Necromancer Survival

[What the?]

[What…]

     Shortly after the two appeared, they began to look around with puzzled expressions.
They seemed to notice that something was off, but they frowned as if they couldn’t figure out what the problem was exactly.

     Then, Jung Garam and Jo Chan-young suddenly met my eyes–from where I stood on the floor–at almost the same exact time.

[Ara? Was that… a hamster?]

[Cutie!]

     After the two spoke, they stared at each other.
Only then did I realize that this wasn’t the time to stand there, dumbfounded, and retreated immediately.
My body acted on instinct.

     ‘Damn… And where did Bang Eunji go?’

     After commenting that she wanted to see how I seduced Seo Dawon, she was nowhere to be found.
It was just me and the two others in this room.

     Furthermore, the two weren’t even questioning their fellow guildmate’s disappearance…

[Wait a minute, Cutie… Let’s just sit still, hm? Uwuwuwu?]

[Agh, so annoying.]

     The animal lover reached his hand out to me immediately.

     ‘If I get caught here…!’

     In the end, I couldn’t continue to sit and think and instead focused on running away.
Regardless of the matter with Bang Eunji, I first decided that I shouldn’t be caught by those two.
I needed to go and find Bang Eunji or meet Seo Dawon immediately.

     So I tried to rush under the desk–my previous tactic; suddenly, white sneakers appeared in my escape direction.
I couldn’t stop my momentum as the shoe’s appearance was too sudden, and I banged my head onto the hard leather.

     Goosebumps rose on my skin as a tremendous strength gripped my body and lifted it up.
I closed my eyes and screamed, “Ahhhhh!”

[Oh, got you.]

     “I-I thought I was going to die! Jung Garam!!”

     Jung Garam’s smiling face, ignorant of my feelings, was just so angering…

     However, the young assassin, who had noticed my human identity before Bang Eunji disappeared, did not react as he had earlier; it didn’t seem as if he could hear my cries.
Embarrassed, I realized that Jung Garam didn’t even try to observe me carefully or listen to my baleful lament.

     “What… Y-You can’t understand me now?”

[Hyung, here.]

     My hypothesis must have been accurate–Jung Garam ignored my shouts and handed me over to Jo Chan-young who reached out with his hands, ready to receive me.

     The young assassin acted so naturally; he couldn’t be deliberately disregarding me.
I had to accept that the conditions of this [Vengeful Ghost Memory] had been changed.
This time, it seemed as if Bang Eunji intended to observe without showing herself.
Well, I understood up to this point, but…

     “I-I’m going to vomit!” My head felt dizzy as I shook in the air, jostled by Jung Garam’s hands.
Furthermore, I worried that I would be locked into the cage that Jo Chan-young brought with him.

     As a last-ditch effort, I bit Jung Garam’s finger with all my might, but Jung Garam merely pressed down on my head with another finger without showing any outward signs of pain.

     I had no choice but to stop biting in order to wriggle about and avoid the Assassin’s finger.
Eventually… I was turned into a flat disk in his palm.
Delighted, Jo Chan-young strode towards me.

[Great.]

[This hamster is so violent.]

[It’s because he’s scared.]

     Jung Garam overpowered my struggles and handed me over to his fellow guildmate, and Jo Chan-young gently stroked my back with a finger.
Though I stayed still due to my exhaustion, I hadn’t given up.
I couldn’t live as a hamster forever in Jo Chan-young’s cage.

     However, no matter how much I wanted to rebel, I could not overcome this insurmountable power gap.
I tried to wriggle with my entire body to slip his grasp, but, exhausted, I endured the dizziness by slumping against his finger.

     It was then.

[What are you doing to my Lee-kyung-ie, Chan-young-ah?]

     A familiar voice rang out–my savior.
At the same time, Jo Chan-young, who had been trying to gently shove me into the cage, stopped in his tracks.

     I leaned my head back, struggles renewed, when his hand stopped.
Though the Mage’s voice was playful, Seo Dawon’s face was cold as if he were furious.

     What was even more unfair was that his gaze was fixed upon me–as if he were actually angry at me.

     ‘Seo Dawon seems to still recognize that I’m ‘Choi Lee-kyung’ though… That’s a relief.’

     I frowned and racked my brain to figure out how to proceed in this situation.
He’d probably be vindictive since I took advantage of his goodwill by pretending to be sick in order to escape… But, I didn’t think Seo Dawon would be fooled by my lie.
My body automatically trembled when I imagined the future pain the Mage would inflict upon me, and the pain I had already suffered underneath his suspicion.

     Judging by how Bang Eunji suddenly disappeared, she must be observing me from somewhere, waiting for me to showcase how I seduced her guild leader.
But… looking at Seo Dawon’s cold attitude right now, that wouldn’t be an easy matter.

     ‘S-Should I have not come out?’

     In the end, I gave the Mage, who was still staring blatantly at me, a clumsy smile.
However, Seo Dawon’s expression only became fiercer at that action.

[Guildmaster….
No, Seo Dawon-ssi.]

     At that moment, Jo Chan-young cut off our staring contest and stood before the Mage.
His voice was incredibly different from the foolish and almost coddling tone he adopted earlier while trying to coax and comfort me.

     Seo Dawon raised one eyebrow at Jo Chan-young’s chilly countenance, but he soon returned his guildmate’s gaze.
Jo Chan-young raised his head, clenching his fist with the hand that didn’t hold me.
He then began to calmly but angrily criticize the Mage.

[You’ve abused an animal and now you’re pretending to be all buddy-buddy with me? How shameless.]

[What are you talking about?]

[Ha.
Are you trying to deny everything now? Didn’t I tell you that hamsters are not dolls? This cutie won’t go back with you.]

     Seo Dawon tilted his head at Jo Chan-young’s harsh rebuke before turning to look at me.
As soon as we made eye contact, I quickly gathered all my strength to shout, “D-Dawon-ah!”

[……]

     “Save me from this fate! I’m really sorry! I’ll explain everything, so…!!”

[……]

     “I-If I’m put inside that cage, I’ll have to continue living as a hamster…”

     Even though he clearly heard my cries, Seo Dawon despicably didn’t respond.
The other two in the room merely glanced at me–my shouts probably sounded like shrill hamster squeaks from their perspective.

     Humiliated, I teared up–I knew Bang Eunji would be watching this.
When Seo Dawon turned away from me, as if he hadn’t heard me, I hurriedly shouted once more, worried that he would really just abandon me like this.
“Seo Dawon, I know you can hear everything…! A-Are you just going to send me away with Jo Chan-young?”

[……]

     “You may… n-never see me again…”

     Only then did the Mage turn to look at me.
Afterwards, he glanced at Jo Chan-young and Jung Garam’s expressions out of the corners of his eyes.
Then, he murmured to himself–

[Everyone still seems to think he’s a hamster…?]

[What are you saying?]

[Huh?]

Then, he looked at me again, as if he were confirming his hypothesis.

     “Nngh…” I felt anxious at the sight of the corners of his lips rising–the Mage often adopted that expression just before bullying me intensely.
And, once again, my hunch wasn’t wrong…

[Chan-young-ah, this is a misunderstanding… Lee-kyung-ie isn’t a simple hamster to me.]

     Seo Dawon suddenly made a melancholic expression.

[…What are you talking about?]

     Jo Chan-young asked, brows furrowed.

     Seo Dawon replied in an abominably sweet voice–

[Lee-kyung-ie is a very intelligent hamster; I can’t raise him like any normal hamster.]

[What…]

[It’s true–you can check.
Lee-kyung-ie can do things that ordinary hamsters can’t do.]

     With that said, the Mage gave me a meaningful glace.
It was as if he were telling me, ‘Take a hint.’

     When I gave him a slight nod–still feeling anxious–the Mage turned towards Jo Chan-young and suggested–

[Release Lee-kyung-ie.]

[What?]

[He probably won’t run away.
In fact, he’ll probably come running straight at me?]