By Zephyria “Then, I will start the report.”
Min-gi Seo began to speak fluently without even looking.
“First of all, the research team re-examined all the data from the West Sea Rift coast measured by the Rift measuring instrument. The figures were mostly uniform without much change. We also did not witness the phenomenon of the measuring instrument’s graph soaring when the Rift opened.”
“…….”
“However, there was one day about half a year ago when the measured value was particularly low.”
“Low?”
When the screen was turned over, a graph showing the recorded values appeared. Among the bars of uniform length, there was one point that was noticeably depressed.
“Yes. As you know well, a high value means that there is a high probability that a Rift will occur there. But this is the first time we’ve seen a low value… I also asked the measuring instrument developer, but I didn’t get any useful answers.”
“So, this is the first time this has ever happened.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
The next screen was a mugshot of J wearing a black mask. Not the appearance in low-quality video media, but the only remaining official photo. Lee Sa-young, who was rubbing the mask with his black fingertips, quickly flipped through the screen while listening to Min-gi Seo’s report.
West Sea Rift, not reopened. No progress in the research being conducted by the research team to reopen the closed Rift. Awakened who appears to be J has not been found.
When the long sentences were summarized, they were all negative. It was when the hand flipping through the screen became a little rough.
Confirmed that the J tracking team was formed at the Awakened Management Bureau.
Lee Sa-young muttered.
“The Bureau of Rift Management’s tracking team. I heard a rumor that Gyu-Gyu is in charge.”
“Ah, yes. That’s right.”
Min-gi Seo nodded briefly.
“I heard that Director Ham Seok-jeong had requested something from Gyu-Gyu, so I checked it out, and I obtained information that he secretly entered Korea a week after the ranking was updated.”
Gyu-Gyu, 5th in the Republic of Korea. Real name Ban Gyu-min. Despite being an S-class Awakened, he does not belong anywhere and travels around the world as a freelancer Hunter. The government naturally wanted to keep the S-class Awakened in the country and used all sorts of tricks, but Ban Gyu-min slipped away like a loach.
There were only two cases in which he entered Korea. Either the client or the target of the request was in Korea, or it was the Lunar New Year holiday. Ban Gyu-min entered the country every Lunar New Year to eat rice cake soup, as if to prove that he was Korean.
Min-gi Seo quickly continued.
“Gyu-Gyu did not leave the country even after giving the Hunter exam questions, and is still staying in Korea.”
Lee Sa-young, who was tapping the tablet screen, asked.
“The Hunter exam perfect scorer.”
“That’s… as you know.”
Min-gi Seo trailed off slightly. Once again, when the screen was turned over, two mugshots appeared side by side this time.
The Hunter exam is originally a difficult exam to pass, let alone get a perfect score, but still, about five people get a perfect score each time. But this time there were only two. D-class Awakened Cha Eui-jae, C-class Awakened Ryu Han-baek.
Lee Sa-young, who was staring at Eui-jae’s face in the photo, which looked particularly stubborn, tilted his head.
“Cha Eui-jae’s record?”
“As you ordered, I have fabricated the eight years of missing records. Even if you do a background check, you won’t find anything particularly unusual. There’s a good excuse too. I heard this and that from the regular Hunters at the Hanover Soup Restaurant…”
“…….”
This Hunter exam mostly consisted of questions that could not be answered unless you were a current Hunter who frequented Dungeons and Rifts. While most of the examinees who only memorized the Special Act failed, Cha Eui-jae passed without difficulty….
Lee Sa-young quietly instructed.
“Continue to spread false information. So that the Bureau of Rift Management doesn’t notice.”
“Of course.”
Min-gi Seo was silent for a moment, then put his hands behind his back again and carefully called out to Lee Sa-young.
“Guild Master, may I ask you one thing?”
“Yeah.”
“…Am I right in what I’m thinking?”
“…….”
The purpose of most of the things that Lee Sa-young ordered was clear. Whether it was to screw someone over or for the benefit of the Wave Guild. So, Seo Min-gi was able to carry out the orders without any questions.
However, since J appeared in the rankings, there have been many things that Lee Sa-young has ordered that he cannot immediately figure out what they are for.
After the ranking update, the first thing he was told to do was to track down J’s whereabouts. Up to this point, he had no questions. Finding J, a national hero, is a natural thing to do. Seo Min-gi performed his duties without saying anything.
But after a while, he received a somewhat absurd order to help hide the grade of a certain person. After that, monitor the target and report everything, protect the target, and in addition to this, target tracking, record modification, etc… strange missions continued.
Lee Sa-young is not the type of person to give such orders without a reason. Seo Min-gi was very quick-witted, so he connected the dots himself and found the answer to the question.
The subject was omitted, but both of them could not have known what Min-gi Seo’s question was referring to. Purple eyes looked at Seo Min-gi. Seo Min-gi swallowed hard and waited for an answer. After a long silence, Lee Sa-young opened his mouth.
“Still not enough.”
“What do you mean?”
The black glove turned off the tablet screen. The Gas mask was reflected as it was on the black screen.
“Decisive evidence, conviction.”
“…….”
Lee Sa-young stared blankly at the empty wall and suddenly said.
“There are two Black Tickets left. I’ll deliver them to you in a while, so take care of them.”
“Yes?”
Seo Min-gi, who looked around, hesitated a little and pointed at himself with his finger.
“Are you… talking about me?”
“Who else is here besides you.”
“I’m supposed to be in Malaysia right now, though? It’ll be a really big deal if I show up here?”
“Say you came back early.”
“Isn’t that a lie that will be exposed just by checking the passenger list?”
“Then throw it away, or put it in a commemorative frame, do whatever you want.”
“Guild Master! How about giving it to Romantic Opener instead? I’m too weak to handle that ticket….”
“He went to the hospital.”
“Yes? Did he open the door again? No, G, Guild Master!”
Seo Min-gi desperately, but so quietly that others couldn’t hear, called out to Lee Sa-young, but he ignored the desperate cry and took out his ticket and crumpled it up. Seo Min-gi, with his mouth wide open, disappeared as if distorted along with the surrounding scenery, and a neat waiting room appeared.
In front of the waiting room door, Cha Eui-jae, who was curled up on the sofa, was visible head-on. Perhaps because the sofa was small, his legs stuck out of the sofa even when he curled up. Watching him, he was reminded of the sight of him crawling into a narrow room where he couldn’t even lie down properly in a tattered state, which made him feel uncomfortable. He thought he should tell Hong Ye-seong to put a bigger sofa if he was going to put it there.
Even when he approached quietly, his even breathing did not change. He seemed to not be able to sleep properly, but for some reason, he seemed to be sound asleep.
Lee Sa-young bent his body slightly and stared intently at the sleeping face, then spread his hand and placed it over his face. The shadow of the black hand covered the neat face. It was a size that seemed like he could hold it in one hand. Once again, even the curled-up body looked small.
Was he this small?
He may be tall among ordinary people, but he is not a very large physique among Hunters. When Eui-jae stirred a little, soft black hair fell down and covered his eyes. Lee Sa-young quietly moved his lips.
“Cha Eui-jae.”
He squatted down in front of the sofa. His gaze reached the slightly parted lips. Lee Sa-young slowly closed his eyes. The quiet breathing, barely audible if you listened carefully, became a little clearer. When he opened his eyes again, his gaze was fixed on the chest that swelled and subsided slightly and the intermittently trembling eyelashes.
The moment Eui-jae opened his eyes, it was a precious sight that he could not see. Lee Sa-young observed everything that could only be found in silence while resting his chin.
And now for Lee Sa-young…
He needed a stronger conviction than ever before.
* * *
In the cafe inside the convention center where the Artisan Exhibition was being held, daily Awakened part-timers were working instead of ordinary part-timers. This was due to the unspoken circumstances of adults that it was easier to handle if an Awakened was involved than if an ordinary person was involved in the event of a problem.
And a woman with long blonde hair strode into the cafe. It was Honeybee wearing a black leather jacket. Honeybee slightly lowered her sunglasses and scanned the menu.
“Americano, one hot and one iced, please. Large size.”
“That’s 20,000 won.”
“Crazy… Hangover Soup is cheaper. Here you go.”
It was the moment Honeybee grumbled a little and handed over her card.
“Your taste has become a lot more rustic since I last saw you, Hornet.”
A sleepy voice spoke. Honeybee, who heard the voice, turned her body sharply and looked for the owner of the voice. In the corner of the coffee shop, a man with his hair half tied up in a mess of white and yellow was sitting with his legs crossed. Whether he had bleached it himself, the color and the frizzy hair were all messed up, and each movement was leisurely and relaxed, so at first glance he looked like a carefree person who had come out for a stroll.
The man spoke first, but was actually turned away. Honeybee, who had been wearing a smile for external activities, found him and frowned.
“What? Why are you here, Gyu-Gyu?”
Instead of turning his body or head, the man leaned his upper body back and looked at Honeybee upside down. The man called Gyu-Gyu, 5th in the Republic of Korea, Ban Gyu-min, smiled while holding a straw in his mouth.
“Why else. I came to buy a weapon.”
“Ha.”
Honeybee, who let out a scoff, crossed her arms.
“Don’t talk nonsense. Who doesn’t know that you’re banned from entering the Artisan Exhibition?”
“Yeah. If you have a close friend above, they’ll lift the entry ban for you.”
“Okay, what kind of trick are you trying to pull?”
“What do you mean by trick? I really came to buy a weapon.”
“Does Jung-bin even know you’re here?”
“Well~ I wouldn’t be drinking coffee here without handcuffs if he didn’t know, right?”
Gyu-min shook the glass containing the transparent brown liquid. Seeing the white rice grains shaking, it seemed like he was drinking Sweet Rice Drink at the cafe. Honeybee shuddered.
“Crazy…. He’s letting that crazy brat who caused the accident in here.”
Ban Gyu-min, the super hamster who almost destroyed the last Artisan Exhibition and turned Jung-bin into a nagging headmaster, put down the glass. Then, he pretended to pick his ear and said slowly.
“No, did I want to fight? Back then, that crazy brat openly picked a fight with me, so I naturally fought back…. And Hornet, if a Korean and a foreigner fight, shouldn’t you support the Korean? What else is patriotism? That’s patriotism.”
“Ah… this crazy brat suddenly appears and makes me a traitor.”
Honeybee, who gritted her teeth, strode towards Gyu-min and grabbed his collar. Gyu-min exclaimed, “Oops,” and raised the glass containing the Sweet Rice Drink into the air. Honeybee muttered with a fierce face.
“You haven’t seen anything since you came to Korea after a long time, have you?”
“Ah, was it obvious?”
“Shit, I can’t do this.”
It was the moment Honeybee put her hand into her Inventory.
Weeeeeeng―
A loud siren rang out as if to tear the ears. Honeybee and Gyu-Gyu simultaneously turned to the source of the sound. The Awakened part-timer at the counter was holding a bright red button with a crying face. Honeybee muttered with gritted teeth.
“What is that?”
“Um, isn’t that the coffee Hornet ordered? They’re using a siren instead of a vibrating bell to let you know.”
“Are you really just picking out nonsense to say?”
Fortunately, the identity of the button was quickly revealed. Even before the siren had finished, a calm and regular gait entered the cafe. The civil servant ID card hanging around his neck dangled.
“Wow, good morning. What a surprise to see you two together?”
“…….”
“But….”
Honeybee slipped her hand out of the Inventory. Gyu-Gyu’s face also froze with a smiling face. Jung-bin, who appeared like a grim reaper after hearing the siren, put his hands behind his back and smiled gently.
“You’re both not using the waiting room that Hong Ye-seong put his heart and soul into making?”
“…….”
That’s right. The button given to the Awakened part-timer was…
“The waiting room that Lee Sa-young also uses?”
It was a vibrating bell for calling Jung-bin!