By Zephyria 
“Time spent with me? You have to stay with me until the quest is cleared. If you go to a cafe alone and leave me behind, I’ll be so upset that I’ll cry.”
Was this kid complaining about wanting to play, or was he speaking in a way that sounded like a seduction? Of course, Kim Si-baek, who was more than willing to fall for such a temptation, simply let out a short laugh.
By the time he finished his last plate, Biyendwe had also regained consciousness.
[Death and Beauty senses your presence.]
Biyendwe fluttered its wings weakly a few times. Since an avatar could not lack energy or feel the physical body to be burdensome, this was merely a plea for attention. Perhaps because it was a young god, its intentions were transparent.
“Are you awake?”
He handed over a few large grapes he had brought separately. He thought they were green grapes, but they were a variety called Shine Muscat developed several years ago. It was a fruit that Biyendwe had been extremely fond of while staying at the penthouse. Sure enough, the attention-seeking Biyendwe slowly pushed itself up and pecked at the grapes.
“Does that crow not need to eat separately?”
“Nope. It’s fixed in the moment it was formed as an avatar. To put it simply, it doesn’t consume calories.”
“That must be very convenient.”
“In human terms, it’s like an adult folding their body to fit into baby clothes, so there are more inconveniences.”
Kim Si-baek gently stroked the back of the head of the young god who wanted attention.
[Death and Beauty asks what happened to the Id Portal.]
“I heard it was cleared safely. Oh, by the way, Un-ah. I forgot to ask inside, but what happens if you fail to clear an Id Portal?”
Tae-un replied nonchalantly while sipping the remaining caramel macchiato.
“If you fail to clear it within the time limit, the host mutates.”
“Mutates?”
“For a human, you can consider it death. They mutate into a form that is halfway between a magical beast and a human, and it doesn’t stop there—they actually create magical beasts. You could say they give birth to magical beasts.”
“…They create magical beasts?”
Kim Si-baek frowned reflexively. Creating magical beasts sounded exactly like…
[Death and Beauty guesses that it seems similar to the chaos grand warrior of mak slecht.]
It felt similar to Edokus, whom he had faced. Of course, it probably wasn’t as powerful as a chaos grand warrior like Edokus, capable of pushing the world to the brink of destruction.
“Oh, right. I finished charging the battery that died while you were sleeping.”
Tae-un handed over the phone from his pocket. As soon as it booted up, a text message arrived.
I’m glad you woke up soon ^^*
When was this sent? When he looked up, he locked eyes with Tae-un, who was beaming right in front of him.
Kim Si-baek chuckled at the MZ Generation emoticon tailored for a man whose ID card age was 49.
‘But there aren’t any other messages in the meantime. Didn’t they say modern phones leave all missed call notifications?’
He thought Bae Jihan would have sent a ton of texts or calls. Anyway, since Biyendwe was awake, he could just contact him now.
“Are you texting? Do you already have someone you’re close with? Where? Who is it? Is it someone I know? Why?”
As he struggled to peck out the keypad of the phone, Kim Si-baek replied calmly to Tae-un, who had suddenly become persistent.
“Uh, yeah. I’m going on a blind date.”
The moment those words left his mouth, there was a sound of something snapping. Surprised, he saw that the handle of the mug Tae-un had been holding had broken off.
“Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”
“…I’m fine. I guess the mug was defective.”
Tae-un nonchalantly cleared the debris of the mug handle onto the tray. Kim Si-baek scratched his head. He thought the kid’s face had stiffened just now, but hmm, did he missee it?
Regardless, the kid wasn’t hurt, so it was fine. Putting his worries aside, he finished typing the message.
✽ ✽ ✽
heybaejihandidyoufaint
spill the tea what are u doing
u not discharged??
it’s not ‘anham’ (incorrect spelling) it’s ‘anham’ (correct spelling) you illiterate brat
if u keep ignoring me i’ll just assume u were so scared of tae-un that u pissed yourself in the portal lol
bae
ji
han
u really did itㅠ i’m gonna spread the rumorㅠ
“These bastards, they have no idea what I’m going through…”
Bae Jihan gnashed his teeth while looking at the group chat messages appearing in the preview pop-up window.
Time flows differently inside and outside an Id Portal. When he emerged from the portal, a day and a half had passed. He wanted to brag about what happened in the portal for seven days and six nights, acting all high and mighty, but there was a reason he couldn’t.
“Aaaagh! I signed a non-disclosure agreement!”
The attention-seeker rolled miserably on the bed. Indeed, the reason why a post like ‘Telling the story of being trapped in an Id Portal with the Seven Guild Master.ssul’ didn’t appear on the internet was because, as soon as they cleared the Id Portal, Gwak Yun-sang had rounded them all up and made them sign a non-disclosure agreement.
〈I trust you all understand why we are requesting confidentiality. This is a sensitive matter related to national interest, so please cooperate.〉
Some had suffered minor injuries during the raid, and others needed psychological stability, so they had no choice but to sign the agreement thrust upon them while they were being taken to the hospital as a group. Bae Jihan, who had been typing an aggro title like ‘Isn’t Tae-un a washed-up? lol compared to the S-class I know’ on an internet forum, had also signed it while crying.
Separate from his frustration, he understood. If a video of Kim Si-baek raiding the Portal Keeper were released, even as a mere student, he could tell the impact would be insane.
Lying sprawled on the bed, Bae Jihan recalled the scene of that day.
〈O Death. Please reap the life that is not beautiful.〉
Words that would have felt cringeworthy in any other situation were spoken, and at that moment, brilliant light scattered from the blade that swept downward. The black bird that glided through that light, spreading wings as large as a kite’s. The magical beast that vanished in an instant. The man who was the source of all that light.
The magical beast disappeared in a flash without even leaving a corpse. Just as even the hardest ice and snow must melt under the sunlight, as if it were the natural flow and truth, the magical beast that devoured everything was thus extinguished.
With just a single blink, the terrifying magical beast that filled his vision was gone, and only a brilliant halo of light remained.
Even though several days had passed, his heart pounded just as it had the first time whenever he recalled the memory. Since Bae Jihan only read textbooks and game guides, his vocabulary was abysmal, but he could express the emotion he felt from that halo of light. It was a feeling similar to visiting a quiet temple deep in the mountains—perhaps it could be called reverence.
‘Was that black bird the baby crow the mister was keeping? He said he thought of it as a guardian deity…’
What did it have to do with his ability? Why had Kim Si-baek remained unknown despite having such a power? He collapsed immediately; was he okay? It would be bad if he were still unconscious because he overexerted himself to save them. All sorts of complex thoughts swirled in his head.
“Ah, damn. If I use the ‘Mom Chance,’ I’ll get scolded to death… Should I ask Section Chief Gwak how the young-looking mister is doing?”
Gwak Yun-sang seemed to have known Kim Si-baek even before they entered the Id Portal. Of course, the surest way to check on his well-being would be through Tae-un, but he didn’t have the guts to call the 7777 Guild Master’s office, so Gwak Yun-sang was all that remained.
Since there was no answer despite continuous calls and texts, he worried if the man was still sick, and he felt upset wondering if he had already forgotten a useless high schooler like him.
Eventually, Bae Jihan steeled himself to be smacked on the back by his mother, have his PC’s internet cable unplugged, and be locked in a study cafe, and he touched his phone. He hadn’t noticed because he had turned off the notifications, but a message had arrived in the meantime.
Bae Jihan, who had been indifferent assuming it was from a friend, suddenly widened his eyes.
Jihan-gun. This is Mister Si-baek ^^
✽ ✽ ✽
Among the many orphanages, the Somang Orphanage in Gangbuk became the most famous orphanage after the Great Cataclysm. At the same time the Great Cataclysm occurred, six people awakened, and remarkably, four of them were S-class.
Since it was an unprecedented event globally, jokes were made that the land was blessed or that it was a geomantically auspicious spot. Those who would do anything to awaken wanted to eat the very soil of Somang Orphanage, but unfortunately, Seoul had not yet been reclaimed from the magical beasts.
Yang Eun-ho, an A-class hunter and one of the six awakened from Somang Orphanage, served as the chief of staff and bodyguard for Guild Master Tae-un. Of course, Tae-un was far stronger than he was as a bodyguard.
Yang Eun-ho, a versatile hunter, secretary, and bodyguard, fell into deep thought about when the current situation had begun. The start of the situation stemmed from the presence of ‘the one whose name cannot be mentioned.’