Chapter 28: The Demonic Flood

Yeowon’s device flickered, signaling not a call, but a message. It was from Sagyeol.

Sagyeol was already aware that Yeowon would be out early that morning. Since Yeowon had forbidden him, Sagyeol had indeed stopped attempting voice calls. He had only ceased voice calls, however.

Yet, he deluged Yeowon with so many messages that they were utterly overwhelmed. Glancing down, Yeowon checked the tally of unread texts. The count, never once cleared, had already reached two hundred.

As Yeowon squinted at the screen, a new message appeared, updating the count in real-time.

[Today]

‘Meet suddenly?’

Yeowon felt a surge of confusion. Unable to decide how to respond, they merely fiddled with the device until another message pinged.

[So]

‘What is this…’

“Brother! How have you been? Are you feeling better?”

No sooner had the thought crossed Yeowon’s mind than the scoundrel himself appeared. Yeowon gazed blankly at Joo Jae-yeong, who, oblivious to the reason for the stare, simply grinned.

“It’s been a long time, but surely you haven’t forgotten my face, have you?”

‘It would have been better if I had.’ Yeowon offered no reply, simply turning their back. Unfazed, Joo Jae-yeong continued to pursue them. While Yeowon remained a figure Joo Jae-yeong enjoyed condescending to, something else now preoccupied his thoughts.

No longer the manager of the After-Treatment Department, he had no reason to be present. A swift glance around revealed a cluster of agitated Association members in suits, thwarted by burly guards and unable to intervene.

‘Are they personal bodyguards?’

‘Surely he isn’t harboring resentment for being ousted from his managerial post…’

“About the man who was with you at the hospital, Brother, did you know him before?”

Yeowon hesitated at the mention of Sagyeol, then shook their head.

“Was it really the first time you met him then?”

This time, they gave a decisive nod. There was no hint of deception in their demeanor. “Hmm,” Joo Jae-yeong mused, pressing closer to Yeowon. Even if every word was true, he suspected a deeper truth lay beneath the surface.

“Did you two… perhaps sleep together?”

Yeowon’s taut body stiffened instantly. Joo Jae-yeong subtly placed a hand on their lower back, rubbing gently, but elicited no response. Yeowon seemed utterly taken aback. Joo Jae-yeong smiled, a flicker of satisfaction in his eyes. ‘So, they haven’t gone that far yet.’

“We… did not.”

Yeowon, their voice strained, abruptly turned and walked away with hasty strides.

‘Ah, damn it.’

A faint, knowing smirk curved Joo Jae-yeong’s lips, yet he made no move to follow. Pushing such a type too aggressively would only backfire. For now, he was content with the confirmation that intimacy had not yet occurred.

“So, Sagyeol of the Credit Guild, is it?”

Once Yeowon vanished from sight, Joo Jae-yeong re-entered his car. The sedan glided away, yet though his gaze was fixed on the window, he wasn’t truly observing the passing scenery.

After being expelled by the nurse, the man who was also evicted made a mysterious call. Soon, members of the Hunter Association, rushing in a frantic hurry, began to usher *him* out instead of the other man. While their obsequiousness remained, their demeanor was unmistakably firm. That day, his usually oily face was slick with cold sweat, not grease.

‘P-please, let’s talk outside.’

‘You mustn’t get involved with that person!’

A realization dawning, Joo Jae-yeong looked at the man once more. The man continued to grin and wave, even as Joo Jae-yeong was practically forced out of the hospital.

Subsequently, Joo Jae-yeong conducted a separate investigation into the man. Initially, he found the information unbelievable, largely because the man proved to be a far more significant figure than he had ever anticipated.

‘Grisha? Credit Guild? No, why would a guild master from such a big city come here? Isn’t this a mistake?’

Just then, men in suits rushed in and surrounded him.

He tensed for a fleeting moment, then irritably clicked his tongue. The imposing figure at the forefront was familiar. The man leading the suited entourage bowed respectfully.

‘Young Master.’

They were his father’s men. Joo Jae-yeong was immediately dragged back to the family estate.

The city council member, who had been waiting, hurled an ashtray at Joo Jae-yeong the instant he appeared. His father, who had always defended him no matter how outlandish his antics, erupted in a furious roar for the very first time.

‘Are you out of your mind?! You crazy bastard, what the hell have you been doing?!’

Along with a torrent of insults, Joo Jae-yeong was immediately confined to the house.

Only after witnessing his father’s reaction did Joo Jae-yeong accept that the man was truly the master of the Credit Guild.

Sagyeol.

The undisputed master of the Credit Guild, reigning supreme in the sprawling metropolis of Grisha, he was a man truly worthy of being called the era’s conqueror. And now, he had personally deigned to visit this provincial backwater.

Moreover, for reasons unknown, he was pursuing the very same prey as Joo Jae-yeong.

Joo Jae-yeong’s crossed arms tightened, straining with suppressed energy. From the instant he grasped this truth, he found it impossible to remain still. Was it anger? No, it was far more profound than such a trivial emotion.

A throbbing ache pulsed in his gut. Even in stillness, his lips would involuntarily curl into a madman’s grin, and laughter would erupt from him.

“Hahaha!”

Typically, upon realizing their adversary is an unassailable titan, most people would cower and retreat. Joo Jae-yeong was not most people. With a screw loose in both his head and his heart, he approached the situation from an entirely divergent perspective.

‘Sagyeol, the King of Grisha. I’ll be the first to taste the prize that bastard is after!’

‘Fuuuck!’

‘It’s insane. f*cking great.’

The mere thought of it sent a shiver down his spine. Feeling his underwear slightly damp, Joo Jae-yeong licked his lips. Yeowon had always been a tempting fruit, but now they exuded a fragrance unlike any other, quietly awaiting their harvest.

‘According to my informant, a new airship has docked. He won’t be gone for good… It seems something urgent has happened in Grisha.’

Had he remained ignorant of Sagyeol’s true identity, tracking him would have been impossible. But with that knowledge, it would prove no challenge. Sagyeol was soon to depart Baekdam for some undisclosed reason. While he wouldn’t abandon his target completely and would undoubtedly return, the journey from here to Grisha by airship alone would consume more than three full days.

Three days. Ample time, indeed, to gather the ripe fruit.

The sun now hung directly overhead.

The assembly time for today’s site had been at dawn. It was a task that, with diligent effort, could be completed before noon. Even Park Myeong-seok’s usual exhortations were unnecessary today. Everyone shared the same mindset. The laborers, united in purpose for the first time in a while, pushed through and finally concluded their work by 11:30.

With expressions of profound satisfaction, the laborers swiftly packed their equipment and vanished within five minutes. ‘I really shouldn’t be thinking such things…’

‘They’re like cockroaches scattering at human footsteps.’

Yeowon, too, had originally intended to be one of them, heading straight home. Had it not been for the message that arrived during the final stages of the work, that is precisely what would have happened.

[Today]

‘I’ve taken off my work clothes, but I’ve sweated and gotten dusty. Should I say I can’t go even now?’

‘It’s not that far from here. It might be something important, so should I meet him?’

As they pondered various possibilities, their hand instinctively closed around a small stone. It was a magic stone from a baby Spenta. Originally, Yeowon had intended to sell it through an informant for cash, but somehow, it had remained clutched in their grasp.

Clink.

The warm magic stone tumbled within their palm. While typically used in the Middle World as an ingredient for antidotes against magic essence poisoning, the applications of magic stones were, in fact, limitless. This was especially true when held in the hands of Yeowon, a native of the Demon Realm.

For instance, one could engrave a discreet eavesdropping spell onto a collar.

‘…This is absurd.’

Yeowon found their own internal struggle both awkward and peculiar. To use a hard-earned magic stone for such a trivial, unnecessary trick? It was an idea that would never have crossed their mind immediately after returning to the Middle World.

Yet now, they were genuinely contemplating it. Their resolve was even beginning to lean towards verifying the man’s true intentions, even if it required such a drastic measure.

‘I want to confirm it.’

‘And what will you do after confirming it?’

‘If he truly approached me because he cares, without any other ulterior motives…’

‘If so, then what?’

Their thoughts couldn’t progress beyond that point.

Despite the profound internal conflict, Yeowon’s steps ultimately led them not home, but to a nearby cafe. They diligently rode the bus, then traversed the sidewalk, their mind still churning amidst the gradually familiar cityscape.

‘Did I perhaps want to meet him?’

“Cheol-su! Over here!”

Sagyeol, having spotted Yeowon, smiled brightly and waved. Yeowon’s fingertips twitched. Though not comparable to the man’s enthusiastic wave, they still awkwardly raised a hand. The man’s eyes widened.