After dispersing our sight with a sandstorm, we hid in a nearby forest.
Han Seo-hyeon asked with an exhausted expression:
“Is it really over now?”
“No, this might just be the beginning.”
Seol Rok-jin will soon realize his failure. Then he’ll immediately come up with another plan.
Whether he’ll target Yoo Seon-je again or reach out in another direction, I don’t know yet, but he’s not the type to sit still like this.
“Still, just in case, keep monitoring that guy for a while.”
Since the assassination plan failed, the Top might make another move.
Of course, having learned his lesson, he probably won’t fall for it easily, but we should protect him for the time being.
“Ugh, I really don’t want to.”
Han Seo-hyeon, who wasn’t very welcoming of Yoo Seon-je to begin with, came to completely dislike him after this incident.
Understandable.
“I’m not telling you to protect him because I like him either. It’s just that after going through all that trouble to save him, I’d be annoyed if he died stupidly.”
“I understand.”
At my words, Han Seo-hyeon silently sent out Rat. After sending the signal, Kim Jae-ho appeared riding the shadows.
It was a reunion after a whole 3 weeks.
I wanted to ask if he’d been well all this time, but seeing his state, those words wouldn’t come out at all.
—He looks completely like a barbarian.
‘Yeah…’
I had just barely made him look human, and now look at this. Kim Jae-ho’s hair had become a wild mess. Not only was his hair sticking up in all directions, but his clothes torn here and there made me sigh. I’m pretty sure I put spare clothes in the bag for him to change into, but where did those all go?
He was in that state when we entered the Gate. He definitely hasn’t bathed either. I’ll have to scrub him thoroughly when we get back to the base.
“I was so bored. Eating the same thing every day was no fun either.”
Kim Jae-ho grumbled as soon as he saw us.
“Next time, take me with you. Don’t leave me behind. Okay? You got that?”
He must have really hated being alone, as he even pulled on my clothes while saying this. What kind of whining is this.
“Alright, alright. That’s enough now. You’re stretching out my clothes, no, wait! You tore it!”
Whether he failed to control his strength or not, the t-shirt I cherished was not just stretched but torn. This is the problem when you’re too strong. Looking at the torn clothes, I let out an empty laugh.
Kim Jae-ho pointed at Lee Hye-won standing behind me and asked:
“Who’s that woman?”
“Eek!”
Those eyes shining like a beast’s in the darkness are scary even to me, but was there really a need to be so startled? I said to Jae-ho with an awkward face:
“She’s someone we rescued from in there.”
“H-hello.”
Even to her careful greeting, Kim Jae-ho just glared at Team Leader Lee Hye-won instead of answering.
“You left me behind but brought a new person…”
Is that the issue here?
“Well, it just ended up like that somehow.”
To be honest, I didn’t want to bring this person all the way here either. But no matter how I thought about it, diverting Lee Hye-won on my side seemed like the best option.
Kim Jae-ho circled around Lee Hye-won and said:
“She’s not small or cute.”
Team Leader Lee Hye-won was quite tall. With a height of about 175cm and an urban appearance, she normally looked like an impressive career woman, though right now she was just terrified… Wait, what am I saying?
“Don’t worry, I don’t plan to bring her home.”
“Hmph.”
Kim Jae-ho snorted and disappeared back into the shadows. He seemed to really dislike Team Leader Lee Hye-won.
Even though things turned out like this, I had no intention of taking Lee Hye-won to our home.
“You go home with him too.”
At my words, Han Seo-hyeon narrowed his eyes.
“Where are you going then?”
I feel like the words ‘with that woman’ are missing between the lines.
“Don’t worry. I plan to take care of things properly and come back.”
At the word ‘take care’, Team Leader Lee Hye-won’s shoulders trembled again. Maybe that was too strange a word to use in the middle of the night in a desolate place.
I should do something before misunderstandings pile up. First, let’s separate these guys.
“Go on ahead.”
“Alright.”
With a displeased face, Han Seo-hyeon glanced at me and Lee Hye-won before summoning a sand jaguar by stomping the ground. Han Seo-hyeon mounted the black-dyed jaguar and disappeared like that.
“Um, where do you intend to take me?”
“Don’t worry. We’re going somewhere with a very reliable person.”
After sending those two to the base, I drove the car with Lee Hye-won. The place I arrived at was in front of a massive mansion with a design so impressive it drew admiration every time I saw it.
After parking the car nearby, I walked towards the mansion with Lee Hye-won.
Ignoring Lee Hye-won demanding an explanation beside me, I took out my phone and made a call.
I was worried he might avoid my call, but fortunately it connected quickly.
“Professor Geum.”
[Hmm? Oh! Well, if it isn’t you! It’s been a really long time.]
“Yes, it has been a while.”
It’s obvious he wants to keep his distance from me, but I can manage if I push a bit.
“I have one favor to ask.”
[Huh? A favor, what? No, I’m busy these days so unlike before I don’t have time…]
“Well, I’m at your front door so open up first.”
[What?]
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t open it, but it would be better if you did.”
[Ah, alright! J-just stay there!]
I hung up at the noisy voice coming through the receiver. Now if I just wait, he’ll come out on his own.
Beside me, Lee Hye-won asked in a terrified voice:
“Who on earth did we come to meet?”
“As I said before, a very reliable person.”
Hmm, hmm. That’s right. There’s no one as harmless a pushover as this guy. How much time passed? With a clamorous noise, doors began to open from far away.
Professor Geum’s appearance after passing through several layers of doors was miserable.
“Whew! It’s been a while!”
From his round glasses to his half-burnt hair.
“What on earth were you doing?”
“Ah, I was in the middle of various experiments… But how did you come here without any contact, no, wait! Who is this beautiful lady here?”
At Professor Geum’s loud words, Lee Hye-won glared at me.
As if asking if I really intended to leave her with this mad scientist.
I’m sorry, Ms. Lee Hye-won. I have my own children, no, team members to take care of. I pushed Lee Hye-won towards Professor Geum.
“I’ll leave her in your care.”
“Hmm? W-what?”
“S-surely you don’t intend to leave me here and go?”
Ignoring Team Leader Lee Hye-won’s desperate gaze, I sent mana to my feet. As I jumped up into the air, I cheerfully waved goodbye to the two of them.
“Haha! Then I’ll leave her to you!”
“Y-you bastard!”
“W-what am I supposed to take care of?”
I heard the two people’s screams after I left, but I pretended not to hear.
—Hey, this is abandonment!
What do you mean abandonment? I found her a good caretaker.
I felt righteous.
* * *
Although the conquest of ‘Serena’s Ice Palace’ was successful, Sirius’ stock price hit the lower limit.
Out of the conquest team that started with a total of 102 members – two 7-Circle hunters, thirty 6-Circle hunters, thirty 5-Circle or higher supporters, and forty porters – only four people returned.
One 7-Circle hunter and three supporters.
It was such a poor result that it could hardly be called a successful conquest. Upon hearing this news, Jin Yeon-hwa canceled all schedules with a coldly hardened face and prepared for a press conference, while gossipmongers were busy calculating the damage Sirius had suffered from this incident.
“How much damage do you think Sirius will suffer from this incident? Enough for Dohwa to overtake Sirius?”
“They may have lost Kim Dae-gwon, but Yoo Seon-je survived, didn’t he? And they did conquer an S-rank Gate after all. The important point is that they conquered the Gate even after losing all those people. Perhaps he’s reached not 7-Circle, but 8-Circle…”
“Oh my, at that age?”
“That’s impossible.”
“But isn’t it true that he conquered an S-rank Gate with just four supporters? That’s what they said at the press conference too.”
Yesterday, Sirius briefly summarized what happened during the S-rank Gate conquest at the press conference.
The content was long, but to summarize, the monster that came out of the S-rank Gate was ‘stronger than expected’ and an accident occurred. While accidents happening inside Gates were common, what was important was that they succeeded in conquering the Gate in the meantime.
Sirius attributed the reason for the successful Gate conquest to Yoo Seon-je’s growth. They said that although everyone was swept away due to the unexpectedly strong monster, Yoo Seon-je awakened and somehow managed to handle things and come out.
Thanks to this, the value of Yoo Seon-je, who was already drawing attention as the youngest 7-Circle, rose even more.
It’s unfortunate for the hunters who lost their lives in this Gate, but the world doesn’t remember losers.
“Could he really have reached 8-Circle?”
If it’s true that Yoo Seon-je has reached 8-Circle, then what Sirius lost in this Gate would be nothing.
Everyone’s attention was focused on Yoo Seon-je.
However, Yoo Seon-je, who could answer all those questions, declared self-restraint saying he ‘couldn’t contain the sorrow of losing conquest team members who were like family’, and people had no choice but to satisfy their curiosity by putting forward their own hypotheses.
And on Jin Yeon-hwa’s face, who had heard all the circumstances from Yoo Seon-je in the meantime, there was not a trace of a smile.
“So, someone tried to kill you.”
Forgetting even her drawling way of speaking, Jin Yeon-hwa said in a low voice looking at Yoo Seon-je.
“Then you succeeded in conquering the Gate and escaping with someone’s help.”
“Yes.”
“But you don’t know who the culprits are, let alone the people who helped us?”
“I know their name.”
“What’s the name?”
“Smith. It’s obviously an alias though.”
For a moment it seemed like a smile flickered across Yoo Seon-je’s lips, but was it her imagination? When Jin Yeon-hwa looked at Yoo Seon-je’s face again, it was stiffly hardened once more.
“As payment for helping with the conquest, they said they couldn’t reveal anything about themselves, so I had no choice.”
“Hmm, I see. For now, they’re not our enemies then. The problem would be the side that brainwashed Hye-won and attacked us. Since there’s no brainwashing ability user in the ‘Top’…”
It means there must be another third party involved.
“By the way, where is Hye-won?”
“…She’s with a reliable person.”
“I see, let’s consider her dead for now. Until we find the culprit.”
Jin Yeon-hwa’s eyes were filled with anger. How dare they mess with Sirius, whoever they are.
Whoever made her eat dirt will have to pay the price properly. After organizing her thoughts, Jin Yeon-hwa put on her horn-rimmed glasses and smiled brightly.
“Anyway, good work Seon-je. Now go and get some rest.”
After sending Yoo Seon-je out, Jin Yeon-hwa took off her horn-rimmed glasses and bit her lip.
First at the auction, and now during this conquest. If information leaked through Lee Hye-won, it would make sense.
“Then does that mean Weltschmerz is behind this incident?”
After all, it was Weltschmerz who used her and took the item at the auction. Weltschmerz must have climbed to the Top by now, so it would make sense if villains from the Top were involved in this incident.
“But why would they?”
The problem was that there was no apparent motive. If they just did it to mess with her guild, that would be understandable, but that side has never been entangled with Sirius even once.
When Lee Hye-won returns later, she’ll have to hear the details then.
Putting on a worn-out hoodie, she quietly headed to a hospital by car.
Whenever her heart wavered, Jin Yeon-hwa visited this place.
To not lose her original intentions.
Passing through the strict security, Jin Yeon-hwa arrived at a hospital room. The room prepared for just one person was decorated more beautifully than any other place.
Lilies beautifully bloomed one by one by someone with the talent to make flowers bloom. Lying on the bed placed among them was her grandfather, Jin Yong-seok.
Having fallen into a coma after being attacked by villains, he was maintaining his life through life support equipment.
Jin Yeon-hwa sat in the chair next to his bed.
“Grandfather, I’m here.”
Jin Yeon-hwa smiled brightly and tapped Jin Yong-seok’s hand, whispering in a playful voice:
“I thought I might be able to send you off if this matter was handled well, but it seems not yet.”
Even at that somewhat creepy voice, Jin Yong-seok didn’t wake up.
“Just lie there and wait, I’ll definitely get revenge for killing Dad.”
Jin Yeon-hwa whispered in a voice full of killing intent.