* * *
The marble floors gleamed with a subdued shine, as though they carried the passage of time.
Antique furniture adorned with gold accents elevated the grandeur of the mansion.
“Welcome. You must be our distinguished guests from Korea.”
Just as I was stepping forward in awe, a man slowly approached us.
He was tall enough that even I had to slightly raise my head to meet his gaze—an elderly gentleman with silver hair.
He was dressed in a classy, old-fashioned suit that perfectly suited the estate’s atmosphere.
Despite his age, he was strikingly handsome.
His build was so solid and muscular that you might mistake him for someone in their thirties.
“I apologize for the delayed introduction. I am Igor Alekseyevich Petrov, the owner of this mansion. Please, just call me Igor.”
Yes—Igor.
This was the very oligarch who owned the mansion.
From what I knew, many oligarchs had shady dealings behind their wealth, but this man was different.
He was known for his countless acts of charity and had once been named one of the 50 most influential people in the world.
Just the amount he’d donated made it impossible to guess how much wealth he truly had.
Of course, all of this was something I remembered from the movie.
That’s why I recognized his face instantly.
Though I hadn’t expected him to be this tall in real life.
He had to be close to 190 cm.
Just looking at him, he didn’t seem so different from the others.
‘Wasn’t he unawakened?’
His physique was practically on par with an S-Class.
After entering the mansion, I couldn’t help but be impressed.
Knowing how deeply respected this man was only made the whole thing more striking.
As I found myself unable to take my eyes off him, Cha Rui suddenly cut in.
“The owner? So you’re the one who hosted this party?”
“I only provided the venue. I’m just a worthless old man. Please feel free to enjoy the party as if I weren’t here.”
A worthless old man?
There couldn’t be a more ill-fitting phrase for someone like him.
Wealthy and virtuous—how does someone like this even exist?
I felt the urge to give him a thumbs-up right then and there.
But clearly, Cha Rui didn’t feel the same.
His already sharp gaze grew cold, and the air around us seemed to freeze over.
“Then what’s with this shady setup?”
Huh?
I tilted my head at that.
When I first stepped into the mansion, I hadn’t noticed anything strange.
Looking around again, there still wasn’t anything that stood out as suspicious.
But Igor seemed to understand what Cha Rui meant.
He gave an apologetic smile.
And despite not being an Awakened, he calmly met Cha Rui’s razor-sharp glare.
Most people would be crushed under that pressure, but not him.
“Haha… If it made you uncomfortable, I apologize. But with so many S-ranks attending this party, I hope you understand it was done to minimize inconvenience.”
“Inconvenience?”
“There are some guests who hate having their unique aura sensed by others.”
Ah—now I got what he meant. I was barely S-rank myself, so it didn’t really apply to me.
But once you reach a certain level as an S-rank, your aura-sensing ability activates.
In the movie, it had been depicted as a glowing blue flame clustered around people.
I didn’t know all the details, but right now, that sensation was completely gone.
It didn’t feel like someone’s ability—it was more likely that a specialized device had been installed in the mansion.
Weird…
That wasn’t in the original setting.
As far as I knew, the only thing that had changed in the story was me, yet things were already diverging in small ways.
It wasn’t anything serious, but it still bugged me.
While I was rubbing my chin and thinking, Cha Rui clicked his tongue in displeasure.
“What a load of bullshit.”
As expected, Cha Rui didn’t filter his curses for anyone.
My inner Confucian instinct flinched, but Igor remained completely unfazed as he calmly led us forward.
Again, I was struck by how composed he was, and I followed him deeper into the mansion.
Inside the grand ballroom, elegant classical music filled the air, and a large crowd had gathered.
Naturally, not everyone was an S-rank Hunter.
Most were guild personnel accompanying them.
Still, once you’ve seen someone once, they stick in your mind.
As far as I knew, there were only ten S-rank Hunters in all of Russia.
That’s pretty few considering a population of around 140 million.
Maybe that’s why the public treated them like literal heroes.
S-ranks were revered in every country, but in Russia, the obsession was on another level.
Even if they committed crimes, got caught in sex scandals, or were involved in outright atrocities, people would still praise them like saints.
Years of social conditioning had normalized it.
In short, they were untouchable—practically sacred.
Even those arrogant S-ranks fell silent the moment we appeared.
As soon as Do Soohyuk led us into the room, every single gaze turned toward us.
All ten of the Russian S-ranks. Not one of them was absent.
Their vividly colored eyes locked onto us.
But aside from a few exceptions, none of those gazes were hostile.
Most seemed surprised—or even awestruck.
No matter how much their own people worshipped them, the gap in power was undeniable.
When Do Soohyuk came to a stop and turned his head, the Russian Hunters he made eye contact with lowered their gazes one by one.
Judging by their startled expressions, their bodies reacted before their minds caught up—an instinctual fear response.
Still blushing from that involuntary reaction, they kept glancing over at us.
Was it that guy?
But there’s always someone who doesn’t know their place.
Or maybe just refuses to read the room.
A man with bright blue hair arrogantly brushed his bangs back and glared at us.
Clearly didn’t like what he was seeing, and made no effort to hide it.
As I stared at him, a presence shifted beside me.
Startled, I turned my head to find Woo Jaehyun standing shoulder-to-shoulder with me, watching my expression carefully.
He’d been keeping his mouth shut ever since what happened at the airport.
I’d been the one who overreacted to something trivial, so I couldn’t understand why he was the one looking nervous.
He didn’t even do anything wrong…
I tried to look calm and turned my gaze back ahead.
That seemed to reassure Jaehyun, who subtly leaned his shoulder even closer to mine.
“Hyung, what is it? Do you know him?”
“No. Never seen him.”
I wasn’t just saying that—I genuinely had no idea who he was.
The only thing I remembered from the story was that he gets thoroughly beaten later.
If my memory was correct, something was about to go down within the next hour.
That would kick off the main episode.
In the movie, that blue-haired guy kept picking fights with the group throughout the party.
He pretended to be muttering to himself, but in a room full of S-ranks, that kind of petty provocation wasn’t going to fly.
Still, the others completely ignored him, which only made him more agitated.
Eventually, he got drunk and started causing a scene.
It got so bad that other Russian Hunters had to step in and hold him back.
It was total chaos—seconds away from disaster.
Even the guild staff tried to calm him down, but he wouldn’t listen.
If anything, the attention seemed to fuel his ego.
And then he crossed the line.
Out of nowhere, he hurled a string of insults—laced with mockery—and tried to punch Cha Rui.
The whole thing ended in 30 seconds.
The blue-haired guy was left in a bloody heap on the floor, his face so mangled it was unrecognizable.
Everyone around was stunned.
They were used to seeing Cha Rui composed and confident—but not this.
They’d never seen him unleash violence like that.
He hadn’t even used his powers.
It was pure brute force, and it was merciless.
The sheer dominance of it left everyone frozen in place, too shocked to even intervene.
And Cha Rui?
He calmly wiped the blood off his hands, as if nothing had happened, leaving the room in icy silence.
That scene had been pure catharsis.
As I recalled it, Woo Jaehyun suddenly held something out to me.
“Look at this. Looks good, right?”
It was a small cupcake, topped with a bright red cherry.
In his massive hands, it looked even smaller than it was.
When did he even grab this?
Seeing him smile like he was excited to watch me eat, I couldn’t bring myself to turn him down.
Besides, I had been running on an empty stomach since early morning.
But the moment I took a bite, he took that as a cue to start collecting more.
And before I knew it, he was holding an armful of cupcakes—both hands overflowing.
Seriously, how am I supposed to eat all this?
At this rate, I’m going to die of diabetes before anything else.
Just then, as I was staring down at the cupcake with a deeply troubled expression—
“Would you like a cocktail too?”
“A cocktail?”
The enticing suggestion pierced my ears, and I reflexively snapped my head up.
I’d already been curious about the drinks the servers had been carrying around, so I couldn’t help but react.
No way they’d be serving ordinary cocktails at a place full of S-Ranks.
Maybe, like the Céleste wine from earlier, these cocktails were also specially made just for S-Ranks.
Maybe even a brand-new, unreleased creation.
Just imagining it made the corners of my lips curl up, and I unknowingly started to salivate.
But just as I was about to nod unconsciously, Cha Rui furrowed his brows.
* * *
This old Russian man, could he be the one mentioned when he was kidnapped the first time who collects unique things? There’s no way he’s simply just a genuinely good rich old man.