Chapter 81

Chapter 81. Terminal Diagnosis (6)

Giving up on Sodam was never an option for him. To bring back the Sodam who had left of her own accord, a meticulous plan was necessary. The reason Juyul, who was desperate to keep Sodam by his side, had let her go so easily was all part of that calculation. Just as Sodam had done, Juyul had only been lulling her into a false sense of security.

The last thing Sodam had said, insisting she would never leave because of the contract—even while she was walking away—struck deep in his heart. The day their contract would end was about a year from now. Knowing that Sodam would leave without hesitation once the contract was over, Juyul had no choice but to be cautious.

“As long as there’s a contract, Maeng Sodam can’t leave me…”

Juyul still didn’t know the ‘other reason’ why Sodam had agreed to be with him. So the only thing he could cling to was the contract—her one stated reason. In that case, all he needed to do was create a reason to prolong it indefinitely.

“If she says she wants to leave because being by my side feels like dying… then I’ll make it feel that way even when I’m not there.”

That, at least, was a simple task. If Sodam, who had no family or acquaintances, were to become weak, the only person she could rely on would be him.

The vow that had lingered in his mind ever since his awakening—never to form a deep bond with a Guide, like his father did—had been shattered completely in the face of Sodam’s presence. The belief he had valued more than his own life fell apart without resistance.

His father’s downfall, in the end, was all because of his Guide—his mother’s death. But Juyul knew better than most Guides about what it meant to be one. He had read research papers on the subject every day, studied it relentlessly, and now it seemed like all of that had been nothing more than laying the groundwork for this moment. He could weaken her just enough not to kill her, and then take care of her better than anyone else.

There was about half a year left until he could drag Sodam down to the bottom where he stood. It wasn’t a long time, but it would be more than enough to push someone like her—an F-class—to the limits of her limits. With a crooked smile, Juyul picked up the contract and drew a line across the final page where the contract period was written.

Once. Twice. Three times… He kept drawing lines over and over, until counting became meaningless. By the time he stopped, the paper had been pressed so deeply by the pen’s pressure that it was visibly indented.

* * *

“England? All of a sudden?”

[Monsters always show up suddenly. What’s so surprising about it?]

“Well… yes, but still. You’re saying we’re leaving next week?”

[Yes. If you’re not coming, just say so. I’ll call a different Guide.]

Sodam’s brow furrowed at the faint mockery in the voice. But more annoying than that was the casual attitude about assigning a different Guide to Juyul, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary. Just imagining a new Guide—someone she didn’t even know—standing beside Juyul made her stomach churn.

“I’m the exclusive Guide assigned to Baek Juyul. Why would he need another Guide?”

[Oh right, you were, weren’t you? Since I haven’t seen your face for almost a year, I thought you’d retired. It’s always other Guides showing up in the field. Honestly, if Baek Juyul hadn’t personally mentioned you today, I wouldn’t have contacted you either.]

“…I see. That’s understandable… I guess. Okay.”

[Anyway, you need to be at the Association by 6 a.m. next Tuesday. Don’t bother bringing any clunky luggage.]

“Yeah, yeah. Got it. Goodbye.”

As soon as the call ended, Sodam threw her phone into a corner of the bed and collapsed on top of it with a heavy sigh. All it took was a single phone call to leave her with too much to think about.

The idea that, while she’d been holed up at Juyul’s house living like an unemployed recluse, other Guides had been at his side in the field… it lingered in her mind.

“…Why didn’t he say anything to me?”

Of course, Juyul had no obligation to say anything. The only thing connecting them was a flimsy contract. There was no reason for him to report every detail of his fieldwork. Even if he had been Guided by someone else, it had nothing to do with her.

That’s how it should’ve been…

“Then why am I so pissed off? Am I crazy?”

Juyul being Guided by another Guide—specifically, the main heroine who would soon appear—was the future set in stone. It was what Sodam had wanted. So even if it wasn’t the main heroine and just some other Guide, it shouldn’t matter at all. But for some reason, it made her feel unreasonably disgusted.

And the fact that information about the subjugation had been passed along through someone else didn’t sit right either. She suddenly sat up and glared at the name saved as “Asshole” in her contacts. Carefully rubbing the name with her finger as if not to press it, she pouted.

“So now you don’t even want to talk to me directly? Unbelievable.”

Still grumbling, Sodam soon buried her face into the soft pillow. Even after the two-month break she had declared for herself, Juyul hadn’t sent a single text. The day her break ended, she’d overslept and scrambled to check her phone—only to find no messages from him.

After that, she had boycotted Guiding altogether, determined to see who would give in first, and hadn’t shown her face at the Association. But even then, her missed calls remained at zero. And now, out of the blue, this was the message she received. Of course she was feeling twisted up inside.

“Unreal. This is the same guy who once yelled at me to die in front of him if I was going to die.”

Ever since the day she walked out of Juyul’s house, it felt like their connection had been cut entirely. Maybe she shouldn’t have taken that taxi. The thought crossed her mind briefly before she shook it away.

After nearly two days of sleeping like the dead, waking up to find her hair and eyes washed out with colorless shock still hadn’t fully worn off. If she had stayed there any longer, Sodam might not have just lost her color—she might have lost her soul.

Feeling herself sinking into gloom again because of Juyul, she quickly forced her thoughts elsewhere. She remembered that in the original story, there had been an episode where Juyul went to England.

“Some mountain valley, I think… I don’t remember the name.”

She didn’t know the exact location, but she remembered the creature he would face. It was a fire-based S-class monster that caused wildfires across the UK. No one had seen it clearly, so people nicknamed it “Fafnir,” like the mythical beast.

But Sodam had once “read” Fafnir’s true form. It was a half-formed salamander that never fully became a dragon. Unlike normal monsters, its violent instincts hadn’t awakened. The original setting explained that it was causing wildfires as it wandered around searching for a mountaintop that could touch the sky—embers flaring out like hiccups along the way. Supposedly, no lives had ever been lost in those fires.

At that time in the story, Juyul had grown tired of human malice and hatred. Seeing Fafnir, who caused damage simply by existing, he had unconsciously seen himself in the creature.

So he let it go without harming it. Later, Fafnir would return as a fully-grown SSS-class dragon, and Juyul would end up fighting it in a life-or-death battle. But that part didn’t happen until near the end of the story, so there was no need to worry about it now.

What Sodam needed to figure out was whether she would stop Juyul from letting Fafnir go. Of course, considering the damage future-Fafnir would cause, the obvious answer was yes. But the problem was how to do it.

“Even if I say it’s dangerous, it’s just a salamander. I wouldn’t believe me either.”

Right now, Juyul was still hailed as a national hero and adored by everyone. He probably wouldn’t see himself in Fafnir. But even so, it was uncertain whether he’d be able to kill such a pathetic creature after seeing its true form.

Clutching her throbbing forehead, Sodam flopped onto her back and muttered like a sigh.

“Thinking about it now won’t help at all. I have to face it head-on.”

In other words, she’d just deal with whatever happened. Right now, Juyul seemed totally uninterested in her. And Sodam was absolutely, completely happy about that! But still… when they met again, there was a chance he might suddenly say he needed Guiding and cling to her. She needed to conserve her energy for that moment. It wasn’t because she was unsure if he’d listen to her in person after ignoring all contact—definitely not! It was a purely objective, rational decision based on facts.

And so, with the sole purpose of conserving energy, she spent the entire week not leaving her bed. Now, with a heart trembling as much as it had on the first day she was possessed, Sodam headed for the Association. Since she’d left all her clothes at Juyul’s house, what she wore now was noticeably lower in quality than before.

But she accepted it without complaint. After all, even these clothes were far more expensive than anything the old Sodam had worn in her previous life. She couldn’t really grumble about it. The problem came when she arrived at the Association.

“I’m sorry, maybe I misunderstood—could you repeat that? What did Baek Juyul say?”

“He said he needed to scout the area in advance, so he’s departing first. He asked that you take a separate flight.”

“…Ha. Does that man even know what carbon neutrality means? Why are we using two private jets for just two people?”