Inside the Baeks' manor, the woody and musky scent of bath soaps filled the wide and spacious bathroom. A tub so big, it could fit two average adult men, yet only one silhouette is visible through the bubbles' fog.
His slim and slender body leaned back, brushing his translucent, alluring skin with his own hands, gently rubbing them.
"Haa…"
Baek Haemin's light-brown hair appears dark when it's wet, accentuating his youthful and delicate features that are almost too feminine for his own good.
Those soft hands brushed his hair back.
This is heaven.
Not once in his life while living as Baek Seungho would he have thought he'd ever had the chance to take a luxurious bath such as this. The attendants were polite, and they prepared everything he needed.
Well, it got a little troublesome earlier, but it got resolved quickly.
When he first got to the bathroom, the maids removed his robe for him, which made him feel like something strange was about to happen but chose to ignore it, staying true to his acting as the real Baek Haemin.
What he couldn't ignore though was when they tried to start bathing him. Baek Haemin quickly stepped back.
'I, I could do it myself!'
'Sir? Are you sure?'
'But we've always done that for you…'
The maids looked at him worriedly but he still pushed them away.
'Then I'll start doing it myself! Okay? Now, go. Go outside. Shoo.'
Baek Haemin sighed as he recalled it.
I don't care if he wants people to bathe him, but not me! At least let me keep my dignity for myself, seriously…
It's true that he is now Baek Haemin, but there are things he couldn't compromise as Baek Seungho, and this just happens to be one of them.
It's called privacy, people. Pri-va-cy.
Once he finished his hot and relaxing bath, he covered his body with the robe. He noticed the mirror in the bathroom, and stopped in his tracks.
He then silently stared at his reflection.
He's so young. You're telling me this kid died at the age of 22? He's just a baby. Not to mention, I never imagined I would get to live as a 22 year old again.
It really is something you'd only see in fantasy stories. If he never experienced it himself, he'd never believe this would ever happen to anyone.
His face scrunched.
"Anyway, if I'm gonna transmigrate, then shouldn't I have gone to the main character's body? Isn't that usually how the plot is? Why am I in the body of an extra whose name wasn't even worth mentioning, huh? Seriously, this is so unfair."
His thumb caressed the mole on the bottom of his right lip.
Baek Haemin, if you have this kind of face, then what are you doing, chasing that crazy guy? What's up with his taste? At least pick someone better, seriously…
He leaned in closer to the mirror,
"Sigh, why does it have to be someone who the main character hates?"
When he opened the door, the spacious hallway had no one standing apart from one person. The masked woman, Han Jiwon.
She followed him closely on the way to his room, until a hand in front of her face stopped her from entering.
"Y, young master?"
Her young master smiled,
"Jiwon-ah, are you going to follow me inside? When I'm naked?"
She tilted her head.
"But young master, I've always done this for you. I help you put your clothes on and—"
Haemin coughed as if there were something unsavory stuck in his throat.
"A, about that, you see… From now on, I'll take a bath on my own, and I'll put on clothes by myself, okay?"
"What, so suddenly? But Haemin-nim—"
"No buts! This is non-negotiable. Just think of it as me transitioning to adulthood, okay?"
Haemin shut the door, and Jiwon was left flustered outside his room.
Now that he has time alone, he could finally do the one thing he wanted to do the most. Haemin shut the window curtains and peeped around.
Okay, clear.
He coughed out loud,
"Ahem, ahem. System? Are you there?"
Ding!
[System:
Answer. Yes.]
"Ooh! Awesome!"
The transparent blue screen made all his nerves excited. Haemin couldn't contain it, and he jumped while smiling. His eyes were shining, as if he was a kid that had just been handed a new toy.
"Woah, I was too distracted to notice it before, but it looks like it really came out of a game! Seriously, I know hunters and dungeons exist in this world, but does everyone have this? How does the main character control this again? Like this?"
He tried touching the screen everywhere but nothing happened.
[System:
Answer. Only humans who have awakened as hunters have access to the system.]
"No, I already know about that. I was just thinking out loud, y'know?"
[System:
Answer. You can control the system automatically by your thoughts or manually.]
Haemin touched his lips,
"Hmm, I see. It really is just like a game, but more immersive, huh? Not bad for a world that Shiro randomly came up with. Well, I am his editor, so I guess this is just the bare minimum."
His head nodded with satisfaction. He wanted to play around with it more, but there's something he has to see first.
"Hey, system. Show me my status window."
Ding!
[System:
{Status Window}
Name: Baek Haemin (Baek Seungho)
Age: 22, ???
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Type: Support
Rank: SS
…]
Let's see, let's see… So, Baek Haemin had already awakened as a support hunter? Tsk, what a bummer. If I'm at least an attack or defense type, then my chances to survive when being beaten up would be higher. And he just has to be an SS-Rank Hunte… huh?
Haemin narrowed his eyes and focused on the status window without saying anything. He read it out loud,
"Race: Human, Type: Support, Rank: SS… SS… SS…? SS-Rank? Huh?"
He tilted his head while his chin rested on his thumb. He repeated the words showing up on the status window two more times before his eyes widened.
It finally sank in.
"H, H, Haemin is an… SS-Rank?! Is this a joke?! It has to be, right?! Seriously?!"
The novel never said anything about that, though?!
Ding!
[System:
Answer. Yes, seriously.]