By Zephyria “It’s a gift. Please put mine up too.”
“……”
“Well, this much fan service is basic. It’s not like I was thankful for the extra rice.”
Honeybee swept back her flowing hair. Anyone could tell she was overjoyed to meet her fan.
If someone quick-witted had been nearby, they would have teased her relentlessly for acting up, but, fortunately or unfortunately, Honeybee was next to Bae Won-woo, who had the perceptiveness of a blank sheet of paper. He was genuinely impressed.
“Oh~ Alby, you were a Honeybee fan?”
“…Y-yes.”
“Hey, come often. He’s a fan.”
Shut up.
“Well, I’m very busy, but I might come again sometime.”
Please never come again.
Honeybee and Bae Won-woo left the store amicably. Eui-jae, with the signed poster tucked under his arm, stared at the ceiling with empty eyes.
‘I could become rich just selling the autograph.’
But Eui-jae’s Tomato Market account was frozen, so Honeybee’s autographed poster couldn’t be sold and ended up next to Jung-bin’s autograph. And that afternoon, Ha-eun, who had come home from school, discovered Honeybee’s poster and eagerly ran towards it.
“Uncle, what’s this?”
“It’s a Honeybee poster.”
“The real Honeybee?”
Didn’t her voice get a little… louder? Eui-jae, who was organizing the groceries, looked at Ha-eun with a puzzled expression. Ha-eun was stuck to the wall as if she would press her cheek against the poster any moment.
“Honeybee came and went? Today?”
Now her voice was practically a scream.
“Yeah. She even signed it herself there.”
“I, I….”
Ha-eun, who had moved so close to the poster that she might rub her cheek against it, began to sob.
“Yeah?”
“Uncle, I….”
“Why, what’s wrong?”
“I want to see Honeybee!”
‘Shit.’
He had cursed her to never come again. Eui-jae had to cancel his curse within just a few hours.
“Sa-young, did you skip your meal again!”
Thump, thump, thump. With heavy footsteps, the one who slammed open the Guild Leader’s office door was none other than the Vice Guild Leader, Bae Won-woo. Lee Sa-young frowned slightly, but it wasn’t visible thanks to his eye patch.
He was lying stretched out on the Guild Leader’s office sofa, wearing both a black eye patch and earplugs securely. Bae Won-woo, who approached him, started nagging as usual.
“People, I’m telling you, live on rice. You seemed to be eating well these days, so why did you suddenly stop again?”
It wasn’t a new thing that Sa-young had a small appetite. Bae Won-woo clicked his tongue and soon brought a tablet, standing in front of him. He didn’t care whether he was wearing earplugs or not.
After all, earplugs were just something that slightly reduced the sound for Lee Sa-young. That’s what an S-class Awakened was.
“The Awakened Management Bureau sent an official letter. They’re activating an emergency response system on the ranking announcement day and are asking for cooperation.”
“……”
Instead of answering, Sa-young wiggled his feet.
“Okay.”
Bae Won-woo flipped the screen.
“Our team will attack the Jongno 3-ga Dungeon. Once the advance team clears it, the researchers will enter as the rear team to investigate the Dungeon’s resources.”
Wiggle.
“And the Seowon Guild wants you to set a day and visit them.”
Wiggle.
“That’s about it for urgent matters… Ah, and I’m thinking of filming an advertisement too.”
“……”
Who or what had put that idea into his head, he didn’t know, but it was a story not worth answering, so Sa-young stopped wiggling. However, Bae Won-woo stubbornly continued to speak.
“The Hanover Soup Restaurant Alby is also a Honeybee fan. I thought he had no interest in Hunters at all. I guess you can’t ignore public broadcast recognition.”
“…What?”
Sa-young slyly pushed up one side of his eye patch.
“Say that again.”
“What? That you can’t ignore public broadcast advertisement recognition?”
“No, before that.”
“I’m going to film an advertisement?”
“Shit…. Are you doing this on purpose?”
“No, what am I doing?”
“You mentioned Alby or something.”
“Ah, Alby? I heard he’s a Honeybee fan?”
“…What?”
There was only one Alby that Bae Won-woo would recognize in this world. The Hanover Soup Restaurant Alby.
“Honeybee even signed a poster and gave it to him directly. I should learn from that kind of fan service.”
Bae Won-woo began to enthusiastically talk about the desirable attitude of a Hunter. Sa-young, holding the awkwardly pushed-up eye patch, fell into thought. Come to think of it, Cha Eui-jae’s attitude towards him and Jung-bin was different. And he’s a Honeybee fan?
The common point between Jung-bin and Honeybee….
‘Advertisement stars.’
Heh, Sa-young let out a hollow laugh. It seemed that Cha Eui-jae had some kind of bizarre taste, only liking people with high recognition.
Roughly throwing off his eye patch, he gestured to Bae Won-woo, who was still going on about his rosy future where his recognition would explode after filming an advertisement, making him the 5th ranked Hunter, following the 365 ways to become a stylish Hunter.
“Stop daydreaming and call the PR team leader.”
“Wow, Sa-young. Are you really going to let me film an advertisement?”
“Quickly.”
During the evening hours when the store had thinned out a bit, Eui-jae was organizing the ledger at the Hanover Soup Restaurant counter. Today, there were fewer unfortunate Hunters who threw down their bills and ran out, so the calculations were easier.
At that moment, two text messages arrived on Eui-jae’s phone.
Sa-young: CBS
Sa-young: Turn it on
What’s wrong with that guy who hasn’t come to the Hanover Soup Restaurant or contacted me for a while? Sa-young told him to turn on CBS, but there was no need to change the channel. CBS’s popular weekend drama had just ended, so it was already on. Eui-jae slyly glanced at the TV.
―Change your color. CyC.
He wouldn’t have contacted me to watch Honeybee’s advertisement. What was the next program? Eui-jae was trying to remember the schedule.
Just then, the hair dye company logo disappeared, and a pretty detached house with a large yard appeared. A happy family was laughing as they watched a retriever running around the yard.
Hahaha, hohoho, woof woof.
And appearing against that background…
A Gas mask.
‘…A Gas mask?’
The pen that was manually recording the amounts in the notebook stopped moving. Cha Eui-jae unknowingly opened his mouth and focused on the screen.
Clang―
That was the sound of a Hunter watching TV in front of the water purifier dropping his glass.
Hunters are sensitive to sound. The gazes that instinctively turned towards the source of the loud noise first looked at the Hunter who dropped the glass, then at the Hunter’s dumbfounded face, and naturally followed his gaze.
And they saw ‘it.’
“Crazy….”
One Hunter dropped the spoon he was holding. Another Hunter spewed out water like an actor spitting out orange juice in a drama. Some Hunters began to make the sign of the cross and recite prayers. The entire Hanover Soup Restaurant was engulfed in shock and horror.
White letters appeared next to the waist of the Gas mask that appeared like a grim reaper in front of the family.
‘Wave Guild Leader Lee Sa-young’
The Gas mask in a neat suit stretched out his left hand. And he made a V-shape with the index and middle fingers of his right hand, overlapping it on his left palm. Actually, it wasn’t very visible because he was wearing black gloves on both hands.
A low voice mechanically said.
―For Awakened registration inquiries, contact the Bureau of Rift Management hotline at 777. To report Unregistered Persons and Awakened crimes, call 555.
―The Korean Awakened Management Bureau is always by your side.
Hahaha, hohoho, 555.
The happy family and the Gas mask spread their hands and waved them from side to side. The screen darkened, and the music faded out with them. Silence fell. A professional voice actor quickly recited the precautions like a rap.
―Failure to register within one month of Awakening without special reason will result in a fine of up to 100 million won. Upon Awakening, please visit the Awakened Registration Center in your area for examination. Public Service Advertising Council.
Everyone in the store was speechless for a long time. Even after the advertisement ended, no one opened their mouth first. It was as if they were collectively cursed into silence.
It wasn’t until the next program was about to start that the Hunters roughly exhaled one by one. Some Hunters even took out an Elixir from thin air and emptied it in one go.
“Wow….”
“Heok. Heok. C, crazy. What did I just see.”
“I thought I was hit with a confusion debuff.”
“Me too.”
“Is this real?”
“I think my mental strength has been depleted.”
“Lee Sa-young is crazy. Now he’s even doing mental attacks.”
“I can’t do this. I’m going to buy equipment that raises mental strength.”
“Is that advertisement going to come out every time I watch TV now?”
“I’m going to start a digital detox from today….”
“S, Shield Guy.”
The horrified gazes all shifted to one person. It was Shield Guy, sitting like a mountain in the seat facing away from the TV, silently scooping up his Hangover Soup. Indeed, just his presence alone was enough to attract everyone’s attention, befitting the best Tanker in Korea. A Hunter sitting at the same table cautiously asked.
“What… exactly is that?”
Shield Guy, Bae Won-woo, replied gloomily.
“It’s a public service advertisement.”
“Yes?”
“If you Awaken, don’t forget to register as an Awakened… something like that.”
‘That was the content?’
Eui-jae, who was listening to their conversation, almost dropped the pen he was holding this time. Wasn’t it a threat that if you don’t register as an Awakened, the Gas mask will find you and kill you?
“No, why did Lee Sa-young suddenly film a public service advertisement? He’s the guy who rejects all advertisements.”
That question wasn’t just held by that Hunter, and one by one, they began to put forward their own speculations.
“The ranking announcement is coming up soon. Isn’t he filming it to secure the 1st place?”
“Lee Sa-young would be number one even without doing this, what.”
“Did Jung-bin catch him doing something wrong?”
“No way.”
“Well….”
Bae Won-woo’s lips twitched as if he was about to say something. But in the end, he couldn’t say anything and buried his face back into the earthenware pot.
The loyal man of this era, the guy among guys, Bae Won-woo, couldn’t bring himself to say it.
That Lee Sa-young had directly contacted the Korea Broadcast Advertising Corporation and made a demand disguised as a request to film a public service advertisement. The civil servants who were happy at the news that Lee Sa-young, who was famous for ignoring all advertisement requests, had contacted them first, and the PR team who were happy that their Guild Leader was finally filming an advertisement, had all lost their words after seeing the result.
“If this goes out, the Wave Guild is finished.”
“……”
“If you were going to be like this, you shouldn’t have filmed an advertisement in the first place! Why!”
The PR team leader grabbed Bae Won-woo and wailed. But Bae Won-woo was utterly powerless….
Instead of making excuses, he chose silence. He took a large spoonful of Hangover Soup and shoved it into his mouth. His vision was blurry because the Cheongyang pepper was spicy. He sniffled with a sentimental look.
‘Sa-young, I kept my loyalty….’
Eui-jae, who was blankly looking at the TV screen, also came to his senses at the vibration of his ringing phone.
Sa-young: Did you see it?
A shameless text message had arrived. He was so dumbfounded that he didn’t even know how to reply.
Sa-young: Hyung said
Sa-young: He likes people who film advertisements
Sa-young: ^^
“What the hell, crazy….”
Eui-jae… decided that whoever spread the rumors, he would kill them if he caught them.