When Lin Young-Jae woke up, he felt weak all over.
He had been hungry for these passed days and the cold slab of wet ground made his aching body stiff and stomach in pain when he was in the cave.
But now, there is warmth. His groggy mind comfortably snuggled into that warmth hearing multiple ding sounds. His status window popped like an alarm, making him realize that he met the main character earlier and was carried out of the cave. After that... He passed out.
His eyes shot open abruptly like a scared cat, almost falling off Do Hyun's arm. Good thing he was grabbed in the arm before he could even fall.
"Good, you're awake!" Lee Seok Jin, who noticed his shift was happy to see him alive again. "Here have some water and food." He didn't forget to prepare the food while looking expectant at the youth who was caught off guard.
But looking at the food and bottle of water in front of him, he immediately calmed down and took it, muttering a thank you in embarrassment. Then he looked at Do Hyun, who was still carrying him as they walk. One arm carrying him, the other holding a sword which he retracted when he caught his fall.
"Uhmm... Mr. Park, are you... Not tired?" He even slept in his arm without noticing it. He didn't even know how long he passed out. Being carried like a child is already embarrassing enough, and being carried for how many hours is already making him guilty. "I think I can walk at least."
Park Do Hyun glance at him, swaying his other hand holding a sword towards an unexpected attack from a giant spider, slicing it in half. Then he looked forward and continued walking
"It's not advisable." He just replied.
"Why?" Lin Young-Jae curiously asked, opening the packet of oat bar and getting a small bite.
"The ground has poisonous thorn traps." Do Hyun pointed to the vines just randomly appearing from the ground. Although it's weak against shoes, it is extremely dangerous when it pricks the skin.
"Fuck, that's poisonous?!" Lee Seok Jin almost spat more bad words at his boss, but stopped seeing that there's a kid there. He didn't want to be a bad influence so he held back ever since they first met. "Why didn't you tell me earlier, boss?" He just decided to complain.
It's a D-class poison. Do Hyun ignored it since they both have poison resistance above B. But when Lin Young-Jae, who don't even have a shoes on him said that he wanted to walk, he doubt the kid even has poison resistance.
"Uhm..." Lin Young-Jae hesitated. "Thank you. I promise to repay your kindness someday." He sincerely gave his thanks. He should give them a good impression to Lin Ji-Young once they get out. May this'll help them become good friends.
"Oh yeah? How's the little buddy going to thank these hyungs?" Lee Seok Jin asked, teasingly. Since his boss is ignoring him again, he'll just talk to someone who will actually respond.
"Well... I don't have money." He started thoughtfully. "I'll borrow from noona and pay her back when I get a job." This is probably a reasonable and realistic idea.
Lee Seok Jin laughed, it may not be obvious from his 24/7 daily temper and uncontrollable profanity, but he is fond of younger people as they are very adorable.
"But I don't think I can live that long to get a job so that's out of the picture." He unconsciously added with a sigh.
At this point, the atmosphere suddenly became stiff. Lin Young-Jae wasn't probably aware that he said that out loud and was busy thinking of a way to repay them. But the two who heard it gave a second glance, as if they heard it wrong.
Park Do Hyun walked faster and Lee Seok Jin followed his pace not realizing. But in the guild master's mind, they needed to hurry to a hospital. If his death is Lin Ji-Young's cause of wrath, it's better to keep him alive to lessen the enemy and add a strong ally later.
In the end, Lin Young-Jae said he'll think about the payment later and decided to watch them pave way by slicing A-rank spiders. The young man knew that fighting A-ranks are difficult. Especially a giant sized creepy spider like this. If he's facing this alone, he'll probably die in disgust before he could even die from being eaten.
He had seen big spiders as wide as his palm, but he never saw this ridiculous size! Even a giant praying mantis and scorpions came out occasionally which made him jump in shock. It's crazy.
Two days had passed since then. Whenever they would camp to rest, they always looked for an open space, clean up the vine before putting him down. Then was the only time the young man was able to test his health and leg strength.
Lee Seok Jin observed him from time to time, feeling pity. He had seen his pictures from those stalking kidnappers and most of his stolen photos were of him on a wheelchair. And seeing that he would sit back down every fifteen to twenty minutes with a heavy sigh was waking up the concerned big brother in him. He wanted to give him encouragement, but remembering him saying that he didn't have that long to live, he retreated again.
Lin Young-Jae didn't notice that the redhead beside him was pouring out empathy. He was focused on exercise and he would barrow Park Do Hyun's hand for practice. Do Hyun didn't mind and would just give it to him without question. The boy was happy with this and checked the contamination. Lee Seok Jin had noticed this odd behavior too wondering what was up.
Just when he was about to ask, Park Do Hyun pulled his hand back and frowned. "Are you okay?" He asked, a hint of concern could be traced from his tone.
"Yes?" Lin Young-Jae tilted his head confused.
"Your hair." He pointed.
Lin Young-Jae has a pure silver white hair so it was easy to check if something has changed. Right at the mark, when the young man looked up at his bangs, he noticed that the tip had turned darker.
He absorbed a total of 9% these passed two and a half days from Park Do Hyun's Malicious Mana contamination. It must be because of that that his hair is being dyed with dark gradient but overall, he wasn't feeling anything bad. In fact, the reason he kept sticking to him was because it's making him feel less sick.
"Do you feel sick?"
"No, I feel okay." He replied.
"Maybe you should stop using your ability for a moment." Hearing Park Do Hyun say this, Lin Young-Jae paused a bit.
"You knew?" He knew he was being experimented on? More than that, he didn't mind! This is a good thing, he didn't have to sneakily use it then. "How is it? Is it painful?" He decided to ask out of curiosity.
"No." In fact it made him more comfortable, like someone walking into a barren dessert and finding an oasis right out of random turn. As if his dry thirst was finally soothed by little drops of water falling into his tongue, wanting more. That's why it wasn't painful, but it's still torturous.
Lin Young-Jae was happy to hear that. He didn't want to be the only one who finds comfort in absorbing contamination, he wanted the other participant to be comfortable too, but he didn't even know at first that Park Do Hyun was even aware of the .01% that gets deducted every now and then in his contamination level.
Looking at his now gradient hair, he wondered if it is in any way harmful for him. But it didn't feel like it... In fact, he felt like he can stand longer than usual, he can stay awake without that nail drilling headaches and most of all, maybe it's due to the lighting. But he can feel that his skin was a little less sickly pale.
Maybe using his ability can lessen his burdening ailments? What if it's the answer to prolonging his life?!
"Actually, hyung! Let me absorb more Malicious Mana from you!" Calling him hyung as a sign of familiarity, he held out his hand with a bow, as if confessing to a campus crush in the middle of the field.
Lee Seok Jin who was caught of guard while drinking water, started coughing in pain of his sudden swallow but later on started laughing. "What the heck!" He wheezed, the school girl setting immediately passing through his head.
"No, get rest." Park Do Hyun ignored the wheezing redhead as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"But, actually-"
"You are just damaging your core."
"No, that's not true."
"You only say this because it's just mild for now-"
"No!" Lin Young-Jae was too desperate, he unconsciously raised his voice. Realizing his sudden outburst, he pursed his lips and immediately explained. "Actually, my ability is to absorb Malicious Mana by a simple skinship or a possibility of inhaling it too. Because of that, I have to cover my body and my doctors had to wear gloves to avoid contact."
Explaining this, the two just stared at him, not saying a word which gave him another chance to continue. As if he should speak now to vent all his frustrations in this world.
"I've been like that for years. My body is also withering everyday but all my results are normal. No one knew what made me like this. I always have pain everywhere but there is no complications. They kept taking samples everyday, I had to take medicines that doesn't work." He clenched his fist. For the first time, him and 'Lin Young-Jae' resonated the same feeling: frustration, dissatisfaction, and anger. "Everyday... It's like this everyday. And then one day, I saw people cursing my noona online because of the A-rank dungeon incident. I wanted to comfort her even if she says she's fine, and even if she looked strong willed, she's also human. I wanted to hug her, but I can't even do the most basic thing a family can do to ease her pain. I know she's hurt, but I'm useless."
He was frustrated, but was speaking very calmly. His eyes were like a hopeless puppy stranded in the rain.
"But then I was able to use my abilities thanks to hyung." He looked at Park Do Hyun. "It was just .01 percent. But, I suddenly felt that my head was slightly better. And then it continued. From the two minute mark that I can stand, I was able to keep it till the minimum of 15 minutes. I thought about it again and again. Maybe if my ability can make me better and useful, then I might be able to comfort my sister even with just a simple hug and she doesn't have to be afraid of ever harming me because she's a hunter that absorbed contamination too."
'Lin Young-Jae' just wanted to hug Lin Ji-Young. But because of the contamination possibility, Lin Ji-Young made sure to keep distance to protect him.
The quiet rest passed that day and Lin Young-Jae felt awkward after spewing weird nonsense in front of two S-rank Legion main pillars.
He just hid his face in the hood with embarrassment until his body was once again lifted without warning.
"Alright." Park Do Hyun spoke calmly. "I'll let you use your ability on me."
Hearing this, the youth raised his head with expectant eyes and then smiled, a smile that was as calm as an untouched lake.
And as he looked away with an indifferent expression in his face, a memory surfaced and two voice echoed in his mind, one was fond and the other heartbroken...
"Lin Young-Jae? You know, when I heard that the kid died, I might've thought of joining hands with Ji-Young in destroying this filthy world too a couple of times. I really couldn't accept the fact that people are heartless enough to vent their anger on such an innocent and weak child."
"That child was too selfless. He might've been praying that I'm safe while he's dying in this cold and lonely place. He didn't even get to do what he wanted, he didn't even get to reach adulthood or even got to live in a real home where he could have his own personal room. All of those things could've happened now, but he was heartlessly murdered! So give me a reason why I should give an ounce of mercy to this world that brought him nothing but disappointment and misery?!"