The sharp attitude, the face too.
As he stepped out of the shower room and slipped into the clothes Gong Siyoung had prepared, Yurian kept nodding to himself.
Now that he was thinking of him as Kkambi, his fondness for Gong Siyoung shot way up.
Of course, he wasn’t actually Kkambi.
Still.
Droplets gathered at the tips of his hair and fell in steady drops. Shaking his wet hair out with one hand, Yurian stepped outside, where Gong Siyoung was waiting with his back against the wall.
The man pushed off the wall and approached.
“Let’s go.”
He gestured wordlessly.
Once again, Yurian followed without complaint.
He had never intended to resist in the first place.
This was a foreign world.
Flying machines and machines faster than horses were commonplace, and clean water poured endlessly just by turning a handle.
In this unheard-of world packed with towering buildings in every direction, Yurian was a complete outsider.
Just adapting was already hard enough.
He had no desire whatsoever to turn hostile against these people—mages or hunters or whatever they were called here.
Magic itself didn’t seem common, but these hunters could use something close to it.
And more importantly, monsters existed here too.
That, at least, was no different from the world Yurian had lived in.
What they called a dungeon here was similar to what his world called beyond the Great Canyon.
The territory where monsters appeared once you crossed it.
Just as monsters sometimes crossed over the canyon in his world, monsters here also spilled out beyond gates.
The atmosphere and circumstances were different, but the presence of monster threats was a truth that ran through both worlds alike.
Here too, monsters attacked people.
And people died because of monsters.
But hunters…
Hunters were harder to understand on instinct.
At first he had assumed it was just a profession, like mercenary or knight.
But apparently not everyone who wanted to could become a hunter.
And once someone did become a hunter, entering dungeons was mandatory.
In that sense, maybe they were closer to knights after all.
That wasn’t all.
Only hunters could manipulate mana here.
Mages and sword users—the kind of people common enough in Yurian’s world—were incredibly rare in this one.
Probably because mana itself was so thin here.
‘Not really my problem either way.’
Whether he had wanted it or not, he was here now.
And in this world, he was nothing.
There was no need, and certainly no obligation, for him to go out of his way to hunt monsters.
Survival was an issue, yes.
But even that looked like it might somehow work itself out.
Clinging to Kkambi—no, Gong Siyoung—was a viable method if it came to that.
‘For now, I’ll keep my mouth shut until they ask something of me.’
Right now, his plan was simple: focus on enjoying whatever benefits he could.
Honestly, there wasn’t much else he could do.
The elevator doors slid open wide.
Yurian stared openly at the automatically opening doors in fascination until he felt a hand shove lightly at his back.
“Move already.”
At Gong Siyoung’s urging, he stepped forward at a leisurely pace.
They entered a dim space lined with vehicles, and Gong Siyoung strode ahead of him.
The man tilted his head toward the same machine they had ridden in earlier.
Taking the hint, Yurian opened the door and dropped into the seat.
The cushion sank around him.
It felt like his whole body was melting.
“So soft…”
The cushioning alone was amazing, and there was no point even talking about the speed and smooth stability of the ride.
His bright eyes swept over the inside of the car.
Touching everything in sight one by one, he never stopped talking.
“Whoa, what’s this? Oh, a drawer? What about this? It’s round. Huh? I pressed this and now my butt’s getting warm! What is this, magic?”
Every time he touched something, another outburst followed.
He pressed buttons, twisted knobs, and generally caused chaos.
When Yurian hit the audio button and nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound, Gong Siyoung slowly turned his head.
The murderous look in his eyes said he was about one second away from hitting him.
“Please. Shut that mouth already.”
“Huh? Okay, got it. But what’s that?”
Yurian reached for the air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror.
Each time he poked it, it swung weakly.
“What is this? It smells ridiculously good.”
He leaned in and sniffed.
Then he touched it again.
The string snapped.
And at the exact same time, Gong Siyoung’s patience snapped too.
“Will you stop messing with everything, you insane man?! Can’t you sit still for even one second?! Huh?! Just shut up already, sit still, don’t move, and stop driving me insane!”
At the thunderous shout, Yurian quietly withdrew his hand.
Straightening up obediently, he blinked at Gong Siyoung.
Was he mad because he broke that thing?
His gaze drifted to the limp air freshener.
“Is shutting your mouth really such a difficult request? Huh? Just be quiet and stay still! Don’t move! Don’t do anything! Stop making it impossible for me to think!”
“Mmm… okay. I’ll be quiet. See? I’m quiet now.”
Yurian quickly covered his mouth.
He didn’t really understand, but if the man said shut up, then shutting up was the easiest option.
As soon as he settled down, Gong Siyoung grabbed at his own hair in frustration.
Sneaking glances at the twisted, irritated face, Yurian’s lips parted.
Before he could say anything, Gong Siyoung’s gaze snapped back to him.
Yurian immediately clamped his mouth shut and pretended innocence.
And somehow, silence finally settled inside the car.
‘He’s really sensitive.’
Then again, Kkambi got like this sometimes too.
If Yurian hovered nearby and rubbed the fur the wrong way just to tease him, the cat would hiss and flare up.
Of course this wasn’t a cat.
It was a human.
But the overall vibe felt similar enough.
If he hated noise, then all Yurian had to do was match that preference.
Keeping quiet wasn’t exactly hard.
So Yurian kept his mouth firmly shut…
…and slowly stretched out his hand.
The instruction had only been to keep his mouth shut.
There had been nothing about stopping his hands.
As if in open defiance, he pressed the blinking button that had been catching his eye this whole time.
Each press made the light blink on and off.
Just as he was about to firmly push the button with the red triangle—
Gong Siyoung snatched his hand like a ghost.
“If you touch that button one more time… I’ll break your fingers.”
The warning came out as a low growl.
The grip around his fingers tightened sharply.
Yurian nodded immediately.
“Got it.”
He still kind of wanted to press it…
…but if he was told not to, then he had to endure it.
His lingering gaze drifted back toward the red triangle button.
As if reading his mind, Gong Siyoung squeezed his hand tighter.
“Just keep holding on the whole way. Let go and see what happens.”
At the openly provocative threat, Yurian jutted out his lower lip.
What was so special about it that he wasn’t allowed to touch it?
One day, he was definitely pressing the triangle button.
Despite that thought, for now he obediently held Siyoung’s hand.
Any time he wiggled his fingers, an immediate sharp “Tch.” warning followed.
Was this some kind of new torture method?
Don’t talk.
Don’t move your hand.
Ignoring the slow rise of dissatisfaction, Yurian turned his gaze out the window.
The dazzling scenery outside was enough to make his mood soften almost instantly.
Everything was fascinating.
He hadn’t even known a place like this existed, much less imagined he would ever come here.
His heart pounded.
What kind of place was this, really?
By the time they reached their destination, the car had gradually begun to slow.
It stopped in the parking garage.
Gong Siyoung coldly released his hand and stepped out without looking back.
Yurian hurried after him.
If he got lost here too, becoming a missing person would be all too easy.
At least it was fortunate Gong Siyoung was tall.
He was easy to spot no matter where you put him.
“Right. My sword. Do you know where it is, by any chance?”
Once they stepped into the elevator, Yurian suddenly spoke.
At this point, he judged it should be safe enough to open his mouth again.
Apparently his system of judgment had been correct, because instead of another shut up, he got a proper answer.
“We left it in the dungeon.”
“Ah.”
I see.
Yurian nodded.
Honestly, that was almost a relief.
They had said only hunters could enter, so at least it wasn’t likely to be lost.
He would look for a chance to retrieve it later.
Just as he was making that resolution, Gong Siyoung suddenly looked at him.
“…Is it important?”
“What is?”
“Your sword.”
“Well. Not important exactly…? More like an attachment.”
It had been snapped in two, but it could be repaired.
And it was also the only thing he had left.
Yurian shrugged.
“It’s basically a keepsake an old friend left behind before he died.”
At those words, Gong Siyoung fell silent.
He said nothing for a long while, as if turning something over in his mind.
Then, without even meeting Yurian’s eyes, he muttered,
“…Then it is important.”
Is he actually worried about it?
Meaning it as reassurance, Yurian gave Gong Siyoung’s shoulder a couple of light pats.
“Don’t worry about it.”
There was no need to feel bad when they could just go get it from the dungeon later.
Yurian answered as if it were nothing at all.