The Otherworldly Magic Swordsman Who Disciplines the Hunter World Chapter 59

He fixed the chin with one hand and wrapped his other arm around the waist. Before he could even process it, he felt wet lips against the back of his hand.

A kiss continued with a single hand acting as a barrier. Gong Siyoung’s slightly lowered eyelids trembled minutely.

He tilted his head a bit more. The surrounding air was completely blanketed by Gong Siyoung’s scent.

The hand wrapped around the waist tightened. Gong Siyoung, narrowing his brows as if dissatisfied, pressed their bodies firmly together.

Their legs became precariously entangled. There was nowhere to run.

Gong Siyoung, who had been rubbing his lips against the hand for a long while, suddenly let his head drop. His face, which had narrowly brushed past the back of the hand and the cheek, landed—thud—on the shoulder.

Regular breathing could be heard. The hand that had been gripping the chin slid down loosely. There was a faint body scent and an even fainter smell of alcohol lingering beneath it.

Julian, who had remained frozen without moving an inch for a long time, slowly lowered his hand. He gently shook Gong Siyoung’s back.

“…Are you sleeping?”

No answer came back. He’s sleeping. He fell asleep so suddenly, in this state. It was so hard to believe even after seeing it that he felt dazed.

He held Gong Siyoung’s limp body and tilted him to the side. He moved as slowly as possible so as not to wake him.

He felt more nervous now than when he was running away from monsters in the dungeon. As his head touched the floor, Gong Siyoung groaned and tossed and turned.

Julian quickly patted his chest—tap, tap—to keep him from waking. Soon, his face became peaceful again.

After confirming he was fully asleep, Julian slowly slipped out of his embrace. Only then did he exhale the breath he had been holding.

He took several steps back to create a wide distance. He only stopped walking once he reached the vicinity of the front door. His heart was still thumping loudly.

He saw Gong Siyoung sleeping, curled up on the floor. Even, rhythmic breaths dispersed from between his flushed lips. Looking at those slightly parted lips made the back of his hand feel hot despite himself.

Julian slapped—smack—the back of his own hand. I’ve gone crazy. I must be crazy; I shouldn’t be this conscious of it just because the kid acted out a little while drunk.

Was Gong Siyoung the only person who did strange things while intoxicated? Among the people Julian knew, there was someone who became a dog when drunk. Literally, he would mistake himself for a dog, bark like a dog—woof, woof—and crawl around on all fours.

He had laughed off even such bizarre drunken habits, yet to be this flustered by this… It wasn’t even a kiss; he just rubbed his lips on the back of his hand a bit, so why was that something to be surprised about?

“Let’s calm down. Calm down.”

He turned his head away entirely to avoid being conscious of it. He listened as hard as he could to the sound of the raindrops pouring down—patter, patter—beyond the front door.

He tried to rub his reddened cheeks with the back of his hand but flinched and clenched his fist tight. The soft sensation that had touched the back of his hand surfaced like a lingering image.

“This is driving me crazy, seriously…”

He bowed his head deeply while gripping the back of his hand tightly. Even his weak mutterings were soon buried by the sound of the rain.

∞ ∞ ∞

His head felt like it was going to split. It felt as if someone was nibbling away at his brain. His thoughts and senses reacted sluggishly to the unfamiliar pain.

His back and shoulders were stiff. It seemed to be because of his severely curled-up posture. His eyelids fluttered. Gong Siyoung let out a groan—ugh.

“…but, ah, this is go! Must go!”

“No way! End it here! Lay out a new hand!”

Excited voices were mixed together. It was ambiguous whether they were fighting or just talking.

The surroundings grew increasingly noisy. The voices were familiar, but it took time to realize exactly who they were.

I definitely know them. But who were they again?

“No… you said you’d teach us the rules, so how can the two of you fight?”

A voice full of laughter followed as if troubled. Gong Siyoung snapped his eyes open. With a dazed face, he quickly looked around his surroundings.

Blankets and pillows were scattered around him like a cocoon. His head throbbed as soon as he raised his body. Rubbing his forehead, he quickly grasped the situation.

Inside the small room, three men were huddled together harmoniously a slight distance away from him near the wall.

One was Julian, and of the remaining two, one was the captain he had met during the day. And the other person was…

“…Hunter Park Ildo?”

Park Ildo whipped his head around. The hand holding the Hwatu cards shook playfully.

“You’re up?”

His face was full of ridicule. Following him, Julian also turned his head.

When their eyes met, Julian flinched and his body trembled. Julian subtly covered his mouth with the Hwatu cards.

‘What is it? Why is he like that?’

The way he didn’t even acknowledge him and subtly looked down was somehow different from usual.

While Gong Siyoung rubbed his throbbing head, Park Ildo offered consolation that was half-mockery and half-blame.

“That’s why you shouldn’t have just picked up and eaten anything. You’re doing a great job for an S-class hunter.”

“What are you talking about? What happened earlier… anyway, why are you here?”

Even if the last scene was blurry, it had been just Julian and Gong Siyoung when they first entered this house. It would be a lie to say the sudden appearance of Park Ildo wasn’t strange.

“What do you mean ‘why.’ I told you I’d bring that. Don’t you remember?”

He gestured with his eyes toward the backpack leaning against the front door. The size was enormous for a backpack. With a bit of exaggeration, it was long and large enough for a coffin to fit in.

Straps had been attached so it could be carried on the back, but in reality, it was a shape that had no portability at all.

However, contrary to its ambiguous appearance, that backpack was actually a very famous and useful item. Because so many people coveted it, it boasted an astronomical price to the point where the seller could name their price.

In fact, that single bag was more expensive than all of Park Ildo’s personal assets combined.

Any object could be carried freely as long as it was put inside. Although it carried the premise that ‘it must be put inside,’ once it was in, weight and size didn’t matter.

As physical constraints vanished, it was an item that could be utilized in various ways, not just inside dungeons.

In fact, about 500kg of stone was currently contained inside it. He had just arrived after cramming in the materials to make the Return Stone at Gong Sijin’s request.

He had departed frantically because Gong Sijin had been pestering him about being late or whatever. But the sight he saw upon arrival was completely different from what he had imagined.

“I left right after the raid ended without even being able to wash. You were passed out and sprawled there, and this gentleman looked miserable saying he was dying of hunger.”

A Hwatu card was slammed—smack!—onto the floor. The hands flipping the cards were busy.

“Still, it’s a relief I came on time. If I hadn’t, this gentleman would have pitifully starved.”

Julian quickly nodded his head. The rain was pouring down in torrents, Gong Siyoung had fainted from drinking, and in the midst of it all, the refrigerator was empty.

Of course, at that time, he was more confused by other problems than hunger, but he didn’t go as far as to mention that.

When he had picked up the fiercely ringing phone and greeted Park Ildo, Park was with the captain.

Park Ildo, who had discovered Gong Siyoung sprawled in a corner of the room, had snickered and recorded a video. Leaving that story out for now, he spoke with a deliberate sternness.

“Anyway, eat first. I left some for you too.”

He pointed to the sink. On top of it were plates covered in plastic, a pot, and plenty of side dish containers.

“I won’t charge you for the food. Since I made a mistake too, let’s just act like it didn’t happen.”

“Captain, don’t forget to pack a bottle of that for me tomorrow too.”

“Just deal the cards.”

Even hearing the conversation between the two, his head was still full of question marks.

Gong Siyoung slowly rubbed his forehead. The headache had subsided, but the unpleasant feeling remained.

So, the last scene he clearly remembered was… he had called Gong Sijin to explain the situation. And then he drank water. From that point on, his mind was a blank slate.

“What exactly happened?”

The only person who knew exactly what had occurred was Julian. Naturally, his gaze turned toward him.

Julian, who was still covering his mouth with the Hwatu cards, gave an awkward smile with his eyes.

“Just, well… but how much do you remember? From which part?”

The excuse followed the probing question.

“No, just. I was wondering from where I should start explaining.”

The statement telling him not to misunderstand only increased his bewilderment. What misunderstanding? Julian was still vaguely avoiding his gaze. Because of the strange reaction, even Gong Siyoung started to feel weird.

“I was on the phone and drank water… I don’t remember anything after that.”

“Right. You wouldn’t remember. There’s no way you’d remember since that wasn’t water. It was a golden-ratio alcohol the captain made to have a drink behind his wife’s back. Since you downed a whole bottle of that, there’s no way you’d remember.”

Park Ildo suddenly cut in. Before he knew it, a spark-flying game of Matgo was underway with the captain. The flashy hand movements and the sound of cards sticking—smack! smack!—were cheerful.

“I pooped!”

“Aw, shit!”

Along with the sound of cackling laughter, the captain excitedly slammed down a card. The tide of the game turned in an instant. Park Ildo scowled deeply.

“Damn it. Looks like I’m going to get cleaned out by the captain too.”

“What do you mean ‘cleaned out.’”

The two started another conversation like a comedy duo. They seemed to be bickering, but they were strangely in sync. Julian approached him with a butt-shuffle.

“You don’t remember a single thing.”

For some reason, there was a clear look of relief. Because he had moved the Hwatu cards that were covering his mouth, his face was clearly visible. His moderately red lips moved as he prattled.

“The thing I gave you thinking it was water turned out to be alcohol the captain made. I guess it didn’t smell much because he mixed refined rice wine and water.”

“…Alcohol?”

Gong Siyoung, who had been still for a long while, suddenly stood up from his seat. His mind buffered like a broken robot. His pupils, having lost their way, shook violently.

“Did I, did I by any chance! By any chance, did I make some kind of mistake?!”