* * *
Jealousy tactic.
My heart began to beat even more violently.
I felt a rush of heat travel up my neck.
So.
It was fake!
It was a disguise.
Kang Yigeon still loves Seohwa!
This isn’t good.
It’s so good that it’s not good.
It’s dangerous to show how happy I am.
But even that sense of danger felt like a heart-pounding flutter.
There are times when human emotions simply cannot be controlled by reason.
Right now was exactly one of those times.
“I see. Hahaha… but it’s a bit hot inside this tent.”
Seohwa fanned his burning cheeks with his hand before awkwardly lowering it.
A silence unlike any before settled between them.
Seohwa’s mind raced.
‘Should I fish for information and ask if he thinks the tactic worked?’
No, that topic isn’t great. Let’s talk about something else entirely.
Gaius Jung. The New Humanity Sect. The Incheon Port Dungeon.
‘…Should I tell him to stop because Seohwa wouldn’t be affected by a jealousy tactic anyway?’
Now that I think about it, Yoon Youngin’s acting had been a bit awkward.
He openly showed that he didn’t know much about Kang Yigeon.
‘…Am I too happy right now?’
Seohwa pretended to adjust his posture while smoothing his face.
It was warm… and the corners of his mouth were definitely turned up.
“The test answer sheet—”
“I’m truly sorry. I’m not happy about it. I was hoping Mr. Kang Yigeon would be happy with a new love.”
“……”
“The test answer sheet?”
Kang Yigeon handed the tablet he had placed on the table to Seohwa.
“I’m going to grade it, so please call out the correct answers.”
“Ah, yes.”
It seemed he had finished all the practice problems Go Junyoung had selected.
Question 1 is 4. Question 2 is 5. Question 3 is Weasel. Question 4 is Green…
As he called out the answers, Seohwa thought the short-answer questions felt strangely familiar.
Finally, the grading was finished, and Kang Yigeon looked at the screen with a peculiar expression.
“What’s the score? Even if it’s a fake engagement, you’ve spent time studying, so it should be over 50…”
Kang Yigeon turned the tablet toward Seohwa.
100 Points
Seohwa’s eyes widened at the impossibly high score, but then he noticed the name written at the top of the test.
Lee Yuje
What Kang Yigeon had solved wasn’t Yoon Youngin’s test, but the problems for Lee Yuje that had been set for Wolf.
“How… how… why…?”
How do you suddenly get a 100 when you supposedly know nothing about Lee Yuje?
When he asked, stuttering in his confusion, Kang Yigeon replied calmly.
“It’s easy. I just had to answer with the opposite.”
“The opposite of what…?”
Seohwa couldn’t finish his sentence.
Because he realized what the “opposite” meant.
He just had to give the opposite of the answer ‘Seohwa’ would give.
Favorite animal? Seohwa likes snakes, so he chose a weasel, the snake’s natural enemy.
Favorite color? Seohwa likes purple, so he chose green, its complementary color.
“……”
Even so, a perfect score?
I have to act like I don’t understand.
I have to finish the sentence and ask what “opposite” he means.
Seohwa lowered the tablet to his lap and hid his trembling hands under his sleeves.
Currently applying 1 S-Class Oath Contract.
Target: (Gaius Jung)
Oath Violation Rate:
■■■■□□□□□□
The violation rate hadn’t changed.
But why… why do I keep feeling like this man knows?
That shouldn’t be possible.
The system is accurate.
Silence fell. It was a suffocating, uncomfortable, and anxious silence.
The air even felt prickly from the high tension.
Seohwa flicked his eyes over to look at Kang Yigeon.
Naturally, their eyes met.
His eyes were very soft and gentle.
It was a warmth he had only experienced in the first timeline, but Seohwa was more surprised by his expression than the warmth.
It wasn’t an expression that was checking or searching for a reaction.
It was a look that said he already knew.
As if he were teasing me while knowing everything…
‘Static—’
The silence was broken by a sudden radio transmission.
Anise’s voice shouted from the wireless communicator held only by the seven members of the tracking team.
The New Humanity Sect members just entered the Market!
∗ ∗ ∗
The Market hadn’t even opened yet, let alone the testing started.
No one should be able to enter before then.
They are protected by a “Wall.”
A black wall of the same type as the Gate Horizon that surrounds dungeons.
Nothing can pierce it. Not skills, not magic, not even potions…
“Mr. Kang Yigeon. Does an EX-class pass through a Gate Horizon by any chance?”
“They cannot. It is impossible.”
Right. Even an EX-class.
Then how did those non-Awakened people pierce that wall and enter the Market?
The looks in the eyes of the two people facing each other changed.
Kang Yigeon, returning to his cold self, immediately prepared to put away the tent, but Seohwa stopped him.
“Leave it. Let’s head out as if we’re just going for a walk nearby. So people don’t pay attention to us.”
Thinking it was a rational idea, Kang Yigeon pulled back the flap and stepped out instead of packing the tent.
The two headed toward Anise’s location with fast, but never hurried, steps. It was a vacant lot behind the Market.
-That’s impossible! Explain in detail. How did those bastards get through the Gate Horizon?
-The New Humanity Sect set up a small barracks here in the lot. I was monitoring them from a tree, and the cultists brought an NPC from somewhere and went into the barracks together. A few minutes later, three cultists came out and just slid right through the wall.
-What on earth…
-Hearing that, it sounds like they made a deal with the NPC.
Seohwa had the same thought as Wolf.
Because without the system’s permission, they could never pierce the Gate Horizon.
If the system and a cultist terrorist organization had formed an alliance… there would be nothing more terrifying than that.
That’s not it! I’m being framed! 。：゜(；´∩｀；)゜：。
The Market is not a dungeon, so the wall surrounding it is not a Gate Horizon.
The system is always on the side of the Awakened.
Please believe me (´• ꘍•`) ♡
“The system says it’s being framed…”
“Yes. Since it says it is always on our side, let’s believe it.”
-The system is crying, asking us to believe it. Big brother Wolf, apologize!
-Haha. I was being reckless.
-The system’s crying emoticon is quite cute.
They knew it wasn’t the worst-case scenario, but it was still incomprehensible.
-It seems the New Humanity Sect found some kind of loophole in the Market wall. Since the Market isn’t a dungeon, maybe there was a way unlike the Gate Horizon… Anyway, this explains how they’ve been buying forced dungeon opening items without Awakened/non-Awakened pairs. Wookwon, what about Enterra?
-There’s no movement inside the barracks on this side.
-Is the method only known to the New Humanity Sect?
-Enterra and the New Humanity Sect have formed an alliance. They will definitely make contact to share the method.
-You’re right, Deputy Director. The Vice Guild Leader, Hunter Lee Yuje, and Anise will take the New Humanity Sect. I, Director Wolf, the Deputy Director, and Wookwon will handle Enterra. Let’s subdue them as quietly and quickly as possible. Once we find the method, share it immediately so we can enter too.
-To think a way to enter would appear like this—all that studying was for nothing, brothers!
-It was still a pleasant time.
-Um… what should I be doing…?
The only non-Awakened person asked in a trembling voice.
-Mr. Yoon Youngin, go to the yacht anchored at the port. It’s the safest place.
-Yes…
At that moment, Kang Yigeon, who had just been listening, spoke up.
“Stay at the pub.”
-Pardon?
“Mr. Yoon Youngin. Please wait at the pub.”
-Ah… yes. I’ll do that…
Seohwa looked at Kang Yigeon in surprise.
A pub, when the further from the Market the safer?
The pub was actually a building close to the back of the Market where the terrorist organizations had set up camp.
“Will he be okay?”
“He will be fine.”
“……”
“He is an agent of the Bureau. It’s fine.”
Kang Yigeon acted as if there was absolutely no need to worry.
Even if it was a fake engagement, an Awakened person would normally worry about a non-Awakened person.
Seohwa was puzzled, but he decided to trust Kang Yigeon’s judgment and handle the urgent matter first.
∗ ∗ ∗
The Market is in the middle of the island, but the atmosphere on either side of it is quite different.
While the front is loud and crowded, the back is quiet and secluded.
Non-Awakened people visiting the island for sightseeing mostly stay in the back, creating a scene like a glamping ground with all sorts of caravans and luxury tents.
To avoid drawing attention, Seohwa and Kang Yigeon used an item before entering the non-Awakened area.
Item: “I Wish No One Knew Me”
While the scent persists, you are free from being noticed.
Note: Does not hide noise generated. Use caution.
Duration: +10 minutes
S-Class, Creator: Shin Seong-yeon
Once the S-class perfume was sprayed all over their bodies, their presence became much fainter.
Although there was a warning that noise couldn’t be hidden, the two passed through the glamping ground without making a single sound.
StarPaint Company Retreat
A large tent placed closest to the Market building.
This pitch-black tent, which felt ominous because it was completely blocked off on all sides, was the New Humanity Sect’s barracks.
Despite being disguised as a company retreat, there was no sound of laughter or bustling chatter coming from within.
* * *
