Chapter 62
“……Following yesterday’s explosion incident, dozens of changgui entities appeared simultaneously in multiple sectors. Hunter Baek Mujin conducted tracking and subjugation operations with the changgui specialized team throughout the night, and most entities were immediately eliminated on site. However, some remaining entities moved to District 3 and gathered there, appearing this morning during rush hour in the form of a large mutated changgui.”
Director Han, who was Baek Sangyeon’s right-hand man and aide, felt his throat going dry. He carefully continued his report while moistening his lips with his tongue several times.
“At the scene, civilian casualties were initially a concern, but swift evacuation was carried out under the control of the emergency-deployed specialized team. Hunter Baek Mujin engaged in combat, and the battle continued until just before his core’s critical reaction… At 8:27 AM, the changgui was forcibly expelled through an unidentified rift that opened in mid-air, and energy reaction extinction was confirmed.”
When Director Han operated the remote in his hand, the large wall screen displayed footage of the changgui being sucked into the rift.
“The notable point is that this rift was created in the air rather than on the ground, unlike existing forms, and closed on its own without external interference.”
“Who opened that rift?”
“The skill caster or intervener identified so far… is in an unidentifiable state. No, to be precise, Team Leader Woo Nayeong’s side is completely blocking related information.”
Having heard that much, Baek Sangyeon suddenly sat up from the treatment bed. When he mercilessly tore off the treatment devices that had been stuck all over his skin covered with black spots, loud warning sounds rang from the machines.
“Be careful.”
“Get out of the way.”
Director Han couldn’t hide his flustered expression, but he didn’t continue to block him. He just calmly turned off the treatment devices one by one.
Baek Sangyeon moved his creaking body toward the inner part of the guild leader’s office. He entered biometric information into the wall safe to open it and took out a rolled-up piece of paper from inside.
When he spread it out on the table, Director Han drew in a breath. The mysterious blueprint that had appeared in mid-air just before the rift opened – a diagram of similar form was spread out before his eyes.
Why had he forgotten about this? Self-reproaching thoughts flashed through his mind. He was unqualified as an aide.
“Don’t make that face. My expectations aren’t so high that I want everyone to be like me.”
Baek Sangyeon muttered arrogantly while pressing down the four corners of the diagram with paperweights. Ever since witnessing the rift opening in mid-air, the trembling in his hands hadn’t stopped.
The moment he saw the blueprint and the rift, he thought of Jung Hyeeun. The talent who would have been the greatest help to his plans if she had been alive.
The diagram stored in this safe was part of his dream.
When the Control Agency was organizing Yuseong’s legacy after Yoo Eunseong’s death was officially announced – what Baek Sangyeon bid for with highest priority, setting aside numerous valuable items, were the belongings of Yoo Hwan’s wife, Jung Hyeeun.
Immediately after winning the bid, gossip-loving busybodies whispered. They sneered that he might have harbored inappropriate feelings for his friend’s wife, but Baek Sangyeon paid no attention whatsoever.
Since there were no such feelings toward Jung Hyeeun’s belongings, there was no reason to be concerned. He left only one torn blueprint and immediately burned all the other belongings.
‘With just this, I can open a passage.’
But things didn’t flow as smoothly as he had thought.
‘This is a diagram beyond ordinary structure. Even the basic formulas used in the design are all unknown concepts.’
Those with ordinary crafting skills couldn’t even understand the blueprint. After going through all the renowned ones, the conclusion was that only Joo Hyeonwoo had the most possibility. But he happened to be the closest associate of the dead Yoo Eunseong. Even if he presented Yuseong’s legacy and demanded it be interpreted, there was no way he would cooperate.
Moreover, with Mujin’s connection, he couldn’t approach carelessly. He was someone whose disappearance or death couldn’t be fabricated.
Eventually, he extended his reach overseas but gained nothing. It was also true that he couldn’t move freely because there were too many enemies trying to cut off Huiseon’s increasingly weakening limbs.
A war to save the world. If he could open passages and command expeditions, he could seize world hegemony. Baek Sangyeon couldn’t easily abandon the ambition he had harbored for so long. The opportunities that had slipped away so tantalizingly close drove him mad.
He clearly remembered the rift that Jung Hyeeun had opened. Although it wasn’t complete and took the caster’s life, it was definitely a passage and a possibility. On that day when he faced the world’s turning point right before his eyes, Baek Sangyeon had trembled with ecstasy.
So this time too, he was certain that what he had seen was the same thing. It was definitely a passage that someone had opened and closed.
Could Yoo Jaeseong have been alive? Having inherited his mother’s abilities intact…
Baek Sangyeon soon shook his head. Huiseon Guild had also actively participated in searching for the plane that crashed into the rift at the time of the accident. Yoo Jaeseong’s body couldn’t even be found, and the rift closed without even catching the monsters. It became a situation where they couldn’t even conduct a proper search.
Time continued to flow, and when the next rift opened, they thoroughly searched the same coordinates but still couldn’t find him. Eventually, they had no choice but to give up looking for Yoo Jaeseong. Even though he was his son Mujin’s lifeline, he had to acknowledge that the child couldn’t possibly be alive.
How he had ground his teeth even then. He felt rage that seemed like his head would explode at the fact that humans couldn’t control rifts.
“……”
No way.
Baek Sangyeon, who had been stroking the blueprint, suddenly lifted his head.
“Yoo Eunseong, you said?”
“Yes?”
When Director Han reflexively asked back, Baek Sangyeon raised his finger and signaled for quiet. His mind became a tangled mess at the hypothesis that suddenly occurred to him.
He recalled Yoo Hwan’s weak face that had been overly protective of Eunseong. The child born pitifully without any talent, Eunseong was just Yoo Hwan’s sore finger, he had thought.
A child who didn’t even properly know that being incompetent was shameful. That’s why he was even more of an eyesore. He had thought he was just shaking his son again by appearing even as a changgui.
Did he really survive? Could he be that lucky?
Did he have a reawakening?
……No, was Yoo Eunseong the real seed from the beginning?
His son Mujin, with his powerful innate abilities, had boasted keen senses like a monster’s instincts from childhood. Baek Mujin, who was evaluated as surpassing the energy of Baek Huiseon, the first guild leader of Huiseon. And Baek Huiseon had recognized Yuseong, his lifeline that would save his life, at a glance.
What if Mujin’s protection of Eunseong was also based on instinct?
Was it too much of a leap?
He thought it was a realm that those lacking talent could never know, never experience until death. At the same time, what welled up was a terribly unpleasant sense of defeat.
Then, Director Han’s tablet rang.
“What is it?”
Baek Sangyeon, whose thoughts were interrupted, wrinkled his brow fiercely.
“A report that one changgui entity that had been captured alive… has disappeared.”
“That means the rift they used to cross over here has also closed.”
Come to think of it, what was the monsters’ purpose? If they were targeting Mujin, weren’t they too lacking in combat power and clumsy?
Baek Sangyeon put the blueprint back in the safe and limped as he walked. He had to confirm with his own eyes. If it was really Yoo Eunseong who opened the rift, this wasn’t the time to be sitting around treating his broken body.
* * *
Only about a month remained until the predicted date for the great rift to open in the neutral zone. Mujin spoke as if it was no big deal, saying he could just pack necessary items in a backpack and go, but Eunseong had a lot to prepare. Acquiring forged identification and new hunter registration stood as major mountains to overcome immediately.
“You can’t call my name even by mistake.”
With the Rift Control Agency building right in front of them, Eunseong clenched both fists tightly.
The truth he faced by being stubborn was bone-deep painful. Everyone in this country thought of ‘Yoo Eunseong’ as a natural disaster that had shaken the nation. Dead, and even after three years had passed, even with Baek Mujin still around, public opinion hadn’t changed much.
“But it’s okay. Because I have this. I’m Han Geumseum now.”
Consider it really dead. The new identity is good.
Fiddling with the jet-black security glasses that covered half his face, Eunseong casually pressed his body against Mujin. It was behavior stemming from anxiety, but he wrapped his shoulders around him as if he’d been waiting.
“Want to eat a hot dog? The hot dogs in front of the Control Agency here are famous.”
“We have an appointment to meet with Team Leader Woo Nayeong. Time is tight, what hot dog?”
“The team leader is probably too busy to even look at his watch anyway. You need to relax your nerves a bit too.”
Saying all his facial muscles were stiff, Mujin kneaded both of Eunseong’s cheeks.
“It hurts, why are you so strong?”
“Really soft and squishy.”
Even at the rough touch, his heart fluttered. Eunseong shouted that it hurt to make excuses for his earlobes that were heating up hotly.
If there was one thing he realized again after dreaming of his father, it was that Mujin was more than a friend to him. While his memories were returning, he had wondered why his longing for his mother was vague, but through the dream he learned that her absence had been quite long.
He lost his mother when young, and in high school he lost his remaining father and older brother all at once. So in Yoo Eunseong’s life, the person who had stayed by his side the longest was only Baek Mujin. For over twenty years since he was three years old. Perhaps it was natural that feelings of liking him had developed.
‘Hyeeun getting caught up in the rift is partly your responsibility too! How dare you talk about sacrifice in front of me?’
Guild Leader Baek Sangyeon was involved in his mother’s death. Even so, the two men didn’t sever their connection until his father died in an accident.
Was the bond related to Hwanghwa that strong? Probably because their lifelines were connected?
Poke, something warm touched his lips. Startled, wondering what it was, Mujin smiled, saying it was a hot dog.
“Open your mouth, ah.”
Entranced by the savory smell, he obediently complied, and a thick hot dog stretched his lips taut and pushed into his mouth.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
