“B-but…”

“I know you want to go meet them.”

Dohyuk smiled and waved him away.

“If you are that worried about me working alone, send someone else. Or just spend ten.. maybe twenty minutes with them and then return. You don’t need to be that stuck up. You’ve done enough, so you deserve it.”

Giwon’s expression changed.

“I am…”

As he began speaking in a tearful voice…

<>

<>

The words blurred Dohyuk’s vision. It was obvious as the people who were watching him were now gone. Dohyuk didn’t care, however. The fight was over, and he didn’t need that power anymore. What he needed to do now didn’t require such power.

“So… thankful for…”

But he needed it.

<>

<>

As those words popped up, Dohyuk felt a terrible pain that turned his body inside out. To be exact, it was his insides that were being turned upside down.

“…!!!’

The body that began twisting after transferring the ownership of Kerubac, started twisting even stronger now. His entire body, bones, and joints were being twisted into impossible angles and the searing pain that came with just slight movements tore him apart.

It was as if invisible hands were twisting Dohyuk in multiple directions.

“N-no!” Giwon quickly grabbed Dohyuk’s body. He was pushing Dohyuk down, instead of helping him stand up. If it wasn’t for Giwon, Dohyuk’s body would have started jumping all around.

“M…”

“What is going on?! Are you ok…”

“…MOUTH!”

Dohyuk was barely able to speak a single word and Giwon understood. He quickly pressed his palm against Dohyuk’s mouth, then Giwon turned so that his back was facing the city, covering Dohyuk so no one could see.

And then-

“(@#*()@*)(@#@##@@##&@*@)$%^!!!!!!!!!!!”

Dohyuk screamed loudly, muffled by Giwon. If people heard him screaming like this, it would have been extremely shocking for them. That’s why he had been holding back. Yet now he couldn’t control his screams.

‘Change in…’

Dohyuk remembered the message.

‘…Progress per owner’s character

/stats…’

It was only a theory, but the power that was twisting Dohyuk’s body was probably the same as what happened a while ago. The only thing that had changed was Dohyuk’s stats. He temporarily had powerful stats that could overpower Jung Ilgyu, and if what he guessed was right, Kerubac began changing its shape to fit Dohyuk with those stats. After his body and stats returned to normal, he was now facing the change that was fit for his much stronger self.

Giwon spoke to him, but Dohyuk couldn’t hear. Without even guessing what the outcome of this change would bring, Dohyuk fainted.

When Dohyuk finally woke up, he couldn’t move his body. He was wide awake, but he couldn’t even open his eyes or speak with his mouth. As he tried to move his lips a few times, something hard and narrow touched his lips. It was the opening of a water bottle. It seemed that someone who was watching over him probably misunderstood that Dohyuk wanted water, but he was thirsty anyway.

“If you keep your lips open, I’ll pour water in.” Heeyun patiently looked at him. “You’re awake, right? You didn’t drink at all while you were out.”

“…”

She seemed relieved, but a hint of concern was there as she couldn’t tell if Dohyuk was really awake. All she could see was just the small movement of his lips.

“Giwon told me that it might be fatigue.”

Maybe it was just an act to comfort herself, but she continued talking aloud.

“You have shown such strength, so your body has taken a toll. It’s… probably just a severe muscle ache. You seem fine, so don’t worry.”

“…”

It wasn’t a perfect guess, but it wasn’t all that wrong either.

Dohyuk barely opened his lips again.

“W…”

“Dohyuk?!”

“…ha…”

“I’m here! I’m Heeyun!”

How much time had it been since he passed out? Dohyuk tried to ask that, but he couldn’t. He felt like he had used all his energy and was now feeling sleepy again.

“It’s okay. Rest up. Rest.”

Heeyun repeated herself as she put a blanket over Dohyuk. As Dohyuk felt the blanket touch his body, he felt something was strange. It seemed like his body had a different shape.

He opened his eyes again. There was no one around. It seemed like he was in a hotel room of sorts and there were a table and chair used by a caretaker. Maybe it was Heeyun or someone else, but it seemed that it wasn’t long since the caretaker had left the seat.

“…”

Dohyuk rose up from the bed. He was thirsty and hungry. He had desires to fill and information to gather. But what he needed most…

He opened the door to the restroom and walked in. No water came out, but there was a mirror in there. He stumbled over to the sink and grabbed it so he would not fall.

“…!”

With a moan, he looked up and saw himself.