EFME 23

It was already the end of November. Christmas decorations began to appear one by one along the streets, and the weather had become quite chilly.

Chief Choi had purchased several sets of winter clothes for the season. They weren’t for him to wear. Nor were they for his superior, Muyoung.

“It suits you well.”

They were for the I-21 in front of him, who was putting on a fashion show, changing into one outfit after another.

“This one suits you well too.”

As Muyoung said, it did suit him. Whatever his true identity was, his outward appearance was that of a pretty boy that girls would probably like.

It was a good thing the dressing room was spacious; otherwise, it would have been too small.

‘This room was originally meant for the Guild Master’s wife……’

The room Sunyul was currently using was one that Chief Choi had strongly insisted on including when the house was first built, arguing that they had to think about the future. There was the room Muyoung currently used, the room for Muyoung’s future wife, and the master bedroom.

To think that a room made for the future lady of the house would end up being used by some boy.

“That’s pretty, too.”

Chief Choi saw the gentle smile on Muyoung’s face and doubted his eyes.

Kwon Muyoung was not a man who would smile just because someone looked good in clothes. But to think he was smiling just because a coat suited him well.

Surely, it couldn’t be that it was becoming perfectly appropriate for Sunyul to be using the lady’s room.

‘No way, it can’t be.’

While Chief Choi trembled in fear, Muyoung designated the clothes for Sunyul to wear today. Then, Muyoung turned to look at Chief Choi.

“You’ve worked hard today. Are you heading to the company now?”

“Yes. Will you be going to the auction house as planned, Guild Master-nim?”

“Yes. I need to buy him some items, so it’s been a while since I’ve gone.”

Not to buy, but to buy for him…….

At the thought that his ominous premonition might actually come true, Chief Choi smiled awkwardly and turned away.

After Chief Choi left and Juyoung was tidying up the clothes, Sunyul came downstairs.

The light purple knit sweater worn over a white shirt, paired with ivory-colored pants, suited Sunyul remarkably well. Extremely satisfied, Muyoung rose from his seat.

“Guild Master-nim, why do you only wear gloomy clothes?”

Sunyul asked as he followed Muyoung toward the garage.

“Because they suit me.”

“I’m curious about bright-colored clothes, though.”

The answer Sunyul had been hoping for was that he would try them on later, but Muyoung didn’t reply. Feeling a little disappointed, Sunyul quietly got into the car.

The car sped down the road and arrived at its destination. Despite the poor accessibility, there were quite a lot of people around the newly built exhibition hall.

Only invited guests could enter the auction house, but the item expo held in the remaining space of the exhibition hall was more freely accessible.

After parking the car in the underground lot, Muyoung handed Sunyul a pair of silver-rimmed glasses. When Sunyul put them on, his face changed.

“Don’t take them off until we come back.”

“Yes, I’ll be careful.”

Someone with a keen eye might recognize him as Sunyul from his height, build, and the fact that he was accompanied by Muyoung. But even if they did, they wouldn’t cause a scene in a hall full of Hunter bodyguards, so just this much of a disguise should be fine.

“We have some time left, so shall we wait a bit?”

Not knowing why they were waiting, Sunyul just answered, “Yes.”

If they arrived with too much time to spare, people would needlessly poke around Muyoung and Sunyul, and Muyoung didn’t want to deal with such hassles.

Sunyul would probably have more fun looking around here and there during the remaining time, but… there was nothing to be gained by attracting people’s attention.

If Heena and Haemin were attending, he might have gone up early to at least see their faces, but it seemed they were absent from today’s auction.

Muyoung only got out of the car when the auction was about to begin. He immediately took the elevator and headed to the top floor where the auction was being held.

Not long after they took their seats, the item auction began.

As befitting a Melior Guild auction, most of the items were the works of the Melior Guild Master and Vice-Masters, Heena and Haemin.

Sunyul watched the items coming up for auction with fascinated eyes. Then he whispered questions to Muyoung.

“That orb doesn’t have wings, so how is it floating in mid-air?”

“How do you bind a soul-bound item? Don’t items have the right to refuse being bound?”

“Those drinkable potions, why don’t they explain what they taste like? Isn’t that important too?”

“Why is something that automatically produces clean water so expensive? You could just bring a lot of water bottles.”

“Why do clothes need an immunity option for your own skills? You wouldn’t use an attack skill on yourself, would you?”

There were basic questions and some absurd ones, but Muyoung answered every single one with utmost sincerity.

Muyoung, who had been watching most of the items pass by without much reaction, sat up straight when a new item came up. Sunyul also focused on the auction along with him.

The bracelet that came up this time was an S-rank item engraved with a C-rank automatic defense skill.

Someone who didn’t know much about items would wonder why an item engraved with a C-rank skill was an S-rank item.

Among the various options, the kind that automatically recognized an external attack and activated a specific skill was particularly hard to find.

The very act of attaching such an option to an item was of such high difficulty that the option’s rank couldn’t be high, and if it was a defense skill like this one, its value was even greater.

Moreover, the bracelet didn’t activate by absorbing the user’s mana but used charged mana, so as long as it was charged on time, even a non-awakened person could use it.

Muyoung immediately began bidding on the bracelet. The price shot up as quite a few people had their eyes on it. Sunyul watched the auction with a nervous heart.

In the end, Muyoung won the bracelet item for 1.2 billion won. With a satisfied face, Muyoung turned to Sunyul.

“It’s yours, so wear it.”

“What?!”

His voice rose on its own. As people looked their way, Sunyul ducked his head and lowered his voice again.

“It’s too expensive for me to use!”

“Does that seem so expensive to you?”

Sunyul couldn’t answer right away and darted his eyes around.

Heena had said 85 million won wasn’t expensive, but… 1.2 billion won was more than ten times that. Compared to the 5,000 won meal at the cafeteria, it was 240,000 times more expensive.

That had to be expensive. Sunyul nodded.

“It’s not expensive to me, so just wear it. It’s a gift.”

The nuance of Muyoung calling it a gift felt nice, so after some thought, Sunyul nodded.

In the meantime, the next item came up. Sunyul, along with Muyoung, focused on the auction again.

Muyoung purchased two more items. Fortunately, this time they weren’t for Sunyul but for Muyoung himself, and even combined, they were cheaper than Sunyul’s bracelet.

It was while the auction was in full swing.

Suddenly, a loud warning alarm began to blare from people’s smartphones. This alarm, set to go off regardless of people’s settings, was clearly a dungeon outbreak notification.

Sunyul took out his smartphone to check.

ᴀ-ʀᴀɴᴋ ᴅᴜɴɢᴇᴏɴ ᴏᴜᴛʙʀᴇᴀᴋ. ᴠɪᴄɪɴɪᴛʏ ᴏғ xx ʀᴏᴀᴅ, ᴜɪ-ᴅᴏɴɢ, ɢᴀɴɢʙᴜᴋ-ɢᴜ, sᴇᴏᴜʟ. sᴛᴀʏ ɪɴᴅᴏᴏʀs. ᴘᴇᴅᴇsᴛʀɪᴀɴs, ᴇᴠᴀᴄᴜᴀᴛᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴇᴀʀᴇsᴛ sʜᴇʟᴛᴇʀ.

ᴅᴜɴɢᴇᴏɴ ᴅᴇᴛᴀɪʟᴇᴅ ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ɢᴜɪᴅᴇ (ᴜʀʟ)

sʜᴇʟᴛᴇʀ ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ɢᴜɪᴅᴇ (ᴜʀʟ)

The dungeon had appeared right nearby.

Fortunately, there were many Hunters in the auction hall, so a swift response was possible.

“Hunters B-rank and above, let’s head to the dungeon! The rest, please guard this place!”

Someone shouted. The Hunters in the auction hall immediately began to move in an orderly fashion.

Muyoung, who Sunyul expected to dash off immediately, didn’t move. Sunyul felt needlessly anxious and looked back at Muyoung.

“Is it okay if you don’t go?”

“I can’t take you with me.”

“What? If you leave me behind…”

“Keeping you under my supervision was the Paranormal Administration’s condition.”

“But……”

“……”

Unable to head straight to the dungeon, Muyoung also seemed to have a lot on his mind.

The fact that the dungeon that just appeared was A-rank was, at best, an estimation. There was a chance that due to an error, it was actually an S-rank or a B-rank dungeon. B-rank would be fine, but if it was S-rank, it would be difficult to stop with just the Hunters present here.

“Excuse me, aren’t you Hunter Kwon Muyoung?”

A security guard from the auction house, who had been glancing their way, spoke to him.

“Is it alright if you don’t go?”

“I have a companion with me.”

“I will protect your companion.”

Seemingly not having guessed Sunyul’s identity, the guard readily stepped forward. Muyoung looked back and forth between Sunyul and the guard, then sighed deeply and took out his smartphone.

“Wait a moment.”

Muyoung disappeared while making a call somewhere. It was a call to get permission from the Paranormal Administration to go to the dungeon while leaving Sunyul behind.

Though he secretly hoped they would say no, the Paranormal Administration readily gave permission. If they stopped Muyoung and then couldn’t stop the monsters and traps crawling out of the dungeon, leading to an accident, that would be a bigger problem.

Left with no choice, Muyoung entrusted Sunyul to the guard.

“I’ll be back.”

“Yes, please be safe.”

After Muyoung left, the guard led Sunyul.

“This way, please.”

Sunyul was guided to a shelter set up on the same floor as the auction house. It was a place where low-ranked Hunters and non-awakened people who had participated in the auction were waiting.

“Please wait here.”

After saying that, the guard hurried off somewhere else.

Come to think of it, this was his first time being alone outside. Sunyul went to a corner and stood there blankly. Because the dungeon had appeared nearby, he could occasionally hear sounds like explosions or monsters’ roars.

Muyoung must be fighting over there, too.

As he was listening to the sounds from outside, someone approached him. It was a foreign man he had never seen before.

“Hello, you’re the one who was with the Cheongyeon Guild Master, right?”

His speech was quite smooth, likely because he was using a translation item. Sunyul nodded.

“Yes, but……”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Pedro. And you?”

“Ah… I’m, um… Dakyung.”

Thinking he shouldn’t blurt out his name here, Sunyul used Dakyung’s name for now, apologizing to him in his mind.