Chapter 83

Chapter 83

Adam let out a bitter laugh and agreed with me. Even he seemed to think the conditions written in the report for passing the “Trial of Caliburn” were rather strange.

I didn’t bother hiding it, making an openly bewildered face as I focused on the “conditions” written in the report — especially the latter one.

‘What the hell does “spiritually strong” even mean? Do I need to be able to see ghosts or something? And “one who bears no original sin”? Surely they don’t mean the original sin from Christianity?’

I stared at the last sentence with a dubious look, then cautiously called out to Adam.

“Um, Adam. When you say ‘original sin’ here, you don’t actually mean the original sin from Christianity, do you?”

“It’s only speculation, but yes. That’s how we’re interpreting it.”

If the “original sin” written in this document really was the original sin from Christianity… Hoo. I couldn’t hold back a sigh and furrowed my brow.

It had been so long that my memory was fuzzy, but I did remember something I’d picked up by ear during chapel time in college.

That all humans are born with original sin from the moment they’re born.

And that to atone for that original sin, you have to believe in the Christian god… or was it the savior?

So if the report had said something like “one without original sin,” I could have figured something out. It would have just been a matter of bringing in someone who believed in Christianity. But what it said here was “one who has never borne original sin.”

‘This is that thing, isn’t it. “You humans can’t clear this dungeon. Don’t even dream of it.” …Yeah, something like that.’

“That’s why I came here, Ms. Yoon Seohee.”

Adam covered the part of the stiff paper that read in black ink — “The Britten Dungeon’s Greatest Obstacle” — with his palm and murmured quietly.

“It’s still just speculation, but you, Ms. Yoon Seohee, might be able to pull ‘Caliburn.’”

“Me?”

“Yes. When we observed the process of you performing equipment adjustment, we speculated that your equipment adjustment skill includes an option that temporarily forces the ownership of equipment to transfer to yourself.”

Ah, so that’s what this is about. I had a vague idea of what Adam was getting at, and I wore a dazed expression.

So, he must have seen me adjusting equipment that was clearly marked as “exclusive” — like in the request from S-Rank Hunter Kim Miju — and realized that the ownership transfer must have happened first.

‘S-Rank hunters almost never use equipment that isn’t exclusive… so it was a reasonable guess.’

The truth was that I had simply dominated the equipment itself through the “Ruler’s Garden” skill, but there was no need to go that far.

I nodded at Adam to indicate I understood roughly. Then I asked him a question first.

“That sword called Caliburn… it’s treated as being in an exclusive state too, right? For whoever meets those ‘conditions.’”

“Yes. But as you know, finding a human who meets those conditions is… well, impossible.”

As he said, trying to find a human who was physically, mentally, and even spiritually strong, and on top of that had never borne original sin — no matter how I thought about it, it seemed utterly… pointless.

I guess Adam and the British government figured that instead of spending time on such an attempt, it was far better to seek out an Equipment Adjuster in a distant foreign country.

I fell silent for a moment, the outline of the situation finally coming into focus, and covered my mouth with one hand as I pondered.

‘Now the question is… whether I accept this request or not.’

To accept this request, I would naturally have to go to England myself. After all, the location where this request would take place was a dungeon in England.

‘My body’s already healed, so that’s not a problem. And the previous requests don’t have anything time-consuming, so I can handle them quickly.’

At least for myself, there was no reason not to accept this request. But the problem was someone else — someone who was still avoiding me.

‘I still haven’t seen Yoon Juyeong’s face even once.’

People are supposed to live by talking to each other, but Yoon Juyeong seemed to prefer escape over conversation. Ever since he got out of bed, he hadn’t come to see me even once.

Oh, and yet he somehow managed to prepare and send me delicious porridge and food through Avan — that part was funny.

‘What should I do…’

“Ju— no, Yoon Seohee.”

“Um, yes?”

I had been so absorbed in thoughts about Yoon Juyeong that I had to drag my wandering mind back and grab hold of it. Jeong Seojin set down the hunter magazine he’d been holding since yesterday on the side table and met my gaze.

“How about you go?”

“Huh? Where… Oh, to England?”

“Yeah. Since things have turned out this way, I was thinking it might be good for you to stay away for a while.”

“…From Yoon Juyeong?”

“Yeah.”

Was this really some kind of advice about my relationship with Yoon Juyeong? I wore a deeply serious expression and listened closely to what Jeong Seojin had to say.

Even though Jeong Seojin had shown a rather unreliable attitude so far, he wasn’t the type to enjoy empty, meaningless words, so it seemed worth paying attention to.

“Don’t you think you should give that guy enough time to sort out his own thoughts? He seemed pretty complicated.”

Hmm. At first glance, that sounded reasonable. No, actually, when I thought about it, it really was the right thing to say.

After all, whenever Yoon Juyeong was involved with me, didn’t he always show a mental state as fragile as glass? It really didn’t seem like the right thing to keep pressing my own opinions on someone like that.

‘Yeah, it’d be better to give him about a week to think things over on his own.’

Yoon Juyeong was an adult man, so if he was given that much time, he’d at least be able to get his mental state under control. I began to seriously consider going to England.

…And separately from that, I looked suspiciously at Jeong Seojin, who was wearing a proud expression as if his own advice had pleased him quite a bit.

“That’s a fair point, but when you say something like that, it makes me think you have some ulterior motive.”

“Of course I do. I want to see that sword that guy’s talking about for myself.”

“Huh? …Wait, don’t tell me… you’re planning to follow me to England?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

Jeong Seojin looked at me as if he’d just been asked the most obvious question in the world.

…No, no matter how I thought about it, wasn’t this weird? Why was this guy following me? I firmly grabbed hold of my mental reins so I wouldn’t get swept up in whatever mood Jeong Seojin was setting.

“What exactly is so obvious about that? I mean, what kind of relationship do you and I even have?”

“What kind of relationship? Obviously, Mas—”

“Obviously leave that out. And you know full well that my opinion isn’t included in that at all, right?”

I clenched my fist, forcing down my rising voice. If I had my way, I’d throw the pillow I was holding right into Jeong Seojin’s face, but Adam was still standing in front of me.

If it had just been Guild Master Kang Mujin here, maybe I could have, but in front of a complete stranger — and a world-famous celebrity at that — I couldn’t do that.

Fortunately, it seemed Jeong Seojin had no intention of grating on my patience even in this situation. With a completely unruffled face that showed no sign of emotional disturbance, he said something quite ordinary.

“Then let’s call it guardian and ward.”

“…Huh? Guardian?”

“You weren’t planning to go to England all alone, were you, Your Precious S-Rank Production-Type Hunter?”

“Uh, well.”

…Honestly, I hadn’t thought that far ahead. That was probably because I still hadn’t adapted to my own situation.

The news and media constantly blabbered on about the ‘S-Rank Production-Type Hunter’ born in Korea, but I found it hard to accept that as my reality.

Sometimes, whenever I closed my eyes to sleep, I’d think, ‘Maybe when I open my eyes tomorrow morning, I’ll just be back to being an ordinary C-Rank Hunter.’

“I figured as much.”

Seeing me unable to answer, Jeong Seojin seemed to have caught on to what I was thinking. With a completely expressionless face, he let out a faint sigh.

“How about you get a proper grasp of your own worth? For starters, that S+-Rank knight over there is probably itching to kidnap you, too.”

“…Wait, just to be clear, by S+-Rank knight, you mean Adam?”

“Who else would be an S+-Rank ‘knight’ besides that guy?”

It was such a blunt nickname that it was almost laughable.

I momentarily worried that Adam, the subject of Jeong Seojin’s ‘S+-Rank knight’ comment, might have been offended, so I glanced in his direction.

Adam seemed quite taken aback by the bizarre title Jeong Seojin had used to address me, but before long, he flashed his characteristic friendly smile.

“An amusing nickname.”

And that was it. He said nothing more beyond that. Which only made me feel even more uneasy as I alternated my gaze between Adam and Jeong Seojin.

‘Why… isn’t he denying the part about wanting to kidnap me?’

Jeong Seojin had clearly said that Adam might have “the urge to kidnap you,” yet Adam hadn’t refuted it. Of course, he hadn’t confirmed it either, but…

“See?”

As if reading my thoughts, Jeong Seojin spoke in a voice tinged with a sigh. Then he grabbed both my cheeks and pulled my gaze back to him.

So there I was, making a face as ridiculous as a goldfish, staring right into Jeong Seojin’s eyes.

“That’s why I’m telling you, don’t even think about wandering around alone. If you absolutely have to, take that fake-nice guy or the Gardener with you. Ideally, take me no matter what.”

“Ah, I get it, but this, this thing, look at it.”

“Say you understand.”

“Ah, I understand.”