By Zephyria 
“Mr. Biyendwe. You wouldn’t mind if your home became a bit smaller, would you?”
[Death and Beauty wonders if it would be a doghouse if the new dwelling is smaller than the current one.]
Biyendwe spoke arrogantly, like a frog who had forgotten its tadpole days, as if he couldn’t even recall the time when the religious sect didn’t even have a proper headquarters. Nevertheless, Kim Si-baek remained firm in his decision.
“I intend to move into the dormitory.”
It wasn’t that he wanted to cut ties with Tae-un, but he felt that having some physical distance was necessary to regain his composure. He couldn’t continue being a shameless piece of trash who reacted while kissing his younger brother.
To ensure his resolve didn’t waver, Kim Si-baek immediately asked Yang Eun-ho for information regarding the dormitories.
✽ ✽ ✽
Although the magical beasts’ habitats were separated by barriers, these were merely lines drawn by humans. While there hadn’t been incidents like the one in October where magical beasts swarmed the barriers for no reason, there were still occasional raids by small groups.
For this reason, ordinary people who had not undergone awakening were reluctant to work in the infrastructure outside the barriers. However, since hunters frequently traveled to and from the field, the area had a high floating population, making convenience facilities necessary for them.
Not only the Supernatural Phenomenon Response Agency but also the guilds themselves patrolled the barriers to signal that it was safe, yet ordinary people remained hesitant. And in places where labor costs were high yet people were hard to find, illegal practices tended to flourish.
It was an open secret that illegal immigrants or people with unclear identities were hired outside the barriers at wages below the minimum. It wasn’t particularly surprising to see a part-timer who looked like a foreigner working twelve hours a day at a convenience store that stayed lit twenty-four hours a day.
Two hunters leaving a sauna stopped by the convenience store before returning to the attack squad’s lodging.
“I’m exhausted to death. How many days has it been in the field now?”
“I wonder what the Vice Guild Master got obsessed with during the giant vine incident that he’s still conducting magic experiments in the field?”
“Even the raid leader didn’t seem to know?”
The guild uniforms of the gossiping pair bore a logo of a winking cloud. It was the Sky High Guild.
Usually, guild emblems are commissioned to professional designers. While some boast an antique or flamboyant aesthetic, Korean guilds tended to design them simply in-house. This was because, as long as it wasn’t drawn with one’s feet, any design tended to look better than the 7777 Guild’s emblem, which was just the number 7.
The two Sky High members stood in line at the counter with beer and a few snacks. One member, waiting boredly while fiddling with his phone, nudged the person next to him.
“Hey, look at this. Whether he’s a cultist or from the National Intelligence Service, you know that crow the S-class hunter from Seven called a mascot? Apparently, he carries it around and talks to it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, there’s a video.”
On the phone screen was Kim Si-baek, feeding popcorn to a baby crow and talking to it.
“His concept is really intense.”
“He might be serious. If I were the only person in the world to awaken healing abilities and a crow was by my side at that moment, I’d probably believe the crow was a god too.”
“This guy didn’t give such specific details, so what’s your concept?”
“Since the Seven Guild Master is with him, strangely enough, he doesn’t look like a complete cultist…”
“True… He’s not the kind of person who would keep someone who believes in cults by his side.”
Regardless of the chatter, Tae-un was an object of admiration for hunters. Jealousy only arises when there is a certain level of parity in skill; when faced with an overwhelmingly powerful individual like Tae-un, one felt nothing but awe rather than jealousy.
“Doesn’t it seem like the Guild Master subtly takes care of the crow too?”
“It’s his boyfriend’s pet bird; of course everything about it looks cute.”
“Is he really the boyfriend? He never said they were dating.”
“If they’re not dating after all that, that would be weirder.”
The conversation continued even as they placed their items on the counter. The part-timer, who had been scanning barcodes mechanically, suddenly gasped.
“Ex-excuse me. Customer?”
“Yes?”
“That… what you’re watching on your phone… may I see it for a moment?”
“Ah, yes. Go ahead.”
The two guild members finally looked properly at the part-timer, whom they had regarded as a mere convenience store NPC. They had assumed he was an illegal immigrant because he looked foreign, but his Korean was incredibly fluent—so much so that he sounded like a native. It was a bit strange that he wore sunglasses indoors, as if his eyes were sensitive.
And Edokus—a former chaos grand warrior and current illegal immigrant part-timer who had wandered outside the barrier like a beggar before being taken in by the store owner on the condition of living in the warehouse for half the minimum wage—widened his eyes.
On the customer’s phone screen was the image of a dreadfully familiar man.
‘The apostle of death and beauty…’
His nightmare and terror, the one who had dealt endless death to the countless magical beasts he had grown fond of and cherished, was here.
“Are you okay?”
The thought that he had to process the payment vanished completely from his mind. A worried voice reached Edokus as he collapsed beneath the counter, his legs giving out, but he couldn’t hear a word. The arms clutching his suddenly pale face trembled violently.
‘Why is that man here? Did he track me down? To completely annihilate me?!’
The worst apostle, who had struck terror into him even when he possessed his full power, had appeared in this land. Now that he had lost almost all his power and become a mere fragment…
He was surely going to die. He would die. This time, he would be annihilated without leaving a trace, let alone a fragment. There was nowhere to run. Where else could he flee to escape the horrific apostle who had chased him across worlds?
Amidst a terror that felt as if it would burst into sobs, Edokus grit his teeth.
✽ ✽ ✽
Fortunately, no magical beasts appeared while he was taking the one-day class. Though his mind was troubled, he worked hard on the wooden stool, and the quest was successfully completed. Carrying the stool in one hand and strolling back, he recalled the text he had received from Yang Eun-ho.
Yang Eun-ho:
Since your mentor is single, you’ll be moving into a unit of about 20 pyeong. You’re allowed to have pets.
It was more than enough space for one person—or rather, one person and one bird—to live in. The problem was that he had to tell Tae-un he was moving out… and it was obvious Tae-un would try to stop him. It would be a disaster if he weakened again and committed an irreversible act.
It was when he returned to the company building while lost in thought. At the entrance of the building, which had become quite familiar, he felt an unfamiliar atmosphere. It was Tae-un.
“….”
Tae-un stood stubbornly at the entrance with an expressionless face, ignoring the greetings of people coming and going. Now that he had decided to move out, seeing Tae-un’s face made him unexpectedly nervous.
Trying to look composed, he waved his hand.
“Un-ah, why are you standing outside?”
Tae-un’s head moved following the voice, tracking him. In the next moment, Kim Si-baek’s heart dropped to the floor with a loud thud.
Transparent tears were falling down those white cheeks facing him.
“Uh, uh, uh…”
He was so shocked that he couldn’t even speak properly. His mind went completely blank, bleached white just like the tears rolling down.
[Death and Beauty is appalled.]
Not only them, but the surrounding people let out various gasps of shock. In front of the building, which had become coldly rigid as if a hunter with ice attributes were running rampant, only Tae-un’s face was tinged with sorrow.
“Hyung…”
“Uh, uh-huh?”
“Are you… really abandoning me?”
“Uh-huh?”
In the entrance, where a stiff silence descended so heavily that one could hear a pin drop, only Tae-un’s sorrowful sobbing and Kim Si-baek’s bewilderment could be heard. It hadn’t even been a few days since he had carried him out of the Id Portal in a princess carry for everyone to see, and now it looked like a breakup. The dopamine of the guild members, who had unintentionally become spectators, was secreting wildly.
The stuttering Kim Si-baek barely managed to collect himself. However, regaining his composure did not mean he had recovered his reason. His mind was a white void, and he didn’t know what to say.
Not knowing what to do, his hands flailed for a moment before he abruptly scooped Tae-un up and fled in haste. Thanks to the sliver of reason that still remained, it wasn’t a princess carry.
Naturally, the company bulletin board that day was plastered with photos of ‘the one whose name cannot be spoken’ carrying a bear as if it were a precious hamster.