-Peep!
"Come here, chick."
I lifted the white chick that was rolling around the large bed, as expected, just like at the hotel in Hong Kong, the chick seemed to like looking at strange places. It really was curious about things, shown in its habit of watching TV.
"I'm grateful that at least you're enjoying it."
-Peep!
"Your father is not going to be able to sleep tonight."
My surroundings were exceptional, and I had no trouble sleeping in new places. Dinner had been nice, the walk pleasant, the bathroom luxurious with bath salts I had never seen before. However, there was only one thing missing.
"It's embarrassing, Yoohyun, but I cannot sleep without you."
Damn, I really did not want to sleep. When will my fear resistance recover to normal? Is it not the timing now? The debuff was going long enough, perhaps because of the doubled attack skill effect.
"Why can't I watch TV?"
Was I participating in a temple retreat? You could watch TV even in prison, and even if it was done to make sure I could not watch the news, I had to spend the night awake without anything to do.
"Hey, chick. At least you should sleep."
I pounded a large pillow to make a niche to place the chick. While I had no thoughts of sleeping, I also climbed up the bed and leaned against the pillows. The bed was nice enough for me to fall asleep, and I thought of sitting on a chair.
"I really will fall asleep if I turn off the lights, but it's too bright for you, right?"
-Peep.
I should change to indirect lighting. Where was the remote control?
"The remote for lighting…"
"Here."
"Oh, thank you-"
It was Yoohyun's voice, and his familiar hands grabbed my wrist as I froze without being able to respond.
"It's all right. I won't harm you. It's difficult for me to appear like this without a catalyst, so I won't be able to do much. Don't worry."
I could not turn around, and the chick came down from the pillow to my lap.
"Your appearance…"
"As this world refuses me, I have to borrow help from someone who belongs to this world. I can enter easily if I come as your most beloved who you think of the most."
He was the addict to filial duty that had appeared borrowing Gyungsoo Yoon's corpse and the successor of Diarma. I had thought he would contact me, but did it have to be now?
"Isn't it too late to visit without asking first?"
"Dreams come at night, and I could have come earlier. But he had been beside you all the time recently, hyung, and if the same person is next to you, the possibility of you refusing me becomes higher because I seem more of a fake."
Him calmly calling me hyung creeped me out, but he seemed to mean that he had not been able to appear because I had been sleeping in the same room as Yoohyun. Dreams come at night, huh. This addict's ability had to be hallucinatory when considering that Gyungsoo Yoon's corpse had taken on a different form for each person and the dungeon's characteristics. He was not good for mental health.
"So, have you decided on what to bet?"
I looked down on the chick as I spoke. While I could not ignore him, I did not have the guts to turn my head. I wish he would disappear after finishing what he had come here for.
"Ah, hyung. That's-"
Damn, why does he keep calling me that?
"Are you going to keep refusing to look at me? You should meet the eyes of the person you're talking with."
"I don't need to treat someone with another's skin as human."
"That's disappointing."
He then smiled, and I remembered the evening phone call. I turned my head as I rubbed the chicks' downy feathers with the tips of my fingers. He was standing next to the bed and was leaning towards me. An older version of my brother was smiling down at me.
Don't look at me like that. The only time you ever smiled at me was when-
"I saw you. Speak what you need to say fast and go away."
Let's think about other things. It's about time Yerim and Peace come out, and I hoped they would be all right. The pair had never worked together like this before, and I was curious about how they fared. Their attributes were incompatible, as Peace did not like how Yerim kept bothering him during their first meeting. I hope they didn't fight and came out of the dungeon closer than before.
"I'm interested in you, hyung."
The addict with Yoohyun's face spoke, and his smiling eyes were darker than Yoohyun's now. They looked even more different since one of them was red nowadays.
I suddenly felt strange. While Yoohyun was the same person, he was becoming different bit by bit already. His skillset will become different, as there is already Irin, and skills via items that had disappeared and could no longer be attained like the White Whale's tears at the festival will also come up.
Even though he still is my younger brother.
"I tried to examine as closely as possible about what had happened in this world. While I could not know all, I managed to find a bit about you."
…How far did he know? I gulped while the guy looked at me with interested eyes. I became calmer since that expression at that age was not something I had seen before.
"You're a breeder who managed to love and raise a born S class."
"What about that? That happens sometimes."
Does he know only about the breeder title, or also discovered the Perfect Breeder title? The latter was troubling. He would be an obstacle if he knew about the keyword effects.
"Only very rarely. Only here, the fifth."
The guy continued to speak as he pulled my wrist towards him, and while he had mentioned that he was weak, it seemed that he was stronger than me.
"The breeder title did not appear in the first, second, third, fourth, and other places. Although breeders who have raised those below S classes are common."
The guy whispered that a breeder who managed to raise an S class came out from only here. The Fifth Origin, the Snowing Tree, and the space our world belonged in.
"While it may be a pure coincidence since the number is so small, it may be relevant to the origin. So, hyung, let's strike a deal."
"A deal?"
"Yes, give yourself to me."
"…There are too many in line. Go to the end and stop speaking nonsense."
While I was a human being and not an item, and Yoohyun would be first, and Hyunjae Sung second, despite calling himself first, many would come to lay their claim. The auction house had been a prime example.
"You don't need to work so hard on something that may fail. I'll save those you want to get out if you give yourself to me. How about it?"
"You had said that you couldn't get them out if the S classes were not close to SS classes."
"Thankfully, most of whom you care about seem to be S classes. And even if they are not, it's not impossible to rescue them. While the price is high, even the depraved get those who might be helpful out of a doomed world."
He had said that the blacksmith would be one of the rescued if this world was annihilated. Was he talking about Myeongwoo? That meant at least he was safe.
"So, hyung. How about it? I can take up to 10 S classes and one or two A classes. I'm doing a lot of work for this and will pay the price."
Ten S classes would include everyone under my care.
"Weren't you guys interested in destroying worlds? It will become an easier feat if you take people out like that."
"If it were easy to do, I would always strike a deal. Two are usually the most, and that's why we try to convince born S classes."
He added some more words with a teasing expression.
"We're largely divided into two groups."
"Two?"
"One group consists of good children who work so worlds can be swallowed. The other group is curious about how things will come to an end."
A side helped the origin to swallow worlds, and the other side who wanted to know what happened after the origin swallowed all worlds. The guy in front of me was undoubtedly the latter. Come to think of it, he had been interested in Yoohyun, saying things about fairies. He had been disinterested in destroying the world, saying that his safety was more important.
"Let's make a contract, hyung."
A shining white plate appeared in front of me, and it would be an L class contract like that Diarma incident. Since I did not have the doubled skill effect for cursed dragon types, I would not escape this one.
"While I cannot take you out with my power since you're an F class, I'll take care of you as much as I can. While breeders for S classes are already rare, I had never succeeded in making a contract with one since most of them had died already by the time I discovered them. Surprisingly, you have managed to combine that stone in your chest. At a glance, I had thought you would fail, but it's stable now. I'm curious what monster will come out of it."
That was a welcoming remark since Hyunjae Sung's fragment seemed to have done its job.
"I'm yielding to you a lot since you're extremely rare."
He's yielding a lot. While I did not trust him, I could not help but listen to him. It was uncertain whether we could protect this world, but if they could be safe and sound because of me…
Could I not postpone my response? I wanted to make the contract when there was no hope, but he would not yield that far. However, it may be possible if cases like me were that rare. I would ask for a five-year grace period…
-Peep!
It was then the chick flew up with all its strength, and it tackled the contract after jumping up surprisingly high.
"Hey!"
That was a really hard surface! I held the chick, but it fluttered its wings like it did not feel any pain.
-Peep! Peep! Peep!
"Calm down. You'll hurt yourself!"
-Peep!
"What is that?"
He, who had on Yoohyun's face, asked me as he tilted his head like he just saw the chick for the first time. It had been on my lap all this time where he could see it. He was already reaching for the chick, and while I tried to step back hiding it in my arms, him holding my wrist made me fail.
"Don't touch!"
-Peep!
"I think I had seen it somewhere. Give it to me for a moment, hyung."
"Stop calling me hyung and get lost!"
The guy who looked at the chick like he was going to dissect it was not my brother. I twisted my wrist and pulled back as much as possible. I had been bending my knee to kick at him when a golden chain burst through the door with a loud bang. The chain pierced his side like a lance and pushed him onto the end of the room with the remaining power. I also had been dragged halfway, but an arm around my waist stopped me.
"Yoohyun!"
I instinctively shouted at the spurting blood despite knowing that he was not my brother. While I had been flabbergasted, the guy with my brother's face looked down at the chain embedded in his side with a calm expression.
"Crescent Moon?"
Does he recognize it? Perhaps he was acquainted with the Crescent Moon. He raised his head to stare at Hyunjae Sung, the owner of the chain.
"Who are you?"
"The owner of this house."
While that was not a lie, it was not the point. The chick that had rolled off the bed came to me, and I turned my gaze back to him again after checking whether it was all right.
…I knew that he was not Yoohyun, but I wanted to get my lenses off. Glasses would have made things easier.
"Don't you know about the Crescent Moon? Anyway, hyung."
"I said not to call me that, you bastard."
"It's easier for me to remain in this form if we are brothers. Will you accept the contract?"
"That's-"
"You should not go after things that already have an owner."
Hyunjae Sung's voice blocked my words.
"While I turned a blind eye on Yoohyun Han because you could not let him go, I will not permit another one."
"What about turning a blind eye? I'm not yours."
Anyway, my brother would be the priority, even if it was the case. Why was he going overboard?
"Turn around if you cannot watch."
Hyunjae Sung spoke as the chain moved, and the ends of his fingers shone with a faint light. I bit into my lips and turned my gaze below.
The sound was not that loud, and I heard something burn. It was not flesh burning, but walls and furniture. I unconsciously gripped the arm that was holding me tightly before raising my head. I saw something shaped like a large jellyfish where everything was scorched. The faint thing slowly shook its body.
-Think carefully. I will not step back easily if you refuse.
It disappeared, and Hyunjae Sung looked down at me as I let out a sigh.
"Was a beast going to come out from that stone in your chest?"
…How much had he heard? Did he tap my room?