At this rate, we were headed for another flood of tears, so I hurried to speak.
“But don’t worry. Kuoo. I’ll at least keep you safe before I go. Kuoo. Until then, we’re together. Kuoo!”
“…Keep me safe?”
“Right. Kuoo!”
Wooju’s face sank into deep thought.
Before he could ask another difficult question, I rushed to change the subject.
Only then did he lower his head and begin nibbling on the snacks I’d brought.
I watched him in silence.
As if he’d never been tortured, Wooju smiled and said the snacks were tasty.
Looking at him, I thought:
'Please… even as a villain, may you find a way to be happy…'
So that, just a little, he could escape the wretched future that comes from being the villain…
So that he could walk toward a slightly better future…
'I’ll help you.'
I started laying out a plan in my head.
First, to do that—the S-rank Dungeon.
I had to go into that Dungeon with Wooju, the place where everything begins.
***
An S-rank large-scale Dungeon.
In this story, the Dungeons that show up are usually A-rank.
But sometimes, dangerous S-rank Dungeons appear.
In this webtoon, that Dungeon appears three times in total.
The first is to plunge the villain, Kim Wooju, completely into the abyss.
That’s the Dungeon we’re headed to now.
The second is an irregular S-rank Dungeon that fully awakens the protagonist, Shin Biho.
The third hasn’t appeared in the webtoon yet, but was briefly mentioned only in the original novel.
Maybe there were more after that, but I don’t know. That’s as far as my knowledge goes.
The place we’re going now is the first one.
There, Kim Wooju is injured beyond recovery, abandoned by the government, and thrown into a corpse disposal site.
And there, he awakens the offensive power he’d so desperately longed for.
But the original has already been seriously distorted.
Originally, at this point in time, Kim Wooju should have been covered in wounds.
Of course, before meeting me, he was exactly like that—but after we met, the original veered off course.
I looked at Wooju, asleep.
Three days of feeding him well and letting him sleep at my side had left his face smooth and glossy.
He looked much healthier.
At this rate, far from being thrown away, it was obvious the government would only keep using him.
'…Let’s use Illusion.'
Illusion is illusion magic.
If I faithfully reproduce Wooju’s wounds and show everyone an injured Wooju—?
Combined with Wooju’s acting, we could mimic the original convincingly.
The problem was whether Wooju could actually act…
'…We can practice.'
As soon as he wakes up, I’ll put him through special acting training.
Act hurt, act in pain, act pale… I worried whether the still-innocent Wooju—who wasn’t yet a villain—could pull it off, but there was no helping it.
This was the best method for now.
Watching over his sleep, I began mapping out what to do next.
***
“Aru, is it done now?”
“Yeah. Excellent, Kuoo. Just keep it like that. Kuoo. I’ve cast a spell so you look really bad right now. Kuoo. So all you have to do is stagger and act like you’re in pain. Kuoo. I’ll handle everything else. Kuoo.”
Ugh. This Kuoo… I wish it would stop. The longer I talk, the more the Kuoo grates on me. Once we finish Wooju’s situation, I’ve got to find a way to fix this speech tic. It’s suffocating.
“…Okay. But are you coming too?”
“Of course. Kuoo. I’ll protect you. Kuoo.”
“But… it’ll be dangerous…”
Wooju looked at me worriedly.
Judging by how he’d left me behind the moment he saw Kang Cheon last time, he must really think I’m weak.
Don’t tell me he still thinks I’m just a lizard?
Since it’s come to this, I decided to tell him the truth. I cleared my throat.
“Now that we’re here… ahem… Kuoo. You don’t have to worry about me at all. Kuoo. I may look like this, but I’m a member of the strongest race on the surface, Kuoo. A dragon! Kuoo!”
I declared it with full confidence.
…He’s going to be shocked out of his mind, right?
Maybe he’ll tremble in fear at what I am.
I should explain clearly that I’m a nice dragon so he doesn’t get scared.
I was about to tell him not to be too surprised when his answer came faster.
“…Yeah. I know.”
“Right. You kn— Kuoooo?”
“…There’s no such thing as a lizard that uses magic, Aru.”
With that vacant gaze that showed not the slightest hint of surprise, Wooju looked at me like I was pathetic, as if to say it was obvious.
Heat crept up my face under that stare.
Did I just get treated like an idiot?
“Then why did you keep calling me ‘Bam-bam.’ Kuoo!”
“Because you were so cute when I called you that? So cute I wanted to bite you…”
At the words “wanted to bite,” Wooju actually smacked his lips, and I forgot to be angry, recoiling in disgust as I backed away.
He meant it.
I’d thought this before—his tastes are really weird…
This is why I can’t show my human form in front of him.
He luckily didn’t remember last time, but if he saw the mark he left and recalled how good it felt to suck and bite and then pounced saying let’s do it again…
Mm. Stop imagining.
Never transform into a human in front of Wooju.
I reaffirmed my resolve.
Being known and remembered like this, as a dragon, was best.
It would also help me live a normal human life later in this world.
“But Aru… I wish you wouldn’t come.”
His voice dropped.
His face darkening again made me wonder what was wrong now.
We were just chatting happily a moment ago. Why the gloom again…!
I opened my mouth to reassure him.
“…Didn’t I say it’s not dangerous at all? Kuoo! I’ll just hide and follow secretly, so it’s fine. Kuoo!”
“But… if you get close, the Espers will all notice.”
Wooju murmured softly, barely audible.
“…Notice what, Kuoo?”
“That you’re a Guide.”
That I’m a Guide?
What kind of nonsense—
I sprang up, protesting.
“I’m not a Guide! Kuoo! I’m a dragon! Kuoo!”
“I know, I do… but your aura is basically Guiding to an Esper. Makes me want to touch you, to hold you… to make you mine…”
At his last whispered words, my mouth fell open.
Right. I’d thought it was strange.
Why people stared even when I hid my face.
Why an Esper I’d just met would publicly confess and ask to pair up.
Why Shin Biho called me his doll, obsessed and chasing after me.
Wooju’s words finally answered all of it.
It was because of the aura my body was unknowingly giving off. His certainty made my vague suspicion solid. Wearing a Shield just in case had been a godsend.
“I don’t want other Espers feeling the same way about you that I do. Absolutely… don’t want it.”
…And why is he like this again.
His eyes were going strange again.
What filled his darkening gaze was blatant possessiveness.
Hold on—does that mean all the feelings he’s had while looking at me were because I was radiating a Guide’s aura?
The thought made my mood sink fast.
'…Guiding is what Wooju needs most right now.'
It tracks.
Wooju was an Esper with the worst Guide compatibility rate.
Even as a villain, he suffered immensely because of Guiding issues.
I stared at him quietly.
He was still muttering “I don’t like it,” lost in his thoughts.
I cast a Shield over my body.
At once, Wooju snapped his head up and looked at me.
“Aru?”
“…Kuoo, is this better. Kuoo?”
I grumbled and looked away.
What if, without that aura, he treated me coldly? The fear made it hard to look him in the eye.
Then—grab. My body was pulled into Wooju’s arms.
He lifted me.
I tried to ignore him, but his gaze clung so insistently that I sighed deeply and faced him.
Wooju’s eyes curved into crescents.
With a look of utter satisfaction and a bewitching smile that seemed capable of ensnaring anyone, my heart lurched.
“Yeah. I love it. Aru.”