Chapitre 131: Chapter 131
I observed Ahn Seohye from a distance. When I focused on Observer's Eye, it felt like everything else faded away and I could only see Ahn Seohye in perfect clarity, like she was the only thing in the world with distinct and clear edges. It was almost like I was staring at Ahn Seohye with a magnifying glass.
'Red Eyes.' Her eyes were glowing bright red. 'I saw them last time, too, but… they give off a weird feeling.'
Also, the Shepherd Boy was looking for those Red Eyes as well.
"Player Kim Hyukjin. What do you intend on doing? I am not streaming at the moment."
The reason Senia was asking me this was simple. She was saying she wanted to plan out in advance how to shoot the upcoming scene.
"I have to clear the Shepherd Boy's quest and stop that crazy bastard."
"Which of the two will you focus on more?"
"Not sure. I haven't decided yet. You decide that on your own."
"Understood."
Senia had become a lot more reliable lately.
'To start.' I started walking towards Ahn Seohye. 'Yeonseo and Sunhwa are there, so there shouldn't be much cause for danger.'
Originally, the average level of Weredogs was around 20. But seeing as the police's weapons didn't work on them, that tamer must have raised their levels a lot. When I checked with Eye of Perception, their levels were around 30. Level 20 monsters being at level 30 meant they had really raised their levels a ton.
'That crazy bastard's name is Kang Younghan.'
He was extremely far away, but I could read his information.
[Player]
Name: Kang Younghan
Age: 35
Level: 28
Class: Weredog Tamer
Guardian: Lone Wolf
Innate ability: -
State: Enjoyment / Pleasure / Arrogance
Disposition: Psychopathic / Sadist
Summary:
Conceited Slaughterer
Self-Proclaimed Thousand Dog Master
The disposition/state/summary only show the most representative and can change according to the situation.
Because Eye of Perception's proficiency is not high enough, viewing more detailed information is impossible.
'Class, Weredog Tamer.'
As soon as I saw his class name, I knew how it was that the Weredogs were so high level and were so much stronger than regular Weredogs, even stronger than Lycanthropes. The reason was that class, 'Weredog Tamer'.
'A restricted class that can only tame Weredogs. In exchange, it's extremely potent.'
It was thanks to his class that Kang Younghan was able to raise the Weredogs' levels so fast. This tamer had the misfortune of being an early bloomer Player. No matter how strong his Weredogs became, they could never break free of their 'Weredog' constraints. He could evolve his Weredogs into Warriordogs or Great Warriordogs, but that was the limit. A Weredog was, after all, a Weredog. It could never become a dragon.
'He's an early bloomer, but… a psychopath.'
It was actually a relief that such a madman was an early bloomer.
Observer's Eye switched focus to Ahn Seohye again. She was licking the blood from her neck. From that moment onwards, her aura changed.
'What is this feeling?'
I felt intense bloodthirst from Ahn Seohye, but it was hard to grasp. The feeling came and slipped away repeatedly, appearing and disappearing repeatedly from Observer's Eye's view.
I decided how I wanted to Play, coming up with a list of priorities.
"Senia. For now, I've found the Red Eyes. You can start streaming."
I would start by going to the Red Eyes. I set off immediately, using Flash Step towards the changed Ahn Seohye.
* * *
I found the 'Red Eyes' mentioned by the Shepherd Boy. The Guardian happened to be in Senia's channel.
[You have successfully found the Red Eyes.]
[The 'Shepherd Boy' is very happy.]
The rewards followed in quick succession.
[The title 'Hundred Dog Master' has been upgraded to the title 'Thousand Dog Master'.]
[5,000 Coins acquired.]
Those two were the rewards I already knew about. I was also given the one that had appeared as a '-'.
[The linked scenario is being triggered.]
The '-' reward was 'acquisition of a linked scenario'.
[The linked scenario – 'Red Eye Extraction' has been triggered.]
[Due to the linked scenario, you have been temporarily granted the special ability 'Hand of Extraction'.]
'Red Eye Extraction?'
Didn't extraction mean pulling something out?
'I'm supposed to pull out the Red Eyes?'
To that end, I was temporarily given a special ability called 'Hand of Extraction'. Even for the Shepherd Boy, this must have been a huge expense.
'Why?'
I would make the Guardians go wild. That was impossible to achieve if you only did meekly as they said and wanted. You had to figure out the Guardian and find out what it was they 'really wanted'. Basically, you had to be good at mind games.
'You can't just naively accept quests and be happy just because you cleared them.'
The Demon King had said so as well, hadn't he?
"Do not trust the Guardians too much."
I didn't, of course. I didn't trust the Guardians too much. That was why my brain was whirling, trying to figure out why the Shepherd Brain wanted to find and extract the 'Red Eyes' at the cost of such incredible expense.
'If I extract the Red Eyes… what'll happen to Seohye?'
There was no information about that. Would it just be that the red color disappeared, or would Seohye lose her vision?
I heard a voice.
"Who are you?"
I felt a gaze bearing weak murderous intent coming towards me, the sudden interloper who had appeared out of nowhere. The owner of the gaze was Kang Younghan. About ten Weredogs looking this way were arrayed around him.
"What do you think you're doing?" I responded.
"Isn't it obvious?" The tamer laughed. "I'm in the middle of having some fun."
He was truly mad.
'Guess I can keep it short.'
Originally, I was planning on talking with him to draw reactions out of Guardians like the Lady of the Scales or the Whispering Devil. But it seemed that wasn't necessary.
'Self-Proclaimed Ten Thousand Dog Master.'
A mere 'Weredog Tamer' was calling himself a Ten Thousand Dog Master, even though he couldn't even tame a regular Big Black Dog, much less a Twin-Headed Big Black Dog.
"Just imagine. How sweet do you think the blood coming out of that beautiful woman's severed arms and legs will be? I've never seen such a pretty woman."
A shiver ran through his body.
State: Pleasure / Freakish Enjoyment
He was well and truly mad. There was nothing to gain from drawing things out with him.
"Weredogs, hear me."
The Weredogs turned in unison to look at me. Even a Weredog chasing someone far in the distance screeched to a stop and immediately ran this way.
"The Thousand Dog Master commands thee."
It felt similar to the Will Incantation. It wasn't exactly the Will Incantation, but my words were imbued with my will.
"All Weredogs shall cease hunting."
Weredogs lacked rationality. They couldn't possibly understand human speech. But I knew very well that my will was being conveyed to the Weredogs, and that these 'will-imbued words' were like the first step of the 'Will Incantation'.
"Wh-What?"
Kang Younghan staggered back in shock, having sensed that his plans were going awry.
"That bastard! Kill that bastard!"
But the Weredogs didn't move. It was natural. Although he was a 'Weredog Tamer', I was a 'Thousand Dog Master'.
[Thousand Dog Master]
Higher level title of Hundred Dog Master.
Induces complete submission of all pure dog monsters under level 40.
Grants extreme intimacy with all pure dog monsters between levels 40-50.
Grants weak intimacy with all pure dog monsters between levels 50-60.
Weredogs fell perfectly into the category of 'pure dog monsters', monsters that were purely dogs with nothing else mixed in. Unfortunately for Kang Younghan, my rank as a tamer was higher than his Weredog Tamer.
"What are you all doing?! I said, KILL HIM!" screamed Kang Younghan.
"It's useless."
Sadly for him, be it talent as a tamer, knowledge, or titles, I topped him in every aspect. We were Players of entirely different classes.
"Useless?! Bullshit!"
He pulled out a whistle from his pocket. He blew it desperately, but it was no use. Cold sweat ran down the man's back as he stumbled backwards.
"J-J-Just what the hell are you?!"
An Observer. What else?
Just then, one of the unmoving Weredogs suddenly jumped and bit down on Kang Younghan's head.
Crunch!
The wet crack of bone rang out.
Blood ran down the Weredog's maw. Kang Younghan's body went limp, and at the same time, the Weredogs began to fall one by one like toppling dominoes.
'Monsters that have lost their owner.'
Some tamed monsters would die along with their owners. It seemed Weredogs were that kind of tamed creature. In the end, all of the Weredogs collapsed where they stood.
All that was left was a corpse with a grotesquely mutilated head.
"The problem is…" I stared at the body. "I didn't command it to kill."
I didn't intend on directly killing Kang Younghan. I wanted to turn him over to the police. But even without a command from me, the Thousand Dog Master, the Weredog killed its owner on its own initiative.
'And it's not that my will was conveyed.'
The Weredog was influenced by something. That influence urged it to bite its owner to death.
"Some kind of influence." My eyes moved towards a certain girl. "Seohye. It might have been your influence."
I locked eyes with the girl with the red eyes, the girl who was unknowingly billowing 'murderous intent'.
"My influence?"
Seohye's way of speech had changed a little. Before, she had struggled so much to talk to me, but now…
'It's like when I saw her at Rapundel's mansion.'
Back when we were in front of the portraits, she was this calm and unruffled, too. She was under the influence of something, and she didn't realize it. This was probably because of the 'Red Eyes', and these 'Red Eyes' were what the Shepherd Boy wanted.
"Shall we talk for a moment?"
I didn't know what might happen, so we needed a safe and quiet location. But she would probably be too scared to come to my house, so I borrowed a room in the 'Player Center' with Song Kiyeol's help.
After some time, the red light faded from Seohye's eyes.
"The way I see it, your eyes are imbued with a special power. They're activated when a special condition is fulfilled."
"..."
I continued the conversation one-sidedly. "There's a Guardian who wants your eyes. To be precise, they want the Red Eyes."
I explained everything I knew.
"You have to make the choice."
I couldn't pluck them by force. Some kind of side effect might occur, or she might even lose her 'Barrier Magician' power. It could also be that nothing would happen. No one knew what exactly would occur.
"You said… you can get rid of these eyes with your skill, sir?"
As I expected, Seohye was vaguely aware of these 'Red Eyes'. She said she was scared of them, that she wanted to get rid of them, if possible.
"There could be side effects." However, I also had to explain what would happen if she didn't do anything about them. "But if you keep those eyes… you could go mad. You saw, right? That crazy tamer today."
"...Yes."
I looked at Seohye's state.
State: Fear
I only saw fear. I could clearly feel her desire to not become that way. After thinking for a long time, Ahn Seohye spoke again.
"...To be honest, I was afraid."
She had felt it from the start.
"..."
I didn't know how to answer her. Was I supposed to warmly comfort her? I didn't know, so I just quietly listened. I listened as best as I could, with every bit of sincerity.
"There was no one, no one, I could talk to."
This young woman was refused help several times and was sexually abused by the person closest to her, her father. I understood her situation.
"All the people and all the adults I trusted made me afraid."
Tears welled in her eyes. I simply listened, giving her space to speak on her own. I waited so that she could express her inner feelings. As I did so, I felt my heart itch, but it wasn't attraction towards the opposite sex.
No, this itch was something else entirely.
'Like when I empathized with the Twin-Headed Big Black Dog.'
It was the same feeling I got when my emotions synched with the Twin-Headed Big Black Dog. What I learned back then from a monster was applying now to a human, Ahn Seohye.
'And…'
The sensation I felt in the Yellow Charm Gate was coming back to me.
That time when I recognized the false authority and my Eye of Perception dismantled it with the power of 'insight', the sensation of the 'Will Incantation' I achieved at that time, it became a current of hot blood surging within my body.
As she spoke the words that had been festering in her heart, tears fell from Seohye's eyes.
"That's why I couldn't trust anyone."
She said she was scared. She was so, so very scared. She kept saying those words, over and over again. She also said 'There was no one I could trust' several times. But I didn't get tired of hearing the same things. It felt like I was assimilating the darkness in Seohye's heart.
'This is the empathy mentioned by the System.'
Right now, I was empathizing with Seohye's darkness. A very long time passed, about an hour of me sitting and listening. But that time didn't feel like very long.
"Please help me."
When I heard those words, it was like the world in front of me brightened, and I knew. I had created a new will. With it, I could invoke a new Will Incantation.
"Please, help me."
Those words became the catalyst. My steadily heating blood seemed to boil.
"I will help you."
Observation.
Empathy.
And built upon those two, the will to help.
New words began to flow from my mouth, words that pointed towards a new realm.
____
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