As the calm voice continued, my mind also settled down. It was information I already knew, but it was organized once again.

Cheon Shin Woo looked down at me.

“You, Ha Young, were unconscious for about 3 days. You also coughed up blood… We moved you to a private room to check for any other issues.”

“…But why did the Guild Master become my guardian…?”

“It’s an unprecedented situation. Everyone else has a guardian, but you don’t.”

That’s not the real issue, is it?

Words caught in my throat, but I couldn’t speak due to the uncomfortable sensation.

I understand that the guild compensated for this exceptional incident, but I don’t see how that relates to that person becoming my guardian.

Forget it. Let’s not ask about this anymore to avoid creating problems.

I briefly answered, “I see,” then laid back down.

“……”

“……”

Cheon Shin Woo didn’t leave and kept looking at me. His gaze was quite intense.

Why is he here when he must be busy? I wish he would leave.

I have a lot to think about alone, and I can’t concentrate when someone is here like this…

“…What happened to the gate?”

I finally couldn’t hold back and asked quietly. Cheon Shin Woo sat down in the guardian’s chair and smiled.

“We closed it. It was an S-rank gate, and there wasn’t much to gain compared to its difficulty… It’s common sense to close dangerous gates, right?”

“I see, it was closed… What?”

“The Association complained about us arbitrarily closing an irregular, but… Death and illusion attributes aren’t worth keeping open for long, and there’s no guarantee that problems won’t occur twice after it’s already become irregular once, right?”

“…Did you close it yourself?”

“Yes. Personally.”

I recalled the image of Cheon Shin Woo from my last memory. Come to think of it, this person seems to resemble someone I knew…

His shocked expression seemed to bring something to mind, but my thoughts were foggy as if covered in mist.

More importantly, this is a big problem. If an anomaly occurred, it’s problematic in many ways. It’s a big deal for both the Association and Cheonrang, who need to discuss with the Association.

Of course, the Settlement Team must also be in a state of emergency.

…Since I’m injured, I probably don’t have to go to work right away, right?

As I rolled my eyes, an insistent gaze followed my face.

“Anything else you’re curious about?”

“…Do you know what happened to my personal belongings?”

He persistently looked at me and spoke. For someone said to be busier than the President, does he have nothing to do? I blurted out whatever came to mind.

Then Cheon Shin Woo’s expression frowned slightly.

“Uh, please forget what I just said. I’m sorry.”

“Pfft.”

When I quickly corrected myself, he laughed. The sight of him turning his head and covering his mouth as he laughed was clear and bright.

“Hahaha! Ah, sorry. You’re like a younger sibling.”

“Pardon?”

After laughing for quite a while, he reached out and patted my head. Not only was his clear laughter shocking, but the hand patting my head felt even more surreal.

Cheon Shin Woo, who is he? Isn’t he the very person who spread his name far and wide as an infamous madman through the so-called dog collar incident?

Whenever he appeared on the news, it was with a frowning face, and every time he opened his mouth, it was a bombshell declaration. Even politicians who always want to control and keep hunters under their thumb are cautious and wary of this Cheon Shin Woo, yet here he is, laughing brightly and patting my head?

If he applied just a little more force with that hand, my head would pitifully burst.

Is this some new kind of threat? Though there’s nothing to gain by threatening me who has nothing…

As I rolled my eyes in shock, Cheon Shin Woo removed his hand from my head. Then he quietly stared at his own hand.

What… does he want to do? Surely he doesn’t want to burst my head…? As I swallowed my anxiety, I heard a faint sound.

“Hmm……”

“…Excuse me.”

Let’s ask about something else instead. When I called out carefully, his blue eyes immediately turned towards me.

I’ve started to speak, but I don’t know what to ask. He didn’t rush me, but that made me even more nervous.

Should I ask why he’s doing this to me? What if I get an answer I can’t handle?

“Did you… have a younger sibling?”

In the end, the question I asked was this pathetic one.

And as soon as I asked, I remembered. Family and siblings were Cheon Shin Woo’s landmine. An extreme one.

His gaze fell on me. His blue eyes were clear and transparent, but I couldn’t tell what thoughts they held. Finally, he opened his mouth.

“If they were alive, they would have grown up to be just about your age, Ha Young.”

“Ah……”

He spoke in a low voice, fiddling with his own hand.

“Noisy, chattering… A sibling without a single cute aspect.”

Cheon Shin Woo, who had been looking at his own hand, shifted his gaze to me. He opened his mouth as if discussing everyday matters.

“It’s already been 16 years. Still, if I had known it would turn out like this, I would have treated them better.”

Back then, Cheon Shin Woo would have still been in middle school, what thoughts did he live with?

For a brief moment, I felt a sense of kinship with this man living in a different world from me. The blue eyes looking at me were still only gentle.

Suddenly, I thought of my lost older brother. If he were alive, he would be looking for me like Cheon Shin Woo, wouldn’t he? The fact that he hasn’t appeared until now means…

Cheon Shin Woo rubbed my head again with his large hand.

“Get some rest. Your belongings… unfortunately, they couldn’t be found. Instead, if you need anything, just ask.”

With those words, he immediately left the room. I could only blankly stare at his retreating figure.

After he left, being alone in the empty hospital room, an unfamiliar loneliness crept in. Without my smartphone, the modern person’s close friend, I felt even more dejected.

Thinking about the money I’d have to spend to replace it made my heart ache. But what can I do? Let’s be grateful for the fact that I survived.

Although I was perfectly fine, my hospitalization continued for two more days. Even when I expressed my desire for early discharge, the doctor kept me in the room with just one sentence: “There might be unexpected symptoms.”

I wish I at least had a phone. I no longer cared about the hospital bill since I wasn’t paying for it, but boredom was the problem. I felt pathetic about my situation, not having a single friend to contact. It was because all my contacts were lost.

Sitting quietly in the hospital room as time passed, all sorts of idle thoughts came to mind. The past times I had rushed through without rest also flashed by.

Right, how many days like this will I have to rest in the future? It’s probably good to rest when I can.

Thinking that way made me feel at ease. And just then, permission for discharge was granted, damn it.

My attending physician, who was both a hunter and a doctor, diagnosed that there was nothing wrong with my body. They concluded that they couldn’t find the cause of my sudden collapse with blood coughing.

After going through complicated paperwork procedures, I received support funds. Although it was just an office assistant part-time job, the insurance was well applied. Fortunately, I got enough to cover the cost of my lost belongings. I heard that the deceased received compensation in the hundreds of millions of won, which only made me feel sad.

I couldn’t leave the hospital in a hospital gown, so I called Min Young unnie. It was fortunate that I had memorized her number.

Unnie rushed over on the day I contacted her. When I asked her to bring clothes and gave her my home password, she came with completely new clothes.

When I asked how such a busy Association employee could make time so quickly, she said:

‘I took half a day off, half a day. Do you know how surprised I was? The upper management is going crazy because a gate sync occurred at Cheonrang, and you were out of contact… There must be 30 missed calls piled up. They said there were 3 fatalities… Whew… I’m glad you’re safe.’

She poured out her words.

It seems she was quite frustrated during the time I couldn’t be reached. I just smiled and said thank you appropriately.

When I came out after changing clothes for discharge, unnie clapped. I was dumbfounded. This unnie had bought clothes according to her own taste. Thanks to that, clothes completely different from what I usually wear were now covering my body.

“It suits you well, I told you pastel tones look good on you.”

“It would have been fine to just bring clothes from home…”

“When else would I get to give you a gift? You always refuse even when I offer.”

“…I’ve never done that.”

“Oh really? Look at how you’re turning your eyes away while speaking.”

Trivial conversation continued. As someone who prefers achromatic, patternless clothes, I felt awkward in the brightly colored knit.

They said I could start work from next week. Thinking about the Settlement Team that would be swamped with work in the meantime made me tear up.

I didn’t have any luggage, so I was just tidying up my appearance when an unexpected voice came from the door.

“You could have rested a bit more.”

“Pardon?”

“You seemed in a hurry. I came because I heard you were discharging today.”

It was none other than Cheon Shin Woo who appeared.

At the sudden appearance of the rank 1, Min Young unnie’s jaw dropped. Unnie rubbed her eyes several times as if to check if what was in front of her was an illusion. Seeing that reaction somehow made me laugh. I wasn’t the only one with such a reaction.

Cheon Shin Woo shifted his indifferent gaze.

“Cheon Shin Woo? The real rank 1 Cheon Shin Woo? The Guild Master of Cheonrang?”

“…Shouldn’t you introduce yourself first?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I was surprised. This is who I am.”

Unnie held out her business card to Cheon Shin Woo, who was speaking in an unpleasant voice. Nevertheless, the air touching the skin felt cold.

Cheon Shin Woo, who received the business card, just glanced at it once and put it in his pocket. Then he fixed his gaze on me.

“Are you going home?”

“Huh? Yes.”

“Hmm.”

He crossed his arms again with a posture that seemed dissatisfied with something. That gaze somehow felt oppressive.

Min Young unnie whispered to me.

“What’s this? I heard you joined Cheonrang. Were you acquainted with Cheon Shin Woo?”

“No, how could that be possible? You know my social relationships better than anyone… It’s because of what happened in the guild, and since I don’t have a guardian, he volunteered to be my guardian.”

“That’s a funny joke. You know April Fool’s Day has passed, right?”

“It’s not a joke…”

To say such things when the person in question is right in front of us. As I always think, this unnie is really gutsy.

What kind of situation is this? Just then, Cheon Shin Woo, seeming to have finished his thoughts, uncrossed his arms.

Step, step. With slow footsteps, he approached the window and pulled open the curtains. The bright midday light filled the hospital room.

“I’ve been thinking, it might be better for Ha Young to stay at the guild headquarters for a while.”