IRNH C44

#44

The black and pale man had come to the hotel where Sihyeon was staying from the day after they met at the hospital, almost pestering him to join his guild.

At first, he even spoke to Yujun and Taewoon, but shortly after, his attitude changed.

As if he had realized something, he began to fixate exclusively on Sihyeon, banging his fist exaggeratedly on his palm, obsessively clinging and speaking to him alone.

‘He claims to have been a Dream Walker for quite a long time, if not as long as me.’

No matter where or what he had experienced, his mannerisms and speech did not seem modern, and his odd behavior went further to create a strong sense of discomfort.

“There’s no need to join any guild, so please go away. Aren’t you busy?”

“Hmm. Recruiting talent is the most important thing! That’s what I’m doing. If Yujun, Sihyeon, and Taewoon all came with me, I’d be truly happy. Haah. How can everyone fail to understand my heart…”

Sihyeon scratched the goosebumps arising on his forearm, tightly gripping Taewoon’s hand which was about to move as if to cast a death spell.

He was utterly exhausted.

Even if he went up to Seoul, the house was still being investigated, so he couldn’t set foot inside, and naturally, the whereabouts of the antagonists were still unknown.

Moreover, the gate he had entered trying to earn some money had involved him in suspicious matters visible to anyone, and now Taewoon was added to the nonsense rumors.

Sihyeon cursed his uncertain former self, convinced that unless he had sold out his country in a previous life, such miserable chaos wouldn’t have struck all at once.

“Master, you don’t look well.”

At that moment, Taewoon, who had been sitting quietly, raised his untouched, slender white hand to gently sweep Sihyeon’s forehead and cheek, speaking with heartfelt concern.

Sihyeon flinched slightly but grasped Taewoon’s remaining hand firmly and narrowed his brows sharply, moving his eyes swiftly as a strong warning.

“Hmm… Is it very uncomfortable? Shall I chase that man away? If you want, I’ll kill him…”

“No!!! No, it’s fine, Taewoon.”

But Taewoon seemed not to understand, tilting his head as if puzzled, staring wide-eyed at Sihyeon’s face.

Sihyeon quickly lowered his voice and shook his head gently, while a strong premonition struck his mind—that he would soon either collapse from high blood pressure or fall ill at least from anxiety.

“Sigh, everyone, just leave now. Yujun and Kyu-min, go back to your rooms, and you too, get lost. Taewoon… don’t come into my room while I’m asleep.”

Sihyeon hastily spilled the words like a machine gun and turned around to enter the room without hesitation, locking the door firmly before collapsing on the bed.

He could sense footsteps gradually dispersing outside. Still, Taewoon lingered in front of his door for quite a while, and Sihyeon kept suppressing his weakening mind, pretending not to notice the puppy-like pacing.

He had been startled harshly yesterday when he opened his eyes to find Taewoon curled up around his limbs, asleep right before him.

If he kept letting this happen, it would surely become a bad habit, so Sihyeon steeled his heart.

They were now far enough away that the once burning fire was no longer visible.

Sihyeon gently set down the small body he held, catching the boy’s gaze and slowly speaking.

“What’s your name? Can you tell me?”

In truth, Sihyeon knew nothing of this child except that he was the protagonist of this world, so it was time to get to know him properly.

Maybe aware of the previous situation, Sihyeon’s question was asked cautiously enough to make it clear he was treating him gently.

Taewoon fixed his only shining, orb-like eyes—astonishing amidst his unpleasant appearance—on Sihyeon.

Then, with a face full of evident discomfort, he scratched his cheek, thoughtfully observing, before picking up a fallen twig from the ground with his small hands.

“Oh! Uh… So these are Chinese characters, right? That’s… that must be it.”

After a moment, two characters written on the dirt were plainly Chinese characters.

Though Sihyeon felt glad that Taewoon was opening up a little, his mood sank when he caught sight of the unfamiliar characters he couldn’t read at all.

Only game accuracy was thorough at times like this… tsk. How am I supposed to figure that out?

What Sihyeon knew were only simple characters like sky (천), heaven (천), earth (지), and ground (지).

Moreover, since coming here, his training under the pretext of quest completion mostly exhausted his body, leaving little time to learn letters or culture.

Sihyeon glanced furtively at the little boy, hoping he might explain, but Taewoon, having finished writing, simply stared back at him.

Though he could understand words automatically, it seemed the trauma was blocking his speech.

Sihyeon didn’t want to pressure such a child.

“System, can you translate the characters written here?”

[Partial translation possible.]

Sigh…

Feeling foolish, Sihyeon was about to curse aloud but remembered the child watching him and bit his lips inward.

This system always behaved like this. Even if it had functions, it didn’t guide beforehand, and to get accurate answers, one had to ask every detail precisely.

‘Damn it, it’s my fault for not asking first. Translate the characters one by one.’

[Clumsy ‘태’ (tae), unfortunate ‘운’ (un).]

“What…?”

When he saw the system message, Sihyeon couldn’t help but mutter dumbly.

His anger began to rise slowly.

How could someone name a person with such characters? The black, sticky malevolence and bitterness from the characters seemed to foul Sihyeon’s own mood.

He sighed deeply, choking down his frustration, and slowly spoke.

“Taewoon. That’s your name, right?”

The child, who seemed unfamiliar with what he heard, faintly smiled for the first time while remaining still.

Though his face was dirty, the smile was pure and innocent like a child’s.

Sihyeon’s eyebrows naturally curved upward in exasperation.

‘Better not ask if he knows the meaning…’

That might hurt such a young child—considering his battered body and his name.

Though unaware of the full story, seeing the boy’s struggles brought memories to Sihyeon’s mind, making him clench and unclench his fists as he suddenly stood.

He lifted the fragile boy into his arms and headed for the nearest village he had come from.

First, he thoroughly washed the emaciated child and fed him. Though his washing was clumsy and rough for a first time, Taewoon bore it well.

Afterward, the first thing Sihyeon looked for was a dictionary or lexicon here.

‘It’s absurd. Clumsy, unfortunate—whoever named him is trash.’

Though faint, he could recall his mother’s laughter, telling him that his father had spent a month thoughtfully choosing a wonderful name before he was born.

‘Well, we’ll be together a while longer, so this should be fine.’

With new energy, Sihyeon started exhausting the system over several days, searching for names with meanings he liked.

Seeing Taewoon respond to his name, changing it wasn’t a good choice, but he hoped to alter the meaning before the boy caught on.

“Ah, found it! This one!”

Pointing at a page he eagerly flipped through, he smiled brightly. He lightly pressed Taewoon’s thin cheek and spoke.

“Honestly, your name’s meaning wasn’t so nice, so I picked new characters. ‘Beautiful 태’ (Tae) and ‘Cloud 운’ (Un). How about it? Do you like it?”

Shrugging with a slightly proud face, Sihyeon wasn’t sure if those characters were appropriate for a name but thought he chose well and waited for Taewoon’s reaction.

However, Taewoon, looking at the paper while turning his round back, showed little reaction.

‘Hmm, not so great? Well, maybe not perfect for a boy’s name…’

Sihyeon hid his dull mood and awkwardly smiled.

“…I like it.”

“Huh?”

Hearing the first voice since being rescued from the crate, all prior emotions fled, replaced by a warm sense of pride.

They say a name is important, and through this it felt like he rapidly grew closer to the world’s protagonist, which made him quietly pleased.

“I like it, mister.”

“Oh, sir…! Ahem. Would you call me hyung (older brother)?”

Though somewhat hurt by that last word, considering their thirteen-year age gap, it was acceptable, so Sihyeon carefully corrected the title with his own wish and awaited Taewoon’s reply.

“…Hyung?”

“Ah.”

Sihyeon quickly covered his mouth. Over the few days, Taewoon’s face had gained some weight and a soft glow, his slightly double-lidded eyes opened wide, fluttering delicate eyelashes like wings.

He tilted his head gently, looking at Sihyeon, and it was game over.

‘Damn.’

He had always been eager to finish the quests quickly and go home.

But from this moment, a strong instinct told him something would change.

Combing his long hair off his shoulder, Sihyeon happily stroked the little head resting in one hand.

He smiled in satisfaction.

Entranced, he brought a fist-sized dumpling from the small table toward Taewoon’s mouth.

Taewoon slightly frowned but quietly took the dumpling the size of his head and started eating with all his might.

‘Ah, damn. So cute.’

“Hmm… so cute… huh?”

Feeling warm energy suddenly, Sihyeon sprang up from the white sheets and quickly scanned the room around him.

Modern furniture arranged simply and mood lighting cast a soft glow filled his vision.

It was a vivid reminder that this place was indeed the modern world where he had lived for over twenty years.

“Oh, it was a dream.”

Sihyeon smiled faintly as distant past memories returned briefly, then his lips drooped again as he lay back down and covered his eyes with his hand.