By Zephyria Eui-jae was in a relatively peaceful state, considering he had become the center of everyone’s attention. That is, except for Lee Sa-young’s heavy body leaning on him without considering his own weight. That was because…
Thump! Thump!
“Sa-young! Is this right?”
“Ah, Vice Guild Leader! Just hold on until we win the bid!”
“This is right, isn’t it? Right?”
“Yeah. Don’t counterattack, just block… We need an excuse.”
Clang! Clang! The blades aimed at Lee Sa-young were blocked by the massive wall and fell to the floor, leaving the other side quite quiet.
As Sa-young lazily answered and closed his eyes, Bae Won-woo snorted and adjusted his stance. From the moment Lee Sa-young gave a small gesture, he had been standing in front of the sofa, blocking the pouring attacks.
“Guild Leader! Can I scream?”
“Yeah.”
“Huuuh.”
Kang Ji-soo, the red-haired woman he had seen a few times at the Hangover Soup restaurant, took a deep breath, raised the paddle with the number 7 on it, and roared.
“Number Seveeeen—!”
The volume was so tremendous that it felt like the entire building was shaking. Two Hunters who had been throwing punches at each other grabbed their ears and collapsed. Eui-jae slightly opened his mouth as he watched even the paddle on the table shake. The auctioneer, who had been groaning and covering his ears, grabbed the microphone again.
“Yes, yes…. Number 7!”
Wasn’t an auction supposed to be an act where the person who bid the highest amount won the item? They had even prepared paddles for them to hold up, but why were these super hamsters using the paddles to beat people? Instead of bidding higher amounts, the Hunters were physically reducing their competitors.
And Eui-jae saw it. Beyond the sturdy back of Bae Won-woo, Honeybee leaped like a butterfly and smashed a Hunter’s head with a paddle. Thwack! With a cheerful sound, the paddle snapped in half. Honeybee spat out a small curse and threw away the broken pieces of the paddle.
“Matthew! There’s a spare over there!”
“No.”
A low voice like a cave answered. Eui-jae glanced to the left. Besides Eui-jae and Lee Sa-young’s space, there was only one other quiet place in this war: the space where Honeybee and the bear-like man were sitting. Even as Honeybee flew around like a bee, beating Hunters, he remained quietly in his seat.
Then the man, Matthew, turned his head and looked towards Eui-jae. More precisely, his gaze reached Lee Sa-young, who was leaning on Eui-jae and closing his eyes. Unlike his bear-like physique, the man in the gray suit and silver-rimmed glasses had a rather intellectual impression.
“Lee Sa-young, do you have any intention of resolving this situation?”
Lee Sa-young, who had been leaning his head on Eui-jae’s shoulder with his legs crossed, slowly replied.
“What did I do that I need to resolve….”
“Didn’t you provoke the Hunters’ pride?”
“Aren’t those crazy brats just lacking patience…. You can’t blame me for the fact that they didn’t receive patience education.”
Even though his body was in pain, his mouth wasn’t, as Lee Sa-young began to sneer as if he had been waiting for it. Cha Eui-jae, the current number one who had been caught between the psychological warfare of the current number two and three, just wanted to escape to a quiet place. He wished they would just have a conversation without him.
“…….”
Matthew didn’t immediately raise his fist and rush in or fight back, but just listened quietly. Tsk, Sa-young clicked his tongue and added with a short sigh.
“Take care of Honeybee…. You’ll have to make excuses when Jung-bin comes.”
“…I see. Thank you for the advice.”
Matthew bowed his head and answered politely. He’s taking this as advice, not a provocation?
‘Is he a saint or what….’
As Eui-jae was in shock, Matthew rummaged through his Inventory and took something out. Eui-jae checked his actions out of the corner of his eye. He might belatedly get angry and rush in. But contrary to those suspicions, what he took out was…
‘That taste from our memories! Jjondeugi’
It was a long, bright yellow bag of Jjondeugi.
Even with the openly questioning gazes, he nonchalantly tore open the bag and raised his right index finger. A small flame popped up from his fingertip.
The following action was even more spectacular. He began to grill the Jjondeugi with the finger flame. Moreover, his flame control was amazing. As if he smelled the savory scent, Lee Sa-young muttered.
“That crazy brat is grilling again….”
“…Does he usually grill Jjondeugi often?”
“What….”
The slumped Sa-young said in a hoarse voice.
“He does grill butter-grilled squid when the Guild Leaders gather.”
Is he in charge of snacks…. Eui-jae’s expression turned bitter. That’s when something warm and golden-brown popped out from the left. Matthew was holding out two pieces of Jjondeugi.
“Please have some. It’s grilled nicely.”
“…….”
“Take it.”
At Sa-young’s words, Eui-jae’s secretary persona reacted quickly, and he politely accepted the Jjondeugi with both hands. As he bowed his head in greeting, Matthew also bowed and then began to grill more Jjondeugi.
By the time the chaos of the chairman had subsided a little, Honeybee swept back her hair and returned to her seat.
“Ah, those guys who aren’t even worth a jab are attacking me…. Huh? What’s this?”
“Eat it.”
“What, I thought you didn’t bring any! Thank you.”
Honeybee smiled brightly, put the Jjondeugi in her mouth, and sat on the sofa with her legs crossed. As Bae Won-woo’s wall, which had been blocking the view, went down, the sight of the hall, which had been almost completely ruined, came into view. Most of the super hamsters who had been wielding weapons and rampaging were slumped and collapsed on the floor.
“Then…. All the competitors have been eliminated….”
Sa-young, who had been muttering, straightened up his slumped body. He gestured towards Kang Ji-soo, who was still holding up the paddle.
“Kang Ji-soo.”
“Yes! Guild Leader.”
“Collect all the paddles on the table and break them….”
“Okay.”
Kang Ji-soo disappeared like the wind. Lee Sa-young picked up the number 2 paddle on the table with his bound hands and looked at the auctioneer.
“Did you say you can only participate if you have a paddle?”
“Ah, yes! That’s right.”
“…….”
Purple eyes scanned the surroundings. Snap! Snap! Snap! The clear sound of Kang Ji-soo breaking the paddles echoed rhythmically from afar. Sa-young raised the paddle to head height and raised the corners of his lips.
“Yeah…. Looks like I’m the only one who can participate.”
“What? Hey! Who said you could!”
“Honeybee, I also grilled marshmallows.”
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
“Hmm? You want butter-grilled squid too? I understand.”
Honeybee tried to interject while pointing her finger, but Matthew relentlessly shoved the golden-brown grilled foods into Honeybee’s mouth. The auctioneer looked back at Hong Ye-seong with a flustered face, but he was already out of it. Hong Ye-seong snatched the auctioneer’s hammer and shouted.
“Then it’s a successful bid for Lee Sa-young. Let’s finish the auction quickly!”
Bang! Bang! Bang! The cheerful striking sound filled the hall. Sa-young, who let out a long sigh, slowly blinked his eyes. He leaned his head on Eui-jae’s shoulder again and whispered in his ear.
“Then… Hyung.”
“Yes.”
“Tell Jung-bin one thing for me.”
“…….”
“That I’ll get double the debt back.”
Sa-young’s upper body slumped forward as he muttered in a small, whispering voice. At the same time as the paddle he was holding fell to the floor, Eui-jae hurriedly caught the collapsing body. The body in his arms was terribly cold.
Only one word came to mind in his empty head. The surrounding murmurs were heard as if they were being muffled.
‘Why?’
Wasn’t it just that his physical condition wasn’t good? Does having the source of his power bound put such a great burden on his body? To the point where he collapses without even being able to pull himself together? Who should I call? Where should I go….
His thoughts became a mess and his heart started beating fast. Eui-jae called Sa-young with a parched mouth.
“Sa-young.”
“…….”
“Hey, Lee Sa-young.”
For some reason, his pulse seemed to be getting slower and slower. Even his breathing became faint.
No. The hand that was holding Sa-young’s upper body trembled. As he hurriedly looked around, a huge figure appeared in front of him.
Bae Won-woo, who was clearly flustered, hurriedly set up a wall around them. He turned his head sharply to check if the surroundings were well covered, and then asked.
“Secretary, why is he like this? What’s wrong?”
Eui-jae, who had opened his mouth to answer, deliberately bit his tongue hard. The stinging pain and the bitter taste of blood awakened his sense of reality. Fortunately, a calm voice came out of his mouth.
“I don’t know. He’s been in bad condition since he was restrained, but he suddenly collapsed.”
“What is it? This has never happened before… I’ve been bound too, but it wasn’t this bad…. Ji-soo! Go get Jung-bin!”
“Aish…. Where is Jung-bin! I understand for now!”
Kang Ji-soo slipped out through a gap in the wall. In the meantime, Bae Won-woo took out all kinds of Elixirs from his Inventory, lined them up next to him, and worriedly grabbed his head.
How long had it been, when the back of Eui-jae’s neck was soaked in cold sweat, that a regular knocking sound was heard from the wall. One side of the wall opened, and Kang Ji-soo came in panting, grabbing Jung-bin’s arm.
“Kang Ji-soo, explain why the hall is in that state….”
“Jung-bin!”
“…Lee Sa-young? What on earth….”
Jung-bin, whose complexion changed in an instant, knelt down in front of Sa-young on one knee. A heavy silence flowed. Jung-bin, who was examining Sa-young’s condition, groaned.
“I’m sorry. My thinking was short-sighted. I didn’t realize so much time had passed.”
With a somewhat urgent touch, he untied the chain that had been binding his wrist. The bound arm drooped powerlessly. Bae Won-woo, who had also knelt down, muttered worriedly.
“Sa-young’s condition has never been this bad before. What’s going on?”
“Um….”
Jung-bin had a somewhat troubled face. A resolute look settled on Jung-bin’s face, who seemed to hesitate for a moment. He opened his mouth in a low voice.
“You know that my chain has the ability to restrain the source of an Awakened’s power. Yes, that’s how it’s been publicly revealed….”
Eui-jae, who had been massaging Lee Sa-young’s cold arm, raised his head at the following words.
“To be precise, it returns the Awakened’s body to the state it was in just before Awakening. That’s also the trigger for Awakening. It temporarily fixes the time of the body itself by reversing it.”
At that time, the voice of Nam Woo-jin, who was not here, rose in his memory.
“In the middle of the Black Ruin, he was said to be sitting alone in loose patient clothes.”
“In the body of an ordinary person, just before becoming an Awakened.”