Joo Yiwon typically sends a lot of messages. But when he’s busy, it’s possible that he can’t send a message in 24 hours. Since he’s such a busy guy.
But… even though Jiho knows this logically, his mood instantly sank for some reason.
Jiho barely stopped his hand right as it was about to send a short message to Yiwon that it had typed on its own.
What if Yiwon’s really busy, and if he really can’t send a single message? If that’s the case, Jiho shouldn’t send a message and disrupt Yiwon’s focus.
Jiho swallowed a sigh and grabbed a nearby No Name guildmember to ask.
“Excuse me, do you know what Chungram’s guildmaster is doing right now?”
“Ah, from what I heard, right after he cleared Gunsan, he left for a gate that opened near the East Sea. Because that was also an emergency, he went straight there, and he should be inside the dungeon right now.”
“Ah…. I see.”
Jiho felt relieved hearing that Yiwon had no time to send him a message. But that relief was temporary. Soon, a wave of guilt washed over him.
‘Am I crazy?’
He’s not in his right mind. It’s not a big deal that Joo Yiwon didn’t send him a message, why is he feeling relieved that another gate opened?
As the occurrence of fissures accelerates and it gets harder to predict them, Korea can no longer be a safe country. As long as Jiho doesn’t turn [Stabilize] on, these dangers will continue increasing.
‘I have to do something.’
A heavy sense of responsibility weighed on Jiho’s shoulders. However, the fact that there’s nothing he can change right now distressed him.
To escape this problem without an answer, Jiho read through all of the messages and sent short responses. Finally, Jiho texted his worried parents and closed his eyes in fatigue.
He wants to rest at his parent’s house today…. He’s tired, and he also kinda wants to act spoiled.
But Jiho feels guilty to relax alone when Yiwon’s too busy to send a single message.
What should he do?
Deep in thought, Jiho was taking a rest that didn’t really feel like a rest when he heard the temporary rest area’s door open. Thinking the car was ready, Jiho opened his tired eyes and saw a familiar face.
“Jiho-ya!”
“Oh, Kyung Hyun.”
Jiho let his guard down and smiled at the friend he’s most comfortable around, second to Joo Yiwon. The heavy fatigue on his shoulders slightly lifted.
“What are you doing here? Were you called to the scene?”
Kyung Hyun is a public servant of the Hunter Association. Although he’s an office worker, he’s often dispatched to scenes when there’s not enough people. Since fissures happen more frequently these days, he’s probably dispatched often. As if to demonstrate this, Kyung Hyun’s suit was crinkled everywhere.
“Yeah. I came out for the fissure, but…. I heard you’re going home? I’ll drive you.”
“You, personally?”
“Yeah. I said I’d take you home since we’re friends. And once I take you home, I’ll clock out since I’m out.”
“Ah, I see. For a second, I thought they were forcing you to run weird errands.”
“Haha.”
Kyung Hyun laughed and came up to Jiho before carefully scanning over Jiho’s body with his eyes.
“But you’re not hurt anywhere, right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“I was worried. Since they said you were sucked into something again…. Why are you so unlucky? Maybe you should schedule an exorcism.”
“If someone’s going to be sucked in anyways, it’s better that it’s me.”
Jiho smiled, unaffected. Kyung Hyun looked at him in resignation before knitting his brows.
“Ah, it looks like you were scraped here.”
“It’s just a little scratch.”
“Let me see.”
“It’s not that serious….”
Kyung Hyun pulled Jiho’s arm and rolled up his sleeves. Jiho thought it was just a slight scratch, but the inside of his arm had turned a dark purple. Kyung Hyun’s expression instantly turned grave.
“You say this isn’t that serious?”
“No, I didn’t know it was this bad….”
He received this injury in the last section of the dungeon, when he blocked a monster that had appeared out of nowhere while they were moving with the three non-awakened ones.
Since he was injured while protecting other people, [The Happy Prince] had activated, and Jiho didn’t feel any pain at all thanks to the skill’s effect.
On top of that, [The Happy Prince] also restores all of his stats once activated. Although he was poisoned, it was immediately neutralized, so his injury only looks terrible and isn’t actually that serious.
…Is how he would explain it, but knowing the attitudes of the people concerned about Jiho, this would only enrage them.
“Let me see everywhere else.”
“Hey, there’s people here….”
“Could everyone leave, please?”
At Kyung Hyun’s words, everyone who was awkwardly observing this situation left in a hurry. Jiho didn’t have the chance to say he was fine as he took his shirt off to show Kyung Hyun that he wasn’t hurt anywhere else.
Jiho thought this was a little excessive, but as Yiwon’s usually more extreme than this, he gave up and let Kyung Hyun check his body.
Suddenly, Jiho recalled Joo Yiwon’s touch.
A touch completely different from Kyung Hyun’s, whose hands elicit no other feelings in Jiho. A hot touch that leaves him feeling strange.
No, maybe Yiwon’s touch is the same then and now. It’s just that Jiho’s reaction to that touch has completely changed. He’s become overly conscious of his friend’s touch….
“Jiho-ya.”
Kyung Hyun’s voice cut off Jiho’s thoughts. And soon, Kyung Hyun’s hand rested on Jiho’s forehead.
“You have a fever.”
“N-no….”
He was just thinking something strange…. But because he can’t reveal these thoughts honestly, Jiho could only laugh awkwardly and try to brush it off. Seeing this, Kyung Hyun grabbed Jiho firmly.
“It’s decided. Stop by the Association and get a simple checkup before you go.”
“What? I’m fine….”
“Fine, what fine? You’re not fine.”
“I’m really fine.”
“How can you be fine when you didn’t even know how injured you were? You might’ve been injured somewhere else. Let’s do a simple checkup and register for the management rights to this dungeon on the way. I’ll make sure it gets approved quickly. Okay?”
Kyung Hyun grinned widely.
Actually, Kyung Hyun’s background is too grand for a simple public servant. Kyung Hyun’s family is one of the top families in the country. In particular, after the fissures appeared, Son Kyung Hyun’s father was appointed as the minister of the Ministry of Extraordinary Powers.
Thanks to this background, there was a bit of pushback when Kyung Hyun first joined the Ministry of Extraordinary Powers….
Of course, Kyung Hyun took the entrance exam like everyone else and he was a diligent worker. But it looks like he borrows his father’s power to some extent.
“No, you don’t have to do that. It’ll probably end up with No Name anyways.”
“I won’t meddle too much. I’ll just make sure that the documents are received today, not tomorrow. Isn’t that fine?”
“Hm….”
“And either way, go get treated and have them do a check-up. Or do you want me to drop you off at your parent’s?”
“…Fine, I’ll go.”
Having been attacked on his weak spot, Jiho had no choice but to agree.
Since it wasn’t rush hour yet, the roads weren’t congested. As he drove, Kyung Hyun carefully spoke.
“Jiho, have you heard any rumors lately?”
“What rumor?”
Even though there was no one else in the car with them, Kyung Hyun lowered his voice like he was extremely nervous.
“Awakened ones are going missing these days.”
“Really? Since when? Are you sure they’ve gone missing?”
Isn’t there a chance they chose to hide themselves? Kyung Hyun tapped the steering wheel and nodded gravely.
“The first missing person went missing on July 21st. People have been disappearing a little less than a week apart from each other. And on top of that, the third and fifth missing persons sent emergency rescue alerts before they went missing, so… it’s certain that they didn’t disappear of their own will.”
“…”
“And the last missing person is an A-rank hunter.”
“…A support or production-type?”
“No, a combat-type.”
The answer completely shattered Jiho’s hope.
If it’s like Kyung Hyun said, that means someone has the ability to kidnap an A-rank combat hunter without making a single noise. That means this is an extremely dangerous individual.
And since the culprit hasn’t been caught yet, more people might go missing. However, if the culprit is that strong, most people won’t be able to resist…. No wonder Kyung Hyun brought it up so seriously.
“End of July… it’s almost been a month.”
Jiho mumbled grimly. Seeing this, Kyung Hyun nodded his head.
“Exactly. I’m telling you this just in case. I don’t think you’ll get caught up in this, but there’s nothing wrong with being careful.”
Jiho tilted his head at Kyung Hyun’s words.
“You’re saying… the victims and I are different types?”
“All of the missing persons so far share something in common. All five of them are guildmembers of Mireu Guild.”
“Mireu?”
“Eung, Mireu.”
Doesn’t that make this… more serious?
Kyung Hyun doesn’t know that Mireu is made up of people who had powers before the fissures or non-humans. Just as the guildmaster, Kim Tae Yong, and the vice-guildmaster, Lee Rahui, lied about their ranks, the missing hunter could be stronger than A-rank.
“Don’t be too worried, just keep this in mind.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
This doesn’t seem like something he can ignore though….
Thinking that he should at least ask Yang Hojin, Jiho fidgeted with his terminal. He didn’t notice anything off from Yang Hojin, were they hiding it?
With these troubling thoughts, they arrived at the Hunter Association. Looking up at the Association building, Jiho held back a sigh.
“Are you okay?”
“Eung, I’m fine.”
Truthfully speaking, he doesn’t have good memories from this place, but he feels a lot better this time since Kyung Hyun’s here with him.
Jiho headed for the Hunter Association’s internal research facility under Kyung Hyun’s watchful eye. His skin healed completely with one recovery skill from a healer. Jiho kept insisting there was nothing wrong, but Kyung Hyun made such a fuss that he ended up getting an exam done too.
“Then Jiho, I’ll head out now. Go get that exam.”
“Alright.”
“Make sure this person doesn’t run away.”
“I’m not going to run away….”
The people around them laughed quietly at their conversation. Kyung Hyun left to take care of work, and Jiho stayed for a simple check-up.
Though called an exam, it’s nothing special. Measuring the flow of mana that comes from his skills and drawing his blood to analyze its contents. Jiho’s done this multiple times before.
After about an hour of the exam and waiting, Jiho faced a healer who’s checked his condition a couple of times before. The healer looked quite serious holding Jiho’s medical chart.
“Is something wrong?”
“No, it is not that. However… I sense that something is completely different from before. The analysis is still insufficient, so… it is difficult to say for sure.”
“It is not bad, right?”
“Correct. To be precise, the changes are as though you suddenly evolved.”
Maybe it’s because he turned [Stabilize] off and gained new skills. Unlike Jiho, who thought lightly of this, the other’s expression was solemn.
“But have you not noticed anything off these days?”
“Huh? No….”
“Hm, I am not certain, however…. There is a trace of a magic spell on Shin Jiho-ssi’s body. It appears to be blocking something….”
“…Really?”
Jiho blinked as he had no idea what it could be. The healer shrugged like they weren’t sure either.
“For now, I will prescribe a potion. It might reduce the side effects.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Since they’re giving it to him, it shouldn’t hurt to take it. Jiho picked up the medicine and left.
Jiho headed to the lobby to go back home when someone appeared like they were waiting for him.
“Hello.”
It was Kim Tae Yong, the guildmaster of Mireu, where people are going missing.
LaZ Bird Corner
Yiwon better have a good plan. Or a good apology. Maybe both.
!! UPDATE NOTES !!
This is the last chapter of Section 12: I’ve Settled the Bill. I’ll be back 5/14 with Section 13: Missing! This is a long section, so I’m trying to get as ahead as possible ( ܸ. .)՞՞
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