Necromancer Survival

to my body; it’ll probably be a bit difficult for you if you try to attack me,” I answered calmly.

     Those words seem to have persuaded the Alchemist; Choi Kyung-sik grumbled, “I don’t think Guildmaster-nim had this in mind when he cast those spells.”

     “Of course.
However, you can leave soothing Seo Dawon to me–you won’t get into trouble over this.
All Kyung-sik-ssi needs to do is answer whether or not he’ll participate.”

     “……”

     “For what it’s worth, if you refuse, my experiments will not end here.
I’ll go to Woo Ragi or Jung Garam instead.
They may have more violent reactions compared to Choi Kyung-sik-ssi; I wonder which one is a safer option…”

     “Haah… Alright.
Damn it.” Choi Kyung-sik ran his hand through his hair, disheveling his locks, and inserted his hand into something midair–his inventory perhaps.

     When he brought his hand out, there was a square box in his grasp.
Without relaxing his uncomfortable expression, he raised his other hand, which had been continuously holding onto my wrist.

     “What is that?” I asked.

     “I’ll be collecting some blood for now.
This model doesn’t hurt, so please relax your hand.”

     I blushed a bit when he reminded me not to exaggerate my pain, but since Choi Kyung-sik guaranteed its effectiveness to pain ratio, I placed my finger in the collector.
When the Alchemist pressed the button on its side, blood soon leaked out despite the fact that I felt nothing.

     Choi Kyung-sik collected a few drops of my blood and placed them in the specially crafted alchemy box.
And, when he wiped my finger with something that appeared to be gauze, the wound quickly healed.
This was all so painless that I didn’t feel as if my finger had been pricked.

     “Is that it?” I asked.

     “…Haah.
Yes.” Choi Kyung-sik exhaled as if he had been holding his breath for a long while.
Perhaps I was the only one that felt the ordeal was painless.

’

     As I looked down at him, I asked, “Choi Kyung-sik-ssi, are you also very sensitive to the smell of blood?”

     “Yes.”

     “How unexpected.
You’ve never shown such tendencies before.”

     Choi Kyung-sik raised his head at those words.
I watched his red eyes twinkle for a short while.

      The young Alchemist, wrangling his impulses with his cold rationality, spoke slowly, “In my case, the desire for your blood presents itself as something similar to dire thirst.
It feels like I haven’t drunk anything for around three days.”

      “……”

     “Actually, even though I know it’s futile, I’ve been drinking tea to try and compensate.
It felt terrible–like I was swallowing sand.”

     As I listened to him, I remembered that Seo Dawon had once spat out food immediately after taking a bite.

     Choi Kyung-sik continued to mutter in a tearful, gloomy voice, “Then, when Choi Lee-kyung-ssi approaches…”

     “……”

     “It feels like someone is wiping my lips with a wet towel.
It feels as if I can breathe a little.”

     We stood there, staring at each other.
I asked, “Then, why do you always sit so far away?”

     “Is there any reason to ask when the answer is so obvious, Lee-kyung-ssi? You already know everything.
You must know that, as our contract continues on, there’re more effects that may occur as we open our hearts to you.”

     “……”

     “I desire to remain a human being, even if I thirst for blood.
I don’t want to live as a servant, continuously coveting you.”

     “…Dawon-ie and Olim-ie are maintaining their balance.
Even if we become close…”

’

     “Those two have strong egos.
They have faith in their abilities.” Choi Kyung-sik revealed, for the very first time, his own vulnerabilities.
He turned his head, avoiding my gaze, “I’m a normal person in both will and ego…unlike those two.”

—–

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TL: Pre-emptively sorry for the long TL note below:

Let’s talk about Korean and English.
Rather, let’s talk about how English doesn’t have many forms of address that carry meaning.
When “you” is spoken, usually the tone of the word is determined by the tone of the speaker.
‘You’ can be angry, loving, etc…but that doesn’t come off in writing inherently.
Thus, English novels need a signifier or adjective to show what kind of “you” is being used.

Korean is different.
I’ve said before that Koreans don’t really use pronouns.
We often use names when talking to or about others.
However, when pronouns are used, they carry connotations.
The neutral ‘너 (nuh)’ is informal but devoid of emotional connotation unless there is a tonal signifier.
This is our equivalent of the English ‘You.’ However, Koreans have other ways to say ‘you.’ ‘당신 (dang-shin)’ is one of them.
(Which is how Choi Kyung-sik refers to Choi Lee-kyung in their argument above).

당신 is a complicated term–it’s not used often.
As a pronoun, it paradoxically is both intimate and distant.
For example, when someone you don’t know says ‘당신’ to you, it can be that the person is drawing a line in the sand–creating distance.
당신 is also used between *married* couples to give the connotation of ‘honey’ or ‘dear’ to the addressee.
However, this is complicated further by the fact that 당신 is also used to show displeasure.
Within married couples, while 당신 can be a sign of intimacy, it can also be used by the wife or husband to show that they’re upset with each other…Especially when 당신 isn’t used often in their relationship.

It’s funny–I often see Google Translate use 당신 when they translate the English ‘you’ into Korean.
Because that’s quite formal.
However, that’s when I know that a Korean comment on Youtube or something is google translated–Very few people online use ‘당신.’

Footnotes

I think I’ve explained this before, but a ‘dog’s death’ refers to a death that is too pitiful for any human.  I’ll explain the specific ‘you’ Choi Kyung-sik uses in the footnotes below.