Ring-ring— Ring-ring—
The phone rang incessantly.
In the penthouse of a soaring glass tower, with the blue sky visible through a wall of transparent windows, Seong Yohan sat at his desk.
He frowned as he picked up the device.
“Yeah.”
—Um, Guild Leader. About that…
“Stop hesitating and speak clearly.”
His head was already throbbing from the pile of paperwork regarding the dispute with the Jupiter Guild.
The slightest irritation poked at his sensitive nerves.
Though the afternoon sun rested lazily on his scowling face, Yohan merely tilted his head and cracked his neck with an annoyed expression.
“What is it.”
—…It’s about Yeongwon. I’m told he didn’t show up for school today.
“…Do I really need to be bothered with every trivial detail?”
—My apologies. However, he’s not answering his phone, and he reportedly slipped away after ditching the bodyguards who were watching him. Fortunately, we’ve located him, but… well, he’s refusing to budge unless the Guild Leader comes personally—
“…Sigh.”
Yohan pressed his fingers against his brow and leaned back deeply into his chair.
Yeongwon was a ninth-grader he was looking after due to certain circumstances.
Because Yohan had been lenient, the boy had been overstepping his bounds lately.
Yet, he wasn’t someone Yohan could simply cast aside.
The boy was necessary to him.
Yohan remained silent with his eyes closed for a moment before responding to the voice on the line.
—Guild Leader?
“I’ll go. Send the location.”
—Yes, sir. Thank you!
Yohan exhaled a long breath and stood up.
The path to catching a troublemaker felt like nothing but a chore.
It took about an hour to walk from Miyang-dong to Gwangcheon-gu, where Mt. Dumang was located. Walking along in his typical “jobless bum” attire, Yigyul was passing through an alleyway when he suddenly stopped and stepped back to look inside.
Deep within an alley tangled with old, low-slung houses, someone was being dragged into a connecting side street.
A backpack and a school uniform. Behind them followed a group of smirking, crooked-looking punks. Yigyul smacked his lips.
‘Shouldn’t they be in school right now? This looks like a classic case of delinquents shaking down a normal student… Do guys like that still exist these days? If I’m any later, the gathering hunters will have stripped that Rank C dungeon bare.’
Yigyul hesitated.
‘Should I endure the injustice, or just walk away?’
Despite the thought, his feet were already moving into the alley. He muttered with a look of pure annoyance.
“I’m gonna be late.”
Hands in his pockets, he strode into the junction of the narrow streets.
The smell of thick cigarette smoke greeted him first.
He waved it away, revealing three high schoolers and one boy who was being beaten.
The victim looked small—maybe a middle schooler.
One of the high schoolers was crouching, flicking the forehead of the boy who had his head hung low.
“Our cute little Yeongwon, what did I tell you? You should’ve offered a tribute the moment you showed up. Didn’t you brag that your sister left you a ton of stuff? You were the one running your mouth~”
“Hey, my homeroom teacher called me in yesterday because of this brat. Asked me who’s been bullying kids lately. Right? Who’s bullying? We’re friends.”
“We’re just saying since you have so much, share a little~ that’s all. Did we ask for something impossible? It’s not like we told you to go into a dungeon and kill a boss.”
The boy collapsed on the ground had a crumpled uniform and skin covered in bruises and scratches.
He bit his lip hard against the humiliating gestures, glaring at the bully with resentful eyes.
“Ah, damn, there’s nothing in his bag.”
“This brat. Our cute Yeongwon thinks he’s all grown up now, not even carrying books? Where’d you hide the money?”
Another student who had been rummaging through the backpack threw it at Yeongwon with a bored look.
Yigyul leaned against a wall, arms crossed, watching the scene play out.
“Hey, you should keep your word!”
“Did we ask for the big stuff? Let’s just share the small things, you punk!”
“This is why you’re getting trashed.”
“Ah—”
Losing his temper, the high schooler stood up and began kicking Yeongwon repeatedly.
The boy’s frail shoulders winced and trembled.
Irritated that the victim wasn’t making a single sound of pain, the bully pulled a cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth.
That was when one of the other punks happened to turn his head.
He spotted Yigyul leaning against the wall and jumped back a beat late.
“Ah, shit—you scared me!!”
“Wha-what? How long has he been there?”
The three students hovered in a panic, staring at Yigyul with flustered faces.
Yigyul gave them a bright smile.
“You students sure have a brotherly bond.”
The boys quickly assessed the situation and smirked at each other.
“Mister, don’t get involved in things that don’t concern you and just go.”
“He looks like a total beggar. Is that gray hair? Hey, mister, you got any money?”
The student who had been inhaling his cigarette until his cheeks were hollow sneered at him.
Yigyul pushed himself off the wall and clicked his tongue.
It was human nature to feel like acting diligently when provoked like this. Looking at the students laughing at him, he murmured softly.
“They said kids these days were scary…”
The boys cackled.
“Kids these days are sca— Gack!”
In the middle of the laugh, Yigyul vanished from their sight.
Before the student’s eyes could even widen, Yigyul grabbed him by the collar and threw him over his shoulder.
Crash!
Immediately after, he swept the ankles of the second student, sending him tumbling, then spun around and thrust a fist toward the remaining boy.
Whish—
The sound of the wind being sliced was terrifying.
“Huff… huff…”
The fist stopped inches from the boy’s face, motionless, before relaxing into a single finger.
Yigyul poked the student’s head with his index finger and spoke.
“Want to get trashed, or just leave?”
“M-madman. Are you… an Awakened?”
“If a Hunter hits a civilian—”
“I guess you want to get trashed.”
“Aaagh!”
The three high schoolers turned tail and sprinted out of the alley.
Yigyul brushed the dust off the victim’s bag and held it out.
Then, he offered a hand to the boy on the ground.
“Can you stand up?”
The student, who had been staring at him blankly, bit his lip, slapped Yigyul’s hand away, and scrambled to his feet.
A name tag was pinned to his chest: Kang Yeongwon.
“Give me my bag.”
“Hmm… Here.”
“Are you an Awakened?”
“Why?”
“……”
Kang Yeongwon stared at Yigyul as if he had something to say but bit his lip again.
He snatched the bag and ran out of the alley.
Yigyul narrowed his eyes, watching the boy’s retreating figure.
He hadn’t stepped in to act like a savior, but he’d expected at least a “thank you.”
He didn’t even get that.
‘Maybe I shouldn’t have bothered,’ Yigyul thought, scratching the back of his head awkwardly before setting off toward Mt. Dumang again.
As he reached the exit of the alley, something shiny caught his eye on the ground.
Upon closer inspection, it was a name tag.
‘Kang Yeongwon.’
It was the boy’s. Yigyul bent down to pick it up.
At that moment, a tall man who had turned into the alley spotted the tag as well and reached for it.
Just as Yigyul’s hand touched it, the man snatched it away with a swift motion.
Though the contact of their fingertips was only for a split second, Yigyul felt a bizarre chill that made his hair stand on end.
‘To approach without a sound and snatch it right out of my hand?’
“…You. Why were you trying to pick this up?”
A low, resonant mid-to-low voice reached his ears. Yigyul looked up.
A young man in a jet-black coat. Black hair and a smooth, elegant jawline.
A man with a face so beautiful it looked as if it were painted with a fine brush was looking down at him.
In his pale face, his transparent yet jet-black eyes were particularly striking.
Looking into those eyes, Yigyul found his mind going blank involuntarily.
He knew this man.
The man asked him once more.
“Do you know this child?”
Seong Yohan.
The face he had seen on TV was right in front of him.
