Chapter 19 …….
Hyunjin stepped out of what appeared to be an ordinary office building.
On the surface, it looked like a regular company, but in reality, it was a National Intelligence Service-owned building used to imprison criminals or conduct experiments with dungeon byproducts.
Since awakening as a Hunter, Hyunjin had frequented this place as easily as eating a meal.
Then his steps suddenly halted.
A red tent-shaped street food stall caught his eye.
“…….”
Hyunjin silently watched the aunt stirring tteokbokki with a red ladle.
Seeing the food naturally brought certain faces to mind.
The kids who would make a miserable face, saying there was nothing to eat but fruit.
And the Demon King, who constantly nagged at him.
“……If I go empty-handed, they won’t treat me right.”
It seemed that not just the kids but even the Demon King had quite an appetite.
After some hesitation, Hyunjin entered the food stall.
“One order of tteokbokki and fish cake to go, please.”
“Yes.”
The owner flipped the ladle and pulled out a plastic bag.
“Tteokbokki is thirty thousand won per serving.”
Hyunjin froze.
“…….”
He still couldn’t get used to it. Prices hit with a century’s worth of inflation…
“And how much for the fish cake? One piece, five thousand won.”
With a reluctant expression, Hyunjin handed over his bills.
“Give me everything you have.”
Tap. Tap.
Cold droplets wet my cheek.
I slowly opened my eyes, my eyelids trembling.
Where am I?
I groaned as I pushed myself up.
It was dark and damp everywhere—like a cave.
Ah, right, I had entered a mine.
I had fallen after my foot gave way while escaping the ghosts.
Fortunately, my body had been protected by shadow tendrils, so I wasn’t hurt.
I had only briefly lost consciousness from the impact.
I immediately looked up at the place I had fallen from.
I thought I could use the shadow tendrils to climb back up somehow.
But…
“It’s blocked?”
Some strange system, perhaps, had covered the top with a rock barrier.
There had clearly been a hole above when I fell, but now it was blocked.
Does the mine have a consciousness?
Shaking off the eerie thought, I looked around.
The surroundings were pitch-black and damp, like I had fallen into a well.
But far off, I sensed a faint, pale light.
Waiting here for the kids to come rescue me felt terrifying.
It might be better to move on my own.
Gripping my cloak tightly, I took step after difficult step.
It felt as if I had entered a haunted house alone…
The sound of my footsteps echoed sharply in the darkness.
Looking closer, I saw the light streaming vertically.
A door. Light was seeping through its cracks.
Hmph, I shouldn’t open a door that emits such suspicious light.
But wanting to get out quickly, I pushed it open.
And there it was…
“W-What! Gold?”
The light pouring from the room was none other than the golden glow of gold!
This was why I had insisted on exploring the mine first!
Looking closely, I saw gold, coins, and what looked like expensive jewels piled high like a mountain.
I’m rich now!
At this moment, ghosts and all other concerns didn’t bother me at all.
I walked toward the mountain of gold, fluttering with excitement.
Clink. Clink.
As I scooped with my clawed hands, coins spilled down!
“Perfect. With this, I can have the kids buy delicious meat at the market, new clothes…”
With gold, I could even buy furniture to decorate my Demon King’s castle more magnificently.
It had always hurt to see the castle empty after throwing out all the rotten furniture.
Clutching the gold, I rejoiced.
Then something caught my eye amidst the golden waves.
A mirror with a golden frame.
Curious, I picked it up.
Then it happened.
[Have you woken well from your deep slumber, Demon King? I am your loyal servant…]
“Ahhh!”
[A proud subject…]
“Ah! The mirror is talking!”
[A-A mirror butler…]
“A haunted mirror!!”
[Please, just listen.]
Ahhh! So scary!
As I panicked and tried to smash the mirror with my elbow…
[Stop! Stop! Save the mirror! No! Wait!!]
Pant, pant.
After the commotion, I kept my distance and tried to calm down.
[Sniff, why are you like this? A perfectly fine mirror almost died.]
The mirror, tossed atop the coins, was sobbing.
I tried to assess the situation.
So the mirror could talk.
Judging by its behavior, it didn’t seem possessed by a ghost.
‘A monster?’
Realizing that, my lost sense of reason slowly returned.
“You… what are you? A monster?”
[In a way, yes.]
“A monster and you scare me? Do you want to die?”
[No, when did I…]
“And now you talk casually.”
[When… I…]
Realizing it was a monster small enough to grab in my hand, my fear subsided.
I approached and gripped the golden frame, and the mirror whimpered in fright.
“What are you? Who are you really?”
[I-I am a mirror! A mirror butler!]
“A mirror butler?”
[I have waited for you here for a long time. You were asleep for a hundred years, weren’t you?]
This thing knew my situation, even though it wasn’t a mirror in the Demon King’s castle?
“Where is this? Why is there gold and treasure in a mine?”
[This is a secret room within the mine. The Demon King secretly stored wealth here instead of the castle. Don’t you remember?]
Right. I had no memory of this.
That meant this happened before I possessed the Demon King.
The mirror paused, as if gauging me.
[Have you forgotten? I once predicted your future.]
“Predicted?”
[Sometimes, I am gifted with the ability to read the heavenly flow. I told you that you would wake after sleeping for about a hundred years.]
“!”
Hearing that, it hit me like a blow to the back of the head.
I hadn’t slept a hundred years due to fatigue from work.
Was my slumber fated?
“Why did this happen? Why did I sleep for a hundred years?”
[It’s all the flow of fate.]
“Fate?”
[All beings in this world are bound by causality. You woke after a hundred years because there is someone intertwined with your fate.]
Someone intertwined with me.
Fate.
The moment I heard that, only one person came to mind.
“It’s Han Hyunjin.”
The protagonist of this world.
As if confirming the answer, the mirror fell silent for a moment.
[You and him are inseparable.]
So Han Hyunjin was the reason I slept for a hundred years.
It was to meet him.
[I can sense it.]
“Sense what?”
[That the two of you are destined to kill each other.]
“…….”
[You are not separate destinies but halves of one. A pair.]
The meaning was complicated, but I understood the nuance.
Han Hyunjin is obsessed with dungeons as the protagonist, and I am the dungeon master.
We are inevitably entwined.
If we try to separate, one must die.
Han Hyunjin is a Hunter, so he could be eager to kill me.
Conversely, to prevent him from killing me, I would have to kill him first?
I wasn’t inclined to do that.
Who wants to kill the protagonist they’re possessing?
“Isn’t there another way? A safe way to separate from him? I don’t want to be entwined, and I don’t want to kill him.”
[Hmm.]
The mirror thought for a moment, then spoke.
[Then you have no choice but to make him obey.]
“……Obey? What’s that? How do I do that?”
[You make him unable to live without you!]
I blinked, dumbfounded.
Make Han Hyunjin unable to live without me?
[Make him kneel before you. Make him incapable of resting well unless you say he can. Make him pledge loyalty!]
“……Han Hyunjin? Me?”
[Yes. Become the master of his soul. Make him kneel and conquer his heart.]
I frowned, incredulous.
Han Hyunjin clinging and whining to me…
That’s a character break.
Han Hyunjin isn’t the sly, obsessive type. I couldn’t even imagine it.
[Remember, Demon King. You are a pair by fate.]
“You… you said this before I went to sleep too?”
[Of course. I predicted that you would sleep for a hundred years, so the Demon King got angry and left me here! My, what a temper… tsk tsk.]
“I see.”
A prophet and a butler.
Chatterbox and occasionally casual, but still useful.
“You, let’s go to the Demon King’s castle.”
[Oh yeah!]
I’ll place this one in the castle and have it manage the place.
With the golden frame at the edges, it even adds to the interior.
