“Ah, damn it, this is really troublesome!”

A level 4 field-type gate that occurred inside Pangyo subway station. Rude was riding on the back of a queen hornet the size of a house that had flown through the station, gripping its antenna.

Though he was shouting loudly, unfortunately, his voice was drowned out by the aggressive buzzing of human-sized hornets swarming to protect their queen.

“Stop moving!! Your minions keep following!!”

Buzz, Rude ducked as a hornet flew over the queen hornet. Fearing he might lose his grip, he held tightly to the golden half-scissors in one hand until it turned white, black mental energy swirling around it.

As the black mental energy clung to the queen hornet’s rear, the pheromones emitted by the queen hornet began to turn black.

Confirming that his mental energy was connected to all the hornets, Rude stabbed the scissors into the queen hornet’s back and turned it once.

As the queen hornet twisted its body, black fluid splattered onto the scissors. Rude grimaced and shouted.

“Hoo, really. Kang Ihyeon!!”

“Yes!”

Kang Ihyeon, who had been finishing burning the hornet’s nest, responded to Rude’s call. He stepped lightly on the trembling hornets and climbed up, cutting his palm.

[Trait :: ‘Unquenchable Flame’ is activated!]

Bang! Kang Ihyeon’s holy sword pierced the queen hornet’s head. The holy flame that instantly ignited burned the queen hornet. Rude sighed deeply and used a skill.

[Illusionist Exclusive Basic Skill :: Skill Amplification]

Whoosh, the holy flame began to move, using Rude’s mental energy attached to the queen hornet’s rear as a fuse.

With crackling sounds, all the hornets began to catch fire. Rude pinched his nose with the hand holding the scissors.

“This burning smell is no joke! Hey, hurry up and finish it!”

“I will!”

Kang Ihyeon spurred on the holy flame. The hornets, their wings burned, began to fall to the ground one by one.

Soon, as the holy flame spread to the queen hornet’s wings, Rude pulled out the scissors he had stabbed in. He tapped the sticky fluid stuck to the scissors’ blade to shake it off, then looked at Kang Ihyeon hanging on the front of the hornet.

“This gate is really terrible, terrible… Hey, I’m going. Catch me.”

“Okay!”

The moment the queen hornet lost strength and plummeted to the ground, Rude jumped towards Ihyeon floating in the sky and wrapped one arm around his neck. Kang Ihyeon carefully caught and held Rude.

The two floating in the sky in what’s commonly called a princess carry position. Ihyeon looked down and exhaled a trembling breath.

“Um, now we… that… really?”

“Why? You said you get motion sickness from slowly descending, don’t you dislike this too? Should we just slowly go down?”

“No, I’ll endure it!”

“Alright, do your best.”

In the sky filled with the smell of burning protein, Kang Ihyeon looked down with a trembling expression. Even the genius of Jahil couldn’t cure motion sickness.

How high up had they gone, the towering buildings looked as small as dots.

“We, we can’t use dimensional rifts, right?”

“If the portal position overlaps with people below, they’ll switch places with us. Do you want to cause people to fall to their deaths after we’ve cleared the gate?”

“Right… of course not…”

Kang Ihyeon deflated dejectedly. Finding something amusing about this, Rude grinned and tapped the other side of his cheek with the flat side of the scissors.

“Hey hey, it’s okay. I’ll go a bit slower.”

“Really? Rude, your expression doesn’t look like you’ll go slow at all. Really? You promise?”

“Yeah yeah.”

Seeing Kang Ihyeon’s expression of complete distrust, Rude twirled the half-scissors.

“Wait a second!! I really can’t…!”

“Alright then, call out the name of your loved one as we descend!”

Before Kang Ihyeon could finish his complaint, Rude’s mental energy holding them in the sky disappeared.

Whoosh, at the same time, the two began to plummet to the ground as if riding a gyro drop. Kang Ihyeon’s eyes widened.

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaah!! Rude!! Slowly!! You said slowly but again! You deceived me again!”

Ruuuude−!! Kang Ihyeon’s desperate scream echoed across the sky.

[Level 4 field-type gate − ‘Urban Beekeeping’ has been cleared!]

Clap clap clap, everyone was applauding on the level 4 gate ground that the two had finally set foot on. Emboldened by the sound, Rude put on a confident expression.

“Clean, wasn’t it?”

“I, huff, sob, ugh… Rude, really. Me, really. Aren’t you being too much to me?”

Kang Ihyeon was walking with trembling legs. Rude, still being carried by him, removed his hand from his neck and said.

“Come on, I’ll be gentler next time. Now that it’s done, put me down.”

“……”

“What are you doing?”

Despite being told to put him down, Rude’s position remained in Ihyeon’s arms. Annoyed at the disobedience, Rude was about to snap at Ihyeon but stopped.

“Honestly, admit that you were too harsh to me. So just 3 minutes… okay? I want to stay like this for just 3 more minutes…”

He was hugging Rude tightly with a tearful expression. Sniff, he really looked exhausted. Nari’s conscience began to prick.

‘Did, did I go too far with the joke.’

[Even I think honestly your joke was a bit too much, Nari. The Ruler of Chaos shakes their head.]

“I… really… my legs are trembling so much now… I just want to gather some strength like this for a bit. Is that not okay?”

Sniff, Nari’s heart wavered at his pitiful tone. Okay, 3 minutes should be fine. Just staying like this for 3 minutes. Just as he was about to say that.

[Trait :: ‘Is This YouTube Worthy?’ is activated!] [Someone is filming you. The possibility of your appearance being uploaded to a trending video increases!]

“This bastard, trying to get YouTube views now! Put me down!”

Rude, finally noticing the gazes around, shouted loudly.

People in the shelter were pointing their phone cameras at Ihyeon and Rude while holding their breath. Their eyes were sparkling as if they had discovered something very interesting.

Kang Ihyeon noticed the atmosphere and quickly said.

“3 minutes! If it’s too short they can’t attach ads so they won’t upload it!”

“Do you want to see it uploaded to Shorts or TikTok?! Put me down!”

“Ugh……”

At Rude’s scolding, Kang Ihyeon slowly put him down. Rude grumbled as he walked forward, with Kang Ihyeon trudging wearily behind him.

One week after joining the Holy Order. Was it because of the Holy Order title, or because of moving together with this guy? Rude reflected on the events of the past few days.

Recently, he had developed a new trait of ‘avoiding YouTube-worthy moments as much as possible’. Because every time they went out to subjugate a gate, they would immediately trend on video sites.

In just that one week, people’s eyes on Rude had changed. If in the past it was a feeling of awe towards the strongest, now it was…

[The Ruler of Chaos shares an internet community post with you.]

Honestly, I thought Kang Ihyeon was more mature and Rude was childish until now? (19)

But lately, it seems like if Kang Ihyeon gets scammed somewhere, Rude would go and cause a scene for him lolololololololol

[Comments]

−For real lolololololololol

−With that characteristic frown, sighing deeply and going “Hah, geez… you really…” while going to get a refund together lololololololol

−It’s exactly like those pairs of friends in class where one is naive and kind and the other is sharp and easily annoyed

└Oh seriously this is it lolololololololol

└└They say Kang Ihyeon’s fandom already had rumors that he was a bit naive lolololololol

‘The reputation of number one… how far will it fall?’

[It’s okay, becoming more approachable is a good thing. The Ruler of Chaos comforts you.]

“Ah, really so burdensome. People will immediately start cursing if I make one mistake.”

Trudge trudge, Rude who was walking towards the exit suddenly turned around. Kang Ihyeon, looking completely drained of energy, was following Rude trudging along.

Influenced by the recent internet post, the phrase ‘naive and kind’ overlapped with Kang Ihyeon’s face. Rude’s heart wavered slightly.

‘Was I too harsh? I should have just done what he asked, honestly it’s not like YouTube-worthy moments are rare anymore.’

He suddenly remembered how much Kang Ihyeon had taken care of him before the interview. After pondering for a moment, he sighed deeply and approached Kang Ihyeon.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

Sniff, seeing Kang Ihyeon’s sad-looking appearance, Rude held out his index finger. When Kang Ihyeon looked at the hand blankly, Rude cleared his throat, seeming a bit embarrassed.

“…One.”

“…!”

Kang Ihyeon immediately raised his head and carefully tried to negotiate with sparkling eyes.

“…Three?”

“Two.”

“Okay!”

[Trait :: ‘Is This YouTube Worthy?’ is activated!] [Someone is filming you. The probability of your actions being uploaded to YouTube increases!]

‘Hah… whatever, YouTube trends every day anyway.’

Although he disliked being the subject of people’s gossip, he couldn’t leave Kang Ihyeon like this. How could they work together with him so dejected?

Rude, half-resigned, held out two fingers as if used to it, and Kang Ihyeon hooked two fingers and smiled brightly.

“Thank you!”

“I really can’t understand you.”

He smiled brightly, his energy fully recharged. Swinging their linked fingers back and forth excitedly, he matched Rude’s pace as they headed out of the gate. Rude asked the re-energized Ihyeon.

“Now standby at the Holy Order?”

“Yes! Work log!”

“Seriously annoying, that.”

[Everyone has expectations for their first workplace. Until their first day of work… The Ruler of Chaos shakes their head.]

Writing logs is worse than being in the field. Rude, a society rookie regretting joining after just a week, sighed deeply.

One week after joining the Holy Order. Rude’s, no, Nari’s daily life had completely changed.

Everyone chased after Rude, admired him, and Rude began to appear more approachable to ordinary people.

And Nari too was slowly, steadily adapting to people’s changed reactions. Honestly, sometimes it was burdensome, but daily life had become too busy to show it, so he had no choice but to adapt.

After clearing the level 4 gate, the two left the gate swinging their hands together amicably. And as Rude predicted, their video immediately rose to 4th place on the real-time trending videos.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Ah, go on ahead. I have somewhere to stop by.”

In an alley after subjugating the gate. Confirming that no one was around, Rude was about to open a dimensional rift when he made an ‘oops’ expression. Kang Ihyeon looked at Rude with wide eyes.

“Where?”

“Why do you need to know.”

Rude tilted his head as if to say hurry up and go in because it’s bothersome. Kang Ihyeon’s expression, which had been contemplative, changed to puzzlement. It was an expression of dissatisfaction.

“But… you’ve been doing this for days now. Ever since we joined, when it’s time to return, I always return alone, and you say you’ll come separately later… Did something happen?”

“Something like that.”

“Where exactly do you keep going? Are you meeting someone behind my back?”

“What’s it to you? Didn’t you hear me say go quickly?”

“Wh-why are you talking to me like that? Did I do something wrong…?”

When Rude spoke with an annoyed expression, Ihyeon made a hurt face. Rude, who was about to snap back, flinched, then scratched his head and said.

“Sorry. I’m not angry at you. I just really have something I need to take care of. It’s not that I dislike you or anything.”

“No, it’s… I’ll go.”

At Rude’s words, Ihyeon shook his head and took a step towards the dimensional rift.

“Take your time and come after you finish your business.”

Ihyeon looked back and smiled awkwardly. Though he was trying not to show it, he was undoubtedly upset.

“Uh… okay. I’ll be there soon.”

Ihyeon, who had been looking at him one last time, entered the dimensional rift slowly with a strange look in his eyes. It was an intimate yet peculiar partnership.