Furthermore, perhaps because these were conversations that had occurred while Wonhyeok was unconscious, new lines continued piling up beneath the chat every moment.
Wonhyeok now understood why Haje and Park Yehu had said it would make his head spin and leave him dizzy.
What kind of sorcery was this? People he could not even see were writing lines in empty air to communicate?
[Chatroom: (Upper Ranks) / 25 people are present!]
Yakgwa All Mine (5th): Messenger Wonhyeok’s fever just went down, and he woke up. Wow, it has been a while since we had a Ghost Gate Messenger awakening this fresh and hot.
Asura (9th): I am relieved to hear he has recovered.
Yakgwa All Mine (5th): I cannot believe the chat room is so quiet just because it is morning; is nobody awake except Sohu? There are twenty-five people in this chat alone.
Danhyang (3rd): Sorry~ I was late checking because I had a patient.^.^
Asura (9th): Most Ghost Gate Messengers work at night, so there is nothing to be done. For the record, I did not wake up. I never slept.
Yakgwa All Mine (5th): Ah, I am tearing up, haha.
Yakgwa All Mine (5th): Wow, Messenger Wonhyeok does not know how to open the communication network, haha. He is oddly cute~ A complete fledgling~
Seo Jukdang (11th): Unusual.
Cheongok (13th): Is he not rather foolish? The first thing one learns upon becoming a Messenger is that.
Danhyang (3rd): Watch your words around young people these days~ Spring flowers are in full bloom, so take a look and relax. @->-
Cheongok (13th): Pyeongan Province is still cold.
[Notice] An epithet has been assigned automatically after a certain period of time! Lee Wonhyeok’s epithet: Jade Willow (Jade Willow)
Cheongok (13th): The new Messenger, was he not supposed to be a man? Jade Willow, really.
Yakgwa All Mine (5th): Ah, haha. He could not choose an epithet because he does not know how to open the communication network. Still, it is better than mine.
Seo Jukdang (11th): Who can beat Yehu? Still, it is unusual. Does that pretty epithet even suit him?
Yakgwa All Mine (5th): He does look a little like a male courtesan. It is not an insult! I mean it positively!
Seo Jukdang (11th): Bring him to introduce him later.
Yakgwa All Mine (5th): Shivering. He is not even my accompanying inspector, so how could I?
Greenwood (6th): Messenger Yehu, what happened with the matter I asked you about yesterday?
Greenwood (6th): Messenger Park Yehu.
Cheongok (13th): Haha. Yehu, Yeongseo is calling you.
Yakgwa All Mine (5th): I am sorry, I forgot. Haje is with me right now, so it is awkward to go back in;
Seo Jukdang (11th): Haje snatched him away before he even awakened. Why do you have to ask? Handle it however you like.
Greenwood (6th): Send#Haje Haje, please ask Messenger Wonhyeok whether he intends to remain with the Office of Ghostly Inspection.
Cheongok (13th): (Picture of a tiger with its mouth clamped shut)
Yakgwa All Mine (5th): Messenger Yeongseo really has no fear.
Haje (1st): Yeah, he will keep being my accompanying inspector.
M-me... When did I...?!
Wonhyeok was dumbfounded as he read the final message.
Then words appeared below the chat in quick succession!
No, no, I was not telling it to write! Telling it not to write does not mean I am telling it to write either!
Realizing that he still could not control the communication network, Wonhyeok squeezed his eyes shut and closed it.
He shut down the communication network before it could say something nonsensical!
Then he whirled toward Haje and shouted, “Can I leave the Office of Ghostly Inspection after awakening?!”
“Oh, you opened the chat room already? How was it? Does it make your head spin?”
“S-so that is how Ghost Gate Messengers communicate.... It certainly is completely overwhelming... No, do not change the subject!”
“What is this, Clerk? Have you forgotten the contract we made? I have it stored safely~ in a record stone.”
Come to think of it, there was a contract.
Be cautious with contracts. It was no longer enough to carve that lesson into his bones. It needed to be inscribed on a stele and planted in every village.
Wait, a record stone?
Wonhyeok remembered the Military Clerk loudly insisting that they had to retrieve the record stone.
“What does that record stone do?”
“Yeah, I heard you did not know. It is simple. It is exactly as the name says, a stone that records. The record stone you found contained information and contract terms concerning the Tanghangseong local functionaries who colluded with <Castle Guard>.”
“It contained them?”
“Yeah. You can place a contract inside a record stone, and contracts placed that way are protected through the power of Ghost Jade.... To put it simply, unlike ordinary contracts that become useless once the paper is torn, when an agreement in a record stone is breached, a penalty... that is, a punishment, is directly applied.”
I never heard that before.
Wonhyeok looked at Haje with that expression. Haje narrowed his eyes beneath his veil and smiled.
“There is nothing much in our contract, Clerk. Only that if you stop being my accompanying inspector, you will have nowhere to set foot across all eight provinces of Joseon.”
“Please tell me that is a lie.”
“It is a lie. We only agreed to deduct about twenty years from your lifespan.”
“Which one is true?”
“Which would you prefer to be true?”
I hate both of them....
Wonhyeok had never even considered leaving Joseon to live in another country. Now that he had awakened as a Ghost Gate Messenger, leaving the country was even further beyond reach.
But twenty years of his lifespan? Wonhyeok wanted to live a long, long life!
As he despaired, Wonhyeok glanced at Haje.
Yet Haje was staring directly back at Wonhyeok.
Golden eyes met his brightly from beneath the black veil.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I thought you would ask something else, but you surprisingly have not asked anything.”
“I would need to know something in order to ask....”
“Hm. Have you looked at your own profile?”
What was a profile now?
As Wonhyeok furrowed his brow in confusion, a rectangle crawled up at the edge of his vision, as though it had reluctantly been brought up for him.
Lee Wonhyeok (Lee Wonhyeok)
Civil examination, Gap Grade Messenger, 26 years old
10th. Jade Willow (Jade Willow)
Titles: Painter / Clerk / Willow Young Master
*Alias: _________(None yet!)
Skills: <Farm by Day, Read by Night (Farm by Day, Read by Night)>, <Look with New Eyes (Look with New Eyes)>, <Ink and Paper>, <Constellation>, <Memorandum>
Wonhyeok somehow lost his words at the sight.
He had known it already, but the world of Ghost Gate Messengers was a completely different world.
Pointing at the rectangle displaying his profile, Wonhyeok asked Haje, “What are these things called skills that are written below?”
“Everyone can use special skills suited to their particular talents. The communication network named them itself so they would be easier to understand. Since you are at the beginning of your awakening, you probably have two or three. Try using one at random.”
“I have five... How can I use them carelessly when I do not know what they are...?”
“Five?”
Haje went silent for a moment, looking puzzled, then tilted his head.
“Well, you are civil examination to begin with. What kind of skill with tremendous physical force could you have?”
At the remark dismissing civil examination as naturally as breathing, Wonhyeok nearly retorted, Civil examination is not that weak.
Then he remembered Wan Pilseok grabbing him by the collar.
That was truly inescapable strength.... He had lifted a normally built man as though it were nothing....
Wan Pilseok could not have been Gap Grade. He was far lower-ranked than Haje.
Yet even against Wan Pilseok, the civilian Wonhyeok had been utterly helpless.
With a sigh, Wonhyeok selected <Farm by Day, Read by Night> without much thought.
Farm by Day, Read by Night (Farm by Day, Read by Night):
Do not waste your time.
During the day, your stamina increases. At night, your eyes grow brighter.
It was a skill exactly like its name.
Still, Wonhyeok did not think he would feel anything by trying it immediately.
Worried that he might have only inward-focused skills like this, Wonhyeok selected the next one.
Look with New Eyes (Look with New Eyes):
Do not underestimate your eyes. Rub your eyes and look again.
You can partially view another person’s sta&tu?f.
This time, strange characters suddenly appeared.
Just as Wonhyeok was about to tell Haje, the characters trembled and began changing on their own.
You can partially view another person’s profile.
“......”
It was clearly his own skill and his own profile. Why did it look so suspicious?
Wonhyeok watched it uneasily, but thought this skill would be the most appropriate to test right away.
There was one more problem, though.
“...How do I use a skill?”
“......”
Haje let out a deep sigh and held his head.
After several false starts, Wonhyeok used <Look with New Eyes> and could truly see part of Haje’s profile.
? ? ?
Military examination, Gap Grade Messenger, ???&^! years old
1st. Haje (Haje)
Titles: Number One Under Heaven / #%?@$ / ^?&
*Alias: ?@&
Skills: <Cloud Somersault (Cloud Somersault)>, <Wolf’s Glance (Wolf’s Glance)>, <Competitive Spirit (Competitive Spirit)>, <???%&>, <?????>, <Westward Slash>, <Thunder...>, …
Strange characters are everywhere.
Was this truly a good skill?
Wonhyeok’s <Ink and Paper> was a skill that allowed him to summon ink and paper anywhere, under any circumstances.
It was a skill perfectly suited to a clerk.
When Wonhyeok used <Ink and Paper> to write down the part of Haje’s profile he could see, Haje made a sound of interest.
“It seems to be a fairly high-grade skill. If you can read this much of my profile, you will be able to see other Messengers’ profiles clearly.”
“Is that good?”
“See whether you can inspect the skill details as well.”
What was a skill now?
As Wonhyeok looked at Haje with that expression, Haje clicked his tongue.
“I mean techniques. Techniques.”
Wonhyeok said, “Ah!” and checked the two clearest skills among Haje’s.
Cloud Somersault (Cloud Somersault):
No matter how high you fly, remember that you remain bound to the earth.
You can move through the air or float.
Wolf’s Glance (Wolf’s Glance):
I recommend not looking back, but you do not listen.
You sharply detect nearby presences and hostility.
A-amazing skills....
Once he understood the information, the names were quite intuitive.
They were certainly on a different level from Wonhyeok’s skills.
As Wonhyeok inwardly marveled, wondering whether this was the difference between civil examination and military examination, Haje nodded.
“It is certainly useful. Every Ghost Gate Messenger has skills. Sometimes their skill names become known outside, but in most cases, no one knows exactly what the skills do or what other skills they may be hiding.”
“Since I can read other people’s profiles, I can learn hidden information more easily. Is that what you mean?”
Wonhyeok understood out of habit, yet furrowed his brow at the strange feeling.
Something is wrong.... Ghost Gate Messengers only need to deal with uncanny powers and wicked spirits. Why would they want to know the profiles of other Ghost Gate Messengers rather than uncanny powers and wicked spirits?
Wan Pilseok’s shout belatedly shook Wonhyeok’s mind.
“Naturally what? Did your accompanying inspector not tell you? Ghost Gate Messengers are survival of the fittest, each fighting for themselves. Even if you drop dead somewhere, the court will not take responsibility.”
...Wonhyeok, who had wanted to live as a safe and quiet commoner in a small corner of Joseon, sensed something deeply wrong.
His actions had been far too slow to call them sharp....
But Wonhyeok never held back what he wanted to say, even before Joseon’s Number One. In the end, he asked Haje.
“...Are you planning to kill other Ghost Gate Messengers?”