Chapter 50: Impatience to learn
'It is impossible. They are good Hunters, and I am not even a bad Hunter. I am just a simple human. Revenge is impossible,' Seo Ran Hun thought.
"Maybe I can make it a long-term goal to make the Trio Hunters to be seen as what they truly are—criminal bullies being seen as heroes. I can get rid of the government psyop and bring justice to my cousin," Mark whispered another thought into his mind.
There was a reason he had chosen this as a forced Dream for Seo Ran Hun. Revenge, thoughts of fickle hatred that built up in a short time, and such were easy things to destroy just as easily it was built.
He just had to make the boy find happiness or something similar.
[You can win either by successfully accomplishing the Dream of the Puppet or by destroying the wish to achieve that Dream entirely.]
Destroying was a part of the rules, too, after all.
As long as he turned the Dream of the youth into revenge that he was not that determined to go through, Mark could easily destroy the wish for it and slowly turn the youth's beliefs upside down.
"Yes, my greatest goal from now on is to ruin the Trio Hunters' reputation. That's my dream."
The Demon began to input more thoughts into the youth.
"Yes, my greatest goal from now on is to ruin the Trio Hunters' reputation. That's my dream."
"It will be my lifelong ambition."
The thoughts alone were not enough.
An action was what rooted the thought deeply into one's mind.
"I will first post my negative thoughts regarding them on the internet anonymously," Mark whispered the thought into the youth's mind.
That thought made Seo Ran Hun take out his phone, open Blueitt, and post multiple videos of the Trio Hunters bullying the now-dead Seo Jin Hu. That was the start.
That made the thought that Mark had planted take a much deeper root.
Now, it was as if the youth himself had had that thought. This would lead to more and more such tendencies, and soon enough, that would be his dream.
Mark continued to feed the hate, like pouring oil onto the fire, and soon enough, he could see visible hatred in the youth's face as he kept spamming hate posts. Thoughts were screaming in the youth's mind.
All thoughts which were planted by a demon.
"As long as I live, I will not let the Trio Hunters' reputation be good."
"I will destroy their life like they destroyed my cousins."
"What if they are Hunters? I'll make them regret it."
"I need to send this to all social media and taint their reputation first."
But from then on, Mark made the thoughts shift in a different direction.
"After I turn their reputations to shit, I will finally be happy."
"Then, I could rest calm and die knowing I have done my due diligence."
"Without doing that, I am just useless. My life would have no meaning. If I do that, I can die."
By the end, Seo Ran Hun had attached his own life's meaning to tainting the Trio Hunters' reputation. Now, more or less, Mark could predict that the dream of this guy would surely be to ruin the Trio's reputation.
He hoped that was the case and used another Heart Input.
"Ah, I just wish I had a chance. If I had to sell my soul to a demon to get a chance, even that was fine. I just need a simple opportunity. Some luck. Please give me even the slightest chance, god, demon, whatever, and I will succeed."
Just after whispering those thoughts into the enemy, Mark walked into the bathroom, and the youth's trembling lips spread wide open. He stared at the Demon with disbelief.
Mark asked calmly and showed the youth his demonic hands, "Would you have a Dream Gamble with me? If you win, you will become strong."
Dream Gambler's Mortal Puppet!
The youth looked at him with wide eyes as a golden light filled the entire toilet. It was like a golden field, and in the center of it, Mark stood like a demonic god. He smirked at the youth as a contract appeared between them in fiery papers.
It was a Gamble.
* As long as the Demon can fulfill Seo Ran Hun's dream, he can ask for one thing from Seo Ran Hun and take it for himself. (Anything other than the Human's life or his feelings). If the Demon fails to achieve the said dreams, the Human can take any one thing from him.
The contract was simple, but looking at it alone made Mark feel his spine tingle with fear. Now, he had Soul Sense. He could sense the Will of the Hunter World incredibly clearly. It was looking at both him and Seo Ran Hun with an indifferent 'gaze.'
The sheer sensation made Mark feel his heart tremble.
But, maybe due to his demonic trick just being what it was—since his Destiny had now been linked with that of a native human until the challenge was accepted or rejected—the World Will didn't burn him or hurt him.
He heaved a huge sigh of relief inwardly. He hadn't been terrified for real, though. It was just the physical reaction to sensing something that was just too far beyond his level.
[While the Gamble is active, you will be seen as a native by the World Will as long as you are challenging an original native of the world and wouldn't face Will's wrath.]
But looking at the flaming contract again, both he and Seo Ran Hun was the same before it. It was putting out a contract for them, and they could note their conditions before the gamble began.
It was like a board game of sorts.
Mark walked up to the youth and said calmly, "Accept it, or when you reject it, and the Gamble fails, I will kill you. And I have done my due research on you. I heard you had a little brother. It would be sad to see that boy being burned and turned to ash, right?"
Seo Ran Hun pushed back his crow's nest-like hair and gritted his teeth.
He was in total disbelief. Everything was so surreal.
He began to breathe heavily and then contemplated calmly. Just by looking at the contract, his head felt like it was bursting, and all the information regarding the Dream Gamble appeared in his mind.
"Is this for real…" he said in disbelief as he looked up at the Demon.
Either way, he stood to gain by letting the Demon take the reigns of his life from now. The Gamble was incredibly skewed toward Seo Ran Hun's advantage since, for him, it didn't matter if Mark failed or won.
If Mark won and succeeded in accomplishing his Dream, Seo Ran Hun would be happy to find himself as a successful person in life. He wouldn't be taking any losses due to his dream being fulfilled even if it was not he himself who did it.
Even if Mark had taken something from him in return, it would have been alright as long as it was not something too bad like his soul. Since his life was assured by the end of the gamble, that was okay, too.
If Mark failed to accomplish his Dream, he could take something from Mark, and Seo Ran Hun already knew what he wanted—the superpowers that demons had. He wanted one of them that this demon might possess.
In either case, if Mark failed or succeeded, he stood to gain. But Seo Ran Hu calmed himself down and took deep breaths before he looked at Mark and the demoness in his tow.
Calm, he said, "You are going to make me into your puppet until you accomplish my dream, then?"
Mark squinted. The guy calmed down too quick. It made Mark a bit nervous whether he would reject the offer. Maybe, he had been too eager.
I have to work on my patience. I was too excited due to all my new abilities and stuff. I could have went slow and manipulated Seo Ran Hun for days before initiating this. I am still too much of a dumb green horn.
Seo Ran Hun said, "I have a condition. You will have no relation with my brother or parents while you are controlling my body and will not kill me or my brother and parents after the Dream Gamble is over. Then, I will accept this gamble, or otherwise, you can kill me now."
Mark clicked his tongue. "Or I can just kill you and go do the same thing on your little brother and play the Gamble on him instead."
He could only do this once against the Hunter World's Will, but the youth didn't know that.
Or so he thought until the youth sneered while holding onto his head, "Our World Will was fooled once by your weird Dream Gamble ability, but it won't be fooled twice. I can tell that by looking at the contract. You want me for some reason, right? Then add the conditions that you won't kill me and my family, and I will accept the gamble."
Mark spat, "I will not kill you or your immediate family unless they stand in my way even after the Gamble is finished, and you are not to stand in my way either."
The youth's heart thumped, and a second later, he nodded. Mark was too intimidating this up close.
A new rule was added to the contract.
* As long as the Demon can fulfill Seo Ran Hun's dream, he can ask for one thing from Seo Ran Hun and take it for himself. (Anything other than the Human's life or his feelings). If the Demon fails to achieve the said dreams, the Human can take any one thing from him.
* The Demon Marcus [True name unknown] is not to harm Seo Ran Hun or his immediate family even after the Gamble is finished.
* Seo Ran Hun is not allowed to stand against The Demon's goals physically.
"Do you accept the Gamble?" Mark coldly asked.
Golden light flashed through the windows and cracks of the school toilet as the youth nodded, and one part of the burning contract flew into both of them and then, the golden light began to recede.
Mark sighed. Dona was silent.
Dream Gambler's Mortal Puppet. Initial plan, success.
'Now, what is this kid's dream?' Mark couldn't wait to ask as he looked into the mirror of the toilet.
Multiple invisible and intangible threads were connected from Mark's demonic body to Seo Ran Hun's body, and Mark himself felt as if he now had four eyes.
He was controlling Seo Ran Hun as his puppet.
The Dream Gamble had begun. Moreover, Mark had full control over the youth's body.
It almost felt like his own body, just far weaker. Far more feeble.
[The Dream Gamble—Demon Marcus v/s Human Seo Ran Hun…]
The violet screen fluttered inside Mark, and new information was added to it.