Under Creature – Chapter 14.3

Author: nicotine

That day, the conversation with Seo Dohyun ended vaguely like that, and they decided to put aside the matter of the Blood Hunters’ retaliation for the time being. Today was the day Yigeom had plans with Kang Taeha.

Even though he was cutting ties with the Vigilante Corps, there was something he needed to know for sure.

“What have you been up to these days?”

Yigeom questioned Kang Taeha with a look of unease.

‘No matter how I think about it, I’m sure he’s A.’

Yigeom scanned the innocent-looking Kang Taeha from top to bottom, as if possessed by a detective.

“Me? Same as usual. Why all of a sudden?”

“Just… nothing.”

While saying that, he slyly contacted Jin Geonwoo.

Hyung, where is A right now?

The reply was fast. He hadn’t come to work yet today….

Then do you know when he’s coming?

To the reply that he didn’t know, he relayed a request to contact him as soon as possible if A came to work or was spotted elsewhere.

Because one person can’t be seen in different places at the same time.

“Who are you talking to? That guy, Seo Dohyun?”

“No, another…”

Yigeom, who was answering readily, hesitated for a moment. If Kang Taeha is A, wouldn’t Seo Dohyun know too, of course? Has he been pretending not to know all this time? Should I try to test him?

“Ah, yeah. Seo Dohyun.”

Along with the awkward lie, he keenly observed Kang Taeha’s reaction, but his expression was so ridiculously calm.

‘What am I even doing?’

He felt pathetic for doing all sorts of things to uncover A’s identity.

“Forget it. Let’s just go get something to eat.”

However, even while they were at the restaurant reading the menu, Yigeom’s thoughts flowed elsewhere.

A’s ability is healing, his rank is unknown, his face is unknown, and his height was… tall? I think it was roughly similar to Kang Taeha’s.

“How tall are you?”

He was 182 in high school, but I’m not sure if he’s grown taller since then.

“Why do you ask? Hurry up and pick a dish. Let’s order.”

“Oh, right…”

At Kang Taeha’s urging, he hastily finished ordering and thought of A again.

A showed up during the Jooseungtae incident. Then does Kang Taeha also know what situation Jooseungtae is in right now? Come to think of it, the three of them, Kang Taeha, Jooseungtae, and himself, used to hang out often. But Kang Taeha never asked about Jooseungtae’s whereabouts after he was imprisoned.

‘Ah, he did ask once, in passing.’

‘I haven’t seen Jooseungtae around lately.’

‘…Ahem, I heard he went to the army.’

‘Really? Without a word.’

At that exact time, Namgoong Sanha had just returned to duty after his leave, so the only excuse he could squeeze out was ‘he went to the army’. Even so, Kang Taeha accepted it, just saying “I see.” He didn’t even ask about Jooseungtae again.

Yigeom, who had been inwardly nervous that Kang Taeha might suggest visiting him, was just busy feeling relieved that Kang Taeha didn’t press the matter.

‘Still, after all the time we spent together, he just asks once and that’s it?’

Could it be that Kang Taeha actually knew Jooseungtae was imprisoned? Because Kang Taeha is A!

While scanning Kang Taeha from head to toe to find any similarities with A, their eyes met.

“Do you have something to say to me? Yoon Yigeom, you’re being a little weird today.”

“…Hey, you. Are you good at sign language?”

“Sign language, out of the blue?”

“No, never mind.”

Yigeom chugged down water in frustration. Then he thought, it’s not like their relationship as childhood friends would break just because he’s treated like a weirdo, and decided to ask him outright.

“Kang Taeha.”

“Yeah. What is it already.”

“…Are you A?”

“……What?”

“I asked if you are A.”

Kang Taeha blinked for a long time, then replied playfully as if it were the most random thing he’d ever heard.

“Then are you B?”

“……”

“What have you been trying to do since a while ago? What, is there something you absolutely need to hear from me?”

“No… It’s nothing… Let’s just eat.”

Whether Kang Taeha was A or not, he was hiding his identity very, very thoroughly. Since he was showing no signs at all, Yigeom started to wonder if he was mistaken, and if they really were the same person, he felt a little hurt wondering what on earth the reason was for not telling even him, his best friend.

“Gyeom-ah.”

As he was chewing on his food with a sigh, Kang Taeha called out.

“I don’t know what you want, but I can do some sign language.”

“Sign language? When did you learn?”

“I did some volunteer work a while ago, and I studied a bit before I went. Why do you ask? Is it for an assignment? Do you have to film a sign language video?”

Yigeom, who had brightened up, drooped again.

“No, I was just curious.”

Kang Taeha acted as if he knew absolutely nothing about A. How could he press him any further when he was like this?

‘Sigh, forget it.’

If he’s not, he’s not, and if he is, he’ll probably tell me someday.

He had met up with Kang Taeha after making plans for the first time in a while, and it felt like a waste to spend their time together interrogating him, so he decided to give up.

“Anyway, this place is good.”

“I heard it opened last month.”

“Really?”

Yigeom responded, twirling pasta noodles with his fork. No wonder the wait was long; it was a newly opened restaurant.

“Want to go see a movie after this? The hero movie you like just came out.”

“Really? When did that come out?”

Wow, time flies. As Yigeom muttered quietly, Kang Taeha let out a small laugh.

“Is there anything you know? Do you live locked up somewhere?”

“Aren’t you the weird one for knowing everything?”

“Not really. I’m just interested in it because you like it.”

“……”

He was at a loss for words. Both Seo Dohyun and Kang Taeha were the same in how they said cheesy things so casually. It was true that he liked Western food and hero movies, but…

Kang Taeha had come to their meeting today having thought about what the other person liked, while he himself had only been scheming to uncover A’s identity, so his conscience pricked him badly.

“Ahem, I’ll book the movie tickets.”

Feeling he had to do at least this much, he mumbled, and Kang Taeha replied with a cheerful laugh.

“Okay. I’ll enjoy it.”

🦅࿐

About an hour after eating, seeing a movie, and having a good time with Kang Taeha before parting ways, a message came from Jin Geonwoo.

It was a message saying A had arrived.

Yigeom couldn’t help but harbor the suspicion he had tried to put aside.

The timing was just… ridiculously perfect, wasn’t it?

A just happened to show up right after he parted ways with Kang Taeha? Isn’t this, to anyone’s eyes, like declaring “I am A”?

‘But…’

When he met Kang Taeha during the day, he had casually asked if he knew sign language, and had even asked him outright if he was A.

That’s what made it even stranger.

He knew perfectly well that I was suspicious, yet he brazenly appeared as A as soon as we parted?

‘What on earth is going on?’

Yigeom buried his face in his pillow and let out a deep sigh.

Kang Taeha had always been like that. He was a person you could never quite figure out.

They were definitely close, friends since childhood, best friends, and they seemed to know a lot about each other, but looking back, it was all a mystery.

A…. who on earth could it be….

If A is Kang Taeha, it would be nice to be able to form a bond of empathy as fellow Hunters, and if not, it would be good that he wouldn’t be in danger.

Whatever the case, right now, it was just confusion.

🦅࿐

Yigeom, who had visited the Vigilante Corps with Seo Dohyun to give a detailed account of the car brake failure incident, suddenly found himself in an awkward situation.

“…Ah.”

Of all times, Seo Dohyun wasn’t by his side, and he ran into A at a corner just as he was coming out of the bathroom alone after washing his hands. Not knowing what to do, he just rolled his eyes.

The person who had been complicating his mind was loitering in front of him before he had even come to a conclusion.

‘It’s a bit awkward to run into him now.’

He decided to just give a quick greeting and pass by, so he bowed his head. At the same time, he sneakily estimated his height.

‘He seems a bit shorter than Kang Taeha.’

Since he couldn’t get an accurate assessment, everything seemed similar and ambiguous.

But just as Yigeom was about to pass, A grabbed his shoulder.

“……”

“Do you have something to say?”

A seemed like he wanted to say something, but then he shook his head as if it were nothing.

“Okay, then I’ll be on my way…”

Yigeom, who had parted with A and was on his way, checked his phone when it suddenly rang.

‘Kang Taeha.’

Without answering the phone, he turned around and ran back the way he had come. A? Where did he go? We just parted ways.

Just then, he saw A’s retreating back. He wasn’t holding anything in either hand. Then who was calling? No, this could be someone else’s doing as an alibi.

With the sole intention of catching the evidence, Yigeom secretly hid behind a wall and answered the still-ringing phone.

“Hello.”

— …….

A still didn’t react at all. On the contrary, he was listening to a report from Kim Hyungkyu, whom he had run into in the hallway, so if there was an opportunity, this was it.

“Hello. Kang Taeha?”

— Oh, Gyeom-ah. About the marketing strategy lecture team project….

“……”

— Gyeom-ah? Are you listening?

“Uh, uh-huh…”

His mind went blank.

A and Kang Taeha were not the same person.

As he was standing there dumbfounded, watching A and Kim Hyungkyu from a distance, someone grabbed his shoulder. Startled, he turned around to see Seo Dohyun standing there.

“What are you doing here? You said you were going to the bathroom.”

“…It’s nothing. Let’s go back.”

Behind Yigeom, who quickly turned around, Seo Dohyun confirmed that A was at the end of his line of sight. Then his eyes met A’s. The two observed each other for a moment.

“Seo Dohyun, what are you doing? I said let’s go.”

“Okay.”

Seo Dohyun hesitated for a moment at the strange look he had just seen from A, then left at Yigeom’s urging.

‘Who is that guy?’

🦅࿐

It was by chance that Yigeom ran into Noh Jeonggyu.

To be able to breathe underwater. Why on earth did he get this ability that seemed so useful yet so useless? He was wondering what and how to train it, when he visited the Association’s library to look up ways to hone his ability.

“Oh? Mr. Yigeom~! It’s been so long!”

The owner of the voice that called him ‘Mr. Yigeom’ was clearly Noh Jeonggyu, to anyone’s ears.

“What brings you here?”

“Ah… I had some materials to look for.”

“What kind of materials? Can I help you find them?”

“It’s okay.”

Despite Yigeom’s refusal, Noh Jeonggyu didn’t disappear. He looked around to see who was there, then brought his hand to his mouth and whispered.

“Mr. Yigeom. Do you know the atmosphere in the Vigilante Corps and the allied guilds these days?”

“Ah, if it’s about that…”

“I heard the Blood Hunters are going around retaliating against the allied guilds. Isn’t Latter an allied guild too? You should be careful.”

…We’ve already been through it. Yigeom shifted his gaze to the bookshelf and smiled awkwardly. Then, a thought suddenly occurred to him and he asked.

“Come to think of it, isn’t Yeho an allied guild too?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“What is Yeho doing? Everyone seems to be cutting ties with the Vigilante Corps.”

Noh Jeonggyu smiled meaninglessly and shook his head.

“We’re planning to maintain it. You know our master’s personality.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes, and his ability is… well, he’s not exactly someone you can mess with.”

Indeed, with Yeho’s master, Kim Yiseong’s reflection and recovery abilities, he might even be happily waiting for any retaliation that came his way. Literally, all he had to do was reflect and recover.

‘I’m jealous.’

Yigeom was always incredibly envious whenever he saw such abilities. Because he wanted to have such a cheat-like ability himself. Of course, being able to see water with his vision and breathe underwater had the advantage of making his ability difficult to deduce.

But what good was an advantage when he himself had no idea what to use it for, other than a CCTV-like function.

He wanted a simple yet powerful ability.

‘Though it’s not likely to happen.’

He had no choice but to be grateful for the ability he currently had and hone it well.

“Um, Mr. Jeonggyu. But even if the master is okay, the others aren’t, right? There must be some damage…”

“Yes. So when we’re outside, we always move in teams of three for any task. One of them is always a healer. Thanks to our caution, we haven’t had any accidents yet.”

“I see.”

As expected, a different approach from a certain guild with only five members. Yigeom nodded in agreement, then looked at Noh Jeonggyu.

“Then what about you, Mr. Jeonggyu? The other two…”

“Hey, we’re inside the Association. We decided to meet at the entrance after we’re done with our own business.”

“Ah…”

As if there was still time before they were supposed to meet, Noh Jeonggyu continued to talk languidly by Yigeom’s side.

“Yigeom-ssi, what are you looking for, by the way?”

“It’s nothing special. Just… things like how to hone my ability.”

“How to hone your ability? What is your ability, Yigeom-ssi? Ah, I guess you can’t say.”

“Yes, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Haha. Isn’t it clairvoyance? Hmm, let’s see. The materials on clairvoyance are…”

To most people, Yigeom’s ability was known as clairvoyance. Noh Jeonggyu, who believed this wholeheartedly, started to look for materials for Yigeom.

He was really grateful, but since it wasn’t clairvoyance, the materials were useless…. He just wanted to look around on his own, at ease.

“Ah, Yigeom-ssi! I found it here. Is this it?”

“Yes… thank you.”

Yigeom had no choice but to accept the book Noh Jeonggyu handed him. It’s a similar ability, so it might be helpful someday if I read it.

“Right. I didn’t get to ask. What did Latter decide to do about the alliance?”

“We decided to cut ties. We have a small number of members, and it’s overwhelming to respond every time.”

Last week, when they came to give a statement on the brake incident, they had already said that it would be difficult to maintain the alliance.

“Hmm, is that so. That’s a bit of a shame. I thought we would participate in this operation together.”

“Operation?”

“Yes. Recently, with the incident at the Cheonan containment facility, we caught several Adam-related individuals… Ah! There’s no way Yigeom-ssi wouldn’t know. You were involved in that.”

“Yes… But what about it?”

Yigeom, who had been flipping through the book Noh Jeonggyu had given him and checking its contents, closed the book and focused on his words.

“We recently interrogated the related individuals, and one Blood Hunter spilled the beans about an Adam base. His name was… Kwon Sang? Was it Kwon Sanghyuk?”

“……!”

It was the details of Kwon Sanghyuk’s interrogation. It was unexpected. To think he would hear something here that even Jin Geonwoo couldn’t find out.

Kwon Sanghyuk… right. He wasn’t an official Blood Hunter belonging to Adam, he was just temporarily staying with Adam because his own organization, Orca, had collapsed.

If so, it was somewhat understandable that he had revealed Adam’s base.

“So this time, we’ve decided to launch an all-out war based on that.”

“What? With Adam?”

“Yes. Our Yeho is also participating…”

Noh Jeonggyu muttered in a slightly scared tone. The Vigilante Corps… are they going to attack Adam, the largest group among the Blood Hunters, before they lose more allied guilds one by one?

But Adam isn’t such a careless group, is it? Even if Kwon Sanghyuk revealed the base, isn’t it already enough time for them to have moved their base?

Yigeom asked back with a look of doubt.

“Are you sure Adam is settled there? To mobilize everyone based on just Kwon Sanghyuk’s testimony is…”

“No, no, of course not. Adam moved their base a long time ago. We tracked them based on the testimony and found their new location.”

Noh Jeonggyu said proudly.

“What?”

Yigeom narrowed his brow, tapping the cover of the book with his index finger as if he were in a difficult position.

“But is it okay to tell me this? I’m not even participating.”

In the first place, if they had found out Adam’s base, shouldn’t the surprise attack operation be carried out in top secret? During the Cheonan containment facility incident, most people, except for A, Kim Hyungkyu, and a few other people, were informed of Choi Baekgil’s transfer on the day of.

But is it okay to just go around talking about an operation to find Adam’s base and attack them from behind? He was worried. More importantly, isn’t Noh Jeonggyu just a Hunter who has just shed his rookie status, not an executive of the Vigilante Corps or Yeho?

“Hey, it’s you, Yigeom-ssi, so what’s the big deal? You’ve helped the Vigilante Corps a lot so far, haven’t you? I’m sure if you say you want to participate in this operation, they’ll let you in without a second thought.”

“No. I have no intention of participating.”

Fighting with Adam. He really hated the idea. What if something big happened?

He was reminded once again that Latter had made a really good decision to break the alliance with the Vigilante Corps. Otherwise, he would have been caught up in a war with Adam…

“Really? That’s a shame. It would be reassuring to have you there, Yigeom-ssi. It would be even more reassuring if the Latter master came along too.”

Noh Jeonggyu smacked his lips as if he were disappointed. So he was telling me this information so readily because he wanted to ask me to participate in the operation with him?

“…Did the Vigilante Corps ask you to do this, Jeonggyu-ssi? To persuade me and Seo Dohyun.”

“What? Ahaha! No. It was just my own idea!”

“Ah… I see.”

Then, a sudden silence fell. Yigeom took the opportunity to ask a casual question.

“But about the information on Adam’s base. Do all the participants in the operation know about it?”

“What? No! Of course not~. Only a few people know about it.”

“…But you seem to know quite a lot, Jeonggyu-ssi. That Kwon Sanghyuk gave the information, that you know Adam’s new base. And you’re telling me about it… How do you know I won’t go around talking about it?”

“No way. You’re tight-lipped, aren’t you, Yigeom-ssi? It seems like you’re not very good at lying either. I trust you, Yigeom-ssi. And the reason I know about the operation is… umm…”

Noh Jeonggyu hesitated to answer. After a long pause, he said awkwardly.

“That’s related to my ability, so I can’t tell you. I’m sorry.”

“Is that so. It’s okay, so don’t worry about it too much.”

In the first place, Yigeom was also keeping his own ability a secret, so he wasn’t in a position to say anything. But he was so secretive about his own ability, yet so talkative about the Vigilante Corps’ operation. Should I tell A that Noh Jeonggyu seems to have a loose tongue and that he should be careful?

After all they’ve been through, it would be wrong to just pretend not to know.

And….

Kang Taeha. It gives me a headache just thinking about it. Yigeom resolved to treat A and Kang Taeha as separate individuals from now on.

It was after he had spoken to Kang Taeha on the phone in front of A that he had broken the alliance with the Vigilante Corps. At first, he had thought that since A always wore a mask and a hood, Kang Taeha had hired a double to avoid having his identity revealed, but now he decided to give up on that thought as well.

‘Even if he is, well… I’ll think about it when the time comes.’

A is a healer, so he probably won’t get seriously hurt, right? If Kang Taeha… no, I decided to stop thinking about that… Haa, right. Even Kang Taeha is a kid who can take care of himself, so there’s no need to worry.

Yigeom let out a groan and erased Kang Taeha, the person who was always associated with A in his mind.

“Oh, right! There was also that as a reason why the Vigilante Corps is rushing to attack Adam.”

“What?”

“Well. There’s a rumor going around that Adam knows A’s identity.”

Yigeom dismissed Noh Jeonggyu’s words as unimportant. He already knew that from when Bae Sangwoo was alive. He had overheard the head of the management office at Iryeon.

“Yigeom-ssi. By any chance.”

Noh Jeonggyu’s eyes gleamed as he asked.

“Do you know A’s identity too, Yigeom-ssi?”

Yigeom, not knowing what Noh Jeonggyu’s intentions were in asking him that, answered with a guarded attitude.

“No. I don’t know.”

“Really? Hmm, that’s a shame.”

Unconsciously, he sided with A and his words came out a little sharp.

“What’s a shame?”

“What? I’m just curious. About his identity. I thought you would know since you have clairvoyance. If you don’t know, then never mind.”

…In the first place, the premise of that clairvoyance was wrong. Yigeom looked at Noh Jeonggyu with a suspicious gaze, then sighed inwardly.

‘Let’s not take it so sensitively.’

“Who knows? Maybe his identity will be revealed through this operation.”

“…I’m not interested.”

“Yes, but if you do become interested, please contact me. I really want to do this operation with you, Yigeom-ssi.”

Noh Jeonggyu muttered in an awkward tone.

“You and I started at the same time, Yigeom-ssi, so I feel a sense of kinship, and what should I say… it’s psychologically reassuring. You’ve been through a lot of situations like this, haven’t you, Yigeom-ssi?”

Yigeom wrinkled his eyes without showing it.

‘As if anyone wanted to go through that.’

More importantly, Noh Jeonggyu was also there at Iryeon…. Ah, at that time, he arrived when it was almost over, so he didn’t fight properly.

“Is this your first operation, Jeonggyu-ssi?”

“Yes. Believe it or not, my ability isn’t very useful in combat… It’s more of a support role from the back? Like a support in a game! Yes, exactly a support.”

Yigeom nodded slowly and inferred. It seems that his support ability was helpful in finding Adam’s base.

Then it made sense that Noh Jeonggyu, who wasn’t even in a high position, knew the main details of this operation so well.

“Jeonggyu hyung! We were supposed to meet at the entrance by 3 o’clock! Everyone’s waiting. If you’re done, please hurry up and come.”

“It’s already that time…. Yeah, I’m coming now!”

When his companion called him from behind, Noh Jeonggyu hurriedly checked the time and then bid Yigeom farewell.

“Yigeom-ssi, I’ll be going now! Like I said earlier, if you’re interested in the operation, please contact me! The operation starts in two weeks, so you have to let me know before then!”

“I told you I’m not interested.”

“Haha, there you go again. Well, I’ll really be going then.”

“Yes. Take care.”

After Noh Jeonggyu left, Yigeom could finally read his book in a much quieter atmosphere.

🦅࿐

Prologue.

There is no hunter who has not 發見 (discovered) their own talent. Each is 附與 (bestowed) a talent suited to them, and will 必然 (inevitably) be able to 發見 (discover) it. You who have opened this book, do not 念慮 (worry) too much about talent 開發 (development). All talents will be used according to 順理 (natural order).

If one fulfills their 所任 (duty) without falling into the path of 惡 (evil), everything will flow according to 理致 (reason), and will at last be the will of 天 (Heaven).

Sitting on the sofa in the Latter office, Yigeom, who was flipping through a book he had borrowed from the Association library, let out a hollow laugh.

‘What is this useless writing that’s only focused on looking cool?’

He examined the worn-out cover from all sides, wondering who on earth wrote it. But as was typical for an old document, most of the characters were written in Hanja, and there was no author listed.

Deciding to leave this book aside and read the other books he borrowed, he was rummaging through them when Jewoo peeked over and asked.

“Hyung, what are those books?”

“I checked them out from the Association.”

“Uh… but aren’t you not allowed to borrow more than three books?”

Jewoo looked uncomfortable as he eyed the stack of books, which easily looked like more than ten.

“I borrowed them using the machine. You know, the kiosk.”

“You can check out this many if you use that?”

“No, you can’t.”

“But how… Ah. My ID card.”

Jewoo recalled the Association ID card he had lent to Yigeom a few days ago.

“You used it to borrow books?”

“Yeah. I told you I’d use it for a bit.”

“Well, it doesn’t really matter, but. How many is this? One, two… Heek. Fifteen books? Then that means… five ID cards? This hyung totally cleaned out all our cards, huh?”

Yigeom took out the ID cards he had borrowed from Seo Dohyun, Seo Doa, Cha Jewoo, and Namgoong Sanha from his bag and placed them on the table.

“Find yours and take it. You can just use the self-service return machine to return them.”

“Okay. But how did you carry all these? You’ve been walking everywhere lately, hyung. It must be a long way from the Association to here.”

“Uh, that… Seo Dohyun gave me a ride.”

Seo Dohyun had bought a new car right after the accident. Unafraid of being retaliated against again, he drove it around with an attitude of ‘retaliate if you dare,’ as if he didn’t care that it would be like throwing money into the air if another car accident happened.

It seemed he wasn’t scared because he could handle any urgent situation by turning back time with his ability. That was also just his personality.

So, Yigeom also rode in cars if he was with Seo Dohyun. Seo Dohyun would drive, while he would watch their surroundings and immediately activate his ability if he sensed any danger.

They were a perfect pair.

“Then where is Master now? Did he drop you off here and leave right away?”

“Yeah, he said he’s going to pick up Doa and Sanha hyung. Given the situation. I guess he can’t feel at ease.”

“Haa, you’re right.”

Jewoo lamented, steeped in gloom as he shoveled a large scoop of ice cream into his mouth. He could easily walk since his home and the office were close, but that wasn’t the case for the others.

“I wish they’d at least catch that weirdo with the ability to control machines or iron or whatever as soon as possible. Life is so inconvenient. So, so. So much!”

“Tell me about it.”

Since modern society’s infrastructure was mostly made of machines, the inconvenience was immense. From what Yigeom had gathered, the guy’s ability was likely to control iron.

Because being able to control machines was too broad. When they had dismantled Seo Dohyun’s wrecked car to investigate the cause, all the iron parts of the brake were completely crumpled.

It was a frightening ability that could even cause an explosion if he put his mind to it.

“It’s not like we can go into the mountains for secluded training. Hyung, hyung.”

“What?”

“Since it’s come to this, why don’t we all just live together until the culprit is caught?”

“Live together?”

Jewoo rambled on excitedly, thinking it was a great idea.

“You know how it is. We don’t know what kind of major incident might happen if we’re all separate.”

“No. They said the retaliation will stop once we sever ties with the Vigilantes.”

Tomorrow, the Vigilantes would make an official announcement that Latter has broken off the alliance. Then there would be no more retaliation, so we could rest easy.

“Are you sure? That there won’t be any retaliation if we break the alliance. You know how it is. What if they suddenly have a change of heart and attack us?”

“……”

“Isn’t the most effective way to be truly at ease to nip it in the bud?”

“The Vigilantes will take care of catching them. But you sound a lot like Seo Dohyun.”

“Huh? Uh… Hehe. Was that line cool just now?”

When Jewoo scratched his cheek, embarrassed, Yigeom’s face turned serious. My god, Seo Dohyun. What a terrible thing to say.

“That’s not what I meant. Not at all.”

“Ah, i-is that so? I thought you meant something else. Ahem… Let’s see, what books did my hyung borrow.”

Embarrassed by his own assumption, Jewoo changed the subject in a robotic tone. He then happened to open the old, authorless book that Yigeom had been reading and tossed aside.

“Let’s see, let’s see. There is no hunter who has not discovered their own talent. Each is bestowed a talent suited to them, and, umm… is this… inevitable? Inevitably be able to discover it. You who have opened this book, do not… wor-ry too much about talent development. All talents will be used according to nat-ur-al… or-der. All talents will be used according to natural order. If one fulfills their duty without falling into the path of evil, everything will flow according to reason, and will at last be the will of Cheon. Ah, the will of Haneul? What is this? Why did you borrow it? It’s so hard to read.”

Yigeom looked at Jewoo with a surprised expression.

“You read Hanja well?”

“You know I was practically confined when I was young. I had nothing to do, so I just read books all day. I had to do something else to keep the blood out of my sight… and there were Hanja books there. So I can read a little.”

After being released from imprisonment, Jewoo had to do something, anything. Starting with meeting his savior, Seo Dohyun, he began to find his will to live, one thing at a time.

One of the things he did back then was take a Hanja proficiency test. He felt a sense of accomplishment by studying Hanja and getting certifications like a florist license, and was gradually able to settle into life.

“Ah… Sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

Yigeom glanced at Jewoo, feeling like he had unnecessarily brought up bad memories.

“Hey, it’s fine. It’s all in the past.”

“…But if you’ve read so many books, why are you bad at studying? Your report card was a mess.”

“Wow, are you really sorry? You’re just poking my bones with facts? Are humans allowed to do that? This one kind of hurts.”

“You said it’s all in the past and it’s fine.”

Thinking that being overly apologetic would also be unfair to Jewoo, he deliberately spoke playfully to lighten the mood. Jewoo caught on and laughed as he chatted.

“Hyung, not everyone in the world is as smart as you. Reading books and being good at studying are two completely different things, you know?”

“Really?”

“With books, you can just memorize them, but with studying, you have to apply what you’ve learned!”

“Is that so? You can just memorize and then apply it.”

Why can’t he do something so simple? Yigeom tilted his head, unable to understand. It was a typically anticlimactic answer, like someone who got a perfect score on the CSAT saying, ‘I just focused on the textbook.’

Jewoo shook his head in disbelief.

“This is why geniuses are the problem.”

“What?”

“Forget it! A natural-born talent like you will never understand me, even if you try for a hundred days!”

Yigeom, on the contrary, felt challenged and said confidently.

“The only one I can’t understand is Seo Dohyun.”

“Gosh, look at you mentioning Master even now. You two are just best friends, aren’t you?”

Somehow, the misunderstanding was only getting deeper.

As he was bickering back and forth with Jewoo, Seo Dohyun entered the office with Seo Doa and Namgoong Sanha.

“Hey. We’re here. Did you guys have lunch?”

“We’re here. …Cha Jewoo! That’s my ice cream!”

“Ah, no! Gyeom hyung took this out to eat! I only had one bite!”