears from the pain.

"I accept the deal. But there will be no service. Now, that was the price of kidnapping Cha Soo-yeon-ssi."

"Ha..."

Covering my throbbing face with my hand, I smiled in dismay. Somehow I felt betrayed. The bitterness spread through my mouth and I spat out blood along with my saliva. Fortunately, it was only torn, and my gums and teeth were fine. It was thanks to reflexively biting the molars tightly, remembering the days when I was beaten a long time ago.

Looking down at me coldly, Ha Tae-heon turned around and approached Cha Soo-yeon. Ha Tae-heon, who released Cha Soo-yeon's tied hands, also took out the necklace on her neck. The blue jewel in the centre of the necklace glistened.

Ha Tae-heon dropped the necklace on the floor and stepped on it mercilessly with his shoes. Crack, the necklace was crushed and the jewel was broken.

"Let's go."

"Ah..."

Seeing the horribly broken necklace, I groaned unconsciously. All of a sudden, I felt nauseous and nervous.

"Um, yes..."

Cha Soo-yeon, who was not sure what to do while looking at the necklace and me, nodded her head hard and followed Ha Tae-heon. After watching their backs for a moment as they left the abandoned building, I slowly got up. The place where I was hit was my face, but my whole body ached.

I put more strength in my throbbing knees and staggered as I stumbled to the front of the necklace. A broken necklace lying on the dirty floor caught my eyes. I reached out my hand and lifted the necklace as carefully as I could, but the shattered blue jewel couldn't hold it and fell down. The centre of the necklace, which was embedded with jewels, was empty.

Clatter, clatter.

As I stared blankly at the necklace, I heard the distant footsteps again. Looking back, Ha Tae-heon, dressed in a white shirt, was standing with his suit jacket off and draped over his arm.

"...you came back."

I smiled slightly and hid the necklace in my hand.