EVS Chapter 104

Perhaps due to the late hour, the corridor was quiet. Thanks to the information he had received from Jongsik beforehand, Sa-yoon was able to easily find the room where Geon-joo was staying. He grasped the firmly closed door handle. As he opened the door and entered, he saw shoes neatly arranged in the entryway. It was so characteristically Han Geon-joo to not neglect tidiness even when tired that Sa-yoon was certain he had come to the right place without needing to check further inside.

He moved his steps carefully to avoid making any sound. In the inner part of the room, on a white bed, lay a young man sleeping face down.

It was Han Geon-joo.

Isn’t that uncomfortable?

Sa-yoon wondered if he had collapsed onto the bed and fallen asleep immediately, or if he had been too tired to change his position. To confirm, Sa-yoon approached closer and observed Geon-joo’s breathing and motionless eyelids for a long time to check if he was in deep sleep. It had been ambiguous whether he was pretending to sleep or really asleep, but upon closer inspection, he was undoubtedly in a deep slumber.

“…Did you cry?”

His eyes were redder than usual. The area under his eyes was swollen, and there seemed to be dried tear tracks on his fine-featured face.

The reason for his crying was so clear that Sa-yoon closed his mouth. At the time of Noah’s death, Geon-joo had shown a more composed reaction than expected, but it seemed he had finally broken down and cried after returning to his quarters. Sa-yoon had thought he would wail while hugging the corpse, but it appeared he had held back in front of Sa-yoon and let it out here.

This was already the second time.

Since bringing Han Geon-joo along, Sa-yoon had now seen him cry emotionally twice. Feeling that he had been the cause both times, Sa-yoon withdrew his hand that had been about to touch Geon-joo’s head and silently lowered his gaze to examine Geon-joo’s attire.

He was still in the same clothes he had worn when leaving the Gate, suggesting he had fallen asleep without even washing up. He must have been extremely tired and had no time for other thoughts. Sa-yoon, guessing what might have been racing through Geon-joo’s mind, called up the system window to check the quest.

The window still showed only resentment and contempt in the emotions Han Geon-joo held towards him and their relationship.

‘I thought maybe you had some story too.’

Those words kept echoing in his ears. If he was going to denounce and curse him, why add such words to unsettle him? Why speak as if he could understand him…

“Ah.”

As he continued his train of thought, Sa-yoon blinked at a sudden realization.

He had been wondering why that voice kept echoing in his ears, why those words had bothered him so much, but after repeated consideration, he found the reason.

In other words, it had been a wound.

“Ha.”

A bitter laugh escaped even from himself at the absurdity. He had lived hearing praise that he wouldn’t bleed even if stabbed, had lived for years hearing that his blood would be blue if cut with a knife, yet to be hurt by mere words was utterly baffling.

What more was there to be hurt about, how many places were left to be stabbed, to take words so emotionally?

He finally understood why his mood had been so low since leaving the Gate, but there was no relief. Instead, he only felt miserable.

He had come down thinking that seeing Geon-joo’s face would solve his complicated feelings, that his mind would feel a bit more at ease, but it had been in vain. Far from being at ease, seeing the traces of crying made him uncomfortable, and learning about his own emotions that he hadn’t wanted to know made him unpleasant. Frowning, Sa-yoon mulled over Geon-joo’s words for a long time.

He ruminated over them again and again so that whenever those words came to mind, they wouldn’t have an impact on him. So that he wouldn’t feel anything at the words of disappointment saying he had thought there might be circumstances but he was just that kind of person. After going over them many times until he became familiar with them, Sa-yoon took a breath and lowered his gaze to take in the man sleeping in the same position as when he first saw him.

“What would change if I said I had a story?”

It was an answer that came far too late.

The person who would hear the answer was deep in sleep and couldn’t hear. Still, wanting to say it, Sa-yoon opened his mouth and looked down at the face that remained motionless to a frustrating degree, then smirked.

It was self-deprecation.

“You and I are no different in our hypocrisy.”

People generally don’t want to know the backstory of villains. Is there anyone in the world who lives without a story? Everyone has their own story, so when someone says they had circumstances, people understand those circumstances but don’t empathize, nor do they want to empathize.

That’s why such sayings exist.

Don’t give narratives to villains.

Most people are trapped in a simple black and white logic that tries to divide people into good and evil. Even Sa-yoon himself had thought that way until receiving the system window. That’s why Geon-joo’s hypocrisy had grated on his nerves, even though he hadn’t added any words when Geon-joo misunderstood and misinterpreted things on his own.

Speaking as if he could understand and empathize.

When in reality, he was someone who couldn’t even think deeply about Noah’s death and believed only what he saw.

In the end, he too was a hypocrite.

One who believed only in what he thought was right.

“…”

Suddenly feeling suffocated, Sa-yoon raised his hand and touched his nape.

Even if he had explained, Geon-joo wouldn’t have been able to empathize and would have thought him crazy. What would have changed if he had told the truth?

Nothing would have changed by speaking.

Telling him wouldn’t have changed Sa-yoon’s situation, wouldn’t have made the system disappear, and wouldn’t have created any sort of unique understanding.

Jongsik had been a special case.

He had a simple and naive side that believed Sa-yoon’s words at face value, and he was so loyal to Sa-yoon that he would give his liver and gall if asked, so he didn’t think otherwise. Someone like Han Geon-joo, who thought a lot, was different from Jongsik. As their thinking was different, the results would be different too, so Sa-yoon put aside his vain hope and looked down at the sleeping Geon-joo before getting up.

This was enough for now.

That Han Geon-joo wasn’t harboring other thoughts, that he wasn’t lying awake with strange ideas but was sleeping soundly.

That alone was enough, so Sa-yoon left the room with slow steps and just before closing the door, checked the time on the wall clock. It was past 3 AM. Sa-yoon pressed his eyelids firmly and moved towards the elevator.

It seemed he wouldn’t be getting a good night’s sleep after all.

***

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[Proof – The Hundred and Eightieth Step Towards True Human Evil]

‘Lower the probability of Earth’s salvation by eliminating a high-ranking Awakened.’

Condition: Check the World Awakened Association rankings and eliminate an Awakened within the top 100

Reward: 1,000 Karma

Failure Penalty: Rank down S → A+

Time Remaining: 1 day 3 hours

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“Are you going right away?”

The time had come when the quest he had been putting off could no longer be delayed. At this rate, he was about to lose his rank in broad daylight, so Sa-yoon, putting on his outer clothes, spoke to Jongsik, who was giving him a worried look.

“Just prepare one car. I’ll drive myself.”

“Yes. Um… what about Geon-joo?”

“Just leave him be. Seems like he needs time to sort things out on his own.”

Since leaving the field, Han Geon-joo had rarely come out of his room. He didn’t come down to eat and didn’t contact Sa-yoon separately. Rather, most of the time when contacted, he ignored it.

Although Sa-yoon was worried about his seemingly lethargic state, for someone like Sa-yoon who had to be away now, it was better for Geon-joo to stay quiet than to act out due to unnecessary feelings. Comforting him and improving his mood was something that could be done after returning from urgent business.

At first, Sa-yoon thought giving him time alone would solve the issue, but after two days of not eating or drinking and staying locked in his room, what else could he do but take care of him personally?

It was obvious Geon-joo would hate it, but left like that, he might starve to death.

Such a picky bastard.

Muttering inwardly, Sa-yoon raised his head to look at the guild building. Estimating where Geon-joo’s quarters would be, Sa-yoon clicked his tongue, remembering how eerily expressionless Geon-joo’s face had been the last time he saw him.

The shock from Noah’s death seemed to have hit him quite hard.

After all, how many experiences could Han Geon-joo have had of directly witnessing the death of someone close to him in his life?

“…He’ll have to get used to it.”

People dying in Gates was commonplace. Of course, Noah’s case was special, but in the future, when entering Gates, he would often experience comrades dying right next to him. If he acted like this every time, as if protesting, it would be Han Geon-joo’s body that would break down. Sa-yoon, who had been looking at him with this in mind, turned back to the system window that was dinging as if urging him to move.

Since the remaining time had dropped below 30 hours, the system window had been sounding a warning every 10 minutes. Although he would try his best to clear it, it was puzzling why it was rushing him so much when, if he failed the quest and his rank dropped, he would just have to go crazy grinding to raise it again.

Waving away the annoyingly ringing system window, Sa-yoon took the car keys from Jongsik.

“I should be back within 3 days, but if I’m not back by the fourth day, grab Han Geon-joo and feed him something.”

“Yes.”

“Handle any issues that come up on your own. If it’s really urgent, use a crow if you have to.”

“Yes, please be careful on your trip.”

“…Right.”

Although he had often left his post to carry out quests forcibly assigned by the system, today felt unusually unsettling. He wanted to dismiss it as needless worry, but given past experiences, he couldn’t help but be concerned. Originally, he was supposed to eliminate a foreign Awakened, but he had changed the target to a domestic Awakened with a higher risk of attracting attention for this reason.

Because it felt like he shouldn’t be away for too long.

To handle the matter as quickly as possible.

After rechecking the location of the target, who was said to be staying at a villa in Pohang, Sa-yoon got into the car and was about to start the engine when he lowered the window and called out to Jongsik.

“Just in case, put two snakes on Geon-joo.”

“Snakes?”

“Yeah. Don’t make it too obvious though. Use quiet ones.”

He was likely already on edge, so there was no benefit in making it obvious that he was being monitored. Only after hearing Jongsik’s affirmative response did Sa-yoon feel ready to depart. Exhaling, he started the car.