Necromancer Survival

      “What?”

      What kind of promise…Just as I thought that, I recalled how I had obtained Koo Hui-seo’s blood and accepted his invitation to visit his home before I could activate Choi Kyung-sik’s contract…

      ‘I completely forgot…’

      I thought this was a bit troublesome, but I received the cell phone that the Paladin handed over.
And Seo Dawon, sitting next to me, looked at the phone with blatant loathing.

[Koo Hui-seo]

     Of course, I also felt complicated when I saw the name on the screen.
He was someone who could pull a sigh from me just by looking at his name.

     “Mm… First things first, I should take this…?”

     Still, a promise was a promise; I looked around at everyone before touching the screen.
Among all those around me, I was most conscious of Seo Dawon.
Although I knew there was little difference by now, I intentionally switched to speaker-phone.
Then, taking a deep breath, I carefully opened my mouth.
“Hello?”

[……]

      “Hello?”

[……]

     “Excuse…me? 3 It’s Koo Hui-seo right? I’d like it if we could get to business as quickly as possible.”

[Ha……]

      I said he should spit out what his business was as soon as possible, but all that answered me was a strange, back-chilling sigh.

     Seo Dawon began to tap his toes.
In anycase, the rapidly chilling vibe wasn’t the only problem.
Though I was curious about Seo Dawon’s expression and wanted to turn around, I hurried to talk nervously to Koo Hui-seo again.
“Hui-seo-ssi, I’ve been sick all this while and haven’t been able to meet you.
I’m sorry.
I didn’t mean to break my promise.”

[……]

      “I think we’ll be able to meet by tomorrow.
Therefore… Excuse me, are you listening to me?”

[Ye~es…]

     “……”

[‘Hngh…’]

      Koo Hui-seo immediately replied to my question in a hushed tone.

     But, following that answer, was a brief, strangely sharp groan.
I thought I had misheard, but the groan continued to cut through the silence.

     That sound was… It made me feel unpleasant.
It was just like…that bastard was calling me with some kind of lewd video in the background.

     ‘No way… No matter how much of a pervert this bastard may be, that’s….something like that is…’

      I wanted to deny any assumptions my mind conjured, but I was caught by a deep sense of doubt.
I recalled all that Koo Hui-seo had done so far; I couldn’t speak.

      At that moment–Jung Garam must have heard the same sounds I did–the Assassin casually threw out a comment.
“He’s not masturbating, is he?”

      “……”

[No.
I was playing with Kyungman-ie.]

“”

     While I froze, unable to answer Jung Garam, Koo Hui-seo responded with a bright voice through the receiver.

     I wanted to reproach the man for answering so calmly, but…  I got a headache at the thought of arguing with him, so I decided to just ignore him.
However, whatever that ‘play’ could involve, Koo Kyungman continued to grunt out the occasional faint, cut-off groans.

[Lee-kyung-ssi is just too much.
I was super upset…I couldn’t get in touch with you at all…I was so bored and lonely that I, to Kyungman-ie…]

      “……”

[So, I decided to… ‘Gasp…!’… Hmm, fool around a little…]

      “……”

[Kyungman-ie has loosened a lot, so it’s no longer as much fun…]

      What on earth had loosened? It was not like Koo Kyung-man was some self-assembled toy… As I was getting more and more stressed by his peculiar word choice–diction that made me imagine such severely dark scenes–Seo Dawon spoke coldly, “How did you hear Jung Garam’s voice?”

     “……!” I was stunned by Seo Dawon’s question and froze.
Come to think of it, Jung Garam hadn’t been physically summoned.
If the servants weren’t summoned, no one else could see the manifestations of their soul-like apparitions nor hear their voices.
Hui-seo’s answer, just now, made chills run down my back.

      Once again, Koo Hui-seo did not need for the servant’s voice to be conveyed through my own voice and answered Seo Dawon directly.

[I think…it’s because something of me has been left behind in Lee-kyung-ssi… Until you wash that out, I’ll be mixed in as well.] 4

     His tone was languid…and yet joyful at the same time.

TL: This is why I think Choi Kyung-sik is such an interesting kid.
He’s a bit of a blunt tsundere (ish) but also someone that is wholly focused on his survival.
I think he sees a little bit of his own situation in Choi Lee-kyung tbh.
As much as (implied) he is thankful for Seo Dawon’s interference in his issues, Choi Kyungsik is still a wary individual who realizes that he’s also a bit of a shrimp in a whale fight (and in danger because of that). Thankfully, I think Hamster realized that Choi Kyung-sik doesn’t hate him or anything here~

Also RIP Koo Kyungman

Footnotes

주둥이 = informal way to say mouth.  샌님 (sennim) = someone who’s nerdy, geeky, and old-fashioned.
Often used to describe prideful scholars of old.  Lee-kyung is switching to a formal tone here.  Koo Hui-seo is using incredibly vague language here