* * *
I watched him for a moment, then suddenly felt someone’s eyes on me.
I looked up.
Sure enough, the man stationed at the entrance was sneaking glances in our direction.
As he swallowed hard and our eyes met, he flinched, clearly flustered, and quickly looked away.
…Wait.
Like a lie, a memory fragment flashed through my mind.
I stirred the porridge casually, pretending not to notice.
“I need to use the bathroom.”
At that, Lee Donghyuk paused mid-spoonful and gave me a long, unreadable stare.
I kept my expression blank and continued to poke at the porridge as he flicked his eyes toward the man at the entrance—telling him to escort me.
Suppressing a sigh of relief, I stood up casually and followed the man down a dark corridor.
When we reached the bathroom, he opened the door and let me in first.
There were no stall doors where they should have been, which threw me off a bit, but I stepped up to a urinal and unzipped my pants like nothing was wrong.
Still, the man just stood there, openly watching me.
You’ve gotta be kidding me…
What was this, a doping test?
In the end, I had no choice but to relieve myself under his watchful eye.
Then, while washing my hands, I dried them slowly and pulled a chocolate bar from my pocket, tossing it behind me.
He caught it reflexively and stared down at it.
“Eat it. You look hungry.”
His face flushed with shame, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the bar.
Eventually, pride be damned, he tore off the wrapper and started wolfing it down.
Even though he’d helped kidnap me, the sight was oddly pitiful.
“Don’t you want to get out of this?”
He froze mid-bite and glared at me, sharp eyes narrowed.
Maybe it was because of how gaunt he was, but his face looked especially intense.
“If you’re trying something…”
“I can help you settle in Korea.”
That one sentence shattered all the suspicion in his eyes.
Honestly, I’d been unsure until now, but judging from his reaction, it seemed I’d been right.
“I’ve got money. Setting you up with a quiet restaurant somewhere? No big deal.”
“A restaurant?”
“I saw the tattoo on your wrist earlier.”
Of course, I hadn’t said it without a reason.
Back when he caused a ruckus in the car, I caught a brief glimpse of the tattoo on his wrist when he raised his hand to stop me.
It was smudged and crudely drawn, but it was clearly shaped like a ladle.
I had never seen anyone get a tattoo like that just for style.
He probably had a related profession—or at least dreamed of having one.
North Korea wasn’t a place where Hunters could freely form guilds or act however they pleased like in South Korea.
The moment you awakened, you were bound to the state, and even the hard-earned loot from dungeons went straight into the national treasury.
So even someone labeled as an A-rank ended up burying their face in a bowl of lukewarm chicken porridge.
Imagine how much worse it must be for those of lower ranks.
“If you don’t want to, forget it.”
I looked down at the man’s trembling hand, shrugged indifferently, and walked past him.
As I strode down the hallway with an air of nonchalance, I felt a sudden grip on my shoulder from behind.
The way he flinched and pulled back right after suggested it had been a subconscious reflex.
A part of me had worried he might go straight to report to Lee Donghyuk, but thankfully that didn’t seem to be the case.
“So you’re accepting it?”
“……”
“No?”
The moment I made a move to turn away again, I heard his teeth grind sharply.
When dealing with someone like him, hesitation was dangerous—you couldn’t afford to give them time to think.
“If you’re lying, I’ll rip you apart myself.”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
“…Don’t make a sound. Just follow me.”
The man lowered his voice as if someone might overhear and gestured toward the back door.
I had been the one to make the offer, but the way he took the bait so readily without a shred of suspicion showed how desperate he must be.
As I followed behind him, I shook the numen stone around my neck in irritation.
“Take this off, will you?”
“Why should I trust you? Do I look like an idiot?”
Predictably, he scowled and glared at me.
Maybe I was pushing it. I really did intend to keep my promise if I made it back to South Korea safely, but clearly, he didn’t believe me.
“So where are we headed?”
“There’s a broker I know in Dandong.”
A broker?
I wasn’t entirely sure, but it definitely sounded like he meant some kind of fixer or middleman.
If he had a personal connection to a broker, maybe he’d been planning to defect soon.
“Move quickly. Lee Donghyuk isn’t someone who misses a beat.”
He led the way down winding alleyways with a practiced ease, heading toward a quieter area.
I followed in silence before asking something that had been on my mind.
“Who told you to catch me? Someone high up, I assume?”
This wasn’t just any country—this was South Korea’s S-rank being kidnapped.
A stunt like this could easily spark a war under the current division.
North Korea had no S-ranks of their own, so they’d suffer all the consequences.
It was strange they’d risk something so reckless.
But the man didn’t give me the answer I wanted.
“How would a grunt like me know that? I just do what I’m told.”
He answered lazily and headed toward a nearby phone booth tucked into a corner.
It looked so old and worn-down that I doubted it even worked.
But just as he picked up the receiver, he turned to me and held out his hand.
“Coins.”
“…What?”
I was speechless at the sheer audacity.
He dragged me all the way here and seriously thought I’d be carrying Chinese coins?
Stunned, I turned my pants pockets inside out and patted all over my jacket to show him I had nothing.
Then my hand paused near my chest.
Something was there, in the inner pocket of my jacket.
I pulled it out—and found a medicine pouch and a Zippo lighter.
The medicine clearly belonged to “Seo Inho,” and I almost tossed it, but felt uneasy and slipped it back.
What mattered now was the Zippo.
It gleamed gold, encrusted with what looked like real diamonds.
Definitely not an ordinary item.
I wondered how much it was worth.
With a sinking heart, I walked to a nearby street vendor.
An elderly woman was selling various vegetables, with a brass bowl full of coins beside her.
This was insane. I knew it.
But I had no choice—I held out the lighter in front of her.
“This. Expensive.”
She stared at me suspiciously, unsure of my words, but when her eyes fell on the lighter, her expression instantly changed, eyes going wide in astonishment.
“Look, Halmeoni. Gold and diamond. Coin—change.”
Not knowing a word of Chinese, I just blurted out whatever English came to mind and pointed again at the bowl of coins.
Somehow, she got the gist, because she quickly snatched up the lighter with a now cheerful face.
But instead of giving me the entire bowl—like she should have—she dropped maybe ten coins into my hand.
I raised my eyebrows in disbelief, but she just played dumb.
A shameless thief…
She must’ve sensed I was desperate and took full advantage.
I stared at her graying hair in silent frustration, then handed the coins to the man standing beside me.
To think that expensive lighter turned into a measly handful of change…
“Wait here for a bit.”
He counted the coins, then rushed into the phone booth.
Not long after, he emerged with a foul expression.
Judging by the sharp exchange of words I heard, the call didn’t go well.
“What happened?”
“The earliest is 10 p.m. He said to meet in this alley.”
They must’ve argued about the time.
Honestly, it seemed like it’d be faster for me to just call Korea and ask them to come get me.
Problem was, I had no way to contact them—and even if I did, I had no idea who to contact.
That was also why I hadn’t sent a message through a chirper (a psychic carrier).
I didn’t even know the number.
And going to the local Public Security Bureau to explain the situation would only waste time.
I’d probably end up on the Chinese news before I made it home.
All things considered, waiting until 10 p.m. seemed like the better option.
“Then, how about taking this thing off?”
* * *
