These Lunatics are Obsessed With Me-Chapter 178

“Wha…t?”

“…”

I slowly closed my eyes, then opened them again. Kang Yoo-hyun was staring straight at me, his gaze dark and unyielding. He might have hesitated a little before speaking, but now he was as calm as ever. Meanwhile, I was completely thrown off by what he had just said.

The auxiliary skill I had used at the end of the Muspelheim Dungeon… Could he possibly be talking about that deep kiss we shared to amplify his stats? Just the thought of it made my face burn hot.

“Hey, that’s…!”

“Answer me.”

"That…”

To me, what happened back then was nothing more than an accident—an unfortunate one. The kiss was something I did only because I had no choice if I wanted to survive, since that was the condition for triggering the skill. As for tomorrow’s final dungeon, there was no telling what might happen. Of course, I had planned to focus my auxiliary skill on Kang Yoo-hyun. He was an SS-rank and the protagonist, after all. But thinking back on our past dungeon runs, anything unexpected could happen.

In other words, it meant I might not be able to control it by will alone. If I ever ended up separated from Kang Yoo-hyun and had to use my skill on another high-ranked hunter in an unexpected crisis, I might be forced to increase the level of physical contact just to activate it, whether I wanted to or not. And for me, it didn’t matter who I had to use the skill on.

Whether it was Kang Yoo-hyun, Eden, Liam White, or Kang Soo-hyun… well, Kang Soo-hyun was young, so a deep kiss would be too much. Anyway, as a guy, anyone I had to hold hands with or press my lips against would feel just as unpleasant and disgusting. It was nothing more than something I was forced to do to survive. Clearly, that was how it had to be.

“Han Yi-jin.”

“Wait a minute. Hold on.”

I panicked and shoved Kang Yoo-hyun away. To my surprise, he stepped back without a fuss. He’d never done anything like this before. After bossing me around without caring how I felt, why was he acting like this today? I was completely flustered.

Kang Yoo-hyun had suddenly shown up and pestered me not to kiss someone else, throwing me completely off guard. On top of that, he was listening to me with an unusually gentle attitude, which only made me more flustered. Anyway, thinking it over, it all seemed to be Kang Yoo-hyun’s fault. I frowned.

“That’s… uh, it’s not something I can just do however I want.”

“…What?”

“I mean, come on, you’re not the only high-ranked hunter…”

“Are you seriously saying that right now?”

Kang Yoo-hyun frowned and asked in a harsh tone, but I couldn’t answer him. I’d been confused ever since earlier. Why was he acting like this toward me? Just as I was about to spit out the question that had risen in my throat—

“Han Yi-jin, I…”

“…!”

Kang Yoo-hyun reached out and grabbed my shoulders. With both shoulders held firmly, I could only stare at him. His black eyes, sharp and intense, were utterly serious.

“I don’t want you doing that with anyone else.”

“Wha….”

“Only with me.”

Kang Yoo-hyun said firmly. As he stepped closer again, a faint scent of cotton reached me.

No, that wasn’t important. I shook my head, trying to push away the scent clouding my senses. Taking a moment to steady myself, I finally spoke.

“Why…?”

“….”

“Why… do I have to do that?”

Strangely, I asked in a slightly trembling voice. It wasn’t that I was scared of Kang Yoo-hyun, yet my body kept shaking. I held my trembling arm and clenched my teeth.

Was Kang Yoo-hyun simply trying to monopolize my auxiliary skill?

He had kept other high-ranked hunters in check before, so maybe it was the same this time. But my thoughts kept drifting elsewhere, and perhaps that was why this situation felt increasingly awkward to me.

“That’s….”

“Hyung!”

Suddenly, the balcony door swung open. I turned in surprise to see Kang Soo-hyun stepping inside. His eyes shifted back and forth between me and Kang Yoo-hyun, both of us frozen.

“Hyung… why are you here…?”

“…”

“…”

Only then did I realize that, from an outsider’s perspective, I had been facing Kang Yoo-hyun in a way that could easily be misunderstood. Startled, I quickly stepped back, and Kang Yoo-hyun didn’t stop me.

“Hmm, why?”

“What do you mean ‘why’? I came to say goodbye before leaving.”

“Ahem-ahem, what for? We’re going to see each other tomorrow anyway.”

I kept clearing my throat and ended up speaking too quickly. Kang Soo-hyun shot me a suspicious look.

“Something didn’t happen between you two, did it?”

“W-what are you talking about! Nothing happened!”

“…”

Damn it. Kang Soo-hyun’s suspicious stare only deepened at my flustered reaction. He was tenacious—there was no way he’d let this go easily.

“No way…”

“Shouldn’t you two be leaving now? Hm?”

I struggled to get Kang Yoo-hyun, who just stood there stiffly, to leave the balcony. Normally, no matter how hard I tried to push them away, neither of them would budge. But now, they let me chase them out without a fight.

“Hyung, just a moment.”

“…?”

At the edge of the balcony, Kang Soo-hyun suddenly turned around and spoke. I couldn’t help but be flustered again by his suddenly serious face.

“Why?”

“I have something to say too.”

“Now?”

“…”

Almost unconsciously, I stole a glance at Kang Yoo-hyun. The displeasure written on his face made me quickly turn my head away. With an awkward expression, I spoke.

“Uh… shouldn’t you be leaving now?”

“I’ll make it quick.”

“Mm, oh… fine.”

Still, I was curious about what Kang Soo-hyun had to say, so I nodded reluctantly. Then he smiled and spoke.

“Hyung, after tomorrow I’ll be twenty.”

“Oh, right.”

I hadn’t even thought about it, but it was true—Kang Soo-hyun was about to turn twenty. He was incredibly tall and well-built, yet his face was still so youthful that I never really thought of him as someone on the verge of adulthood. After a moment’s hesitation, I opened my mouth to speak.

“Congratulations in advance?”

“Thank you, Hyung.”

Since there wouldn’t be any time to celebrate once we entered the dungeon tomorrow, I offered my congratulations in advance. Kang Soo-hyun broke into a wide smile.

“So, I have a favor to ask you, Hyung.”

“…A favor?”

What was with these brothers and their favors? Why did they keep showing up out of nowhere, asking me for things? I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that Kang Soo-hyun was about to make some strange request too.

“What is it?”

Still, I had no choice but to ask. If it was something I could handle, I just wanted to get it over with and send them both off quickly. The longer I talked with Kang Soo-hyun, the more displeased Kang Yoo-hyun’s expression became.

“Hyung… can’t you do more than just hold my hand?”

“W… what?”

“Hyung… every time you use the skill, you only hold my hand. I’m not a kid anymore.”

“Oh…”

Kang Soo-hyun reached out and gripped my hand tightly. Warmth spread from his touch, his large, firm hand wrapping around mine.

“Please?”

“Ugh…!”

Kang Soo-hyun took my hand and pressed it against his cheek. He rubbed his face against my palm, like a big dog nuzzling its owner.

“Wait….”

For a moment, my mind went blank, but I managed to pull myself together and tried to withdraw my hand. This time, however, he didn’t let go so easily. Kang Soo-hyun fixed me with a relentless gaze.

“That’s enough, Kang Soo-hyun.”

“…”

Speaking in a low voice, Kang Yoo-hyun glared at Kang Soo-hyun. His hand gripped one of Kang Soo-hyun’s shoulders, and Kang Soo-hyun’s face contorted as if in pain.

“Haa… Hyung, see you tomorrow then.”

“Oh, okay.”

Kang Soo-hyun let out a small sigh, released my hand, and stepped back. Kang Yoo-hyun soon turned away as well. I stared blankly at the brothers’ backs as they left, as if a storm had just passed by.

***

The Final Dungeon, also known as the Ginnungagap Dungeon. In Norse mythology, Ginnungagap—the primordial abyss—was a vast, empty void that existed before the creation of the world. In the end, it became part of the world and vanished. Though Ginnungagap was mentioned only in creation myths, in this novel it had ironically taken shape as the ultimate dungeon, the one destined to bring about the end of the world.

When the Ginnungagap Dungeon finally appeared, countless experts swarmed it for half a day, yet not one of them could determine its true grade. All they could do was carefully observe Kang Yoo-hyun’s reaction while cautiously suggesting to him that it might be SS-class—or perhaps even an unprecedented SSS-class dungeon.

“…”

Even after hearing that, Kang Yoo-hyun remained indifferent. The gate he had fallen into contained an SS-class boss monster. He couldn’t defeat it until everyone else trapped in that gate had died, and in the original story, he had been able to return later, grow stronger, and take his revenge. However, by the story’s end, he couldn’t defeat the boss monster of Ginnungagap. It was truly a hollow and utterly meaningless ending.

“I see.”

Kang Yoo-hyun spoke briefly, then turned around. It didn’t seem as if he had paid much attention to what the Association people had said about the dungeon’s rank. He walked toward me on his long legs and stopped in front of me.

“Let’s go.”

He reached out his hand toward me. Kang Yoo-hyun looked at me with a completely calm expression.

“Yes.”

I reached out my hand to him without hesitation. Whether this dungeon was SS-class or even SSS-class didn’t matter. If we couldn’t clear it, death would be the only outcome—and that was the only thing that truly mattered. Soon, a portal glowing with blue light enveloped my body.