By Zephyria Eui-jae watched the rapidly rotating Emotional Eye and wondered.
‘Is it possible that every Hunter I meet is crazy?’
In the past, there weren’t this many Hunters with such distinct personalities. It was only natural. Surviving was the most important thing back then.
But in this era of great Hunters, a Hunter without individuality cannot survive! The meaning of ‘survival’ that Hunters pursue has completely changed. And no matter how much I think about it, Hong Ye-seong’s individuality, which is famous in this era of great Hunters, is not about crafting, but…
‘Anyway, this crazy brat is completely insane….’
His madness was clear. Flash, lightning struck behind Hong Ye-seong’s head once more.
Before he knew it, rain began to pour. Hong Ye-seong didn’t care if his body got wet, he just stretched the hand holding the boiled egg under the eaves. His obsession with Mana Stones was so severe that he seemed to cherish even things that resembled them. Eui-jae clenched the ladle in his hand.
‘Should I report him to Jung-bin?’
No. He quickly shook off the sweet temptation. Calling Jung-bin was like burning down the house to catch a flea. What if the displeased Hong Ye-seong said that he had Mana Stones and suspicious weapons in his Inventory?
Besides, even if he used Physical Memory Erasure, there was no guarantee that the memory would be properly erased, and,
‘The aftermath would be troublesome.’
He didn’t know what this crazy brat’s strange mind would do. Eui-jae glanced at Hong Ye-seong. He was still holding out the yolk towards him. He would probably keep doing that until he opened the door.
‘Tsk.’
Considering Hong Ye-seong’s bizarre obsession, he would obviously keep coming here until he got the Mana Stone. Rather than seeing that, it was better to quickly hand it over and send him away. That was the original agreement anyway. Eui-jae sighed and slowly opened the door.
Hong Ye-seong, as if he were a secret agent, lowered his body, stuck close to the wall, and cautiously scanned his surroundings. Then, he scuttled into the store. Only after confirming the safety of the interior did he take a seat in a corner. Eui-jae was watching, wondering how long he would keep up this charade.
“Cluck.”
Cluck called Eui-jae. He glanced at it, and it pointed its head towards Hong Ye-seong huddled in the corner and clucked again. It seemed to want to be taken to its Master. Eui-jae picked up Cluck in its box and strode towards the uninvited guest.
“Excuse me.”
“Oh, Cluck. You’ve been doing well!”
“Cluck.”
Hong Ye-seong stretched out his hands. Just before his hands touched the box, Eui-jae lifted Cluck high above his head. There was no point in pretending in front of the Emotional Eye, so there was no need to hesitate.
“Cluck?”
Ignoring Cluck’s confused cry, Eui-jae said coldly.
“Let’s talk before your reunion.”
“Cluck!”
“If you want to see Cluck again, you’ll have to answer my questions properly.”
“Ugh, you vicious bastard!”
Hong Ye-seong started filming a movie again. Eui-jae looked down with cold eyes at Hong Ye-seong, who was faithfully playing the role of a father with a sad story. In this production, Eui-jae seemed to be playing the role of a vicious part-timer who was preventing the reunion of father and son. But this time, he wasn’t going to be easily swayed.
“How did you find this place?”
Even if he gave it to him, he had to confirm this. Judging by the yolk he had held out, he had come here to find the Mana Stone, but it was a mystery how he had found the Hanover Soup Restaurant right away. Wasn’t the obvious course of action to start by investigating the Wave Guild to find Secretary Kim? Eui-jae narrowed his eyes.
“Did you put a tracker on me?”
“Huh? There’s no way I would have put something like that on you.”
He could clearly see him blinking behind his sunglasses. Hong Ye-seong lowered his mask and replied.
“But the tracker idea is good. I should make one.”
“Answer.”
“Hey… Secretary Kim has it right now.”
Has it? Eui-jae quickly raised his head. At the same time, Cluck, who had been wriggling in the Bacchus box, stretched its head out and looked down. Eui-jae, meeting its inscrutable, bean-like eyes, muttered.
“…Does it have a tracking function?”
“Not really. Maybe it’s because it was made with a Monster Mana Stone that absorbs memories? It remembers and finds people really well. I’m connected to it Soul, so we communicate well. It managed to find Secretary Kim in this vast Seoul. Good job, Cluck!”
“Cluck-a-doodle-doo!”
Cluck crowed loudly. Right, I did carry Cluck around at the Artisan Exhibition…. It was my fault for not imagining that this half-baked chicken could find people.
Eui-jae quietly placed the box with Cluck on the floor. As if it had been waiting, Cluck jumped out of the box and charged at Hong Ye-seong. And,
Whack! It slapped him with its ceramic wing.
“Ugh!”
Hong Ye-seong clutched his cheek and fell pitifully. Crazy, that was refreshing. Eui-jae subtly covered his mouth with his hand. It was to hide his raised lips.
“C, Cluck. What’s wrong?”
“Cluck-a-doodle-doo!”
Cluck began to cry as it looked at the boiled egg that had fallen sadly on the floor. Ah. Hong Ye-seong and Eui-jae exclaimed at the same time.
Eui-jae quickly picked up Cluck and covered its small head with his hand. He clearly remembered seeing it on a program that did various experiments a while ago. Chickens fall asleep if you just cover their eyes.
“……”
As expected of a program that received the Star of Knowledge. Cluck, who had been wailing like a siren, quickly became quiet. Hong Ye-seong was impressed.
“Oh, it’s sleeping.”
When Eui-jae glared at him, Hong Ye-seong pretended not to notice and quickly put the boiled egg that had fallen on the floor into his pocket. Then, he stared up at Eui-jae and asked.
“But is Secretary Kim working a second job? Why are you at the Hanover Soup Restaurant?”
“Yes, it’s a second job.”
“Wow, you’re working hard. A role model for working people! Amazing.”
When Eui-jae answered calmly, Hong Ye-seong gave him a thumbs up. To be fooled by these words, this guy was indeed an idiot, hidden by his Awakening ability.
With an idiot in front of him, Eui-jae’s mind began to spin quickly. Was Hong Ye-seong even properly evading the Awakened Management Bureau in the first place? Eui-jae quickly locked the door and turned off all the lights in the store. Then, he asked in a low voice.
“…But weren’t you taken away back then? I’ll assume you found this place thanks to Cluck, but how did you evade the Bureau of Rift Management?”
And the moment he finished speaking, Eui-jae sensed it.
‘Ah, I touched a nerve.’
Because Hong Ye-seong’s chest puffed up like a chicken inflating its body.
“Ah. You’re curious about my escape story?”
His voice was full of pride. No, I’m not curious. Eui-jae quickly shook his head, but Hong Ye-seong sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“A very amazing thing happened. Listen.”
The day Hong Ye-seong became a yellow checkered gimbap and was put in a car.
Originally, he was supposed to be immediately transported to Bukhansan, but since he was originally scheduled to enjoy the secular world a little before entering the mountain, the Artisan Village was not yet ready. Thanks to this, Hong Ye-seong was neatly confined to a hotel suite.
But even while staying in a good room, his heart felt empty. A security guard approached Hong Ye-seong, who was looking out the window with a wistful look, and carefully asked.
“Hong Ye-seong, is there anything you need?”
“Mana Stone.”
The security guard gave him a look that said, “This crazy brat is doing it again,” but his voice was as serious as possible as he reasoned with him.
“We are working hard to find it.”
Working hard. They always say they’re working hard! Hong Ye-seong shouted and struggled. In this harsh society, passion alone is not enough. Thanks to this, Hong Ye-seong came to hate the adverb ‘hard’.
Anyway, from the first day of his confinement, Hong Ye-seong started complaining about mental anguish, saying that the yolk of the fried egg that came with breakfast was a Mana Stone. Then, he cried out that the female lead in the drama was wearing a yellow floral dress and that it looked like a Mana Stone.
The security guards who had to stick by his side and see that were also going crazy. They even suspected that Hong Ye-seong had developed a new skill that drained mental strength.
So much so that the Bureau of Rift Management even called in a professional psychiatrist for Hunters to try to counsel Hong Ye-seong, but even the doctor shook his head and left. Hong Ye-seong became weaker day by day.
It was bearable when he didn’t even know where it was. But now that he knew the location of the Mana Stone and saw the real thing, he couldn’t stand it anymore. The Mana Stone he actually saw was more radiant, brilliant, round, and beautiful than anything he had ever seen. Hong Ye-seong hugged Cluck and cried.
“Mana Stone―!”
“We are working hard to find it.”
A broken record started again. When he reached the point where every jewel on the chandelier hanging from the hotel ceiling looked like a Mana Stone, Hong Ye-seong attempted to escape. After all, Jung-bin, the biggest obstacle, wasn’t here!
Eui-jae, who had been half-listening to his heroic tale, opened his eyes wide.
“Jung-bin wasn’t there?”
“Huh? Yes.”
Hong Ye-seong, who was munching on a rice cake he had taken out from somewhere, replied casually.
“I haven’t seen him since the Artisan Exhibition. Oh, I did get a call. He said he had something urgent to deal with with Lee Sa-young.”
Good thing I didn’t use Physical Memory Erasure. This crazy brat knew all sorts of high-level information that wasn’t even circulating on the Wave Guild Blind. Now that it had come to this, he had to squeeze him dry. Eui-jae asked calmly.
“Sa-young… What’s wrong with the Guild Master? Is he okay?”
“Huh? Don’t you know?”
“Ah….”
Eui-jae recalled the Blind post he had seen during the day. Nice. He muttered shamelessly, but with concern.
“The Guild Master hasn’t been coming to work since the Artisan Exhibition. He’s only been giving instructions to the secretary team by email, so everyone is wondering what he’s doing.”
“Ah~ I see. Well, that makes sense.”
Fortunately, Hong Ye-seong seemed convinced by these words alone. He rubbed his red, swollen cheek with a new boiled egg and replied.
“It’s nothing much, but they said they were going into some Dungeon together. It was a Dungeon related to Doomsday? …Yeah, I think that’s what it was. They said they had found a clue or something.”
“……”
Doomsday. It was too big of a story to dismiss as nothing. Eui-jae’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth to ask more questions.
Knock, knock, an unexpected knock interrupted him. Hong Ye-seong covered his mouth with both hands and cowered in the corner. Eui-jae also stood in front of him, as if to shield him, and held the ladle. A sharp tension filled the Hanover Soup Restaurant. The moment even their breathing stopped,
What followed was….
“…Excuse me, are you inside?”
It was a voice he had heard before.