Chapter 77: The Predator’s Gaze

#77

“And Assistant Manager Im. How many years have you been here, yet you still can’t distinguish such trivial matters, forcing your busy seniors to step in? Why don’t you take some of my work instead of just idling around? I’m so swamped, I can barely breathe.”

“No, sir, why would your work come to me…?”

“It’s precisely because you’re just chattering away, unable to assist with the mountain of tasks, that I’m saying this. Assistant Manager Im, you’re not in a position to be helping anyone right now.”

Assistant Manager Im, who had been helping Dokyeom, frowned in displeasure, and the atmosphere instantly turned frigid. The section chief, a man who chastised his junior, intermittently shot glares at Dokyeom.

‘Won’t you leave? Why won’t you leave?!’

His mood was already foul, and his expression suggested he’d found a perfect scapegoat. The chief, who had been relentlessly badgering his subordinate, suddenly shifted his gaze to the glass door behind Dokyeom. A faint figure, disembarking from the distant elevator, caught his eye.

‘Wait, isn’t that Hwang Geunwoo?’

His vigorous stride and hair, wild like a lion’s mane, were undeniable proof. Moreover, the worm-like beast floating in the air unmistakably asserted its presence.

Even from afar, he was conspicuous: Hwang Geunwoo, the ‘Lajajde’ summoner hunter, the pride of Sahyeon Guild, often called the ‘Typhoon,’ and one of the twin pillars of chaos alongside Yisaein.

‘Aha!’ the chief thought, seizing the opportunity. He had offered Hwang Geunwoo more than a truckload of coffee to curry favor. Thanks to this, he had secured a rather solid relationship with Hwang Geunwoo, and his influence within the management team was as formidable as any executive, mirroring Hwang Geunwoo’s own standing. This was precisely why he could interfere in others’ affairs with such overbearing arrogance.

Upon seeing Hwang Geunwoo, the chief’s demeanor grew even more imperious. He ostentatiously loosened his tie, making his displeasure evident as he set the mood, then scowled deeply and lowered his voice ominously.

“And, Hunter-nim. This isn’t a department where we grant every single request just because hunters demand it. This isn’t a place where you can just reach out and ask, ‘I’m curious about this, please tell me,’ and something magically appears. No, it isn’t. We understand you dedicate yourselves to the Guild, but do you think we just sit around doing nothing?”

The man offered a subtle smile, subtly gesturing toward the door with his chin, as if to say, ‘That’s enough, now leave.’ Then, noticing Dal standing beside Dokyeom, he let out a short, hollow laugh.

“And really, the Guild is a workplace, isn’t it? Is it appropriate to bring a child here? I think I’ve made myself clear, a person…”

At that very moment, the chief’s gaze and Hwang Geunwoo’s gaze, both heading towards the management team, seemed to meet through the door. No, that was merely the chief’s delusion. Hwang Geunwoo’s gaze was fixed precisely on Dokyeom’s back.

What followed was a startling series of events.

Hwang Geunwoo abruptly halted, then convulsed into a jump, as if seized by a fit. He suddenly clutched the airborne Lajajde, then frantically spun around and sprinted back towards the elevator. The chief, who had never seen Hwang Geunwoo run so fast in his life, watched his expression slowly morph into utter bewilderment.

Confronted by such an absurd sight, his words became slurred.

“Ah, no… a person, I mean. A person… so, a person…”

‘What was that?’

Upon seeing Dokyeom, he had suddenly bolted in a panic, as if terrified by a ghost.

Nor was he the only one. Another hunter, ascending the stairs beside Hwang Geunwoo, also glanced over, then shrieked in fright at whatever they saw, leaping on the spot. Without a backward glance, they too fled back down the emergency exit—a scene one might expect only if they’d encountered Yisaein.

Not just one, but three A-rank hunters from the renowned Sahyeon Guild, arriving one after another, made a desperate dash for it.

“So, a person, what?”

Dokyeom, who had been silently listening to the chief’s rambling, finally spoke. At that instant, the chief’s mind snapped awake, and his eyes shot open.

‘Wait, just a moment. This doesn’t seem like a normal situation…’

The chief’s mind raced, alarms blaring in his head. It felt just like that time, long ago, when he’d unknowingly refused Yisaein’s request. Hadn’t a tornado, conjured by the rejected Yisaein, sent all the documents swirling like a flock of pigeons? The image of that utterly devastated office suddenly overlapped in his mind’s eye.

‘Am I going to get hurt again…?’

The chief swallowed hard, his eyes darting around. ‘If I just close my eyes and grovel, will he accept it?’ A myriad of thoughts assailed him, but time dragged on mercilessly. Finally, the chief scratched the back of his head and burst into booming laughter.

“Hahahaha! O-of course, when it comes to people, I mean. If you don’t know, you can ask, right? Absolutely, it’s our job, so it’s only right that we step up and help. What… you said you needed something? I haven’t been sleeping well lately, you see, so my condition isn’t great, and my mind is just all over the place.”

Assistant Manager Im, witnessing this display, twisted their face in disbelief, their expression sour. The chief, despite sweating profusely, maintained his constant grin. Dokyeom, who had been watching him without a single blink, was just about to speak.

A scream echoed from behind him.

“Let go, let go!! Not my Lajajde’s fur, you rascal…!”

Everyone’s gaze turned beyond the transparent glass door. A bizarre struggle was unfolding in front of the elevator. The combatants were a child and an adult, sharing no commonalities from head to toe.

It was Hwang Geunwoo, clutching and pulling his monster, and a small child, tenaciously biting the monster’s tail, locked in a tug-of-war with their mouth.

Dokyeom’s gaze swiftly moved to his side. Dal was gone. The moment before, Dal had been quietly beside him, but now they had vanished.

Kiiieeeek!!

Lajajde’s pitiful shriek seemed to shake the entire building. Dokyeom spun back to look at the elevator. Dal, completely sprawled out, gnawing on Lajajde’s tail fur, was so tiny it was astounding where such immense strength came from. No, more than that, Dal was pulling and biting with excessive fervor.

Listening to Hwang Geunwoo’s screams, Dokyeom turned, pushed open the glass door, and strolled out.

He approached Hwang Geunwoo, who was making a ruckus while clutching his monster. Seeing Dokyeom, Hwang Geunwoo’s eyes widened dramatically.

“You, you…! You utterly despicable wretch!”

“Hello? What was it again, Mr. Hwang Geunwoo? It’s been a while, haha.”

Dokyeom’s friendly greeting was swallowed by the monster’s scream, its tail fur torn out in clumps. Dokyeom shifted his gaze to Dal, who was still biting and pulling Lajajde’s fur. Dal blinked, and as soon as their eyes met Dokyeom’s, they discreetly released the fur, as if sensing something.

“Oh, how delicious, my Dal.”

Piiie-

‘Were you hungry?’ Dokyeom bent down in front of Dal, wiping the accumulated saliva from their mouth with his sleeve. Inside the management team, employees with dumbfounded expressions were already pressed against the door, craning their necks to witness this absurd situation.

“Mr. Hwang Geunwoo, since it’s already pulled out, could you perhaps give me that fur? My child seems to really like it.”

“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?! Get away from me right now! My own hair can be pulled out, but never my son’s!”

“Oh, but it’s already been pulled out in clumps, hasn’t it?”

Of course, he had no intention of letting the child eat it. Opening Dal’s mouth, he saw clumps of shaggy fur. Dokyeom scraped out the saliva-soaked fur, making Dal spit it out. Instead, he pulled a bag of bread from his pocket, opened it, and gently placed it in Dal’s hand.

Lajajde, who had been hiding with its face buried in its owner’s back, flinched upon seeing Dokyeom. Having had some fur pulled out by Agon at the swimming pool, that memory was clearly vivid, and its wariness was as fierce as if it had encountered a natural predator.

So, there was a reason it avoided the swimming pool it supposedly loved.

“Aren’t my children as gentle as rabbits?”

“Are all the rabbits dead?! Do those bastards look like gentle rabbits after pulling out my child’s fur like this?!”

Hwang Geunwoo, fuming and with veins bulging in his neck, recoiled in shock when Dal finished the bread and glanced at Lajajde again. Repeating “Don’t come, don’t come” several times, Hwang Geunwoo finally darted into the elevator the moment the doors opened, frantically pressing buttons in a desperate escape from the scene.

As the fuming man disappeared, the surroundings grew eerily quiet. The management team employees, who had been craning their necks to watch the situation, took a step back, their faces pale.

It was because the child’s innocent eyes refused to leave the elevator. They were, quite frankly, the eyes of a predator.

‘…Wasn’t Lajajde an A-rank monster? Wasn’t it… incredibly strong?’

Someone might have thought so, but at that moment, no one could answer that question. Only the wide, shocked eyes of the chief, lost in a mix of impact, terror, and confusion, truly mattered.

“Ah, what was I asking earlier? Oh! Hunter Lee Sanghyeon manages…”

“I, I know! When it comes to Hunter Lee Sanghyeon, I’m the person who knows every single detail, from head to toe!”

Suddenly, a loud voice erupted from beside them. The entire management team frowned with mortified expressions, their gazes fixed on the chief’s back as he darted away. The chief, who had just shouted at the top of his lungs, ignored their disapproving stares. He dramatically changed his stance, as if flipping a switch, and approached the E-rank hunter.

It was painfully obvious. He was cutting ties with that ‘old rope’ of Hwang Geunwoo and eagerly trying to hitch himself to a new, more promising connection. Assistant Manager Im, observing the situation, sighed in exasperation and turned their back.

‘That manager has been like this for ages. In a few days, he’ll be proudly boasting about his new connections everywhere. The problem isn’t him; it’s me, with no backing, no sense, and no business acumen, sigh.’

However, as Assistant Manager Im moved to leave, their name was called, and they spun around in surprise.