These Lunatics are Obsessed With Me-Chapter 165

"What's wrong?"

I looked at Yong-sik with a puzzled expression. Yong-sik shook his head in response.

"Don't… want."

"What?"

D…on’t… want…? Don’t want to? He doesn’t want to?

After interpreting Yong-sik’s words, I looked at him in surprise and asked again.

“You don’t want to?”

“…”

Yong-sik silently nodded in response. I didn’t need to ask what he didn’t want—I had just been talking to Hae Song-ha about changing his name.

It was clear: Yong-sik didn’t want that. He didn’t want to change his name.

“Name… Dad gave me… I like it.”

“Yong-sik…!”

I was really touched. Yong-sik didn’t want to change his name because I was the one who gave it to him. ‘Yong-sik’ seemed like a fitting name for a summon, but a little too dated for someone living as a human. But he embraced it without hesitation.

I felt so thankful and happy. I opened my arms and hugged him. He laughed and snuggled into my arms.

“Aww, my sweet boy. Alright, let’s not change your name.”

“Okay, Dad.”

Yong-sik, in my arms, smiled brightly. When he wasn’t smiling, his face had a cold look—but in moments like this, he looked just like a child.

Were those teeth poking out above his gums baby fangs? Or canines?

Maybe his polymorph wasn’t perfect yet because he was still young. But that didn’t matter. I hugged my precious Yong-sik and laughed happily.

“Hmm…”

Hae Song-ha looked uneasy as he watched the scene unfold. Han Yi-jin was hugging his summon, Yong-sik, now in human form. Then, all of a sudden, a wave of killing intent swept through the air—sharp enough to make his skin prickle. It felt like being struck by a jolt of electricity.

‘Han Yi-jin doesn’t even notice this? Is he ignoring it on purpose, or is he just that dense…’

Hae Song-ha muttered inwardly. Still, deep down, he was sure it was the latter. From what he knew, Han Yi-jin could be surprisingly perceptive at times, but when it came to anything involving himself, he was unbelievably slow. Ｒ𝘢ΝỗᛒЕs

Looking visibly uncomfortable, Hae Song-ha turned his head. That was when he saw two high-ranking hunters glaring at Yong-sik like they were ready to kill him. With no combat skills of his own, Hae Song-ha wanted to get out of there as fast as possible.

It was a relief that Kang Yoo-hyun wasn’t here. If he had been, things definitely wouldn’t have ended with just a glare. His absence was the only reason the situation hadn’t escalated further. But the real problem wasn’t just the high-ranking hunters. With a serious look on his face, Hae Song-ha turned his head and saw Yong-sik still in Han Yi-jin’s arms.

‘Ugh.’

Yong-sik gave a smug grin to the hunters glaring at him—making sure Han Yi-jin, who was hugging him, couldn’t see. For someone who looked so young, he was surprisingly good at getting under people’s skin.

He’d acted all clumsy and weak in front of Han Yi-jin, but now he was openly taunting everyone around him. Hae Song-ha really didn’t want to see this side of Yong-sik. He let out an inward sigh and shook his head.

“…!”

“…”

Then his eyes met Yong-sik’s, who was staring straight at him. Startled, Hae Song-ha froze, unable to look away. From a distance, Yong-sik’s pupils narrowed slightly as he kept his gaze fixed on him.

Those eyes gave Hae Song-ha the chilling sense of being hunted by a predator, and his body instinctively tensed. He swallowed hard.

That gaze alone was enough to convey Yong-sik’s warning: don’t ever tell Han Yi-jin what you saw.

‘I wasn’t planning to anyway.’

Hae Song-ha valued his own life. Even though he’d seen it by accident through his skill, the thought of telling anyone had never crossed his mind. With a firm expression, he gave a small nod.

‘Phew.’

The intense gaze that had been weighing on Hae Song-ha finally faded. Only then did he quietly let out a long breath of relief. After watching for a moment, he walked over to Han Yi-jin.

He had no intention of revealing the secret, but there were still other things he needed to say. Putting on an innocent expression, like he didn’t know anything, Hae Song-ha spoke to Han Yi-jin.

“Now that I think about it, did Guildmaster Park Yoon-sung mention that?”

“Huh? Mention what?”

I looked at Hae Song-ha, confused.

Yong-sik, who had been clinging to my waist, slid down with a sulky look on his face. The way he pouted and glared at Hae Song-ha was honestly kind of cute. Without thinking, I gently stroked his hair.

“I was talking about that Collector. Max Bryan.”

“Max Bryan?”

I tilted my head. It was a name I’d never heard before. Was he a character from the novel?

‘Oh, right.’

Now that I thought about it, the part of the original story I’d read was already finished. I was only halfway through the novel, so anything beyond that was a mystery to me.

My body stiffened from tension. From what Hae Song-ha said, this Max Bryan guy was definitely a hunter, and probably a well-known one at that. Was he not in the novel? Or did he show up in a part I hadn’t read yet? I couldn’t be sure.

One thing was clear though: if he was that famous and I didn’t know him, Hae Song-ha would definitely find it strange. But pretending to know someone I actually didn’t could just make things worse. After a brief moment of hesitation, I opened my mouth to speak.

"Oh… I think I’ve heard that name, but I can’t quite remember who he is. Haha."

"Oh, I just thought you might know him since he’s a well-known hunter in the underworld."

"Well… I wasn’t exactly a top-tier hunter in the Loki Guild."

"I see."

What I said might’ve sounded like an excuse, but it actually came across as pretty believable. Han Yi-jin was a low-ranking hunter. Jang Tae-san, the guildmaster of the Loki Guild, had treated him a bit differently, but that didn’t mean he was some kind of executive.

Low-level hunters who just followed orders didn’t have access to much information. Hae Song-ha seemed to understand and gave a slight nod of acknowledgment. He didn’t look suspicious of me. I let out a quiet sigh of relief.

“He has this habit of collecting unusual items or creatures once he gets fixated on them. He’s a high-ranking hunter, and with powerful connections backing him, people say he basically does whatever he wants.”

“Is that why they call him the ‘Collector’?”

“Yes.”

Hae Song-ha replied with a serious look on his face. We both instinctively glanced down.

“…?”

Yong-sik, now the focus of our attention, looked up with a puzzled expression. I was staring at his cute little face when I suddenly swallowed hard.

"That Collector might be after Yong-sik?"

"Yes, maybe… I heard he entered Korea not too long ago."

"Hoo…"

Hae Song-ha began listing all the terrible things Max Bryan had done. Apparently, those “powerful connections” meant villain guilds. In Korea, it seemed the Laufey Guild was backing him. The guy didn’t care how much something cost—if he wanted it, he’d throw money at it. And if it wasn’t something money could buy, he’d just take it by force.

With villain guilds around the world supporting him, neither the Association nor other guilds could really stop him. Seriously, a person like that actually exists? And just how powerful was he, for all those villain guilds to back him? When I looked at Hae Song-ha with a questioning expression, he clicked his tongue and continued.

"First off, Max Bryan’s family is one of the biggest conglomerates in the world, and I heard they had ties to the underworld even before the gates opened. That’s probably why they ended up working with villain guilds so easily."

"Ah, I see."

Most villain guilds were likely criminal organizations even before the gates appeared. For example, the Loki Guild’s guildmaster used to be a gangster. The Laufey Guild is probably the same.

"So I think it’s best not to let anyone know that Yong-sik can turn into a human."

"Yong-sik?"

"Yes. Just by looking at him, no one would guess that the human-looking Yong-sik is actually a summoned beast. Once he learns to transform freely, he can appear in his original form for official occasions and stay in human form when he’s not in public."

"Ohh!"

Hae Song-ha looked really confident when he gave that clear answer. He looked so young that I kept forgetting he was actually much older than me. And despite his gentle, soft-spoken appearance, there was a surprisingly bold side to him. I smiled brightly and nodded.

“Thanks for the advice. I’ll talk to Guildmaster Park Yoon-sung about it.”

“Yes, please be careful. He’s a very troublesome hunter.”

“I understand.”

Hae Song-ha gave me a serious warning about the Collector before leaving. Because of that, I started thinking about someone I hadn’t anticipated—Max Bryan.

A character who never appeared in the novel. If he finds out about Yong-sik, will he really unleash his collecting obsession like the rumors say?

“Hmm…”

“Dad?”

Yong-sik tilted his head and looked up at me while I was lost in thought.

I couldn’t help myself and held him tight again, drawn in by his cuteness.

Well, it should be okay.

If I follow Hae Song-ha’s advice, I probably won’t have to deal with someone like that. But things ended up heading in a direction I never expected.