Chapter 95:
“This is quite comfortable.”
“It should be. It cost tens of millions of won.”
“Kim Yoo-sung said you relax here when your level spikes. They put such an expensive item in this room?”
It was true. Even with sedatives, her ability control was a separate issue, so the furniture had been burned to a crisp on several occasions due to her uncontrolled heat.
But Kim Yoo-sung always cleaned up the relaxation room without complaint and replaced the furniture with even better ones. Seo Won-yeong had also contributed, so there wasn’t a single cheap item in this room.
“I used to live in an empty room when I was confined to the Center. I guess they were concerned about that.”
Even though it wasn’t necessary, Kim Yoo-sung had silently made this room the most comfortable place in the world, as if he was trying to make up for her past suffering.
“Living in an empty room? That’s the first time I’m hearing this.”
“Of course. It wasn’t something I could tell ‘Baek Joo-won.'”
“Are you rejecting me now?”
“No. I just realized I don’t have to pretend anymore.”
Seo Jae-yi stared at Baek Joo-won.
Perhaps it was because he was wearing a casual shirt and pants instead of his usual sharp suit, or maybe it was his slightly arrogant posture.
He didn’t look like the “Baek Joo-won” she knew anymore.
The one before her was Hae-wi.
“Hello, Hae-wi.”
“Hello, Seo Jae-yi.”
Baek Joo-won, no, Hae-wi, smiled and replied.
They were finally greeting each other properly.
“When did you leave the dungeon?”
Why had he pretended not to know her? How could he, a dungeon master, become a Guide? What was with the ability he had shown?
Seo Jae-yi bombarded him with questions.
“First, call me Baek Joo-won, like before. People are already suspicious because I’m stateless; it’ll be even more suspicious if you call me by a different name.”
After addressing one question, Baek Joo-won slowly answered the others.
“I left the dungeon about a month before we met at your flower shop. Even though I was pretending to be stateless, I needed to learn about human life, so I gathered information while traveling around.”
He added that he had traveled with a different appearance. That was why his whereabouts before appearing at her flower shop were unknown.
“I was surprised to be identified as a Guide. The measuring device must have identified me as a Guide because I can use an ability similar to Guiding. It can’t distinguish between humans and monsters.”
And it was only natural for him to be identified as an S-rank, considering he was a dungeon master.
“Your Matching Rate with me is high because you absorbed my power.”
She had wondered why she had suddenly encountered Baek Joo-won, a stroke of luck, after eleven years without a compatible Guide.
It wasn’t sudden. They were already connected.
“Are you talking about regeneration when you say an ability similar to Guiding? Or the ability to influence Espers?”
“Airok told you, I see?”
Baek Joo-won smiled.
Seo Jae-yi realized that Airok had recognized Baek Joo-won but kept it from her.
“Ah! Logi tricked me!”
“He was just trying to survive. He would have been sealed back in the egg if he had interfered.”
“Then it’s your fault. Why did you trick me?”
Seo Jae-yi would have welcomed him even if he had appeared as Hae-wi.
She might have been even more relieved. If she had known he wasn’t a fragile human, she wouldn’t have been so worried about hurting him during Guiding.
“I had something I wanted.”
“From me?”
“Yes. My intentions changed a bit, though.”
Baek Joo-won stood up and gently pushed her back onto the bed. His ordinary brown eyes suddenly turned green.
His inhuman eyes scrutinized Seo Jae-yi, who was lying beneath him.
“Want some Guiding?”
It was a sweet whisper.
“It’s not time yet.”
“What do you want?”
“Will you give it to me if I want it?”
Baek Joo-won started Guiding without waiting for an answer, as if he would take what he wanted.
“Hae-wi!”
I told you to call me Baek Joo-won.
He ignored her and poured his energy into her, deeper than before, until it created synergy with his power residing in her lower abdomen.
“Ugh!”
Seo Jae-yi’s body trembled, feeling the intense energy from both above and below. She grabbed his arm as a wave of pleasure surged through her.
She wasn’t suppressing her strength anymore. She clung to him, as if he was the most trustworthy person in the world.
Baek Joo-won smiled, feeling her tight grip on his arm.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her black eyes, which had been indifferent even in the face of death in the burning forest dungeon, were now filled with desire.
Why had he tricked Seo Jae-yi?
He hadn’t liked her at first. He hadn’t liked how she treated him, the ruler of a dungeon for hundreds of years, so casually, and he hadn’t liked her exceptionally strong power, a power that even he couldn’t defeat.
He had proposed the deal to survive, but he hadn’t liked the situation itself.
So he hadn’t told her that she could live if she received his power and his Guiding. He had simply treated her body and sent her away from the dungeon quickly.
And then he had become curious.
-What would Seo Jae-yi’s death feel like?
How would he feel, seeing this strong human, who treated him so casually, dying?
And if someone appeared who could save her, how would she react?
…He was curious.
Would she beg? Would she kneel and plead for her life?
She had pretended to be indifferent even in the face of death, but would even a strong human like her become pathetic when faced with a glimmer of hope?
He had left the dungeon to satisfy his curiosity.
It was easy for him to find Seo Jae-yi, who now possessed his energy after absorbing the orb.
And then a month had passed.
Yes, it was ridiculous, but it had only been a month. Five weeks at most.
Seo Jae-yi was still strong, still arrogant, still unyielding.
It was he, not her, whose goals had changed in those five weeks.
“This is a pleasing sight.”
Baek Joo-won stared at Seo Jae-yi, who was lying beneath him.
She was panting, overwhelmed by the most pleasurable Guiding energy.
Her eyes were filled with desire, and her arms tightened around him, as if wanting more.
But she wasn’t pathetic. She didn’t look desperate, and that pleased him, but it also frustrated him that she was still holding back, even though she wanted him so much.
Yes, Baek Joo-won no longer wanted the Seo Jae-yi who bowed her head in defeat; he wanted the Seo Jae-yi who desired him uncontrollably.
The thought of this human, whom no one could handle, wanting only him filled him with a sense of exhilaration.
So show me more. Show me more of your greed. Stop trying to push me away and lose yourself in me.
A strange desire flickered in his deep green eyes.
“You, you perverted monster! Stop it!”
But it was short-lived. Baek Joo-won gasped and had to pull back as he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen.
Seo Jae-yi had kicked him.
“…This is why I didn’t reveal my identity. You treated me so preciously when you thought I was human, but you become violent the moment you find out I’m a monster.”
He felt nauseous from the force of her kick.
“You should have stopped when I asked nicely.”
“Why should I stop? I have to Guide you eventually. I have to resolve the heat that’s still coiled within you for you to live.”
He couldn’t resolve it with light Guiding. She had a reason to refuse before, when she thought he was a normal human, but not anymore.
There was no more room for retreat. Baek Joo-won wanted Seo Jae-yi to live, so he was determined to resolve it all this time.
And it would be even better if she lost control and clung to him.
“I know. But not here! Someone could come in at any moment!”
But Seo Jae-yi shook her head firmly. She had her own reasons.
She needed a deeper level of Guiding for her body to fully recover, and she might lose control and do something to him.
She didn’t mind that, but this room was accessible to all high-ranking Haeil Guild members.
“What would they think if they saw me kicking and punching you, when they think you’re human? They’ll try to separate us.”
She didn’t want to show them her abusing a fragile Guide, even if she desperately needed Guiding.
“…So it’s a given that you’ll be violent towards me?”
“Why else do you think I’ve been losing sleep worrying about you? I’m an Esper who’s been trained since I was thirteen. I don’t even know what I’ll do if I lose control.”
Baek Joo-won was speechless.
He had thought she was worried about the Guild members seeing them engage in sexual acts, but it was something far more serious.