026 – The Hero’s Obsession with Villains #1
As far as I know, “concepts” also have compatibility.
If I possess the concept of “numbers,” it would mean I can more easily accept the concept of “addition.” The more intuitive the connection, the better the compatibility.
Even if one were to consume a fusion stone imbued with the concepts of “nose” and “eyes,” if it doesn’t match the concepts or constitution one already has, the stone would likely pass through undigested.
Eyes. Nose.
Doesn’t the concept of “Appraisal” that I received from Seugal fit quite well?
Therefore, it would be better for me to consume this fusion stone myself rather than give it to Seugal.
Improving my own level would surely help more with abducting Yu Yeo-reum.
Then, I could also get more active cooperation from Seugal. I really am a genius.
With such thoughts in mind, I opened my mouth and swallowed the small bead. Now, what would happen?
I was shaking with anticipation when I suddenly felt my hairs stand on end. The slight nasal congestion I had was instantly cleared, and my vision became sharper and more vivid.
I could feel the power of the concepts of “eyes” and “nose” empowering me.
Of course, thanks to the “Appraisal” concept, the compatibility was excellent.
Puff.
—Gweeeeng.
At that moment, Yining jumped into the air and quickly dove into my pocket. It was like a hamster or squirrel burrowing into its den.
Why was it doing that? I was curious about the reason, but I soon found out.
“Hey! Hanamjin! What are you doing over there?”
“Eh, Baek Yeo-ul—.”
“Name: Baek Yeo-ul
Possession: 《Misfortune Lv.2》—Possesses misfortune strong enough to earn the respect of black cats.
Condition: 《Curiosity》—She’s curious about your physical state. Simultaneously, she considers you a clumsy person incapable without her care.”
“…Hehe, I see some lines.”
Due to the influence of the newly acquired concept, I saw new characters appearing that I hadn’t noticed before. It felt like projecting the concepts the others possessed?
The level indicated next to the ‘misfortune’ of Bangdaengi must refer to its rank?
“Show? What are you talking about? Stop babbling nonsense! We should head back to the classroom! Everyone else has already left without you! Oh, and our group project prize is 5 special class tickets! Isn’t that great!”
I re-appraised Bangdaengi, who was acting hyped up.
The characters I saw just a moment ago had disappeared.
Though the concept was enhanced, it seemed the trigger to activate remained the same, requiring me to sense a ‘weakness’ or ‘turmoil’ in the other’s mind.
Curiously, what had happened to the concepts of “eyes” and “nose”? Did I retain them, making it so that I now possessed four concepts?
As I glanced down at my own body, some characters appeared.
“Name: Hanamjin
Possessions: Press to expand
《Leap Lv.2》—Possesses a jumping ability on par with martial arts characters.
《Appraisal Lv.2》—Possesses insight akin to that of a humble monk.
Condition: 《Anger》—You are very upset.”
The concepts of “eyes” and “nose” didn’t remain with me but were used as materials to enhance the “Appraisal” concept and disappeared.
Of course, if eating concept stones could randomly awaken new concepts, the world would’ve been flooded with multi-capability individuals by now.
Even just the simple enhancement of concept levels by itself had a remarkable effect, and that was why concept stones sold for high prices in the “market.”
In that sense, Seugal was truly remarkable.
The ability to manifest multiple concepts and transfer them to others was no small feat. And that such a person was being held captive in my basement!
# # #
「Came 7%」
Buying plenty of refreshing cola at the snack shop, I happily returned home when I noticed a note stuck on the front gate.
The handwriting where ‘g’ resembled a ‘7’ was unmistakably Section Chief Gimjangdong’s. For a moment, I felt dizzy.
I wasn’t sure why Section Chief Gimjangdong of the “Superhuman Management Office” had come to my house again, but if Seugal had screamed loudly enough, maybe he noticed.
Chuckle, squeak!
I hurried to my neighbor’s house and opened the basement door.
And then, my vision swam.
“She’s gone….”
The sight of Seugal, whom I had securely locked up in the basement that very morning, was nowhere to be seen! Could she have escaped? I was pondering how utterly ruined I was when—
“Wak!”
“Gwaaak!”
A loud sound beside me startled me so much I thought I might faint. As I sat on the ground wondering what was going on, Seugal popped out from next to the basement door.
“Fool. You’re covered in injuries? I bet you got beaten up by Yu Yeo-reum, didn’t you? Looks like it.”
“But, what—”
Relief washed over me that Seugal hadn’t met Section Chief Gimjangdong. But I was also confused.
What exactly happened? I thought I chained her up securely with steel chains. How did she end up right here at the door?
When I looked closer, the steel chains around Seugal’s hands and feet were longer than I remembered.
“This? I acquired the concept of ‘length.’ Too bad. If you had come a little later, I could have extended the chains further and escaped completely.”
d*mn it.
So now, I’d have to live in fear that if I arrived home too late, Seugal might extend her chains and escape. Is this some kind of time limit?
“Seugal, could you transfer that concept of ‘length’ to me? It’s not really useful to you, right?”
As a man, there were a lot of lengths I’d want to adjust. What if I had that concept? I could freely change sizes for various things?
But after hearing my request, Seugal flopped down onto the mattress she was using as a temporary bed and furrowed her brow deeply.
“You could know these things about me—about the full moon being a weakness, transferring concepts. How did you hear about it?”
“I possess the concept of ‘Appraisal,’ so of course, I can discern various secrets.”
“What a creep—”
Seugal cut herself off mid-sentence.
She elegantly crossed her legs in an overfit t-shirt with her ankles jiggling.
“Envious. If I had something like that, my life would’ve been twice as easy.”
Actually, that ‘Appraisal’ was Seugal’s.
Upon reflecting now, this meant Seugal must have possessed a strong desire at some point for the ‘Appraisal’ ability to fully manifest.
“Why don’t you just open the ‘Appraisal’ concept yourself?”
“Baka? Concepts only exist as singular entities in this world. They don’t overlap. Unless some rare thing you dug up somehow spreads them around.”
“Oh, that’s how it works. So what about passing that ‘Length’ concept over to me?”
“What? You didn’t know everything, I see. I need to know exactly who my target is in order to transfer a concept I possess. And I don’t even know who you are.”
Not everyone can transfer abilities at will. This meant that Future Seugal trusted me enough to pass her abilities to me.
# # #
I often recall my first meeting with Seugal.
Future Seugal knew everything, like my middle school graduation and my relationship with Yining.
I was just a guy who ran errands in some out-of-the-way place, barely making ends meet.
Why did Seugal, who was called “Supernova” and was humanity’s hope, take an interest in me when we had no common ground at that time?
I want to ask.
But the person who could answer that question—
“Would you explain yourself? What kind of guy are you? Why are you imprisoning me here and pulling these crazy pranks? Is your name really Hanamjin?”
—didn’t know anything about me now.
Still, she seemed to have pieced some things together.
“You said you attended Yingwen High before transferring to Yingsa Academy, right? That’s not a place where just good grades get you in. Looking at your family background and parents’ jobs, too. On the other hand, you—”
Slither.
Seugal glanced around with the sharp, narrow eyes of a serpent.
The cries of aggressive cats in heat echoed around loudly.
“You don’t live in a particularly good neighborhood. Given your poor family circumstances, how did you manage to enter Yingwen High? Then transfer here to Stages… Suspicious. So, what kind of person are you really?”
“Instead of talking about me, I’d like to hear about you. I heard today at school that you had a ‘sick leave’ processed. They even said it wasn’t an abduction. Don’t you know what’s going on?”
“…”
Suddenly, Seugal’s talkative expression turned icy. It seemed like I had asked something I shouldn’t have.
For a moment, I thought I connected with Seugal, but it was my mistake. Seugal completely closed her mouth and showed zero interest even when I offered her the cola.
Annoying.
I needed to train and cooperate with Seugal to uncover better concepts as soon as possible, but when I felt impatient, something burst out of my pocket and clung to Seugal’s legs.
—Gweeeng.
“Huh?”
Big ruby eyes of Seugal widened in alarm.
She suddenly lost control, screaming.
“Sht, it’s a Demon Beast! Sht! Demon Beast! It’s a Demon Beast! k*ll it! Destroy it completely!”
“Name: Seugal
Possession: Expand to view details
《???》—Insufficient Appraisal Level to discern.
《Ladylike Lv.2》—Possesses a grace akin to heavenly maidens. She would never partake in anything indecent.
《Length Lv.1》—Can adjust the length of objects like an elastic band.
Condition: 《Feral》—Is consumed by the thought of stomping the Demon Beast to d*ath!”
Puff! Puffpuff!
Seugal trampled on Yining with her heel. While Yining had the cushion-like resilience of a soft toy and didn’t seem much injured, I wanted to cry.
“Just wait! Yining might be a Demon Beast, but it’s a good one, okay?”
“Are you serious? Warning you, there’s no such thing as a ‘good’ Demon Beast in this world. If a Demon Beast acts friendly towards a human, it’s just luring us with bigger, darker intentions. So step aside! Let me obliterate it!”
I’ve heard this kind of talk before somewhere, haven’t I?
That’s why I knew exactly what I had to do. I placed Yining on my palm, cleared my throat, and started singing softly.
“Butterfly, Yadoran, homeland of birds. No matter how much they argue it’s theirs, alligators will come out.”
Goomch goomch.
Yining, swaying its body to the rhythm of the song. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if it would work, but Yining inherently loved music and rhythm.
Seugal’s expression subtly changed upon seeing that.
“Good Demon Beast?”
“My friend here is one of the best.”
Seugal looked at us, Yining and I, with the gaze one might give to strange people.
Then she suddenly stretched her leg towards me.
Is she trying to tempt me again?
I heavily punished her with “The Scourge of Love” last time, but it seems my intentions weren’t fully delivered.
So, as I picked up the nearest fly swatter, Seugal coolly said:
“Stockings.”
“Stockings?”
“I can’t fully activate my concepts unless I wear stockings. It’s one of my quirks. If you get me stockings, the denier specifics, then I’ll tell you why I was on ‘sick leave.’”
Wearing stockings as a quirk?
What a bizarre thing.
“You have ten minutes.”
Seugal didn’t seem to be lying.
If she’s going to tell me why she was on ‘sick leave,’ it seemed a pretty good trade for me.
Ten minutes should be enough time to run to the nearby convenience store and back.
“Then hang out with Yining for a while.”
“Hey! Are you crazy? You’re leaving me here with a Demon Beast? At the very least, untie me first!”
“Yining is good, I told you. Anyway, I’ll be right back.”
With that thought, after locking the basement door securely and stepping out, I heard someone call my name.
I tensed up a bit.
It was Yu Yeorum.
“I came to apologize for what happened in the sewer earlier after asking about where you live from your friends.”
“Apologize?”
“Though I heard your house was here, why are you coming out of the neighbor’s house?”
Zzzing—. In the shadowy spring evening, Yu Yeorum’s eyes burned brightly.
