Seo Suji reflexively focused her gaze in that direction without realizing it.

However, Ilaine’s left hand, which had seemed transparent enough for the background to be faintly visible, was perfectly intact there.

Had she seen something wrong because it was moving so quickly in the dark?

Seo Suji was confident in her eyesight, but this time she could only explain it as having seen incorrectly.

She frowned slightly at her eyes, then stopped.

Just as her thoughts were about to linger, as if they had been waiting, monsters poured out at the perfect moment.

Within a 40m radius, 20% chance to apply ‘Fear’ status effect to AAA-grade or lower monsters

Characteristic activates.

12% chance to apply ‘Fear’ status effect to one S-grade or lower monster within sight

Characteristic activates.

9% chance for monsters with darkness attribute within 82m radius to lose will to fight

Characteristic activates.

2% chance to apply ‘Instant Death’ to A-grade or lower monsters within 10m radius

Characteristic activates.

24% chance to apply ‘Counter’ to close-range attacks from A-grade or lower monsters

Characteristic activates.

1% chance to apply ‘Charm’ status effect to AA-grade or lower monsters that hear the caster’s voice]

Whether there were lower-level monsters than where Seo Suji’s living space was, or characteristics that applied to even lower grades, the flood of judgment windows was overwhelming just to look at.

As Seo Suji slowly drew out , Ilaine also pulled out .

The two did not engage monsters that did not attack due to status effects, or those that retreated on the spot after seeing their equipment.

They only dealt with monsters that rushed at them.

“I’ll leave the front to you, then.”

“I’ll take care of the back.”

It had been a while since they worked together, but they were a combo that had been in sync for a long time.

Their swords immediately drew blue and red trajectories as if they had never rested.

It took Daphne and Ilaine less than 30 minutes to start from the Deep Sea E Dungeon and emerge from the Charm S Gate.

It was a distance that would take nearly 2 hours by car, but they arrived in just 30 minutes on foot.

However, the two were indifferent to this.

They came out of the gate, retrieving their weapons as casually as people who had just walked along a familiar promenade.

“…Isn’t that people coming out of the Charm Dungeon exit right now?”

“Where are your eyes? That place is famous for being impossible to leave once you enter… Uh…?”

“…Daphne?”

“That’s Daphne and Ilaine, right?”

“Wow. They’re really coming out of there? They’re truly in a different class.”

“…No, I heard SS-grade and above use that place like a regular path.”

“To think we’d actually see it… Insane.”

“Monsters.”

A flood of exclamations erupted from the people waiting in line for entry or undergoing grade checks in front of the Gate Stabilization Department.

It was probably meant to be quiet murmuring, but Daphne could hear every word clearly.

Seo Suji, who had been walking out of the Charm S Gate exit with confidence, didn’t know how to react to such praise and approached the building with her gaze fixed in the distance and a slightly malfunctioning gait.

While some people just watched from afar, there were others who wanted to approach and talk.

It was a reporter who had been lying in wait hoping to catch something newsworthy in front of the Gate Stabilization Department.

Of course, it would be a scoop if they could get an interview, given that Daphne had just broken her long seclusion.

It was at that moment when the reporter’s urgent footsteps were about to catch up with Daphne and Ilaine.

“Hello, I’m Kim Do Wook, a reporter from CUU. If you have a moment…”

Ilaine, who had been walking behind Daphne with an indifferent face, turned his head and stared at the reporter’s face.

Ilaine was not usually a person who attracted much attention.

Even when he was alone, he only had nicknames like ‘Idol of the Hunter world’ or ‘The man who would have charmed the Earth if he hadn’t become a hunter’ due to his handsome appearance, but because he was always with Daphne, he only exposed an image of being submissive and respectful to the team leader.

So people easily had the preconception that Ilaine was naturally gentle and handsome.

But the reporter who had just met Ilaine’s gaze felt all those thoughts crumble at once.

‘…No way. He’s a completely different person.’

A glance. After a brief moment of eye contact, Ilaine followed behind Daphne again as if nothing had happened.

Those eyes that had met so briefly couldn’t be forgotten.

There was not a hint of consideration or kindness mixed in that stern gaze with its glittering blackness.

It was a look that strictly drew the line, warning not to trespass.

The reporter belatedly realized he didn’t even have the strength to stand and collapsed on the spot.

Even though violence by hunters against civilians was strictly prohibited by law, he felt a threat that made his skin crawl for a moment.

At that time, an elderly reporter who had been standing quietly on one side smiled slightly and approached reporter Kim Do Wook, holding out his hand.

“You must be new to the Gate Stabilization Department.”

“Huh? Yes…”

“Ilaine never responds to interviews when he’s with Daphne. But if you approach him when he’s alone, you might get answers to a few simple questions.”

“…Ah, yes…”

Reporter Kim Do Wook responded blankly, tilting his head in confusion.

He couldn’t understand why Ilaine was acting like a bodyguard, bristling like that, when Ilaine was SS-grade and Daphne was SSS-grade, meaning Daphne was stronger.

While outwardly pretending to understand, honestly, he thought these strong hunters were being too sensitive.

It was a visit from the SSS-grade hunter, said to be the only one in the world.

If they had been notified in advance, half of the building’s personnel would have rushed out to greet her with a ceremony, but Seo Suji didn’t want that.

Daphne and Ilaine passed by the staff who hurriedly saluted in turn, and headed straight for the top floor.

In the elevator heading to the uppermost floor, Seo Suji looked out at the scenery quickly sinking below.

Time perception gets a bit messy while inside the gate.

The day and night there don’t exactly match the real day and night.

So although she thought she had come out around noon, it felt a bit more like afternoon.

The sun was tilting, and the shadows of Seoul’s dense forest of buildings had shifted eastward.

And in the middle of that Seoul forest view, the gray ‘Sage’s Tower’ suddenly stood, reaching high into the sky.

It was so tall that mediocre-height buildings looked like toys in comparison.

Around the waist of that tower, which looked like a messily grown tree branch with no sense of aesthetics, a faint light could be seen glimmering.

It must be light leaking from the 50th floor where the save zone was.

That section was managed by civil servants who were stationed there.

Roughly estimating that to be the 50th floor, the total number of floors appeared to be around 100 or so.

Because the length from bottom to top of each floor was enormously long, it would be that tall regardless of the number of floors.

“…It’s been a while, that irritating tower.”

To Seo Suji’s muttered words, Ilaine gently nodded.

She looked up at Ilaine’s face, bathed in sunlight.

Ilaine’s face was as neat and beautiful as always.

Even after rolling around in dusty pits with her, hunting monsters and spending countless days in camp together, that beautiful face remained unchanged, without a speck of dirt.

Perhaps that’s why Seo Suji liked the moments when Ilaine’s face caught the light.

Maybe because he didn’t show much change in expression, but when sunlight passed over his white, fair skin, it somehow felt nice.

Just like now.

“You know how some people find it difficult to approach Ilaine sometimes. Like that reporter today. I really don’t understand why.”

It wasn’t the first time she had seen people trying to approach Ilaine freeze with surprised faces.

While Ilaine didn’t have an approachable impression, he didn’t have a scary face either, so it was puzzling.

Perhaps aware that Seo Suji was staring at his face, Ilaine slightly pulled at the corners of his mouth.

That look was exactly like a carnivore pretending to be harmless, and she burst out laughing.

“Hahaha. You’re really like a comedian.”

“…A comedian, you say.”

His soft complaint was even more amusing.

She didn’t know why such trivial things were so funny these days.

To the point where she felt regretful for the years she had lived without the leisure to laugh properly.

Ding.

With the sound of the elevator stopping, Seo Suji began to move her feet, containing her laughter.

Park Seunghwan, the director of the Gate Stabilization Department, had been pacing back and forth in one spot since receiving the email Seo Suji sent when she departed.

“Please, sit down, Seunghwan.”

Kim Yeonju, sitting at one end of the long conference room table, scolded him, but Park Seunghwan’s steps didn’t slow much.

He rolled his eyes while fiddling with the locket in his pocket.

It was obvious that when Daphne ended her seclusion, she would first try to catch and punish the scammer who had conned her team member.

It was as good as a predetermined course of action.

So he wanted to catch the guy first and extract proper information before that…

Nothing was going as planned.