The Stench That Wouldn't Wash Off
-Hrk-ugh-!
Sploosh!
The black water he'd failed to swallow burst outward in every direction.
And the single largest, stickiest glob of it flew true—splatting dead across Ryu Sungho's face and upper body.
"……."
"……."
The examination room fell dead silent. For a moment, no one could process what had just happened.
The black water traced a glistening path down Ryu Sungho's forehead, along the bridge of his nose. His immaculately combed hair clung to his skin in soggy strands.
The expensive suit fared no better. Stains spread rapidly across the deep navy fabric, the silk tie—drenched through—went limp and sagged, and his white shirt bled an unidentifiable shade of green.
Then the stench hit.
Ryu Sungho stopped breathing without realizing it.
"Ugh!"
He clamped a hand over his nose a beat too late—the smell had already burrowed all the way down his throat. A thick vein bulged at his temple.
"This—"
That was the moment.
"Hck……!"
Sihyun's body lurched forward hard. She clutched at her chest as her knees buckled, her nails scraping against the smooth floor, her ragged breaths catching and breaking in her throat.
"Awakener Lee Sihyun!"
The staff shouted. Sihyun couldn't answer. She curled in on herself on the floor, trembling all over, forcing her fractured breathing to continue.
"Contract backlash!"
"Drop the barrier and get the medical team in here!"
The protective door swung open and staff poured into the examination room.
"Ugh……!"
The stale stench pooled inside came rushing out at them all at once, and several staff members went pale and covered their noses.
Ryu Sungho, robbed of even the chance to vent his fury, could only watch the scene. Someone hastily pressed a towel into his hand and he wiped his face, but the smell wouldn't lift.
-Grulk?
Vodyanoy's bloodshot eyes turned from the fallen Sihyun to Ryu Sungho, and back again. They blinked slowly, twice.
Then the massive body dissolved into black water. It sank beneath the floor as if draining away, leaving not so much as a trace behind.
All that remained in the examination room was the vile stench and Sihyun, collapsed on the ground.
"Mr. President, are you alright?"
"……I'm fine."
Ryu Sungho ground the words out through clenched teeth.
"Move the Awakener Lee Sihyun first."
The staff brought a stretcher and laid Sihyun onto it. Ryu Sungho watched her being carried out with cold eyes.
She'd collapsed from a single, basic power. Her very first command had missed its target entirely—which meant the demon spirit had clearly used her.
"How unfortunate. Do take better care of yourself."
He almost laughed at himself for having considered her a threat, even briefly.
"Mr. President, should we place Awakener Lee Sihyun under special observation?"
"No. There's no need to be fooled by appearances."
Ryu Sungho swept his soaked fringe back as he spoke. In stark contrast to his composed voice, putrid water was dripping steadily from the hem of his suit.
"It seems she forced a contract with a being far beyond her station. She can't control her summon properly, and she can't withstand even a single use of its power."
A staff member asked carefully, "Even so, her Resonance readings immediately after the summoning were considerable. Shouldn't we run a full re-examination?"
"What we've seen today is more than enough."
Yes, the numbers had been high.
But what had she actually done with them?
Sung Jeyeon had commanded twelve entities as effortlessly as her own hands and feet—without so much as blinking.
There's simply no comparing her to Sung Jeyeon.
How Vodyanoy had known her name remained a mystery. But discovering a hidden existence and actually wielding one were two entirely different things. A power you couldn't use was no different from having nothing at all.
Just then, a staff member brought over portable purification equipment. Blue light swept over Ryu Sungho from head to toe—but when the glow faded, the stains remained untouched, and the stench had somehow grown even thicker.
"The purification didn't work?"
"It's not mana-based contamination, sir. No toxins, no curse signatures either. It's just…… an extremely foul filth."
It hadn't even been an attack. Somehow, that fact stung more than anything else.
"Enough."
His aide, waiting outside the examination room, hurried over. He froze for a moment at the sight of Ryu Sungho's condition, then wrestled his expression under control and lowered his voice.
"What should we tell the <NEW TOP 50> production team? We could hold off on approving her appearance until the detailed examination is complete."
"No need."
Ryu Sungho said coolly, "Let her appear as scheduled."
"Are you certain?"
"The buzz will be plenty. The first S-Rank summoner in ten years, and she's with Seongyeon besides."
A sneer flickered across Ryu Sungho's lips.
"The higher the expectations, the harder the fall."
A new summoner to recreate Sung Jeyeon. He had no objection to people nursing such foolish hopes—because if Lee Sihyun crumbled miserably before the eyes of the entire nation, then the faded legend of Sung Jeyeon would be dragged down into the mud with her.
"Keep the examination results provisionally at S-Rank, but attach a note citing low contract stability. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
"And lift the embargo before the first filming. If she's out there loudly declaring herself S-Rank with her own mouth, the fall will be all the more entertaining."
"Understood, Mr. President."
As Ryu Sungho started walking, his entourage fell in behind him in a single motion.
But the aides who would normally have stayed glued to his heels began dropping back one by one, and the man at the very rear finally doubled over, retching.
"Hurk……"
Ryu Sungho stopped. The men averted their eyes, hands pressed over their noses and mouths.
"And one more thing."
The aide hastily lowered the hand covering his face.
"Yes, Mr. President."
"Get the car ready."
"There's still time before your meeting—"
"I'll need to stop by home first."
Ryu Sungho looked down at his suit sleeve, heavy and sodden with filth.
"Now."
"Yes, Mr. President."
In the end, no one could bring themselves to stand anywhere near him. Only the suffocating reek of rot trailed him down the long corridor.
Sihyun was moved to a recovery room inside the Association. After a brief examination, the medical team tilted their heads in surprise at how quickly her readings had stabilized.
"It looks like a temporary contract backlash. Still, don't move around for now—rest a little longer."
"……Okay."
Sihyun answered weakly.
"Call us right away if anything starts hurting."
"……Okay."
The medical team closed the door behind them.
Click.
Footsteps faded until they were completely gone.
A few seconds passed in the quiet of the recovery room.
And Sihyun, who had been lying there as still as a corpse, slyly cracked one eye open.