EFME 136

The dreams he hadn’t had for a while continued for the past few days. Perhaps because he realized those dreams were reality, the pain he experienced back then was excessively vivid.

An overly long and painful memory weighed heavily on Sunyul. Just thinking about that time made his head throb with pain. He didn’t want to think about it. However, the thoughts kept drifting into his mind.

Lately, Sunyul’s condition was at its absolute worst.

“Sunyul, are you okay?”

Sunyul, who had been immersed in other thoughts, suddenly snapped his head up. This was not the time to be distracted by a headache.

Currently, Sunyul was attending the baptism ceremony of the Church of Doom.

The Church of Doom headquarters had a cleaner atmosphere than expected. Since it was the Church of Doom, he had expected a gloomy place hung with unpleasant decorations, but instead, it was a place with quite a luxurious feel.

It did have an overall dark atmosphere. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all finished in black, so even though the lighting wasn’t that low, it didn’t feel bright.

[The ‘Traveler of the Eternal Night’ says it is an unpleasant place.]

Sunyul deeply agreed with the constellation’s words. Since it was a place built by bastards who put forward a false faith to accumulate wealth in an unsavory manner, there was no way it could be a pleasant place.

[The ‘Traveler of the Eternal Night’ warns that this place is advantageous to the enemy.]

Seeing the constellation speak like that, there must be something to this place. Thinking that he shouldn’t take it too lightly and must be cautious, Sunyul looked at Choi Seongha.

“Hyung, you seem busy… It’s fine if you leave us and go ahead.”

At that, Choi Seongha, who had been looking at his smartphone, raised his head.

“Yeah, sorry. Lately, the number of believers has grown, and since the number of people participating in the baptism ceremony has increased too… it’s chaotic.”

“Is there a lot of work?”

“There are various miscellaneous things they ask me to do. I have to work hard.”

Choi Seongha, who spoke like that, looked extremely happy. He had seemed in a good mood recently, but today, he looked as thrilled as someone who had won first place in the lottery.

Choi Seongha repeatedly requested him to stay here and not wander around too much and get lost, and then he left for somewhere else.

Choi Eunyoung looked once toward the direction where Choi Seongha disappeared, and once toward the people walking past here and there, and then whispered to Sunyul.

“There really are a lot of people. It’s quite amazing, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“Ah, it’s seriously the best…. Thinking about getting baptized today, I was so excited that I couldn’t even sleep.”

“…Is that so?”

The [Fanatic] trait of Choi Eunyoung that he had previously seen with [Insight] was D. Considering that she hadn’t even received baptism yet, it could be seen as a truly terrifying level of immersion.

Sunyul spent time chatting with Eunyoung, or to be exact, listening to her praise the Church of Doom with full ecstasy.

Then, around the time the hour to enter the hall drew near, Sunyul initiated the operation.

“I’m going to go to the restroom for a bit.”

“It’s almost time to enter, though?”

“I’ll be back quickly. If I’m late, you go in first.”

Sunyul first entered the restroom, closed the door, and checked his messages to see if there was any abnormality. However, since there was a message from Muyoung… out of habit, he checked that first.

The Sweet and Kind Guild Leader

I just came out of the dungeon, where are you

Instead of replying right away, Sunyul checked Yoonjae’s messages.

Go Yoonjae

They say the preparations for the baptism ceremony are proceeding without any particular abnormality.

They say it seems that influential figure has arrived, though.

And, it was confirmed that Yoo Sunghyun, whom they suspected of being the influential figure of the Church of Doom, also came here today.

Go Yoonjae

They say it seems he is meeting with the leader just the two of them, but that’s not certain either. Man, nothing is certain with this guy, haha.

The Awakeners Management Bureau hadn’t done nothing either; they had won over one high-ranking executive level of the Church of Doom. It seemed they were obtaining information from that side.

Go Yoonjae

Still, just in case, can you just confirm who is together with the leader?

Just confirm this and simply pull out. We’ll handle the rest.

Since they are a mental-type ability user, be careful, and careful again.

Got it.

Sunyul replied like that and opened Muyoung’s message window again. Then, after hesitating, he replied honestly.

I came to the Church of Doom baptism ceremony right now. If it gets dangerous, I’ll run away right away, so don’t worry.

While he was writing the next message, a phone call came in from Muyoung. Sunyul didn’t answer the call and disconnected it.

I’m sorry. I don’t think I can answer the phone.

The Sweet and Kind Guild Leader

Lim Sunyul

Why did you go there?

The things I was investigating resolved well. I came to infiltrate because I think I can catch the influential figure here.

The Sweet and Kind Guild Leader

Infiltration? Why you?

I have to go, so ask Yoonjae for the details.

It seemed more messages were coming from Muyoung, but Sunyul squeezed his eyes shut and ignored them.

Soon, an internal map marking the location presumed to be where the leader was arrived. Sunyul memorized the location and closed his smartphone.

He was a person who originally wouldn’t even set a lock on his smartphone, but today, just in case, he locked it. He also put the item that sends a signal into a separate pocket. Having checked his state one last time, Sunyul left the restroom.

Instead of returning to the place where he originally was, Sunyul headed toward the stairs. And as if worried someone might see, he quickly hid his body and went up the flight of stairs.

Having quickly gone up the steps, Sunyul cautiously opened the door leading to the hallway. However, the door itself was locked. As for being locked… it wouldn’t pose any problem to Sunyul.

[Using the ‘Release’ skill.]

Because in front of the A-rank [Release] skill, most things were bound to open.

Using a skill he didn’t use often under normal circumstances, his heart pounded as if he had needlessly become a thief. Sunyul, who opened the door, sent a homunculus inside to check the interior again and then went inside.

Looking at the deserted hallway and the CCTVs, it felt like he would be caught quickly if he dawdled. Sunyul thought they should finish it through a swift and decisive battle, and headed straight toward the room where the leader was said to be.

Since everything was focused on the baptism ceremony, there were barely any people walking past. Avoiding or hiding from the people walking by, Sunyul gradually drew closer to the leader’s room.

And finally, he arrived at the leader’s room.

He could sense someone’s presence inside the thick door.

Sunyul tried to send a homunculus through the gap of the door, but defensive magic was wrapped around the leader’s room, so the F-rank homunculus could not pass through. Even so, if he used the [Release] skill altogether, he would be caught….

Sunyul decided to first hide his body in a nearby room. He intended to hide and wait for the door to open, and then confirm with a homunculus.

Like that, several minutes flowed by, and finally, the door opened.

The one who came out first was the leader of the Church of Doom. He was holding the door so it would be easy for the next person to come out. The people who came out next were Choi Seongha and Yoo Sunghyun. And….

‘…Guild Leader?’

It was Kwon Muyoung.

Sunyul froze from the shock. There was absolutely no reason for Muyoung to be with a cultist. Unless Muyoung was the influential figure of the cult, absolutely….

At that moment, Muyoung smiled, looking precisely at the homunculus.

“As expected, you fall for it again.”

Before Sunyul could even grasp the meaning of those words, an intense shock swept through Sunyul’s head.

And after that….

It was a blackout.

⊹₊｡ꕤ˚₊⊹

Yoonjae recalled the time he worked together with Sunyul.

Thinking about it, Sunyul wasn’t always a reliable comrade. Of course, when dealing with monsters, he is incomparably reliable.

The problem is when dealing with humans. Since he looks pretty and is the type like a passionate detective overflowing with a sense of justice, he would often rush forward, unable to tolerate injustice.

This matter was about dealing with humans, so he was a bit anxious. Of course, since Sunyul is an EX-rank hunter, one wonders what could possibly happen, but….

Since he couldn’t contact him carelessly as long as he had infiltrated, he was burning with anxiety. He had told him to warp immediately, but honestly, it didn’t seem like he would do that. He would exert himself to try and resolve something. He only hoped he wouldn’t get hurt.

However, even though a considerable amount of time had passed since they last contacted, there was no contact whatsoever from Sunyul.

Meanwhile, the baptism ceremony began.

“What about the leader?”

“He hasn’t appeared yet. According to the order of the ceremony, he is scheduled to appear a bit later.”

Because he couldn’t know how things turned out, it was frustrating. Even if he wanted to look inside the building with a search-type hunter, this building, as if wanting to hide something so much, was thoroughly prepared against skills, making it difficult to even take a look.

“Team Leader….”

At the voice murmuring from the side, Yoonjae turned his head and then looked ahead again. Park Cheolju, who had been a member of his team for 5 years, was originally a member of Sunyul’s team. In the first place, a significant portion of Yoonjae’s team members were, in the past, Sunyul’s team members.

Because Sunyul acted strangely awkward particularly toward his own team members, they couldn’t draw close to Sunyul again. However, they were people who missed Sunyul.

“Shall I try transforming and going in?”

“…You’re going to enter as a cat over there? Forget it, you’ll be caught quickly and kicked out.”

Everyone was growing anxious from the indefinite waiting. At that moment, contact came from the agent who had infiltrated the inside.

“The leader has appeared. He is currently conducting the baptism ceremony.”

Then, whether the leader met that bastard who is the influential figure or not, the influential figure has at least left the place where they were meeting.

He had clearly told him to just confirm the meeting and pull out, but what on earth is Sunyul doing…. It shouldn’t be that Sunyul, who has the [Warp] skill, couldn’t come out because his retreat path was blocked.

An anxious feeling arose. Yoonjae bit his lip.

“I’ll just have to barge in.”

“How are you going to handle the aftermath?”

“I’ll take off my uniform, I guess.”

Yoonjae said indifferently.

“A lawsuit will be filed too.”

“I have a lot of money.”

Yoonjae straight away used a flying item and soared up. Behind him, he hears Team Leader Kim, who came here together with Yoonjae, shouting at the top of his lungs, asking if he was crazy.

Whether that was the case or not, Yoonjae headed toward the place where Sunyul should have arrived.

However, thick film was applied to the windows as well, so the inside could not be seen at all. Yoonjae kicked the window. As expected, whether they had applied a skill to it, it wouldn’t budge.

Well, even if it’s like that, would it compare to an S-rank skill.

[Using the ‘Explosion’ skill.]

Boom! Along with a noisy sound, the barrier of the entire building shook. Prying through the gap of the temporarily shaken barrier, Yoonjae broke the window and came inside.

As soon as he came inside, there was a severe smell of blood. Yoonjae’s heart thumped down.

The person who had collapsed while drenched in blood was the executive of the Church of Doom whom the Bureau had conciliated. Yoonjae contacted the bottom to carry the executive to the hospital, and looked around the room once. There was nothing special inside the room.

Where on earth did Sunyul go. He wasn’t a kid who would disappear like this.

He hadn’t anticipated this kind of situation at all. Because he had never thought there would be a person who could easily suppress Sunyul.

An ominous premonition completely filled Yoonjae’s inside.