These Lunatics are Obsessed With Me-Chapter 177

I hadn’t expected Liam White to interject. Still, the way he spoke made it seem as if he were trying to help me in his own way. I looked at him in surprise and nodded.

[Then let us move on to discussing the strategy. That would surely be a more productive discussion, would it not?]

At Liam White’s sharp remark, silence fell over the room. I had already made it clear that I would not personally disclose any information about my auxiliary skill, and with Liam White speaking up as well, the other guildmasters could no longer press the issue.

In the end, the discussion about my auxiliary skill was dropped. I cast a brief glance at Liam White and bowed my head slightly, my way of showing gratitude.

“…”

“…!”

At that moment, my eyes met Liam White’s. He smiled at me, and the blue of his eye seemed to gleam even brighter. Feeling awkward, I slowly looked away.

***

“Phew…”

The strategy meeting didn’t end until half the day had passed. It was unbearably long and tedious. The sun had been shining brightly when I entered the conference room, but it was already dark by the time I left.

What on earth is this? Is this for real?

Just as I was about to return to my accommodation, still feeling dazed—

“Hunter Han Yi-jin…!”

“…?”

Someone called out to me and began approaching. The guild members guarding my side immediately tensed and tightened their formation around me. Since Max Bryan's attack, those assigned to protect me had been especially on edge. Because of that, Liu Haoran, who had stepped forward, froze in surprise and stopped awkwardly.

“It’s fine, everyone, please step back.”

“But…”

“We’re inside the Odin Guild, aren’t we?”

“…”

I spoke with a faint smile, and though they seemed reluctant, they stepped back.

“Eden, you too.”

“…Tch.”

Eden scowled, clearly displeased, but slowly stepped back as well. After watching him for a moment, I turned my gaze elsewhere. I could hardly believe that Liu Haoran, the Guild Master of the Vali Guild, would take action in such a public place. Even that traitor, Joshua Lehmann, had only carried out his plans where no one could see him. Besides, having read the original story, I already knew that Liu Haoran was not a villain.

"I… I’m truly sorry, Hunter Han Yi-jin. I never meant to put you in a difficult position."

"Hmm…"

"I swear it won’t happen again. I promise."

"…"

I watched Liu Haoran carefully as he fidgeted. Honestly, it wasn’t hard to understand why he and the other guildmasters had been so anxious. If I had officially joined the Odin Guild, things might have been different, but since I had only been under a temporary contract and had left room for uncertainty, it made sense that the guildmasters of the other major guilds had been uneasy.

China, in particular, had many high-level dungeons that were difficult to clear simply because of its vast territory. Of course, with a larger population, it had relatively more high-ranking hunters than other countries, but China still faced plenty of other problems. In any case, that seemed to be why they had been so fixated on my auxiliary skill, trying to gather even the slightest bit of information. The other major guilds were no different.

“Mm… it’s fine, there’s no need to apologize.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. For now, let’s just focus on clearing the Ginnungagap Dungeon.”

“Thank you…!”

“Ha… haha.”

Liu Haoran’s eyes sparkled as he tried to shake my hand, but the guild members blocked him, so it didn’t happen. I returned to my accommodation, feeling somewhat at ease. In the original story, auxiliary potions made by Lee Chae-jin—downgraded versions of my auxiliary skill—had been released sooner, but this time they were delayed for some reason.

Still, once the Ginnungagap Dungeon was cleared, Lee Chae-jin’s potions would be released, and the major guilds’ obsession with me would likely subside. If I just held out while being careful of the gods who were wary of me and the Laufey Guild, I’d be able to return to my original world. I grinned to myself, having devised what I thought was a flawless plan.

***

Before I knew it, the day before the final dungeon foretold by the Prophet had arrived.

December 30th. I had been enjoying a quiet, peaceful time in the accommodation, but the thought that what was going to happen tomorrow could turn the world upside down left me with a strange feeling.

“Haa…”

Leaning against the balcony railing outside my room, I let out a sigh. It wasn’t that I suddenly felt afraid or wanted to run away. What struck me as strange was that, even before the battle that would decide the fate of the world, I didn’t feel much of anything. Maybe it was because life in this world I had transmigrated into still didn’t feel real. Maybe that’s why, somewhere in the back of my mind, I kept thinking of it as if I were just playing a game, my thoughts inevitably returning to Max Bryan’s words.

“Hmm.”

I had made plenty of plans on the assumption that I would survive tomorrow, but if it all ended in destruction like in the original story, it would make all my preparations seem completely meaningless. Even the god who had invested in me wasn’t entirely certain I could clear it. And on top of that…

‘A side story, huh.’

When I dreamed the other day, I was lucky enough to recover a few fragments of my memories from before I transmigrated. Not all of them—just a tiny fraction—but it was still far better than back when I couldn’t even remember my own name. Thinking back on that dream, I found many things strange. At the time, I had been so focused on stopping Max Bryan that I didn’t take the dream seriously, but now that I thought about it, there were a lot of things that felt suspicious.

For one, my close friend Jin Myung-seop appeared, and the words he said bothered me. It was in that dream that I first heard anything about a side story. I couldn’t just dismiss it as a meaningless dream. After all, there was no way I could have had an ordinary dream like that.

Was it the system that showed me? Or a god? Either way, it seemed more likely that someone had used the dream to tell me about the existence of a side story.

“Such a hassle…”

And now I had to think about a side story on top of everything else. Honestly, it felt like my brain was about to overload. To make matters worse, the original story had ended with the destruction ending, so there was no way to even guess what kind of side story could appear.

Muttering to myself, I straightened up from where I had been leaning against the railing. That’s when I heard a strange sound nearby.

Rustle.

“Hmm?”

I turned my head and saw the tree branches swaying. My room had originally been on the first floor, but because of Yong-sun and Yongsik—now in his human form—we had moved to a larger room on the second floor. From the balcony, I could see the branches and green leaves of the trees below. The wind wasn’t even blowing that hard—so why were they moving like that? As I absentmindedly thought this, something suddenly appeared right in front of me.

“Uwaa—!” 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

“Shh.”

From the leaves, a person suddenly emerged—and it was someone I knew. Our eyes met, his blue eyes vivid and piercing. It was Kang Yoo-hyun. Before I could even scream, he covered my mouth and whispered softly, his distinct scent brushing past the tip of my nose.

“You… weren’t you supposed to leave first?”

“I have to go soon.”

“Then why…”

“…”

Kang Yoo-hyun stared at me with an unbearably intense gaze.

What on earth could he possibly want that made him come looking for me in the middle of the night? And to go so far as to climb over the balcony like this… If I had been inside the room, he would’ve come through the window, wouldn’t he?

Too dumbfounded, I simply stared at him blankly for a moment before finally speaking.

"Ah, do you want me to use the ‘Sweet Sleep’ item for you? But do you even have time to sleep?"

"No, it’s not that."

“…?”

Then why did he come? Kang Yoo-hyun, along with a few others, was scheduled to go to the place foretold by the Prophet in advance. The final dungeon was set to appear near City Hall Station—the very place I had seen in the vision. The citizens there had already been evacuated days ago, but just in case, several high-ranking hunters were to be stationed there ahead of time to prepare for the dungeon’s appearance.

So tonight, Kang Yoo-hyun and Kang Soo-hyun were supposed to travel to City Hall Station early. As for me, I was to remain at the accommodation and depart in the morning. I was going to see him tomorrow anyway, so I couldn’t fathom what had brought him here all of a sudden. Did he have something to say that couldn’t be spoken in front of the others? With a serious look on my face, I asked him.

“What’s the matter?”

“Well…”

“…?”

Kang Yoo-hyun hesitated—so unlike him. It had been surprising to see the self-assured protagonist, who never cared what others thought, act like this. I wondered if something serious had happened. Now that I couldn’t rely on the original story, there was no way to predict what kind of variables might appear. Tense, I swallowed hard.

“…I have a favor to ask.”

“A favor?”

“Yes.”

Hearing Kang Yoo-hyun speak in a low voice left me even more confused. He said it wasn’t about the ‘Sweet Sleep’ item… so what kind of favor could he possibly want from me?

‘Tomorrow, I’ll be counting on you?' At this point? We’ve already been into high-level dungeons together so many times. I frowned, still trying to figure it out, as Kang Yoo-hyun stepped closer. Before I realized it, he had moved so close that our bodies were almost touching. I looked up at him with a flustered expression.

“Han Yi-jin.”

“Uh… huh?”

His serious eyes were fixed on me. I just stood there, dumbfounded, my mouth hanging open. Kang Yoo-hyun gazed down at me silently before speaking again.

“The auxiliary skill you used at the end of the Muspelheim Dungeon.”

“…!”

“Don’t use that on any other hunters.”

Taken aback by his unexpected words, I stared blankly at Kang Yoo-hyun.