Chapter 193

"Oh my god, oh my god! Junhyeok, you look absolutely INSANE! Just gorgeous!!!"

My friend — former Icarus proprietor, now Nest Guild's head administrator — clapped his hands, giddy.

"They say clothes make the man — the whole look just POPS! I knew it — our Emperor Chae Junhyeok, still got that swagger~~~!"

"Emperor."

At that skin-crawling word, I furrowed my brow and shot him a savage side-eye.

"Yeek."

Under the murderous look, the guy hunched his neck in for a second — then his lip stuck out like he'd been unfairly wronged.

"What, am I wrong? Sitting on all these expensive, gorgeous suits and not wearing them even once — why?!"

Because I didn't even know they were there…

Astonishingly, tucked away in a hidden closet in the corner of the Director's office had been a stash of ultra-high-end suits, tags still on.

Even I hadn't known — but like he had some kind of luxury-brand radar built in, the head administrator had sniffed them out on the first sweep.

"There! Look at yourself in the mirror."

Having discovered the suits, he'd thrown himself into a solid three-hour campaign of grooming me from head to toe.

Toward the tail end, he'd even tried to reach for actual makeup — I recoiled and fought him off — but under a firm "You HAVE to, if you want to hold up under camera flashes!" I'd ended up strong-armed into makeup, too.

Still, all that tearful labor hadn't been wasted — even I had to admit the guy in the mirror looked pretty damn good.

A deep navy slim-fit suit.

Blond hair slicked back flawlessly with pomade.

And beneath the fully exposed brow, gold eyes gleaming cool.

The usual slick-punk look I gave off was nowhere in sight.

Perfectly put together like this, I looked more like a young mafia boss or an arrogant noble than myself.

Haah…

The head-to-toe sharpness felt profoundly weird on me, and I scratched at the back of my neck.

"Uggghhhh! I'm telling you, INSANE! You're gonna eat that party alive tonight — eat! it! alive!"

…It's not that kind of party.

I let the head administrator's fawning racket — clapping thrown in for good measure — slide clean through one ear.

I'll just plant myself quietly in a corner and blend into the background.

Just as I steeled myself on that and checked the time, the strange quiet outside caught my attention.

But… that's weird? Why are the kids so quiet?

Normally they'd be wrapping up training and swarming in to chatter about now, but out beyond the Director's office door, everything was dead still.

A while back, once I'd come to some kind of understanding with Cha Yul, the little ones had moved back to their original spots in the Sunshine Room.

But at mealtimes and bedtime, they'd still inevitably pile into the Director's office.

However many times I coaxed them to head back to their own cozy room, the little ones held firm.

— We hafta pwotect the Direektuh!

No — I'm the one supposed to be protecting you, why is it the other way around…

It made me laugh dryly, but honestly, the warmth of it wasn't something I disliked.

I was going to feed them the mana stones when they came in today.

I quietly looked down at three glass vials, each holding a liquid that sloshed in a strange black hue.

The result of brewing down three Chaos Mana Stones.

I'd figured the volume would drag it out, but mercifully, in under a month it had extracted into a perfect concentrate.

Sea-ah had already had hers, so going in age order — Cha Yul, Sihyeok, Suho — the numbers matched up perfectly.

The problem was Cha Yul.

He'd once refused the Chaos Mana Stone, saying he'd get strong on his own strength alone — but this time, I couldn't back down either.

The vision of the future.

After hearing what those horrific contents were, my resolve had gone rock-solid.

The world ending? A massive overload rift?

Who cared.

What I wanted was one thing, and one thing only.

That whatever crazy hell broke loose, the kids would come through it alive — strong enough to.

No way I was leaving these in the Director's office, though.

I tucked all three vials of mana stone deep into my inventory pouch.

The plan was to feed them to the kids the moment I met up with them later.

One last check of my clothes, and I stepped out.

Number Three — Kang Taemin — was waiting outside.

That stony face plus a sharp black suit, and he looked every inch a VIP's personal bodyguard.

"Let's go."

"Yes, sir."

Once I climbed into the back of the most expensive luxury sedan in the garage, Kang Taemin pulled the car smoothly off.

The dazzling nightscape of District One's downtown streamed past the window.

Chin propped on my hand, I ran the intel on the host — Cheonun Group — back through my head.

Cheonun had bulked up on a stranglehold over Korea's mana stone processing and distribution, and now sat rock-solid at the top of the corporate rankings.

But now that Chairman Cheon — that absolute ruler — had been laid low, the three siblings, eldest son Cheon Sangmin, second daughter Cheon Sangyeon, and youngest son Cheon Sangcheol, were locked in a bloody succession war.

As I chewed over the basics, the car glided to a smooth stop.

Kang Taemin politely opened the door.

Stepping out, I frowned at what I saw.

This isn't the main office — it's a waiting room.

A short distance from Cheonun Group's HQ proper.

Turned out Cheonun had set up a dedicated waiting area of their own for the party's attendees.

You'd wait here, and when your turn came, they'd usher you into a protocol car and shuttle you one by one over to the actual venue.

The scheme was transparent — pour a spotlight over each attendee, give everyone a big flashy entrance.

Ha. Cheon Sangcheol. Really pulling out every trick in the book.

I was clicking my tongue inwardly and looking around when—

"Junhyeok!"

At the familiar voice, I turned my head — there stood Han Jewoon, buffed to a much brighter shine than usual.

His usual unruly red hair had been swept cleanly back, and he was dressed in a beige suit with a perfect fit that molded to every line of him.

His trademark easy smile paired with an overwhelming build — the effect was, quite literally, a violently handsome man, dazzling to the point of pain.

Clothes make the man, all right.

He must have been thinking the exact same thing — he looked me up and down and gave his signature sly grin.

"First time I saw our Junhyeok at that banquet hall, I figured you for some neighborhood punk. Look at you now — a whole real person."

"Ha — funny, I thought the exact same thing the first time I laid eyes on you."

We were just breaking into an incredulous snort at each other when—

"Good to see you again, Deputy Guild Master."

From behind Han Jewoon, Seo Jihyeok bowed his head in greeting.

Neat suit, glasses — clearly he'd put in a fair bit of effort dressing up for the party.

"Ah — Hunter Seo Jihyeok. How have you been?"

At my greeting, Seo Jihyeok let out a sigh deep enough to sink the ground.

"Not… great. There's a mountain of gates I should be clearing right this minute, but thanks to my lunatic of a guild master suddenly deciding to go to a party…"

Seo Jihyeok fired a sharp glare at the back of Han Jewoon's head, but Han Jewoon just hummed hmm-hmm~ and played innocent.

Well — what can you do. Boss says jump, you jump.

Office-drone exhaustion pouring off him — I was in the middle of feeling deeply sorry for the guy when—

"Both of you here already, I see."

I turned — Julia was standing there.

Her heavy medieval-style armor set aside for the night, she was in a sharp, sophisticated tailored suit that fell in clean lines.

The dazzling waist-length blond hair had been neatly pinned up, giving her a decidedly intellectual, alluring air.

"The suit really suits you, Ms. Julia."

"Thank you. Deputy Guild Master Chae, you look quite splendid yourself tonight."

She smiled faintly and inclined her head.

Looking around, I asked—

"By the way, where's Leo?"

"Ah — he said he had something separate to prepare, and told us to go on ahead."

Preparations? Getting himself all dolled up or something?

The kid was usually stuck to Julia like a burr, so his absence was oddly novel.

"Well then — shall we start heading in?"

"Ah, hold on. Guild Master Cheon Sangcheol was quite clear about wanting to enter together…"

The pathetic image of Cheon Sangcheol swam up in memory — hammering the point in that we absolutely had to be photographed side by side for the press.

Distasteful as it was, a promise was a promise — I'd been about to wait it out.

—Snap! Snap!

"Huh?"

Both my arms were seized simultaneously in heavy, powerful grips.

Han Jewoon on the left, Julia clamped onto the right.

"Why the hell are we waiting for a punk like that? He's late — that's his problem."

"Agreed. Let's proceed on our own schedule."

"Wh — what? Wait, hold on!"

The two of them, each easily 15cm taller than me and built like nothing, all but shouldered me up and started hauling me off.

There was no matching the grip of the world's Rank One and Rank Three.

"I — I can walk on my own!! And why are we all in the same car in the first place—!"

My desperate resistance got brushed aside like a feather.

I was stuffed into the back of a waiting massive limo like a piece of luggage, with the man and woman clamping onto me on either side.

"Julia. Wanna take a different car? It's already cramped in here."

"You're the one whose pointlessly enormous frame is making the Deputy Guild Master uncomfortable — or can't you see that?"

The world's Rank One and Rank Three, bickering like children over the seat next to me. Surreal.

Ha… I give up.

I cleanly gave up on even trying to intervene and turned my eyes to the window.

The waiting area couldn't have been far off — the massive venue building was already coming into view.

And what I saw in front of it left me flat-out speechless.

"…What — what the hell is that?"

The area in front of the venue was a wall-to-wall crush of people.

Layer upon layer of crowd wrapped around the building.

Hundreds of cameras flashing like they were about to breach the barricades.

Fans were even camped out with placards bearing the Awakeneds' names, whooping it up.

"Hey! They're coming, they're coming!!"

"Han Jewoon, Julia, Chae Junhyeok — any one of the three, hit that shutter first! Those three are the whole night!"

The frenzied cheering coming in through the window had me recoiling.

Cheonun Group's New Year's event, or a national festival? How many reporters did they invite?

Only a moment to be shocked — the limo door slid open.

"KYAAAAAAAAH! It's Han Jewoon!!!!"

"Jewoon-oppa!!!!"

"He's out! Shoot, shoot, shoot!!"

The moment Han Jewoon stepped out with his easy smile, eardrum-splitting cheers and a savage flood of flashes erupted.

Ughhh… I really don't want to get out…

Watching Han Jewoon's back as he strode along, waving with practiced ease, I wavered.

But with Julia getting ready to step out behind me, I couldn't stall forever.

Squeezing my eyes shut against the flood of white light, I let out a short sigh and stepped out of the car.

"…Huh? Wait — that's Chae Junhyeok!!"

"Chae Junhyeok got out of the same car as Han Jewoon?!"

"Insane — how the hell did those two arrive together?!"

—Ka-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-chak!!!

Another waterfall of shutter clicks came thundering down.

Getting caught in an ugly candid — absolutely could not happen.

I put every ounce of will into controlling my facial muscles and marched steadily forward.

But the flashes bursting from every direction were so blinding I couldn't see properly.

Just as my feet threatened to tangle, Han Jewoon — who'd closed the distance somewhere along the way — clapped a hand firmly on my shoulder and saved me from an ugly wipeout.

How long we'd walked, I couldn't say.

"J — Julia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"WHOOOOAAAAAAAA—!!!!"

"Insane! Did all three of them just get out of the same car?!"

—Ka-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-chak!!!

"Han Jewoon and Master Julia — fine, whatever, but why the hell is Chae Junhyeok jammed in between them?!"

"See — I told you Chae Junhyeok's got something going on!! Rank One and Rank Three, escorting him on both sides!!"

"My god — has he become such a big deal now that world rankers turn out to bodyguard him?!"

The buzz of the crowd rolled in like a tidal wave.

But between the endless bursts of light cutting off my vision and my ears going dull, none of it actually registered.

…I should've just come alone.

Somewhere I hadn't needed to draw attention at all, I'd taken on more spotlight than I could handle.

I fired a glare full of grievance at the two humans on either side of me.

But the two of them were plainly old hands at this kind of attention — arms hooked firmly through mine, entirely unmoved.

And with majestic strides, they dragged me, under duress, up onto the red carpet.

—Flash! Flash! Flash! Ka-chak-chak-chak!

Finally, the three of us pulled up dead center in front of the massive press wall.

The reporters shoved mics forward the instant we stopped — hyenas that had just spotted prey.

Whew. Silver lining, at least. Rank One and Rank Three flanking me.

The questions were going to funnel over to them anyway.

Dodging the blinding lights, I braced myself to melt fully into the background.

Except—

"Deputy Guild Master Chae Junhyeok! A word on the specifics of your cooperation with Veritas Guild, please!"

"What's the secret behind having Hunter Han Jewoon and Hunter Julia as your escorts?!"

"Is the rumor that the two mega-guilds are moving with Nest at the center of it true?!"

"…Sorry?"

I stared down at the dozens of blinking flashes, dumbstruck.

No, hold on. Why are all the questions coming at ME?!