Chapter 15: The Price of a Glimpse

#15

The gate conditions Dokyeom had asked Taeseongyeon to find were three-fold. The gate had to manifest over the sea, its rank needed to be B-class or lower, and it had to be located within a gate zone managed by the Sahyeon Guild.

Taeseongyeon, while not inquiring about the low gate rank, presented his own conditions in return.

Dokyeom was to join the post-processing team, not the main assault team.

Naturally, Dokyeom had no intention of keeping that promise. He could simply claim he was waiting outside and got swept away by the current. On this field, pretexts were easily fabricated.

“It’s just uncomfortable sitting here, so try to relax a bit.”

“If it’s uncomfortable, why are you coming over here, you asshole? Stay away, you bastard!”

As soon as the cloying scent of perfume assailed him, Dokyeom grabbed Taeseongyeon’s shoulder and pushed. It felt like touching a stone slab.

He pushed against the unyielding shoulder repeatedly, but it remained steadfast. Ultimately, it was Dokyeom who, losing strength first, stumbled backward toward the door.

“That’s enough. If you assign anyone to me, I won’t stand for it, so let’s stick to the initial conditions. Huh? No, seriously, it’s disgusting, stop clinging to me. Should I kick you? I will, you know? Being S-class doesn’t make your vital spots safe!”

“Let’s proceed in a way that Mr. Han Dokyeom won’t have to worry. I, too, am tender-hearted and have no intention of forcing anything on someone who dislikes it. My heart is quite fragile, you see.”

“Mr. Taeseongyeon, that’s repulsive, stop it. What are you being sarcastic about now? And ‘fragile heart’? Who are you trying to fool?”

“Am I repulsive?”

Taeseongyeon deliberately tilted his head, asking. A distinct jawline was visible beneath the shadows. He felt even more massive and steadfast in his quietude.

Taeseongyeon was such a person, someone with whom the entanglement of silent gazes felt strangely natural, yet incomprehensible.

As Dokyeom quietly gazed at Taeseongyeon’s face, bathed in moonlight, a skill he had acquired inside a gate suddenly came to mind.

‘What was Taeseongyeon’s skill again?’ His memory was hazy. All Dokyeom could recall about Taeseongyeon was that his contracted Celestial was a demon from ‘Remegaton’, and that demon was ‘Gamigin’, ranked fourth.

It wouldn’t hurt to check now.

Dokyeom subtly shifted his gaze, focusing on the space above Taeseongyeon’s head. The ceiling of the black car felt unfamiliar. Just then, the headlights of a passing car flashed through the window.

As the light swallowed the car’s interior, Dokyeom activated the skill.

‘‘

His body sagged weakly as he felt his magic being rapidly drained. Soon, something pitch-black rose like a shimmering heat haze, beginning to form a shape in the air. The words taking form intertwined like wriggling insects.

However, that was all. Before long, Dokyeom felt his vision black out, accompanied by a ringing in his ears.

“Ah…”

He let out a short breath, and the world spun. The sensation of his consciousness slipping away was far from ordinary. In his dazed state, Dokyeom cursed under his breath.

But that was as far as it went.

His eyes flickered shut, and his body slumped. His swaying head toppled, as if collapsing onto Taeseongyeon’s shoulder. His eyelids, closed as if in death, didn’t stir. It had happened so fast it was disastrous.

Conversely, the moment the gray eyes that had been watching him closed, Taeseongyeon swiftly caught the collapsing body, pulling it into his embrace. The eyes, which had held a wary gaze, were now gently closed, as if lost in a deep slumber. The scent of a damp swamp emanated from Han Dokyeom.

His soft, rhythmic breathing echoed pleasantly.

“What should I do?”

He took in the sleeping Han Dokyeom’s profile. His features were delicate, and he seemed terribly fragile.

“Indeed, Dokyeom. You should know who you’re using your skills on, shouldn’t you?”

Taeseongyeon lifted Han Dokyeom’s mud-stained hand and gently brushed it clean. After shaking off the dirt, he spread his palm and wrapped it around the slender, reed-like neck where the seal was engraved.

‘So thin.’ Yet, it was quite firm, like any man’s.

“Too weak.”

‘Well, does it even matter?’

Taeseongyeon pressed and rubbed the seal behind Han Dokyeom’s ear with a warm fingertip. Perhaps sensitive, a slight furrow appeared between his smooth brows. Mumbled, broken curses escaped his rather plump lips.

Taeseongyeon’s chest vibrated with a laugh.

“Do whatever you want.”

As long as it wasn’t reckless, the lesser of two evils was always preferable to the worst.

Another car’s headlights passed beside Taeseongyeon’s. Outside, countless workers bustling around the gate filled the streets. Their commotion was distinctly separate, as if a line had been drawn between it and the confined space within the car.

“Who should I assign to him…?”

His composed eyes softly scanned the people outside the car window. His gaze lingered on someone: a disciplined hunter, leading trainees. A single instructor, wearing muddy combat boots warped by the swamp’s toxicity, settled within Taeseongyeon’s languid eyes.

Taeseongyeon lifted Han Dokyeom’s limp hand again, this time flicking off dried mud from his sleeve.

After all, he already had someone in mind.

****

RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE—!

Beyond the warning tape encircling the controlled coastline, several boats could be seen cutting through the sea. Dokyeom stood on the Eulwangri Beach shore, his gaze fixed on the boats slicing through the water. These were boats from the Association and the Sahyeon Guild, dispatched for gate investigation.

Their destination was a blue gate, towering majestically over the sea with no landmass beneath it. Around the shimmering blue gate, a makeshift dock, assembled from buoyancy tanks, had been installed. These were facilities set up by the guild for mooring boats and traversing the gate.

“I’m here, but…”

Dokyeom blinked slowly, staring blankly at the undulating sea surface. Three days had passed since he arrived. Finally, tomorrow morning, the selected hunters would embark on the gate’s conquest. Naturally, Dokyeom had been classified into the post-processing team.

Everything was going smoothly, almost too well. The wind was favorable, there were no rain forecasts or maritime warnings for the foreseeable future, and the assigned team consisted of one A-rank instructor and fourteen B-rank trainees—all strangers to him. It was the perfect situation for his plan.

Everything was good. Everything was perfect, but why was his memory completely blank about what happened after he used his skill on Taeseongyeon three days ago?

Dokyeom squatted on the soft sand, burying his head in his hands. He had been on edge, practically driven mad, since that day.

‘No… why did you collapse there, you idiot? Who knows what that perverted bastard might have done?’

‘Did he really do something? Did he touch my seal? Is that why he hasn’t shown up since, perhaps feeling guilty? Did I pant or something? Ugh, damn it!’

The more he thought about it, the more various delusions surged forth. Given that he had fainted immediately after using the skill, it implied conditions or limitations, which he still hadn’t figured out.

Dokyeom, idly scratching and rubbing his seal as he chased his thoughts, finally let out a deep sigh and returned his gaze to the distant sea.

He never imagined entering a novel would be so cruel. No, more than that, he resented having obtained the ‘Seal’ of a demon.

‘The Seal of Remegaton.’

Unlike the marks engraved by angels, the seals carved by demons, especially those ranked within ‘Remegaton’, took a different trajectory from their initial purpose.

The ‘Seal’ was a medium for communicating with demons, yet it was also an appendage that expressed their sordid desires and greed.

Many demons enjoyed mocking and tormenting humans. Their desires were often brutally deep and ugly, so their internal cravings like lust, envy, and provocation were also inherent in the seal.

This applied to ‘Orias’ to some extent as well, being a demon corrupted by desire.

Consequently, as its meaning became distorted, the act of ‘pressing down’ on an opponent with one’s ‘seal’ became prevalent among hunters. In animal terms, it was a dominance display; in human terms, a form of intimidation to warn someone not to get out of line.

Thus, the ‘seal’ was now treated as a ‘reverse scale’ among hunters.

Since contact alone allowed for magic exchange, it could sometimes be used in unsavory ways. Of course, such instances were extremely rare, as it was a sensitive point for both parties.

Yet, it remained dangerous because a demon’s seal acted as a kind of ‘inducer.’

“Ha, what kind of glory was I seeking when I wrote this novel…”

A demon’s seal reacted sensitively to another’s touch. It was as if it would burn upon contact. Enough to transform a person who had been lifelong reserved into someone entirely different after a single touch.

That’s why seals usually appeared in inconspicuous places.

“Hunter Han Dokyeom…!”

Someone called Dokyeom’s name, almost shouting, from the direction of the road. Dokyeom, lost in thought, turned his head backward without a hint of surprise. Someone was waving from a cluster of hunters.

It was the A-rank instructor assigned to this assault team. The man, whose face and name Dokyeom didn’t know, had been persistently flaunting his familiarity with Dokyeom, a complete stranger, perhaps having heard some rumors.

It seemed he was trying to curry favor with the guild master to secure a position, but he didn’t realize he had backed the wrong horse by a long shot.

“We’re heading to the hotel now, Hunter Han Dokyeom! What are your plans?”

“I plan to stay here a bit longer… You all go ahead first?”

“Don’t be like that, let’s go together…”

“I have an appointment.”

“Ah… I see.”

The hunter who had rushed over to speak with Dokyeom made a disappointed face at the mention of an appointment, then immediately walked away toward the trainees without even saying goodbye.

He was a transparent man. Dokyeom watched his retreating figure indifferently, then, as the wind picked up, he dusted himself off and headed for a nearby convenience store.

With his pockets now full from the money he’d earned over a few days, he planned to eat his fill of bread whenever he had the chance. And while he was at it, he would fill his inventory too.