These Lunatics are Obsessed With Me

ED: Cheerycheri

“Hoo…”

“So cute, so cute! What’s his name?”

Do-gyul jumped around the room excitedly. I answered with a bit of embarrassment.

“Yong-sik.”

“Yong-sik? His name is cute, too!”

Do-gyul, whose cheeks were flushed red, looked at Yong-sik with sparkling eyes. Whenever someone hears Yong-sik’s name, I don’t know why, but their expressions don’t look so good. However, Do-gyul looked very happy.

Compared to him, Yong-sik was a little surprised, so he was bending down. Do-gyul looked at Yong-sik passionately and asked—

“Can I touch him?”

At first I was worried because I thought Do-gyul would be scared of Yong-sik when they first met, but it turned out to be quite the contrary.

Yong-sik was also simply surprised and did not seem to be frightened by Do-gyul. Yong-sik, with his purple eyes wide, was unable to take his eyes off Do-gyul.

“I’m sure it’s okay. Try to touch him once, carefully.”

“Ye–yes.”

When I responded that he could try to touch Yong-sik, Do-gyul hesitated for a while as if he was nervous, then he gently stretched out one hand and reached out to Yong-sik.

“Kkyu…”

“…”

I was worried that Yong-sik might accidentally bite Do-gyul’s hand, so I watched them nervously. But fortunately, what I was worried about didn’t happen.

At first, Yong-sik, who was wary of Do-gyul’s hands, let out a small cry, approached and sniffed him, then became quiet.

Then Yong-sik brought his small head into Do-gyul’s hand. Do-gyul, who was watching Yong-sik while holding his breath, was delighted and gently stroked Yong-sik’s head.

“Wow, it’s cold! And it’s rough! Wow, wow!”

“Haha.”

Do-gyul exclaimed while gently touching the scales. Yong-sik was calmly giving Do-gyul his head even though he was making a fuss. Yong-sik even closed his eyes and made a groaning sound as if he was feeling good.

I looked at them with a smile. Somehow, a corner of my heart was touched.

“Hyung, what does Yong-sik eat? What does he like?”

“Um, that…”

I briefly told Do-gyul about Yong-sik. Do-gyul was greatly impressed when I briefly told him about how I obtained the egg that Yong-sik was born from as a reward from a dungeon and how I hatched Yong-sik.

“Wow, Yong-sik is so strong!”

“Yes, he is. Never touch the area around his mouth. It’s poisonous.”

“Wow, whoa.”

While being amazed, Do-gyul petted Yong-sik carefully because he was afraid he might touch his poisonous teeth. Fortunately, Yong-sik only lowered his head quietly.

Yong-sik has been wary and growls at everyone else but me. I was relieved but also a little curious about why Yong-sik was so gentle with Do-gyul. Perhaps he realized that Do-gyul is my family member?

This smart guy. I was so impressed by Yong-sik that I stroked his torso too. Yong-sik raised his voice even more pleasantly.

“Kkyaau!”

“Haha, he’s cute even when he laughs!”

After playing with Yong-sik for a while, I decided to talk to Do-gyul about his ability.

“Do-gyul-ah.”

“Yes?”

Do-gyul, who was carefully looking at Yong-sik’s forepaws placed on my hand, turned his head toward me. I opened my mouth carefully.

“The rare disease you have.”

“…?”

“It’s not actually a disease…”

I told Do-gyul exactly what I heard from Park Yoon-sung. It was a bit difficult to explain because we are still uncertain about his rank. Do-gyul listened to me without saying anything and asked quietly.

“Then, am I an awakener like hyung?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

When I nodded, a small light seemed to sparkle from Do-gyul’s eyes. Do-gyul asked again, looking a little excited.

“Then can I enter a dungeon, too?”

“What? A dungeon?”

“Yes, can I enter a dungeon with hyung?”

“…”

I was puzzled by Do-gyul’s question.

Did he want to enter a dungeon?

Since he was young, he was probably envious of hunters and dungeons. This is because the media constantly promotes such an image to paint hunters in a good light. But actually entering a dungeon is a dangerous thing, you’ll be putting your life on the line if you enter one. I shook my head at once.

“You don’t have to enter a dungeon.”

“Why?”

“Why? I can feed you myself. Why would you go into such a dangerous place? Huh?”

“But I also…!”

“Kyau!”

“…!”

Although Do-gyul only raised his voice slightly, Yong-sik shrieked in surprise.

Surprised, Do-gyul covered his mouth. Do-gyul’s mental ability seemed to have been activated unconsciously. After calming the startled Yong-sik, I looked back at Do-gyul.

“I know it well because hyung also has a mental skill. But mental abilities are not very helpful in dungeons.”

“…”

Unfortunately, Han Yi-jin also had a mental skill. Although it was a trivial skill that was only B-grade, it was useful when doing evil deeds, not even Jang Tae-san could touch Han Yi-jin easily.

In other words, it is a valuable skill, just not for combat. It’s too unreasonable to have to fight while protecting non-combatants in a dungeon filled with countless monsters unless you have auxiliary skill-holders like me or are a healer.

Do-gyul, completely depressed, lowered his head. He looked really pitiful, like a scolded puppy. I raised my hand and stroked Do-gyul’s hair.

“There are many other things you can do instead. So let’s properly examine your abilities, okay?”

“…Yeah, okay.”

Do-gyul, who nodded, answered calmly. But I could tell he was still depressed. I winked at Yong-sik.

“Kkyaau…”

“…”

Yong-sik approached gently, and touched Do-gyul’s hand with his soft forepaws. 

Immediately, a smile bloomed on Do-gyul’s face again. I gave Yong-sik a thumbs up, signaling he had done well.

“The guild that is taking care of you now is the Odin Guild. Did you know that?”

“The Odin Guild?”

Do-gyul’s eyes widened. I nodded slightly.

“Yes, I’ve heard of it.”

“It’s the biggest guild in Korea. Hyung is also currently under contract with the Odin Guild. Do you want to join too?”

“Umm…”

“I’ve decided to sign you up until you become an adult. After that you can do whatever you want.”

Parental consent is required for minors to join a guild. The unconditional deadline for the necessitation of parental consent was until they turned 20. Of course, it could be broken at any time before that if something unfair happened to the minor.

Do-gyul, who frowned slightly at my explanation, said with a curled lips.

“I don’t like that person.”

“That person? Who?”

“The adult man who came in with hyung before.”

“…The guildmaster Park Yoon-sung?”

I opened my eyes wide at his unexpected remark. Then Do-gyul’s face frowned even more.

“Yeah, I hate him.”

“Why?”

“…”

“Can you tell hyung why?”

Do-gyul, who had been agonizing over it with his mouth shut, gave quite the lame answer after a moment.

“I just don’t like him.”

“Just…?”

What did Park Yoon-sung do to him when I wasn’t around?

But I know best that it’s impossible. He is a good character in the novel and he is more righteous than anyone else and would never have harmed a child.

It is also strange that Do-gyul hates Park Yoon-sung for no reason in particular. No matter how much I think about it, Do-gyul’s words seem more like a child’s whining. It’s a kind of whining that you do when you don’t like someone you’ve never seen before.

When I looked at him with troubled eyes, Do-gyul looked at me and said—

“But since it’s the guild hyung joined, I’m joining too.”

“Oh, I see…”

“But I really don’t like him.”

“Hm, yeah.”

I just answered him with a smile. I decided to just simply observe him for now, maybe his current negative feelings towards Park Yoon-sung will change. That’s what I think.

“I’m going to enter a dungeon soon, so hyung won’t be able to visit you for a while.”

“…”

“If you need anything, you must tell others. Got it?”

“…”

Do-gyul closed his mouth again. An uneasy look flashed through my eyes.

I finally understand this child’s habit. If Do-gyul feels his emotions are about to become intense, he suppresses them. He won’t say anything during the time he is suppressing his feelings. Then, when his emotions calm down, he’ll open his mouth again.

“…When is hyung coming back?”

“Well, I don’t know…”

I thought of the Sæ dungeon that I’m going to enter this time. In the novel, the time it took to clear the dungeon was greatly extended due to the disappearance of the main character and heroine along with the occurrence of the dungeon abnormality.

But this time, I have an S-grade auxiliary skill that I can use to assist them. There is also Kang Soo-hyun who had awakened a little earlier than his novel counterpart, and Eden who had also joined the Odin Guild a little earlier than in the novel. If I figure out a way, maybe I can somehow clear it faster than the party in the novel.

“It would take me about a week, maybe.”

The D-rank dungeon I had entered before, suddenly increased in difficulty due to the last-minute rating change, but the clearing itself was done in a day. Normally, the clearance speed for a D-rank dungeon is only one day.

However, the Sæ dungeon has a basic rating of A-rank or higher. Moreover, the dungeon is large, and it is divided into five areas. It would have taken at least five days to clear the dungeon if there was no rating abnormality.

Do-gyul’s face became sullen again at my words. I tapped the child on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry. A week goes by quickly. In the meantime, raise your game level and train well. Okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Now, promise.”

“Promise.”

When we made a pinky promise, a faint smile hung on Do-gyul’s lips. Anyway, I’m glad I was able to say goodbye to Do-gyul with a smile on my face.