CLS-Chapter 414

Chapter 414:

“He’s gone now. You can come out.”

Wu-il had no choice but to agonize over this.

‘Should I really go out?’

Wouldn’t it be better to just bite down on poison here instead?

Wu-il eventually came outside.

He didn’t want to die.

Right, he didn’t want to die yet. He had things he needed to do.

Seeing Wu-il crawl out from under the bed with a tense face, Wei Yan-ho pointed to the dining table.

“Let’s eat.”

“……Me too?”

“Yes. I completely emptied it a few times before, so today there’s a bit too much for me to eat alone.”

Too much for one person?

Is that something you can say after looking at that dining table?

Wu-il couldn’t help but blink his eyes.

What lay before him was literally a feast table.

‘Even ten people couldn’t finish this?’

Perhaps noticing what Wu-il’s questioning gaze meant, Wei Yan-ho grinned broadly.

“I originally eat quite a lot at once. That way I don’t get hungry while sleeping.”

“……I see.”

That made immediate sense.

A guy who lies down and sleeps for ten shijin would get hungry and wake up if he ate like everyone else. Come to think of it, wasn’t the reason this crazy bastard woke up also because he was hungry?

That part made sense, but……

“Let’s eat together?”

“You seem to have starved just the same. Aren’t you hungry?”

Would you be hungry in a situation like this?

Even if you ate the manhanjeonseok that the Emperor eats, it would feel like chewing sand—how could you have an appetite? [TL/N: Manhanjeonseok (만한전석) is a lavish traditional Korean feast featuring a full table set with an abundance of diverse dishes fit for royalty.]

“I’m fine.”

“Ah, still, let’s eat together. Food tastes better when you eat with someone.”

“……”

Wu-il realized anew that he wasn’t in a position to refuse.

His life and death were now entirely in Wei Yan-ho’s hands. In that case, there would be no benefit in refusing such small things.

“I’ll eat.”

“Good thinking. They say even ghosts who die after eating have good complexions.”

“……”

No, do you really have to say that right now?

What does that mean, right now?

Are you going to kill me after I eat?

But you’re telling me to eat a lot now?

Does this guy have no brains, or is his personality just nasty?

Just as he was thinking it was probably both, Wei Yan-ho tore off a duck leg with a ripping sound and handed it to Wu-il.

“Please eat.”

Wu-il looked at the duck leg with trembling eyes. Then he hesitantly reached out and took the duck leg Wei Yan-ho offered.

“Let’s eat first and think later. When you’re full, you think better.”

That didn’t seem likely, but if that’s what he said, what could be done?

“Then……”

Wei Yan-ho started shoveling food with both hands.

‘Did he starve for ten days?’

No, normally even if you starved for ten days, you couldn’t eat food at that speed. If you were human.

“Ish ih guh?”

“I’m, I’m eating.”

Wu-il carefully turned his head. Turning his head so Wei Yan-ho couldn’t see, Wu-il slightly lifted his mask and started chewing on the duck leg.

“Isn’t it uncomfortable?”

“……It’s fine.”

He answered without even turning around.

“Just take it off and eat.”

“I can’t.”

“It’s not like you being uncomfortable matters much if I see your face anyway. I don’t really leave my room. Besides, it’s not like you’re going to walk around showing your face on the main street, right?”

Hearing it, that made sense.

But Wu-il couldn’t take off his mask. Taking off this mask would be like giving up everything. What value would an intelligence agent have who showed his face to his surveillance target?

“It’s fine.”

“Well, whatever’s comfortable for you.”

Wei Yan-ho didn’t insist further either.

Acting as if the Wu-il in front of him wasn’t particularly bothersome, Wei Yan-ho tremendously shoveled food into his mouth, then patted his belly and leaned his back against the wall.

“Ah, I’m full.”

“……”

Wu-il looked at Wei Yan-ho with eyes as if he were seeing something inhuman.

‘He ate all of that?’

That’s not human.

This wasn’t just a feeling—it was reality. The food that had been laid out above really seemed like an amount that even ten people couldn’t finish completely. But to clean it all out like that—how can a person eat that much?

It’s not like he’s a bear storing food for winter hibernation.

Wu-il looked at Wei Yan-ho’s belly, which had puffed up like a balloon, with a disgusted expression.

‘Can he even move?’

Had his body become like a well-risen dumpling?

The more he looked, the more this guy was utterly incomprehensible.

“Well, now that we’ve eaten, we need to decide what to do……”

Wei Yan-ho waddled as he sat up and quietly looked at Wu-il.

“What would be good?”

“……”

Wu-il couldn’t say anything. And there was no need to say anything. Wei Yan-ho opened his mouth first.

“You know, when I have something troubling me, I recall what my master used to say?”

“Yes?”

“That man, how should I put it…… He seemed to just babble uselessly, but looking back quietly, he did tell me all sorts of stories. Well, we were stuck together every day for five years, so it would be stranger if I hadn’t learned anything.”

What the hell is this guy talking about?

Wu-il now wished some conclusion would come somehow. It seemed like being handed over to the Tang Family and tortured would be better than dealing with this guy.

“Among the things that man said, there was something like this.”

“……What was it?”

“If you’re wondering whether to kill or not, don’t hesitate. If you’re wondering whether to kill to that degree, letting them live won’t turn out well anyway.”

Goosebumps rose all over Wu-il’s body.

Different.

Both his voice and atmosphere were different.

This wasn’t the somewhat lacking, awkward young man from before. The appearance of Wei Yan-ho looking at him with coldly sunken eyes made him understand why this person was now making a name for himself in the world.

Sword.

It was like there was a sharp sword right before his eyes.

Wu-il’s body froze like a mouse that met a starving cat.

The moment he moved even slightly, it seemed like the sword called Wei Yan-ho would instantly slice his body to pieces. His flesh froze, and his mind became dazed.

It was the moment when Wei Yan-ho’s reputation, which had never connected in his mind, and the person called Wei Yan-ho before his eyes merged into one.

“It seems like the right words. There probably isn’t anyone who hides in someone else’s ceiling with good intentions. Moreover, this isn’t even our house but someone else’s, so if I let you go like this, it seems like it’ll just cause problems for no reason.”

Wei Yan-ho’s atmosphere instantly returned to normal.

Just by briefly considering whether he really should kill, he had momentarily emitted this much presence.

Wu-il, released from the presence that had been suppressing him, began sweating cold sweat all over his body. His clothes became damp with the sweat he shed.

His mind returned. No, it wasn’t just that his mind returned. His mind became instantly clear.

He realized it. That he was now standing at the crossroads of life and death.

There was no time to panic.

“But hmm……”

Wei Yan-ho scratched the back of his head as if quite frustrated.

“I’ve killed people who came at me wanting to fight, but I’ve never cut down someone who doesn’t resist, so it’s a bit awkward. But I can’t not follow my master’s words either…… If I ignore my master’s words for no reason and later think my master was right, it feels incredibly awful.”

“Young, Young Hero.”

Wu-il opened his mouth with a trembling voice.

“Please spare my life.”

“Huh?”

Wei Yan-ho looked at Wu-il with a dumbfounded face.

“You were asking me to kill you earlier?”

“I, I want to live.”

Wei Yan-ho scratched his cheek.

“Yes. Well, I suppose everyone wants to live. People all want to live. So just tell me. Who sent you?”

“That’s……”

Wei Yan-ho’s face suddenly contorted.

“So, you can’t say who sent you, and you can’t answer, but you want to live, so don’t ask anything and just let me go?”

“……”

Wu-il closed his mouth.

He knew very well how unreasonable a demand he was making. But wasn’t this the only thing he could choose?

“Right?”

“……I’m sorry.”

“Hmm, how should I put it, it’s a bit shameless but……”

Wei Yan-ho shrugged his shoulders.

“Then do that.”

“Young Hero, please spare…… What?”

“Go ahead and leave.”

“What?”

Wei Yan-ho contorted his face.

“I said go. You’re asking me to spare your life?”

“Huh? You’re just going to spare me like that?”

“Then what else should I do?”

Wei Yan-ho said with a blank face.

“Letting you go feels unsettling, but killing you doesn’t seem like something a person should do either…… If I’m going to regret it anyway, it’s better to regret after doing something good.”

Wu-il looked at Wei Yan-ho with a dazed face.

‘What exactly is this person?’

He was impossible to figure out.

He had lived as an intelligence agent and met various people, but this was the first person he’d encountered who was this impossible to read. He didn’t even know how to react. Should he bow his head in gratitude here?

“Hmm……”

Wei Yan-ho said in a somewhat unsettled tone.

“My master’s words are important, but my father’s words are important too. Between the two, the one that seems less bothersome would be better. Go on, I won’t catch you.”

“……Can I really go?”

“It would be good if you left before I change my mind? I’m quite fickle.”

Wu-il looked at Wei Yan-ho blankly.

‘He’s not going to kill me the moment I turn around, is he?’

That couldn’t be.

The difference between Wei Yan-ho and him was too vast.

If Wei Yan-ho put his mind to it, he could send Wu-il to the Yellow Springs with just one finger. So why would he bother with such a troublesome trap?

“You’re really letting me go?”

“You’re a strange person.”

Wei Yan-ho chuckled as he spoke.

“I’m sparing your life because you asked me to, so what’s the problem? Should I kill you instead?”

“No, no. Thank you, Young Hero!”

Wu-il bowed his head deeply.

This wasn’t just a superficial gesture. He was truly grateful to Wei Yan-ho.

He had never once heard a story of an intelligence agent being caught by their surveillance target and released unharmed.

Even if they managed to keep their lives, countless cases involved being tortured into a miserable state or becoming disabled. If you could survive even like that, it was called heavenly fortune in the life of an intelligence agent.

He had begged to be spared.

But that didn’t mean he was asking to be released as is. He meant to spare his life even if he had to endure any kind of treatment……

“However……”

Wei Yan-ho opened his mouth in a low voice.

“I’ll only spare you once. I also have to keep my master’s words. If you catch my eye again next time, I’ll cut off your head without hesitation.”

“Yes.”

“Go and tell whoever sent you. If they want to know something, they should come directly. Oh, but ask them to avoid sleeping hours. I hate it most when someone wakes me up.”

“……”

Isn’t that saying you won’t meet them?

You’d have to have hours when you’re not sleeping for them to come during those hours.

“Then go ahead.”

“……I’m really leaving.”

“Yes. Take care.”

Wei Yan-ho waved his hand with a broad smile.

Wu-il left Wei Yan-ho’s room with a bewildered face and quietly hid himself on the roof tiles, then looked up at the sky.

He had come out alive.

From this absurd situation.

‘He’s really a strange person.’

Wu-il’s heart was stirring strangely.