Dohyuk was in one of the hotel buildings with the boy in the bed.
“You don’t know his name?”
“No,” Giwon answered.
“Nobody was interested. It wasn’t important.”
“…” Dohyuk nodded as he glanced at the boy’s wounded body. It seemed like he had been poorly mistreated. His Nature was very powerful, but its usefulness seemed to have worked against him in this case. The Nature did nothing in terms allowing the user to become more powerful and therefore he ended up in that state.
“His older brother was foolish.”
The boy had a brother. Unlike the boy who barely lasted a few days, his brother lived for a few more years after that.
“His brother hadn’t learned how to survive in the world.”
His brother was a typical foolish kid. He returned and was too excited about getting a second chance and ran rampant. After he realized his brother’s unbelievable talent, he sought out the officer who had a connection with Jung Ilhu and demanded rightful treatment for him and his brother in exchange for using his brother’s Nature.
“…He took his brother to that place?”
“No, he hid him somewhere he thought was safe. Probably thought he was a genius for doing that.”
It was pointless. The officer crushed the brother’s face immediately and began torturing him. After an hour, the brother’s mind was destroyed and Jung Ilgyu acquired the Unfortunate One.
“Jung Ilgyu probably has all of his equipment given the power from gems that this boy pulled out. With him on our side, at least you now have a chance to overcome that handicap.”
Dohyuk looked at Giwon silently. Not much time was left, but if this boy pulled out just one heart, it would be a decisive factor for Dohyuk.
“If we help him get his energy back and pull the heart… we have those men that Lee Yuri brought and with your power, we can even hunt one from the outside… or else…”
Giwon then stopped. He had realized it too late.
“Or else?”
“Uh, I mean…”
Dohyuk continued instead of Giwon who was struggling. “Pull a heart out from anyone within the city? They are weak, but it doesn’t mean their Natures are bad.”
“…I didn’t mean to offend you. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. You don’t need to be sorry.” Dohyuk assured him as he scratched his head. To Giwon, it was only natural.
Yoo Giwon was a corrupt man living in Casita’s world. Giwon was very careful with his Nature so to speak, but even he couldn’t calculate that difference.
“But you can walk into the city.”
Dohyuk changed the rules. Before he left the city to rescue Giwon, he spent 250 thousand faith to make an exception for Giwon.
“I know you can only think of it that way, so I understand. I just want you to try a little harder”
Before Giwon could answer, a man walked into the room in a hurry.
“D-dohyuk!”
He was one of the men who was on guard.
“What’s going on?”
“There are people! Outside of city wall! A lot!”
“How many are there?”
“I’m not sure, but I think there’s more than 100…”
Dohyuk and Giwon looked at each other.
“The Tyrant… he’s probably here.”
Giwon bit his lips. It was too fast.
“I thought we still had at least half a day left even if he came by himself.”
He wasn’t being optimistic either. He knew Jung Ilgyu very well. The most important thing for him was his own interests. He was an arrogant madman who was proud of his own strength and he believed he could do anything he wanted to if he tried. He was probably dying to sail across the sea to China. Even if his brother was killed and his treasures were stolen, it wasn’t enough to make him stray from his priorities. Since he believed he could do it anytime he wanted to, Giwon thought he would pay them a visit when he was done with preparations.
‘It’s probably the Heartdigger.’
Giwon glanced at the boy. That was the only reason.
“Giwon.” Dohyuk called out to him.
“Yes.”
“Go out with him and check on them. I’ll be there in a second.”
Giwon wanted to ask why, but he still answered, “I’ll do that.”
He and the man walked out and Dohyuk stayed behind in the room. And-
“Do you want to go out too?” he asked the boy.
“If you stay still like that, I’ll take it as though you want to stay alone and leave. But if you have something to say…”
Before Dohyuk could finish, the boy answered with a weak voice, “…How did you know?” He was looking at Dohyuk now.
“I would not have known if I hadn’t carried you all the way here.”
Dohyuk had carried the boy ever since he was in the vampiric region. That’s why he felt the boy’s movements changing after he began climbing up the stairs. The boy was probably scared to hint that he was awake.
“I thought you were afraid of the man I was with more than me.”
“…He’s different from you,” the boy said to Dohyuk. Just like Dohyuk and Heeyun, the boy could also sense corruption.
“… is he your man?”
“Yeah.”
“Because you are stronger?”
“Of course. What is your name?”
“…Kang Sunghyun.”
“I’m Yoo Dohyuk.”
Sunghyun still seemed to be fearful even when they exchanged their names.
“Can I ask you something?”
The boy was quick to understand; it wasn’t like he was relieved when he was speaking. He was scared and wary of Dohyuk just like his torturers, but he based things off what he overheard.
“Go ahead.”
“I heard you can make gems by pulling out hearts. If you remember how many gems you created and what they do…”
“….ny.”
“What?”
“I… I didn’t… make any.”
Dohyuk thought it was a lie, but Sunghyun quickly showed proof. As he unclothed himself, Dohyuk saw countless scars and wounds on his body.
“…I said I didn’t want to make the gems.”
He continued, “Those bastards killed my brother. Why- why would I make one for them?”
He was angry now as he remembered what he had gone through.
“That… those f*cking bastards… assh*les…”
“They tortured you? And starved you?”
“They didn’t do that right away… but I spat on their boss and said – F*ck you, assh*le. Just kill me instead!”
“The boss…”
“Ilgyu? Jung Ilgyu? I think that was the name of that assh*le.”
Dohyuk gulped unconsciously.
“That’s when he asked me… cackling… if I knew what it meant to say that. He said he’ll teach me when I say, ‘Just kill me instead.’”
After Ilgyu said that, a man made Sunghyun grab a knife.
“And then… another man came up to me and… the one who made me grab the knife stabbed another man.”
“…”
That’s how Sunghyun acquired his second nature. Nature of ‘Regeneration’.
That’s when he was taken into Jung Ilhu’s custody to be taught to say, ‘Just kill me instead.’ in reality.
“But from what I heard… my regeneration skill wasn’t too good. It had a cooldown? Or something that only heals me a certain amount at once.”
“Wait.”Dohyuk raised his hand. “Then your wounds…”
“Oh, there was much more than this.”
There were more traces of torture throughout Sunghyun’s body. His bony figure was not the sole result of his starvation, but of continued regeneration. Even then, Sunghyun did not give in to the torture whereas Giwon even passed out.
“It’s okay,” the boy said as he rubbed off his tears with his wrists.
“Bastards… they can hit me all they like. Why would I pull a heart out from someone for them? Why…”
“…”
“…I have a favor to ask of you.”
He then turned to Dohyuk, with a determined look in his teary eyes.
“Jung Ilgyu… that bastard killed my brother for no reason.”
It seemed like he was going to burst into tears at any moment, but he held back.
“If you are going to fight him… let me kill him. If you do it for me…” Sunghyun seethed, “…I’ll pull his heart out for you.”