Chapter 7: From house to house
16
Kim Bingkwon woke up but couldn’t meet BlackHound’s eyes.
Each time he made eye contact, he looked down.
[(Caution!) SP decreases.]
The message repeated every time he looked into her eyes.
He wondered if it was more than just SP draining, but the constant warnings made him dizzy.
Memories of the dreamlike black space sent his breathing into overdrive, his body trembling.
[Kim Bingkwon / Abilities]
— Skadi’s Strike (A), Winter Skin (B), Light Steps (C), Void Walker (E), SP (31/60)
His SP was 43 after waking, but three 4-point drains had dropped it to 31.
His fearful gaze wavered, often falling to her chest.
“Why can’t you look people in the eye?”
Lathy asked simply because he avoided her eyes, but Kim Bingkwon, guilty of staring elsewhere, froze.
“Oh, no. That’s why.”
“Why? What reason?”
“I… can’t look at you properly! You’re so pretty!”
He shouldn’t have said that.
BlackHound’s expression turned murderous.
“…What? I guess I said you were pretty again. Then I’ll give you my hand.”
The only solution was to avoid looking at her.
Kim Bingkwon decided to focus on her voice, turned his head, and apologized abruptly.
“Sorry. Totally my fault. For now… let’s start the stream and go. But… where’s the camera?”
No matter where he looked, the camera from his bag’s holder was gone.
All he saw was the broken remains of a stick camera on the desk.
“Don’t worry about the camera. Take these.”
“Uh. Okay.”
BlackHound tossed him two small objects.
He caught them and examined them: one resembled a keychain, the other a tiny coin-shaped bead.
“The camera looked bulky, so I fixed it.”
She reached into her black leather jacket, pulled out a fresh cigarette pack, tore it open, and continued.
“I put a camera in my eye. No need to carry one anymore.”
“…Huh? What’s that?”
Kim Bingkwon stared at BlackHound, dumbfounded, and his SP dropped again.
[(Caution!) SP is decreasing.]
“Argh, shit!”
“Don’t try to understand. That’s how it is. If you’re curious, start the stream.”
BlackHound spoke, lighting a cigarette.
“The small one’s a micro wireless camera. I thought about putting one in your eye, but I didn’t, in case it fell out.”
“Huh…”
“Stick it between your eyebrows. It’ll track where you’re looking.”
“What is this… What?”
“Don’t make me repeat myself. It’s a camera.”
How does this even look like a camera?
…Wait. No, it is a camera.
Kim Bingkwon nodded as if it made sense and stuck it between his eyebrows.
It felt like he had a third eye.
“The keychain-looking thing is the input switch. Press 1 for your camera, 2 for mine. Got it?”
“Yes.”
His responses quickened.
The hesitant man from moments ago was gone.
“Start the stream and let’s go. Take me where you said you would.”
“Alright, let’s go!”
She was his precious manager and sidekick.
As a hero, it was his duty to serve her politely after her ordeal.
Kim Bingkwon started the stream in high spirits.
[IcePunch – Live / 502 viewers]
— Yo, you bastard, ignoring night notifications?
— Sleep manners, huh?
— Here we go!
— Oh Bang-hwa~ Oh Bang-hwa~ Oh Bang-hwa~ Oh Bang-hwa~ Oh Bang-hwa~ Oh Bang-hwa~
— Kids staying up for this are legends, lol.
— Let’s go~ Let’s go~ Let’s go~ Let’s go~ Let’s go~ Let’s go~
Within a minute, over 500 viewers flooded in.
The camera showed BlackHound’s perspective.
Kim Bingkwon’s cheesy intro and pose followed.
“Colder than ice, hotter than fire. Ice Punch!”
[IcePunch – Live / 1,102 viewers]
— That shitty opener sounds bearable when I’m half-asleep.
— Lolololol.
— Insult resistance LV 999.
“You bastards, ready to lose your bets and head to the Han River? Guess who’s holding my camera?”
“Hyung’s here.”
BlackHound’s voice sped up the slow-scrolling chat.
[IcePunch – Live / 1,741 viewers]
— Oppa!
— Hyung!
— Hound-hyung! Hound-hyung! Hound-hyung! Hound-hyung! Hound-hyung! Hound-hyung!
— Heung… Hound-nuna… Heung… Hound-nuna… Heung… Hound-nuna…
The word “nuna” triggered BlackHound’s irritated mutter.
“Anyone calling me nuna from now on gets banned.”
“What? Why… Okay, got it.”
Strange. Calling her nuna felt right, but hyung didn’t feel wrong either.
There was an undeniable coolness radiating from her.
Still, banning everyone wasn’t practical, so he added “nuna” and related terms to the banned words list.
[IcePunch – Live / 2,611 viewers]
— This bastard added banned words, lol.
— Streamer, lift the bans!
— Banning that? Banning that? Banning that? Banning that? Banning that?
[King I.Y. donated! (100 D)]
— Yo, lift the bans, Wolf-na, quick!
— 100D for banned words? Lol.
— Raking in the dream bucks today, lol.
— Jackpot.
Amid the chaotic stream, the two stood naturally at the castle’s entrance.
They’d skipped the castle’s interior and reached the gate instantly, but Kim Bingkwon, focused on the stream, didn’t notice.
— ?
— What’s that?
— Weren’t we just inside the castle?
Some viewers caught the change, but their comments were buried in the chat flood.
“This is what it looked like?”
BlackHound scanned the castle’s interior and exterior with curious eyes.
“You were locked up here because of some guy called Father.”
BlackHound tilted her head, then nodded as if understanding.
Meanwhile, Kim Bingkwon felt the fear weighing him down lift.
For some reason, he could now look at her directly.
With newfound courage, he blurted out,
“Congrats on your freedom. You’re no longer a slave.”
— Bing-sht getting all sentimental for no reason.
— Lol, trying to make us feel for him, lol.
— Feel for him! Feel for him! Feel for him! Feel for him! Feel for him! Feel for him!
No more SP drain messages appeared.
“Yeah, I guess I looked like a slave.”
It was only two days, but she had been trapped.
To her, it was nonsense, but she let it slide.
“How far to Seoul from here?”
Alone, it’d take an hour. With BlackHound, maybe four.
They had tube food safe from Void Mist contamination, so meals weren’t an issue.
But her frail body was a concern.
“About four hours.”
“That’s damn far.”
“You good on stamina?”
“Worry about yourself, not me. Let’s go.”
She was undeniably tough.
No hesitation despite the long trek.
— Bing-sht, hurry up and lead!
— Can’t see you on camera, you bastard!
— Making Wolf-na handle the camera?
— Wolf-na’s not banned, right? Heung, Wolf-na…
Walking two steps ahead to stay in her view, Kim Bingkwon noticed the surroundings were clearer.
With the earlier fog’s density, he’d have been invisible to her.
— Things are clearing up.
— Thanks to Wolf-na.
Despite banning “nuna,” viewers used “Wolf-na” as a workaround.
BlackHound, fed up, snapped.
“Wolf-na, my ass.”
— Heung!
— Curse more…
— Ugh, sht.
— Hope all you meatheads die ^^
— Wolf-na! Wolf-na! Wolf-na! Wolf-na! Wolf-na! Wolf-na! Wolf-na!
— Heung! Wolf-na! Heung! Wolf-na! Heung! Wolf-na! Heung! Wolf-na! Heung! Wolf-na!
Kim Bingkwon sensed something off.
The chat was livelier, and the stream’s vibe had shifted.
17
I knew why the stream’s vibe changed so suddenly.
The castle amplified my power. Leaving weakened it.
The castle I was trapped in had boosted Lathy’s strength.
That’s why Father told me not to leave recklessly…
He knew I couldn’t wield my power fully outside.
That’s why I had to gain enough strength first.
I stuffed the burnt cigarette butt into the pack and lit another.
“Hey, can’t you cut back on the smoking? It’s bad for you.”
“Shut up. I need this.”
“I mean, watching your streams, I figured, but still…”
— You know the taste of cigs?
— Now he’s playing manager, huh?
— Thinking of Bing-sht groveling before Wolf-na already makes me dizzy.
As I took my first drag, Kim Bingkwon’s viewers got rowdy.
Typical roasting time.
“Hey, what the hell do you mean I’m groveling?”
— That wasn’t groveling just now?
— Stop groveling! Stop groveling! Stop groveling! Stop groveling! Stop groveling!
— Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh.
— Wolf-na, if you think Bing-sht’s gross, shake your head side to side.
I eagerly shook my eyes left and right.
The camera shook, and the aboongis went wild.
— Worst hero ever, Bing-sht! Worst hero ever, Bing-sht! Worst hero ever, Bing-sht!
— Go die! Go die! Go die! Go die! Go die! Go die! Go die! Go die!
Their insults toward Kim Bingkwon lifted my mood.
I laughed heartily and said,
“Seriously, though, how’s your name Bing-sht? That’s insane.”
— For real, lol.
— How’s your name Bing-sht? How’s your name Bing-sht? How’s your name Bing-sht?
— This Wolf-na knows how to stream, lol.
— I saw the future, lololol.
— I saw the future, lololol.
— Wolf-na’s lifelong manager Haejo Eungae.
— Wolf-na’s lifelong manager Haejo Eungae.
“Rain… It’s Bingkwon, Bingkwon. Kim Bingkwon!! Those bastards just call me that!”
His anger made me laugh.
A small chaos erupted.
Even while smoking, I was having fun.
“Ah, right. Bingkwon.”
“Bingkwon!”
— How can someone’s name be Bingkwon?
— Asaibing.
“Crazy people came up with it.”
But behind the fun, future worries loomed.
How would I grow my strength now?
A tough problem.
In the castle, slaves appeared without effort. Outside, it wasn’t the same.
Kim Bingkwon’s viewers not listening proved it.
But I had to keep growing.
To save Ruel, I couldn’t stop.
Blasphemous boredom swirled in my head, but one thing stayed constant: my thoughts of Ruel.
Shin Ha-jun… I must take that bastard…
My enemy, my worst enemy, the one controlling this world’s story.
The vile warrior who needlessly killed Ruel, whom I loved.
It was my mission to stop him.
In the end, my father… my father…?
Was this for Father’s sake?
Shin Ha-jun… I can’t kill him right away…?
In that moment, the memories of two beings—oil and water within me—merged.
The dead man, Trapezo Hedron, and the living woman, Lathy Teparon.
While Kim Bingkwon walked ahead, bantering with viewers, I stopped, finding the intersection between me and Lathy Teparon.
Muttering a jumbled, indescribable string of words, our parallel lines became one.
“Red. Shining. Trapezoid. Heart. Human. Death. N’m. Retrograde. Memory. Preservation. Again. Start. Continue. Repeat.”
I turned to Kim Bingkwon as if possessed.
“I see. This guy n’ ■■-■236-151-191.”
Kim Bingkwon, far ahead, tilted his head, unable to hear.
Our once-inseparable memories became one.
The vague goal of streaming from Dreamland clarified.
We’d found the only way to save Ruel and return him to his father after a long journey.
Only then did I understand why it took five years to return, why I became Lathy Teparon.
Several pieces were needed to awaken Ruel, who slept unaware of his existence.
One being, despite being poisonously dangerous, had to be kept alive until the end.
I lightly hopped to catch up with Kim Bingkwon.
“Sorry. Let’s go.”
“What were you thinking?”
“Nothing.”
— Ugh, even if Bing-sht feeds you, you can’t eat that kid.
— Told you to bring Wolf-na, but you’re not listening.
— My stomach hurts. My stomach hurts. My stomach hurts. My stomach hurts.
I spoke to the frustrated viewers.
Kim Bingkwon wasn’t someone to tease like this.
“Stop teasing Bingkwon. Keep it up, and if you’re unlucky, you’ll all turn into ice statues.”
A playful threat.
The viewers found my words amusing.
— Ice bang—! Ice bang—! Ice bang—!
— Bing-sht? Us?
— Curious, show us, Afun Man! All of us? Haha.
— Gotta study for the Bing-sht exam, lol.