As he gently stroked his hamster's fur, the pounding in his chest began to subside.
The idea that he could tame a person—someone with hidden traits and unique abilities—was unprecedented. If this fact were ever revealed, how would people look at him?
Taming was a form of forced submission. No intelligent being would willingly allow themselves to be tamed and forced to serve a master against their will. Naturally, people would be wary of him. And if he tried to protest that it was all a system error, it wouldn't make a difference.
He was fine with being ignored for his trivial Awakening ability, but he would be heartbroken if the people around him didn't trust him and became wary of him.
In Yushin made up his mind.
'I can't undo the taming, so I'll just ignore it! Ignore it completely! Don't look for who it is, don't wonder! If I keep my mouth shut, he won't know either!'
He was determined, and just as he was about to close the Seven-year-old's status window, he stopped. He saw some very familiar letters within the window.
[Hidden Traits]
Vampire Traits
Mixture of Iron Age and ®ÀÇ
̵¡©±Ï¶
The king's illegitimate son
[Attribution Artifact]
The Broken Cross of the Last Emperor
Eternal Conquest of the Heir Padisha
Aside from the shock that the man possessed two attribution artifacts, which were considered rare even to have just one, In Yushin's heart pounded faster. He brought up his own status window alongside it.
[Name: In Yushin]
[Trait]
Taming (rodents only)
[Hidden Traits]
¦°ø¾Îð
He had thought he was the only person on Earth with an ability name made up of broken, garbled letters in his status window.
But today, one more person had been added to that list.
Is there a case where the text in the status window is broken like an encoding error?
What do you mean? How can the status window text be broken?
This is the first I've heard that the system screen can have an error. The status window is displayed in the language that the Awakened recognizes as their native language.
This is correct. My friend immigrated to the United States and even obtained citizenship, but the status window still appears in Korean.
He sighed as he closed the message board, which was filled with unhelpful answers.
'Am I and the person I just tamed, the Seven-year-old, really the only ones with broken letters in our system windows?'
As he pondered, Yushin shook his head.
'I decided not to look for who he is, not to wonder. And besides… Many people hide things like hidden traits, so it's likely many people don't reveal that the letters are broken. I've never told anyone else that my letters are broken, either.'
"Squeak."
The Six-year-old let out a low, annoyed sound.
"Ah, sorry. I'm sorry."
In Yushin snapped out of his thoughts and quickly cleaned the hamster's cage.
Just because he had been tamed didn't mean the Six-year-old had undergone any dramatic changes and become a huge hamster. However, they were able to communicate to some extent, and he had become much healthier. When the hamster was slightly sick, it was easier to heal him than to go to the vet. Although it was a modest F-class ability, In Yushin was perfectly satisfied with it.
The Six-year-old had been adopted from a hamster cafe after being abandoned. He was now two years old. In Yushin hoped he could stay with him for a long time, in good health.
The Six-year-old was far more important than the broken letters in a system window. In Yushin decided to erase from his memory all thoughts of the person he had unintentionally tamed and the broken letters.
Thanks to the issue of his stolen account, he was kept busy going in and out of the bank and police station, which helped him get his mind off things. With the exception of the occasional, lingering image of Hyun Kyu-ha's impossibly handsome face, the events of that day were quietly forgotten.
"Good morning."
"Good morning, Mr. Yushin."
Kim Jiyeon, who had arrived at work first, greeted him while sipping the coffee she had just made.
"Did that voice phishing incident get resolved?"
"I finally got the suspension on my bank account lifted yesterday."
"Ugh, even though you were the victim, it took forever. It's ridiculous."
"That week my account was suspended felt like seven years."
"If you're really unlucky, it can take months."
People began to arrive one by one, and the office quickly filled up. It was the beginning of a peaceful day, one in which the problem that had been gnawing at him for a week was finally resolved.
The peace lasted for quite some time. Today, the complaint room was quieter than usual. No one was raising their voice or cursing.
In Yushin was a contract civil servant working in the People's Livelihood Stability Division of the Ministry of Education. He had started this job right out of high school, and it had been two years already. The fact that the People's Livelihood Stability Division was quiet meant that no one was being harmed by a gate or a magical beast, which was a good sign.
"It's nice to have peace."
No matter how many times he had to compile the list of civilians who died from magical beast attacks, he could never get used to it.
With five minutes left of his lunch break, In Yushin stretched his arms.
'What's for lunch today? I think it was a meat bowl… Uh-oh, the door just opened.'
Sure enough, a complainant arrived just before lunchtime. In Yushin's voice was blank as he turned his head, hoping they could finish quickly.
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
The second sound wasn't from In Yushin. Kim Jiyeon, who was sitting to his right, let out a similar gasp.
"Ugh."
A third sound came from the desk to his left.
"Wow."
"Oh."
Breathless sighs could be heard all around. Some people quietly took out their phones. The person had only taken a single step, but the drab complaint room seemed to have instantly transformed into a fashion show runway.
As everyone watched, only the sound of footsteps came closer. He walked directly into the complaint room, not exploring his surroundings, but heading straight for In Yushin.
The footsteps stopped in front of In Yushin's desk. The shadow of a tall man, cast by the office light, fell over his head.
"Yushin."
Hyun Kyu-ha called his name clearly, without even glancing at the ID card around his neck. He bent down with a smile in his eyes.
A gloved hand grabbed In Yushin's chin and lifted his head. An amber gaze, filled with a strange aura, swayed along with his laughter.
A wide smile spread across Hyun Kyu-ha's lips.
"Is my master here?"
When his hand touched In Yushin's face, the status window automatically opened.
[Name: Henri Raymond Charles Françoise VII]
[Current status: Killing Intent. Separation anxiety.]
Hyun Kyu-ha, who had broken every record for the youngest S-class, the youngest dungeon conqueror, and the youngest ranker, was very familiar with the gazes of others.
'...?'
It was very strange to him that the feeling of being called didn't go away. Even though he had clearly ignored it. It was a tingling sensation, as if a small thorn was stuck somewhere on his skin.
A young man in his early twenties was caught in the corner of his gaze as he looked around. Hyun Kyu-ha's eyes narrowed. He remembered him.
'I'll take the hostage's place.'
The person whose voice he had heard just before entering the bank. It was quite a heroic thing to do.
However, Hyun Kyu-ha, with his deep-rooted distrust of humans, only scoffed.
'I think he's still breathing, but are you pressing down on the wound here?'
That's why he deliberately pointed it out. Contrary to his expectations, the young man had been surprisingly quick to stop the bleeding, without seeming scared or hesitant despite the blood. But that was all. He was a person Hyun Kyu-ha forgot as soon as he turned his back.
Yet, when he turned his head to follow the feeling of being called, the young man was there. The young man with the intense gaze was still there.
'It must have been a mistake.'
Hyun Kyu-ha easily ignored him again.