Chapter 75 (1/2)
Seo Gyu-Cheol
Meanwhile, Seo Gyu-Cheol was approaching the crowd from far away. I whispered to the devil’s sword in my hand in a way that would not be heard by anyone around me, “You,” It did not answer me immediately, “Are you ignoring me?”
This had been the case ever since it signed an unfair contract in favor of me. Since the hope of brainwashing me or enticing me has wholly disappeared, it didn’t waste its energy on me. It was probably planning to wait silently for the day when my life would be over.
‘It’s okay to wait, but I never allowed you to ignore what I say.’
I said with strength added to my voice, “Did you forget about the contract already? Why don’t we go home and light the furnace again today?”
‘········Yes, yes. Did you call me? Mister master,’ it said in a sarcastic tone.
I quickly ordered a few things in a low voice, “Okay? We start right away when I give you the signal.”
It couldn’t disobey my instructions no matter what its attitude might be. The moment I finished speaking, Seo Gyu-Cheol stopped.
“We finally meet.”
After deliberately arguing and running away from his office, this was the first time we’d faced each other like this. He spoke in a voice that was as repressed as a man who hadn’t crapped in days, in contrast to the flames blazing in his eyes, “Let’s go somewhere quiet and talk.”
The tone had changed slightly from a few months ago, and I felt a strange sense of distance.
I nodded my head, “Let’s.”
I looked at Nate and Hibiki. It was an expected situation, so they knew how to act and merely nodded.
Seo Gyu-Cheol took a scroll out of his arms. I read the Mana pattern in advance.
‘Of all days, he prepared it for today. No, it would be appropriate to assume that he had it in his possession for any moment like this to come.’
He was about to tear it up when Kim Kyung-Rok shouted, “Hey, you bastards! Can’t you hear me? I said to explain, what the hell is ….”
Seo Gyu-Cheol said in a cold voice, “What you are complaining about, the Management will handle. Shut up before I pull your tongue out.”
“W-what, what? We’ve been letting him be, and that bastard’s crossing the line now!”
Kim Kyung-Rok, who was insulted at the gathering of the four major guilds, reddened with anger. Ignoring him, Seo Gyu-Cheol turned to face the Celestial Dragon Guild members.
“I’m going to talk to my son for a while now that the break is over. No.1 Team Leader, I’ll leave it to you to finish and aftercare.”
“Ah…. Yes!”
Team Leader Yoon Ho-Min nodded with a puzzled expression. Seo Gyu-Cheol tore the scroll without hesitation.
[Wide Range Teleport!]
I relaxed my resistance and left myself to the light that surrounded me.
‘Yeah, there’s too many eyes here.’
When it came to avoiding the place, our opinions agreed. After a while, we were in the middle of the woods. It was apparent that he had entered the coordinates beforehand. I thought he would talk right away, but unexpectedly, Seo Gyu-Cheol kept his mouth shut and only stared at me.
But then…
‘Yes, that was the gaze.’
I could tell by the experience of dealing with my companions, Park Chang-Hee and Han-Seol, that the pupil distorts with a strange glow when intense emotions are shown.
I opened my mouth first and spoke in a deliberate calm tone, “I saw it on TV.”
“You looked for me anxiously.”
I pointed out his irrational behavior and excessive emotions shown in the process. Would Seo Gyu-Cheol be aware of himself?
“It wasn’t like you, father, to turn the media around like you usually do.”
Did he know he was involved in a curse-induced madness? The original Seo Jin-Wook objectively recognized his condition, but Han-Seol and Park Chang-Hee were encroached entirely and did not notice it. What about Seo Gyu-Cheol?
“That’s funny,” He said in a low voice.
“Father?”
“Other guys can fool me, but you can’t,” his fierce eyes flashed. He says in a scratchy voice, “You, what the hell are you?”
A sharp and cold wind blew in the distance between the two of us. I brood over the meaning of what he said. To be honest, it was a surprise. Did this mean that parents could notice? With the affection and instinct by blood?
‘However, looking at Seo Gyu-Cheol’s usual attitude, I couldn’t find the least amount of fatherly love.’
I denied it for now.
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“You want me to say it again? I asked what the hell you are. Where did you come from, and why are you taking over my son’s body!”
I clicked my tongue inside. He spoke in a confident tone that suggested he knew I was not the original one.
“The reason why you were in such a hurry to find me was because of that misunderstanding?”
“It cannot be a misunderstanding. What the hell are you, with what right do you have… can you do this to the one I’ve been raising so dearly for the last few decades….”
I tried to form a bleak smile. Raised him dearly? From the memories of him or as I experienced in person, he had never cared about Seo Jin-Wook that much.
“···Have you just snatched up the precious seed that has been raised so dearly; it was about to bloom!”
What?
*
My face stiffened at an instant, ‘About to bloom… Seed!’ It was a ubiquitous word. There was nothing strange about those who talk about seeds. However, considering the name and description of the skills that several guild personnel was exposed to, it was an entirely different story.
[Seed of Mercadius (Rank: SSS, Semi-active)]
Skill effect: Interfering with the host’s mind amplifies the most intense desires and emotions and induces thoughts. After its growth, the seed that completely encroaches on the host will bloom, and what will become depends on the intentions of the caster and the characteristics of the host.
Restrictions: The stronger the host’s mental strength and resistance, the slower the seed’s incubation speed, and the risk of the “voice” of the seed being exposed to the host.
‘The probability that Seo Gyu-Cheol would choose those two words without knowing the existence of the skill… What is the probability for such a coincidence?!’
The assumption that Seo Gyu-Cheol was related to the curse was one of the scenarios I had in my head. When my seed destroyed the seeds of Han-Seol and Park Chang-Hee, the memories of the lives of the two people that coagulated there flowed into me.
Since then, I have searched through piles of absorbed memories whenever I have time to explore the common triggers for their madness. Including the original Seo Jin-Wook’s memory in the control group. I hadn’t found the critical scene yet, but I had found some strangeness in an unexpected part.
‘Seo Gyu-Cheol, what the hell is this guy?’
As shown in the memories of the three people, his words and actions were always beyond comprehension. First, Seo Gyu-Cheol, from the original Seo Jin-Wook perspective, was considered emotionless, as he often drove Seo Jin-Wook to the extreme. To start with, shouting at him to overcome a mental illness by will, he repeated the same behavior when he knows that his condition was deteriorating.
Suppose he really wanted to raise his son as the next great leader of the guild and wanted to present him as a poster boy for Celestial Dragon’s honor. In that case, he could have at least pretended to be an exemplary father, but he acted as if he were trying to be the worst father.
Seo Gyu-Cheol, who Han-Seol saw, was also strange. She indeed joined the guild for the original Seo Jin-Wook in the first place, but Seo Gyu-Cheol acquiesced in knowing that she was spending too much private time with his son. When the power of Han-Seol was firmly established in the guild, he left it clear that his son, who he was pushing to be the next Guild Master, was mentally dependent on Han-Seol instead of him.
Seo Gyu-Cheol, reflected in Park Chang-hee’s eyes, was just a stupid man. He kept making Park Chang-Hee and Seo Jin-Wook, who were bitter against each other, together. That’s how he constantly let conflict arise between the two.
Calling Seo Jin-Wook to the meeting, which he did not have to participate in, he also allowed them to go together in the first dungeon after Awakening. It was also Seo Gyu-Cheol who told Park Chang-Hee about Seo Jin-Wook’s training plans in advance.
And in common, Seo Gyu-Cheol… too frequently invited the three, Seo Jin-Wook, Han-Seol, Park Chang-Hee, to his office. Of course, there was a reason behind it. They were each Seo Gyu-Cheol’s son, Assistant Guild Master, and the Exploration Team 2 Leader. Looking back, however, Seo Gyu-Cheol was following the regular interval to gather them. As if…. He was taking time to observe their conditions.
*
I spoke as I glared at him, “[Mercadius’ Seed], did you ever know about it?” I held on to the sword handle.