Stomp, stomp—
“Ah! Il-wol, did you also receive an achievement?”
“Clap, clap, clap!”
In the quiet street, the sound of teeth clashing felt unusually loud. So I simply released my stealth. If a person is caught in the wave of my senses, I can just use stealth again.
“Hmph… that’s good… but hold on, let me see you.”
She stopped walking and cautiously began to touch my face with her hands.
“……”
“Amazing… did you suddenly change like this?”
Nod—
“It seems like you’ve turned into a… dangerous vibe, Il-wol.”
“Clap, clap?!”
“Hehe, I’m saying it in a good way.”
Nod, nod—
‘Can looking dangerous really be a good thing… Well, it definitely has an effect of driving away pesky flies.’
“Sniff-sniff—”
“……?”
She leaned in close to my chest, sniffing as she spoke.
“No, I was just wondering if my smell changed.”
‘Smell? What is she saying… do I even have a smell?’
Her words meant she had been sniffing my scent all along, which once again made me tilt my head at her oddness.
‘There are people who like the smell of dog paws, is that the feeling?’
“We’re not going into the dungeon tomorrow. Not enough people have gathered yet, and we need to go to the association. If we can sell runes there, let’s do it. Since we’re going, we might as well take the promotion test.”
Nod, nod—
“Hehe— you know what Helen said to me earlier?”
Yeon-hee chattered continuously until we arrived at the taxi stand, and it was delightful to hear, like a baby bird chirping awake at dawn.
‘Phew— I feel alive…’
As time passed with her by my side, I finally felt at ease, and the fog in my head began to clear.
Rustle—
“Uh?…”
I gently caressed her hair, and she stood still for a moment, feeling my touch.
‘I want to hold her.’
Watching her standing on this lonely winter night with biting winds, that thought suddenly crossed my mind, but the bone spikes protruding all over my body made every action feel cautious.
“Hoo— why am I suddenly so sleepy… just give me a moment to lean…”
She cuddled up against my chest, which was relatively thorn-free, and I loosened my cloak to neatly cover her back.
‘These damn thorns need to be dealt with. I might as well replace them if it’s not working.’
I gently pulled her waist to let her lean more comfortably.
Squeak—
‘Did she fall asleep…’
It became a complicated situation where I had to attempt not just sword and magic training but also transforming bone armor, but I was sure of one thing.
This moment was the happiest I had ever known in my entire life.
* * *
“I heard they’re going to promote to D-rank?”
“Clearly define your subject. How many times do I have to tell you for you to understand?”
“Who else but our cute and lovely Yeon-hee?”
“If anyone can think of Lee Yeon-hee from your few words, I’ll definitely need to scout them. That would mean they have mind-reading abilities.”
“Why act like you don’t know? It’s funny, really. Anyone who meets weekly knows the deal.”
Twirl—
At Kang Yeon-su’s words, Jo Gi-man’s temples visibly pulsed, and Jung Joo-in, sitting next to him, didn’t hesitate to glare at Kang Yeon-su. She had claimed to be careful, but she was already aware.
“What’s that glare for? Did a month in the hospital not suffice? You want to lay down for about three months this time?”
“……”
Jung Joo-in recalled the days when she had been beaten to near-death for irritating Kang Yeon-su and trembled slightly.
The venue for their conversation was a high-rise office with a clear view of the city’s nightscape.
Around a round table sat a dozen hunters discussing the future of their guild. Although it had been a while since they gathered, the atmosphere was as chilly as the weather outside.
In fact, that atmosphere primarily stemmed from the two individuals dominating the conversation.
Jo Gi-man and Kang Yeon-su showed no signs of stopping their sharp exchanges.
‘Ah, hell. Just fight it out already and reach a conclusion, you bastards.’
As A-rank hunter Park Jin-gon watched the scene, silently denouncing the two of them, S-rank hunter Cha Mu-yeol changed the topic.
“Speaking of Lee Yeon-hee, I’ve heard those guys who summoned the Orcs can generate and close gates at will.”
“What? Is that true, senior?”
Park Jin-gon questioned as if asking for clarification, and the others nodded as if they had heard similar information, looking at the two pillars of the guild.
Among the two who received those gazes, Jo Gi-man spoke first.
“After checking… it’s true. A magic circle for the artificial ritual was fully intact.”
“Haha! So you didn’t even think to hide it?”
Cha Mu-yeol laughed in disbelief, while Park Jin-gon leaned in, eager for more details.
“Of course, the testimonies of Lee Yeon-hee and other hunters were the same. A red-haired man summoned the Orcs as offerings and fled through the gate.”
Did Kang Yeon-su want to finish the story quickly? He cut off Jo Gi-man’s words.
“And nobody knows the identity of that red-haired man. Okay? Anyone have more to share?”
“Nothing. I do have a suggestion, though.”
“Please go ahead, Gu Sang-min.”
“The thing is… it’s already known that the blue-eyed deities are spread around. Why…”
“Why aren’t we hunting them down?”
“Yes…”
Gu Sang-min, one of the three S-rank healers in our country, expressed concern, and Jo Gi-man smiled faintly in response.
“That’s a relief. Even someone in such a high position as Sang-min would worry, so I feel a bit more at ease.”
When Gu Sang-min looked at him, confused, Jo Gi-man shrugged, and Gu Sang-min finally grasped what he meant.
“You’ve already taken care of it…”
Implying that the hunt had quietly proceeded without even Gu Sang-min noticing.
At this, others started to fidget a little, and Jung Joo-in quickly chimed in, perhaps sensing that some could misunderstand.
“Unfortunately, it was impossible for outsiders to know unless the guys revealed themselves or died. We took actions against a few suspicious individuals, and some were indeed blue-eyed deities. But we couldn’t obtain any meaningful information. Whenever they tried to spill something… Anyway, interrogation, persuasion, and torture weren’t very helpful.”
“Torture, huh…”
“Please consider that it was unavoidable.”
Words that sounded a bit jarring made the expressions of those present sharper.
“Even if we were to find them, it would be challenging to benefit from the situation. We can’t just kill off all the suspicious folks for our peace of mind… In the end, we’ll have to coexist with those bastards for the time being. Who knows, maybe a blue-eyed deity is hiding in this room like a rat.”
Gulp—
“Ha-ha… surely not.”
“Shall we just guess one? There is someone who looks like a rat.”
“Seok Ryu-hwa, please tell me you’re not referring to me?”
“Oh? Looks like you do check yourself in the mirror?”
“I’m going to—”
“Enough already, Jin-gon.”
“Ha…”
“Was the reason you gathered us at this ungodly hour just to say that? You could have done it differently.”
“Well… it’s not particularly late. But fine.”
Jo Gi-man glanced at his wristwatch with a frown.
“We’re thinking of participating in the guild alliance competition coming in April.”
―!!
“Out of the blue, what are you saying?”
“I’m certainly in favor. Why join a competition we’ve never participated in before?”
“You guys said the whole competition comes off as childish, right? You’re not going because it’s all about fame and money at the end of the day.”
“Exactly, it seems rather cheap. Are you motivated by the money? We have sufficient dungeons we manage ourselves, don’t we?”
“Clearly not, Seok Ryu-hwa.”
“You’re just a greedy rat, Park Jin-gon. We’re barely managing our personnel as it is.”
“Shit, you only say that because you’re sitting on a gold mine dungeon.”
“Well, who told you to join the guild late?”
“Your words have been ridiculous since earlier, you auntie.”
“Keep calling me auntie? How about I bake you so blind you can’t even recognize your family?”
“If you want to fight, go outside and do it. I said not to call those two.”
‘Idiots. Who created this environment for you? All you do is complain while enjoying the honey.’
Jo Gi-man watched the pathetic behavior of his guild members with a wry smile. Outside, they flaunted their S-rank and A-rank statuses, but at their core, they were utterly lowly.
‘Hehe, but it never gets old. Watching them fight over crumbs I laid out for them.’
Jo Gi-man enjoyed controlling situations. He loved manipulating people. Setting the stage for them to argue, bicker, and blame each other while savoring it like smooth jazz music.
‘This is the joy of life.’
Though he only exerted his influence within the guild for now, one day he planned to dominate the whole world, plunging more people into their dark emotions.
This was a game he had played multiple times before, and it brought him immense pleasure.
‘They’re cockroaches. They always want me to offer solutions, mediate, and make favorable judgments for them. At least for that moment, I’m their god, and I love that greedy look in their eyes.’
They look up at me, praising, admiring, loving me, and cheering for me.
The moment when their joys and sorrows are dictated by my every gesture is thrilling.
But this life had become remarkably difficult to manage like that.
Starting with not being able to devour Yoon Han-gyeol, and with these troublemaking blue-eyed brats running rampant.
Even the red-haired Elf, a mid-boss, had already made her appearance.
‘Maerella, Maerella… why are you showing up so early and pissing me off…’
With the red-haired elf named Maerella causing a stir in a settled state, Jo Gi-man’s patience finally crossed a line.
‘You take the villain’s role, and I take the hero’s. Whenever you make trouble, I should clean it up, right? That’s how it was supposed to be set up, right you filthy scum…’
Jo Gi-man’s eyes elongated vertically, and a deep black magic power rose, surging from his body.
Rumble, rumble—
The enormous round table lifted as if an earthquake had occurred.
“Whoa! G-guild leader! Calm down!”
“What’s going on here? Did you eat something bad for dinner?”
Kang Yeon-su looked at Jo Gi-man as if he were ridiculous, who quickly stabilized his magic and raised a hand to apologize to everyone.
‘Hoo— if they’re useless, then they should be cleared away.’
Jo Gi-man decided no longer to be bound by the original script.
‘I’ll wipe out the red-haired Elf race. I won’t spare even the young ones.’
To do that, he first needed to enter the corridor leading to their habitat.
The problem is that the corridor was in a dungeon managed by the Guardian Guild. So he needed to take control of it.
While the guild competition might feel a bit outdated, the rewards were certainly not.
Teams that achieved high rankings in that competition could gain the governance rights over other participating guilds. Originally, the story was designed to have them surrender willingly, but now it was time to create a new narrative.
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