Before coming to Hyeonak, Jang Yeonwoo did so preliminary research and found that On Jurim seed to have a lot of enemies.
In all honesty, even from Hanguru’s perspective... his perpetually indifferent and unfriendly attitude, which had even been exposed on broadcasts, seed like sothing that would stir public outrage.
The Chick Class teacher had told him that people should always be kind and polite to everyone...
‘Maybe Guild Master-nim never went to kindergarten...?’
Judging by his lack of basic manners, that might actually be the case.
Thinking about the possibility that On Jurim had never attended kindergarten made Hanguru a little sad.
‘I should ask him to take a class with later.’
On Jurim might not have been a great person to everyone, but to Hanguru, he was his only guardian.
‘Even if he’s bad to others, he’s good to ! So I have to protect Guild Master-nim!’
But since Hanguru wasn’t strong enough—
‘I’ll just tattle on them to Guild Master-nim.’
Hanguru reached into his bag and pulled out his kids’ phone, pressing the call button to warn On Jurim about the danger.
That was the mont he saw the boy slit his own wrist with a dagger.
Bright red blood flowed down his arm and dripped onto the blade.
‘......?’
Caught off guard by the sudden situation, Hanguru’s mouth fell open.
He had seen this kind of thing before—soone cutting their wrist while screaming, “If you don’t listen to , I’ll just die!”
What was it called again?
‘A suicide stunt!’
Paling, Hanguru broke into a sprint toward him.
“Nooo!”
“Hm?”
Gidan swiftly snatched up the tiny figure running toward him.
Holding Hanguru by the scruff, he let the small child dangle in the air.
Gidan furrowed his brow as he examined the kid.
“Hmmm?”
He spun Hanguru around 360 degrees, looking him over.
“Ugh... dizzy...”
“Oh.”
At Hanguru’s weak groan, Gidan casually stopped the spinning.
Hanguru clenched his tiny fists and demanded,
“......Stop.”
“Stop what?”
“That.”
“This?”
Gidan twirled the dagger in his fingers and flipped the blade upside down before holding it up for Hanguru to see.
Hanguru flailed his arms, reaching out before grabbing Gidan’s wrist and inspecting it.
“......???”
Where was the wound?
There wasn’t even a scar—there should have been blood dripping down, but there was nothing.
‘I definitely saw him cut his wrist.’
Hanguru glanced back and forth between the boy’s face and his wrist, confusion evident on his own.
Seeing this, Gidan smirked playfully.
“You saw sothing you weren’t supposed to see, huh?”
“......Huh?”
He had definitely seen sothing, but now it was gone?
Gidan hoisted Hanguru higher to et his gaze.
“You saw, didn’t you?”
The mont their eyes t, Hanguru’s pupils quivered.
This scene—this line—felt familiar.
It was just like in an ani, when a background character accidentally discovered the villain’s secret.
And the fate of soone who saw sothing they shouldn’t?
Death!
Dun-dun!
Hanguru swallowed hard, then frantically shook his head side to side.
Gidan chuckled softly.
“Are you gonna lie? I’ll swallow you whole.”
Hiiiik! He caught ee!!
Tears welled up in Hanguru’s eyes as he flailed his arms.
“P-please spare ! I’m not tasty at all!”
“Hm, should I?”
“Eh?”
Gidan put Hanguru down and squatted in front of him, curiously observing the tiny child.
Since On Jurim was notoriously bad at responding to ssages, Gidan had sent inquiries in various places to dig up information.
And that was when he heard sothing shocking—On Jurim had adopted a kindergartener.
The information obtained from the secretarial office read as follows:
Hanguru, 4 years old, mixed-race, not kidnapped but adopted from an orphanage, small, precious, cute, lovable... and so on.
The fact that the description contained words like small, precious, and cute—clearly, the kid standing before him was the infamous Hanguru.
‘Well, he is cute.’
Gidan had always thought all kids looked the sa, but upon seeing Hanguru, he reconsidered.
‘So this tiny thing is supposed to be S-rank, huh.’
He pressed a finger into Hanguru’s soft cheek.
Hanguru’s round eyes widened as his face tilted to the side before bouncing back upright.
After a few more pokes, Hanguru wobbled side to side like a roly-poly toy, straightening back up each ti.
Gidan grinned as he stared into those big, terrified chick-like eyes.
“Tell why I should let a liar live.”
“I’ll give you this.”
Hanguru rummaged through his crossbody bag and pulled out several syrup bottles.
“What’s this?”
Hanguru had recently learned the proper term for this.
“Bribe.”
Gidan let out a snort.
“You want to bribe with this?”
Nod, nod.
Bribery was sothing Hanguru excelled at. After all, even his way into Hyeonak had been bought with a bribe.
Like a seasoned negotiator, Hanguru leaned in and whispered,
“I’ll give you the special, super-sweet strawberry syrup flavor. This one’s expensive.”
“Ah, hmm, sweet...”
Gidan pressed his lips together, suppressing a laugh.
Well, if the kid was that confident, maybe he’d let it slide this ti.
He absentmindedly inspected the bottles—then his eyes went wide.
“These stack?”
"Yeees. But you can only have a little bit, or you’ll get sick."
No item could be enhanced infinitely. The base stats had to support it for the enhancent effect to be fully realized.
"Still, for soone like ... this should be fine—"
As Gidan examined the bottles, he suddenly froze, as if he had just realized sothing.
The containers looked like they had been touched by a child’s hand...
"You... don’t tell you’re a crafter?"
"Yeees..."
Ha.
Gidan let out a laugh, half in disbelief.
"Wow... Hyung really picked up sothing insane this ti."
A crafter’s value was on an entirely different level in terms of rarity and versatility.
Normally, even the highest-quality dungeon materials from S-rank and above could only create S-rank gear.
But when those top-tier materials were refined by the hands of a master, they could be elevated to what was known as S grade—legendary works, like the Amakusa Series.
There were only four pieces of the Amakusa Series in circulation, each crafted by the world's only S-rank Japanese artisan.
Ever since its existence beca known, countless blacksmiths had tried to replicate S rank equipnt, only to fail.
Rumors had spread that unless a new S-rank crafter appeared, no additional S gear would ever be made.
And now, here was an S-rank crafter.
Not only that, but a kindergartener from an orphanage.
‘...If this gets out, Korea’s gonna explode.’
Guilds all over the world would co running, desperate to raise the kid themselves.
Just imagining the swarm of hunters stampeding in made Gidan shudder like he had seen a herd of rampaging bulls.
Of course, it would be a lie to say he wasn’t tempted by the idea of owning an S grade masterpiece.
Gidan silently studied the child.
‘...He’s way too tiny.’
He moved like a little chick, one that might burst if poked too hard.
Now, Gidan understood why On Jurim had gone so far as to adopt him—there was no way he could just leave the kid alone.
He gently took Hanguru’s tiny hand and placed a syrup bottle in his palm.
His hand was so small that the bottle, which was barely the size of a chestnut, filled his entire grip.
Seeing the way it fit in Hanguru’s hand made Gidan chuckle.
At that mont, Hanguru, who had been subtly backing away in search of an escape, flinched.
Gidan smirked mischievously.
The kid’s reactions were amusing.
He just wanted to keep teasing him.
"You seem useful. Should I kidnap you?"
“Eh?”
Hanguru flinched violently, clutching his kids’ phone with trembling hands.
"Y-you... human trafficker..."
As he had been drilled in kindergarten training, he shakily pressed the ergency number, 113.
Gidan poked his cheek again.
"It’s 112, idiot Hanguru."
"Hanguru knows that. It was a mistake."
"Doesn’t seem like it~ Idiot Hanguru."
Hanguru puffed up in indignation.
"They say the one who calls soone an idiot is the real idiot."
"But soone who knows 112 isn’t an idiot. Soone who doesn’t know is the real idiot."
"...!"
Gidan grinned playfully as Hanguru’s eyes wavered.
This guy... he’s an adult, but he won’t even let a kindergartener win...!
"Idiot Hanguru."
Ding—!
Unforgivable.
For the honor of the Chick Class’s smartest student, he had to fight back.
Hanguru clenched his tiny fist, ready to stand his ground.
But before he could do anything, Gidan, who had finished thoroughly teasing the kindergartener, stood up.
"Alright, up we go."
He lifted Hanguru effortlessly.
"Let’s go to Guild Master-hyung. You need to get your rank evaluated at the center."
Guild Master-hyung? Rank evaluation? That ant—
"Wait... are you Dani-oppa?"
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