Chapter 146: The Watcher

“Still, thanks to <Sage’s Eye>, it ended simply. If I had an insight skill, I wouldn’t have joined a guild; I would’ve lived as a mercenary my whole life. You can name your own price, after all.”

“Hunter Shin Minji, you’re already a mercenary, aren’t you?”

“Gasp…! How could you say such a thing!”

Shin Minji widened her eyes in a show of shock. Daon had thought this for a while, but she was fundamentally a person of excessive reactions. Like a stage actress.

“I’ve lived thinking I was practically a Horizon member until now! I was planning to quit being a mercenary and become an official Horizon guild member once we return to Earth!”

“You’re quitting being a mercenary?”

“Yes! We’ve faced giants together, went to Idea together—how can you draw such a hard line after all the meals we’ve shared?”

“Why… are you quitting?”

As the leader of the Hahoetal, mercenary life would be far more convenient for moving freely.

“Jin-ah unnie recommended I become an official member, too. I felt Horizon was a place I could entrust my life to… but Mr. Assistant, how can you be so cold… hic.”

Shin Minji made an exaggeratedly tearful face.

“You know that feeling? You go to a company dinner, decide to speak informally, hug, and get close, but the next day everyone goes back to being awkward. I’m ready to be close!”

“Isn’t that actually more burdensome?”

“It’s not! I prepared small talk, but then the other person acts as if the peace, agreement, and intimacy of the dinner never happened, saying ‘Hello, Assistant Manager.’ Do you know the hurt and betrayal of that moment?”

“Were you an office worker before the Cataclysm?”

“……It’s just an example. Anyway, you’re too uptight, Mr. Assistant.”

The Shin Minji he had seen during their time in Idea was generally cheerful. Positive about everything, full of laughter. A person with such thick skin and sociability that she befriended anyone quickly. Her speed in learning the Idean language was the fastest. Fast enough to make one suspect she already knew it.

Occasionally, she would disappear somewhere alone and then reappear. She was likely contacting the Hahoetal members on Earth. If the Hahoetal knew the future, they would have obtained at least one method of multi-dimensional communication.

Daon felt that Shin Minji wasn’t even trying to hide being the Hahoetal leader anymore.

“Hunter Shin Minji, I heard from Guild Leader Ason that some treasure chests require [Confessing Secrets to Each Other].”

“Mr. Assistaaaaant, you’re really putting up a wall. You don’t have to stiffly call her Guild Leader Ason. You two are siblings. Why act like that between people who know everything?”

Shin Minji waved her hand dismissively, but Daon continued dryly.

“If a ‘Confessing Secrets’ chest had appeared, what secret would you have told?”

“A secret? Suddenly?”

“Yes.”

“…It’s not like our Mr. Assistant suddenly felt like he was at a school retreat.”

Shin Minji grinned.

“Can’t I hear Mr. Assistant’s secret first?”

“My secret is that I know yours.”

“What are you talking about? A pun?”

“Since we ‘know everything,’ I’ll just say it. When do you plan to reveal that you’re the leader of the Hahoetal? You don’t seem to be making any effort to hide it.”

“…….”

Shin Minji, who had been holding her palms toward the heater, paused. Her bobbed hair swayed slightly. She blinked.

“What are you talking about? Leader of the Hahoetal?”

She looked as if she had just heard an absurd story about being reincarnated into a book.

“Wait. That… Hahoetal thing, isn’t that the disciples of someone named Breeder or Brita?”

“…….”

“Oh my god! Mr. Assistant, have you been suspecting me of being a Hahoetal member all this time!?”

Clatter!

It was Daon who was flustered as Shin Minji jumped up, nearly knocking over her chair.

“You’re… not the leader?”

“Of course not! We’ve spent so much time together, and you suspect that? Even the leader? I am my mother’s one and only precious daughter, but I’m not the leader of some weird secret organization.”

The talkative woman became even more talkative. Daon didn’t fully drop his suspicion, but he apologized for now.

“I’m sorry for doubting you. I wasn’t certain; it was just a thought I had.”

“No, well, being called a leader means you evaluated me highly, so it feels good. Hehe.”

Shin Minji immediately accepted the apology with her usual coolness.

“I have one more question. Then… what is the ‘Unknown Power’ on your system profile?”

This was the decisive reason Daon suspected her. The profile he saw with <Sage’s Eye>.

[Awakening Grade: B] [Trait: Angel in White] [Skills:]

• LV.19 (Active): Heals all injuries in a designated range. Range and healing increase with level.

• <■■■ ■■■> LV.■ (Passive): ■■■■ ■■■ ■. [Exp: 98.9%] [Potential: S] Currently, the exact system profile cannot be viewed due to the action of an unknown power.

There were three suspicious points at a glance:

1. A skill at Level 19 at this point in time.

2. Unreadable text and an S-rank potential.

3. The final line: “Unknown Power.”

Shin Minji was the first awakened person he’d met who had all three. As Daon explained his suspicions, she tilted her head.

“There are square boxes on my profile and a sentence like that?”

“Yes.”

Until now, he suspected but didn’t guard against her because he thought she was the Hahoetal leader. But if she truly wasn’t Hahoetal…

‘Is it System Age…?’

He had heard from Ion that Lee Do-jin’s profile contained the phrase: “An unknown skill is currently being applied.” The phrasing was slightly different, but if the silver spiritual body of System Age was controlling Shin Minji too…

‘Was I too hasty?’

Daon watched her with a wary gaze. Shin Minji tilted her head.

“Hey, Mr. Assistant. That phrase… everyone with an insight skill can see it besides <Sage’s Eye>, right?”

“That’s correct. Since your grade is B, anyone above that can see it.”

“Even So-jin and Yu-eun? They’re A-rank.”

“They both saw it.”

“They must have thought it was weird. They should have said something, jeez.”

Shin Minji twisted her lips into a smirk and opened her system window.

“I didn’t think this far ahead.”

She moved her fingers over the system window as if typing. Then, she spoke in a lighter voice again.

“Does it look a bit more normal now?”

[Awakening Grade: B] [Trait: Angel in White] [Skills:]

• LV.9 (Active): Heals all injuries in a designated range. [Exp: 98.9%] [Potential: A]

“……!”

Shin Minji had edited the system window. Right in front of Daon’s eyes.

“This is…!”

He had never even heard of someone directly modifying the system. Daon jumped to his feet. She had no combat skills, but she had always been at the top of the orphans in physical ability alone. Daon widened the distance and slid a hidden throwing knife between his fingers.

“What is your true identity?”

“I am not an enemy. Put the weapon down.”

Shin Minji smiled serenely. For some reason, he felt he had to obey those words. It was as if he were facing some massive, irresistible force of nature.

The strength left Daon’s hands. Shin Minji caught the falling knife and tucked it back into Daon’s waist. She guided him back into his chair and whispered in his ear.

“The leader of the Hahoetal isn’t me; it’s Lee Jin-ah. Just know that and forget this incident.”

Daon closed his eyes. Shin Minji sighed.

“This has become troublesome….”

She hadn’t realized there was an error in the system profile. Was it because she had been in this body for too long? But there was no body more suitable for watching the scenario. A female body, strong willpower, above-average martial prowess. Not a lead character, but not an extra either—the most appropriate person to follow the main flow.

“System, I won’t blame you for not telling me, so just drop a suitable item.”

Ding. A system window popped up.

[Yes, Lady Sadness.]

A day later, the hunters who finished opening treasure chests returned one by one. Ion and Daon talked away from the others.

“How did it go?”

“Shin Minji isn’t Hahoetal. She’s just a normal person.”

“What? Then the system profile?”

“She said she tricked it with an item. It was an A-rank item.”

Indeed, thinking back, Shin Minji had worn an A-rank defensive bracelet before.

“Is it Team Leader Lee Jin-ah then…? Jin Seongha suspected her too.”

“We’ll have to check later.”

“Now we need to decide who goes to Earth and who goes to Idea. Everyone! The meeting is starting!”

Daon called the people together without even waiting for Ion’s input.

“Well, what does Team Leader Ion think?”

“I’ll follow Ion’s decision.”

“If it’s Hunter Ion’s decision, we’ll accept it.”

“We can trust Lord Ion.”

All eyes focused on Ion. He thought to himself, ‘How did I end up making decisions that carry the fate of the world?’ while dividing the personnel. Amidst the agreement, Saon raised his hand.

“I want to go to Idea with On-on. Since our big sister is back, it’s fine for one Guild Leader to be absent.”

“Why are you following?”

“To go on a date with our youngest, and I want to see Idea. I want to see the Heavenly Realm too.”

Ion hadn’t revealed to the others yet that only non-awakened people could enter the Heavenly Realm. Since Ion didn’t want it known, Ilon kept his mouth shut. The personnel heading to Idea were Ion, Jin Seongha, Saon, and Blan.

“I’m so excited for Earth! A world with advanced science. I’m going to have so much fun!”

“I’ll be the guide.”

Elliot volunteered to be Sarah’s tour guide. Of course, in reality, they wouldn’t be touring. They were the first guests from Idea. They would be busy exchanging information with experts in military equipment, science, and arts. Earth would also form a primary delegation within a week to cross over to Idea via another connecting dungeon.

It was the beginning of full-scale exchange.

“But On-on, you know what?”

Saon draped an arm over Ion’s shoulder.

“The dates have become quite similar, haven’t they?”

“…I know.”

[51.01.03 Return of the Heavenly Realm Stray]

It was now late December… somehow, he was entering the Heavenly Realm at a date similar to the one written in the memoir.

“Honestly, I’m more curious if your real age was actually eighteen than if the Demon King was farming apples or grapes there. Was our youngest really a baby?”

“Are you picking a fight?”

“Want to practice? Say ‘Hyung~’. If you say ‘Saon-hyung~’ with that cute face, it’ll be so lovely. Ah, ah! Just a joke! Let go of the vines! Argh!”

Ion ignored Saon, who was tangled in vines and couldn’t move, and thought: This is bad.

‘If I really am eighteen… these guys will openly treat me like the baby.’

He believed himself to be an adult without a doubt, but it was true he was a little anxious….