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Join the ServerSagyeol exited the Association building, and the waiting guild members immediately flocked to him.
“What happened with the ruckus?”
“Exactly. We came because you said you were going to flip the tables.”
“Boo. What a waste of time. Buy us meat.”
One woman seriously discussed the chaos, while two men chattered excitedly. All three were S-rank Hunters.
In front of the Hunter Association’s main gate, a place where well-known Hunters were often seen, the staff rarely paid attention to prominent figures. Yet, despite everyone’s gazes fixed on them, the S-ranks from Credit Guild followed only Sagyeol, like chicks trailing their mother hen.
Sagyeol responded gruffly.
“Indeed. My prediction was off. I only messed with one of them, and they tucked their tails. It would’ve been more entertaining if they had a bit more grit.”
“Didn’t Lord Sagyeol personally step in? It’s the obvious outcome.”
“Ah, still, it’s a shame.”
“I thought I’d finally get to exert myself after so long.”
Sagyeol glanced at the group, who responded to every word with ten of their own, then beckoned to Lee Hyun-su. From Lee Hyun-su’s pocket, a black card with gold foil emerged.
“Use this to buy yourselves something delicious.”
“We’ll cause a ruckus at the restaurant instead.”
“Woohoo! Boss is the best!”
“Let’s eat meat, meat!”
“No ruckus, no breaking dishes. Just quietly eat your meat and then disperse.”
“…”
“Yes!”
“Understood!”
After their varied replies, Sagyeol entered the sedan. The silent one and the two boisterous ones vanished from sight in an instant.
When Sagyeol looked again, the people were gone, replaced by three tiny specks, like fleas, leaping over distant rooftops and sprinting towards the bustling downtown.
With his arms crossed, Sagyeol fell deep into thought during the drive.
His current obsession was his primary focus. Sagyeol’s objective remained unchanged: to make the man utterly devoted to him. He wanted the man to give his heart so completely, as if he’d tear out his own liver and gall, that he wouldn’t hesitate to enter the Sea of Trees for Sagyeol’s sake.
Yet, for some time now, the mere thought of this objective had started to sour his mood.
‘Why is that? Is it just because I’m not in a good mood right now?’
Although this wasn’t merely a fleeting feeling, Sagyeol still repeated the thought to himself.
Lee Hyun-su spoke in a low voice.
“You’ve done something uncharacteristic.”
Sagyeol’s gaze shifted sideways.
“Regarding the Labyrinth.”
Twenty years ago, after the monster waves had subsided.
The magical beasts that had swept in like a tsunami retreated to their respective gates and nested. Returning to their demon-world ways of growling, preying, and being preyed upon, they posed little threat to Hunters.
This held true even for high-grade magical beasts, ranging from A to S-rank, and troublesome monsters that formed swarms with strong reproductive capabilities, causing minor waves.
When facing them individually, Grisha, with their double-digit S-rank Hunters, held an overwhelming advantage.
Despite this, scholars remained pessimistic. Even as the subjugation efforts achieved repeated successes and yielded results, they continually expressed concern and issued warnings.
The issue was magical energy, or more precisely, the magical essence poisoning caused by it.
Magical essence poisoning was, in fact, more dangerous for Hunters than for ordinary people. While ordinary individuals could survive and maintain daily life with life-sustaining treatment after contracting it, Hunters faced such a poor prognosis that it was practically a death sentence upon onset.
This was due to the dormant mana within their bodies reacting against the encroaching magical energy. If their mana was overwhelmed by the magical energy, it resulted in death by magical essence poisoning; if they overcame it, they recovered from acute magical essence poisoning and could return.
Within the Sea of Trees, there was a wall where this magical energy was condensed. In the early days, when its nature was unknown, many Hunters perished.
Scholars named this wall the ‘Black Mist.’ The media, to convey frustration and urgency, favored the more intuitive term ‘the Wall,’ while Hunters simply called it ‘the Labyrinth.’
Its forms were as varied as its names. Sometimes it coalesced into an impossibly vast area, other times it coiled around the forest like a snake, and some sections even encircled a specific region like a donut.
Even now, having penetrated the Sea of Trees to some extent by following the Labyrinth, the Labyrinth itself remained an unknown territory. Sightings of creatures resembling electric eels, glowing as they roamed within the Sea of Trees, were no longer newsworthy.
Black sparks constantly erupted within the Labyrinth, a sight overwhelmingly alien even in the Sea of Trees, which had been terraformed to resemble the demon world.
Even drones developed for the Sea of Trees malfunctioned and crashed upon contact with the Labyrinth’s walls. Hunters swallowed by it were never found, not even their bodies.
Ultimately, there was no way to access the depths other than by following the Labyrinth inward.
It wasn’t just those participating in the subjugation. Everyone in Grisha believed that at this rate, a dead end encircled by the Labyrinth would eventually appear, bringing the subjugation itself to a standstill.
That moment arrived approximately two months ago, when Sagyeol was searching for the Returnee. It was also around the time the report on Kim Cheol-su was being compiled.
Sagyeol, speaking through the Association, had instructed all participants in the subjugation to act with caution. However, the Hestia Guild Master, blinded by ambition, unilaterally attempted to breach the wall, leading to the senseless deaths of the guild’s elites. This was the core of the current crisis.
Sagyeol responded flatly.
“What about the Labyrinth?”
“Was it truly necessary for the Credit Guild to explicitly state they would take responsibility?”
“Thanks to that, everyone shut up, and we could leave work earlier.”
“That was well-done… no, wait.”
As a salaried employee, Lee Hyun-su almost fell for it.
“Don’t change the subject.”
“You’ve done well so far. I don’t expect much from others. Just doing what you’ve always done is enough for me.”
Sagyeol shrugged his shoulders. Suddenly, Lee Hyun-su realized something.
“You intended to resolve this yourself from the very beginning, didn’t you?”
“Though I didn’t expect it to be such a headache.”
“Surely you’re not actually planning to execute that insane scheme.”
Sagyeol offered a wry smile.
Those involved in the subjugation hadn’t simply been idle. Based on the advice of numerous researchers and experts, one method had been proposed.
It involved breaching the thinnest part of the Labyrinth with the power of mana manipulation. However, ‘thin’ was only a relative term, as it still measured 1.4 kilometers in diameter.
Moreover, that wasn’t the only problem. It was discovered that conflicting attributes were likely to produce a negative effect, ultimately leading to the conclusion that a single individual would have to accomplish the feat to execute the plan.
The only reason it wasn’t outright declared impossible was because of Sagyeol.
The statistics spoke for themselves, suggesting that someone of his caliber, surpassing even S-rank, might just be capable.
The magical beast within the Labyrinth at that specific point was classified as B-27. Hunters referred to it as the ‘Poison Mist Bee.’
Roughly the size of an adult’s forearm, it resembled a bee but lacked the most prominent feature of a bee: a stinger.
They lived in swarms, and if even one was killed, thousands of others would sense its demise and attack in unison. Though nominally B-rank, if provoked, even an S-rank Hunter had no choice but to flee.
“Even for you, sir, annihilating them all in one go is impossible.”
“The simulator says it’s possible.”
“It’s just a probability! And it came out as fifty-fifty!”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Sagyeol readily admitted it. Lee Hyun-su, who had been pressing him, was left flustered and speechless. As if waiting for that silence, Sagyeol continued.
“That’s why I absolutely must get my hands on the Returnee.”
Kim Cheol-su. No, Seo Yeowon was truly the person he had been waiting for all this time.
“Do you know why I call the Returnee a canary?”
“…”
“Hundreds of years ago, miners would take a canary into the mine shafts. Canaries, being far more sensitive to gas than humans, would fall from their perch or falter, signaling a safe evacuation.”
Hearing that story as a child, Sagyeol became captivated by canaries. He pestered his Mother daily to find and raise one, and some nights, he even dreamed of them.
In the eerie darkness of a mine shaft, where a dim lightbulb flickered, Sagyeol met the canary he had so longed for.
Unlike the canary in the book, confined to a neat, square box, the bird in his dream sat on Sagyeol’s shoulder, preening its glowing wing feathers with its beak.
When the black, creeping gas approached, it bravely soared into the air, fighting against it.
The bird guided Sagyeol through the dark mine shaft, like a beacon. Sagyeol, as if enchanted, followed his guide along the path of his dream.
“My affection is genuine. How could I not be fond of him? Just imagining him willingly entering the Sea of Trees for me still makes my heart pound.”
In the end, nothing had changed.
‘Everything is to reach the depths of the Sea of Trees,’ Sagyeol seemed to be saying. Unable to bear it any longer, Lee Hyun-su interjected.
“You’ll be punished for this.”
Sagyeol burst into loud laughter, an expression of ‘what nonsense’ gracing his face.
“Coming from you, that’s truly amusing.”
“I’m regretting it too, so just shut up.”
“Haha.”
Just then, Sagyeol suddenly furrowed his brow.
“Ugh?”
He leaned his sturdy upper body slightly forward, clutching the back of his neck. It was a scene that felt like a cliché from a drama.
“What’s wrong?”
“No. Just a sudden static-like sensation at the back of my neck…”
“Winter is coming soon. It’s probably due to the dry air.”
“It’s just a comparison, but the feeling was somewhat different.”
“Could it be divine retribution?”
Lee Hyun-su subtly prodded, then—
“Hmm, if this is all divine retribution amounts to, I suppose I could push the boundaries a bit more, couldn’t I?”
“…”
His attempt backfired.
Sagyeol, having silenced Lee Hyun-su with his words, operated his device. A familiar message screen appeared. With no new sent or received messages, the last text ended with [It keeps beating strangely.]
Tap, tap.
Sagyeol tapped the screen a few times and sent a new message.
[That’s natural.]
[It’s been like that for me since I first saw you.]
[That’s how it is when you like someone.]
The expected reply didn’t come. Perhaps it hadn’t arrived yet, or maybe it never would, but it didn’t matter. He was going to meet him now anyway.
“There’s no time. We’re heading straight back to Baekdam. You’re still keeping watch, aren’t you?”
“Of course. I’ve even assembled a separate team with trustworthy individuals.”
“And when was it that you neglected him, claiming it was absolutely nothing…?”
A vein throbbed on Lee Hyun-su’s forehead.
“That’s because I didn’t know he was the Returnee back then. Now that it’s confirmed, I’m just as desperate for him.”
Just as Lee Hyun-su knew Sagyeol, Sagyeol knew Lee Hyun-su inside and out. Those words were sincere. Despite appearances, Lee Hyun-su was a rather competent secretary. Sagyeol should have been pleased that such a person was taking care of things, yet somehow, he felt irritated.
“He’s mine.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Yeowon is mine. I’m more desperate for him than you are.”
Lee Hyun-su suddenly felt exhausted.
“Yes. Let’s just say that.”
When Lee Hyun-su replied meekly, Sagyeol grinned. He turned his gaze back to the window. The Returnee, who was currently waiting patiently in Baekdam, would soon be here too.
Sagyeol indulged in sweet dreams, imagining a future with him.
It was like those childhood nights when he fell asleep imagining his own special canary. A flicker of that old excitement seemed to have returned.
“Among all the legacies that person left behind, that’s the only one I find agreeable.”
His tone was as usual, but his expression was not. A dark, crimson killing intent surged in Sagyeol’s eyes. Lee Hyun-su, who knew the complex circumstances of Sagyeol’s childhood, watched his gaze darken.
“Ugh, what is it? Why are we so slow?”
“The road is blocked. Please be patient for a little longer.”
The sedan sped towards its destination as fast as possible. Soon, Sagyeol began to see the towering turrets rising high into the sky.
It was the airship dock.
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