Chapter 109.

The world’s rank 1 guild, Creator’s Sacred Grace .

Inside its guild building known as Ark, Yun Seung-Ah was currently looking around a new office she received .

[Rank 250 . Vice-leader Yun Seung-Ah]

She rubbed her badge displaying her newly updated rank .

The office she received to celebrate becoming the world’s rank 250 Hero was fancy and grand .

“Do you like it?”

Yun Seung-Ah only smiled at her secretary’s question .

“…Right, don’t I have a schedule for Cube’s Mission Experience?”

“Yes . October 5th, next Monday, Vice-leader Yun will be in charge of the tunnel . ”

“Is that so?”

Yun Seung-Ah sat down on her chair .

“Mm~”

Feeling the comfy leather seat of the blood alligator, she hummed in joy .

“I can’t believe it’s October already… time sure flies . ”

“You’re right . ”

“So, are there any interesting news?”

“There’s one . It seems Jeronimo Mercenary has a new recruit . ”

“Oh, really?”

Yun Seung-Ah’s eyes flickered with interest .

Jeronimo Mercenary had a deep relationship with her as well . Just like other top ranking guilds, Creator’s Sacred Grace was made up of several teams, and each team had a different delegated task . Yun Seung-Ah started her career in the Djinn Eradication Team, and the help of mercenaries was often required for Heroes to fight Djinns .

“Has his codename been determined?”

“Although we aren’t sure, our sources are saying it’s Fenrir . ”

“Oh?”

Yun Seung-Ah let out a small exclamation of surprise .

“That’s quite a grandiose codename . ”

Yun Seung-Ah had seen Fenrir before . Creator’s Sacred Grace also participated in the battle with that monster ten or so years ago, and valuable data on that monster still remained in their video records .

“Yes, but he specializes in assassination and sniping . ”

“…Really? That’s not very fitting considering his codename . After all, the Demon Wolf Fenrir was a monster that tore everything apart with its teeth . ”

Assassination and sniping .

Although they were both related to killing someone, mercenaries who specialized in this field were often given the limelight, as the primary enemies of humanity were Djinns rather than monsters .

“Since he joined Jeronimo Mercenary, he should be an extraordinary specialist in this field . They didn’t reveal his identity?”

“No, our sources only heard rumors about him joining . Not much else is known about him . ”

“Mm~ I’m looking forward to it . They make a spotlight video for every new recruit . ”

These spotlight videos were officially called mercenary cinematics, and they showcased the spotlighted mercenary’s Gift and power . Jeronimo Mercenary started with 13 members, and they chose this method to advertise themselves every time a new member was added .

“It’s not looking like a new mercenary cinematic will come out . ”

“Mm… well, I’m looking forward to it . ”

Yun Seung-Ah felt her heart beat . It was almost as though she received news of her favorite game receiving a sequel .

That was how much Yun Seung-Ah liked using ‘Jeronimo Mercenary’ as a blade .

*

[Yi Yeonghan-nim invited Kim Suho-nim, Kim Hajin-nim, Yi Jiyoon-nim, Rachel-nim, Chae Nayun-nim, Hazuki-nim, and 3 others . ]

Yi Yeonghan: [Hihi . This is the group chat for the tunnel team . Chae Nayun told me to make one . ]

Chae Nayun: [?When did I say that?]

Yi Yeonghan: [??Huh?]

Chae Nayun: [What]

Kim Suho: [Mm? What’s up with this group chat? What is it for?]

Yi Jiyoon: [Hi Suho~ ㅎ . ㅎ]

Yi Yeonghan: [I don’t know . Chae Nayun told me to make it . ]

Kim Suho: [Oh, hey . ]

Kim Suho: [Chae Nayun did?]

Chae Nayun: [No no, it wasn’t me . Yi Yeonghan, do you want to die?]

Xie Chen: [Hello~]

Yi Yeonghan: [Oh~ it’s been a while, Chen!]

Yi Yeonghan: [Chae Nayun messaged me . She said to create a group chat, so we can move around together]

Chae Nayun: [When did I say that?? It isn’t me ㅋ really ㅋ you know that he’s a pathological liar, right?]

“…The heck is this?”

When I came back from showering, there were 500 or so new messages on my smartwatch .

It seemed I was in a group chat for the tunnel team .

“Was something like this in the original story?”

I didn’t think so .

I skimmed through the messages .

Cadets usually went to their missions on their own by 10 A . M . By the look of it, they were talking about meeting up and going as a group .

“Hm… . ”

Now that I understood the gist of the conversation, I sent a message .

Not to the group, but to Rachel .

[Rachel-ssi, are you going with the group?]

[Yes, I am . ]

[Then you should wear what your attendant gives you . ]

[…Why =_=?]

“…Ah, what do I do?”

In truth, Rachel has been my biggest concern lately . I had to give her the Butterfly Seedling Dust, but I just couldn’t think of a method to give it to her .

“Should I put it in an accessory?”

The Butterfly Seedling Dust only adhered to targets with hidden potentials .

So, if could seal up the Butterfly Seedling Dust in an ordinary necklace or bracelet and have Rachel wear it, the dust would naturally seep into her .

“Hm . ”

That seemed like a decent plan .

Since a necklace would be too overbearing, a bracelet should do .

I could say that she did a good job on the team challenge and use that as an excuse .

“Perfect . ”

I entered an accessory shop with my smartwatch .

I picked out a decently priced accessory that was about 100,000 won .

At that moment, I received a message .

[Hey, did you use to do volunteer work?]

It was Tomer .

[Yeah, I did . But why?]

[…No reason . I was just thinking maybe I should do it too . ]

[That’s a good idea . ]

[But have you ever met a Latino like me while you were volunteering?]

“Eh?”

Did she not find her father’s letter? What happened when she went to that retirement center?

“Ah, she must have met a different nurse . ”

If she didn’t meet the head nurse like I did, there was a high chance she didn’t hear about the letter .

I replied .

[Yeah, I have . Why?]

But no matter how long I waited, Tomer didn’t reply .

Was she planning to message me a week later again?

Well, things must be complicated for Tomer, so I could somewhat understand it .

“Hajin, Hajin~”

Evandel called me from the living room .

I put on a t-shirt and walked over .

Hayang was lying on the couch, while Evandel was busily making something in front of the kitchen table .

I quietly watched her for a moment . Two sharply slanted eyes, a protruding mouth, and a four-legged body with a rough mane .

It was a wolf .

“Wow, what’s this? It looks so good!”

I sat down next to Evandel and stroked her head . Evandel laughed joyfully and pushed the wolf to me .

“Here, it’s Hajin’s . ”

“Mine?”

“Un, un . Look . ”

Evandel tapped the small wolf’s back . Immediately afterwards, the white wolf that was frozen stiff suddenly developed color and ran into my chest growling .

“Whoa!”

Startled, I closed my eyes and fell on my back .

I quickly opened them back up, but the wolf was nowhere to be seen . Only Evandel was looking at me with mischievous eyes .

“What, did you pull a prank on me? You~!”

“Ah! No, no, uhehe, ah, uhihihi, ahahahaha~”

I tickled Evandel’s sides .

Evandel was especially ticklish . Just tickling her sides was enough to send her crying and rolling around . But since tickling was too harsh of a punishment, I only continued for 30 seconds .

“Aaang… but it’s a present… . ”

Evandel muttered out of breath on the floor .

Only then did I realize that something was off and look down at my chest, where the wolf jumped into .

There, I was branded with a wolf symbol .

“What’s this?”

I checked my smartwatch .

===

[Buff – Infused Ghost Wolf . The wolf recognizes you as its master . ]

—Energy of the Wolf

*Increases strength, stamina, speed, and vitality by 0 . 1 point .

—Sixth Sense of the Wolf

*When a life-threatening danger is sensed, a huge wolf will emerge to protect its master .

—Movement of the Wolf

*You make less sound while walking .

===

“…Oh wow . ”

Evandel had finally learned how to make something useful . By the look of it, she wanted to show off to me and earn my praise, but I had misunderstood her instead .

Feeling sorry, I hugged her tightly .

“Thank you . ”

“… . ”

Evandel didn’t say anything . When I looked down, wondering whether she was angry, I found her sound asleep .

She must have used up quite a bit of her physical and mental energy to create this wolf .

“Cutie . ”

I picked her up and carefully put her down on the bed .

When I came back out to the living room, I saw that I received an alert from Violet Banquet .

[You received an item . ]

It was likely from Boss .

A purple portal appeared in front of the laptop screen .

PONG!

A cylindrical object the size of a baseball popped out from the portal .

Although it looked like a Yoplait on the outside, it was actually something called an Under Armor .

===

[Pinnacle-grade Under Armor] [Pinnacle-grade] [Partial Artifact]

[Stored Mana 5000/5000]

—Body Reinforcement

*Increases strength, stamina, vitality, and speed by 0 . 3 points .

—Artifact Transformation

*Uses stored mana to activate the following effects:

-Haste

-High-rank Defense Enhancement

—Body Shape Correction

*Corrects your body shape upon equipment .

—Underwater Mask

*Can create a mask that allows you to breathe underwater .

===

Under Armor, a state-of-the-art defense equipment created by refining artifacts with magic engineering .

“Let’s see… . ”

When I put the cylinder on my bare chest and infused some magic power into it…

Chwaak—

A dark blue mana spread out of the cylinder and enveloped my body .

As a defense equipment made out of mana-producing crystals, an Under Armor easily surpassed 300 million won .

Considering the quality of this Under Armor, it could easily be a billion won or more…

As I thought, Boss had the tendency to undervalue items .

As I put the armor away, I made sure to text Boss a thank you message .

**

The next day, 9 A . M .

The tunnel team met in front of the Cube Portal Station as promised in the group chat .

With the exception of one person .

“Isn’t Kim Hajin always the last one? Don’t you think so too, Rachel-ssi?”

Yi Yeonghan asked Rachel . He tried to act friendly, but Rachel didn’t react in any way . In fact, her eyes seemed to be saying, ‘it’s bad to talk about someone behind his back . ’

“…Kuhum . Ah, there he is . ”

Yi Yeonghan pointed to the distance, feeling a bit awkward .

There, a student who wasn’t student-like at all was walking forward .

His hair was pushed up neatly in a pomade style, his beard was trimmed nicely, and he was wearing a black jacket and boots that made him look like he was in his mid-20s .

“He didn’t shave his beard yet . Maybe it’s because a certain someone praised him for it . ”

Yi Yeonghan muttered quietly as he nudged Chae Nayun’s shoulder . Flustered, Chae Nayun’s face became flushed .

“W-What about me . ”

“What~?”

“I-It’s not like that! He even ignored all the messages I sent him . ”

“Oh~? You even messaged him first~?”

“Ii, iik . ”

As Chae Nayun trembled in anger, Kim Hajin joined up with the group .

“Kim Hajin, you’re three minutes late . ”

Yi Yeonghan tapped on his smartwatch as he clicked his tongue .

“Ah, sorry . ”

“It’s fine, it’s only three minutes . Anyways Hajin, you look great today . ”

Kim Suho said as he nudged Kim Hajin’s arm .

“Like you’re one to speak . ”

Kim Hajin placed his hand on Kim Suho’s waist in response . Chae Nayun was disgusted by how close they became .

“I’ll forgive you since it was only three minutes . Alright, let’s go to Busan~!”

The leader of today’s group was Yi Yeonghan . Despite often being the butt of the joke, he was still the class president .

The group took the Portal to Seoul, then to their destination, Busan .

The most famous tunnel in Busan was the underwater tunnel .

Constructed by the world-renowned architect, Kim Kyunggwan, it passed through the ocean, connecting Japan and China .

The purpose of this tunnel wasn’t trade, but subjugation of sea dwelling monsters and Dungeons .

“…Hey . ”

As the group walked to the underwater tunnel’s entrance, Chae Nayun tapped on Kim Hajin’s shoulder .

“What . ”

“Why didn’t you shave?”

“Hm?”

The answer was simple . It was because the beard’s 0 . 5 charm buff would disappear .

Kim Hajin retorted half-heartedly .

“Just because . ”

“…Just because?”

“What . ”

“No, nothing . By the way, why aren’t you replying to my texts? It says you read them too . ”

To be completely honest, Kim Hajin was playing hard to get .

Just thinking about it seemed to make Chae Nayun mad as she frowned strongly .

“I forgot . ”

“What?”

“Ah, over there!”

At that moment, Yi Yeonghan pointed to the distance . A woman was standing in front of the entrance to the underwater tunnel .

“Whoa! Isn’t that Yun Seung-Ah Hero-nim!?”

Hearing Yi Yeonghan, the eyes of the cadets flickered .

The world’s rank 250 Hero, Yun Seung-Ah .

Possessing both beauty and talent, she was often lauded as the future of Korea and looked up to by both civilians and Heroes . In front of such a great figure, a few cadets froze up completely .

When Yun Seung-Ah noticed that we spotted her, she took a step forward .

In an instant, a powerful gale stormed and her single step covered 200 meters .

“Whoa!”

“Ah!”

It was teleportation using magic power combustion .

Her sudden appearance caused several cadets to jump back in surprise .

“Hello, everyone . ”

Meanwhile, Yun Seung-Ah scanned the group with a leisurely smile .

“Suho-ssi, Nayun-ssi, Yeonghan-ssi…”

Then, she began to recite each cadet’s name .

“Rachel-ssi, and… Hajin-ssi? Is that you, Hajin-ssi?”

“Yes . ”

“Oh my, you changed quite a lot . You… even grew a beard . ”

Kim Hajin nodded silently .

“Good morning, everyone . Mm… I’m not good with words, so let’s just head down immediately . ”

Yun Seung-Ah gestured with her hand, and everyone followed after her like ducklings following their mother .

Yun Seung-Ah and the cadets got on the elevator .

As the elevator went down, Yun Seung-Ah explained .

“This underwater tunnel is extremely useful . It allows us to hunt sea monsters and serves as a pathway leading to underwater Dungeons . ”

Ding~

It didn’t take long for the elevator to arrive underground .

The underwater tunnel was truly massive . It was as wide as a four-lane highway going both ways and as high as two ogres combined .

Even in reality, the tunnel had rest areas, restaurants, and vehicles driving through .

“We’re still underground, but as we walk farther down the tunnel, you’ll find that we’re surrounded by water . It’s quite a beautiful view . ”

Following Yun Seung-Ah’s lead, the group began to walk .

“As you’re walking down this wide main road, you’ll see other roads forking out every once in a while . You can see where those roads lead to by reading the sign . If it says D, it leads to a Dungeon . If it says M, it leads to monsters… . ”

Tiriring— Tiriring—

Shortly afterwards, Yun Seung-Ah’s smartwatch rang loudly .

Yun Seung-Ah frowned and checked its content .

“…Ah shoot, it looks like there’s an emergency situation at the end of the tunnel . I’ll have to go ahead…”

Yun Seung-Ah made an awkward smile .

“I’ll come back quickly, so you can just take a look around in the meanwhile . ”

“Yes!”

The cadets replied loud and clear .

“Don’t go too far . Stay in groups of 2 and check out the sideroads . ”

Yun Seung-Ah was about to leave when she suddenly turned around and snapped her fingers .

“Ah, I’ll form the groups fairly . ”

Yun Seung-Ah projected a smartwatch app that began to pair up cadets .

Kim Suho and Chae Nayun .

Yi Yeonghan and Hazuki .

Xie Chen and Yi Jiyoon .

Kim Hajin and Rachel .

The groups were quickly formed .

“Then I’ll be back in a jiffy!”

Before Yun Seung-Ah ran down the tunnel, she winked at Chae Nayun .

However, Chae Nayun smiled bitterly as she watched Yun Seung-Ah run off .

‘You didn’t need to do that…’

Her gaze turned to Kim Hajin, who was laughing as he talked to Rachel .

“Tsk . ”

Chae Nayun clicked her tongue and walked to Kim Suho .

“Hey, Chae Nayun . ”

“Hey…”

Wiing—

At that moment, Chae Nayun’s smartwatch also rang .

She checked her watch casually .

[This is director of Daehyun Hospital . ]

[Today, around 10:23 A . M . , Patient Chae Jinyoon showed signs of waking up . ]

[Although I can’t say for certain that he will soon wake up, it is surely a great sign . ]

Hearing this sudden, unexpected message, Chae Nayun felt her head turn blank .

Author’s note: Yun Seung-Ah’s age has been buffed(?) . Now, she’s only 10 years older than Suho!

Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters .