Chapter 35: Teacher

“Help! Save us!”

A scream and the sound of shattering glass came from the next room.

“Damn it, Ion! I’ll get people to the shelter and come help!” Hong Insu shouted.

“Please, Ion Hunter,” Tuna added.

Hong Insu and Tuna left with the mother and daughter.

Ion conjured small vines to wrap Hong Inyoung’s storybooks, protecting them from tearing or burning.

Without hesitation, he leapt out the window. He didn’t fall—flight magic wasn’t beyond him, and the vines had grown thick and sturdy, forming a reliable foothold.

Kiyaaak!

Kyaak!

As if the overflow had erupted nearby, Balders clung to the hospital’s outer walls. From a distance, they looked like mere chunks of metal.

A nearby shorter building’s exterior was already half-collapsed.

Kiyaaak!

Swish!

A Balder extended a tentacle toward Ion, but vines swiftly intercepted, climbing from its legs to its body.

Crunch! The Balder thrashed, but the vines held tight, crushing it completely.

“Hm?”

Ion sensed something odd.

Pop.

Before he could dwell on it, a butterfly fluttered out from the monster’s corpse—a plain yellow one.

Ion reached out, and a vine leaf restrained it. The butterfly flapped a few times, then crumbled into yellow light.

Interesting.

Ion flashed a cold smile as he dispatched another Balder charging him.

The rescue team arrived faster than expected, likely due to a nearby guild office. With their swift aid and fewer monsters than anticipated, the situation was quickly contained.

Several minor injuries, but no severe cases or deaths. Hong Insu’s family was unscathed.

Hunter Association officials investigating the damage thanked the trio. A B-rank dungeon overflow could’ve been catastrophic, but they minimized it.

Ion politely declined a commendation and finished his debrief. Hong Insu scratched his head.

“I kinda wanted that commendation…”

“Then take it.”

“Nah, if you and Tuna-hyung don’t, it’d look weird if I did. Thanks, though. Inyoung’s safe because of you.”

“Go to your sister. She’s probably scared and needs her awakened brother.”

Hong Inyoung had been moved to another nearby hospital.

“Yeah, gotta go. Thanks, Ion! I owe you a big meat feast!” Hong Insu waved and left.

Ion lingered in the lobby, waiting for Tuna, who was still reporting to the Association.

Something’s off. An overflow shouldn’t leave things this intact.

Ion eyed the cracked pillars and broken floor tiles. To others, this might not seem “intact,” but those who knew the “Land of Death” left by unchecked overflows would agree.

Monsters left toxic residues that caused diseases in humans. Last year’s S+-rank overflow in Russia turned an area the size of the Korean Peninsula into a Land of Death. Russia tried to hush it, but rumors spread of its expansion.

Human tech could purify it, but the spread outpaced cleansing. Only later, with Idea-Earth joint items, would things improve.

Even with early suppression, some toxins should remain.

Ion scanned the area. Civilians were evacuated, and Association and guild members cleaned up. A B-rank overflow should’ve left toxins where the monster’s tentacles touched, yet Hunters handled the damaged pillars barehanded, unaffected.

The Balder was A-rank level but easier to kill than expected. And that butterfly…

What was that yellow butterfly that crumbled into dust?

“Ion Hunter.”

Tuna emerged from his debrief. Their eyes met, and Tuna led the way. Ion followed, confident he could handle any Hahoe Mask allies if led there.

They stopped in a secluded spot, avoiding Association workers. Tuna looked down at Ion, asking heavily, “Ion Hunter, were you the porter at Park Yujik’s death?”

“No time to confirm what we both know. One question for one question.”

“…”

“What’s Hahoe Mask’s goal?”

“I’ll ask first,” Tuna insisted.

Ion nodded readily. Tuna asked, “Are you Butterfly Mask?”

“No. What’s Hahoe Mask’s goal?”

“To follow the natural order in the most peaceful way.”

To Ion, it sounded like: Minimizing character deaths and following the novel’s plot.

But that couldn’t be. How would a character like Tuna know they’re in a story?

“Your goal?” Tuna asked.

Revive the Demon King to die by the protagonists’ hands—but Ion phrased it differently. “To help Jin Seongha achieve world peace. How many in Hahoe Mask?”

“Not minions, I presume. Honestly, three. Your group’s size?”

“Just me.”

Daon would be hurt, but Ion truly saw himself as alone. Daon and Saon were “preservationists,” but their ultimate goals differed.

“Why is Butterfly Mask targeting Hong Insu’s family?”

“They’re excessively loyal.”

Loyal to whom?

Ion planned to ask next, but Tuna spoke first.

“One more question, Ion Hunter.”

“…”

“Do you want to kill or save Hong Insu’s sister?”

“Save her,” Ion answered without hesitation.

“I’m the tallest in my class and got 100 on dictation. Wanna read with me?”

He couldn’t let a nine-year-old offering storybooks die.

Ion was about to continue, but Tuna, with a gentle smile, said, “Our goals align, and you’ve likely guessed my identity. Let’s drop the pretense.”

His dark eyes held certainty.

“We trained under the ‘Breeder.’”

“…”

“And you’re a Breeder’s disciple too. There’s more than one Breeder in this world.”

Breeder. One who raises offspring. A cultivator.

A storm raged in Ion’s mind. He lowered his eyes to hide his shock.

The “Breeder” they spoke of was Teacher.

Teacher gathered orphans, training them, saying this was a novel’s world and she was a transmigrator.

But what if she wasn’t the only one? What if another transmigrator trained other orphans elsewhere?

Wait… Ade Tuna isn’t an orphan.

So, their Breeder… trained novel characters?

“…”

Tuna waited quietly, giving Ion time to process.

Hahoe Mask and Butterfly Mask were once one group but split over differences. If Tuna’s “peaceful natural order” meant guiding the novel to its end without killing characters, Butterfly Mask believed doomed characters should die, loyal to their Breeder’s vision.

That’s why they clashed.

Ion once leaned toward Butterfly Mask’s view but now, realizing the plot had diverged, just wanted the story to end—peacefully or violently.

“It’s unfortunate,” Tuna said, misinterpreting Ion’s silence as shared sentiment. “We also realized there might be others like us and felt heavy-hearted.”

Ion gleaned that their Breeder wasn’t so different from Teacher. Their training was brutal too.

Ion didn’t call it abuse, though.

Pretending he’d known all along, Ion asked calmly, “What world is your Breeder from?”

“Earth. Was yours from Idea?”

He knew about Idea too.

“My Teacher’s body is Idean, but she was Korean before transmigrating.”

“Transmigrated… into a novel?” Tuna tilted his head, puzzled, as if hearing it for the first time.

Ion stared, offering no elaboration.

Tuna sighed heavily. “Your Breeder explained it that way. Transmigrated into a book.”

“Is yours different?”

“Our ‘Master’—no, I don’t want to call that trash that—claimed to be a regressor. Said they regressed thirty years after seeing the Demon King’s defeat.”

It got crazier.

“Transmigrated into a novel… no plausibility or realism. Makes you wonder if they meant to deceive. Breeders…” Tuna scoffed.

Ion, who’d believed that implausible story until now, stayed silent. He still believed it.

Teacher genuinely missed her Earth life—kind parents, a pesky sibling, playful friends, even exam stress.

To Ion, regression sounded less plausible. How could someone rewind time? Time was just a concept, not a tangible thing.

“Ion Hunter, now that we know each other’s identities, I’ll ask again: your true goal?”

“For Jin Seongha and Sara Harunda to defeat the Demon King. The process doesn’t matter—who lives, who dies. As long as they win. Hahoe Mask’s total numbers?”

Tuna paused, calculating Hong Insu’s skills, stats, and potential. Nodding approvingly, he said, “Good idea. Then, Ion Hunter, how about joining us?”