With a start, Shin Binnari, who had been lying on the bed, got up from her spot.

Perhaps it was because a lot had happened today, or because of the great change in her mental state.

Or maybe it was because she still felt a sense of tension from shedding the Rude avatar. Sleep wouldn’t come.

No matter how many times she changed her position, no matter how many times the Ruler of Chaos counted sheep for her instead, sleep still wouldn’t come, and the frustrated Binnari finally got up from the bed with a start.

[Binnari, Binnari, could it be that you can’t sleep because you have too much on your mind? asks the Ruler of Chaos, worried about you.]

“Perhaps.”

There was plenty to think about.

No matter how many times she repeated to herself to let it go, to cool down, it wasn’t a problem she could easily escape from.

If Binnari had been able to cut off her feelings like cutting radish, she would have cleanly cut off her father first.

Muttering to herself, Binnari got up from the bed with a start and gathered the surrounding mental strength to create the Rude avatar.

Taking out the terminal from the inventory, Rude stuck it in his coat pocket and let out a deep sigh.

[Where are you going? asks the Ruler of Chaos, looking at you.]

“I don’t know, I just want to get some fresh air and clear my head for now.”

Leaving the room, Rude took a look around the living room. Since it was a personal room with a structure of one living room connected to two bedrooms, Rude, after confirming that Kang Ihyeon in the next room was not yet awake, carefully left the personal room.

[Since it’s cold outside, the Ruler of Chaos points to the vending machine next to you, telling you to buy a warm drink!]

“Ah, yeah.”

The cold air lingered inside the guild in the early morning. He touched the terminal to the vending machine in the hallway.

At the beep sound, Rude took out a hot chocolate using the cash pre-loaded on the terminal and headed to the rooftop.

There was a separate reason why the personal rooms of the core Hunter members were on the very top floor. It was because the floor right above was the rooftop, so it was convenient to come and go.

[Anyway, the special treatment remains the same even in a place like this, the Ruler of Chaos just shakes his head.]

“Well… they have to give that kind of treatment.”

[Binnari. After joining the Holy Clan, you’ve changed. Huh? asks the Ruler of Chaos, looking at you.]

The Shin Binnari up to the age of 25 harshly criticized such absurdity, but Rude, who started receiving a lot of such convenience in the Holy Clan as the number one, S-rank hunter, opened the door to the rooftop with clouded eyes, covering up the absurdity.

The iron door creaked open with difficulty. It was the typical appearance of a school rooftop.

A scene with a wire fence erected to prevent falling down.

Perhaps because there were no dizzying city lights, the stars were visible beautifully in the sky above. It was quiet without the sound of a single car.

Intermittent screams of “Kyaaaah!” could be heard, but it seemed like a good place to spend some time.

“I wonder if it’s because it’s a managed gate, the monsters seem to be in a lot of pain, it sounds like human screams.”

[It’s not monsters, it’s the sound of deer.]

“Aaaah, Mom!!”

Rude, who had been touching the can opening to open the lid of the hot chocolate, was startled by the sudden cold voice of the AI and looked around.

“Wh-wh-what, what is it!”

Jeong Suho in a white short-sleeved outfit was standing right next to Rude.

Perhaps startled by Rude’s scream, his eyes widened and he froze in place.

“No, ha, hey, I really thought my heart was going to drop.”

[No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you, but I thought it would be good to tell you since you seemed to have a misunderstanding.]

“I know, I know. No. But still, make some sound when you walk. Seriously.”

[Yes, I understand.]

Jeong Suho, awkwardly scratching the back of his head, went and plopped down where he had been sitting.

It seemed that a few chairs and small tables had been installed for comfortable rest, and there were a few beer cans on the table next to the chair where Jeong Suho had been sitting.

Rude, who thought about just going back down but felt like he would be avoiding him and losing face, sat on a different chair at a moderate distance.

“Ah, no, it’s fine. I’m okay.”

Rude, who saw Jeong Suho handing him a beer can as if asking if he would have one too, just shook his head and opened the hot chocolate can.

His hands were filled with the warmth of the hot drink, and he let out a deep sigh.

Jeong Suho was not the type to talk to himself unless someone else initiated the conversation, and Rude also had nothing in particular to say, so it was quiet.

‘I’ll just spend some time and then go back down.’

However, perhaps because they had been together for a few hours and he had become somewhat used to it, just being together didn’t seem to make his temperature rise.

After a long silence, when the hot chocolate Rude had been holding with both hands was getting cold, the voice of Jeong Suho’s AI was heard.

[Thank you for saying that you will help us. I should have said it first, I’m sorry.]

“Ah.”

When he glanced sideways, Jeong Suho was looking at him with a slightly reddened face, as if embarrassed.

He typed something on the terminal again, fidgeting, and smiled at Rude awkwardly.

[I originally had a personality that was easily deceived by others, so I thought I had to consciously be suspicious, but it seems I was rude. I’m sorry for frustrating you. I heard from Jisung hyung.]

“What did he say?”

Hmm, at that question, Jeong Suho just shifted his gaze here and there.

It was as if he was wondering if he should say this, so Rude opened his eyes a little wider.

Jeong Suho made eye contact with Rude and then started typing something on the terminal again.

[He said that you’re only prickly on the outside, but soft on the inside.]

Rude coughed as the hot chocolate he was drinking went down the wrong pipe.

The voice from Jeong Suho’s terminal continued.

[He said that you’re very suspicious but also quite naive, so you get deceived easily, and even then, when you’re given responsibility, you try to see it through to the end, so he understands why Kang Ihyeon always sticks by your side because you’re easy to take advantage of.]

“S-stop. Stop. I get it, so stop…”

At those words, Jeong Suho hurriedly lowered the volume of the terminal.

Rude, who thought the conversation might get longer and also wanted to hide his expression, found sunglasses from his inventory and put them on, letting out a deep sigh.

‘Anyway, he still can’t distinguish between what he should and shouldn’t say.’

Beside Rude, who had a brief reflection, Jeong Suho had a worried look on his face.

“No, well, it’s fine. I was also a bit harsh with my words because I was pissed off.”

[It’s okay. In any case, what you said was right, Rude. Come to think of it, I was obsessing alone over a plan that wouldn’t work and kept pushing for the impossible. If you hadn’t told me that, I would have never come to my senses.]

Jeong Suho was smiling as if embarrassed.

It was the same pure expression Rude had seen in middle school, no, even younger than that, so Rude blinked behind his sunglasses.

“…But why did you do it all alone like that? Are you usually the type to focus on one thing and not see anything else?”

[That’s part of it, and I was a bit desperate. I had a strong thought that I had to take care of the gate no matter what.]

“Why?”

A question asked absentmindedly while Rude downed the last of the hot chocolate. There was no answer from Jeong Suho.

He was biting his nails and fidgeting his legs, contemplating something. Rude suddenly realized something.

‘Ah, that’s his habit when he’s anxious.’

Just as he was about to say that he didn’t have to talk about it if he didn’t want to, content that Rude didn’t really want to hear flowed out from his terminal.

[I have a friend down there. I don’t know if I should call them a friend or family, but there’s someone more important than that. Because I couldn’t go down, I couldn’t see them. So I was in a hurry.]

Rude’s mind went blank for a moment upon hearing that story.

The story he didn’t want to hear, or perhaps the story he really wanted to hear, was unfolding before his eyes.

Before his mind could ponder further, his mouth was already asking a question.

“You can just contact them. There must be letters or something like that here too.”

[Ah, I can’t because of a status condition.]

“…What status condition?”

Jeong Suho seemed to ponder for a moment and bit his nails once more. He stared at Rude for a while, then started typing something on the terminal again.

Tick tock, tick tock, just as Rude thought it was taking a long time.

[I have a slightly different side compared to other people. So I made that friend suffer a lot. Right before coming to Hunter, the last thing that friend said to me remains as a status condition, so I can’t contact them.]

‘What did I say? What did I say back then?’

Rude diligently searched his past memories.

Yes, he had argued with Jeong Suho after that. But what did he say? He couldn’t remember well.

All he could remember was Jeong Suho’s Hunter admission letter and the explosive emotions at that time.

Jeong Suho typed another sentence on the terminal with a dark expression.

[If you’re going to act like that, never show yourself in front of me again.]

And Binnari remembered the situation at that time.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Get lost!!”

With a smack, a roll of toilet paper hit Jeong Suho’s face.

Jeong Suho was sitting on the floor in his school uniform with a startled expression.

He spoke to Binnari again in a bewildered voice.

“Binnari, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. But I really meant to tell you, and there’s a reason for all of this.”

“What do you want to tell me? What! I have nothing to say to you, I never thought you would… How could you do this to me. How could you!”

“B-Binnari. Calm down. I’ll come back. I just need to be there for 2 years. Okay? I-I’ll earn money during that time. Money…”

“Don’t make me laugh, do you think I needed money?! All I needed was a quiet, my own quiet space. A quiet house where no one knows me!! And I just needed you there!! But why…!”

“We need money until we become adults now. Your uncle took the bank account…”

Even from an objective point of view, what Jeong Suho said was correct.

And apart from that, entering Hunter while giving up his own education was a tremendous sacrifice.

However, the Binnari at that time was not in a sound enough state of mind to grasp that fact.

She was in no state to consider the fact that money was needed to live and that rent had to be paid.

In the end, after a few more arguments, Binnari spoke quietly with a dark attitude.

“Don’t make me laugh. You’re the same as before. You can’t get anything done, you can’t attend classes properly, you give up easily when things get hard. That’s what you’re doing now too, right? You’re trying to give up on everything. I’ve never seen you start something and see it through to the end.”

At those words, Jeong Suho flinched and started biting his nails. He shook his head anxiously and made excuses.

“Th-that’s not it. O-of course, being a hunter suits my aptitude and it’s also a job I like. But even so. That’s not, that’s really not the reason. I’m…”

“Have I known you for a day or two? I’m sick of it, I was an idiot for trusting you. Yeah, I’ll get lost. Money? I don’t need it, don’t send it. It makes me want to throw up. I’ll disappear from your life, so live well doing what you want.”

“Please. That’s not it. Please listen to me. Binnari!!”

Jeong Suho cried and ran after Binnari, who was getting dressed and heading towards the front door.

Jeong Suho grabbed the shoulder of Binnari, who roughly put on her shoes and grabbed the front door.

Amidst his tearful pleas, Binnari looked up at him and said through gritted teeth.

“If you’re going to act like that, never show yourself in front of me again. No, just never show up again. I’m really sick and tired of you.”

Jeong Suho’s hand on Binnari’s shoulder lost strength.

Binnari put on a cold expression and left through the front door. And that was the end, that was the last time.

Binnari’s last words became a dagger that stabbed Jeong Suho.

And that became the first status condition that tormented him for a very long time.