Under Creature Chapter 19.1

“I’m here.”

“Welcome.”

Yigeom gave a half-hearted greeting to Jewoo, who was entering the office, and then stared intently at the message from Namgoong Sanha. Cha Jewoo put down his things and peeked around.

“Hyung? What are you doing?”

“Something’s just strange.”

“What is?”

Namgoong Sanha had not come to work for three days. It was a mundane message saying he had caught the flu and couldn’t come to work because he would be resting at home for the time being.

Despite it being a simple contact, his peculiar habit of always putting a period at the end of a sentence, as if sending a document or an email, remained the same.

Jewoo

Hyung ㅠㅠㅠ Is it very serious? Did you eat? You have to eat well when you’re sick ㅠㅠ Should I buy some food and visit? What would you like? Porridge, as expected???

Doa

Did you go to the hospital? What did they say? Should we call a Healer?

Sanha Hyung

It’s not at a serious level. A Healer is fine too. It would be a disaster if I came to work for no reason and passed it on to you guys. You don’t have to come to nurse me! I’ll eat well and get plenty of rest. Thanks for worrying! See you when I’m all better! Haha

There was nothing awkward about their conversation in the group chat. Looking at it from various angles, it was Namgoong Sanha’s way of speaking.

However, for some reason, an uneasy feeling lingered.

‘I’ll bring good news about the ring tomorrow!’

Since they had parted ways the day before yesterday after he said that, if it were according to Namgoong Sanha’s usual personality, he would have contacted them long ago saying the work was being delayed.

‘Did he forget because he’s sick?’

Even until now, there has been no news whatsoever regarding the ring.

Yigeom was worried about how sick he might be, and also felt like he should ask what the ring he mentioned before they parted meant, so he tried calling several times, but the calls remained missed.

Well, since he’s sick, he’d probably want to throw work aside and rest deeply buried in bed.

If it were Yigeom himself, he would have done that.

‘If it were me, that is.’

Namgoong Sanha was different. He planned schedules in detail in advance and never broke a deadline, and he had managed his body thoroughly through consistent exercise.

Furthermore, if it were the flu, there would have been premonitory symptoms, but until right before then, he had seemed healthy without any issues.

Yigeom tentatively glanced at Seo Dohyun, who was sitting on the sofa across from him. Because he had been flustered by that contextless confession attack that day, he had been treating him awkwardly until now.

Of course, because Seo Dohyun acted no different than usual, Yigeom tried to do the same, but it was anything but easy.

Even when striking up a conversation about nothing special, tens of thousands of thoughts rushed in.

Like a cat with its tail and fur standing on end, watching and being wary of its opponent, then confirming they are harmless and cautiously stepping forward with a front paw, Yigeom mumbled his lips before calling him.

“Seo Dohyun.”

“Yes.”

He immediately stopped the book he was reading and focused on Yigeom’s call.

Even in the group chat, Seo Dohyun had been silent. Still, since he’s a guy who worries terribly about his colleagues, he probably contacted him separately.

“Are you in touch with Sanha hyung?”

Seo Dohyun also knew well how he appeared to others. It’s just that he doesn’t correct his behavior, but he’s the type whose self-objectification is very well-done.

Because of that, fearing that Yigeom might regard him as a shameless person who doesn’t even contact a colleague when they are sick, and wanting to look good to him specifically, he spoke exceptionally long.

“After hearing the news, I tried calling first, but since he didn’t pick up, we only exchanged well-wishing texts. I also told him to rest well regardless of the period and to come to work once he feels better.”

He looked as if he were full of the desire to be praised, with a face that said, How is it, didn’t I do well?

“Uh…. You did well.”

Yigeom responded lukewarmly and then called Namgoong Sanha once more. He still didn’t pick up.

‘Why, when he’s perfectly fine at contacting via text?’

Looking at the pattern over the past two days, it was obvious that a teary text would come later saying he couldn’t pick up because he was sleeping after taking medicine.

Yigeom was worried that he might be pretending to be okay through text because he was severely ill and feared they would worry. Should I try visiting his house?

“If you’re really worried, shall we go to Sanha oppa’s house? We just finished all our work, so we’re free.”

Seo Doa, who had just finished organizing documents and was scribbling on homework assigned by her school, suggested to Yigeom, who was struggling with the issue of Namgoong Sanha, asking why he was agonizing so much.

“Should we?”

At that, Yigeom brightened up as if he had been waiting.

“Anyway, even while pretending not to, you worry about others so much.”

“Let’s buy cold medicine and porridge on the way!”

As the kids prepared to go visit the sick, Seo Dohyun naturally picked up his car keys as well.

Yigeom also finished tidying up the cluttered office and sent a short text to Namgoong Sanha.

We’ve finished our work. We’re going to visit you now, is there anything you need?

Then they all left the office and departed for his house.

🦅࿐

Ding-dong—Ding-dong—

“…….”

Ding-dong—Ding-dong—

“…….”

They pressed the doorbell several times, but there was no response from inside.

Yigeom checked that there was still no reply to the text saying they were leaving for hyung’s house now, and pressed the call button again. As expected, it didn’t connect.

“Hyung—! Sanha hyung—! We’re here! It’s me, Jewoo!!”

Jewoo tried shouting while pounding on the door, but only silence flowed.

“Isn’t he sleeping?”

“Is that so? Then what about this? Should we leave it hanging on the handle?”

“Isn’t it better to leave it next to the door?”

Doa and Jewoo agonized over how to deliver the porridge and medicine they bought on the way, and Yigeom hesitated over whether to try calling one more time.

‘I wonder if I’m waking him up for nothing.’

Just then, a person living next door to Namgoong Sanha walked in and struck up a conversation with them.

“Are you here to visit this house?”

“Yes. There’s no contact, perhaps because he’s sleeping.”

When Yigeom additionally mentioned that they would stay quietly and then leave without making a fuss, the person shook his head, saying that wasn’t it.

“No. I wasn’t asking because of the noise. If it’s the neighbor, it’s the man who exercises, right?”

If one recalled Namgoong Sanha’s muscular physique, the “man who exercises” would be the correct term to describe him.

“Yes.”

Soon after, the neighbor delivered news that sounded somewhat out of the blue to the Latters.

“I run into that person often because he always goes out to exercise at the time I take my dog for a walk. But I haven’t seen him for the past three days. Didn’t he go on a trip?”

“It’s probably because he’s sick. We also came to visit him today.”

“Ah, I see. Since there was no living noise at all, I thought he went on a trip. Well, have a good day.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

The neighbor went into his own house, and the remaining group hesitated over whether to just go back like this or what.

At that moment, just in time, a text came from Namgoong Sanha.

Heck, you came to the house. I came to the hospital for a bit because I ran out of medicine just now. I’m sorry, but could you go back for today? ㅜㅜ I’m really sorry you came all this way.

Since it came to the group chat, everyone checked the contact before Yigeom even had a chance to relay the content.

“Somehow, Sanha hyung. Doesn’t it seem like he’s avoiding us?”

“Really. Normally, he would tell us to go inside first and wait.”

“Huh? Seo Doa, do you know the password to Sanha hyung’s house?”

“Yeah. But it’s really hard. The numbers were like, over 10 digits.”

Doa grumbled that she forgets the password every time she comes, so she has to look through the text records Namgoong Sanha sent in the past every time to open the door.

“Hmm, Sanha hyung also said to go back, so let’s just leave this here and go.”

Jewoo said, putting the bag containing the porridge and medicine down next to the front door.

“Let’s do that.”

While the opinion leaned toward returning like that, Seo Dohyun suddenly pressed the front door password.

“Hey, what are you doing? No matter what, the owner isn’t even here, so why the door…!”

Yigeom tried to stop him, but the speed of the door opening was faster. He stepped straight into the house and began searching here and there. He looked into every nook and cranny, including the kitchen, rooms, and bathroom, before Yigeom even had a chance to stop him, and then muttered.

“The neighbor was right.”

“What?”

“It’s been several days since he’s been home.”

“…….”

At his words, everyone looked around the inside of the house in surprise. The first place Yigeom checked was the washing machine. Unless he intended to be away from home for a long time, there was a high possibility he would have gone out after starting the laundry.

And the laundry inside the washing machine, which had finished its cycle, was bone dry.

“The food here is all spoiled, too.”

“Hyung, I checked the trash can, but there weren’t any medicine envelopes or anything like that.”

Furthermore, no signs of daily life were found in other parts of the house. Jewoo asked, sounding suspicious.

“Is Sanha hyung really sick?”

“…I wonder.”

It was definitely unusual. He’s not sick, and he even left laundry in the machine as if he intended to go out and come back soon. Even though he didn’t put food in the refrigerator, there are no signs of life, like someone who has been away from home for days….

Yigeom hoped it was just a jump to conclusions, but something must have happened.

Yigeom immediately called Namgoong Sanha.

‘He was texting perfectly fine until just a moment ago…. But he’s not picking up the phone again.’

Just as he was nervously biting his lip, a call came from Jin Gunwoo.

“Hello.”

—Yeah, Yigeom. Are you doing well?

“Same as always. What about you, hyung? Why did you call?”

Yigeom answered while searching the house with the kids to find even the slightest clue as to where Namgoong Sanha had gone. Over the speaker, Jin Gunwoo asked with an uneasy tone.

—That is…. By any chance, are you in touch with Sanha?

There was no way Jin Gunwoo, who works in the Vigilantes, would ask that out of the blue. At that, Yigeom could be certain.

The reason Namgoong Sanha was staying out of sight, even lying to them about being sick.

It was no ordinary matter.

🦅࿐

It had been about three days since Namgoong Sanha and Kwon Jooeun were imprisoned in what was presumed to be a warehouse. Though they didn’t know the exact time, they could distinguish between day and night thanks to a single ray of light leaking through a small gap in the window frame.

The only thing they had eaten during that time was the bare minimum of food—just enough so they wouldn’t starve to death, but not enough to give them the strength to resist.

Their cell phones had been taken away, and although they were from the Technical Branch and lacked the strength to fight back in the first place, ability restraints had also been placed on them.

Kwon Jooeun trembled and muttered like a person who had lost their mind.

“Sa, Sanha…. Why were we captured?”

“…I wonder.”

Namgoong Sanha’s lips were parched.

He didn’t know the route or how far they had traveled to end up locked here. Even when he regained consciousness after fainting, he had been blindfolded. Still, he had left as many traces behind as possible.

Fortunately, the transparent bullets that were in his pocket hadn’t been taken, so he had dropped them one or two at a time along the way.

If the Latter group only noticed the fact that Namgoong Sanha had been kidnapped—if they only came close to the warehouse where he was confined—Yigeom would definitely be able to find his location.

“People… they know we’re gone, right? Everyone is looking for us, right? Huh? They must be, right?”

Kwon Jooeun clung to a thin shred of hope with a haggard face.

“Of course. Naturally.”

Although he was captured before he could report to the Vigilantes, Latter would notice.

‘I’ll bring good news about the ring tomorrow!’

Since he had said those words right before parting with Yigeom for the last time, that quick-witted guy would surely feel something was off and come looking for him.

Assuming the people who kidnapped Kwon Jooeun were Blood Hunters, they must have taken him for a specific purpose.

In that case, they wouldn’t kill him easily; the problem was Namgoong Sanha himself. Kwon Jooeun wouldn’t know the full situation since he simply fainted during the kidnapping, but Sanha had just happened to become a witness and was captured along with him.

In short, a witness status that was both useless and troublesome to keep alive.

The one in the most danger was himself, not Kwon Jooeun.

He could only hope that someone would come to the rescue soon.

🦅࿐

Around the time Namgoong Sanha was chewing on his fear in the warehouse, the kidnappers were arguing loudly due to a difference of opinion.

“That’s why I said we should only capture the target!!”

“Then what was I supposed to do! He witnessed it, was I supposed to let him report it? There was no other way!”

It was because they had no choice but to kidnap him along with the target since there was a witness, but after investigating, it was revealed that he belonged to Latter.

Latter was a guild created by Seo Dohyun, who had been very active in the Vigilantes, and they had never seen a good outcome from getting involved with them.

It was because it was a place that would retaliate by any means necessary if a threat was posed to them.

When Bae Sangwoo died in Iryeon, they held hands with the Vigilantes and eventually caught Kwon Sanghyuk, who had killed Bae Sangwoo.

Even during the raid that disrupted the Vigilantes and the allied guilds, even though they had terminated their alliance with the Vigilantes, they persistently clung on and caught the culprit as a price for touching them independently.

That was the kind of guild they were. Like a venomous breed that, if threatened, would never die alone and would drag the opponent down with them.

And they had ended up kidnapping a member of such a guild.

Was his name Namgoong Sanha?

If they were caught while exchanging messages here on Namgoong Sanha’s phone while pretending to be him, it was only a matter of time before their location was tracked. For that reason, they had entrusted the phone to another colleague with a request.

They hadn’t been caught yet, but they had just urgently received a telegram saying that Latter had visited Namgoong Sanha’s house.

They said they had talked their way out of it well, but it was too early to be relieved.

If Latter found out their colleague had been kidnapped, they wouldn’t just let it slide.

That was the reason they had kept Namgoong Sanha alive, putting Kwon Jooeun aside. Because they hadn’t yet decided on his disposal.

The two kidnappers, whose mission was to hold Kwon Jooeun until Kim Yeonja arrived here after finishing other business, agonized with their heads in their hands.

“First, we have to tell the boss.”

“And tell her exactly that there’s a setback in the mission? How do you even say, ‘As it turns out, we accidentally kidnapped someone from Latter’?”

Even Kim Yeonja, the head of Adam and the kidnappers’ boss, had been watching without taking any action, despite knowing her own grandchild was in the same class as a Latter guild member.

She didn’t want to make things bigger by unnecessarily touching Latter. She was already in a war of nerves with another head, Han Yonguk, so it was as clear as day that if she suffered even a small amount of damage by getting entangled with Latter, the viper-like Han Yonguk would not miss that gap and would attack.

“If we tell the truth, we’ll die.”

“Then what do you want me to do! We’ve already captured him, and we can’t just let him go like that! He’ll blab to the Vigilantes as soon as he’s released!”

While the argument between the two only grew more intense, one seemed to stop fighting and think for a moment before suggesting coldly.

“If we die if we report to the boss, and we die if we let him go, let’s just kill him instead. Let’s kill him and make it as if nothing happened.”

“…What?”

“We just have to erase him without a trace. So no one even knows he was kidnapped. There was no setback in the mission, and Kwon Jooeun was kidnapped alone.”

“Talk sense! We have the two of them locked up together in the warehouse right now! How are you going to silence Kwon Jooeun? We have to keep him alive no matter what until the boss comes, so what if he starts talking about Latter this and that!”

“There are plenty of ways. Threatening him, cutting out his tongue…. Or making him drink blood.”

“…….”

The two stopped talking and looked toward the warehouse at the same time.

The boss was still far from arriving, and there was plenty of time to kill and bury one person.

🦅࿐

Yigeom, Seo Dohyun, Cha Jewoo, and Seo Doa left Namgoong Sanha’s house and arrived at a certain destination, urgently looking for someone.

—A call came into the reporting center three days ago, but it hung up immediately in less than a second. We couldn’t process it as a report, so we passed it over, but no matter how much I thought about it, the number seemed familiar. When I looked it up, it was Sanha’s number. I tried calling just in case, but he didn’t pick up…. When I texted to ask if he was okay, he replied saying he’d called by mistake, so I let it go, but it felt so suspicious that I contacted you, too.

He had realized it vaguely. That the Namgoong Sanha who had been exchanging texts with them for the past few days was not Namgoong Sanha.

Then, who was the person openly pretending to be hyung while holding Sanha hyung’s phone?

In an instant, goosebumps erupted all over Yigeom’s body.

—Uh, u-uh…! Sanha’s phone location!? Wait a second! I’ll look it up and call you back!!

The place Jin Gunwoo told them after tracking the location of Namgoong Sanha’s phone was this spot. A grand park set in the middle of the city. Naturally, there were more people than one could count.

If he had stolen someone else’s phone and was posing as them, he would have been holed up at home out of fear, so was this person not even scared? He couldn’t understand the culprit’s psychology at all.

“Oppa. What was Sanha oppa’s phone!?”

“The same model as mine, a transparent silicone case with a gold grip-tok.”

“Yes. I’ll look over this way!”

As Yigeom explained the appearance of Namgoong Sanha’s cell phone, everyone scattered and ran in all directions to find the culprit.

“Hyungs, I’ll try going over there! Contact me if anything happens!”

“Seo Dohyun, I’ll go that way.”

Since it was a place with many people, it was difficult to specify who it was. Yigeom looked around, searching for the person holding that phone.

When they sent a message still pretending to be worried about Namgoong Sanha without showing their hand, another text arrived just now.

If so, they must surely be holding the phone in their hand. He mobilized all his senses, spreading them out in every direction to focus.

‘Who is it. Who….’

“…Ah.”

A foot shaking while sitting cross-legged on a bench under a tree, black three-striped slippers, a white short-sleeved top, gray casual training pants. The motion of opening a water bottle cap, and the phone with the gold grip-tok held in the other hand.

Yigeom instantly shut down the wide field of vision he had spread out and dilated his pupils.

“Found you.”

From then on, it was like a game of finding the differences.

The bench under the tree. What did that tree look like? It was a very common tree one would encounter on the street, but if you looked closely, the appearance was all different. The position of the bench? The brand of the bottled water? The people who were seen passing by the culprit?

Soon, he set out to find the scenery that matched the one he had seen.

After a short while. He found the place that fit perfectly. The culprit was sitting beneath it, leisurely enjoying the breeze.

Yigeom contacted everyone and sent the current location, then approached from behind the culprit.

It was very simple to subdue him while he was off guard.

“Aargh! What, what is this!”

In an instant, I grabbed both his arms, twisted them behind his back, and pressed down on his back so he couldn’t even budge. The familiar cell phone was in his hand.

Without anger or excitement, Yigeom calmly cooled his head, then asked him in a serious and chilly tone.

“Who are you.”

The man clicked his tongue, tutting, and caused a small explosion in his hand.

“Ugh…!”

Startled by the explosion that went off so close, Yigeom unknowingly let go of the man he had been subduing.

‘Is it an ability?’

Risking the stinging pain in his hands, he quickly chased after the man who was trying to use the opening to escape, in order to catch him again.

“Oppa!”

Just then, Doa appeared, coming from the opposite direction, and Yigeom shouted.

“In front of you!! Catch him!”

Doa immediately understood what he meant and used her ability. She whipped out her blood like a long lash, wrapped it around the man running toward her, and tightened it.

“Let me go!!”

As he struggled violently, Seo Doa subdued him, and soon after, Seo Dohyun and Cha Jewoo, who had been contacted by Yigeom, also came running. Yigeom, feeling much more relieved, shook his still-aching hand and said.

“Be careful. I think his ability is explosion.”

“Oppa, are you hurt?”

“A little.”

It was a burn, as if he had grabbed a boiling pot with his bare hands. His palm was red and inflamed, and the skin was broken in several places.

“Let me see.”

Seo Dohyun handed the ability-restraining cuffs he was holding to Seo Doa and yanked Yigeom’s hand toward him.

“It’s not that bad.”

It was a wound that would heal in less than a minute if shown to a healer.

Seo Dohyun paid him no mind, his expression hardening as if he were the one in pain. He got a cold water from a nearby vending machine and trickled it onto Yigeom’s injured palm.

Yigeom felt unnecessarily embarrassed and grumbled.

“More importantly, where do you keep getting these restraining cuffs? If you have them, give me some too.”

“I steal them. I’ll give you all of them if you want.”

“Steal… Haah, not all of them, just get me a few.”

Seo Dohyun slyly checked Yigeom’s expression.

“Gyeom-ah, you’re not mad?”

“Mad? About what.”

When he retorted, asking what he was talking about so suddenly, he countered.

“I stole them.”

Don’t you hate this kind of thing? Yigeom was dumbfounded by Seo Dohyun’s words as he cautiously watched his reaction and subtly asked.

He had received a lot of help from the ability-restraining cuffs that Seo Dohyun had stolen. There was no time to nitpick every little thing.

‘First, Sanha hyung…’

Yigeom approached the criminal, whose hands and feet were restrained, and questioned him.

“Where is Sanha hyung.”

“I… I don’t know! I really don’t know!”

Doa tightened the tendrils of blood binding the criminal and threatened him.

“If you know anything, tell us everything right now!”

“They just said they’d give me blood if I sent the text messages! That’s all!”

“Blood?”

Hearing the criminal’s confession, which was close to a surrender, Yigeom deliberately frowned.

If it’s blood, it must be related to the Blood Hunters.

“And ‘they’ are?”

When Seo Dohyun asked coldly, the criminal clamped his mouth shut. Did he intend to die before revealing their identities?

Just then, Cha Jewoo, who had been searching the criminal’s bag, announced to everyone.

“This person. He has more than just Sanha hyung’s cell phone.”

A total of three cell phones were found, including Namgoong Sanha’s.

There was no way a single person would need this many. Worried that there might be another victim, just as they had been sent a text by someone pretending to be Namgoong Sanha, he quickly checked the phone that wasn’t password-protected.

As expected, one seemed to be the criminal’s phone, and the owner of the other was a victim other than Namgoong Sanha.

Yigeom took the criminal’s cell phone and thoroughly checked the call and text message history. In the process, he found evidence of frequent contact with one particular person.

Meanwhile, Cha Jewoo and Seo Doa, who were examining the other victim’s phone, muttered.

“I think he knows Sanha hyung.”

“I know, right. They even messaged each other about meeting up four days ago.”

It was the third day since Namgoong Sanha hadn’t come to work—in other words, the third day since he went missing.

If so, it was highly likely that this person had been kidnapped along with him.

Cha Jewoo quickly searched through the contacts to identify him. Then, he discovered that, once again, the criminal had contacted the victim’s acquaintances, pretending to be him. It was the same method as the text message they had received, saying he had a cold and couldn’t come to work for a few days.

And he also finished checking the occupations of those acquaintances.

“Huh? I think this person is a member of the Spears Guild! Did he know Sanha hyung?”

“Spears?”

Yigeom, who had just sent the number of the person the man contacted frequently to Jin Geonwoo and asked him to investigate, asked back.

“Yes. That guild we were tailing for a few days to catch the criminal! Their master was… Kang Yeseong, right?”

“I think I have the number. I’ll contact Spears. Cha Jewoo, you report him missing to the Vigilante Corps.”

Cha Jewoo and Seo Doa moved quickly.

Two people were missing. No, they were kidnapped.

‘Why Sanha hyung…’

Three days had already passed. Hoping desperately that the two of them were safe, Yigeom nervously bit his lips. Just then, a call came from Jin Geonwoo.

“Hello.”

—Yeah! I just looked into the number you sent me. Sanha had an appointment four days ago? Was it at XX Cafe, by any chance?

Yigeom immediately checked with Jewoo.

“Jewoo. Where was the place Sanha hyung met that person from Spears four days ago?”

“One moment… XX Cafe!”

Jewoo said after checking the text message.

“Yes. I think so.”

—This person went near there four days ago too! It’s probably the culprit! Even if not, he’s definitely connected.

The man’s face turned pale as if he’d heard the phone call.

“P-please. Don’t tell them you caught me. I-I haven’t had blood in a long time, so this time I really have to…!”

If he’s handed over to the Vigilante Corps and sent to the detention center, he won’t be able to have it ever again, so what’s the point of this now…. Is it a symptom of addiction? Yigeom ignored the man, whose pupils were trembling like an aspen leaf, and calmly asked Jin Geonwoo.

“The location?”

—I’ll send it now. But the phone was turned off an hour ago, so I don’t know the current location.

“Please send me that, at least. And I’m going to send you one more number, I think it’s another victim. Jewoo just reported it to the Vigilante Corps, but please contact me if anything comes up about that person too.”

He was probably kidnapped along with Namgoong Sanha, and there’s a high chance they’re still together.

—Yeah! Got it.

As the call ended with that, Seo Dohyun asked as if he had been waiting.

“Where is it?”

“Just a second.”

Yigeom checked the location Jin Geonwoo sent via text and frowned. It was a place that would take over an hour to reach even driving at full speed.

This was not a situation to weigh pros and cons. He decided to just start driving and think on the way, and quickly shared the location.

“Hyung! But what should we do with this person?”

Cha Jewoo asked Yigeom, pointing at the criminal. They needed to get in the car and leave as soon as possible, but how could they wait for the Vigilante Corps to get here and hand over the criminal?

“…Just put him in.”

There was no other choice but to move to the marked location together. They could also interrogate him about the case during that time.

And so, they returned to the car with the struggling criminal. Yigeom, who always sat in the passenger seat, gave it to Seo Doa this time and got into the back seat with Cha Jewoo.

They moved with the criminal placed in the middle so they could react at any time if something happened.

In the moving car, Yigeom looked at his stinging palm, which had been burned. It was red and blotchy in places, bleeding and oozing clear fluid. But it wasn’t so bad that he couldn’t move at all.

‘I have to endure this much.’

There were still people to save; he couldn’t whine and complain about pain over something like this.

A thought suddenly occurred to him: perhaps this was how Seo Dohyun had also become accustomed to, and indifferent to, pain.

“Gyeom oppa. There’s a call from Spears. Could you answer it for me?”

Doa asked Yigeom, saying that Seo Dohyun next to her couldn’t since he was driving.

Yigeom nodded and took Doa’s cell phone.

“Yes, this is Yoon Yigeom.”

—Hello! This is Kang Yeseong from Spears. I’ve heard the news about our guild member. Thank you so much for letting us know.

“No. We just happened to find him by chance.”

—Not at all. To think we might have never known… The Vigilante Corps has also identified the location and started to move.

“Is that so.”

Yigeom felt a little more at ease. Although Seo Dohyun was flooring it at maximum speed, they still had to drive for another 30 minutes to get to the location where the signal was lost.

The Vigilante Corps is on standby in every region, so they might even reach Namgoong Sanha faster than us.

—And we, Spears, will also cooperate with the investigation from this moment on. We will contact you again if there is any new information.

“Yes. Us too.”

Yigeom ended the call and handed the cell phone back to Seo Doa. Doa took her phone and asked Yigeom.

“What did they say?”

“That they’ll investigate together with us starting now.”

As the matter was serious, the more people, the better.

And so, the joint cooperation between Latter, Spears, and the Vigilante Corps began.

🦅࿐

“Grandma. Should I put this here?”

“Oh, yes. Grandma will organize it! You go to your room and rest.”

“It’s okay. I’ll help too.”

Kim Junyeong, who had come to his grandmother’s house for the weekend, personally put the groceries they had bought from the mart into the refrigerator.

He tended to visit often on weekends, worried that his grandmother, who lived alone after his grandfather passed away, might be lonely.

“Are you very hungry?”

“No. I ate some snacks on the way, so I’m not hungry yet.”

“Then Grandma has an errand to run, so I’ll be back in a bit. Let’s eat then.”

“Okay. Have a good time.”

Is she going to the village community center to hang out with the other elders? Thinking that, he flipped through the TV channels.

“Oh. Junyeong.”

His grandmother, who was about to leave through the front door, firmly told Kim Junyeong.

“The back mountain…”

“I’m not going, so don’t worry and have a good time.”

Do not go to the back mountain. He had heard it so much since he was a child that his ears were ringing. There wasn’t even a proper path for people to walk, and it was no different from a simple, wild mountain.

When Kim Junyeong was very young, he had gone to play on the back mountain without knowing any better and had gotten lost.

‘Back then, Grandma came to find me.’

Thinking of his grandmother, who must have combed through the mountain just to find him, her clothes and hair a mess as she gasped for breath, he couldn’t bring himself to go to the back mountain even if he wanted to, if only out of guilt.

It also remained as a trauma, so it was frightening.

“I’m just going to watch TV.”

When Kim Junyeong reassured her that he wouldn’t go, his grandmother smiled brightly and said she understood.

“Okay. Let’s have a delicious dinner when Grandma gets back.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll bring something good for dessert too.”

With those last words, his grandmother left.

When will Grandma be back? Kim Junyeong, who was waiting, aimlessly flipped through the TV channels out of boredom. He hadn’t flipped many times before the channel he had seen earlier appeared.

Only the basic cable channels were showing, perhaps because they hadn’t subscribed to the others.

‘There’s nothing to watch.’

Wondering if he should just play games on his phone, he rolled around under the cool air conditioner. But soon after, he turned off the game too, due to a notification from his mobile carrier that he had little data left.

It was nice to come to his grandmother’s house, but if there was one drawback, it was that there was nothing to do.

If he had come with his cousins, they would have at least played a board game.

Eventually, feeling bored, he decided to just go for a walk and got his sluggish body up.

As promised, he didn’t go to the back mountain and just wandered around the vicinity. Then something hit his foot, and he looked down.

“…Cha Jewoo?”

He couldn’t help but say his name. Because Cha Jewoo was the only one who had such an item.

Ah, Seo Doa had one too.

Whatever the case, the important thing was why their keychain ornament, an item only visible to hunters, was here of all places.

And in a place about an hour away from the school, at that.

Did he come here to hang out?

Thinking it was a good opportunity since he was bored, Kim Junyeong called Cha Jewoo, intending to hang out together if he was really nearby, or to ask why this keychain was here.

He answered the phone in less than a few seconds.

—Hello?

“Oh. Cha Jewoo. It’s me, Junyeong…”

—Ah… I thought it was the Vigilante Corps. Sorry. I’m a bit busy right now, so I’ll call you back later.

“…Huh? Hey, Cha Jae…! Hello! Hello.”

‘He just says what he has to say and hangs up.’

Kim Junyeong grumbled quietly and sent a text with a picture of the keychain.

‘He’ll probably contact me later when he checks it.’

He picked up the keychain that had fallen on the ground to give it to Cha Jewoo when he saw him, put it in his pocket, and was about to go for a walk again when he got another call from Cha Jewoo, who had said he was busy.

“What, I thought you were busy.”

—Where are you.

“…Who?”

He faltered when he heard a voice other than Cha Jewoo’s over the speaker, and the person introduced himself.

—This is Yoon Yigeom. Junyeong, where did you get that bullet?

“Ah, Yigeom hyung. The bullet? You mean the keychain I just sent a picture of?”

—Yeah. That one.

“This… I just found it while walking on the street.”

At Kim Junyeong’s words, Yigeom seemed to hesitate for a moment, then asked.

—Is your current location in XX County?

“That’s right.”

So he really is around here. Kim Junyeong figured that all the Latter people he had seen before had come here to hang out together.

“Are you here too, hyung?”

—…For now, run away from there.

“Huh? Why?”

—There’s a Blood Hunter there. I gave you the Vigilante Corps’ number before, right? It’s dangerous, so contact them and get protection.

Kim Junyeong was at a loss for words.

“No. This is my grandmother’s house… But why is a Blood Hunter…”

—Haah, listen carefully. Someone went missing. Two people, at that. The location is around there. That’s why we’re on our way there now, and it’s dangerous, so get out of there.

“…People? Who?”

When he asked with a trembling voice, Yigeom hesitated before telling him.

—A member of our guild. And one person from another guild.

Kim Junyeong immediately thought of his grandmother, who had said she was going out on an errand.

“Hyung. Wait… Just a moment. I’ll call you back later…”

Then, he hurriedly called his grandmother. But after ringing a few times, the call went to an automated message.

Could something have happened to his grandmother? Could she have witnessed something bad and met with misfortune? Ignoring Yigeom’s warning to either contact the Vigilante Corps for protection or run away, he ran around the streets searching for her, worried sick about his grandmother.

He went to all the places he could think of—the house of an acquaintance his grandmother often visited, the village community center, the mart—and asked if they had seen his grandmother, but all he got was a consistent answer that they didn’t know.

The more he searched, the deeper his anxiety grew. Hoping desperately that it wasn’t true, he also made a report to the Vigilante Corps number that Cha Jewoo had given him, saying that his grandmother might have been kidnapped by a Blood Hunter.

Then, suddenly, there was a place that caught Kim Junyeong’s attention.

‘Do not go to the back mountain.’

One place. Wasn’t there a place he hadn’t checked?

As if possessed, Kim Junyeong walked toward the back mountain. It was unmanaged, and human footsteps hadn’t even touched it, so the grass had grown wild and the path was uneven.

“…Grandma? It’s me, Junyeong.”

He cautiously called out for his grandmother from the entrance, hesitated, then gulped and entered the back mountain.