“So, from now on……”

Bang! In the middle of talking about what would happen in the future, the door of the conference room was roughly opened.

White hair and blue eyes. Sion Belfast was standing at the door. The only odd thing was that he had a deep frown on his face.

“Oh, Sion, you’re here? Come in, come in.”

At Kang Ihyeon’s words, Sion walked in with heavy steps.

Sion stood right in front of Kang Ihyeon, who was wearing sunglasses.

His blue eyes pierced through the inside of the sunglasses. Then he typed something on the terminal and held it out.

The AI’s voice rang out.

[I understand you have concluded that I will handle the gate alone. It’s troubling for you to break your promise like this. I clearly said I can do it alone.]

“Oh, yeah. We did agree to that.”

Kang Ihyeon covered the voice coming from the terminal with his hand.

Fierce glances were exchanged between the two. Kang Ihyeon raised one eyebrow and smirked.

“You lied to us. That’s troubling.”

Lie? As if asking what he meant, Sion widened his eyes and looked at Kang Ihyeon.

Next to him, someone’s dry voice was heard.

“You didn’t explain the curse to your partner, right?”

Sion quickly turned his head. There were people he was seeing for the first time.

A black-haired man and a golden-haired man. Surely, the blond man was the 2nd rank he had seen yesterday. The black-haired man must be Rude, the 1st rank.

As Sion, unable to control his anger, glared at them with narrowed eyes, Rude also spoke with narrowed eyes as if not backing down.

“Hey, eyes. Where do you get off looking at a stranger like that?”

“……”

Realizing he had been rude, Sion gave an apologetic bow and sat down.

Still, Rude felt irritated by his expression that clearly showed he did not like this situation.

‘That bastard…… The same expression as before……!’

[Why, why that expression? asks the Lord of Chaos, looking at you.]

‘He absolutely won’t do anything he doesn’t like! He really hasn’t changed at all, that son of a……’

[Enough, Nari. Enough. Didn’t we agree to get fired up and refreshed? says the Lord of Chaos, calming you down.]

It was the exact expression Nari made when nagging about homework or household chores.

Remembering those times and feeling suffocated again, Rude barely calmed his mind at the Lord of Chaos’ advice.

A sound came from Sion’s terminal.

[I heard you will accompany me to clear the labyrinth on Crete Island in order to lift my status condition.]

“Yes, that’s right. Even if we clear it, it’s meaningless if we don’t actually lift your curse, Sion. That’s why we have to take you with us.”

Sion made a dissatisfied expression and crossed his arms, seeming to think for a long time.

Seeing this, Rude only sighed inwardly.

‘Anyway, with that expression, negotiations are over. He absolutely won’t do it. He’s always been like that……’

[Why would you go that far?]

Sion looked at them with a puzzled expression.

At the key question, Rude and Kang Ihyeon looked at each other. There was no excuse.

Seeing them, Sion tapped on the terminal again to type.

[In the end, it’s about the power struggle in our guild. And it’s entangled with my personal circumstances as well.]

‘That’s also related to my circumstances……!’

Rude made a frustrated expression with his tightly closed mouth. He couldn’t even say anything about this.

“Sion. Stop.”

Kang Ihyeon dissuaded him from the side, but Sion typed on the terminal again. The AI’s cold voice flowed out.

[I am well aware of your skills, but I don’t think it makes practical sense for two S-rank hunters to participate in gate subjugation just to help me. Is there another reason I’m not aware of?]

“…… I’m unexpectedly a nice person. I’m helping you before I get more concerned hearing about your situation and want it out of my mind!”

‘No! I’m helping you because I feel sorry for you. So I don’t feel bothered later on! But you should take advantage of it while I still pity our old connection!’

Grinding his teeth, unable to explain his own circumstances and only giving external reasons, Rude clenched his fists.

However, to anyone, even to Nari herself, it seemed unnatural for the arrogant 1st rank hunter who had been trampling over other hunters with his power to suddenly say he would save the pitiful 6th rank.

Seeing Sion still not dispelling his doubts, Kang Ihyeon hesitated for a moment and then defended Rude.

“Sion, I saw it. He told me everything. I have a good eye for people, don’t you trust me?”

[No, I don’t know about you, Ihyeon, but I will keep probing to the end. Because endless suspicion is necessary to protect my family.]

“That damned……!!!”

Bang, Rude jumped up from his chair.

Sion looked at him in surprise. Patience also has its limits.

Rude wanted to quickly resolve this matter in a refreshing way, as Kang Ihyeon had said.

So he didn’t want to worry about it again.

“Stop with that damned suspicion! If you keep insisting on your way and never succeed, shouldn’t you try changing your method?! Huh?!”

Everyone in the room looked at Rude.

As he frowned as much as possible and expressed his annoyance, his spiritual power leaked out a bit, so Kang Ihyeon spread his spiritual power around.

“What are you trying to do so stubbornly! You used to……!”

‘You didn’t used to be like that.’ The words he was about to say were shut tight.

Eventually, Rude, who swallowed his words, clicked his tongue and sighed, then sat down again.

In front of him, a surprised Sion was staring at Rude with wide eyes.

Pressing his finger hard on the desk as if annoyed, he gave his final ultimatum.

“Do you have any idea who’s in the more desperate situation right now? We can just finish our service period and fly away. So if you’re not going to do it, then don’t.”

Sion, who had been blankly staring, hastily typed on his terminal.

Unlike this situation, the AI’s calm voice flowed out.

[I have tried many methods. They all failed. I tried talking, I tried overpowering with force. I tried setting traps, and also.]

“You’re being ridiculous. Are you me? More competent than me?”

Bang, Rude pressed the table hard with his fist.

Sion flinched at his increasingly thug-like appearance, as he was also wearing sunglasses.

“You haven’t tried bringing three S-rank hunters and beating them to death. Do you think opportunities like this are common?”

[I tried beating to death from the beginning as well. Even overpowering with force like that, they absolutely wouldn’t release it.]

“Hey, you’re one person and we’re three. No matter how strong someone is, they can’t win against a group beating.”

Sion made an expression as if asking what part of this plan made sense.

In front of him, Rude fake coughed. Rude’s line that anyone in this room would understand came out.

“…… That’s from my experience, so believe it.”

[This is the timeline separator]

“It worked out well somehow.”

“Yeah, but even if you give a bad guy one more rice cake, I have to feel refreshed somehow for it to work out.”

Only after Rude threw a fit did the alliance get dramatically established.

To be precise, Sion, overwhelmed by Rude’s spirit, nodded his head in a daze.

After it was decided that Sion, Kang Ihyeon, and Rude would go to subjugate the gate the very next day, their accommodations were changed for smooth communication.

To the top floor right below the rooftop on the 4th floor, where only the core members of Gunsin resided.

Inside a double room, Rude was reading a report.

“When facing the boss monster, it will immediately jump to grade 2, before that it’s grade 4. It’s a maze as soon as you enter, so be careful. When you hear the roar, the curse will begin immediately……”

As Rude mumbled, trying to put all the information in his head while reading the report by the window, Kang Ihyeon quietly approached.

“Rude, do you think the plan will go well?”

“Three S-ranks sticking together, what could go wrong. What is there, we cleared the last grade 2 with just the two of us.”

“Haha. But you know if you let your guard down like that, you’ll get caught off guard, right? You should always enter gates with caution.”

Kang Ihyeon, who knelt in front of him, carefully reached out his hand.

As Rude blinked and looked at him, Kang Ihyeon smiled and said,

“Are you feeling a bit better? Let me help you a little.”

“…… Ah, please do.”

As Rude reached out his hand, Kang Ihyeon carefully held it.

As spiritual power seeped in, Rude let out a small sigh at the feeling of fatigue being relieved.

Anyway, maintaining Rude’s avatar 24 hours a day was tiring. On top of taking birth control pills diligently.

“Still, I hope you feel a bit more at ease after getting angry at Sion like that once.”

“That’s……”

Rude mumbled as he looked at Kang Ihyeon smiling and speaking like that.

When Kang Ihyeon asked back, Rude sighed heavily and said,

“He wasn’t originally like that.”

“Who…… is?”

“Sion. He wasn’t originally such a decisive guy. He was someone who would cry at the slightest provocation. He must have changed here. Or……”

Originally, he was a clueless guy.

Walking unsteadily if Nari wasn’t with him, there were many things he couldn’t do if Nari didn’t take care of him, and in the meantime, he would dig into the things he liked like crazy.

“…… Rude. If you keep doing that in front of me……”

Strength was put into the hand Kang Ihyeon was holding. As Rude turned his head to look at the chilly voice, he was smiling with his head down, just holding his hand.

Soon, the spiritual power gradually dispersed, and Kang Ihyeon let go of his hand and looked up at him.

His usual expression was seen. As Rude blinked, Kang Ihyeon smiled kindly and continued.

“You seem very tired, so I think it would be good for you to sleep. I’ll be keeping watch in the next room tonight, so I think it’s okay for you to release your avatar.”

“Ah. Yeah. Thanks.”

‘Something seems oddly different about the way he’s talking……’

Rude, who thought that far, only nodded blankly.

He thought he could take a shower today and sleep with his avatar released, but the uneasy feeling was greater than that.

Since yesterday, Kang Ihyeon’s attitude had been a bit strange. Rude knew that too, but his own circumstances were more urgent, so he couldn’t take care of him.

Wondering if he had experienced something strange, Rude looked at Kang Ihyeon with a serious expression, and Kang Ihyeon smiled brightly.

“Do you want to use the bathroom first?”

“…… Yeah.”

He stared at Kang Ihyeon and tried to enter the bathroom, but eventually turned around.

“Hey, Kang Ihyeon. Did you…… experience something strange? Or did someone harass you?”

“Oh. No. Nothing happened though?”

“…… Hmm, okay. If something like that happens, tell me right away. I’m worried.”

With Kang Ihyeon’s final smile saying he was fine, Rude entered the bathroom.

For a moment, he had a feeling that he shouldn’t leave Kang Ihyeon alone like this, but he soon forgot as his mind became complicated with other thoughts.