By Zephyria Jung-bin stared at Gyu-Gyu with lukewarm eyes.
“Shouldn’t you be out there helping to rescue people, Gyu-Gyu? The Director will be checking.”
“What, was I ever really needed~? I’m a freelancer, a free spirit.”
“Weren’t you with Honeybee?”
“Oh…, you know about that too?”
Gyu-Gyu, propping his chin with one hand, tilted his head and smiled crookedly.
“That’s that, and this is this. If you want me to come with you in this situation, you’ll have to pay me.”
“……”
“I heard there are already guys cleaning up the situation~? Is there any reason for me to go out there and break a sweat in this situation…? That’s how it is. It’s not like I have a Guild to take care of like those other guys. It’s much more fun to watch The Artisan slap Lee Sa-young in the face here.”
Gyu-Gyu began to examine his fingernails, pretending not to notice. Jung-bin strode up to Gyu-Gyu and stood in front of him. Then he slammed his palm on the table.
Bang!
The table trembled. Jung-bin bent down to meet his gaze and asked.
“How much will it take?”
“……”
“How much will it take for you to go out and rescue people?”
“…Can a civil servant’s salary even handle it?”
“Let’s hear it.”
Gyu-Gyu stretched his arms out on the table and began to whine.
“Ah~ I came because I heard I could meet J, but I didn’t even get to exchange a proper word. J just ran off somewhere. I’m depressed. Civil servants are scamming me.”
“You met him anyway, didn’t you? Just tell me the price.”
“Price?”
Gyu-Gyu rolled his light-colored eyes and then grinned.
“Let me meet J alone.”
“……”
“See, I’m taking your civil servant wallet into consideration and giving you these conditions. How much do you get paid annually?”
“That’s confidential.”
“What grade civil servant are you, right now? There are many high-ranking civil servants at my father’s church.”
“That’s also confidential.”
“Ah~ no fun.”
“Hmph.”
At that moment, a snort was heard from the side. Gyu-Gyu and Jung-bin immediately turned their heads to the source of the laughter. Hong Ye-seong, sitting cross-legged next to Lee Sa-young, was laughing intermittently, making a ‘hmph, hmph’ sound. What is that? They both looked at him with puzzled faces. Hong Ye-seong sneered without even trying to hide his laughter. Gyu-Gyu raised one eyebrow.
“What? The Artisan.”
“No, I’m just laughing at how you’re so anxious about a simple fan meeting.”
“……”
“I’m very close to J, you know? He comes to me first when there’s a problem? He even comes to visit me in the deep mountains?”
“……”
“J’s support, you could say. Huh? A master key, a DoraXmon, that’s me?”
“……”
Gyu-Gyu, with a rare expressionless face, shook his head at Jung-bin. Jung-bin also nodded. It was a gesture filled with many deep meanings, and it was nothing short of complete disregard. Hong Ye-seong raised his fist in anger.
“You don’t believe me right now! Hey!”
That’s why he didn’t see it.
Lee Sa-young’s eyelids twitching.
Kang Ji-soo put down her phone and shook her head.
“He’s not answering.”
“……”
“But well, it’s weird if the Guild Leader answers the phone on time. He always ignores my calls. He always ignores the Vice Guild Leader’s calls too.”
He always answers my calls without fail. He calls like a crazy person if he can’t reach me for a moment. Eui-jae fiddled with his broken phone. Kang Ji-soo stretched nonchalantly.
“He’ll call when the time comes. So let’s not worry too much.”
“……”
Eui-jae didn’t answer.
“Are you worried? That he might have fainted again.”
“…When I saw him before I left, um. He didn’t look like he was in good condition.”
“The Vice Guild Leader even caused an accident, what. He’ll recover soon. I fainted and woke up quickly too.”
Kang Ji-soo awkwardly patted Eui-jae’s back. Did my feelings show that much? Eui-jae rubbed the back of his neck for no reason. At that moment, Kang Ji-soo checked her phone. She took a few steps away, pretending to answer a call. Fortunately or unfortunately, the entire conversation could be heard.
“…Yeah, yeah. What? Then what can we do? Just wait?”
“……”
“Ugh, you keep saying ridiculous things. Then what about them?”
“……”
“…The Director said not to approach them at all? Why? Because we look threatening? No, what kind of…”
After a while, Kang Ji-soo, who had been huffing and puffing on the phone for a while, returned to her spot. Her face was sulky. Before Eui-jae could even ask, she pointed her chin far away.
“The Bureau of Rift Management issued an order. Guys with white tents have appeared everywhere, and Hunters aren’t allowed to approach them.”
“Why?”
“Ugh, it seems like they’re the same group as those guys who were protesting and catching Monsters earlier…. They’re treating the injured and calming people down, anyway, they’re doing relief work.”
“……”
“But they get really mad if Hunters approach. They say these people got hurt because you guys were late….”
Eui-jae frowned. They’re the ones who brought about Doomsday, yet they’re blaming the Hunters for everything.
‘Well, it’s about having a conversation with J. A very deep conversation.’
Was that why Ga-young kept him?
“People don’t know if it’s real or fake. And the Hunters were all out of their minds, so their reactions were slow….”
Kang Ji-soo scratched her head in annoyance.
“Anyway, that’s what they said. Be careful of J too.”
“Thanks for letting me know. …What are you going to do now?”
“Um, I’m going to go to the shelter where the Vice Guild Leader is and check on people’s safety… and take the Vice Guild Leader back to the Wave Guild? We need to sort out this mess.”
Eui-jae took a step back.
“Then let’s split up here.”
“Huh? You’re not coming with me? Where are you going?”
Eui-jae fiddled with the black mask covering his face. The smooth texture was still unfamiliar. Eui-jae glanced at the direction Ji-soo had pointed.
“I’m going to take a closer look at what those guys are doing.”
“How? They’re the ones telling Hunters to get lost.”
“I have my ways. It’s okay.”
The young man, Cha Eui-jae. Former Hangover Soup Restaurant part-timer.
He was confident in his acting skills, in his own way.
Thud, old sneakers stepped on a broken sidewalk block. Old jeans, a gray hoodie, black hair slightly damp at the ends, and a black ball cap. Eui-jae glanced around under the ball cap and hurried his pace.
Eui-jae had gone straight to the Hanover Soup Restaurant after parting ways with Kang Ji-soo. The Hanover Soup Restaurant was exactly the same, except for a slight layer of dust. The old tables, the chairs, the Hunters’ autographs on the wall, Honeybee’s poster, and the Mana Stone shining in the middle of the automatic side dish machine.
Will we ever be able to reopen the Hanover Soup Restaurant?
Eui-jae looked around the store with longing eyes for no reason. But there’s no time to be doing this. Eui-jae went into the small side room and rummaged through the gifts that had been carefully collected in one corner of the room. And he found what he was looking for.
[Change your Color! Kraken Ink Color]
It was the hair dye that Honeybee had given him as a gift.
Eui-jae looked at his hair in the mirror. Even if he took off the mask, someone might notice if he walked around with gray hair. He could argue that he dyed it this color because he’s a J fan, but….
‘It’s best to minimize risk factors as much as possible.’
There’s no way those Prometheus guys would welcome a J fan. And there’s no way to get a wig in this situation.
‘I have to dye my hair.’
Eui-jae solemnly tore open the hair dye packaging.
And back to the present.
The streets were deserted. Everyone seemed to have evacuated to shelters or buildings. Strangely, people in white clothes were walking around the streets instead of Hunters. They were either stabbing knives into Monsters that were already dead and fallen, or moving large boxes, busily moving around.
Are they all Prometheus people?
At that moment, two people in white clothes approached Eui-jae.
“What are you doing here?”
“Yes?”
“You look like a civilian…. Were you unable to evacuate?”
This is my chance.
Eui-jae lowered his head and trembled slightly.
“Yes, yes…. I was on my way back from the convenience store, but the outside is like this….”
“Oh, my goodness. Is that so. Would you like to come with us? There’s a place to rest in that tent over there.”
“Ah, then I’ll take you up on that for a moment….”
“Wait!”
Beep— A loud whistle sounded. The two men in white clothes clicked their tongues and hurriedly ran away from Eui-jae. What, I could have infiltrated just by staying still. Eui-jae frowned and raised his head. And.
“…Oh my gosh, Alby?”
Eui-jae’s eyes widened. Alby. It’s been a long time since he heard that title. He even turned around and reacted instinctively, as if he was used to it.
‘Damn it.’
A woman was staring at Eui-jae with a horrified expression, as if she had seen a ghost.
The woman, wearing a bright fluorescent green vest that stood out even from a distance, was Yang Hye-jin, a regular at the Hanover Soup Restaurant and a Hunter affiliated with the Bureau of Rift Management.