Chapter 199:

Chapter 199:

Chapter 199

The first thought that came to Yu-hyun’s mind when he saw Demiarios, the head of the department, was ‘out of place’.

His existence was like an ink painting drawn over a photograph.

Aside from his appearance, which resembled a follower of an evil god from a certain outdated genre, he seemed to affect the surrounding environment just by being there.

What if the dark darkness had mass?

The scenery twisted around him, and Yu-hyun felt an illusion of being sucked in towards Demiarios.

Like a black hole.

‘This man is... the head of the Pentagram department.’

One of the eight heads among the departments that had only eight members each.

He had a completely different vibe from Celestina.

Celestina did not look like a head at all, with her casual and informal demeanor, but she had a ferocious beast hidden inside her.

Demiarios looked like he had released thousands of horrible bugs at once.

What made Yu-hyun more alert was that he did not feel any ‘signs’ when he appeared.

Yu-hyun managed his expression.

“So you are Demiarios, the head of the department. What do you want from me?”

Demiarios shook his beard and chuckled lowly at Yu-hyun’s question.

“It’s not such a big deal. I just wanted to congratulate you. Kang Yu-hyun, you got promoted today, right? I’m very surprised.”

Demiarios spoke while still leaning back.

It seemed like he was vibrating his tentacle part to transmit sound at a specific frequency.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen a teller get promoted so quickly. And I heard you don’t even belong to any department.”

“...Yes. I prefer to be alone right now.”

“You have a lot of willpower. It must not have been easy to get there on your own. I wish the guys in my department would learn from your spirit.”

The two red eyes on his octopus face curved like crescents.

Yu-hyun realized anew how someone’s smile could be so creepy.

Yu-hyun wondered what Demiarios’ ulterior motive was for finding him.

If he had to guess, it would be one of two things.

Either he wanted to recruit him by praising his abilities, or he wanted to warn him for interfering with their operations on Earth.

He did not think it was the former, since they had already become enemies.

‘He came at a strange timing. And he came all the way here, avoiding other people’s eyes.’

It was too coincidental to dismiss it as a coincidence.

Demiarios must have been waiting for this moment from the beginning.

In this situation, he had no choice but to confront him head-on.

‘Besides, I was curious about the head of the Pentagram department.’

The Pentagram department was the one that played a decisive role in bringing about the end of the world on Earth.

From Yu-hyun’s perspective, who wanted to prevent the apocalypse, they were enemies that he had to eliminate.

And Demiarios, the leader and brain of the Pentagram department, came to see him personally.

Yu-hyun thought that it would not be bad to extract some information from him, since he came all this way.

He pushed away the discomfort that stemmed from his instinct with his calm mind and reason.

‘Hmm?’

Demiarios let out an exclamation in his mind as he sensed Yu-hyun’s change.

It was his intention to raise Yu-hyun’s guard by making him feel his most explosive emotion: disgust.

He wanted to scatter his focus and then lead the situation to his advantage.

That was Demiarios’ usual method.

‘He regained his composure right away. It’s hard to believe that he was just a regular employee until recently. He didn’t get promoted just because he was lucky.’

Demiarios did not underestimate Yu-hyun.

Yu-hyun was a fierce beast.

He could bite him hard enough that even the other heads would not dare to touch him.

‘Interesting.’

Demiarios decided to raise his evaluation of Yu-hyun even more.

He was greedy.

If someone with that talent joined his department, maybe he could succeed him as the head someday.

But Demiarios knew that it was impossible.

As soon as he saw Yu-hyun’s eyes, he realized that there was no room for compromise between them, even at the minimum level.

‘That’s why it’s regrettable.’

He had to end such an excellent teller with his own hands.

Hiding his inner feelings, Demiarios asked in a calm voice.

“So? How do you feel about being promoted?”

“I’m happy. There’s no teller who doesn’t like getting promoted. I feel like I’m flying.”

“Hmm. I guess I asked something obvious.”

“Why did you show up in this peaceful place today? You’re usually not even seen outside. Aren’t you busy cutting off your tail because of what one of your managers did?”

“Tail? That has nothing to do with me. And I don’t have to have a reason to go outside.”

“Really? It’s a well-known fact that you never move without a reason.”

“That’s a rumor. I just came here to check out the rumor of a great teller.”

“Then, you’re done now?”

Celestina did not hide her hostility towards Demiarios.

She showed her sharp teeth and warned him.

“Why don’t you get out of here now? I have something to talk to this junior.”

She looked like she would resort to violence if he didn’t back off.

Demiarios glanced at Celestina with a dull look for a moment, then turned his back.

“I was going to do that anyway, without you saying that.”

He disappeared from his seat like black smoke as he finished his words.

Yu-hyun sighed in relief as he confirmed that Demiarios was gone.

Alisa, who had been sweating profusely, barely managed to stop herself from collapsing on her legs.

Celestina scratched her head roughly as if she was annoyed.

“Hey. Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Alisa is...”

“I, I’m fine too.”

“Phew. That damn octopus. He really makes me nervous. He didn’t say much, did he?”

“No. Except for trying to intimidate us a bit.”

“That’s a relief. There are quite a few new tellers who went crazy after talking to him. Some of them even lost their minds, you know. He’s a walking disaster. Don’t try to talk back to him, just avoid him if he comes near.”

“Phew, yeah. Thank you for your help.”

Yu-hyun felt mentally exhausted.

He wanted to go home as soon as possible.

Then he realized what he was thinking.

‘Home?’

He called White Flower Management his home.

Yu-hyun found that fact amusing.

‘Yeah. That place is my home now.’

The place where he had to go back.

The place where his precious people were.

The place where he could feel the word that he thought he could never say again with his family.

Yu-hyun realized it for the first time.

***

“You’re late.”

Seo Sumin, who was waiting for Yu-hyun’s return, didn’t hide her displeasure in her voice.

She crossed her arms and tapped her foot. Judging by her reaction, she seemed to have waited for a long time.

“You said you would come back early after the promotion ceremony, but do you know what time it is now?”

“I’m sorry. I had some work to do.”

“Did you have something like a dinner or something?”

“Haha.”

Yu-hyun felt like he was tasting the feeling of a husband who came home late after a dinner and got scolded by his wife, but he had no choice but to say that.

He actually met Celestina after Demiarios by accident and got delayed.

“You agreed to learn Seven Demons Black Sky Divine Skill from me today. But how can you come back when the sun has passed the zenith and the afternoon is almost over? You make your master so anxious. You’re such an unfaithful disciple.”

“Uh... are we already in a master-disciple relationship? Did I bow to you?”

“No need! Just follow me to the training ground!”

Yu-hyun had no choice but to follow Seo Sumin to the training ground, since he was late and it was his promise.

“By the way.”

Seo Sumin, who was walking ahead, said without looking back, what she had been thinking for a while.

“You’ve changed quite a bit since you left and now.”

Yu-hyun knew what she meant.

Yu-hyun was promoted from assistant manager to manager.

This meant that his rank as a teller had risen by one level.

“Yes. I got promoted, after all.”

The rise in rank as an existence meant that he had become stronger than before.

And, there were changes that came with it.

The amount of power that Yu-hyun possessed increased, but more importantly, the depth of the stories that he had also became much more profound than before.

‘And... Baekryeon’s new function was unlocked.’

Yu-hyun checked the information of Baekryeon, which was still in the form of a brooch.