By Zephyria Everything is a mess. Everyone in the room stared at the leaking grape juice. It meant that they shouldn’t even think about waking Lee Sa-young by force. Bae Won-woo asked urgently.
“Then, when will he wake up? Can you estimate that?”
“I don’t know! How would I know that? I’m not a fortune teller. This is about Lee Sa-young’s Soul. It depends on Lee Sa-young.”
“Even with a divinely gifted genius, the best The Artisan?”
“Ah~ I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you.”
Hong Ye-seong covered his ears and ran to the corner of the conference room.
“…So, the best thing to do is to leave him alone as we are now.”
With Jung-bin’s words, silence returned to the conference room. According to Hong Ye-seong, they just have to wait. Without being able to do anything. Submerged in helplessness.
Should I have stayed by his side a little longer?
Should I have postponed the whale disposal a little?
Eui-jae clenched his hand on the table. Even with that slight force, the juice overflowed from the already unstable glass. The juice that escaped the glass spread wider and wider. He closed his eyes, watching the purple trajectory. What appeared through the darkness that dyed his vision black was a pair of purple eyes.
Since when had those indifferent eyes, which had been observing, contained warmth?
‘Come back safe, Hyung.’
Did Lee Sa-young know his future when he said goodbye then? He probably did. Didn’t he give him a teleport scroll, pretending to promise by intertwining pinky fingers?
“…….”
Cha Eui-jae’s life has always been a series of choices. He has always chosen the path that could save more people without hesitation.
“…….”
But.
Lee Sa-young, who had collapsed powerlessly in the bathroom, appeared to flicker before his eyes. Eui-jae gritted his teeth. At that moment,
Clap!
A sharp clapping sound rang in his ears. Eui-jae quickly regained his senses and looked up. Jung-bin, who was standing next to him, was staring at him.
‘Since when have I been bowing my head?’
As Eui-jae straightened his hunched upper body, Jung-bin smiled softly and patted Eui-jae’s back as if to show off.
“Then, it’s time to think about what we can do now.”
We. It was a strangely unfamiliar expression. Eui-jae looked around at the people sitting in the conference room with a fresh perspective. When he thought about it, Cha Eui-jae was not alone now. Jung-bin continued slowly.
“We need to find other ways to fill Lee Sa-young’s absence. Fortunately, he’s not a Hunter whose every move is shared, and here….”
His gaze turned to J.
“…Thanks to J, who suddenly appeared and handled the whale wonderfully. For a while, attention will be focused on this side. The existence of the suddenly appeared No. 1 Hunter is significant. Nevertheless….”
Jung-bin pointed to the outside of the window with a nod. White ashes were still falling little by little from the sky.
“The situation is what it is. Someone will definitely look for Lee Sa-young. A couple of unanswered calls are okay, but if unanswered calls continue, they will have no choice but to be suspicious.”
Bae Won-woo, who was bowing his head and agonizing, muttered.
“…I guess we can’t just say he’s gone abroad for a while?”
Very Small Miracle Mingi Seo was shocked.
“Are you trying to become a traitor in this situation? Even Gyugyu Hunter is in Korea right now!”
“Aish, why is that Gyugyu still in Korea when it’s not even Chuseok. What should we do?”
“Whatever the case, we can’t hide Lee Sa-young’s absence for long. Other Guilds will be trying to increase their power by taking advantage of this chaos. They’ll want to take the place of the national hero.”
“How… can’t you help us a little? We have old friendships where we took Lee Sa-young from a dilapidated shack and warmed our hands while chopping firewood, Captain.”
Bae Won-woo put his hands together and twisted his eyebrows into an eight shape toward Jung-bin, pretending to be pitiful. But Jung-bin shook his head.
“I’m already saying this assuming my cooperation.”
“Aigo….”
“If.”
A modulated, dry voice snatched everyone’s attention. The owner of the voice was J, who was sitting with his legs crossed. He rubbed the table with the tip of his index finger and tilted his head slightly.
“If I start to be active properly.”
“…….”
“Can you cover up Lee Sa-young’s absence?”
Jung-bin’s face, which had been flustered, became serious. He rubbed his chin and muttered.
“…For a while.”
“It’s not possible for long?”
“The public’s interests tend to change easily. But we can hold out for a month or two.”
“Then do that.”
“Yes?”
“Two months.”
J held out two fingers to make a V.
“I’ll be active on the front lines for the next two months, so leak the story to the media in advance and make sure all the attention comes to me.”
“…….”
“If Sa-young doesn’t wake up by then, find another way. Anyone opposed?”
No answer came back. But it was familiar. Standing on the front lines, and not getting an answer back. And….
“Then let’s do that.”
Becoming a hero, too.
After finishing speaking, he got up from his seat without hesitation and strode toward Hong Ye-seong, who was folding a crane in the corner.
“Hey, you.”
Hong Ye-seong blinked and looked up at him.
“Huh? Why? Oh, right. Are you going to tell me the review of the mask? How is it? This body is working so hard￣”
He thought he had listened enough at this point. When Eui-jae blocked the mouth that was pouring out words like a waterfall, Hong Ye-seong rebelled, widening his clear brown eyes.
“Mph! Mph!”
The modulated voice commanded briefly.
“Turn that on. That… the thing that turns your eyes gold.”
“Mph?”
“Turn it on quickly. No time.”
Golden patterns began to appear and rotate in his eyes, which had been blinking blankly. It was definitely the Emotional Eye he had seen a few times. But….
‘It’s different from what I saw in the Memorial Dungeon.’
The Emotional Eye he saw there was a little more complex, chaotic, and lively.
‘Are they completely separate entities?’
Cha Eui-jae took his hand off his mouth. Hong Ye-seong tilted his head.
“Why suddenly the Emotional Eye? Is there something you want to get an emotion reading on?”
‘But… I don’t know yet.’
Eui-jae didn’t let go of the faint possibility. If the source of their Souls is the same, like Lee Sa-young, there must be a point of contact somewhere.
‘You said it was the last chance.’
‘Hong Ye-seong’ helped Cha Eui-jae of the first world when he turned back time. And, he probably continued to watch him ever since. Watching him struggle to prevent Doomsday.
‘He’s probably watching now too.’
Eui-jae took out his cracked-screen cell phone from his pocket and held it out.
“Type in your number.”
Hong Ye-seong sparkled his eyes in a burdensome way.
“Heol… am I getting my number taken?”
“Shut up and type it in.”
“Can I text you whenever I’m bored?”
“Don’t.”
As soon as all the numbers were typed in, Eui-jae snatched the phone and slammed the conference room door open in one go. Then, he bowed deeply to the people who were looking at him with bewildered faces.
“Then I’ll be going. If you have anything to contact me about, do it through Min-gi Seo.”
Clack.
Silence fell as the conference room door closed. Haa, he let out a short sigh. The stuffy chest showed no signs of getting better. Eui-jae patted his chest with his fist for no reason and started to move. It was then.
“Hey, wait a minute!”
A familiar and thick voice grabbed his feet. It was the voice he heard morning, noon, and night at the Hanover Soup Restaurant.
Habits are so scary. Eui-jae unconsciously and naturally turned around, put his hand in his pocket, and prepared to take out the order form and pen. Of course, there was no pen. He was wearing combat clothes!
‘Shit, shit.’
Eui-jae awkwardly stood and faced Bae Won-woo. Fortunately, he seemed to be distracted by something else and didn’t seem to care about the strange posture in front of him. Bae Won-woo hesitated for a moment and opened his mouth.
“Um, by any chance.”
“Yes?”
“That….”
His heart was pounding because he felt guilty. Could it be about the Hanover Soup Restaurant? He wouldn’t have noticed that I was a part-timer. Eui-jae clenched his fist behind his back to use memory erasure (physical) if necessary. But what he said next was unexpected.
“Do you happen to know that Sa-young has been looking for J a lot?”
“…Yes?”
Eui-jae opened his mouth slightly. Bae Won-woo scratched his head roughly.
“Ah… I wasn’t going to say it. But just in case Sa-young wakes up later, don’t act like you know. Seriously. Promise me.”
Bae Won-woo put his hands together and pretended to beg. Eui-jae, who was at a loss for words and looking at his troubled face, took a deep breath. And he took a step back.
“No, it’s okay.”
“Yes?”
“You don’t have to tell me.”
“No, but….”
“I know.”
“…….”
“I know that Lee Sa-young waited for me, and that he looked for me.”
His heart beat messily every time he mentioned Lee Sa-young. Eui-jae paused for a moment and bowed his head.
“I’m grateful for the thought, but I’ll listen to that directly when Lee Sa-young wakes up.”
“Ah, yes….”
“Then.”
The black back disappeared, and after the presence faded away and disappeared completely, Bae Won-woo let out a big sigh. Cold sweat was beading on his forehead. He took a breath and glanced back.
“…Was it obvious? That I was nervous.”
Mingi Seo, who had appeared from Bae Won-woo’s shadow, pushed up his sunglasses.
“He’s not that much of a psychopath. Probably.”
“I know, you crazy brat. Still, after getting beaten so badly, my body tenses up on its own.”
“…….”
Mingi Seo shrugged without answering. Certainly, J that day….
“Was like a ghost.”
“Huh?”
“It’s nothing. Hunter Jung-bin called you.”
“Ah, okay.”
Bae Won-woo trudged and opened the conference room door and went inside. Mingi Seo stared at the empty hallway and rubbed the back of his neck. Cold sweat was already soaking him.
Day of Change. J lost his mind and rampaged inside Guild Master Lee Sa-young’s house, and was subdued by Very Small Miracle Mingi Seo, Shield Guy, and Jung-bin. In fact, the expression ‘subdued’ was not correct. To be exact….
He ‘allowed’ himself to be subdued. Probably….
“…….”
Because he was worried about Lee Sa-young being harmed. Even in a state of losing his mind.
‘He doesn’t seem to remember that day clearly….’
Mingi Seo rubbed his mouth and rarely sighed. As much as he was directly pointed out by J, he was scheduled to have a harder time than anyone else for a while.
Of course, Mingi Seo, the worst workaholic, was secretly welcoming the appearance of a new Master.