Under Creature – Chapter 14.4

Author: nicotine

“There’s a lot of Hanja. Can you read this?”

“No. I just happened to borrow it by chance.”

He didn’t want to bother going back and forth to the Association multiple times, so he borrowed a lot while he was there. That was also why he had borrowed the members’ IDs. He had just grabbed everything that seemed potentially helpful, and this book just happened to be stuck between the others.

“Hyung, I’ll read it for you!”

“Hmm? You can read it?”

“Of course!”

Just as Jewoo, full of pride, was about to recite the meaning he had just interpreted, Yigeom beat him to it.

“There is no hunter who has not discovered their own talent. Each is bestowed a talent suited to them, and will inevitably be able to discover it. You who have opened this book, do not worry too much about talent development. 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 Haneul…. is what’s written.”

Having memorized it after hearing it once, Yigeom recited it without a single syllable out of place. Jewoo protested sulkily.

“Hyung, you memorized my translation from earlier, didn’t you?”

Yigeom didn’t answer, only smiling quietly.

“Hmm, talent is an ability, and a hunter is a Hunter. Does the path of evil mean Blood Hunters? It looks like an old book, maybe that’s what they were called back then?”

“That’s what I guessed too.”

“Hmm.”

Namgoong Sanha, his interest piqued, turned the pages to check the contents.

“But it might be true, you know.”

Doa, who had been listening to the three of them, said offhandedly.

“What might be true?”

To Jewoo’s question, Doa recited the text from the beginning of the book.

“‘There is no hunter who has not discovered their own talent,’ that part. When you think about it, no matter how unusual the ability, there aren’t any Hunters who haven’t discovered their own ability. Just look at my brother. Who would have ever thought of turning back time?”

“Is that so? Now that you mention it, it does seem that way. But something about, ‘will at last be the will of Haneul’ bothers me. What’s Haneul? Does it literally mean the sky?”

“I’m not sure about that either. Isn’t there more detail on the next page?”

“I don’t know? Sanha hyung, can I take a look at this for a moment?”

“Sure! Take your time.”

Jewoo took the book from Namgoong Sanha’s hands and slowly read it, interpreting it on his own. Then, he scrunched up his face and closed the book.

“What is this.”

“Why? What does it say?”

When Doa asked, Jewoo shook his head as if he didn’t even want to explain.

“I closed it because it was kind of unpleasant.”

“So what was it?”

“Your talent is a skillful one that Haneul watches over, to close the eyes of those who have fulfilled their purpose? Anyway, it was weird. Why does it keep saying Haneul. What if it’s treating some being like Haneul? Like a fanatic… Ah, whatever, forget it. This is weird. Don’t read it, don’t read it. Gyeom hyung, you just had to borrow a weird book and make people feel disturbed.”

Because of his past, reading that book had dampened his mood. The will of Haneul and all that. It reminded him of his parents who treated the creature like a god, making him feel sick to his stomach.

“Right. Like Jewoo said, it is a little weird. There are plenty of other books, so I should stop reading this one.”

Namgoong Sanha, quickly grasping the situation, handed the book to Yigeom. Yigeom swiftly took it and stuffed it back into his bag, hiding it.

“Ri-right! What’s with Haneul! The Association keeps all sorts of strange books. Goodness. Do they have too much empty space in the library?”

Doa also let out a hollow laugh and told Jewoo not to worry about it too much.

Finding them amusing, Jewoo broke into a wide smile. Just then, Seo Dohyun, who had been quietly watching the harmonious atmosphere, spoke in a low voice.

“I have something to say.”

“Something to say?”

When Yigeom asked, Seo Dohyun curled his lips up and answered.

“Yeah.”

“What is it?”

Although his title was president, it was rare for Seo Dohyun to announce he had something to say when everyone was gathered, so they all looked at him with sparkling eyes. And into their midst, Seo Dohyun dropped a bombshell.

“I’m going to catch the guy who messed with my brakes.”

“…What?”

“Huh? What did you say, hyung?”

“Oppa, are you serious?”

“Dohyun-ah. Didn’t we agree not to get involved?”

Everyone added their two cents. It was understandable, since once the Vigilantes made their official announcement tomorrow, everyone would know Latter was breaking the alliance, and the retaliation would naturally stop, so why bother? was the thought that came to mind. Amidst all this, Cha Jewoo’s reaction was positive.

“I was a little surprised, but I’m for it! In the first place, they’re all guys who need to be thrown in jail, and even if they say they won’t retaliate if we break the alliance now, who knows when we’ll meet them as enemies again? I’m in!”

“No… what I mean is, why should we do it? We’ve washed our hands of it, and the Vigilantes are searching for the culprit right now. They’ll probably be caught soon.”

“That’s right, Dohyun-ah. Let’s not do anything dangerous.”

Seo Doa was silent, seemingly deep in thought, while Yigeom and Namgoong Sanha took the opposing side and tried to persuade Seo Dohyun. But he still stuck to his opinion.

“Everyone, how long do you think the Vigilantes will be able to work like they are now?”

“What do you mean.”

“That thing, it’s going to collapse soon.”

It was a bolt from the blue. Saying the Vigilantes would collapse, out of nowhere. It sounded like a far-fetched, baseless claim.

In fact, Yigeom had also had a similar thought at one point. But he had tried to ignore and deny it, telling himself it wouldn’t happen. However, now that Seo Dohyun had said it out loud, there was no taking it back.

The Vigilantes were already being rapidly isolated by guilds breaking the alliance, and though it was called an official announcement, from the Vigilantes’ perspective, it was no different from a humiliating proclamation.

It was tantamount to a declaration saying, ‘We have no one to help us, even if we are attacked.’

At best, the Association would lend a hand for a bit and then stop. The Vigilantes must have known that, which was probably why they had talked about attacking Adam while they still had some help left. To put it bluntly, the war with Adam in two weeks could be the day the Vigilantes disappear.

What the guilds were currently doing was no different from throwing the Vigilantes away to save their own skin, thereby throwing the state of affairs into chaos. What would be left afterward would probably be a world overrun by Blood Hunters.

But it couldn’t be helped. If asked whether you would die right now or die later, anyone would choose the latter.

Seo Dohyun’s prediction was probably not that different from Yigeom’s thoughts. He too, as a guild master, had chosen the latter, and by quickly accepting the consequences that would follow, he had simply come to a conclusion.

“If the Vigilantes collapse, things won’t be the same as before.”

How to survive in the world to come.

“Even if a guild gets beaten up, there will be no Vigilantes to help them. By then, the Association will be busy too, and we will have to survive on our own.”

Yigeom agreed with those words.

If the Vigilantes really were annihilated, from now on, only guys like Seo Dohyun would survive. The kind of guys who, if bitten, would bite back with the intent to kill.

Therefore, Latter also had to start acting like Seo Dohyun from now on.

To make them think, ‘Ah, if I mess with that guy, I’ll suffer great damage even if I survive.’

To make it clear that even while the Vigilantes were still fully functional, Latter would hunt down and retaliate against any Blood Hunter who touched them.

So that no one would look down on Latter. They needed proof that they wouldn’t be taken down as easily as others thought.

Seo Dohyun deemed now the perfect timing to show them that.

In the serious atmosphere, Seo Dohyun smiled brightly and spoke in a light tone.

“Well, of course, there’s a personal desire for revenge too.”

“Hah.”

Yigeom let out a dry laugh. When he put it like that, there was no way to refuse. He couldn’t bear to see everyone endangered by participating in the Vigilantes’ operation and going to war with Adam, so their only choice was to find a way to survive well afterward, and there was nothing wrong with what Seo Dohyun had said.

“For once, you’re actually saying something right.”

“I’ve always said what’s right. It’s just that you couldn’t understand it, Gyeom.”

“As if you’ve ever said anything in a way that’s easy to understand.”

“Was it a little easier this time?”

“No, I barely managed to understand it. Anyway… I’m in favor too.”

Yigeom grumbled at Seo Dohyun and switched to the affirmative side.

Seo Doa and Namgoong Sanha, who had been listening to the explanation, also nodded in agreement.

Watching them, Jewoo placed a hand on his chin and muttered.

“Then everyone’s in favor, and all that’s left is to catch the culprit. How do we catch him?”

“How about we monitor the movements of the allied guilds that could be targets?”

“Oh, as expected of Sanha hyung! That’s a good idea.”

Everyone threw out ideas for catching the real culprit. In the midst of it all, Yigeom felt an inward sense of foreboding.

‘If the Vigilantes collapse, A will also… That would be the case, wouldn’t it?’

To survive in a rapidly changing era, there is no choice but to quickly adapt to the flow and prepare countermeasures.

The countermeasure Latter devised was this.

“Cha Jewoo. Do you see anything?”

“Nothing. How about you?”

“Nothing for me either…. How about you, Sanha oppa?”

“Not yet…. Nope, nothing.”

The three of them, who were looking down at the bustling streets from the rooftop of a high-rise building, sighed in the same pose and lowered their binoculars.

It had been over ten days since they started doing this. Days of stakeouts, or rather, not-quite-stakeouts, to catch the culprit and beat him to a pulp.

Now that they had cut ties with the Vigilantes, they couldn’t get any information about the culprit. But, as they say, there’s always a way out even when the sky falls, and fortunately, they could ask Geonwoo various things.

Geonwoo did his part admirably by passing on the latest information about the culprit to Latter, to the best of his ability. Looking back now, Yigeom using Geonwoo as a Vigilante spy was a stroke of genius.

According to his information, the Vigilantes had caught a suspected individual, put him in ability-restraining cuffs, and interrogated him. However, even while that was happening, another incident occurred, and this time too, it was related to machines.

This meant the real culprit had not yet been caught. So far, there hadn’t even been a single witness.

Seo Doa, feeling thirsty, took a sip of her drink and began to reason methodically.

“The guilds still maintaining the alliance are Yeho, Cheongyeong, Spears… and where else was there.”

“There’s Hames too.”

Cha Jewoo added while mumbling around a piece of bread.

“Right. Yeho hasn’t been attacked even once, Cheongyeong was attacked last week, Spears was attacked once before, and what about the other guilds? Oppa, have you heard anything?”

Namgoong Sanha put down his binoculars and checked his phone.

“Nope. Geonwoo is participating in the operation in a few days, so I guess he’s really busy preparing for it.”

“I see.”

Everyone in Latter knew that the Vigilantes would be waging war with Adam in two weeks, as Yigeom, who had heard the information from Noh Jeonggyu, had told them.

However, it seemed that Geonwoo, who was not part of Latter, was preparing without even knowing what operation he was participating in. It seemed A was planning to tell him on the day of.

“Yeah. I heard A has been practically living at the Vigilante headquarters for a few weeks now.”

If A, who was always on the move and rarely seen within the Vigilante headquarters, was living as if confined to the building, that said it all. One could easily guess how busy the Vigilantes were right now.

“But do you think the Blood Hunters will even attack Yeho? We’ve been at this for days and there’s not even a hint of them.”

Jewoo muttered that he couldn’t seem to predict it, no matter how much he thought about it.

Currently, Seo Doa, Cha Jewoo, and Namgoong Sanha were tailing Yeho. This was because Yeho was a guild that had never been ambushed before, and they figured an incident was bound to happen at least once.

Seo Dohyun and Yoon Yigeom had split off from them and were following the movements of another guild.

Namgoong Sanha picked up his binoculars again and checked on the Yeho guild members who were currently handling a CA. To be sure, they seemed to be wary of retaliation, always dispatching at least three members for normal activities, and double that number when going out for a CA.

“Doa-ya. You said the guild Yigeom and Dohyun were watching was Spears, right?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm… I knew it. In my opinion, Spears is more likely to be attacked this time than Yeho.”

As Namgoong Sanha muttered that his hunch was proving correct, Jewoo’s eyes widened as he asked back.

“Huh? Why?”

“Don’t you think the news that A is holed up in the Vigilante headquarters would have reached the Blood Hunters too? Then it’s obvious they’d think, ‘They’re planning to pull something big.’”

“That’s… true.”

“Then they’d want to cut off at least one of the Vigilantes’ hands and feet before that happens, so wouldn’t it be quicker to go after Spears rather than Yeho, which has never been attacked? I heard they even had one casualty there.”

Namgoong Sanha’s reasoning had a certain degree of plausibility.

Spears had already suffered damage from retaliation, resulting in a death. The internal atmosphere was as grim as it could get, and they were probably still debating whether to cut ties with the Vigilantes.

If they were retaliated against again at that point, Spears would likely solidify their decision and turn their backs on the Vigilantes.

“If I were in the culprit’s shoes, I’d attack Spears.”

“…The oppas must have known this, right?”

“Probably. There’s no way the hyungs wouldn’t have known.”

“No wonder they said they would take care of Spears.”

Doa clenched the binoculars as if to break them, swallowing her anger. It was obvious they were trying to take on the dangerous task themselves again.

At that, Namgoong Sanha broke into a cold sweat and soothed her.

“Don’t be like that. It’s true that Yeho needs to be watched too. And I feel the same way as Yigeom and Dohyun. You guys are still legally minors who need protection.”

“Just you wait one more year. When I become an adult, I’ll show you what a real wild child is.”

“Haha….”

🦅࿐

As Namgoong Sanha had predicted, Yigeom and Dohyun were almost certain that Spears would be attacked.

“How’s it looking?”

“Nothing. There are no suspicious individuals around. No one is approaching Spears either.”

Unlike Seo Doa, Cha Jewoo, and Namgoong Sanha, who were observing Yeho under the scorching sun on a building rooftop, Yigeom and Dohyun were watching Spears from inside a cool, air-conditioned car.

There was no need to physically run around and chase Spears; water was everywhere, and as long as they were within its radius, he could check without any problem.

Of course, they also had to consider whether the culprit was within that radius, but they figured they would at least find some clues by tailing Spears.

So, whenever the Spears guild members moved, they would secretly follow behind in Seo Dohyun’s car, stop nearby, and have Yigeom repeatedly conduct surveillance.

However, whether the culprit was a thorough fellow or just hadn’t executed his plan to target Spears yet, there were still no clues.

Today, too, the day ended without any results.

It wasn’t until late at night that Yigeom and Dohyun picked up the trio who had been watching the Yeho side.

“Haa, I thought I was going to die from the heat. It’s so cool in here! Hyungs, were you in the car this whole time?”

“Well, pretty much.”

Yigeom replied, handing cold water to the three who boarded the car along with the sweltering heat from outside.

“If only we had Gyeom hyung’s ability, we could have worked in a comfortable place too. I’m so jealous…. Hyung, let’s watch Yeho together tomorrow!”

“No.”

Jewoo had asked Yigeom, but Seo Dohyun immediately refused.

“Huh? Why? We should switch teams sometimes~.”

“It’s not efficient.”

“What do you mean, not efficient?”

Yigeom, in the passenger seat, turned around and flicked Jewoo’s forehead.

“Can you even remember his ability?”

Setting aside the fact that Yigeom and Dohyun were inseparable due to their good ability synergy, if Jewoo or Seo Doa were to join Yigeom’s team, it would leave Namgoong Sanha with only one other person, and since Namgoong Sanha was a tech type, he wasn’t skilled in combat. Furthermore, if Namgoong Sanha were to join Yigeom’s team, it would leave the two students by themselves, which the three adults would obviously not allow.

In the end, this was the most efficient team distribution.

After pondering the team composition for a moment, Jewoo realized the reality of the situation and easily agreed.

“Aish, alright. Can’t be helped.”

Grumble-

At that moment, a loud noise echoed. Everyone naturally looked at Cha Jewoo.

“What was that. Are you hungry? You ate a ton of bread earlier.”

“Huh? No? It wasn’t me.”

When Seo Doa asked, Cha Jewoo rubbed his stomach and tilted his head. Beside him, Namgoong Sanha’s face turned beet red as he mumbled softly.

“Sorry, it was me. Was it… a little loud?”

When Doa and Jewoo were complaining about the heat, Yigeom had thought, ‘Well, we all do this to make a living, so just bear with it,’ but seeing the ever-diligent Namgoong Sanha, who couldn’t even bring himself to say he was having a hard time and was just clutching his stomach, somehow pricked Yigeom’s conscience.

It was true that he and Seo Dohyun had been working in comfort, after all.

Because of that, he hurriedly looked for a nearby restaurant and said.

“…Dinner, it’s late, but shall we go get dinner? I’ll pay.”

Latter sat around a table at a meat restaurant and had a late meal.

Jewoo picked up a piece of meat that wasn’t even fully cooked and put it on his own plate. At first, they had tried to stop him a few times, telling him he’d get an upset stomach, but seeing him stay perfectly healthy without any issues, they figured it wasn’t the case and just let him be now.

In the meantime, Jewoo, who had also ordered cold noodles, asked with a puzzled expression.

“But why didn’t Spears break the alliance even after being retaliated against? Aren’t they a weak guild?”

“It’s because they’re a weak guild.”

Yigeom answered as he held the tongs and flipped the meat.

“Huh? Why is that? If they’re a weak guild, they should be more cautious.”

“Because they’re a weak guild that’s neither here nor there, they must want to build up their reputation somehow. The Vigilante alliance would have been an excellent offer.”

“Hmm. I see. But hyung, you know quite a lot of details. I thought you were just keeping an eye on Spears’ movements, but did you manage to strike up a conversation while I wasn’t looking?”

“What are you talking about… It’s all just guesswork.”

He may not look it, but he was a business major. Now that he had a grasp of how the Hunter world operated, this was something anyone, not just him, could figure out with a little thought.

“So smart, as expected. As expected of the vice president.”

Seo Doa gave a thumbs-up and praised Yigeom.

“Vice president… Isn’t it about time you stopped saying that?”

“Why? You use it just fine, saying it’s a vice president’s order when it suits you, but then you tell us not to say it when you get embarrassed.”

“Fine. Then this is also a vice president’s order. The word ‘vice president’ is banned from now on. Just you dare say ‘vice president’ in front of me.”

“Ah, oppa, you just said it three times. Is there a penalty for this?”

“It starts from now on.”

While Latter was laughing and chatting, another group entered the restaurant.

“Excuse me, are you still taking orders?”

“Welcome. Yes, we’re open until 2 AM. How many are in your party?”

“Five… huh?”

They noticed Latter, who were in the middle of their meal, and paused. Latter also looked at the newly arrived customers, wondering why they were being acknowledged. Then, their expressions hardened.

They were familiar faces.

It was the master of the Spears guild and his subordinates, whom Yigeom and Dohyun had been secretly tailing recently.

Latter and Spears looked at each other, assessing the situation. Soon, Kang Yeseong, the master of Spears, initiated the conversation.

“Uh, hello. You’re Latter… right?”

“…Yes. You’re Spears, right?”

“Yes, y-yes. You… know our name?”

Of course, we’ve been following you guys around for days.

Yigeom exchanged greetings while observing Spears suspiciously. Could it be that they had noticed they were being watched and deliberately came to this restaurant? To test them?

“You seem to know who we are as well.”

“Oh, of course, how could we not know Latter? You’re famous.”

When Yigeom asked probingly, the other party replied with a jest. It was surely a fame of the infamous kind.

“But how does Latter know us….”

“Ah, that’s….”

“Th-that! My hyung! My hyung has a great memory! Right, hyung? Wow-are these people Hunters too?”

Jewoo hurriedly grabbed Yigeom and shouted. It was a well-known fact that Yigeom was a terrible liar, so he had jumped in before he could be found out.

“Ah, I see. Well then, enjoy your meal. I feel bad for interrupting your dinner.”

“Not at all. You enjoy your meal too.”

It’s more awkward to know someone by face than to be complete strangers. Spears sat at the table furthest from Latter and ordered their food.

Namgoong Sanha, who was glancing at them from the corner of his eye, brought a hand to his mouth and whispered.

“Gyeom-ah, you guys didn’t get caught while tailing them, did you?”

“No, there’s no way….”

In fact, he could confidently say that they had tailed them more safely and discreetly than the three who had been watching Yeho.

The three of them had to keep their eyes on Yeho at all times, but Yigeom could easily monitor them with his ability without ever having to appear before them.

“But how did they find this place?”

“……”

But he couldn’t answer Doa’s question. Wasn’t the timing too perfect to be a coincidence?

While everyone was bewildered as to what was going on, Seo Dohyun calmly muttered as he poured water into a glass.

“It must be a coincidence.”

The filled water glass was naturally placed in a position with a clear view of the Spears’ table.

“This is a good thing. The target of our surveillance showed up on their own. Our work has just increased a bit. You’ll have to put in some effort today.”

“No, still….”

“They just got here, so we should order more too. Jewoo-ya, you can eat more, right?”

Jewoo nodded brightly.

“Of course! I’m not full at all yet.”

Leaving the dazed Yigeom behind, just as they were about to place an additional order, the owner brought over drinks they hadn’t ordered.

“Excuse me, we didn’t order this.”

When Namgoong Sanha said this, waving his hand, the restaurant owner gestured with his head towards the Spears’ table.

“That table over there asked me to give this to you.”

From the Spears’ side, they gave an awkward smile and bowed their heads. In response, Yigeom also awkwardly expressed his thanks and accepted the drinks.

“What is this? Does it mean something like, ‘We know everything you’re doing, so don’t even think about following us anymore’?”

Jewoo’s pupils quaked as he pondered.

“No way, it’s probably just a gesture of goodwill.”

“Goodwill to someone you’ve just met? Don’t you think they want something from us?”

The master of Spears was a young man in his mid-20s.

He had become a Hunter and founded a guild, but while Seo Dohyun, who was younger than him, had made Latter a renowned guild in a few years, his own guild was still a minor one, so he felt a vague sense of envy and respect.

Regardless of Latter’s personalities.

It was truly a coincidence that they met Latter at the same restaurant, and the few cans of drinks were given out of a sincere gesture of goodwill, wanting to get to know them. However, Latter, who had much to feel guilty about, was needlessly getting worked up.

Yigeom observed Spears through the glass of water that Seo Dohyun had poured. Spears was acting perfectly normal, talking amongst themselves and grilling their meat in a casual manner.

The purpose of watching Spears was to catch the culprit who would attack them, so Yigeom carefully checked to see if there was anything wrong with the machines they were using, or if there was anything else to look out for.

Just then, Kang Yeseong, the master of Spears, suddenly walked towards them.

“Excuse me….”

“Ah, yes!”

“Since we’ve met, there are a few things I’d like to ask. If it’s alright with you, could I join your table for just a moment?”

“Yes, there’s an empty chair….”

Namgoong Sanha hurriedly pulled a chair from the next table, but his action was rendered futile by Seo Dohyun.

“No.”

“…Excuse me?”

It was just sharing a table…. he had thought, but Seo Dohyun had refused him to his face.

“If you have something to say, say it standing there. It would be even better if you took three steps back.”

“Hey, what’s wrong with you?”

We even received something from him, yet you’re being so prickly. Yigeom tried to stop him, gesturing with his eyes at the drink Kang Yeseong had given them, but Seo Dohyun was not one to listen. Instead, he replied with the corners of his eyes twitching slightly.

“Just because.”

It was a truly meaningless answer.

“Ah, yes. I apologize for my rudeness. I just wanted to get some advice because we’ve been worrying a lot about the alliance with the Vigilantes lately. I heard Latter broke it off. That’s all.”

Kang Yeseong, who had mustered up the courage to approach them, turned back, sulking at Seo Dohyun’s prickly response.

At that moment, a man standing alone under a streetlight looked at something on his phone and then made a displeased face. Yigeom, who was looking further into the distance rather than right in front of him, quickly called out to Seo Dohyun.

“…Seo Dohyun, now.”

Simultaneously, the man snapped his fingers.

Fwoosh-.

“Aack-! Wh-what the?”

“Master!”

“Yeseong hyung!”

Flames erupted from Kang Yeseong’s pants pocket, and his colleagues, seeing this, rushed over. They quickly put out the flames with a fire extinguisher from the restaurant, but Kang Yeseong suffered severe burns.

A chill ran down their spines. If Seo Dohyun hadn’t rejected Kang Yeseong’s offer to join their table, the flames would have erupted at Latter’s table.

One of the Spears members supported Kang Yeseong and shouted urgently.

“Is there a healer here? All of us are attack types right now…! He needs to be treated quickly….”

“I’m sorry. We also….”

Namgoong Sanha, flustered, focused on giving Kang Yeseong first aid. There was no way they had a healer. The only one they had was a spy for the Vigilantes.

Even the restaurant owner came out, called for an ambulance, and busily gathered medical supplies needed for burns.

Even in the midst of all that, Yigeom and Dohyun remained calmly seated, continuing their conversation.

“Gyeom-ah, where?”

“Under the streetlight. He was watching the CCTV here on his phone. The phone case is… yeah. A blue leather case.”

“A streetlight, you say.”

“Probably, it’s not far. If it’s a street with a streetlight from here, it’s out the back door of the restaurant and to the right. The front door has a streetlight too, but I’ll go check that one. You go to the back door.”

Seo Dohyun looked at Yigeom for a moment and then commanded.

“I’ll take the front door.”

“No, wait…!”

Before he could finish, time turned back.

Almost simultaneously with the man under the streetlight snapping his fingers, Yigeom quickly grabbed a fire extinguisher and sprayed it towards Kang Yeseong’s pants.

“Aack-! Wh-what…!? Th-thank you….”

The flames were quickly extinguished, and Yigeom shouted urgently.

“Seo Dohyun! I’ll take the front door…! Damn it.”

While he was helping Kang Yeseong, Seo Dohyun was already gone.

“Gyeom-ah? Is this, by any chance….”

“Please go to Seo Dohyun! I’ll check the back!”

“What? Then what about you!”

“I’ll follow him! Cha Jewoo, you follow my oppa!”

“Okay! Sanha hyung, let’s go, quickly!”

Everyone moved in perfect sync.

Cha Jewoo and Namgoong Sanha followed Seo Dohyun, and Seo Doa followed Yoon Yigeom out of the restaurant.

There was a reason Yigeom had insisted on the front door. If it were a place he frequented, he would have been able to spot where the culprit was standing at a glance, but this was his first time here, so it was difficult to tell.

The secluded restaurant, with alleys on both the front and back sides, made it even more confusing. But his intuition was somehow pointing to the front door. Seo Dohyun must have noticed Yigeom’s inner thoughts and deliberately twisted it by choosing the front door himself.

“Hah, I don’t think he’s here.”

Seo Doa said, catching her breath as she looked around. A full 5 minutes had already passed, and Seo Dohyun’s time reversal had ended.

“Have you heard anything?”

“Just a moment. Let me check…. No news yet. Don’t you think he’s at the front, not the back?”

They were too far away to get a clear view of Seo Dohyun’s side.

“Right. Let’s go to the front door too.”

‘I should be able to see once we get closer again.’

As he was heading back the way he came with Seo Doa, time repeated itself, as if signaling that the culprit had been found.

“Hah, I don’t think he’s here.”

“…Time turned back. Seo Dohyun must have met him at the front door.”

“Ah, really? Then there’s no point in wasting our energy going to the front door now, is there?”

“We still have to go. We might be able to catch him on the second try.”

Seo Doa muttered as if lamenting.

“Gosh, what’s my brother going to do, he must be so bored.”

“Why would Seo Dohyun be bored? He’ll be busy catching the culprit.”

Her own brother might be in danger, yet she was worried about him being bored. Wasn’t her concern a little misplaced? When he looked at her quizzically, Doa added that it wasn’t what he thought.

“Not my brother, but you, Yoon Yigeom. If you don’t catch him this time, won’t you just be repeating the same conversation with me?”

“Aha, that? Don’t worry too much about it. If I really can’t stand to hear it, I just ignore you.”

“Ah… is that so? Now that you say that, I feel kind of bad. Have you ever ignored me before?”

“No comment.”

“Hah… you have, you have. I can’t even get mad since I won’t remember. I’ll let it slide.”

Doa said, grumbling.

And then, time repeated again.

‘How many times has it been now?’

Yigeom mentally counted the number of repetitions.

This was the fourth time. He had walked the same path for several minutes, talking with Doa. Then another 5 minutes passed, but this time, time didn’t turn back.

‘Did he catch him?’

“Oppa, are you listening to me?”

“Seo Dohyun must have caught him. Let’s hurry.”

Yigeom quickened his pace.

And where they arrived, it wasn’t just Seo Dohyun, Namgoong Sanha, and Cha Jewoo, but the entire Spears guild was there as well.

In their midst was one man whose hands and feet were no longer free. He smiled at Yigeom like a man who had lost his mind.

“Hello, friend.”

“Why would I be your friend?”

“No, I don’t mean you’re my friend. You’re close with that guy, that guy.”

“That guy? Who.”

As Yigeom looked at him with a frown, he moved his lips without a sound.

‘A, y.’

It felt as if a rotten smell was wafting from between the culprit’s lips.

Yigeom narrowed his eyes and demanded.

“Say what you just said again…!”

At the same time, thwack-! Seo Dohyun’s knee smashed into the culprit’s face.

“Seo Dohyun…, what are you doing all of a sudden?”

“A mistake.”

For a mistake, the intent to hit was all too clear, and upon closer inspection, the culprit’s face was already a bloody pulp, as if he had been beaten for a while.

What’s more, Seo Dohyun didn’t stop there; he struck the back of the culprit’s neck and knocked him out. Yigeom was dumbfounded by the culprit who had been knocked unconscious, face down on the ground, before he could even ask him anything.

“What are we going to do if you knock him out?”

“We don’t have any ability-restraining cuffs. This is the best we can do in this situation.”

“That’s… true.”

He couldn’t argue with that, as it was also true.

“But is this person really the culprit?”

“Gyeom-ah, look at this.”

Namgoong Sanha called Yigeom over and showed him a bent knife.

“This is a regular knife sold in stores, but it became like this when I showed it to that person. And this is… a knife bought from Yiryeon. See, it’s perfectly fine, isn’t it?”

“…Yes.”

All products from Yiryeon were made by mixing byproducts from creature carcasses, so they were stronger, and naturally, the materials used were different from ordinary items.

The knife from Yiryeon was fine, but the knife sold in stores was completely bent. Considering that the latter was made of iron, this guy had to be the culprit, and it was indeed an ability to control iron.

“Still, we haven’t been able to interrogate him yet.”

Are we just going to go through all this trouble to catch the culprit without any information and then hand him over to the Vigilantes just like that? As Yigeom expressed his predicament, Jewoo reassured him.

“Hey, hyung, of course we asked him everything. Those wounds there… well, yeah. That’s when they happened.”

“Ah… right.”

Yigeom nodded uncomfortably. Just then, Kang Yeseong awkwardly approached and greeted them.

“Um… thank you for saving me.”

“Not at all. Seo Dohyun did everything, I didn’t do anything.”

“No way. You were the first one to grab the fire extinguisher and put out the fire earlier.”

Kang Yeseong, who had tied his outerwear around his waist to cover the hole burned in his pants, repeatedly expressed his gratitude. He also added an explanation that it seemed the lighter in his pants pocket had exploded, causing the fire.

Whether it was a disposable lighter that required rolling the thumbwheel or a Zippo lighter that lit up just by opening the lid, if one could freely control iron, it would have been possible to start a fire in any way.

Next, Kang Yeseong looked at Seo Dohyun and said.

“Thank you for catching the culprit. I feel like I’m just keep thanking you. Haha…. From now on, we will transport the culprit to the Vigilantes….”

“Transport?”

“…Yes? Ah, well, Latter has broken the alliance. It must be awkward for you to see them now, so I thought it might be better for us, who are still in the alliance, to take him…. Of course! We have absolutely no intention of stealing the credit!”

Behind Kang Yeseong, the Spears members nodded in agreement.

All they had done was put out the fire, quickly pay for Latter’s table as well to the restaurant owner who was asking where they were running off to without paying, and then belatedly chase after Seo Dohyun. And yet, before they could even help, Seo Dohyun had subdued the culprit all by himself.

They weren’t shameless enough to snatch the credit when their contribution to capturing the culprit was less than 1%. They also didn’t want to make an enemy of Latter.

Seo Dohyun didn’t respond to Kang Yeseong’s words and just stared blankly at the unconscious culprit. Unable to watch any longer, Seo Doa stepped forward and spoke to Kang Yeseong.

“What’s there to be awkward about? It was just a simple breaking of an alliance. It’s not like we did anything wrong. We will handle this matter to the end.”

“…It’s embarrassing for me to say this myself, but you’re not doing this because you don’t trust us, are you? We may be a weak guild, but we have always handled our duties properly.”

“Of course not. We just want to finish what we started, since we were the ones who caught him.”

“Aha, I see, if that’s the case. It seems we just keep being indebted to you.”

After everything was settled, Latter took the culprit, and Kang Yeseong took his Spears colleagues, and they all went their separate ways.

Then, Kang Yeseong suddenly stopped and called out to Latter.

“Um, I paid for the restaurant bill!”

“Huh? Oh, right. The bill….”

They had rushed out of the restaurant in a hurry, afraid the culprit would escape, so they had ended up dining and dashing. Yigeom quickly took out his wallet to pay, but Kang Yeseong waved his hand.

“No! It’s fine! You helped us so much today, please think of it as me treating you to a meal.”

“But the bill must have been quite large.”

“Oh, how large could it be! Could it be larger than the price of my life! It’s fine, haha.”

Yigeom, with an apologetic face, repeatedly asked if it was really okay, but Kang Yeseong insisted that it was no problem at all.

After Latter left, Kang Yeseong’s colleague looked around cautiously and asked.

“Hyung, are you really okay with that? The bill was pretty hefty with our food and theirs combined.”

“How much was it?”

“What, you were acting all cool without even knowing? I should’ve known when you left the payment to me and ran out.”

“Well, they’re our saviors, of course we should pay for them. If it weren’t for Latter, we would have… just like that time….”

Kang Yeseong, who had once lost a colleague to death from a previous retaliation, couldn’t finish his sentence and fell silent.

“That’s true. Here you go. I paid with the corporate card for now.”

His colleague agreed and handed him the receipt. Kang Yeseong checked it and his eyes widened.

“Uh…. Um…. The amount… it is quite big, isn’t it?”

At his reaction, his colleague tutted and remarked.

“Didn’t you see that big guy over there? Of course he eats a lot to maintain those muscles.”

It was mostly Cha Jewoo who had devoured everything, but Spears had no way of knowing that. Poor Namgoong Sanha was unfairly blamed.

🦅࿐

After capturing the culprit, Latter didn’t head straight to the Vigilantes but stopped by the office for a moment. This was because Namgoong Sanha’s personal car was there.

“I’ll take the kids home safely, so you guys head home as soon as you’re done with your work! You all worked hard today.”

“Yes, take care.”

Yigeom rolled down the passenger seat window and said his goodbyes. The minors were to be sent home for the day, and Yigeom and Dohyun planned to visit the Vigilantes by themselves. Along with the unconscious culprit in the back seat.

“Hyungs, you have to keep checking if the culprit wakes up on the way. It’ll be a huge problem if he wakes up and goes on a rampage.”

“Can’t we just knock him out one more time while we’re at it?”

Doa surreptitiously clenched her fist.

“That won’t happen, so don’t worry and go home. Don’t you two have school tomorrow?”

Yigeom declared that he wouldn’t let it slide if they were late, and rolled up the window. Soon, the car started, and he was finally alone with Seo Dohyun.

Yigeom brought up the main topic he had been holding back.

“Seo Dohyun. You heard what that guy said earlier, right?”

“Said what?”

“About being friends… and A. He was mouthing it to me.”

“He was? I was on the side, so I couldn’t see well.”

Yigeom looked out the window, lost in thought.

‘No, I don’t mean you’re my friend. You’re close with that guy, that guy.’

He had clearly said, A.

Why? If one were to pick someone close to A, wouldn’t Seo Dohyun, who had previously been active in the Vigilantes, be a more suitable choice than himself?

There was just one thing that would change the story… if A was Kang Taeha.

No matter how much he tried not to connect them, all the circumstances pointed to Kang Taeha being A.

Yigeom glanced sideways at Seo Dohyun. He was driving with a still-vivid face, as if he wasn’t tired even late at night.

“Seo Dohyun, do you know A’s identity?”

“Suddenly?”

“There’s someone I suspect. If you know, I was going to ask for confirmation.”

“It won’t be of any help.”

Seo Dohyun replied with a gentle smile.

Not ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I know,’ but ‘it won’t be of any help.’ Does that mean he knows but won’t tell me?

He couldn’t read him at all.

“You know Kang Taeha, right? My childhood friend.”

“How could I not.”

Yigeom confessed honestly.

“I think he’s A. That guy just now was rambling about A being a friend, and there are several other suspicious circumstances.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I tried not to care, but now I want to confirm it. I even thought they were the same person. No, I must be right. I think so.”

‘How long do you think the Vigilantes will be able to work like they are now? That thing, it’s going to collapse soon.’

He agreed with that sentiment. If the Vigilantes collapsed, A’s downfall would be a matter of course. He didn’t want to just sit back and watch his friend fall.

Yigeom himself was confused as to whether this was truly the right path. But it would be better than regretting it later, thinking,

‘I wish I had acted differently back then. Wouldn’t something have changed if I had?’

“So? What do you want to do?”

At Seo Dohyun’s question, Yigeom counted the days. How many days were left? The day the Vigilantes would face off against Adam.

“The Vigilantes’ next operation. I think I have to go too.”

It seemed he would have to participate in it.

Although Yigeom expressed his intention to participate, Seo Dohyun showed a negative reaction. He muttered with a look of displeasure.

“If I tell you A’s identity, will you not go then?”

“No. If you tell me, I’m more likely to go. I’m certain that the person I’m thinking of is A.”

“This is annoying.”

It was rare for Seo Dohyun to express his emotions like this, so Yigeom was somewhat surprised and added.

“No one will be in danger. I’ll go alone this time.”