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Join the ServerTaeseongyeon listened quietly, then nodded readily.
“Let’s hear it.”
He had no choice but to accept Li Jian’s conditions. They were tied to Shanghai’s security.
“Of course, I believe that if Representative Taeseongyeon, the pride of Korea, steps forward, this incident will be easily resolved. But our side’s problem isn’t that simple. The constant news coverage about the Gates has our citizens at peak anxiety. Their safety is directly tied to our city’s security and reputation.”
The air grew heavy. Gazes set traps and dodged them in silence.
“That is why we hope the raid team is composed of trustworthy Hunters and that the raid proceeds with full preparation. Therefore…”
Li Jian’s elbows touched the table. A thick smile curled on his dignified lips. He leaned his interlaced hands on the table, brought them close to his face, and smiled with a sinister glint in his eyes.
“The Shanghai Association proposes to proceed with the Gate raid together with the Hunters of the Sahyeon Guild for the city’s safety. Additionally, as a measure to alleviate our citizens’ anxiety, we demand the full disclosure of the Sahyeon Guild’s raid process to the citizens of Shanghai.”
This was nothing but China’s scheme to send Korea back empty-handed. It was a tiger’s claw greedily digging in. The Shanghai Association had no intention of handing over this ‘Gate’ to the Sahyeon Guild from the start.
****
Thump,
“Ah, are you crazy?!”
[The demon ‘Orias’ of ‘Lemegeton’ frowns and tells you to cut it out.]
Baek Jiun slammed his drink onto the table and yelled at the top of his lungs. Dokyeom, who had been picking his ear in front of him, sighed wearily.
“First verse only. My ears are about to fall off.”
“No, hyung! Aren’t you mad? Those bastards clearly want to screw us over! What, disclose the raid process? It’s all a conspiracy, I tell you!”
He knew. As if Dokyeom didn’t know.
The ‘cooperative raid’ proposed by the Shanghai Association was essentially their scheme to uncover the raid methods that Taeseongyeon had kept confidential. On top of that, they pressured to broadcast it live.
“And does it make sense that Shanghai’s video Hunters will be attached to the raid? No, I’m here! Me?! Ah, shit, let them trip and break all their fingers!”
Because of that, Baek Jiun’s dream of following the raid team to film had turned to dust. His video ability had already been assessed as S-class through
At that level, he was among the top in the country, but the Shanghai Association had pulled rank and insisted on replacing him with their own Hunters, so of course he was burning inside.
“Isn’t the Guild Master too much? Why did he accept that? How much of pushovers do we look like, ugh!”
“You’re whining like crazy. There are plenty of other people with complaints, so cut it out. I’m sick of it.”
“Ah, you say that because everyone else doesn’t seem as displeased as me! See, hyung, you too!”
[The demon ‘Orias’ of ‘Lemegeton’ clears his throat and agrees.]
Baek Jiun huffed and gulped down his drink again. It had already been two hours since he barged into the guest room right after the meeting in the reception room, venting his frustration as if breathing fire.
Beom Yeonhu, who had been called by Taeseongyeon, showed no signs of returning yet, and outside the door, a supervisor still paced around, emitting jamming signals.
According to the veteran Hunter, there might be CCTV installed somewhere in the room. Or a bug.
“It’s hilarious that they’re putting all our Guild Hunters into the Gate and saying they’ll keep watch outside. Honestly, if monsters pop out and they just casually suppress them, any damage will all be blamed on us anyway.”
Dokyeom straightened up at Baek Jiun’s words. Then he muttered in a surprised voice.
“Wow, so you’re not a complete idiot after all.”
“…That mouth, really. If you weren’t my hyung, ugh… I’m holding back because you’re my hyung.”
Baek Jiun pounded his chest in frustration.
Exactly as Baek Jiun said. The Chinese side planned to corral the Sahyeon Guild Hunters into one place, pin the resulting damage on them, and later demand compensation.
In this meeting, the Shanghai Association spoke as if they were doing a favor by deploying their own Hunters outside the Gate. It was an obvious scheme.
All they wanted to show was the justification of ‘we did this much.’ Even so, Taeseongyeon accepted the outcome. It was more accurate to say he had no choice.
“Hey.”
“What.”
“Don’t get worked up over nothing and check the surroundings. Let hyung sleep in peace.”
“What do you take me for? Ah, I already spread my skill as soon as we came in. There’s nothing but small cameras. Do you think I’d just blurt things out if there were bugs? Hyung always has no clue at times like this.”
“Thanks, you bastard.”
Dokyeom rubbed his temples wearily, then picked up the drink in front of him and downed it. Except for Dali, who was already asleep, the surroundings were quiet. Even with Baek Jiun chattering away, he felt someone’s absence.
It was because of the absence of Agon, who was always by his side.
Right after the meeting, Agon, along with Beom Yeonhu, had been ordered by Taeseongyeon to attend the ‘raid team’ briefing. Because Taeseongyeon had assigned them both to the ‘attacker’ position.
Unlike them, Dokyeom, Dali, and Baek Jiun were assigned to the ‘search team,’ which meant the team would probably split temporarily during the raid, and he would be separated from Agon for a while.
This matter was like a test for Agon. How much help Agon would be to Taeseongyeon depended on his patience. It wouldn’t be easy to persuade him, but everything is hard at first.
If possible, using this opportunity to move independently wasn’t bad.
“But hyung. I heard the seniors talking earlier. They said all the Hunters pulled into the search team are rookies? So they’re all B-class?”
“There are A-class rookies too, so don’t worry.”
Dokyeom dry-washed his face in irritation. Out of the 12 Hunters assigned to the search team, four were A-class. The problem was that the Hunter Dokyeom had seen in the lobby earlier was one of those A-class.
If an A-class could be so easily taken down, it meant the Gate was problematic. Or someone had made it so.
He needed to find that out, but he had no clues except that fleeting scene, so he couldn’t just step forward. He’d gone to poke around by looking for that A-class Hunter, but ended up only drawing attention from the surveillance Hunters. A complete mess.
He had to save them.
This incident had been described in just a few lines in the original work, skipping many details, so Dokyeom didn’t know what would happen inside the Gate this time. He only knew the rough situation.
Dokyeom dry-washed his face again in anger and sighed heavily.
[The demon ‘Orias’ of ‘Lemegeton’ says there’s some crazy bastard outside, ahem! Pressing his ear to the door, ahem! So be quiet, ahem ahem!]
“I know, I know. He’s doing all sorts of tricks to avoid those damned regulations.”
“Why is this hyung talking to himself again?”
Baek Jiun stopped drinking and looked Dokyeom up and down. Then he glanced at his watch and pouted.
“But why aren’t Yeonhu hyung and Agon hyung back yet? It’s been two hours. Wow, I guess you don’t even worry about hyung anymore.”
“Feels good to get hit after being cheeky, huh?”
“My stomach hurts because of this! I’m really twisted! Hyung doesn’t understand my feelings even a little! My skills are this excellent and they tell me not to use them. What? What kind of bullshit is this? Let them break all their toes too!”
What did he think he could do with this guy?
Dokyeom, looking at Baek Jiun with pity, sighed and twisted his body to the side. Baek Jiun, who was throwing a fit asking why he turned away and if he didn’t want to look at his face anymore, clamped his mouth shut when Dokyeom made a motion to grab some squid legs and throw them.
“Stop the nonsense and go get some sleep. Aren’t you tired?”
“Ah, I don’t know. Yeonhu hyung said I should stick by your side until he comes back, even if it kills me. Agon hyung didn’t say anything, but he pressured me to stay too.”
Baek Jiun’s muttering mouth chewed on squid legs. Dokyeom stared at him.
Anyway, the ‘Gate Break’ was expected to occur the day after tomorrow in the afternoon, so there was about a day of leeway. That was why they weren’t entering the Gate immediately, despite the urgency.
Because they could only enter the Gate after the ‘Gate Break’ occurred.
You’ve got to see this next! Illusionary Dream will keep you on the edge of your seat. Start reading today!
Read : Illusionary Dream
