Chapter 57: Orphan Gathering (1)

The Demonkin vanished, but the dungeon system had shifted to Level 7, rendering return stones useless. Fortunately, the mermaids had been wiped out by the Demonkin.

The Hunters headed straight for the gate stone, clearing the dungeon on the same day as the planned first return.

Ion faced a barrage of questions.

Il-on had said, “Ason will handle the rest,” meaning, “We have a plan, so don’t complicate things by talking—stay quiet.”

Since Il-on hadn’t named Ion, he remained in Peter Argen’s form, silent to all queries.

This nearly sparked a fight, but Uiji, the only one on Ion’s side, calmed the Hunters.

Outside, Sa-on awaited with grim-faced Hunter Agency officials and the three major guild leaders.

As Il-on promised, Sa-on took over the aftermath.

Her official statement was:

D-NATE’s guildmaster, Onil, saw three years into the future with her foresight skill. Earth was devastated by a Demonkin invasion, mistaking Earth for allying with Giants. After exploring countless possibilities, Onil concluded that allying with Demonkin was the only way to ensure Earth’s safety.

The world erupted in chaos.

The loudest outcry was why she hadn’t warned anyone.

Sa-on responded:

Revealing it early would have sparked war between Demonkin and Earth. Onil saw billions of futures, and this was the most stable choice. She was the only foresight skill user to predict Demonkin in Daisytown Dungeon. Trust her foresight.

Using foresight to quell controversy, she added:

The Demon Realm is harsh for humans. Onil went there for Earth’s future. Instead of blaming her, pray for our noble hero’s safe return.

Naturally, doubts persisted, including why the teleportation crystal was given to Peter Argen.

Sa-on’s answer: “I don’t know. Guildmaster Onil didn’t tell me everything.”

She gave the same response to other questions: “I don’t know.”

Her replies grew increasingly curt.

Attention turned to the Daisytown raid team, who were whisked to the Hunter Agency upon exiting. Peter Argen was placed in a room with surveillance cameras and guards, but he vanished without a trace.

People assumed he used the teleportation crystal, but Ion had simply shed Peter Argen’s form and escaped with invisibility magic.

“You know where to go, right?”

Il-on’s words implied a set destination for the one-way crystal.

Ion had a guess where.

But why there? Not the Demon Realm, but that place, with a Demonkin-exclusive crystal?

He needed to understand Il-on’s plan.

Time to talk.

For the first time since the Cataclysm, the orphans would gather.

Of the thirty-two orphans raised by the Teacher, only six survived:

Dam Il-on, Dam Ion, Dam Se-on, Dam Sa-on, Dam Da-on, Dam Yeo-on.

Post-Cataclysm, their paths diverged:

Yeo-on, torn between the abusive and maintenance factions, secluded herself somewhere.

Ion, aiming for a swift conclusion, hunted Demon Realm entry materials as a mercenary.

Il-on and Sa-on, seeking fame beyond the novel’s protagonists, founded D-NATE.

Da-on became Horizon Guild’s aide to support Jin Seongha.

And Se-on…

“Team Leader, leaving already?”

A voice stopped a man exiting the office.

Disheveled brown hair, hunched posture, he glanced at his subordinate’s earpiece through thick black-rimmed glasses, avoiding eye contact. Awkwardly smiling, he asked, “Y-Yes…? I’m leaving now, is something up…?”

“Nothing, just never seen you leave at six sharp. You’re always the last out.”

“Oh… I-I sometimes take personal time…”

“First time since I started. Not that I’ve been here long… Let’s go together, Team Leader. I’m heading out too.”

“…Sure, okay.”

The bespectacled man walked with his subordinate, stopping at the elevator.

“Oh, shoot…”

“What’s wrong, Team Leader?”

“I-I forgot my tablet… I need it for some files at home.”

“Go grab it. I’ll hold the elevator.”

“No… I need to transfer data too… Y-You go ahead, Kim…”

“Takes two minutes…”

“Safe travels… See you tomorrow…”

Smiling, the Team Leader returned to the office. The subordinate, left in the hall, clicked their tongue.

“Still so shy…”

Team Leader Son Yedam, appointed Finance Team Leader when the Hunter Association formed last year.

Twenty-five, C-rank, one undisclosed skill.

Family? Girlfriend? Unknown. A workaholic, shy, socially awkward, and oblivious.

Handsome, though.

His messy hair and thick glasses couldn’t hide his looks, initially drawing interest from all.

But shy? He was beyond shy.

He skipped every company dinner, and conversations with him never flowed.

Even now, after a year, he avoided eye contact, his eyes darting pitifully.

Ding. The elevator arrived. The subordinate considered waiting but boarded, not wanting to stress the introverted yet competent man.

“Phew…”

Se-on, sensing his subordinate’s presence fade, sighed behind the office wall.

Cold sweat coated his back and hands; his heart raced.

That brief exchange burned a week’s worth of social energy.

Six o’clock is too risky… I wish there was a law banning non-work talk between team leaders and staff…

Se-on had always been shy.

Even with the orphans and Teacher, he couldn’t meet eyes. Teacher tried various methods to fix his introversion but gave up.

“Talking eye-to-eye is worse for you than beatings or starvation. No discipline will fix it. Tch.”

Only two people in the world could hold Se-on’s gaze: Da-on and Ion.

Today, he’d reunite with Ion, his heart already racing with excitement.

Excluding Il-on, in the Demon Realm, and Yeo-on, in seclusion, four orphans would meet at Da-on’s house.

Ion’s movements were tracked, even without Da-on.

Hearing Ion drank to mana exhaustion recently worried Se-on. He’d wanted to visit the hospital, but Da-on stopped him—too risky with people curious about who spoke to the Giant in Spec-1 Team.

If it wasn’t Ion calling us, I’d have ignored it.

How could he refuse Ion? Even Sa-on, in the U.S., rushed back to Korea for Ion’s summons.

Eager to see Ion, Se-on left right after work, only to face disaster.

The world’s tough for introverts…

He rubbed his chest, breathing deeply.

At Da-on’s house…

“Hey, Dam Se-on. Long time no see?”

Ion wasn’t there. Instead, Sa-on, a major source of Se-on’s shyness, grinned and waved.

[Da-on] Ion.. where are you? Location changed.. come to Seokyang-gu villa, Incheon..

Ion, seeing Da-on’s weary message, had a hunch.

Arriving, he saw two men kneeling, hands raised, in the living room—his hunch confirmed.

Da-on, hair disheveled, fumed. “These bastards fought the moment they arrived and half-destroyed my house! New TV, fully stocked fridge—ruined!”

“Dam Ion, I missed you!”

“On-on! Hyung’s innocent!”

“Don’t move! Arms up higher!”

“Hnng.”

Se-on looked at Ion with teary eyes. Sa-on mimicked the expression.

“…”

Ion, seeing the orphans unchanged, felt both exasperated and amused.

Later, the four sat around a table with four water cups, steam rising only from Se-on’s—his sensitive stomach always needed warm water, even in the orphanage.

Sa-on spoke first, leisurely. “Where to start…”

“I don’t know much. Onil saw a future where Demonkin destroy Earth, and allying with them is the only way to prevent it. That’s what I told people.”

“Sounds like Onil really has foresight,” Da-on said.

Sa-on squinted, smiling. “My noona has something scarier than foresight, Aide Da-on.”

“…”

“Brainstorming. It deduces future outcomes from current information, far beyond glimpsing fragments like foresight.”

Brainstorming. A skill absent from the novel.

Da-on’s gaze sharpened. “Why tell us so freely?”

“She said a situation would force me to. Onil predicted we’d gather and have this talk, even Yeo-on’s absence. Creepy, right?”

“…”

“She had a message for you, On-on,” Sa-on said, his eyes softening unlike when addressing Da-on.

“The war between Giants and Demonkin endangering Earth isn’t your fault. It was fated since the Giant appeared in Monity Dungeon.”

Ion had told the Giant the traitor’s name, sparking the war.

Il-on predicted Ion’s guilt.

Ion replied calmly, “I figured. The Giant used a Demonkin teleportation crystal.”

A teleportation crystal, capable of crossing dungeon boundaries.

Ion wasn’t sure at first, but the black hole the Demonkin emerged from confirmed it—the Giant’s hole was the same.

The blue powder held the crystal’s power. Infuse mana, input coordinates, and a black hole links spaces.

A device unique to Demonkin, which no other race possessed.

The Giant using it meant they stole it from the Demonkin.

The moment they took it, war was inevitable, regardless of the traitor’s name Ion revealed.