Chapter 77

...But things in this world rarely go according to plan.

“Seriously, why did you take so long to answer today? You usually pick up right away.”

The next morning, I had been pacing around since early dawn with my phone pressed to my ear. There was something urgent I needed to tell Ahn Yoonseung.

—Hello?

The moment the call connected, I blurted out,

“Yoonseung-ah, the item box!”

—Yes?

“You were supposed to return it right after we finished using it yesterday, weren’t you? But we completely forgot and went our separate ways.”

—Ah!

“I’m sorry. I only just remembered...”

I had been wondering when I could meet Ahn Yoonseung and hand the item box back to him, but the conversation took an unexpected turn.

—What should we do? I don’t think I’ll be able to meet you today. Something came up.

“What?”

—I’m at a relative’s house right now. We’re celebrating my grandmother’s seventieth birthday.

Ahn Yoonseung wasn’t even in Seoul?

I froze for a moment, but he quickly offered a solution.

—But it’s fine! You can return it later. Just hold on to it for now.

Apparently, the situation wasn’t as serious as I had feared.

“Are you sure? Won’t the guild give you trouble for returning it late?”

—Hahaha. No, it won’t be that bad. I’ll probably just have to pay an additional rental fee.

Even through the phone, Yoonseung’s voice sounded bright and carefree.

“Really? Come to think of it, how much does it usually cost to rent an item box?”

His lighthearted tone made it easy for me to ask.

—It’s 1.3 million won.

What had I just heard?

“...Per day?”

—Of course. It’s charged daily.

In other words, if Ahn Yoonseung failed to return the item box he had borrowed yesterday by the end of today, he would owe the guild 1.3 million won.

—Well, I should get going. I’ll contact you tomorrow when I’m back in Seoul—

“Wait! Hey, where are you going? Don’t hang up!”

—Huh?

I shouted in alarm, but his voice remained perfectly calm.

“You said you’re at a relative’s house, right? Do you have to return it in person? If not, I can go instead.”

—Y-yes?

“If you leave it like this, you’ll lose 1.3 million won!”

—It’s not that much. You really don’t need to worry about it...

Damn it. How had I forgotten something this important?

Ahn Yoonseung was an A-Class awakened, after all. He worked in a profession where people could earn tens of millions of won in the blink of an eye, so his sense of money was bound to be different from mine.

No wonder every restaurant he liked was expensive.

“Fine. Just tell me whether I can return it on your behalf.”

A million won might have been pocket change to Ahn Yoonseung, but it certainly wasn’t to me. I was determined to return the item box before the deadline, no matter what.

—Uh... Then I’m really sorry, but could I ask you to do me this favor?

It didn’t take long for him to explain the return procedure.

So all I had to do was go to the Neo Sisters Guild and find someone named Lee Cheongryong.

“What time do I need to return it by?”

—There isn’t a specific deadline. As long as it’s before the end of business hours today. They’re fairly lenient because of guild-member privileges and things like that.

A moment later, a commotion erupted on the other end of the line. I couldn’t make out every word, but I could hear someone saying things like, “How long are you going to stay on the phone?” and “Come over here and say hello.”

—Ah! I’m sorry. I really have to hang up now.

“Right. Sorry for bothering you while you’re busy.”

Click.

The moment the call ended, I began getting ready to leave.

An item box was a magical container capable of storing large quantities of items.

Its price varied dramatically depending on its capacity, but the one Ahn Yoonseung had borrowed was supposedly worth as much as an apartment.

‘They must be an enormous company if they’re willing to lend something this valuable without collateral.’

I kept turning that thought over in my mind as I walked.

[NEO SISTERS]

Before long, I arrived in the lobby of the Neo Sisters headquarters.

‘Oh...’

This was only my second time entering the headquarters of a major guild, yet the atmosphere was completely different from the first.

The Korean Magic Tower Guild had possessed a formal, almost austere air. The Neo Sisters Guild, on the other hand, felt more like a luxury hotel.

‘It’s enormous. And what is that huge flowering tree in the middle? Is it some kind of art installation?’

I looked around with open curiosity.

***

“What brings you here today?”

As soon as he entered, awakened security guards dressed in suits approached him.

Kiryeo explained that he was an acquaintance of Ahn Yoonseung and had come to return the item box Ahn Yoonseung had rented.

“Ah, you’re here on behalf of Hunter Ahn Yoonseung?”

The moment the A-Class hunter’s name was mentioned, the process became remarkably smooth. Even the guards’ expressions visibly softened.

“We’ll conduct a brief security check before issuing your visitor pass.”

“Of course.”

There had been no trouble so far, and the guard at the entrance remained perfectly polite to Kim Kiryeo.

“All done. You may enter.”

“Thank you.”

However, it wasn’t long before Kim Kiryeo encountered his first real obstacle.

“Welcome. What can I help you with today?”

“I’m here to return an item box. Is Chief Lee Cheongryong in the building?”

“Excuse me?”

“I came at the request of Hunter Ahn Yoonseung.”

Upon reaching the reception desk, he immediately explained the purpose of his visit.

There was nothing particularly unusual about the conversation itself.

The problem was what happened next.

“Ah, Ahn Yoonseung-ssi. I see. Before you go upstairs, could you write your name here, please?”

“Certainly.”

“And may I see some identification for verification?”

Without giving it much thought, Kiryeo opened his wallet and handed over his hunter identification card.

The receptionist’s eyes widened.

“An F-Class hunter?”

He must have pulled out his hunter ID out of habit, since he used it more often than his other identification. At her reaction, he searched through his wallet again.

“Would you prefer my resident registration card?”

“N-no...”

For some reason, her answer sounded strangely lukewarm.

“Hmm. Hunter Kim Kiryeo.”

When he raised his head, he noticed that the receptionist’s attitude had changed.

The polite smile was gone.

Now she was staring at him as though he were some sort of suspicious creature.

“You said you came at Ahn Yoonseung-ssi’s request. Could you provide proof that the two of you know each other?”

At that, Kiryeo unlocked his phone and showed her a message from Ahn Yoonseung.

“Would this be enough?”

Apparently, it was not.

“I’m sorry, but I’ll need to call the hunter and confirm it directly...”

A few moments later, the receptionist opened a file containing the guild’s internal contact list. She found Ahn Yoonseung’s number and placed the call.

—Riiing... Riiing...

But why wasn’t he answering?

Normally, Ahn Yoonseung picked up within ten seconds.

Today, however, there was only silence.

The receptionist hung up and tried again, but the result was the same.

—Riiing... Riiing...

“Hunter Ahn still isn’t answering.”

A heavy silence settled over the reception area.

‘Is a seventieth-birthday celebration actually some kind of solemn ceremony...?’

How could any of them have known that Ahn Yoonseung’s phone had just been accidentally destroyed by one of his young cousins?

“Hmm. If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve taken a picture with him.”

Kiryeo rubbed the bridge of his nose, thought for a moment, and then spoke.

“Listen, I’m only here to return the item box. Do I really need to prove that we know each other?”

The guild employee answered without much enthusiasm.

“I understand. In that case, you can simply leave the item box here.”

Her words were polite enough, but her tone was anything but welcoming.

“If I leave it here, will it be properly returned?”

“Yes. We’ll confirm the item and pass it along.”

“But from what I understand, the box doesn’t belong to the guild. It belongs to the chief personally...”

Kiryeo stopped just as he was about to take the item box out.

‘Ahn Yoonseung specifically told me to hand it to someone named Lee Cheongryong.’

Under ordinary circumstances, he might have been flexible and completed the errand by leaving the item with the guild staff.

But this was no ordinary object.

The palm-sized box was worth as much as an entire apartment.

If anything went wrong during the handover...

“Excuse me. Where exactly would the item box be stored if I left it here?”

The receptionist looked at Kiryeo as though he had asked something bizarre.

“We would keep it here and deliver it to the chief.”

“Here? At the reception desk?”

“Yes.”

There were no barriers.

No awakened guard stationed behind the counter.

And the lobby was crowded with people.

It was practically the ideal place for a robbery, yet they intended to store an item worth billions of won here?

No, theft by an outsider wasn’t even the only possibility.

What if one of the receptionists became blinded by greed and simply failed to pass the item along?

‘If even one thing goes wrong, it’s over.’

Kiryeo pictured the item box disappearing and went pale.

“Um... I’m sorry, but I would still prefer to return it directly to Lee Cheongryong, just as Yoonseung instructed.”

“Excuse me?”

“It will only take a moment. Is there any way I could meet him?”

Had Kiryeo’s sincerity finally reached her?

“Oh, of course. I understand.”

To his surprise, the receptionist gave him a positive answer.

“In that case, I’ll contact the chief. Please leave your phone number with us. He’s a busy man, so you may have to wait.”

“It would be inconvenient to keep coming back when the item has to be returned today. Would it be all right if I waited here?”

“Yes. Please have a seat over there.”

Only then did Kiryeo relax.

The sofa she pointed to was in an excellent location beside the window, offering an unobstructed view of the magnificent lobby. He would have no trouble passing the time there.

‘This works out nicely. I can spend the time studying Earth’s architecture.’

Kiryeo settled comfortably onto the sofa by the window and nodded in satisfaction.

Unfortunately, no message from Lee Cheongryong ever came.

Not long after Kim Kiryeo walked away from the desk, the two receptionists began whispering to each other.

“What was that about?”

“I don’t know. He’s some lunatic claiming to be close to Ahn Yoonseung.”

“Seriously? An F-Class?”

“Does he actually expect us to call the chief? What could someone like him possibly want with the chief? Ridiculous.”

The two employees exchanged glances toward the sofa where Kim Kiryeo was sitting.

“Why bother telling such an obvious lie?”

“How should I know what goes through the heads of people like that?”

“He’s probably just like that woman who came in last time. Remember her? She caused a huge scene, demanding that we recruit her and showing off her ability in the lobby.”

Heh.

A quiet, contemptuous snicker escaped them.

“That’s the problem with hunters. The moment they awaken, they start thinking they can become anything.”

“Haha.”

“No matter how unusual their ability is, an F-Class has no business even setting foot in a guild like ours.”

The receptionist glanced once more toward the window, then raised her voice just enough for him to hear.

“Besides, with our guild’s intelligence network, wouldn’t we have scouted him already if he were genuinely talented? If he had any real ability, we would have approached him for recruitment long ago.”

Heh.

Their laughter rang out again.

Kim Kiryeo’s expression, however, remained unchanged.

He had no idea they were talking about him.

“Look at him. He’s sitting there pretending not to notice even though he knows we’re watching.”

“Just ignore him. He’ll give up and leave eventually.”

Having dismissed the request of an F-Class hunter, the two employees returned to their usual work.

And just like that, six hours passed.