“Oh my, Ms. Soojin. Your face looks really good these days. I guess you’ve had a lot of good things happening at the Guild recently. Congratulations.”

“Haha, Ms. Jangmi, haven’t you had good things happening lately too? You even entered the top 3 rankings. Congratulations.”

“Oh dear, thank you. But that kid is still far away… I think I need to teach her a lot.”

Hahaha, hohoho, oh my, congratulations. No, it’s all thanks to you.

In the meeting room of the Korean Awakened Association, where sunlight sparkled and the fragrance of tea wafted through the air.

There, four guild leaders were fostering camaraderie, laughing together.

It was the semi-annual financial report meeting of the four major guilds, held twice a year.

The regular meeting of the four domestic guild leaders, beautiful tea, laughter, and hidden daggers within!

Kang Soojin sipped her tea with a smiling face, suppressing the tension that felt like butterflies dancing in her stomach.

Even though she was also a guild leader of the Awakened, such gatherings were not easy for her.

The conversations among these leaders were never to be taken at face value.

Although she had a sense of being watched and grew up in a family of Awakened, the rhetoric of the guild leaders who had climbed up from below was no joke.

They spoke in a way more profound than the current trend of romance novel heroines.

For example, the recent statement, “Ms. Soojin, your face looks really good ㅎㅎ,” meant…
“It means, ‘You put the 1st rank guild and successfully dealt with the 3rd-grade Erosion-Type Gate, right? Are you happy monopolizing both the 1st and 2nd ranks in the domestic rankings?’ Indeed, the guild leader of ‘White Night’ had a knack for business. It was no small feat. To handle this, Kang Soojin had to deal with Min Jaeyoon, who recently entered the 3rd rank in White Night and was known as the ‘Red Demon.’

“By the way…”

Next to the guild leader of White Night, the guild leader of Mago looked at Kang Soojin. Kang Soojin was surprised and wiped away sweat.

Given the personality of the guild leader of Mago, it was obvious he would get straight to the point. Slowly, he opened his mouth.

“Now that the 1st-ranked person in the rankings has entered the mundane world, shouldn’t he deal with the things he has been neglecting so far?”

“No, you know, Mr. Rude is in a state of exhaustion from suppressing Erosion Gates. And our guild has the obligation to protect him…”

The guild leader of Mago raised his horn-rimmed glasses and stared at her. Sharp black eyes pierced through her.

“This is also the duty of all hunters. In fact, given the situation, it might be good for him to temporarily leave the mundane world and focus on training.”

Damn it, he spoke well as a Saint and a messenger. When Kang Soojin glanced to seek help, a light laugh accompanied the sound of placing a teacup gently on the table.

The guild leader of White Night was smiling confidently.
“Yes, that’s right. Today, the card drawn while thinking about Mr. Rude revealed the Inverse Hikikomori. Will it not become difficult if we keep postponing the things we have to do?”

The guild leaders of White Night and Mago had sinister glints in their eyes. Kang Soojin glanced sharply at her side.

The guild leader of the War God, who had been silent for a long time, rested his chin on his hand. The sunglasses covering the scar across his face flashed brightly!

Kang Soojin trembled once. She felt her position narrowing down here. There was no more excuse to make. Slowly, the guild leader of the War God opened his mouth…

“Even if you’re tired, it doesn’t matter. Bring him here…”

“Hik.”

“For the duty of national defense… wait in Gangwon Province.”

Kwag! Like a scene from a 2000s animation, the sound of lightning striking echoed in Soojin’s mind…

‘I’m sorry, Rude. I can’t protect you anymore…’

⭐️⭐️⭐️

「Military Service Compliance Notice

Mr. Rude, your special military training enlistment date is December 20th at 10 a.m.

Please report to the headquarters of the guild ‘War God’ and be aware that non-participation in training due to non-enlistment will not be automatically deferred. Please be careful not to suffer any disadvantages due to non-participation in training.

For other inquiries and information related to military service compliance, you can check through the Military Manpower Administration, the guild ‘War God’ website, and the complaint counseling center XXXXXXXX.

Thank you. [Military Manpower Administration]」

Is this for real?

“I’m sorry… This is the one thing I couldn’t protect.”
Is this really true?

“But still, I’ve done what I could! I can guarantee it! This is too much for you! How can you ignore the draft notice for six years… The country even displayed a system message to you…”

“…”

Am I really going?

“Could it be that the guild leader of War God is trembling at the mention of your name… I couldn’t say anything when I heard that!”

“Is this for real?”

“Mr. Rude!”