* * *
“What’s ‘alright’? We’re complete opposites.”
“It is because I am more rational and reasonable than you.”
“Excuse me?”
“Have you not admitted multiple times yourself? That Kang Yigeon is a rational and reasonable person.”
“Ah, well, normally that’s true. But lately, I’ve heard rumors that you’ve lost your reason due to love.”
“Do not worry. Even when I lose my reason, I am still more rational than you.”
Seohwa, unable to refute his point and boiling with frustration, watched as the corners of Kang Yigeon’s mouth lifted into a faint, loose smile.
“My judgment will surely be correct this time as well. Trust me.”
Seohwa read a deep longing within those eyes.
She glimpsed a steadfast will to achieve peace, no matter what obstacle stood in his way—even if that obstacle was the timeline itself.
She didn’t blindly believe in that longing and will.
Her heart didn’t settle immediately, nor did her anxiety vanish.
But one thing was certain.
She wanted to cheer for him.
For everything Kang Yigeon intended to do from now on.
Regardless of whether it involved her or not.
How should she describe this feeling?
It was similar to the heart she had when she saw his crying face in the first timeline.
Just like back then, when she thought she never wanted to see Kang Yigeon’s tears again.
She hoped that steadfast will would last forever.
So that he would never face frustration, never face despair.
Had she ever empathized with someone to this extent?
Before and now, it has only ever been Kang Yigeon.
If a wish-granting coupon fell into her hands at this very moment, Seohwa would make a wish without hesitation.
For Kang Yigeon to live in peace from now on.
Even as she thought she would exhaust herself for him without any hesitation.
Seohwa did not know what name to give to this emotion.
The Guys Jung Tracking Team gathered in the meeting room of the Camellia Team, a secret department of the Danbaek Guild.
Though the team had lost one member, three new members had been added, resulting in a larger total count.
The new members were Kim Tuyeon, Dam Yunjin, and Ha Seojin.
Kim Tuyeon, an S-rank Hunter who used two completely different types of weapons—a machete and a mace—simultaneously, was recruited to strengthen combat power.
Pioneer Dam Yunjin was recruited to ensure the Incheon Port Dungeon was cleared more reliably without any sacrifices.
Finally, Ha Seojin.
He was an A-rank Mage personally selected by Kang Yigeon—and he was Seohwa’s newly created [Stooge].
“Even if you worked in the shadows, we should have at least heard the name of an A-rank Mage.”
“Are you doubting my skills?”
“No, well. I checked the national network, and there was no information. But since you passed the inspection of the Ministry agents, your skills are proven.”
Seohwa felt a bit bitter.
The Korean national network… it was publicly serving as a combat power measuring stick.
“How do you know the Vice Guild Leader?”
Although the recruitment was finalized based on Kang Yigeon’s recommendation, Go Junyoung seemed dissatisfied with Ha Seojin.
It was because of his “Locked” status, which had caused Lee Yuje to be doubted and guarded against until the very end.
“We don’t know each other. He’s so famous that I knew of him unilaterally, but my connection was with someone else, not Vice Guild Leader Kang Yigeon.”
“Someone else?”
“Yuje Hyung… sob.”
Seohwa turned her head, covering her mouth.
Tears welled up instantly as she imagined Kobami becoming a giant anaconda and no longer being able to wrap around her finger.
“The mercenary Lee Yuje, who was sacrificed at the Market, was a close brother of mine. He was such an innocent guy who could finish three meals a day as long as he had mushrooms, but for him to die like that…”
Ha Seojin had heard the news of his close brother Lee Yuje’s death and joined the team to complete the mission his brother couldn’t finish and to seek revenge.
That was the setting.
“Making revenge the goal is a bit…”
“What’s wrong with revenge?”
The sharp voice belonged to Dam Yunjin.
The very same Dam Yunjin who had spent a month as a trainee with Lee Yuje.
The Dam Yunjin who, along with Mister Wang Jungsoo, exceptionally loved company dinners.
“Team Leader Go. Let me be clear, I also joined to avenge Yuje. I’m going to wipe out that terrorist organization.”
“My goal is to find Guys Jung and cancel the oath, but I also agree with avenging Hunter Lee Yuje. Everyone puts their lives on the line for this job, but he died too cruelly. We couldn’t even recover an intact body. Tsk.”
For Seohwa, these words were a bit touching.
Dam Yunjin aside, she didn’t expect even Wolf to mourn like this.
Were his comments about becoming interested in her actually sincere?
“Yes, well. Personal revenge is something I can’t stop, but please don’t forget that our primary goal is securing Guys Jung. We shouldn’t put the cart before the horse.”
“If you put it that way, the real goal is to bring back Hunter Seohwa, so Team Leader Hyung-nim’s current statement is actually putting the cart before the horse.”
“Right. I don’t care about anything except finding Hunter Seohwa.”
Dam Yunjin glared at Cho Wookwon and Anise.
“How can you guys only talk about Hunter Seohwa when a teammate died?”
“That’s unfair! We mourned plenty, too.”
“To be honest, I wasn’t that close to that Oppa, so I was just okay, but Wookwon even cried. He was blaming himself, saying he should have been the one to go to the Market. He drank and went to counseling and everything.”
“Ah… was that so? Sorry. I rudely made an assumption when we shared the same grief.”
“It’s okay, Noona. Let’s pray together that Yuje Hyung isn’t in pain anymore.”
“Yeah. May he be at peace now.”
Poke-poke-poke-poke-poke.
Dam Yunjin and Cho Wookwon mercilessly stabbed Seohwa’s conscience with tens of millions of needles.
“Both goals are wrong.”
That was when Yoon Youngin spoke, unwrapping a piece of gum and popping it into his mouth.
In fact, the tracking team had four new members added, not three.
Because the man with the red ponytail and a defiant expression, chewing gum aggressively, was a completely different personality from the Yoon Youngin she knew.
“The goal of this team is to mop up the terrorist organization. I don’t care about things like Lee Yuje’s revenge, and Hunter Seohwa can return on her own whenever she wants. Me and this Deputy Director Ajusshi joined this team to hunt down and crush those damn terrorists.”
“Agent Yun is correct. The Guys Jung Tracking Team was created as part of the response to the ‘D-Day Project’.”
The two had been dispatched from the Ministry’s D-Day Response Team.
The Danbaek Guild’s Guys Jung Tracking Team was scheduled to disband after handing over Guys Jung to the two Ministry officials, and after that, the counter-terrorism response would be continued by the Ministry’s Counter-Terrorism Team.
“Damn it, because this Ajusshi picked me, I got stuck in a troublesome team.”
“Agent Yoon Youngin, please refrain from making rude remarks to your superior.”
“What’s rude? I’m calling an Ajusshi an Ajusshi, so what. Should I call you Grandfather instead?”
“Mr. Yoon Youngin. I am your direct superior.”
“You’re a superior now, but once the dispatch is over, you and I are in different departments, so stop acting like an old fossil.”
Sparks flew between Choi Ji-hyeong and Yoon Youngin.
“Wow. All ten of us have different goals and don’t blend at all—is this team really going to be okay…?”
Kim Tuyeon muttered.
Among them, he was the hunter with the strongest combat power after Kang Yigeon.
And although he looked quiet now, he was also a notorious nutcase who was most likely to destroy team harmony.
‘Kang Yigeon… doesn’t look like he has any intention of stopping them.’
Seohwa glanced at Kang Yigeon.
He had been silent the whole time.
He was simply checking data on his tablet with a cold gaze.
She had forgotten for a moment because he spoke so well in front of her, but Kang Yigeon was originally a man of few words.
There were countless reviews on the Danbaek homepage saying that even after clearing a dungeon with him for ten days, it was hard to hear even a single spoken word a day.
“Our goals are all different, but either way, we agree on successfully clearing the Incheon Port Dungeon and securing Guys Jung. So everyone, stop the nerves and let’s get started. From page one, this is the terrain of the Incheon Port Dungeon as identified by the Foresight trait-holders.”
“Even if it’s a long-term dungeon, it’s only Rank 5 anyway, so why are we having a meeting? I wish a Rank 6 dungeon would show up somewhere.”
“Tuyeon, watch your mouth. Words have power.”
“If I had known that was the last meeting with Yuje, I would have fed him more meat…”
“Hunter Dam Yunjin, focus on the meeting for now.”
“Wait. This meeting looks like it’ll be long, so I’m going to go call my baby. They’re at home alone.”
“Deputy Director, your ‘baby’ is a thirty-five-year-old former 707 Special Forces member……”
Since they were all high-ranking Awakened, their personalities were strong. Go Junyoung was going to have a hard time.
‘It was even worse during the first turn.’
Back then, the Rank 6 Dungeon Expedition Team consisted of 130 people exactly like this.
Seohwa, along with Kim Tuyeon, had been a representative “person like this,” and Kang Yigeon was the one who played the role of the person holding the back of his neck like Go Junyoung today.
Of course, Kang Yigeon’s charisma was different from Go Junyoung’s; if he touched his forehead or let out a sigh, the expedition members, who were chatting noisily, would suddenly fall as silent as if they had been burned away.
‘Ooh. Making this group fall silent at once. As expected of our Assistant.’
‘Guild Leader, you shut your mouth too.’
‘…….’
She was reminiscing about the man who was merciless even toward the person he had a crush on.
“Mr. New Mage, have we met somewhere before?”
* * *
