Nan looked straight at Nari.

Seeing Nari’s relatively dazed expression, Nan raised both hands.

“You don’t have to tell us what happened. We will find out everything, resolve it, and then report back to you.”

“…Why? Why go to such lengths? Why am I so precious to you? It wasn’t me who helped you, it was my mother.”

Kang Ihyeon understood that he had helped her. That’s why they trusted and cherished her.

Jeong Suho had spent years living with her.

That’s why he treasured her. She understood that too.

But the man before her eyes was someone she had just met yesterday.

He had been helped by her mother, not her.

Having even seen the cult that exploited her mother’s resurrection, Nari couldn’t believe his words right now.

As Nari voiced the natural questions, Nan slightly tightened his grip on her raised hands.

She felt the pressure but it didn’t hurt, so she didn’t pull away.

“Do you know why our guild is named Mago?”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s your prenatal dream.”

At those words, Nari blinked. Nan’s explanation continued.

“Your mother said that when she gave birth to you, she had a prenatal dream about a girl who creates worlds through dreams.”

“So…”

“Yes, that’s why it’s Mago. This place, this Mago, is your mother’s legacy.”

Nari momentarily held her breath at those words. Mago Halmi. The creator goddess who made the world while sleeping.

The guild with a name that didn’t quite fit a place inhabited mainly by monks.

It was because the guild’s name itself referred to her from the start.

“Lady Nari. Your mother was a thoughtful person. That’s why she entrusted ‘you’ to our care after Hana’s passing.”

Her mother had created a guild for her. She even requested it of others. Nari wondered why.

Perhaps her mother knew. That people don’t come back once they die.

And that as a hunter, the threat of death always loomed over her.

“You don’t have to believe it. Whatever you say, we will always be there for you. We have been building our strength for this purpose.”

Blind eyes turned towards Nari. Nari loosened the grip on her hands.

Realizing this, Nan released Nari’s hands and they dropped with a rustle.

“Then… what will I be doing in the meantime?”

A slight light returned to Nari’s dazed eyes. Only then did Nan feel relieved, sighing inwardly as he looked at Nari.

Twenty-five years old. Too young.

Of course, she would think she’s all grown up and can take responsibility for herself, but from Nan’s perspective, Nari was still too young.

Moreover, since her mother’s death, hadn’t Nari been taking care of herself since a very young age?

While he was imprisoned, Kang Hana had died. He had barely gotten out and became Mago’s 2nd guild leader, but the world had already changed.

Even with the divine power of the 1st guild leader, her mother, there was no news of Shin Binnari anywhere.

She couldn’t be found through connections either. Nari’s father was wary of them.

In the meantime, Kang Hana’s daughter seemed to have gradually become more exhausted. So now was the time to provide the protection they couldn’t before.

“This is not something you can resolve alone.”

“…You’re right.”

“So just enjoy yourself. It’s Busan, after all. There are many people and things to do for fun. If you have friends, you can invite them, and if you have a lover, you can go on dates. There’s nothing wrong with having fun alone either.”

“…Can I really do that? Even if I don’t do anything? Just have fun?”

Nari spoke in an awkward tone. Her sharp eyes were absentmindedly open. Thinking that she resembled her mother quite a bit, Nan straightened his back again.

“You cannot solve what your father has gone through. You know that, right?”

“I know.”

“As the person with parental rights, your father had a duty to protect you. And he did not faithfully fulfill that. You know that too, right?”

“…I know. But he’s family after all…”

“You seem to need to make an effort not to be bound by family. Especially regarding your father.”

At those words, Nari flinched and looked away. Nan sighed and crossed his arms.

“I don’t like it, but from now on, we will protect your father. Come by sometimes to check on him.”

Nari raised her head to look at Nan at those words. Nan raised an eyebrow at her expression.

To think he abandoned his own daughter who resembled his beloved wife so much.

Anyhow, from beginning to end, there was nothing likable about that man, he thought.

Thinking that he would never do such a thing if it were him.

“So for now, clear your mind and have fun. During this time, people cry over tragedies, but in the end, they accept the death of a loved one and spend happy times with those remaining. I hope you belong to the latter.”

Deng- With those words, the faint sound of the temple bell that had been ringing stopped.

Nari looked towards where the bell was, then soon nodded. She glanced at Nan and spoke softly.

“…Thank you. See you later then. Um… Uncle.”

Perhaps embarrassed by calling him ‘uncle’, Nari hurried down the mountain. Watching her back, Nan checked his wristwatch.

6:20.

He took out his smartphone and slowly removed his horn-rimmed glasses.

As he took off his glasses, his black eyes turned jade. Nan immediately called someone on his smartphone.

After a few rings, there was a click. Nan spoke in a dry voice.

“There is a religion claiming to be the predecessor of Mago. Investigate it and report back within 2 hours.”

On the other end of the line, the voice of a craftsman selling sword handles at Tin Can Market could be heard.

[Yes. I will spread the word to nearby merchants. You will have an answer in an hour. Oh right, the elder brother who went to Gunsin. He’s coming down soon. Says he’ll visit here once?]

“Tell him to stop by the temple. I’m curious about what kind of mess has occurred up there.”

With a click, Nan hung up and immediately made another call.

After a few rings, a taxi driver answered.

“Mago’s father. Track his movements today and bring me his final destination within 4 hours.”

[Oh my, boss! What do you take us for? 2 hours! Just give us 2 hours~]

Hanging up like that, Nan put his smartphone in his suit pocket. The further from Seoul, the slower the restoration, and the southernmost regions had no choice but to create their own ways of survival.

Whether it was Yeongnam or Honam, in the southern regions, they could immediately verify where an outsider went and what they did within 4 hours.

20 years ago, the wariness towards the hunters from the capital region who had tried to dominate this place by force still remained.

Southerners have ten eyes. It was a derogatory term the capital region called them.

Nan sat down on a nearby bench before the information arrived. He intended to rest for a bit.

At times like this, what always came to mind was the memory of their first meeting.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Oh my, stay still for a bit. Moving will only make it worse.”

“Now, what is the meaning of this…?”

20 years ago, Nan, a prominent figure in Busan in his heyday, was lying on the floor, unable to move, tied up with jade threads.

Above him, a woman with long, curly brown hair was pressing down hard on his chest with her foot, holding the end of the thread.

Despite her small stature, she had immense strength. Nan could immediately identify her. Korea’s number one, the incarnation of the Supreme Being. The Jade Shaman, Kang Hana.

“Oh dear, do you think I’m doing this because I want to? It’s because of your mother’s request. You should have lived properly~”

“What do you know to babble on like that?”

“Shh, I told you to be quiet?”

Kwajik, she put strength into the foot placed on Nan’s chest. Feeling his lungs being pressed, Nan could only barely exhale.

Kang Hana slowly bent down until her face was close enough to touch Nan’s.

Jade eyes filled his vision.

Startled, Nan looked at Kang Hana, and she grinned and spoke.

“Look at this, there’s potential.”

“What are you talking about?”

Chwareureuk, with those words, she unfolded a jade fan. Jade ornaments dangled below the handle.

Kang Hana’s eyes turned hollow.

“Perhaps… the ending can be changed.”

He couldn’t understand what she meant. But at the dry and futile atmosphere that was completely different from before, Nan swallowed nervously.

Waving the fan in one hand, she looked at Nan and spoke.

“Let’s make a contract.”

“Contract?”

“From now on, I will forcibly make you form a contract with a constellation.”

Constellation. At those words, Nan blinked. Then he made an absurd expression.

“A mere incarnation forming a contract with a constellation? Don’t joke around. Even a five-year-old child knows that’s impossible.”

“No? I can do it.”

Sleek, Kang Hana took something out of her inventory.

A ceremonial dagger with a large jade embedded in it.

Anyhow, she went around wearing lots of jade like her nickname, he thought, when Kang Hana grinned.

“Let’s see, this one would be good for you. The name is even the same.”

“…What? Kuk…!!”

Kwajik, she stabbed Nan’s right shoulder with the dagger.

He closed his eyes tightly at the pain of being pierced by the sharp blade.

Jade threads entered through the pierced right shoulder.

“Bear with the pain for a bit.”

“What are you…! Kuk, what is this?!”

Kang Hana calmly pulled out the dagger and rummaged through his shoulder wound with her hand. Nan screamed loudly at the feeling of the wound being disturbed.

“Shh, I told you to stay still?! You think I’m doing this just for my own good?!”

She stepped on Nan’s abdomen again. After rummaging for a while, she took out a green bead from Nan’s wound.

No, it wasn’t a bead, but a light halo that looked like a bead.

“Whew…”

She looked at the light halo with an annoyed expression.

Shaking her hand a few times to get rid of the blood, she brushed her tangled hair back.

“Done! Look at this. This is your soul. It’s pretty. Green like your mother, I like green.”

Not minding the blood all over her hair, she showed Nan the green light halo, looking straight at him.

At that sight, Nan held his breath, forgetting even the pain.

He felt a primal shudder, as if she could kill him like this if she wanted to.

She smiled softly and continued.

“I’ll change your fate. Nan.”

“…There’s no offer without a price.”

At those words, Kang Hana laughed out loud as if it was amusing. With the sound of her laughter, a faint jade light spread in all directions.

[The incarnation-exclusive trait :: ‘Guardian Deity of the Heaven-Mandated Order’ is activated!] [Using the authority of the constellation ‘Supreme Perfected Lord of Grand Fount, Collector of Primal Pneuma, Sovereign of Immeasurable Longevity, Possessor of Celestial Power, Great Emperor of the Deeps, Ruler of Highest Heaven, Exalted Jade Emperor’!]

“When I die, take care of my daughter.”

Kang Hana smiled with a sad expression, but also as if she felt relieved.

He didn’t understand it then, but the current Nan thought that she seemed like someone who had foreseen her own death at that time.

If he had known earlier, would this not have happened? But by the time he always regretted, the situation had already passed.