CH 15

Despite the guild’s broadcast calling for action, the hunters had yet to mobilize. The golems, enveloped in flames and burning fervently, were destroying buildings and streetlights.

“Where is it? Where’s the protective barrier?”

A massive body of water could stop these fire golems, yet it was capable of sweeping even Michael away.

I looked around before leaping inward.

It felt as if my body was roasting in the intense heat, but I couldn’t stop here.

What was fortunate was that the golems moved slowly, taking time to pursue me even after they spotted me.

As I looked around for a while, a little bird, Salt flew to the right above my head.

“Salt?”

“Ppi!”

As if it was motioning me to follow, the bird paused briefly in its movements before flying off again. I followed behind Salt.

My whole body was drenched in sweat, and my eyes involuntarily shut due to the intense heat.

Breathing became increasingly difficult, and running seemed to take several times more energy than usual.

When I paused to catch my breath, a bright light hit my eyes. It was a silver barrier, radiating an undeniable sacredness. Inside the shield, alongside terrified people, a struggling hunter was maintaining the barrier.

The hunter with waves of golden hair.

“I’ve found you.”

‘The hunter that I needed to save.’

Michael was inside.

I thought he could hold out fine for a day or two, but from a distance, the silver barrier seemed dangerously close to dissipating, possibly due to his lower-than-expected mana levels.

‘It’s not time yet.’

In this novel, there are only two opportunities to use the “Blue Cloud”. If I use it both times, the Blue Cloud would break.

Without a quest, it would be different. But now that I’ve received a surprise quest, I need to wipe out the monsters all at once to prevent the Blue Cloud from breaking.

‘That means I have to use the Blue Cloud at the end of the monster wave.’

I gripped the cold Blue Cloud tightly, observing the gap where the space was torn and monsters were pouring out.

“Ppi ppi.”

The chirp of Salt calling me sounded from a distance.

It was evidence that my consciousness was beginning to blur due to the heat.

My sight was becoming hazy due to the unbearable high temperature, and the fiery golem flickered like a flame.

Finally, the gap in the air that had been fluttering like torn paper began to close.

“Now.”

[‘You have infused mana into the ‘Blue Cloud’.]

[Choice selection is activated.]

[1. Proceed with the quest]

[2. Summon Water]

“Of…course, it’s number 2.”

When I opened my mouth with difficulty, my body’s mana drained out all at once.

And with a cold sensation from behind, the surroundings darkened.

I didn’t look back but instead grabbed a heated streetlamp, grinning cheekily.

Despite the pain in my palm from the heat-radiating lamp, laughter naturally escaped my lips.

“Salt, fly!”

“Ppi!”

※※※※

Seo Taeju, who had been reviewing the documents, leaned back on his chair and closed his eyes, his vision blurring.

For days, he had been unable to sleep properly, and exhaustion was creeping in. But he couldn’t afford to sleep during this period, knowing it would only lead to nightmares.

Much time had passed, but the memories from then were still vivid.

Monsters charging in.

He, himself, frozen, unable to move a single step.

His parents who had held him, just as he was.

“Sigh.”

Parents he never thought he could have.

Even if they had shown him a small amount of love because he wasn’t their biological child, he would have been grateful. But his parents had loved Seo Taeju just as they did Seo Go-woon.

They made no discrimination and always watched him with affectionate eyes, no matter what he did.

And they had given their lives for him, despite not sharing any blood ties. The problem, however, was Seo Go-woon.

‘You’re different from me. You’re an adopted son, aren’t you? Do you really think you’re my family because you became Seo?’ (refer to Chapter 2)

‘You became a hunter? Show me your hunter license. Why? Oh, I need some money. This can get me a good collateral loan, right? What? You crazy bastard, of course you have to pay it back. It’s your hunter license.’

Unlike his warm parents, Go-woon was a damned child who only gave him grief.

Taeju, reminded once more of his blood-soaked parents, was clenching his chest, churning with anger.

-Knock, knock.

“Come in.”

The door opened and Guild Master Seo Moon Noeul entered, handing documents to Taeju who had just stood up.

“These are the list of dungeons the center requested strategies for because of the last incident.”

Seo Taeju looked at the documents and sighed.The greedy Association handed over dungeons they couldn’t handle, claiming it was all for the people and forcing the guild to provide free service.

Fortunately, the requested dungeons were all ranked from D to C, so they willingly accepted the unpaid service as it allowed the novice hunters to improve their skills. But today’s list was different.

It had a list of 11 dungeons ranging from B to S+ rank.

“They say not to touch the items, just get rid of the monsters.”

At the disgruntled voice, Seo Taeju sighed and nodded his head. “I understand. I’ll take care of this.”

“Taeju, you can’t keep living like this. That loan shark incident, too. How long are you going to clean up after that bastard?”

“Noeul noona. Please stop.”

Seo Moon Noeul frowned. He usually respected her as the guild master, but always called her “noona” when it came to Seo Go-woon.

She knew she was weak to the word “noona”, so it was a cheap shot.

But this time, she couldn’t just let it slide.

“You’ve done enough. You gave him money, and you found him a job. That’s enough to fulfill your parents’ will. How long are you going to clean up after that bastard?!”

“Noona, please.”

“No, I can’t just let this slide this time. You, who could start a guild on your own, why are you the vice-guild master? Does Seo Go-woon even know? And do you think that trash Seo Go-woon will change his ways? You’re deluding yourself. The saying ‘what you sow, so shall you reap’ applies to plants, not people.”

As Seo Taeju bowed his head and covered his face with his hand, Seo Moon Noeul patted his shoulder and spoke, “I understand your feelings. But, it’s hard for me too, just watching. You’re suffering so much because of that bastard, and he doesn’t even know it. Look at him today, he came to renew the contract without a care.”

Seo TaeJu looked up at Seo Moon Noeul. The look in his eyes was asking whether she had anything to do with the contract renewal.

“Sigh, I didn’t do anything.”

“…Thank you.”

“If you’re thankful, please make this the last time you interfere in Seo Go-woonn’s affairs. You’ve kept your promise just by regularly paying his salary even though he doesn’t do any dungeon work.”

After Seo TaeJu awakened, he received a flood of scouting offers from many guilds. He, who had the capability and ranking to even start his own guild if he wanted to, was offered a plethora of conditions that were advantageous to him.

However, Seo TaeJu refused all those beneficial conditions and presented only one: To have his brother Seo Go-woon join the guild and to pay him the salary that he received.

Seo Go-woon was a trash figure known in the Hunter community to the point of rumors that he was a human parasite in the guild he had previously joined. Even then, all the guilds were reluctant as they did not believe Seo Taeju was in a position to take in Seo Go-woon despite his superior abilities.

And the one who seized the opportunity at that time was Seo Moon Noeul, who was barely managing a small guild. Believing that someday Seo Go-woon would come to his senses and become like an ordinary person.

But she didn’t think that after some time, Seo Go-woon would exploit everything from Seo Taeju, not just his liver and gallbladder.

Then, a knock was heard again.

“Come in.”

At Seo Moon Noeul’s call, instead of the room owner, the door opened and Lee Yeoreum entered the vice-guild master’s room.

“I heard that the guild master is in the vice-guild master’s room, so I came here.”

“Ah, I had something to say to Taeju. Is the contract over?”

“Yes, he signed the contract but…”

At Lee Yeoreum, who was dragging on, Seo Moon Noeul frowned. “Why, what did that bastard ask for again?”

“No, that’s not it.”

Approaching the desk, Lee Yeoreum laid down Seo Go-woon’s hunter’s license and ID.

“He left these behind.”

Seo Taeju picked up the hunter’s license and the ID. Like his father, even when Seo Go-woon took an ID photo expressionlessly, it looked like he was smiling because his lips were turned up.

“Where did he go?” Seo Moon Noeul, looking displeased at the two IDs held by Seo Tae-Ju, asked.

“I don’t know. After hearing the siren, he just left?”

“Siren? The monster wave dispatch alert from earlier?”

“Yes, he suddenly said ‘Damn. It was today.’ and just signed and ran out. He said he would come back for those later.”

When Seo Moon Noeul looked at Seo Taeju as if saying ‘You don’t mean…’, Seo TaejJu was also looking back at him with the same expression.

Then, Seo Taeju, who suddenly got up, ran out of the vice-guild master’s room, leaving Seo Moon Noeul pulling her hair out.

“Seo Go-woon, you piece of trash. What kind of grudge do you have against Taeju from your past life that you’re doing this!”

※※※※

-Whoosh! Whoosh!

The summoned water swept away everything in its path like a tsunami, including the fire golem.

Even I, the caster, was no exception. My body was violently shaken by the pressure created by the massive surge of water. However, I had to endure the pain.

Being swept away by the water would allow me to top the list of those escaping the world of the living, after all. Water filled my eyes and nose, and the breath I’d been holding reached my throat. My waterlogged ears felt stuffed, yet I couldn’t stop the roaring sound created by the furious water.

‘I’m—I’m suffocating.’

Just when I thought I might die not from the fire golem, but from the water I summoned, the water level around me started to decrease. It was not absorbed or drained, but gradually receded on its own until it was calf-high, at which point I released my grip and slumped down on the spot.

I was so drained that I couldn’t even stand.

At that moment, Salt flew down from the sky towards me.

‘Not again…?’

I hastily blocked the incoming Salt with a strike to its vitals.

“Ppi!”

Although it was a bird with no facial expression, its beady black eyes seemed to express displeasure.

“No. If it hits you there, it’ll hurt.”

“Ppi-ppi.” Salt whirled around me with a sigh-like tweet.

It seemed to be checking my injuries.

“Ppi-ppi-ppi! Ppi-ppi! Ppi-ppi-ppi-ppi!”

“…I’m okay.”

Maybe because I had just survived a near-death experience in an attempt to save someone, I responded listlessly to Salt’s rebuke.

“Ppi-ppi.” Salt protested, realizing that I wasn’t really listening, but I ignored it and stared up at the sky.

Whether there was satisfaction from waiting, the crack that had been in the sky was now nowhere to be found. As I saw the clear sky without any torn spaces, I let out a sigh of relief.

“No, my head is wet— Ugh.”

I tried to stop Salt, who was about to perch on my head, but I felt my hair against my palm.

A sharp pain made me wince as I looked at my hand. My palm was not only burned but also scraped, and the skin was so cooked that it was torn in places.

‘I need to drink a healing potion.’

The thought of having to drink another expensive healing potion made me frown.

‘I could have asked a healer for help, but there’s no way Seo Go-woon, who hasn’t even properly lived as a hunter, would know a healer.

“Ppi-ppi!”

‘Seeing Salt fluttering around cluelessly in an alarmed manner, it must have seen my hand just now.’

“It’s okay, it just looks bad, it’s not a big deal.”

Being a detective, one inevitably becomes familiar with pain. It wasn’t as if a bullet had pierced my stomach, if I were to say I was in pain over something like this, I wouldn’t be fit to be a detective.

Considering what I’ve endured from the Poison Toad, this was merely equivalent to a scratch gotten from a random walk.

“I’m really fine.” I smiled to reassure Salt, who gave a chirp and flew back up over my head.

“Wait, are you trying to perch on my head again? No way, my hair is wet right now.”

“Ppi! Ppi!”

“No matter how much you chirp, it won’t help. What can’t be done, can’t be done.”

“Ppi!”

“You’ll start chirping when your feathers get wet, asking me to dry you.” I swung my arm to deter Salt, who was trying to sit.

Then, the sound of someone walking through the residual water, ‘splish-splash’, reached my ears.

Turning my head, I saw a man who appeared a bit weary.

[The passive ‘Diagnosis’ is activated.]

[Michael – Contamination 28%]

As soon as I saw the man, I knew he was Michael due to the diagnosis message that appeared, but even without the message, he was a man whose appearance suggested he was Michael.

Golden hair and gray eyes.

Born to a British mother and a Korean-British father, Michael looked more like a foreigner than a person of mixed heritage on the outside.

One droplet of water was pitifully clinging to his golden eyelashes, matching his hair color, making him look as if he was crying.