By Zephyria 
To soothe the complaints of those wondering how they could play a sports match while wearing business attire and dress shoes, he had procured sportswear and sneakers for everyone. Since he hadn’t had the luxury to ponder over prizes, he simply threw in a large sum of prize money, which finally managed to kindle some enthusiasm among the guild members. After all, they had secured free clothes and shoes.
‘Later, there are snacks, and then the company dinner after the athletic meet…’
Without even needing to use a calculator, there was a massive hole in the budget. Yang Eun-ho stared bitterly at the scene of the athletic meet, made possible by a miracle of funding. For some reason, Team B seemed to be composed entirely of people with no interest in sports, resulting in a petty, neck-and-neck struggle, including Lee Han-gyeol.
‘If Tae-un hyung has any conscience, he’ll catch some magical beasts in the North Korean fields to fill the budget gap.’
But did Tae-un even have a conscience?
Yang Eun-ho repeated the futile resolution of an office worker: that if Tae-un didn’t go catch magical beasts this time, he would absolutely resign.
By the way, he had heard that “that person” was with Tae-un when he was eating at the cafeteria; surely it wasn’t related to the athletic meet? No matter how eccentric Tae-un was, his brain couldn’t be that broken…
“They say the athletic meet is going well.”
Tae-un, who was driving, handed over his phone. The screen showed photos and videos sent by Yang Eun-ho.
“Ah, there’s Han-gyeol.”
A smile naturally formed on Kim Si-baek’s lips as he spotted Lee Han-gyeol flailing and waving a baton like a distress signal. It had been a while since he’d seen him—since shortly after returning to Earth—so it was a welcome sight.
[Death and Beauty wonders why the author is flailing his limbs like that.]
“It’s because he’s clumsy and lacks muscle. Does Han-gyeol still hate exercising? He used to hate PE class so much.”
“He really does. If I hadn’t stuffed him with supplements, he would have collapsed long ago.”
While chatting and browsing through other photos and videos, they arrived at the Management Center. This was the center where tasks such as awakening confirmation and hunter registration were handled, and he had heard that the magic stone exchange was an affiliated institution.
“But the magic stone exchange looks bigger?”
The Management Center, which could be considered the main building, was a three-story structure, while the magic stone exchange was a four-story building, including the basement parking level.
“At first, we didn’t know the full use of magic stones, so we just attached a small one next to the center.”
However, as the value of magic stones became known, the situation reversed. The amount of magic stones being traded increased every year, never decreasing.
“It was too late to build a new exchange, and since we’re planning to flatten the ruins and rebuild everything once Seoul is reclaimed, we’ve been putting it off, saying let’s just hold out until then. In effect, the exchange is the main hub, so the cafeteria is located there too.”
As he walked through the center listening to the explanation, everyone they passed looked at Tae-un with surprised expressions. As people glanced, Tae-un quickly stepped half a pace behind and clung to Kim Si-baek’s shoulder. The whispering grew slightly louder.
‘Why is he hiding behind Tae-un?’
‘He’s not hidden at all.’
‘Who is that? Someone he’s close with?’
‘I recognize most of the Seven Guild hunters…’
Kim Si-baek, unaware that attention was now shifting toward him as well, continued the conversation.
“But how many magical beasts are there in Seoul that it still hasn’t been reclaimed? I heard Busan was retaken in a few years.”
It was a natural question, but Tae-un seemed to hesitate for a moment before answering.
“…Since you decided to stay, and because you can find it quickly if you search the internet, I’m confessing this now. If the omen of destruction starts in Seoul, just as your… vision suggested, honestly, I think there’s no answer.”
Tae-un muttered lowly, then flinched and quickly corrected himself.
“Of course, when I said ‘there’s no answer,’ I didn’t mean if I fought personally, but rather in the sense of giving advice…”
“Right, right. How could you, who is afraid of magical beasts and blood, fight a magical beast? I know you well.”
“As expected, you’re the only one who understands me, hyung~”
Tae-un mumbled in a very frail voice, rubbing his cheek against the back of Kim Si-baek’s head. The sound of a hiccuping ‘Hieek!’ coming from somewhere was surely a hallucination.
[Death and Beauty opens its flounder-eyes, asking what on earth the author’s role in the Id Portal was.]
“So, specifically, what is the problem?”
[Death and Beauty pinches your head, telling you not to pretend you didn’t read the divine utterance.]
“Ouch, ouch.”
They were able to continue the conversation after entering the hunter registration department. Normally, if a Guild Master of Tae-un’s standing visited, the Center Director—not just a department head—would have run out barefoot to greet him. However, everyone was so appalled by Tae-un’s behavior—sweetly linking arms with Kim Si-baek and rubbing his face against him affectionately—that no one could bring the news inside.
Regardless, the two of them calmly took a waiting ticket and sat in the chairs.
“The magical beasts settled inside Seoul are one thing, but there’s a monster living in the Han River. You could say people were trapped in Seoul during the early stages of the Great Cataclysm because of that monster.”
“Is it strong enough to be called a monster?”
“Yes. It was named Kun. Magical beasts are measured up to S-class, but that monster is so monstrous that some say it should be an exception and labeled SS-class or SSS-class. It hasn’t just taken over the Han River; almost all of Gangnam is considered Kun’s territory.”
“….”
“Even when escaping Seoul, we barely managed to flee by avoiding Kun.”
Tae-un gently stroked Kim Si-baek’s hand with a serious tone.
“That’s why I really don’t know. How other people, who said they saw Han-gyeol die, were able to reach a place where Namsan Tower is visible to the naked eye…”
His words harbored doubt that the vision might not be the true future, but Kim Si-baek shook his head firmly.
“I’m ignorant of the situation here, so as you said, it could be a trick by the system to deceive me. But there’s also a possibility that it’s real. As long as there’s even a slight possibility, I can’t just let you all die.”
“…Hyung.”
“Whether it’s real or not, I won’t change my mind, so let’s stop talking about this. Even if I was deceived, it’s not like I can go back to mak slecht right now, right?”
Tae-un, who had been staring silently, rubbed his face roughly with his palm and then changed the subject, as if agreeing to follow his wishes.
“Anyway, it’ll be nearly impossible to get past Kun.”
“If it lives in the Han River, that means it’s an aquatic-type magical beast, right? By any chance, how long is Kun?”
“I’m not sure because its entire length has never been measured, but it’s probably at least 5 meters.”
Kim Si-baek closed his eyes and quietly retraced his consciousness. The vision of destruction had been short but intense, so it wasn’t easily forgotten. He couldn’t estimate the height of the first-person perspective, but it seemed to be at least several meters.
…What is the probability that the first-person perspective was Kun’s?
When he shared his hypothesis, Tae-un looked surprised.
“It’s aquatic, but it can come up onto land?”
“If magical beasts are the same as in mak slecht.”
In terms of growth, magical beasts are similar to biological organisms, but there is a distinct difference. Magical beasts grow, but they do not evolve. They are classified into species based on appearance and habitat, but they do not evolve and cannot breed with other species.
However, there was one single exception.
That was the top-tier magical beast, where a single entity is a completed species. They were the only ones of their kind in the world, and because they were completed beings, they had no mates and did not breed.
In mak slecht, the only magical beasts at the top of the food pyramid were given separate names for management, and Earth was the same. In other words, it was an S-class named magical beast, like the Han River monster, Kun.
“It’s very rare, but unlike general magical beasts, named magical beasts sometimes evolve.”
“….”
“If it evolved, its size would increase, so the Han River would become too narrow, and it would develop a desire to move its habitat to land, right?”
Tae-un, listening in silence, wore a complex expression.
“If the Han River was too narrow, it would just go out to the sea…”
“Well, it’s just my guess.”
“If your guess is correct, hyung, doesn’t that mean if we kill Kun, we can prevent the destruction regardless of the quest?”
“I don’t think so.”
Kim Si-baek leaned back against the backrest. As the angle of his face changed, Biyendwe, who had been listening intently at the crown of his head, was startled and fluttered down to his knee. The hunter registration department, which had been in chaos, was also resuming its work.
“I heard a song that commands magical beasts. Since it’s impossible for even a named magical beast to command other magical beasts, a chaos grand warrior must have intervened. That person might be the fundamental cause of the destruction.”
“How is that chaos-something you occasionally mentioned created? Does it just pop up suddenly like a named magical beast?”
The choice of the word ‘pop’ was so typical of Tae-un that it was cute. Pop…
“Not exactly…”
Pondering how to explain this, Kim Si-baek answered briefly.
“It’s a human.”