By Zephyria 210
“Wake up the kids sleeping next to you. Why are you nodding off like that when you haven’t even had lunch?”
Click, the sound of a pen cap being pressed. Rustle, the sound of clothes rubbing against each other. Tap, the sound of a hand mirror closing. Teehee, the sound of laughter stifled.
The classroom during class was noisy with all sorts of sounds besides the teacher’s voice.
‘I can’t concentrate….’
Snap, the lead broke. Ga-eul sighed softly. She pressed the end of the mechanical pencil. The spring popped out. The most uncomfortable thing since the Awakening was this. Having to hear sounds she didn’t want to hear. Ga-eul suppressed the urge to cover her ears and glanced at the window. The curtains fluttered in the wind blowing through the half-open window.
The wind stopped, and the curtains fell.
“……”
Da-yeon, sitting by the window, was staring blankly out the window. With a strangely contorted face, groping her neck. What is she looking at? Is there something there? Ga-eul also looked out the window. And.
She saw a company in white clothes.
We must prevent Doomsday with human power.
For a moment, her breath stopped. The letters written in red were etched into her eyes like lightning. Doomsday. Instinct warned her. No one must see it. But how? There was still a long time before class ended.
Then, the teacher tapped the blackboard.
“Alright, alright, look here instead of looking out the window. Did an Idol come outside or something?”
Ga-eul quickly raised her head. But the students’ gazes had already turned to the window. At the same time, Ga-eul slammed her mechanical pencil down. This is driving me crazy! She jumped up from her seat. However.
“……”
She stopped in her tracks.
A Whitehole was shining ominously brightly in the sky. It stung her eyes as if she were looking at the sun with her bare eyes. Ga-eul frowned.
Doomsday, which had come for the third time after two destructions. Even if time was turned back, the Souls that made up the body were the same, so the fear was engraved in her Soul. Primal instinct.
A chill ran down her spine. Her stomach churned, and cold sweat flowed. Every single hair stood on end. Ga-eul slowly looked around. Everyone had a strangely uncomfortable expression on their faces.
People touching their necks, people touching their arms, people covering their eyes, people kicking their feet for no reason…. Everyone was touching somewhere on their body. Without even realizing their actions.
Ga-eul rubbed her heart and quickly took her hand away. This is not the time. She hurriedly ran to the window and closed the curtains. Chwaaak, even though there was a rough sound, no one paid attention to her.
After closing all the curtains, she gripped the white cloth and caught her breath. It was eerily quiet. Her vision spun. Am I scared right now?
No, it’s not me. To be exact, it’s Yoon Ga-eul who is melted inside her….
‘I’m scared….’
Yoon Ga-eul, who had experienced Doomsday, was afraid. Instinct warned her. That Doomsday would come.
Ga-eul quickly took out her cell phone. Her vision kept flickering.
Kwaang―
The white dust that rose like cumulonimbus clouds slowly subsided, and the huge mountain goat wrapped in thick vines collapsed. Kang Ji-soo, who took her hand off the dirt, shook her hands. Bae Won-woo lowered the shield that had been blocking the front. The research team that had retreated behind ran to the mountain goat. The collection Guild hired by the research team also hurriedly followed behind. Bae Won-woo scratched his head.
“…Should I have followed them?”
“Why would we follow them, Vice Guild Leader.”
“Still, I’m a little worried about sending Sa-young alone. I wonder if he’ll break someone’s shoulder again….”
“That might be a little worrying….”
Kang Ji-soo scratched her head. Bae Won-woo attended the General Assembly while Lee Sa-young was unconscious. He maintained close relationships with most Hunters, so there were no major problems, but Lee Sa-young….
Bae Won-woo looked at Kang Ji-soo with an uneasy gaze.
“He wouldn’t pick a fight, would he?”
“Wasn’t this General Assembly opened directly by the Director? I doubt the Director would let that happen.”
“But….”
“You’re being overprotective if you ask me. Worry about the lunch menu instead of worrying about that.”
“Hangover….”
“Ugh. The Hanover Soup Restaurant is closed.”
“I know, that’s why I stopped talking.”
Bae Won-woo looked at the mountain goat being disassembled with a troubled face. Skilled collectors separated the mountain goat’s skin, horns, bones, organs, and Mana Stone in turn. The Wave Guild research team stamped their feet and shone their eyes. Kang Ji-soo, who was yawning as if bored, mumbled.
“Let’s just boil some cup noodles. I’m too lazy.”
“Okay….”
“You’re okay with cup noodles? What’s wrong? Are you still worried about the Guild Leader?”
“No…. I’m worried that the Director might call if Sa-young causes trouble. That’s a bit….”
“Think positively. You can’t stop accidents even if you’re next to the Vice Guild Leader.”
“Vice Guild Leader.”
At that time, the research team leader hurriedly approached. The team leader, wearing thick white protective clothing all over his body, bowed his head with sparkling eyes.
“The collection is over! Thank you for bringing us! Thanks to you, we will be able to extract meaningful comparison data.”
“Oh, you’ve worked hard. Well, is there anything else you need to see? Last time, you collected things like stone fragments.”
“Ah, the collection Guild members are collecting that too. Haha, I finally feel like I can live a little. It’s all thanks to the Vice Guild Leader enduring next to the Guild Leader and getting permission to hire us.”
“Hey, the Guild Leader stamped the seal, what are you talking about.”
Bae Won-woo waved his hand. The team leader smiled brightly like a child, unlike his middle-aged age.
“I’ll take it to the lab right away and check it out. Thank you!”
“Yes, we’ll be going too.”
The two came out of the Dungeon with light steps. And they got into the van parked near the Dungeon entrance. Bae Won-woo yawned as he started the car. Ji-soo, who was sitting in the passenger seat, shrugged her shoulders.
“Or how about going to eat pasta?”
“I don’t eat Western noodles.”
“Ah, yes. Go ahead and eat your fill of Janchi noodles.”
The black van started smoothly. Kang Ji-soo sat cross-legged in the passenger seat and searched for restaurants on her cell phone. Excluding ‘Western’ food, there wasn’t much to eat.
The Hanover Soup Restaurant was definitely a safe bet. She was just tired of eating it too much. Ji-soo licked her lips. And she raised her head. The car was going strangely fast.
“What are you doing, Vice Guild Leader? Do you want to get a ticket?”
“……”
“…Vice Guild Leader?”
Ji-soo turned to the side. Bae Won-woo was strangely frowning. The cold sweat on his temples flashed momentarily. The hand holding the steering wheel was shaking terribly. Eventually, he collapsed onto the steering wheel. Bbaaang― A loud horn sounded.
“Ah, what the Fck, what’s wrong all of a sudden…! Vice Guild Leader, hey! Bae Won-woo! Hey, you crazy brat!”
Kang Ji-soo hurriedly shoved her hand under Bae Won-woo’s upper body and grabbed the steering wheel. The crosswalk at the intersection was right in front of her. There were strangely many white things on the road, but she didn’t have the mind to see them. That’s not important now. She couldn’t run into other cars and pedestrians!
“Ah really, I don’t have a license!”
Ji-soo gritted her teeth and turned the steering wheel as much as possible. Squeak― Her body leaned heavily in one direction. At the same time, thick grass bloomed and obscured her vision. The scream was buried in the noise.
Eui-jae glanced at the watch on his wrist. Unfortunately, he couldn’t tell the time. He could only move diligently. Eui-jae puffed out his cheeks inside the mask. The General Assembly was a far cry from its name, with high-pitched voices and similar stories repeated ad nauseam. Most of them were complaints from small and medium-sized Guilds that had lost their affiliated Hunters. Someone raised their voice.
“At this point, the Management Bureau should be looking for a way. Why, are you going to leave it alone until only the Rankers are left? Are low-ranking Hunters not even treated as Hunters?”
“Calm down….”
“Do you think I don’t know? You laugh at Hunters for being kidnapped, saying they deserve to be kidnapped!”
“That’s not true at all. I don’t know where you heard that….”
“Yes, yes. I understand that feeling. Several Guild Hunters who are in a cooperative relationship with our Samra Guild have also been kidnapped….”
Song Jo-heon intervened with a seemingly sad face. He stood up from his seat and stood next to the Hunter who had voiced his complaints. And he patted him on the shoulder and comforted him.
“We, that is, I and the Awakened Management Bureau, have searched in many ways, but we have not been able to catch the tail. It’s all our incompetence.”
“……”
“I apologize on their behalf. I’m really sorry.”
“Ah, no….”
Song Jo-heon bowed his head deeply. At the same time, Ham Seok-jeong opened her mouth.
“The Samra Guild hasn’t found them, I see.”
“……”
Song Jo-heon raised his upper body. He glared at Ham Seok-jeong with sharp eyes. Ham Seok-jeong shook her head.
“That means….”
“The Awakened Management Bureau has found the group that kidnaps Hunters. However, we just can’t chase them rashly. Everyone knows about the drugs circulating among the Hunters, right?”
“……”
“You’ve probably heard about it. It’s also known as a drug that gives Hunters a peaceful sleep.”
Eui-jae looked at Ham Seok-jeong, then shifted his gaze to Jung-bin standing behind her.
“The group that kidnaps Hunters and the group that manufactures and distributes drugs have the same roots.”
Jung-bin was rubbing the back of his neck.
“……”
No, he wasn’t rubbing the back of his neck. He was clutching his neck. As if strangling his neck. His face was strangely pale. Eui-jae quickly turned his head and looked at Lee Sa-young sitting next to him.
“……”
Lee Sa-young was bowing his head. Precariously, as if he would bury his head in the table at any moment.