After telling me grandfather’s house address, I hung up the phone.

Almost simultaneously with that, a dimensional crack opened up between Kang Ihyeon’s room and the ceiling with a whoosh sound.

Through the dimensional crack that broke through the roof, I could see Nari’s legs.

“N-Nari. A bit lower! That’s the roof!”

“Ah, seriously… This always happens when going to a new place for the first time…”

The dimensional crack disappeared with another whoosh and reappeared in the middle of the wall.

Dimensional cracks could be made as long as you had the location or exact coordinates.

But in the beginning, if you recklessly opened it like just now, there were countless times it would connect to the ceiling or floor, and in severe cases, it would forcibly warp someone who happened to be standing in that spot.

Right now there was no choice because it was urgent, but usually for unfamiliar places, we always used public transportation as if taking a train to Busan.

Looking just as disheveled as Kang Ihyeon, or perhaps even more so, Nari tumbled out of the crack while grumbling. Startled Ihyeon whispered.

“Nari, what’s going on?”

“Is that what you should be saying right now? Follow me!”

Nari grabbed Kang Ihyeon’s wrist while also whispering.

Kang Ihyeon hesitated and remained rooted in place without moving, looking conflicted.

When Nari glared at Kang Ihyeon, Ihyeon sheepishly whispered.

“Nari, I have to stay here.”

“Why? Do you like being with that old man who knowingly feeds his grandchild who has a severe milk allergy? Are you a masochist?”

Ihyeon flinched at Nari’s unusually sharp reaction. Rubbing his increasingly sore neck, Ihyeon glanced at Nari.

“N-No, that’s not it. Nari, I have to be here. That way grandfather won’t mess with other people. That includes you too, Nari, and I won’t die from just this much.”

“Kang Ihyeon.”

Nari’s brow furrowed deeply. Kang Ihyeon blinked.

Come to think of it, he realized he was repeating the exact same thing he had said during his first mock battle. Nari quickly whispered.

“You know what you did wrong to me.”

“…Yes.”

“Don’t try to protect me at the expense of putting yourself down like that. I don’t really appreciate that. Got it?”

“But not just you, Nari. Aunt and… even Uncle Jaewon too…”

“Ah, seriously!”

Nari raised her voice.

When Ihyeon looked startled towards the door, worried that someone might hear the slightly louder voice, Nari forcefully pulled Kang Ihyeon.

“Follow me, quickly!”

“No, Nari!”

In an instant, Kang Ihyeon’s body slipped through the crack.

The feeling of crossing a dimensional crack still wasn’t very pleasant.

Kang Ihyeon, who had closed his eyes for a moment before opening them, looked around. It was a dark, deserted alley.

“N-Nari. I have to go back quickly. If grandfather finds out, it’ll be really dangerous…!”

“Phone.”

“Nari…”

At Nari’s words, Kang Ihyeon restlessly handed over his cell phone. After examining it a few times, Nari blinked her eyes and hmm’ed.

“Your phone is being bugged.”

“You know that too?”

“Yeah, I have an ability like that.”

Nari, who had confirmed her ability was activated even while talking to Kang Ihyeon on the phone, wondering if this was a YouTube moment, layered several layers of psychic power on Kang Ihyeon’s cell phone.

It was a more useful ability than she thought.

[Exclusive High-Level Skill for Conjurers :: ‘Sensory Mine’ is activated!]

“Done.”

“What did you do?”

“I set up mines on your call history, so if they try to listen, it’ll probably be hard to hear or they’ll hear something irrelevant.”

“…Thank you. Nari.”

Nari handed the cell phone back to Ihyeon.

Ihyeon bowed his head and took the phone, then made an ‘oops’ expression again.

“But I really have to go back. If he finds out, grandfather won’t leave the people around me alone.”

“What are you going to do if that old man doesn’t leave me alone? I’m stronger.”

“T-That may be true for you, Nari. But Aunt and Uncle Jaewon!”

Nari, who had been watching the still restless Kang Ihyeon, took his cell phone again and messed with it on her own.

Ihyeon watched with blank eyes as Nari called someone on her own phone.

“Kang Ihyeon, listen carefully.”

Clearing her throat, Nari changed her voice to Rude’s and switched the call to speakerphone.

Soon, with a click, the other person answered the call. It was Aunt.

[Hello? Ihyeon? Are you okay?! Why didn’t you tell me you were with grandfather.]

“Guildmaster.”

[Rude?]

At the sound of Rude’s voice, Kang Sujin’s tone changed as if puzzled. Rude continued the call calmly.

“I’m with Hunter Kang Ihyeon right now. I got him out of grandfather’s house and blocked the phone tapping.”

[Oh. Ah, yes. Thank you. Rude. But what happened…]

“Hunter Kang Ihyeon says,”

Nari looked up at Ihyeon as if telling him to listen for a moment, then continued speaking.

“He has to cater to grandfather in order to protect me and you, Guildmaster.”

There was no response from Kang Sujin on the other end of the phone. As Ihyeon was about to urgently continue, her deep sigh was heard.

[…I understand. Can I talk to Ihyeon for a moment?]

Nari turned off the speakerphone and handed the cell phone to Kang Ihyeon. Before he could say anything, Kang Sujin’s voice came through.

[Ihyeon.]

“Yes, Aunt.”

[Why are you trying to protect me?]

“…Because I have to protect you, Aunt, and also the Seongjeon… I know grandfather harasses it more because you like it there and I’m the successor. It’s different from the other uncles’ companies.”

Originally a subsidiary but the only company that became independent, Seongjeon. That’s why grandfather was always eyeing it, trying to suppress or take it over.

Both the current guildmaster Kang Sujin and the successor Kang Ihyeon were regularly summoned by grandfather and subjected to humiliation. Kang Sujin’s voice came through the phone.

[…So that’s what you were thinking. Ihyeon, thank you for liking Seongjeon so much.]

“No, it’s because I have to take over too.”

[But um, there’s something I want to tell you. For some reason, all South Koreans have a misconception about something. Let me tell you right now.]

“What do you mean?”

Kang Ihyeon blinked in confusion. Kang Sujin sighed slightly over the receiver.

[Seongjeon is mine, Ihyeon.]

“What?”

Kang Ihyeon blinked, not understanding. Kang Sujin continued in a firm tone.

[I said Seongjeon is mine. Why would I pass it on to you? I’m going to be the guildmaster here until I scribble on the walls from old age. In the first place, I’m an Awakened too and not even a combat type, so I’ll live a long time. If you want to take over Seongjeon when you’re 90, then do that.]

“…What?!”

[Think about it, Ihyeon. If I was going to pass Seongjeon on to you, I wouldn’t have made you a Hunter and would have given you successor education, right?]

…That’s true. Kang Ihyeon made an embarrassed expression.

His ears turned red as he seemed to have made an absurd misunderstanding. Kang Sujin’s kind voice rang out.

[Ihyeon, we’re both Awakened anyway. We’ll live much longer than that damn old man. Right now, both Jaewon and I are just catering to grandfather while counting down the days until he dies. So don’t worry too much about grandfather. In the end, the one who lives longer wins.]

“…Is it okay to say that?”

[I told you. You’re too serious about everything. You tend to take responsibility for everything by yourself, but Ihyeon. Sometimes that’s really useless to people older than you.]

“…”

Kang Ihyeon, at a loss for words, just held the phone for a moment. It was really true.

He had heard it from Nari and Uncle Jaewon too. When Ihyeon said nothing, Kang Sujin spoke again.

[Seongjeon isn’t yours. So live the way you want to. Both Jaewon and I are skilled at surviving in our own ways. A kid like you doesn’t need to go that far. Trust us, Ihyeon.]

“Yes, Aunt. …Thank you.”

Kang Ihyeon’s eyes turned red. Feeling like he was about to burst into tears, he pressed down hard under his eyes.

It felt like the sandbags tied to his feet disappeared and something inside him gently melted away.

When he lowered his hand, Nari tightly clasped it next to him. Ihyeon also unconsciously squeezed back.

[…I’m sorry I didn’t understand your feelings sooner.]

“No, it’s okay. Thank you. Then I’ll just rest and go to the shop Aunt reserved.”

[Okay, come by the morning after tomorrow, see you then.]

Kang Ihyeon held the ended call and wiped his tears with the back of his other hand.

Seeing that, Nari also felt like tears were about to spill out, so she shook her head a few times.

“What did the guildmaster say?”

“She said…she has no intention of passing Seongjeon on to me. So,”

Ihyeon continued, sniffling and barely managing to speak. Letting go of his hand revealed Ihyeon smiling brightly even while crying.

He looked relieved as if liberated from something.

“…She told me not to worry and live as I want to.”

Kang Ihyeon tightly squeezed the hand he was holding. Hearing those words reminded Nari of what Nan had told her, and tears welled up in her eyes.

As tears gathered in Nari’s eyes, Kang Ihyeon asked.

“N-Nari, what’s wrong? Why are you…”

“Ah, no, I also… I met my mom’s acquaintance and that person…”

Nari, who had been sobbing, finally pressed down hard on the tears flowing down with her hoodie sleeve. Nari spoke, almost bursting into tears.

“They said not to worry about Dad. That they would help me. They told me…to live the way I want to.”

“Why are they helping now…”

“That’s what I’m saying… I should have asked for help earlier, that I was having a hard time…”

“I had a hard time too… Me too…”

Hearing that, Nari sobbed even more at the thought that they had both been enduring well on their own without help until now.

Realizing that they could put down the heavy mental responsibility, and that it was a very light matter for some people, the two felt relieved and at the same time felt a sense of emptiness.

But the fact that there were two people feeling that emotion, and the fact that the relief was greater, was a comfort.

The two of them just cried their hearts out in the alley, holding hands tightly.

They slowly calmed down after shedding tears to the point where a few passersby glanced over despite the perception blocking.

Kang Ihyeon, who settled his crying first, spoke with a smile, his eyes still red.

“I guess good adults always say similar things.”

“Y-Yeah. Fortunately. Right… Then I’m hungry now, let’s go eat.”

“Okay, something without milk.”

“Yeah. The soup here is famous.”

Kang Ihyeon grinned brightly. Nari, feeling like she would smile too at the sight, wiped Ihyeon’s eyes with one sleeve and headed out of the alley. They were still holding hands tightly.

Coming out onto the crowded street, Ihyeon finally came to his senses and looked around.

Feeling like he was quite far from where he had been, more than he thought, he spoke.

“But where is this place?”

“Busan.”

“I see… What?! Busan?! I was in Gangnam though?!”

“So what?”

Nari looked at Ihyeon with an expression asking what the problem was. Ihyeon spoke in a surprised tone.

“Usually people can’t dimensionally move this far at once…”

“Is that so, I don’t really know the ordinary level.”