RVHF chapter 25

* * *

“Why? Has my identity finally been exposed?”

He said it jokingly, but Beom Sinje shot him a sharp look, as if reprimanding him.

“Or are people just clamoring to hunt me down already?”

“Sigh…”

Beom Sinje sighed as if fed up, but Doyoung wasn’t about to stop there.

“I guess it doesn’t change the fact that a former villain, lying low or not, is like a ticking time bomb.”

If that’s what you think I am, then you’d better be clear about it.

Half-measures like this won’t get you anywhere, Beom Sinje.

“Tell me what you want. Or, you know what? You don’t even need to tell me. I think I get what I need to do.”

If this upright guy was struggling with this because of him, Doyoung was more than willing to step in.

“Fine, I’ll admit it. I’m the leader of Antith—”

“Shut up.”

Doyoung’s eyes widened in shock.

Of all people, Beom Sinje was telling him to shut up?

“Did you think I brought you here to hear some reckless confession like that?”

Then why…?

“Oh…”

A brief doubt crossed his mind, but then he remembered something Beom Sinje had once said.

He’d never explained his reason, after all.

But it wasn’t something he could reveal honestly.

This was all for you, so just take it and enjoy.

How could he possibly say something like that out loud?

There was no need to repeat what Beom Sinje had already said to him.

“Then tell me—why did you do it?”

Beom Sinje’s gaze was piercing as he looked at Doyoung again, intense enough to feel almost physically painful.

“Like you said, who knows when the truth might come out? About who you are. So I’ll be watching.”

“I see…”

He had no response to something so obvious, yet his heart gave a faint, inexplicable ache.

Looking him straight in the eye, Beom Sinje declared,

“From now on, this is where you’ll stay.”

He didn’t need to ask where “here” was; Beom Sinje gestured curtly behind him.

Only then did Doyoung notice a piece of furniture he hadn’t realized was there—a spacious desk, the kind used by a guild leader, and another desk set beside it.

“You’ve got to be kidding…”

He expected him to sit beside him and work?

Knock. Knock.

At the sound of knocking, Doyoung turned to the entrance.

“Guild leader, may I come in?”

With the voice, Doyoung sighed yet again.

“Come in.”

When permission was given, the door opened to reveal a hunter in a form-fitting combat suit, his tall figure blocking the doorway.

His hair, tied back, swayed slightly as he moved, catching Doyoung’s attention as their eyes met.

“Oh, so this is the rumored assistant that the guild leader pulled in himself?”

The hunter’s smile was friendly, but his tone was biting.

“Ugh…”

Doyoung sighed internally, not for the first time.

Had it been three hours since Beom Sinje had dragged him in to start his “new job?”

In that time, no fewer than eight hunters had come by.

The first one had just stared at Doyoung blankly before finally getting to the point when the guild leader asked why he was there.

At the end, the hunter even asked if Doyoung was a new recruit.

“Why did I ever agree to this…”

Before Beom Sinje could respond, Doyoung took the initiative.

“I’m the assistant who’ll be helping the guild leader from now on.”

The hunter looked dubious, and Beom Sinje, after a pause, finally added,

“Yes, this is Doyoung. He’ll be working by my side from now on.”

What the hell is he thinking…?

Beom Sinje rarely talked, but when he did, he had a knack for saying the strangest things.

The hunter, flustered, offered a hurried greeting before quickly leaving.

That seemed to set off a chain reaction, with others stopping by to “report in.”

Eventually, a returning hunter from a dungeon raid even burst in, loudly asking,

“Doyoung! Is it true? They say Beom Sinje brought you here to work!”

The mysterious assistant that even the guild’s team leader was aware of—the rumors were spreading uncontrollably.

As a result, Doyoung was forced to get acquainted with nearly all the guild’s hunters.

“Hunter Jang Jihye, what’s your business here?”

The question came in a calm, commanding tone.

Doyoung still wasn’t used to Beom Sinje being this charismatic, though he supposed it made sense as the protagonist.

For Doyoung, who still remembered Beom Sinje’s scrappy, disheveled days, it was strange and sentimental.

“Ah, it’s nothing major. There’s a request from Argentina regarding the S-class dungeon in Ushuaia.”

“If I remember correctly, we’ve already cleared that one?”

“Yes, but they left the dungeon itself and just took the loot.”

“They’re not planning to maintain it as a stationary dungeon? As long as it’s safe, continued oversight should be fine.”

“Maybe they don’t have the budget?”

Jang Jihye shrugged.

Doyoung pretended to look at his laptop, listening intently.

The conversation sounded oddly familiar.

“Why did they contact us?”

“Who knows? They say it’s because Korean hunters are talented… Maybe they’re just out of options.”

The hunter, whose voice was as pleasant as his face, made it clear he wasn’t particularly interested.

“What do you think, Doyoung?”

The question took him by surprise.

“Well… they probably reached out to several places and got to us. If the terms are favorable, it could be worth considering.”

“In what way?”

“Argentina has vast land, so they have frequent dungeon outbreaks. Securing it now might let us negotiate better terms in the future.”

How this would benefit Beom Sinje remained unclear for now.

“And to think I’d end up discussing dungeons myself…”

Originally, this was supposed to be arranged anonymously, but since the circumstances changed, the timing and method were different.

Doyoung was taken aback.

“Wow, you’re surprisingly competent.”

Jang Jihye eyed Doyoung with a curious gaze.

“Looking at you again, you’re quite good-looking. And now that I think of it, you two really do look like brothers!”

But something about her words felt a bit off.

Sure, he could accept the part about appearances, but resembling Beom Sinje?

They weren’t even related by blood.

‘Well, I suppose I could agree that we’re both handsome,’ he mused, a hint of a smile creeping onto his lips.

“We’re not brothers,” Beom Sinje corrected her sharply.

His gaze toward Doyoung was oddly cold, as if the very idea of being seen as family left a bitter taste.

‘Not that I blame him,’ Doyoung thought. ‘Who knows what’ll happen later on.’

It would be best to act like he’d been betrayed and cut ties cleanly if word ever got out that the “older friend” he knew was actually a villain.

It would get complicated if they were seen as blood relatives.

Doyoung sighed and lowered his gaze to his laptop.

‘But if he feels that way, he shouldn’t show me these things.’

Before him were numerous reports and promotional materials submitted to the guild leader from various departments.

As Beom Sinje’s assistant, it made sense for him to go over these tasks, yet he couldn’t help but be astounded by the disorganized reports the guild had accumulated.

‘This place barely held itself together for over a year… And the guild members, who once served in state agencies, seem to have achieved little since.’

Even though Antithesis—a criminal organization—was methodical by comparison.

‘Some of them had even been Espers working in corporate jobs before joining,’ he remembered.

One of his subordinates, who had become an Esper after working up to an executive role at a large corporation, was especially adept at handling tasks, and it was thanks to him that Doyoung could disguise his own psychic abilities back in his C-rank Hunter training days.

‘He’s probably furious now that I cut off all contact.’

The memory of that loyal subordinate, who had implored him to stay, came back to him.

They’d likely known Doyoung might disappear and had hoped against hope that he wouldn’t leave.

“Oh, right! Team Leader Yeo mentioned it, but I forgot. I’m sorry, Guild Leader. But really, both of you are so handsome and give off a similar vibe—it’s no wonder I thought you were brothers.”

For a split second, Doyoung noticed a slight smile on Beom Sinje’s face, as though the compliment pleased him.

‘Cute.’

* * *