I hadn’t expected Liam White to interject. Still, the way he spoke made it seem as if he were trying to help in his own way. I looked at him in surprise and nodded.
[Then let us move on to discussing the strategy. That would surely be a more productive discussion, would it not?]
At Liam White’s sharp remark, silence fell over the room. I had already made it clear that I would not personally disclose any information about my auxiliary skill, and with Liam White speaking up as well, the other guildmasters could no longer press the issue.
In the end, the discussion about my auxiliary skill was dropped. I cast a brief glance at Liam White and bowed my head slightly, my way of showing gratitude.
“…”
“…!”
At that mont, my eyes t Liam White’s. He smiled at , and the blue of his eye seed to gleam even brighter. Feeling awkward, I slowly looked away.
***
“Phew…”
The strategy eting didn’t end until half the day had passed. It was unbearably long and tedious. The sun had been shining brightly when I entered the conference room, but it was already dark by the ti I left.
What on earth is this? Is this for real?
Just as I was about to return to my accommodation, still feeling dazed—
“Hunter Han Yi-jin…!”
“…?”
Soone called out to and began approaching. The guild mbers guarding my side imdiately tensed and tightened their formation around . Since Max Bryan's attack, those assigned to protect had been especially on edge. Because of that, Liu Haoran, who had stepped forward, froze in surprise and stopped awkwardly.
“It’s fine, everyone, please step back.”
“But…”
“We’re inside the Odin Guild, aren’t we?”
“…”
I spoke with a faint smile, and though they seed reluctant, they stepped back.
“Eden, you too.”
“…Tch.”
Eden scowled, clearly displeased, but slowly stepped back as well. After watching him for a mont, I turned my gaze elsewhere. I could hardly believe that Liu Haoran, the Guild Master of the Vali Guild, would take action in such a public place. Even that traitor, Joshua Lehmann, had only carried out his plans where no one could see him. Besides, having read the original story, I already knew that Liu Haoran was not a villain.
"I… I’m truly sorry, Hunter Han Yi-jin. I never ant to put you in a difficult position."
"Hmm…"
"I swear it won’t happen again. I promise."
"…"
I watched Liu Haoran carefully as he fidgeted. Honestly, it wasn’t hard to understand why he and the other guildmasters had been so anxious. If I had officially joined the Odin Guild, things might have been different, but since I had only been under a temporary contract and had left room for uncertainty, it made sense that the guildmasters of the other major guilds had been uneasy.
China, in particular, had many high-level dungeons that were difficult to clear simply because of its vast territory. Of course, with a larger population, it had relatively more high-ranking hunters than other countries, but China still faced plenty of other problems. In any case, that seed to be why they had been so fixated on my auxiliary skill, trying to gather even the slightest bit of information. The other major guilds were no different.
“Mm… it’s fine, there’s no need to apologize.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. For now, let’s just focus on clearing the Ginnungagap Dungeon.”
“Thank you…!”
“Ha… haha.”
Liu Haoran’s eyes sparkled as he tried to shake my hand, but the guild mbers blocked him, so it didn’t happen. I returned to my accommodation, feeling sowhat at ease. In the original story, auxiliary potions made by Lee Chae-jin—downgraded versions of my auxiliary skill—had been released sooner, but this ti they were delayed for so reason.
Still, once the Ginnungagap Dungeon was cleared, Lee Chae-jin’s potions would be released, and the major guilds’ obsession with would likely subside. If I just held out while being careful of the gods who were wary of and the Laufey Guild, I’d be able to return to my original world. I grinned to myself, having devised what I thought was a flawless plan.
***
Before I knew it, the day before the final dungeon foretold by the Prophet had arrived.
December 30th. I had been enjoying a quiet, peaceful ti in the accommodation, but the thought that what was going to happen tomorrow could turn the world upside down left with a strange feeling.
“Haa…”
Leaning against the balcony railing outside my room, I let out a sigh. It wasn’t that I suddenly felt afraid or wanted to run away. What struck as strange was that, even before the battle that would decide the fate of the world, I didn’t feel much of anything. Maybe it was because life in this world I had transmigrated into still didn’t feel real. Maybe that’s why, sowhere in the back of my mind, I kept thinking of it as if I were just playing a ga, my thoughts inevitably returning to Max Bryan’s words.
“Hmm.”
I had made plenty of plans on the assumption that I would survive tomorrow, but if it all ended in destruction like in the original story, it would make all my preparations seem completely aningless. Even the god who had invested in wasn’t entirely certain I could clear it. And on top of that…
‘A side story, huh.’
When I dread the other day, I was lucky enough to recover a few fragnts of my mories from before I transmigrated. Not all of them—just a tiny fraction—but it was still far better than back when I couldn’t even rember my own na. Thinking back on that dream, I found many things strange. At the ti, I had been so focused on stopping Max Bryan that I didn’t take the dream seriously, but now that I thought about it, there were a lot of things that felt suspicious.
For one, my close friend Jin Myung-seop appeared, and the words he said bothered . It was in that dream that I first heard anything about a side story. I couldn’t just dismiss it as a aningless dream. After all, there was no way I could have had an ordinary dream like that.
Was it the system that showed ? Or a god? Either way, it seed more likely that soone had used the dream to tell about the existence of a side story.
“Such a hassle…”
And now I had to think about a side story on top of everything else. Honestly, it felt like my brain was about to overload. To make matters worse, the original story had ended with the destruction ending, so there was no way to even guess what kind of side story could appear.
Muttering to myself, I straightened up from where I had been leaning against the railing. That’s when I heard a strange sound nearby.
Rustle.
“Hmm?”
I turned my head and saw the tree branches swaying. My room had originally been on the first floor, but because of Yong-sun and Yongsik—now in his human form—we had moved to a larger room on the second floor. From the balcony, I could see the branches and green leaves of the trees below. The wind wasn’t even blowing that hard—so why were they moving like that? As I absentmindedly thought this, sothing suddenly appeared right in front of .
“Uwaa—!”
“Shh.”
From the leaves, a person suddenly erged—and it was soone I knew. Our eyes t, his blue eyes vivid and piercing. It was Kang Yoo-hyun. Before I could even scream, he covered my mouth and whispered softly, his distinct scent brushing past the tip of my nose.
“You… weren’t you supposed to leave first?”
“I have to go soon.”
“Then why…”
“…”
Kang Yoo-hyun stared at with an unbearably intense gaze.
What on earth could he possibly want that made him co looking for in the middle of the night? And to go so far as to climb over the balcony like this… If I had been inside the room, he would’ve co through the window, wouldn’t he?
Too dumbfounded, I simply stared at him blankly for a mont before finally speaking.
"Ah, do you want to use the ‘Sweet Sleep’ item for you? But do you even have ti to sleep?"
"No, it’s not that."
“…?”
Then why did he co? Kang Yoo-hyun, along with a few others, was scheduled to go to the place foretold by the Prophet in advance. The final dungeon was set to appear near City Hall Station—the very place I had seen in the vision. The citizens there had already been evacuated days ago, but just in case, several high-ranking hunters were to be stationed there ahead of ti to prepare for the dungeon’s appearance.
So tonight, Kang Yoo-hyun and Kang Soo-hyun were supposed to travel to City Hall Station early. As for , I was to remain at the accommodation and depart in the morning. I was going to see him tomorrow anyway, so I couldn’t fathom what had brought him here all of a sudden. Did he have sothing to say that couldn’t be spoken in front of the others? With a serious look on my face, I asked him.
“What’s the matter?”
“Well…”
“…?”
Kang Yoo-hyun hesitated—so unlike him. It had been surprising to see the self-assured protagonist, who never cared what others thought, act like this. I wondered if sothing serious had happened. Now that I couldn’t rely on the original story, there was no way to predict what kind of variables might appear. Tense, I swallowed hard.
“…I have a favor to ask.”
“A favor?”
“Yes.”
Hearing Kang Yoo-hyun speak in a low voice left even more confused. He said it wasn’t about the ‘Sweet Sleep’ item… so what kind of favor could he possibly want from ?
‘Tomorrow, I’ll be counting on you?' At this point? We’ve already been into high-level dungeons together so many tis. I frowned, still trying to figure it out, as Kang Yoo-hyun stepped closer. Before I realized it, he had moved so close that our bodies were almost touching. I looked up at him with a flustered expression.
“Han Yi-jin.”
“Uh… huh?”
His serious eyes were fixed on . I just stood there, dumbfounded, my mouth hanging open. Kang Yoo-hyun gazed down at silently before speaking again.
“The auxiliary skill you used at the end of the Muspelheim Dungeon.”
“…!”
“Don’t use that on any other hunters.”
Taken aback by his unexpected words, I stared blankly at Kang Yoo-hyun.
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