Chapter 23: The Reckless Tightrope Walker

Sagyeol was fundamentally a reckless man, yet this did not imply he acted without thought. On the contrary, he meticulously assessed situations and conditions, always choosing to act rationally. If his actions ever appeared impulsive, it was merely by design, every move carefully calculated.

In essence, he maintained a level of control even in his recklessness, ensuring any fallout could be managed. He also rigorously upheld the moral boundaries a human should never transgress.

Tightrope walking. It was what Sagyeol excelled at most. Yet, what was this current predicament?

‘I must have been truly desperate for a Returnee,’ he mused.

He clicked his tongue, turning his body to re-enter the hotel.

[Hey, can’t you keep your eyes to yourself? What’s with all the damn staring?]

“……?”

A commotion erupted from the small earphone connected to his wiretap. It wasn’t just simple noise; it was a cacophony of shouts and screams. Sagyeol pressed the earphone with his finger, concentrating intently on the sounds emanating from the other end.

As he comprehended the situation, his face went utterly blank. Guards, who had been cautiously approaching, curious about the guest who had suddenly frozen at the hotel’s main entrance, flinched and retreated. A layer of white frost settled upon the wide, garish red carpet that covered the marble entrance.

Sagyeol injected mana into the drone. The golden cube smoothly unfolded, transforming into a sleek, white, aerodynamic body. It resembled a miniature fighter jet, or perhaps a bizarre fusion of a manta ray and a bird. As he gripped the handle on its underside, the controller began reading his brainwaves.

Whirrr.

Having instantly completed its warm-up, the drone shot into the sky.

“What—what was that?!”

“Insane. What the hell was that just now?!”

The astonished shouts of the onlookers quickly faded into the distance. The repercussions of his sudden actions didn’t even register in his mind. What immediately consumed Sagyeol’s thoughts was a single, intense question: ‘Am I actually flying to a cafe right now? And with a flood-rescue drone, no less?’

Even he found the situation utterly absurd.

‘He’s a precious, precious Returnee,’ he rationalized. ‘I can’t allow him to get caught up in something trivial and potentially get hurt.’

Sagyeol, however, failed to recognize the inherent flaw in his own reasoning. While the term ‘Returnee’ encompassed a multitude of implications, its core meaning was unequivocally defined.

They were individuals who had survived and returned from worlds teeming with malice and murderous intent. Though many met early deaths due to the encroachment of demonic energy, this in no way implied weakness.

Could such an individual possibly be harmed by a trivial incident like this? It was an absolute impossibility. Yet, why was he soaring through the sky, even employing a drone to do so?

The commotion continued to blast through the wiretap. It was entirely one-sided, a relentless stream of shouts with no other voices audible. Sagyeol gritted his teeth, keenly aware of the detrimental effect such an attitude would have in this specific situation.

‘Damn it,’ he fumed. ‘Just stay quiet. Then I’ll go over there and utterly pulverize him—’

Sagyeol’s thought, however, was abruptly cut short.

Suddenly, as if the entire genre had shifted, a remarkably calm voice pierced his ears.

[I’m sorry.]

His mind, which had been boiling with an unidentifiable rage, suddenly cleared. Sagyeol nearly plummeted thirty meters from the sky. His heart began to pound erratically. The low, steadfast voice had an inexplicably profound impact on him, resonating deep within his chest.

Calling his voice sexy had been half a joke. It definitely had been.

‘Damn it,’ he thought. ‘It is sexy.’

Regardless of the tingling sensation at the back of his neck, Sagyeol’s mood plunged into a steep decline.

‘Sorry?’ he fumed inwardly. ‘For what?’

What was there to apologize for to that piece of trash?

Sagyeol tightened his grip on the drone’s handle, his forearm veins bulging. No matter what utter nonsense the man below him spouted and barked, the other individual remained utterly calm. This only fueled Sagyeol’s displeasure.

The journey to the cafe was instantaneous. It was an incredibly short distance, incomparable to traversing the skies above flood-stricken areas. Who would have thought such a trivial amount of time would feel so agonizingly long?

Sagyeol let out a hollow laugh as he transformed the drone back into a cube and landed. Just as when he departed, all eyes in the vicinity converged on him. He paid them no mind, however. Slipping the cube into his coat pocket, he removed his goggles and controller, then pushed open the cafe door and stepped inside.

The interior of the cafe was in utter disarray. Counter staff stood bewildered, a woman sobbed quietly, a B-rank hunter was causing a scene, and in a corner, students pretended nonchalance while avidly observing the unfolding drama.

Yet, only one detail truly captured Sagyeol’s attention: the man’s cheek, bearing the distinct traces of a beating. Sagyeol articulated the exact sentiment he was feeling in that moment.

“This is utterly absurd.”

Because he was precious.

So incredibly precious.

‘Even I was merely testing the waters, trying to coax and appease him, hoping to gently bring him into my grasp,’ he thought, enraged.

“You hit him?”

How dare you?

Sagyeol smiled. It was the most languid, yet utterly murderous, smile he had worn in a long time.

‘Am I surprised right now?’

Yeowon, checking his own state, found himself thinking foolishly. He then stared blankly at the man who was the direct cause of his current bewilderment.

He had known Sagyeol might be nearby. He had also known he was capable of coming here. Yet, it seemed he hadn’t truly believed he would come. And why was that?

‘He didn’t come before,’ he mused.

His hand, which had been hanging limply, twitched slightly.

‘He actually didn’t come, simply because I told him not to.’

He would later berate himself for such childish thoughts, but in that moment, he was oblivious. Sagyeol’s gaze, sharp and piercing, fixed on Yeowon’s cheek.

Sagyeol’s eyes, usually curved like crescent moons, hardened into a fierce glare. The cafe’s temperature plummeted instantly. Breaths turned to visible mist. The drink, which someone had taken a sip from and then abandoned, was slowly beginning to freeze.

“Wh-what is this?”

Amidst the flustered crowd, the B-rank hunter wore a look of utter bewilderment.

In Baekdam, the number of B-rank hunters was so small that one could count them on a single hand. Consequently, their personal details were widely known to both fellow hunters and ordinary citizens alike.

The same held true for C-ranks. In a sprawling metropolis, one might not recognize them without consulting a magazine or searching the association’s database. However, in an intimate community like this, everyone knew each other by sight, even without personal acquaintance.

‘I’ve never seen him before,’ the B-rank hunter thought. ‘That means he’s, at best, a D-rank.’

‘Could a D-rank magic user truly do something like this?’ he pondered. Despite this, he was merely a cat who had grown arrogant from lording over mice in a backwater town. True to his habit of conveniently overlooking unfavorable assumptions and focusing only on advantageous ones, the B-rank hunter did so again.

Puffing out his chest, the man openly displayed hostility towards Sagyeol. Sagyeol, however, merely scoffed, then advanced fearlessly, both hands casually tucked into his pockets.

Standing directly before him, the disparity in their physiques became strikingly evident. Sagyeol, nearly 190 centimeters tall, looked down at the man.

‘What an overwhelming presence…!’

The true impact wasn’t his size, but the sheer pressure he exuded. Cold sweat drenched the B-rank hunter’s back.

‘Is he really a D-rank? Why is his aura so menacing?’

Sagyeol reached out and seized the man by the collar.

“Cough!”

“I asked you. Did you hit my apology?”

An apology? What apology?

The onlookers exchanged bewildered glances, and the B-rank hunter, now hoisted onto his tiptoes, was no exception.

‘This crazy bastard! Why is he suddenly talking about an apology?!’

The B-rank hunter, whose body was now suspended, reflexively clutched Sagyeol’s arm.

He flinched momentarily. His opponent was a D-rank Magic User. If he, a Physical Enhancer, squeezed with all his might, the man’s arm might just shatter.

Magic Users were far rarer than Physical Enhancers. Their efficiency in dealing with monsters and their stopping power were incomparable. Naturally, they received better treatment, and the Association paid close attention to them. To injure someone not of the same rank, but two ranks lower? This wouldn’t end with a mere disciplinary action.

‘Ah, screw it. What do I care? This bastard was the one who laid hands on me first anyway.’

The word ‘self-defense’ flashed through the B-rank hunter’s mind. No sooner had he reached this conclusion than his demeanor shifted completely. He exerted all his strength, intending to tear Sagyeol’s arm clean off.

“Guh-gack!”

Yet, it was the B-rank hunter who let out a pained groan.

“You really want to die, don’t you? Hmm?”

The grip on his neck tightened further.

The B-rank hunter’s face turned crimson. Moments ago, he had merely felt stifled, but now he couldn’t breathe at all. In fact, he felt as if his neck was about to be crushed, killing him.

“What are you doing? Keep applying pressure. Weren’t you trying to have a test of strength?”

“St-stop, guh-ack!”

“Why aren’t you fighting back? You’ll really die, you know?”

Sagyeol sneered, but the B-rank hunter could do nothing. He flailed his hands, his fingers curling like hooks as they scratched Sagyeol’s arm. He clearly looked like he was dying. Yet, Sagyeol had no intention of letting go.

“When I joke, I only get called ‘bullshit.’ But you get an apology when you get angry? Haha, want me to show you what a *real* apology feels like? Hmm?”

He was fixated on something strangely off-kilter. Yeowon’s eyes grew cold, but Sagyeol, engrossed with the B-rank, failed to notice.

The people inside the cafe held their breaths, keeping a wide distance. No one was bold enough to interfere in a dispute between hunters. No one, save for one person.

“Stop it.”

At Yeowon’s summons, Sagyeol let out a short, dismissive laugh.