She might not be crazy.
But 202’s epic lunatic move instantly changes my mind.
Gonna see every kind of nutcase.
Seeing my expression, 202’s face turns beet red as she suddenly pulls out her smartphone.
She takes a selfie and shouts.
“Please hug me!”
“…”
“I-I have this illness… illness. Eek…!”
She’s getting hit with reality after saying it herself, huh?
I know since the ghost incident, taking photos makes her reflexively ask for hugs.
But what’s that got to do with this?
“That’s called crazy. Madness, madness.”
“Sorry, sorry. Sob, I-I must’ve tripped. Sorry.”
“Looked like an attack.”
“My head’s like that sometimes. I didn’t mean to…”
I’ll believe she didn’t mean to headbutt me on purpose.
When she screamed aaaaaa!, it felt like an attack, but I might’ve misjudged.
Tripping and screaming out of surprise makes more sense.
Since she was bringing coffee and I was crouched looking at the wallpaper, she could’ve fallen toward me…
It’s so absurd, I calmly decide it was a mistake rather than thinking 202’s crazy.
202’s normal, right?
Not some lunatic practicing headbutts after inviting someone to her bed, right?
She’s had a lot of trouble because of me.
Gotta let it slide…
“Fine, it’s a mistake. Didn’t get hurt bad or anything.”
“Oh? Uh, sorry. Sorry. Hurry, take off your clothes.”
“What?”
“Nooo, aren’t you hot from the coffee?!”
Well, that’s a normal reaction.
Spilling hot coffee, she’s gotta try to fix it. That’s right.
And a woman undressing me isn’t a bad situation.
As a guy, it’s something to like.
“Ha. Ah. Sorry. Sob. Really. I messed up.”
Looking at my stomach, there’s a red mark from the impact.
202’s eyes get teary seeing it.
“No, it’s just red.”
Letting her calm down, she doesn’t cry.
“It got on your pants too. I’ll wash them.”
“What?”
“Wash them… uh?”
That’s not something you say while trying to take off pants.
“No, no, it’s fine. I’m next door, I’ll toss them in my washer.”
Washing’s no big deal.
Using the bathroom and all, what’s the issue?
It’s absurd and angering, but since it’s a mistake, I let it go.
Honestly, I feel worse for 202.
If I hadn’t busted the wall, this wouldn’t have happened.
Though headbutt practice makes no sense.
“What do I do? Really, really sorry. Why always…”
“It’s fine, buy me food next time. King crab.”
“Ugh. Even king crab won’t cut it now.”
“It will, stop it.”
Despite my messes, I’m the one getting fed, so I feel less guilty now.
“Sorry. Sorry. Really sorry.”
Getting endless apologies feels awkward, so I look away.
“But we gotta repaper. Now there’s coffee stains too.”
Not just me, the wallpaper got hit with coffee.
Coffee-colored, it looks like dried blood from when I squashed a mosquito on the wall.
If I buy the place, do I repaper here too? No, if I’m the landlord, do I have to fix it myself?
Standing to check repair costs…
“Oppa!”
“Why? Huh?”
202 suddenly sits on my lap.
Like riding a bike.
“…What are you doing?”
“I-I-I-I, uh, uh, wanted to sit!”
“What? Why’s this lady acting like this today?”
I think the headbutt was a mistake.
But this is intentional, right?
Isn’t this a pose for lovers deeply in love?
“Well, yeah. Haha. Ah. I must be possessed today, hahahahaha. Ehehehe. Ihihihi.”
“…”
She’s really crazy.
Anyone would see this as her doing crazy stuff she can’t explain and blaming possession.
“Then can I burn you?”
“Uh, um. If I said I fell for your forgiving look and abs, would you believe? Huh?”
Trying to fix it, but it’s not working.
“Yeah, yeah. Uh…!”
Her pale, never-sun-touched legs are fully visible in short dolphin pants, and through the gap, I see the edge of the same panties from before.
<Overcoming Nightmare’s charm, level up.>
Level 713. A whopping 10-level jump.
Almost hit with a 10-level charm, and 202’s antics are just funny.
But the moment I saw her underwear through the dolphin pants, my level rose.
Does she only wear that, or does this only happen when she wears it?
“Oh?”
Can’t take it anymore, so I grab 202’s waist, lift her, set her on the bed.
“I’m out.”
“Eh? Ah? Oh.”
I escape.
[Kiyaaa, you nutcase!]
If the “normal” 202 I thought did this shameful act, she wouldn’t try to preserve her skull, I thought.
Kung! Kwang!
But she’s doing just that.
That woman’s weird.
“Phew.”
Since I’m in the hallway, I consider ringing 204 to check.
Sigh.
Calming down a bit.
204, I sometimes flinch at the familiar girls’ squeals coming from there.
“Hello, 204?”
[Sukisukisuki daisukiyo!]
Sigh, listening to that song again?
But even with audio on, they should hear the doorbell.
“Sorry, 203 here. Any leaks?”
[Sukisuki.]
This jerk turns up the audio volume every time I ring?
“Hey. Any leaks? No leaks? Answer.”
[Ang, ang, ang, iyada yo. Ang, ang.]
Oh.
Not normal, really.
Can’t I just have them locked up for harming public morals?
If I buy the place, I’m evicting 204 first.
I’m going a bit crazy, but is there no normal person on this floor?
Out at the nursing hospital.
Though a verbal contract, Changhwan grandpa promised solid investment.
If his deal goes well, 800 million’s a snap.
“Hope the sikhye’s effect hasn’t worn off.”
Nightmare Queen, seaweed incident, flood, and leak.
Too much crap at once, couldn’t find Changhwan grandpa.
Left 3–4 days’ worth of sikhye for him, but should’ve refilled earlier; it’s been three days.
There should be about a bottle left.
If the effect fades, he might not be lucid to take it, so I stressed every 23 hours.
Time’s tight.
But…
“What? Visitation? He was discharged?”
“Yes? Discharged?”
“Yes, yesterday. Family took him.”
I couldn’t meet Kim Changhwan at the hospital.
What’s this?
“Took him? He didn’t leave himself?”
“He couldn’t walk alone. Not his grandson?”
“Oh, yeah. I didn’t hear… Did you clean his room? Did he say anything?”
“No specific words. Room’s empty, no new patient. Left something?”
“Uh, yeah, yeah. Think so.”
“It hasn’t been cleaned yet. I’ll tell the cleaner to look. Contact the guardian?”
They seem suspicious, not letting me in.
I gesture.
“Uh… I really wanna see myself.”
I don’t use Charm lightly, but no choice sometimes.
Charm from the imp is temporary perception shift, not memory erasure.
“Why’d I do that?” becomes “Guess it’s fine.”
“Okay, follow me.”
The nurse at the counter guides me.
The room’s still messy.
Not long since he left, I find a card under the pillow of his bed.
<Daughter Kyungsuk, Sunsuk and>
He left this card?
Even if sikhye ran low, really?
I know the son-in-law’s status, building location, and Ms. Kim Kyungsuk’s contact.
Should I call?
“Ahem.”
Honestly, getting deep into this old man’s story might be meddling.
Sure, it’s infuriating that a renowned cognition test expert, funded by the father-in-law, skewed results to neglect severe dementia for inheritance.
But that’s the old man’s view; we don’t know the son-in-law’s heart.
If he says, “No intent, honest mistake,” I’m just a guy meddling in family affairs.
Other stories suggest it’s likely just in-law conflict, with the daughter enduring.
“They’re not picking up.”
Thought I’d send Ms. Kim Kyungsuk this family memory card from the dollar and euro jar.
Using it to ask what happened, but no answer.
This is suspicious.
What mess happened?
“Something wrong?”
“Hm? Uh, oh.”
Nothing more to do, so I return to my room, sit at the desk, and the figure-sized Queen asks.
No one else to share this with, so I tell the Queen.
“Then you have a suspicious item?”
“Yeah.”
“Something happened, and you don’t know? Hit 200 Intelligence.”
“Intelligence?”
“Then you’ll get skills to read memories or info from objects.”
Oh.
At level 550, I had 163 unspent stat points, and Intelligence rose randomly or I added some.
Over 180 now.
Investing about 20 points seems worth it.
<Intangible Information Acquisition LV1> <Memory Reading LV1>
Intelligence skills at 200 start listing.
Acquisition is as the Queen said.
“Acquisition hits level 10 around 1,000 Intelligence. Then you can acquire most of a language by touching its text. Like me now.”
Memory Reading reads people and creatures’ memories.
Both seem useful, so I take Intangible Information Acquisition.
Touching the card.
“You bastard! You call yourself human?”
“Yes, yes. We’re moving you to a better place.”
Think I don’t know you’re shipping me off now that I’m better, eyeing my wealth?
“What are you saying? Doctors, don’t just watch, help.”
“I’m meeting Dr. Lee, you bastard!”
“Father, don’t eat this, it’s bad for you. I said no sweets. Where’d you get this from a quack? Tsk.”
“Why’re you my father, you bastard! Rotten jerk! I’m fine. I’m fine! Guys, don’t do this. I’m fine. I know my address…”
“Yes, uh, sorry.”
Two big guys restrain Kim Changhwan’s struggling and take him.
Then the “bastard,” a man my dad’s age, grabs my sikhye from the fridge.
While orderlies handle Changhwan’s outburst, a gowned doctor comes in, talking to “bastard.”
“Oh, Director Jung. Checked it?”
“Sent for ingredient testing, need to wait. But it’s weird. Another severe patient got clear-headed. Suddenly wanted a computer.”
“Said a Dr. Lee brought it? How’d he know here?”
“Seems he was your father-in-law’s grandson. Used Kim surname.”
“If it’s a fake name, can’t help it, but cognition recovery like this is amazing. Hmm.”
The “bastard” fiddles with the card the old man left.
“Seems your father-in-law cherished it, take it?”
“Nah, just makes him clingy. Usually a tough old man, but soft on daughters. When’d he bring this?”
He leaves the travel photo card with his daughters.
“Oh, and Director Jung.”
“Yes?”
“Can you find that grandson, Dr. Lee? Visitation records exist.”
“Probably a fake name. Father-in-law says Dr. Lee, but orderlies say he’s young.”
“Name’s likely Soo-chan, but old generation, so he uses old pronunciation.”
“Saw it?”
The Queen’s question pulls me back to reality.
I say.
“That bastard.”
“How tough. Oh?”
They stole my sikhye for ingredient testing?