Chapter 526: Doom Kiyoung (1)
‘I didn’t expect for him to pop out so fast…’
Kim Hyunsung appeared so instantly that he even managed to arrive at my room before the bodyguards.
‘Why did he give me bodyguards if he was just going to do that? He should really just make them raid dungeons.’
He was breathing so heavily, signaling that he had come here as fast as he could. Before I could make a sound, he had already arrived.
It made me think that some kind of signal must have gone off as soon as I felt some kind of physical shock. Kim Hyunsung wore an expression as serious as a farmer who had a bad harvest. His crumpled face was admittedly a bit scary.
I thought he would approach me, so I quickly spoke before he could, causing him to look surprised. He was probably reassured that I still had my senses.
He might have realized it before I even spoke. I did have my mask on, and my appearance had changed. However, he probably saw that the expression on my face wasn’t the same as before.
Instead of wearing Doom Kiyoung’s trademark mask of a slight smile and clownish eyes, I had a confused expression on my face with trembling lips. In addition to that, my eyes were round like I didn’t know anything, just like a rabbit’s.
People often told me that I looked like a fox or a snake, but it didn’t mean that I couldn’t make my eyes innocent-looking, just like a rabbit’s.
I showed a naïve facade like I couldn’t understand what was going on around me.
“Kiyoung-ssi? Are you Kiyoung-ssi?”
“Yes…”
He still didn’t look like he believed me. He looked a bit relieved, but he still seemed disturbed.
“Are you really, really Kiyoung-ssi?”
“Yes, it is me.”
“How’s your head?”
“I’m not sure. I am both confused and a bit scared. I don’t know why I became like this. I-I don’t know…”
“Well, don’t use your magic for now. Don’t do anything and stay in that spot.”
“But…”
“That mask…”
“I also don’t know. I suddenly couldn’t see anything…I tried to take it off, but it won’t get off…”
‘He must be feeling astonished.’
Right in front of him was Doom Kiyoung, but I maintained my senses after hearing a scream.
It was only natural that he couldn’t wrap his head around it.
He probably wanted to know why I had suddenly changed, how I was maintaining my sense, and why my head was hurting.
He approached me and quickly placed his hands on my shoulders. He reached out to take the mask off my face, but when I made a pained expression, he stopped and looked like he didn’t know what to do.
However, that was only for a moment. With a loud voice, he yelled at Lee Jihye, who was trembling.
“What in the world happened?!”
Like a normal Korean teenager at a PC Bang, he must have learned the special skill to blame others.
“I… I also don’t know. Mid conversation, he suddenly grabbed his head…”
“Jihye-ssi is not at fault. Hyunsung-ssi, I also don’t know why I…”
“Damn it…”
As if he didn’t believe what was happening, he bit his lips and looked at me with a sad expression.
“Take control of our surroundings right now, and don’t let anyone into this room. Call Hee-young and Elena right away. And Jihye-ssi, I want to have a moment with you.”
“What?”
“Tell me everything that happened up to this point and everything that has been said.”
“Ah, yes, I understand. I also had something in my mind…”
“Damn it, Damn it…”
“It’s not Jihye’s fault. So, please don’t blame her too much. Jihye-ssi is probably really surprised too. I suddenly…”
“Yes. Yes. Please stay on the bed. Please, I beg you.”
‘Ah, I really didn’t want to do this.’
As expected, he seemed to be anxious, and although he wasn’t actually jumping around to show it, I could still see how nervous he looked.
He was biting his lips and not letting any of his hands stay in place. When Sun Hee-young, Elena, and even Jung Hayan came inside the room, the room fell into a frenzy once again.
Kim Hyunsung left me in Elena’s custody for a moment and went outside to talk to Lee Jihye. I was concerned about what they had been talking about.
I couldn’t hear it in detail, but I could infer that it was something like the following:
‘Kiyoung-ssi is in a lot of pain. He feels very frustrated, and it seems like he is suspicious. When he said that he suspected that the whole guild was tricking him, he suddenly grabbed onto his head. The mask appeared on one side of his face by itself, and his hair color changed. I thought it was Doom Kiyoung at first, but I became shocked that he maintained his senses. And at that moment, you came.’
It probably was something like that. Perhaps she had added some other things like:
-I might have changed because of a lot of negative emotions erupting or seeing that I still had my senses. Nothing seemed different from me.
I was sure that Lee Jihye had been handling the situation well. After all, Elena and Sun Hee-young had no way of knowing what had happened.
From a distance away, Jung Hayan looked at me nervously. I thought it would be good to gesture to her, asking her if she was alright while I was in pain.
Everyone was in a frenzy. They became even more shocked when I spoke to them.
“Elena-nim, do you perhaps know what happened?”
“It’s going to be okay. You don’t have to be so shocked. It’s not your fault. For now, can I inspect your body- let me check if you still have some holy power left in you…”
Holy power, my ass. I didn’t have any left. Elena probably could only feel dark and dull magic.
Sun Hee-young tried to find a way to fix me, but none existed.
“F-For now, let’s be calm. There’s no need to be nervous.”
Elena looked the most nervous as she was saying that. “Oh my god, why all of a sudden…”
Tears erupted from her eyes. She tried to see if she could change my state by transferring holy magic into me, but of course, nothing happened.
Unless I changed my class, I wouldn’t be able to recover the holy power I had as the Alchemist of Light.
So instead, I writhed my body as if I was in great pain and released my grasp.
And the other one inspecting me, Sun Hee-young, let out a breath in relief, seeing that there wasn’t any issue with my health. However, her face remained as dark as the others.
During that time, Kim Hyunsung and Lee Jihye came back.
Seeing how Kim Hyunsung’s expression had become darker, it seemed like he had already finished his conversation with Lee Jihye. I didn’t know what they talked about, but his pale face made me feel a bit sorry for him.
“So, what happened, Elena-nim?”
“I… also don’t know. This is my first time witnessing something like this… He’s showing a negative response to holy power but can maintain his senses… For now, we should see how he does.”
“Hyunsung-ssi, did something go wrong?”
“No, Kiyoung-ssi. Nothing went wrong. So, raise your head.”
‘You are still not Doom Kiyoung.’
“There’s no need to be confused. Whatever happens, I’ll fix it for you.”
It was impressive how reassuring he sounded, but how could he fix that situation? He couldn’t do anything. When I thought it was time to end it, I looked at Lee Jihye, but it seemed that she didn’t want to end things just yet.
“I think we should go to the Vatican together.”
“What do you mean…?”
“We can probably find out more there.”
“In this state?”
“We don’t have any other option. That’s probably better than just talking about it here. Considering that pope Basel is friendly with Kiyoung-ssi and Kiyoung-ssi is loved by the goddess, Benignore might help us. And in the worst-case scenario…”
“…”
“The Black Swans will give us support.”
“Thank you. T-Then, Hayan must, at this moment…”
“That’s not possible, Guild Master. That’s a dangerous decision. Personally, I don’t want to recommend a method that will require him to endure a great amount of magic that can physically and mentally harm him. I think moving by carriage will be the best method.”
Sun Hee-young said what Lee Jihye wanted to say.
Everyone in that party nodded in unison. They all agreed to observe the situation more at the Vatican.
I wondered if it was too much, considering we were doing all of it just to get out of my room… but I didn’t care as long as its result was satisfying. I liked the setting wherein Doom Kiyoung was still inside me, and that Light Kiyoung couldn’t do anything about it.
After giving an order to my bodyguards, Hyunsung joined us again.
I could walk by myself, but I decided to let them handle me. Wasn’t it better to move leisurely? Showing that they were already done with the preparations, a carriage was waiting for us surrounded by bodyguards.
It seemed that they had all been warned not to look at me. Hence, nobody could watch except Park Li-Ahn and another bodyguard. Then, one of them suddenly approached Kim Hyunsung.
I heard what he said as Jung Hayan tried to force me inside the carriage.
“Don’t ever say that again.”
When I glanced behind me, Kim Hyunsung had a crumpled look on his face. I didn’t know the situation, but it seemed that some clueless leader had suggested to immobilize me while they moved.
It was a reasonable judgment. Since if I suddenly lost my senses, a huge catastrophe could start.
However, Kim Hyunsung didn’t want to tie me up since although I had my mask on, I still had my senses.
‘Even though he locked me in a room…’
It seemed that tying me up wasn’t allowed despite confinement being fine.
“Are you al-alright, O-Oppa?”
“Yes, I’m fine. You don’t have to do this much, Hayan. Even though my holy power has long since disappeared, there is nothing wrong with me.
Since it was a chaotic situation, she seemed very confused. It was the same for Kim Hyunsung. However, as he settled everything, he came inside the carriage and pretended to seem fine. “You can rest assured. This is nothing.”
He gave me a smile that was obviously forced, and this was all for the sake of reassuring me.