Chapter 36

Chapter 36

“There’s nothing like that.”

“If that’s what you’re after, you’ve come to the wrong person. I aim for equal relationships—”

“I’m telling you, it’s not that.”

With him insisting this much, it didn’t seem like he was spouting nonsense because of some personal preference in that direction. So instead of pressing or doubting Jeong Seojin, I kept my mouth shut and decided to listen to what he had to say.

“To put it simply… my third hypothesis is that your skill might not be ‘one-sided domination.’”

“…Isn’t domination inherently one-sided?”

“Simply put, maybe you can only dominate someone when they agree to it.”

…Did people usually call a situation with mutual consent ‘domination’?

I tilted my head and thought about it for a moment, then concluded not long after that it could be possible. Well, not every form of domination had to be the kind where one person oppressed and confined another.

‘After all, there are people who enter relationships where one dominates the other by mutual agreement…’

It was a realm I found hard to understand, but since such relationships existed in reality, it was difficult to dismiss Jeong Seojin’s words as complete nonsense.

Of course, that didn’t mean I was going to take his words at face value either.

“Even if what you’re saying is right, Mr. Jeong Seojin… there’s still something odd. Let’s say the person affected by my skill… is one thing.”

Honestly, when I used the skill on Mr. Yoon Juyeong… even if mutual consent was involved like Jeong Seojin said, it wasn’t that strange.

I was desperate to survive in my own way, and Mr. Yoon Juyeong might have agreed to accept my skill as a last hope to survive too.

But the problem was the second target I used the skill on—Blackie.

“Blackie is a monster. And as you know, monsters are basically hostile to humans, right? Ah… well, Blackie isn’t exactly… an entity that tries to kill humans, but still.”

Blackie was, after all, a species called a ‘Dream Wolf’—it only gave humans nightmares and fed on those nightmares without directly harming them.

But even so, since Blackie was still a monster, it didn’t seem likely it would just agree without a second thought to some random human trying to dominate it.

“If you look at the description of your skill, you might understand that a bit.”

“My skill description?”

“Yeah. The last part of the skill description.”

Following Jeong Seojin’s words, I immediately tapped on ‘Ruler’s Garden’ at the very bottom of my status window, where my skill was listed.

“Ah.”

Was this what he meant? I let out a small gasp as I read the sentence at the very bottom of the ‘Skill Description’ section.

<Skill Description>

Ruler’s Garden (S)

You are the Ruler, and this world is the Ruler’s Garden.

Therefore, this place is your garden, and all beings dwelling in the garden must duly devote their loyalty to the Ruler. However, one who wears a crown must bear its weight. The power of a king who has not yet held a coronation does not reach the weight of a thousand gold.

※The higher the intelligence and rank of a lifeform, the greater the difficulty of the domination condition.

“High intelligence, high rank lifeforms……”

“Did you check that monster’s rank?”

“…A-Rank.”

Considering the dungeon Blackie came from was A-Rank, it was quite a high rank. Honestly, I was very surprised when I first checked Blackie’s rank after returning home from clearing the dungeon.

Recalling that memory, I tapped Blackie’s name in the skill application target section next to the ‘Ruler’s Garden’ skill.

<Status Window>

Name / Age: Blackie / ?

Rank: A

Awakened Skills

―Beast of Nightmares (A+)

―Nightmare Consumption (A)

―Wolf’s Howl (B)

―Magic * Darkness (B)

“In terms of rank alone, it’s relatively high… but it might be considering the intelligence aspect.”

“So… when dealing with humans, mutual consent is needed, but when dealing with monsters, it might not be necessary… is that it?”

“That’s my thought for now. Of course, even what I just said is a skill that’s weird for not having a proper penalty… but still, it makes more sense than being able to dominate anyone just by wanting it, regardless of the target, right?”

It was indeed more realistic that, rather than being able to dominate anyone just by wanting it, humans required mutual consent while monsters could be dominated outright.

I nodded in agreement with Jeong Seojin’s words, then cautiously opened my mouth.

“So what does that have to do with using the skill on you, Mr. Jeong Seojin?”

“First, I can find out whether ‘mutual consent’ is really necessary when dealing with humans.”

“…And?”

“Second, if Yoon Juyeong’s sudden awakening really was because of you, I might be able to use you to become even stronger than I am now.”

“……”

Does someone who’s already achieved the number one S-Rank spot even need to get stronger? No, before that—this guy just flat-out said Yoon Juyeong’s name out loud.

I stared at Jeong Seojin, a tangled mess of frustration and disbelief.

‘…I know that, fundamentally, hunters as a species are always chasing strength.’

I don’t even need to look far—I’m a hunter myself, so I understand what it feels like to pursue power.

Right now, my own strength is displayed before my eyes as numbers and ranks, so it’s only natural to wonder if I can push it just a little higher.

But I never thought that would apply to an S-Rank, let alone the number one.

‘He’s the strongest hunter in Korea, and he still wants to get stronger…’

At this point, I figured I had to ask at least once. Even knowing how obvious the question was, I deliberately opened my mouth.

“Why do you want to get that strong?”

“…Does a hunter need a reason to want to get stronger?”

“No, I mean… that’s true, but still. You’re the number one S-Rank in Korea. Isn’t that enough to be satisfied and stop?”

“……”

Was that too personal a question?

Watching Jeong Seojin stay silent without a word, I figured I shouldn’t push any further. I parted my lips to tell him he didn’t have to say anything if he didn’t want to.

“Well, if you don’t want to talk about it…”

“There’s something I want.”

He tossed it out casually, like discarding a worthless object on the roadside. But I immediately realized those words were tied to his most private, genuine feelings.

“To achieve what I want, this much isn’t enough. I need to get stronger, and… I need to know more.”

“……”

“That’s why. Why I tried to pull you in the moment I first saw you. You were with a guy who went through a reawakening from B-Rank to S-Rank, and on top of that, you’re a C-Rank hunter who subjugates and dominates monsters… I thought I might find a clue to getting stronger in various ways. I’m sorry about suddenly pressuring you with that recruitment back then. And for telling the guild master about your ability without your consent.”

I hadn’t expected him to apologize for the latter. After all, in the hunter industry, reporting dungeon-related matters to the guild master or the Dungeon Management Committee is standard procedure, so I hadn’t thought much of it. I looked at Jeong Seojin with slightly widened eyes, a hint of surprise in them.

His face was still expressionless, not a single change. So I sat there for a moment, saying nothing, just watching him and thinking about his attitude and the side of him he’d shown me, before letting out a sigh-like breath and standing up.

“I don’t know what it is, but I guess you have a reason you absolutely have to get stronger.”

“There are things I need to reclaim and things I need to find out.”

“……”

Things to reclaim and things to find out.

I didn’t know what they were, but at least I could roughly tell how desperately Jeong Seojin wanted those two things. Because for the first time in a while, a faint smile and a chilling anger flickered across his face as he said them.

I finally let out a sigh, laced with resignation.

“Do you have a plan? Let’s say I use my skill on you, Hunter Jeong Seojin. And let’s say that mutual consent hypothesis is right, and you agree to it. Then what? I don’t know how to undo my skill.”

“Usually, with other skills that require mutual consent to activate, the skill can be undone if the target expresses refusal.”

“I know that. But… if you saw it, you’d know—the other person who got hit by my skill still hasn’t been released. I think maybe, after being affected by my skill, they’ve been subjugated even in their mental domain. So they don’t feel like undoing it.”

“If your domination skill truly affects the mental aspect as well, you don’t need to worry about that. I have a skill that nullifies interference in that area.”

“…You have something like that too?”

I guess when you’re the number one S-Rank, you really do have all kinds of skills.

Well, I guess it makes sense. I’ve heard that S-Ranks sometimes awaken with two initial skills, so it wouldn’t be strange if Jeong Seojin, the number one S-Rank, had about three. And he’s probably picked up more skills along the way from all his hunting.

“Alright. Then I’ll start right away. …Just in case, I should warn you—if something goes wrong, I’ll try to release the skill, but…”

“There’s no way anything will go wrong, but even if it does, it won’t be your fault, so don’t worry.”

“Mm.”

With him saying all that, backing out now would feel pretty awkward.

In the end, I slowly raised my hand and aimed it toward Jeong Seojin. The skill doesn’t actually require this kind of gesture to use, but it was my own way of mentally preparing myself.

‘This is the first time I’m using it voluntarily, of my own free will.’