“Nature! Long time no see.”

“What a coincidence. Meeting in a place like this.”

As Suji called out happily, Nature waved his hand in joy.

“It’s been a while. Have you lost some weight?”

“Long time no see. Are you doing well?”

Saint and Peace greeted him quite pleasantly, but only Elaine laughed as if dumbfounded.

“Coincidence, my foot.”

Nature, who shook hands with the party members one by one, awkwardly withdrew his hand in front of Elaine.

“I was taking care of some business around here, and I saw a post saying that Team Daphne came here, so I stopped by.”

Seeing Elaine and Nature confronting each other, Suji sighed openly.

Just discussing whether to recruit him or not, Elaine had shown such an unpleasant look, so it was obvious how she would react before a conclusion was even reached.

‘How could we run into each other at such timing again.’

The joy of reunion was halved by the headache-inducing situation.

To separate the two who would keep growling at each other if left alone, Suji pushed her body between Elaine and Nature, reaching back to grasp Elaine’s arm.

It was a silent sign not to fight any further here.

Elaine wasn’t the type to pick fights first, but whenever Nature said a word, she would retort back, so the conversation dragged on for too long.

“So you came all the way here for that?”

“That, and I also have something to discuss.”

“If it’s about the team, Nature contacted Saint, right?”

Nature smiled brightly.

“Yeah. Actually, Daphne, I tried contacting you first. You should check your email.”

“That’s true, but…”

“It would be nice to climb the tower together, but it will be much more dangerous than Nature thinks. An EX-grade monster appeared on the 81st floor… and it will probably be worse above that. Do you still intend to join us?”

It didn’t seem like a conversation to have in front of the restaurant, but Suji wanted to check Nature’s intentions first.

Nature raised his drooping blonde hair with his fingers, showing a surprised face.

“EX… you mean, the level above SSS-grade?”

“That’s right. We had quite a hard time.”

“…Well, I can always bail if it doesn’t work out after going, but for now, I want to give it a try. As long as there’s no issue with the floor’s participant limit.”

The participant limit did decrease as they went up, but adding just Nature wouldn’t be a problem.

Suji nodded, considering his intentions confirmed for now.

“Everyone acknowledges Nature’s skills, so even if it’s not our team, there are many places you can go. But thank you for offering to help us. Let’s discuss it a bit more and I’ll let you know.”

Nature nodded deeply, then spoke up as if remembering something belatedly.

“Right. And there’s one more thing I wanted to mention.”

“What is it?”

“Are you checking the public opinion?”

Suji’s eyes widened.

Regarding the parts where her name was mentioned, a dedicated manager was checking if there were any suspicious or incorrectly spread content.

Since Aunt Yeonju went back to the field, she heard that Kim Ha-young, a civilian without a hunter name, took charge of her management.

After that, things had been so hectic that she couldn’t properly communicate, but if there was a big problem, she would have been contacted.

“Did something happen?”

“Hmm… It’s a bit awkward for me to say. I just thought it would be good for you to check. You know how people like to babble without basis. If you leave these things alone, the spark only grows.”

Saint, who was in charge of information gathering within the team, had a look on his face as if he had an inkling. Sighing, he handed the luggage he was holding to Nature.

“Hold this for a moment. I’ll take a look at the bulletin board.”

Nature readily accepted it and also took everything Suji was holding.

“Don’t bother, Peace and I will take it first and come back. With so much food that can’t even fit in the inventory, we can’t do anything. Peace will know where to go. You said there’s also something to discuss. Take your time coming.”

“Is it really okay for you to go that far for us?”

Nature winked a bit exaggeratedly.

“Ey. What are you saying? It’s nothing.”

Saint, who was fiddling with his terminal empty-handed, just raised his hand with his nose buried.

“Then I’ll go with them for now. Three people can’t ride Unicorn anyway.”

“Okay, do that then.”

With that, Nature, Peace, and Saint left first.

Suji also got on Unicorn with Elaine.

She contacted the dedicated manager first to say hello.

After a few rings, a youthful voice answered the phone.

– Hello, Ms. Daphne! This is dedicated manager Kim Ha-young! As of the current time, Ms. Daphne’s vital signs are safe. In addition, the stress level that was previously unfavorable has returned to normal! How may I assist you?

The feeling was completely different from Yeonju. Suji laughed softly, amused by the bright voice filled with spirit.

“Hello. I contacted you to check if everything is alright.”

– What kind of matter are you referring to?

“There were a few things I asked Aunt Yeonju… I mean, Creusa to take care of.”

Ha-young was silent for a moment as if confirming something, then spoke again in a bright voice.

– I was just about to email you about some newly arrived information! Since you said it’s hard to contact you when you’re in the tower, Ms. Daphne, I was going to contact you later all at once.

“The 82nd floor is a save zone.”

– So that’s why you’re able to contact me. Thank you for the new information. I’ll make a note of it. May I pass this information to the headquarters?

“Of course.”

Ha-young’s voice was cut off for a moment, then continued again.

– Since you said now is a good time, I will tell you one by one the stories that have reached me. First, it is true that there was intervention by ‘Messiah’ members in the three places where the S-grade waves occurred simultaneously. They consisted of two AA-grade hunters and one AAA-grade hunter.

As if finding the content strange even while reading it herself, there was a subtle tone of doubt in her voice by the time she finished speaking.

But Suji was not very surprised. She thought it would naturally be the case, and there was also Priya’s warning.

Although she didn’t know what kind of existence the ‘Theroad’ mentioned by the ‘Great Beings’ was, it was undoubtedly directly related to the religious group called ‘Messiah’.

“So, what happened?”

– They are being detained under Knight’s orders. Knight said that trying to extract information from them would only result in a repetition of last time, and that you would understand if he told you.

She could figure out what ‘last time’ meant without having to ask.

“That power can be encountered if we open the box of Akasha, where the universe begins. It’s like a privilege bestowed upon the members of ‘Messiah’.”

Zero’s voice naturally came to mind, and a chill ran through her body.

She didn’t want to see another person turn into a handful of ashes right before her eyes.

Suji lightly bit her lip.

“The other part I have to convey is that, like in Korea, it is becoming difficult to measure the starting point of waves in foreign countries as well. They are investigating whether there is an ‘abnormal state’ property.”

It seemed Yeonju had diligently gathered information on each thing she had checked.

“Thank you for looking into it. Is there anything else?”

“Ah, yes, and… this is something you may or may not need to know…”

Judging by how Ha-young’s voice had become much darker, it didn’t seem like good news.

“What is it?”

“Among the public opinion about Ms. Daphne, malicious posts are suddenly being mass-produced. They started increasing abruptly after Ms. Daphne’s live broadcast ended, so we are dealing with them as needed, but…”

“Is it worrisome?”

“No, it’s not. I don’t think you need to be concerned.”

“Okay. I’ll contact you again. I’ll check regularly even while inside the tower, so please let me know if there’s any urgent news related to the waves.”

“Understood. I hope you have a safe day today as well!”

Even the farewell was full of spirit.

Feeling the support even without being told, Suji ended the call with a smile on her lips without realizing it.

“What’s the matter?”

Elaine, who was riding behind her, tilted his head forward and asked.

Suji turned to face him and answered.

“No, it’s just… what Nature mentioned earlier. It seems there is something going on.”

“You don’t need to pay attention to what people say.”

Elaine was right.

But thinking of Nature, who came to her because of it, she was curious about what people were talking about.

She hesitated for a moment, then accessed the bulletin board on her terminal. Then she read a few noticeable posts from the top.

These days, she’s giving speeches and distributing strategy videos for free.

It’s a bit disgusting how she’s suddenly acting like she has a sense of elitism. lol

Is she doing this because the presidential election is approaching?

└ What are you talking about? What would Daphne gain by going into politics? Is she lacking money? Popularity?

└ Why are you displaying your inferiority complex to this extent?

└ The presidential election is 2 years away; get a grip;

└ She must have thoughts of rising to a high position in the Hunters Association? I heard Knight is stepping down from his position and returning to the field this time. lol Her intentions are obvious. It must be a rigged game.

└└ Why are they acting like this? Would someone like Daphne be interested in political status? Even if it’s the Knight position, at most it’s a department head. Would she covet that position?

└└└ You talk as if you’ve been inside Daphne’s mind; It’s not about the position, but since she can’t be active in the field for life, she’s trying to secure a stable position.

└ Honestly, it’s true that Daphne’s attitude suddenly changed. Even if it’s not politics, there must be a reason.]