Necromancer Survival

   “When did I ever say it like that?!”

     “It seems like you’ll declare in the future that you’ll need no one except for hyung?”

     “That’s not it!!”

     Jung Garam looked away petulantly and muttered under his breath.
“When you were with Bae Jaemin you acted as if I was your only lifeline…”

     What on earth are they even saying?!

     I was rendered speechless by the absurdity that Jung Garam spouted.

     “Ah, mm…” However, unlike the disregard I showed for the nonsense, Seo Dawon seemed to take his words seriously.
“Lee-kyung-ie does tend to confuse people…”

     “What are you even saying!”

     “How frustrating, Choi Lee-kyung,” Jung Garam said.

     In the end, I threw the pillows on the bed at them.

     Of course, they could avoid the pillows with a swift tilt to their heads.
Then, as if to tease me for being unable to graze their heads with my attack, Seo Dawon sat across from Jung Garam–sitting leisurely on a sofa–and patted his thigh.
“Lee-kyung-ie should also sit down.”

     His gesture urged me to sit on his thigh.

     …If it were anybody else, would they have sat on him in this kind of situation?”

     “Get lost” I immediately cursed.

     “That’s overboard…” Seo Dawon complained in an exaggerated tone.
Jung Garam exploded into laughter.

     How annoying.
I’m the master, and they’re the servants.
Why are they acting as if I’m cute? 2

    Faced with my rejection, the corners of Seo Dawon’s lips quirked upwards.
“Seeing how they’ve hidden Koo Hui-seo’s room, it’s a given that he can’t leave on his own.” He leaned back on the sofa and returned to the topic at hand, without giving a chance for my temper to flare further.

     I paused for a moment; for now, the current plan was more important.
I sighed deeply, picked up the pillow, and sat on the bed, looking straight at Seo Dawon.

–Ping.

     Jung Garam summoned a map between the three of us and enlarged it.
The flattened map began to rise, reconstructing into a 3D model of our annex.

     He clearly marked the map with red dots.
“There’s an entrance halfway to the elevator.”

     On the way to the fourth floor from the third, there was a narrow passage, accessible by bending at the waist and crawling through.
After a while, the passageway would lead into a small space–which, on the map, contained flashing yellow indicators.

     “There’s a few crude traps but nothing too difficult.” Seo Dawon gently pointed at the blinking yellow marks, identifying them as traps.
He pressed the room at the end of the passageway.

     The room that probably housed Koo Hui-seo was blackened, unlike the other part of the map.

     Seo Dawon said, “This is the issue.
We can’t reveal what’s there even with Garam-ie’s skill.”

     “Maybe the barrier from Koo Hui-seo’s curse is too strong.
There’s no way to find out what’s there besides going there yourselves.” Jung Garam added.

     I looked at the small room–a bad feeling weighing at me–and asked, “Are there any other security measures here?”

     Ominous or not–even if that room contained a rare dragon–we had to meet Koo Hui-seo.
Noticing my resolve, Jung Garam showed me the blue dots moving throughout the building.
“The blue dots are the guards.
There’s a monitor room on the first floor that will respond to any problems with the traps.
I think there’s always two or more people in the monitor room.”

     A few simple traps and an obscured room that may contain Koo Hui-seo.
On top of that, if we carelessly detonate the traps, the hospital system would send guards…it felt a bit like breaking into a safe.

     In the midst of all that, in what state will we find Koo Hui-seo?

     “I’ll move first and deal with the traps.
When we ride the elevator, we’ll use Lackey.”

     Lackey will disguise itself as its owner, once again, to fabricate an alibi.
We will make it seem like I went to the fourth floor by accident before going back down to my room on the third floor to hide mine and Seo Dawon’s movements.

     There seemed to be no other way, so I nodded yes.
Lackey stared at us when it heard its name; after snapping its teeth a few times it returned its attention to the rug once more, tearing at it.

TL: Not @ the two servants for calling Lee-kyung a flirt, lmao.

Thanks lililia for the kofi! Bonus chapter for you~
I finally got through the kofi backlog I’ll take it a bit slower for a week to let the stockpile build up again~

Footnotes

삔또 is a word used in the mokpo dialect.
The nuance is something ‘bad’ or ‘hurt’.
Aka, in this case, ‘hurt relationship’.
The word used here, 재롱부리는, is more than just “act cute.” It’s more like the cute one would use with children or cute animals.