EFME 122

One month had passed since clearing the Gangneung S-23 dungeon.

Sunyul’s daily life had become incredibly busy. He explored dungeons every day, and in his remaining time, he visited the B-rank hunters Yoonjae found for him to inspect their information with his insight skill, checking if they possessed [Magician’s Hand] or any related skills.

The symptoms he experienced every time he entered a dungeon were growing progressively worse, but the exact cause remained unknown.

He felt like his constellation might know something, but they wouldn’t say a word.

However, one thing was certain. He had suspected it for a while… but he became completely convinced as he ran more dungeons.

The higher the rank of the dungeon, the stronger the influence of the dimensional rift on Sunyul.

But knowing this wasn’t particularly helpful information, since Sunyul couldn’t just restrict himself to low-ranking dungeons.

Even more so than Sunyul becoming busy, Muyoung had also become incredibly busy. He was tied up with running the guild, but as an S-rank hunter, he also placed a heavy emphasis on clearing dungeons.

This was because the dungeon appearance rate had subtly spiked once more following the occurrence of that bizarre dungeon.

Thanks to that, Sunyul was busy heading out for dungeon raids together with Muyoung… it would have been nice if that were the conclusion.

In reality, Sunyul rarely ended up in the same raid team as Muyoung. Even from Sunyul’s perspective, putting the number 1 and number 2 hunters in the same basket was highly inefficient.

Rather, because they ran dungeons split into different raid teams every time, there were quite a few days when he couldn’t see Muyoung at all.

‘If it’s going to be like this, wasn’t there no point in joining Cheongyeon Guild?’

It reached a point where such thoughts crossed his mind.

Sunyul ran dungeons by applying to join other raid teams, and everyone was simply delighted just to be running a dungeon with Sunyul. They loved it so much that Sunyul, who had been feeling disappointed by Muyoung’s absence, felt a little embarrassed.

There were also times when he ran dungeons in collaboration with other guilds, including Cheongyeon Guild. Though he didn’t run them with the Utopia Guild. For the most part, everyone from the other guilds liked Sunyul as well when they ran together.

Thanks to that, although he was busy, he didn’t feel much fatigue. Being liked and cheered on by others gave Sunyul strength.

Today, that same Sunyul took a break from dungeon raids and came to do a different kind of work.

It was none other than a commercial shoot.

He had turned down commercial advertisements, but since this was a public service announcement related to dungeons, he accepted it to take a day off.

At the commercial shooting site, Sunyul ran into a familiar face. It was Yoo Sunghyun.

“Sunyul, to think I’d see you here?”

“Yes, hello.”

At Sunyul’s greeting, Yoo Sunghyun smiled amiably.

He heard that an investigation into Yoo Sunghyun’s faked rank wouldn’t take place immediately. They hadn’t informed Yoo Sunghyun himself either. Since Sunghyun might be connected to the Eschatology Church, the plan was to avoid provoking him as much as possible during the investigation.

This was because they had judged that if Yoo Sunghyun truly was a powerful figure in the Eschatology Church and the mastermind behind the previous kidnapping incident… it would be better to approach with extreme caution.

In truth, just because a surface-level investigation hadn’t been conducted didn’t mean they hadn’t looked into Yoo Sunghyun; a probe had been carried out to some extent on an illegal frontier. When they secretly investigated his house, there was nothing unusual, and the same went for Sunghyun’s personal belongings.

However, there were a few suspicious parts regarding Yoo Sunghyun’s tracks. His manager changed oddly often, and when a mental-type awakened inspected the memories of his close acquaintances, there were parts that looked as if they had been tampered with.

Yet everything was merely circumstantial. Unless there was direct evidence, Yoo Sunghyun would slip away like an eel from an ability-related crime that was already difficult to prove.

Therefore, the Ability Bureau was biding its time. Waiting for the moment Yoo Sunghyun revealed his true colors.

“Hello. Haha, it’s nice to meet you.”

Greeting him, Yoo Sunghyun extended his hand. Holding the hand of a mental-type ability user felt uncomfortable, but the gap between an EX-rank and an A-rank spanned a whopping two tiers.

Mental-type or manipulation-type abilities didn’t work well if there was a gap in rank. Just looking at Muyoung’s [Word Magic], it was an S-rank skill, but when used against someone of the same rank, it only went as far as briefly freezing their actions.

Of course, since Yoo Sunghyun possessed traits that assisted mental-type skills, he would be more powerful than an average awakened… but even so, bridging two tiers would be difficult.

Sunyul smiled smoothly, took his hand, and shook it.

“What brings you here today?”

“Didn’t you know? I’m the one shooting the commercial with you, Sunyul.”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I didn’t know because I’ve been so busy lately.”

“It’s fine. Is there anyone in South Korea who doesn’t know how busy you are, Sunyul?”

Sunyul laughed awkwardly at Yoo Sunghyun’s flattering words. It felt a bit more awkward receiving such words from a person he had been heavily suspecting until just a moment ago. Sunyul casually changed the subject, suggesting that they head on in.

Sunyul stepped up with enthusiasm… but the commercial shoot was awkward beyond belief. It was even more so because he had to shoot alongside a professional. Even though he wasn’t acting but merely reading the provided lines, it was awkward, leading to continuous outtakes.

“Let’s take a short break. Sunyul, you look tense, so loosen up your shoulders a bit.”

“Ah… Yes, I’m sorry.”

“No need to be sorry. I’m going to step out to use the restroom for a moment myself.”

Yoo Sunghyun laughed lightly, dismissing it as nothing, and left the filming set.

Standing in place for a moment to take a deep breath, Sunyul headed to the restroom to wash his face. Just then, Sunyul witnessed a rather suspicious sight.

A staff member off in the distance suddenly froze in their tracks. Unbothered even as the items they were holding tumbled to the ground, they turned to look at the person beside them.

Standing next to them was Yoo Sunghyun.

If someone dropped their things, they would normally fluster, but the staff member nodded their head with a somewhat blank gaze.

“…Yes, understood.”

The staff member spoke slowly. Then, bowing their head, they gathered their items in a scramble and walked past Sunyul’s side.

Not a single trace of the previous blank look could be found on the face of the staff member, who greeted Sunyul lightly. The staff member went straight back toward the filming set.

Sunyul shifted his gaze, which he had directed toward the staff member, over to Sunghyun.

“What was that?”

“Ah, it’s nothing major. There was just something small I needed to ask of them.”

Yoo Sunghyun smiled. To Sunyul, it felt incredibly suspicious.

After the commercial shoot ended, Sunyul contacted the Ability Bureau to quietly look into that staff member. There were definitely traces of manipulation.

“…We can’t really do anything with just this, right?”

“We can’t. It’s not like he ordered them to do anything grand.”

What Yoo Sunghyun had ordered was just a light errand. However, the fact that he used a skill even for ordering such chores meant he used it quite routinely.

“We’ll have to keep watching him.”

Sunyul decided to set aside the problem for now since an immediate answer wouldn’t come out.

⊹₊｡ꕤ˚₊⊹

He often ended up in the same raid team as Saebyeok.

No, actually, it happened quite a lot. Since Saebyeok was an A-rank healer and they were known acquaintances, the guild frequently paired the two together. Even though they didn’t need to.

As they finished their meal and wrapped up cleaning, Saebyeok secretly called Sunyul out.

“What is it?”

“Just… I’m pondering.”

“Pondering what?”

“Danger is drawing near to your vicinity.”

“What danger?”

“I can’t tell you everything. This… can be connected to a small yet large current.”

Sunyul stared at his constellation, who as usual wouldn’t speak straight, with an unenthusiastic gaze.

“What’s that supposed to mean, leaving an unpleasant aftertaste. Then you shouldn’t have said anything at all.”

“I’m at least issuing a warning this way. Telling you to be careful.”

“Got it.”

But even if he spoke in such a vague, cloud-catching manner… nothing came to mind at all.

“You’re not picking a fight with me, right?”

“I’m not. Really.”

Saebyeok smiled softly. It was a highly benevolent expression, but to Sunyul, it felt nothing short of unenthusiastic.

“Why would I pick a fight with you?”

“…Well, fine.”

Say what you want, this constellation was on Sunyul’s side. Having recovered his memories in patches, Sunyul could tell. That he could be trusted.

Even if he was obnoxious at times.

“Come to think of it, a few days ago, I had a one-on-one private meeting with the Guild Master.”

“What? Why?”

Sunyul asked with wide, startled eyes. Saebyeok covered his mouth and lowered his voice.

“The Guild Master told me to keep it a secret, though.”

“…Then forget it.”

At the words that Muyoung had told him to keep it a secret, Sunyul gave up instantly. Saebyeok shrugged his shoulders.

“I can tell you, you know?”

“You just said he told you to keep it a secret! Then I won’t listen.”

“Right, right. What a good kid.”

“You’re obnoxious…”

With his lips pouting heavily, Sunyul stood up from his spot. Everyone was wrapping up their meals around now anyway, so it was time to get up.

This place was a dungeon, and the raid team, having eaten their fill, was tidying up the area. Since they had eaten heartily, it was time to finish up the dungeon.

It was a dungeon that had been cleared multiple times. Since they already knew the patterns, there was nothing difficult about it. Clearing it smoothly, they arrived at the boss’s chamber in no time.

The dungeon’s boss was a fairly strong golem, but the raid team that routinely ran this dungeon felt more confident than usual. Because as they ran the dungeon up to this point, they had personally experienced just how powerful Sunyul’s buff skills were.

You have completed the A-rank dungeon raid.

You have broken the record for the shortest dungeon clear time.

Rewards will be distributed according to contribution level.

Sunyul checked the rewards. He was quite used to this by now, which made him feel proud, as if he carried the air of a proper hunter. Checking the options, it was an item that would sell decently.

“Something pretty good dropped.”

Sunyul stepped out of the dungeon with a light heart. However, the atmosphere among the Cheongyeon Guild members waiting near the dungeon gate was unusual.

“What’s wrong? Did something go wrong?”

“…No, nothing went wrong immediately, but.”

“What is it?”

“The Guild Master…”

“What about the Guild Master.”

“He entered an S-rank dungeon alone.”

“What did you say?!”

At the unexpected news, Sunyul’s face turned completely pale.