Chapter 152

‘Ah, fuck.... This is insanely hard.’

It felt like the entirety of the energy filling my body had vanished. Not just a feeling—practically true.

Even with the Preservation Patch Sung Uijae gave me, plus mana-recharge items I bought myself strapped all over my body, the backlash from mimicking an S-rank skill as is was harsher than I’d thought.

‘I figured I’d prepared thoroughly... guess not.’

For the record, “covered all over” wasn’t an exaggeration. My whole skin under the shirt was slathered with mana-preservation items. If I hadn’t done at least that, I would’ve drained all my mana and fainted on the spot.

To clear my head, I pressed the fingertips tucked in my pocket to make some pain.

For reference, yes—the owner of the ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) skill I copied was Im Haekyung.

Maybe intending to keep his promise, Im Haekyung actively cooperated with me after I signed the transfer contract. Not only that. At first he nitpicked about what he’d gain from it, but the more he heard, the more his interest was piqued—by the end, he looked more excited than me.

That was fine by me. If he was willing to cooperate, I might as well wring him dry.

‘Hm, he should be on standby around now, right?’

Of course, there was one tiny issue: mimicking Im Haekyung’s skill hadn’t been discussed with him at all—but things done without anyone knowing are fine by nature.

I checked the artificially extended duration of Mimic, stretched with the Preservation Patch and mana-recharge items.

Mimic (S) Duration: 823 seconds

Even though I implemented the skill at the lowest rank I could manage, the time limit was short.

And judging by how my strength was draining from mind to body in an instant, it was clear that if my concentration slipped even a little, the skill would cut off.

All this just to mimic—what is this, as if the guy with the skill is a damn monster....

Fortunately, before my focus broke, Gyeon Taeri nodded.

“Ah... yes. It seems there was... a mistake. There are three of you.”

“Yes.”

It was my first time using a mind-control skill, and on top of that there was a time limit, so the best I could do was visual interference at most. For example, making him misread the names on the boarding list.

Gyeon Taeri looked a little confused, but he calmly checked the glitched list several times and put his phone away.

“Then... please board.”

The moment we got permission to board, I released the skill and watched his back as he prepared to set off.

‘God, I almost died from how hard that was.’

After a short while, once he confirmed we’d all boarded, Gyeon Taeri went into the wheelhouse to pilot. He also warned us the boat might rock badly, so be careful.

Leaning against the outside wall of the wheelhouse to catch my breath, I checked on the ever-quiet Do Yehyun.

‘Quiet.’

He was never loud to begin with, but today was something else. Nerves?

Sensing my gaze, Do Yehyun lifted his head and met my eyes. After briefly trading looks, he came closer and called to me quietly.

“Hyung....”

“Mm.”

Before “hyungnim” could come out of his mouth, I cut him off at the right point.

Given that Cheonmyeonggyo currently has gangster punks as their gofers, an honorific like “hyungnim” would raise suspicion.

Seeming to get the hint, he shut his mouth obediently and came closer to speak.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

I thought I’d hidden it. He’d somehow noticed my condition had subtly worsened.

He wasn’t usually some sharp observer or super perceptive, so it was more likely he’d simply fixed his gaze on me this whole time.

I nodded and glanced toward the helm. Thankfully, even after he finished the procedures, Gyeon Taeri didn’t look like he was coming out.

‘Yeah, stay inside if you can. Don’t come out.’

I had a plan B ready in case I had to threaten him, but it was better to go without noise if possible.

I fiddled with my watch briefly and slipped my hand back into my pocket.

Since I still wasn’t talking, Do Yehyun spoke up again with a worried face.

“Should I... help you?”

“Dunno. Um... I’m fine.”

He probably meant using a skill, but since I wasn’t injured, it wasn’t particularly useful. I turned him down and slowly walked toward the bow.

‘This boat is shoddy.’

Not just the size—overall it looked like an old build.

‘Does Jin Haedo go back and forth on this too?’

As I stared absently at the cracked deck, I suddenly felt a gaze.

When I raised my head, Ryu Taejun awkwardly turned his face away. What?

“Why?”

“...Huh?”

“If you’ve got something to say, say it.”

“N-no... nothing to say.”

Then why look?

When I furrowed my brows slightly, he pretended to read the room and shuffled over.

“Uh....”

“Mm.”

“S-so, is he... y-younger than you?”

Having sidled up, Ryu Taejun looked at Do Yehyun and used a weird kind of honorific.

“......?”

“Ah! I—wasn’t eavesdropping, but I heard you say hyung just now. He didn’t say a word earlier. And—well, of course he looks younger than me, but he could just be aging really well.”

‘What are you even babbling.’

I faced him squarely and put on a friendly smile.

“He is, but you don’t need to worry about it. He’s just along as my acquaintance.”

“Ah, right. Acquaintance. Friend, right? Then how should I... address....”

“You two aren’t going to talk anyway.”

“R-right, true.”

Agreeing quickly, he glanced at Do Yehyun’s face and clammed up again.

‘On social media he gets all hyped like a lunatic, and now look at him.’

I watched him quietly and thought through a few things.

Before coming here, most of the legwork Joo Seowon had been handling was about Cheonmyeonggyo; it hadn’t focused on Ryu Taejun’s movements.

‘Should I probe a bit?’

Normally, how someone lives is none of my business, but this time there was one coincidental snag.

‘Ryu Taeyoung.’

His older brother—and the decent civil servant I first met when I landed here.

‘Even the last time we met, he was upset that his kid brother had fallen into a cult. And here we are.’

People like this should be disciplined early with a beating; being too kind causes its own problems. Though I did profit from it.

It had already been months since I lost contact with Ryu Taeyoung. I wasn’t desperate enough to go find him personally, but I didn’t want it to end forever like this either. I might need his help someday.

And it wasn’t just me he wasn’t answering—apparently he was also flatly refusing interview and broadcast requests he used to accept, even though he still showed up to work regularly.

Having decided, I spoke first.

“When you get to Jinsando, you might have to stay several days. Did you tell your family? Or are they all believers too?”

“Ah.”

His expression turned awkward.

‘So he’s not going to talk about family?’

Didn’t look like he was that thoughtful.

Uncharacteristically hemming and hawing, he frowned and answered:

“N-no.”

“Then?”

“I—I just came. I’ve been living on my own for a while... my family was kind of against it.”

“Family? Your parents?”

Playing dumb, I prodded, and his expression stiffened even more.

‘Touchy subject?’

I was ready to drop it if needed, but suddenly he started spilling words like a waterfall.

“No. I don’t have parents. My father was never around, and my mother d-died a while back. When my brother awakened, she got caught up in a dungeon... now it’s just my brother.”

“Not on good terms?”

“Of course not!”

He flinched at his own shout, then casually glanced around and continued.

“It’s not my problem! It’s my brother. He’s kind of a fossil.”

“Oh....”

Sure looks like your problem.

But I didn’t feel like arguing, so I just nodded. That seemed to give him the will to keep going, and he launched into more nonsense.

“So he doesn’t even understand Cheonmyeonggyo’s... doctrine, and he tries to oppress me. Honestly, I never expected him to understand me. He’s always been like that. Thinks he’s the only one who’s right. N-never thinks about how hard things are for me.”

“.......”

Clutching his head, he advertised his suffering. Just by the look of it, he could’ve been the tragic male lead.

“From the starting line, it’s different.... How would a Hunter who awakened straight at B-rank ever understand me? If my rank’s going to be this low, I’d rather just be unawakened! As a Hunter there’s so much you can’t do, and everywhere you go they treat you like dead weight.”

“Have you tried getting a job?”

“I don’t have to try to know!”

How exactly do you know?

Staring at him in genuine curiosity, I watched him hastily add:

“I—it’s obvious from the internet. You know, on forums—no, everywhere they say F-ranks are trash.”

“Ah....”

‘So that’s where you got it.’

I tried not to look at him with pity and offered a token consolation.

“Yeah. Truly....”

“.......”

“A pitiful life.”

Couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Ignoring him as he revved up to spew more useless words, I turned my gaze—and saw an island much closer now.

‘This is....’

I was briefly surprised by how different it looked from what I’d expected, when a flat voice called to us from behind.

“Believers.”

“.......”

“We will soon arrive at Jinsando.”