Declaration of Extra Strike

Unlike the modifier Han Seo-jin just mentioned that can create anything except saving people, I have naturally had a lot of failed potions and manufacturing methods. There were many recipes that ruled it impossible for humans to make.

But we don’t know until we try. For now, the challenge came first. I should ask Yeon Seung-yeon tomorrow.

‘If I had a cell phone, I’d call you right now.’

Even though it was past midnight, I was so excited that I wished it would soon be morning. The whereabouts of the lost cell phone were desperate.

***

I planned to ask him to find my cell phone as soon as the day started. But when I woke up, Han Seo-jin was already gone. It was only then, as I looked around blankly, that what Han Seo-jin said yesterday came to mind.

‘I’ll be busy starting tomorrow. For a couple of days, I’ll probably only return at night.’

When I looked at the clock, even though it was early in the morning, there was no trace as if it had already left a long time ago.

“You better find my cell phone.”

After grumbling, I jumped up and started getting ready to go out. Today, I had to hurry out and meet Yeon Seung-yeon.

I knew that I couldn’t even start difficult research such as Guiding Potion under the current state of locked skills, but I couldn’t stand sitting still because my body was too hot.

I went out of the room without drying my hair. As I was passing through the hallway, I looked back, feeling a creepy aura, and saw a guy leaning against the kitchen island table next to me and smiling silently.

‘What the? Since when…….’

My heart nearly dropped in surprise. I pointed my finger at him and stuttered.

“You are Shin…!”

“…….”

“Shin…!”

What was the scene?

Is it because he suddenly pops out from an unexpected place? I couldn’t think of his name. Pointing at him with the index finger…… I repeated only ‘Shin’, slightly staggering with an absurd look.

“Our Hohyun needs to study more. Did you forget hyung’s name?”

“Oh, Shin Yeonhyung!”

When I heard ‘hyung’, I immediately remembered his name. Shin Yeon-hyung approached me.

“How’s it going? Guiding.”

“You saw it yesterday.”

Shin Yeon-hyung smiled and reached out my hand when I replied sourly as he did not have a good image.

“Hahaha, yes. But I was worried because it was Seo-jin.”

“What’s wrong with Han Seo-jin?”

“Seo-jin doesn’t have much experience on being a Guide, so it’s a little hard for him to teach anyone.”

I also agreed that Han Seo-jin had no talent as an educator, so I roughly shook my head, and Shin Yeon-hyung suddenly held my hand. I jumped on the spot, shivering in a bad mood.

“What? Are you crazy?”

“…What do you think? How about being educated by me?”

It wasn’t worth a second thought. He shook his head, shaking away his hands.

“I don’t want to.”

I went straight past Shin Yeon-hyung and left the kitchen. It felt as if a bug was crawling on the back of my hand, so I wiped the back of my hand roughly on my pants, and I looked back in anger again.

Shin Yeon-hyung was looking at me with a strange expression, whether he was angry or embarrassed. He spoke with a rotten look on his face.

“If you do this one more time, you’ll die.”

Now he’s in a bad mood, damn it.

***

“Oh, no…….”

“I swear I am not going to do anything weird. Just tell me.”

“I really can’t……. it, it’s impossible.”

As soon as I met Yeon Seung-yeon, I asked him to share the manufacturing details of the Guiding Potion, but I was quite flustered by Yeon Seung-yeon’s unexpected defense of the iron wall.

The eyelashes looked downward, indicating that the end of the conversation was nearing, but there was not even a single word coming out of Yeon Seung-yeon’s mouth.

At Yeon Seung-yeon’s stubbornness, I made my face look cold as much as possible, crossed my legs, and sat back.

“Yeon Seung-yeon.”

“What…??”

“How can I trust you and make you my apprentice when there are so many things that you already hide from me?”

Yeon Seung-yeon, who looked like he was about to cry, murmured in an unclear voice.

“I’m sorry, Hohyun-nim. Well, actually…….”

He’s finally saying it.

Yeon Seung-yeon, who was hesitating, closed his eyes tightly and opened his mouth.

“Actually, when I joined the company, yuck! I wrote the memorandum一Ack! Keuk!”

Whenever Yeon Seung-yeon uttered a word, he struggled with pain. As soon as Yeon Seung-yeon, who grabbed his head and made painful noises the moment he mentioned the word “memorandum,” I knew what was happening, so I rushed to him and blocked his mouth.

“Hey, hey, hey! Stop! It’s a pledge!”

“Oh my god…”

Pledge of foreclosure was one of the dependent skills. It is a pledge made using the guarantee of an awakener with the skill or an item produced by an awakener in the production world with the pledge attribute. If you fail to keep or disclose what you promised, you will suffer tremendous pain and limitations as written in the memorandum.

Minorly, the types of constraints were diverse and terrible, from temporary skill seals to death in serious cases.

I knew it very well because Tae Je-heon used it very often. Perhaps the condition of not disclosing the matter about the “Guiding Potion” was added to the fact that it did not disclose whether the pledge was made or not.

The pain must have been severe, as I clicked my tongue while looking at Yeon Seung-yeon, who was sobbing with tears in his big eyes.

“If you made a pledge, you should have just given me a hint. Why are you saying it all like a fool?”

“I’m sorry…. I didn’t.… Argh!”

“Don’t tell me!”

It must have been quite painful, so Yeon Seung-yeon nodded slowly with tears in his eyes.

It may vary in some cases, but the deadline for the pledge to make a decision was mostly until death.

Not only was it difficult to proceed easily because the resources and costs for the pledge were large and others’ lives were at stake, but the process itself was difficult because both sides had to agree sincerely. That’s why they keep the conditions in place until those who agreed to the pledge die.

In the end, I won’t be able to hear information about the guiding potion from Yeon Seung-yeon…….

It was a little disappointing to have the opportunity to eat raw disappear right before your eyes.

‘If I had just my skills, this would have been easy.’

At that time, I remembered my deactivated skills that I had seen even for a slip second. I remembered every letter and every level.

How can I get it back?

‘I’ll make sure I get it back.’

I clenched my fists and resolved.

***

After playing in the laboratory all day, he returned to the mansion in Yeon Seung-yeon’s car. As the memory of meeting Han Seo-jin last time remained a trauma, Yeon Seung-yeon seemed nervous as he got closer to the mansion.

Noticing Yeon Seung-yeon holding the steering wheel tightly for several times. I took my hand to the seat belt and said,

“Just drop me off here.”

“No! I’ll take you to the front.”

“I have nothing to say when they ask who you are. And the other day, he’s crazy.”

“Well, I have a high level of mental defense skills. You don’t have to worry about that.….”

“I’m getting off. Open it.”

Yeon Seung-yeon was forced to stop the car when he grabbed the door handle and clattered.

“Go safely, Hohyun-nim!

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

I knocked on the window a couple of times and moved my feet without looking back. As I walked into the mansion on foot, I saw my teammates all over the house.

“It’s a market.”

I walked in, hoping Han Seo-jin would arrive soon, but the team members who were eating in the living room discovered me and stopped me.

“Hohyun ah.”

When I looked back curiously, it was Ye Sung-woo who was calling me.

“You went out. And you also came in late…”

“Yes.”

“……do you want to have a meal?”

Looking cursorily, the ones sitting at the table are Ye Sung-woo, Woo Hanse, Woo Ha-yoon, and Shin Yeon-hyung.

It was a fortunate composition if it was not put on top of having to sit while eating.

Yuck. I felt sick inside and shook my head.

“I bought food outside and ate. Finish what you were eating.”

“Why don’t you talk to hyung properly?”

It was not until I heard Woo Hanse’s sharp shout that I realized that I spoke informally again. It’s annoying to hear that from Woo Hanse, but in terms of age, Woo Hanse was also two years younger than Joo Ho-hyun. I don’t know how he behaves normally, but I’m probably more polite than he is.

“I……”

“You’re so rude.” was spoken silently, but Woo Hanse jumped up and got angry as if he had read it in my eyes.

“Hey! Joo Hohyun!”

Woo Ha-yoon, who was sitting opposite the loud noise that made the living room ring, looked up annoyed.

“Shut up. Sit down.”

“Woo Ha-yoon, don’t use your cell phone when you eat.”

“Mind your own business.”

While Wuhan Se and Woo Ha-yoon were fighting over childishness, Shin Yeon-hyung, who was looking at me with his chin on his chin, said as he flipped his chopsticks.

“Seo-jin hasn’t come yet.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you trying to go up quickly? Come here. Don’t you want to have fun with me?”

I ignored him and moved my foot towards the stairs. When I felt like someone was following me, I turned around and saw Ye Sung-woo, who had just stepped onto the stairs.

“Why?”

“Hohyun, you..…. Did you perhaps happen to go to your room?”

“My room?”

Trying not to answer without thinking, I closed my mouth and stared at Yesung-woo’s expression, which seemed desperate.

“No?”

“……you never went?”

“Yes. I don’t even know where my room is. Why all of a sudden?”

“…….”

“I think Seo-jin has been there to get my clothes. Do you want me to ask him?”

When Han Seo-jin was mentioned, Ye Sung-woo closed his lips and shook his head with a confused face to see if my words were real.

“No, it’s fine.”

“If you’re done with what you have to say, I’ll go.”

“Hohyun ah! Take this.”

Ye Sung-woo searched around in his pocket and held out a medicine bottle. I raised my eyebrows in a medicine container that looks exactly the same as the ones I saw in Joo Ho-hyun’s room.