“Hyung, seriously, join our guild.”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
“Our house is way better than this crappy dorm.”
“Tae-beom.”
“I’ll provide room and board too. I’ll even give you a salary. I’ll protect you. I’ll stay glued to your side 24/7. Hyung, you promised you wouldn’t leave my side—how can you do this? We just made a promise, didn’t we? That we’d stay together.”
Baek Tae-beom clung on persistently, speaking each word with unwavering clarity. He even shot a sharp glare at the secretary who was guiding me, clearly enough for it to be noticeable. Sparks practically flew from his eyes. I tugged at his sleeve to warn him to cut it out, and he turned back to me with a desperate expression.
“Hyung…”
“Who wouldn’t accept something being offered for free?”
“I’m free too, Hyung. I’m offering myself, too.”
“Why do you say stuff like that so casually?”
His personality really had changed. I tousled his hair absently, and Baek Tae-beom scrunched up his face like he wanted me to see. I smoothed out the wrinkle between his brows and gently rubbed the creases by his eyes with my fingertips.
“You shouldn’t say things like that to just anyone.”
“Is Hyung ‘just anyone’? My Constell—”
I quickly clamped my hand over Baek Tae-beom’s mouth before he could blurt out anything else, sending him a message loud and clear to shut up.
[The Constellation, ‘One Who Seeks to Escape Destruction,’ warns Baek Tae-beom to be quiet or face the consequences.]
Baek Tae-beom’s eyebrows drooped in dejection.
In the meantime, we had arrived at the dorm Lee Myung-won had designated. Room 666. Baek Tae-beom muttered that the number was ominous as hell while frowning at the plaque.
“You’ll be staying here. If you need anything, feel free to use the dorm’s internal phone.”
“Ah, okay.”
I hadn’t officially agreed to join the Hansung Guild, but Lee Myung-won told me to take my time deciding and offered the dorm in the meantime. He said I could use the cafeteria too, and that there were a bunch of tempting facilities—fitness center, swimming pool, and more—all available to me without restriction.
When I asked why he was trying so hard to bring me into the guild, his answer was straightforward. I was the first Hunter ever to receive an “Unmeasurable” rating, and he intended to use that fact to beat out other guilds that were rising in prominence.
I couldn’t begin to guess what was going on in Lee Myung-won’s mind, so I just let it go—but the internet was already swarming with stories about me.
Claims ranged from: “This is clearly Hansung Guild’s media manipulation,” “Baek Tae-beom pulled strings,” “Maybe he’s too weak to be measured at all,” “No, he’s hiding something,” to “This is a conspiracy.” Reading through all the speculation made me scoff as I turned off my phone.
Even old classmates had started reaching out. You didn’t even know I was dead—now you’re messaging me? Ridiculous.
“Still, I guess Lee Myung-won is really thinking of me.”
“Hyung.”
Just as I was about to open the door, Baek Tae-beom, now with a hardened expression, grabbed my wrist tightly.
“I think of you too, Hyung.”
“…Got it, now can you let go?”
“If I could just tell you how much I’ve thought about you—”
“Let’s go inside first, okay?”
Join our guild first, then. If I have to pick, I’d join any other guild before yours. How could you say that? I can say that. You don’t know how I feel. That’s why I’m begging you—just let me into the house…
After going back and forth with this nonsense right at the door, I finally managed to get inside the dorm—and was genuinely impressed.
“Wow, this is nice.”
The large window gave a clear view of the outside, flooding the room with light. In front of it sat a wooden dining table. The kitchen was lined with neatly arranged lights. A soft rug lay beneath the sofa, and decorative cushions were scattered charmingly about. The wallpaper and ceiling were clean, in crisp white, making the dorm feel more like a model home than temporary housing.
Compared to the place I used to live—or even just the current state of my Sanctuary of the Soul—this was beyond amazing. If I could, I would’ve loved to take this room and install it inside my sanctuary as-is.
It reminded me of the days when I couldn’t even get a job and scraped by doing part-time work, barely earning enough to pay rent and eat.
I flopped down on the sofa, hugging a cushion. Baek Tae-beom stood over me with a pout.
“Do you like it?”
“Yeah. I do.”
“Then should I live here too?”
“Uh… huh?”
“I could just join the Hansung Guild and live here with you.”
“You already have a guild.”
“I can just disband it.”
“You put my name on that guild, and you’re saying you’ll just disband it like that?”
Baek Tae-beom didn’t say anything in response. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and glared at me. For someone so large, the way he behaved was unbelievably cute. The way he seemed willing to do anything for me made him feel like an obedient tiger, and it made me want to pull him into a hug again.
“Why do you talk like that, hyung? It’s not like you’re actually going to join. Do you know how hard I worked to build that guild, all because I wanted to be in the same one as you?”
“Fine. Disband it.”
“Why do you say things like that so easily?”
Instead of replying, I grabbed Baek Tae-beom by the front of his shirt and yanked him toward me. His large, relaxed body staggered, and he barely managed to brace himself against the sofa. He looked down at me, eyes wide, and his face—so stupidly handsome—left me in awe.
“You said you’d help me so I wouldn’t die again.”
“…Wait, hyung, your hand, it’s kind of…”
“But do you really think me joining ‘Ga-hyeon Guild’ makes sense? Who’s going to protect me when you’re not around?”
Baek Tae-beom looked down at me, ears blazing red. His lips parted as if to speak, but no words came out. The brief flash of his pearly white teeth made him look more beast than man. I wanted to stick my fingers in his mouth.
He’d probably hate that, though.
I let go of his shirt, and he teetered slightly as he straightened up. He stepped back two paces, then took a deep, almost restrained breath, like he’d been holding it in the whole time.
“Hyung, what the hell are you…”
“Hm?”
[The Constellation, ‘One More Dazzling Than the Sun,’ has sponsored you 1,000 Coins.]
[Current balance: 1,500 Coins.]
…What?
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: Are you two seriously not dating?]
[CH. Private / One Who Seeks to Escape Destruction: Dating? What are you talking about?]
[CH. Private / One Who Seeks to Escape Destruction: He just failed to develop healthy attachment relationships in childhood, so he’s demanding attention from me, his Constellation.]
[CH. Private / One Who Seeks to Escape Destruction: It’s obvious if you look. Stop bringing up romance already.]
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: …….]
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: Are you being serious?]
[CH. Private / One Who Seeks to Escape Destruction: About what?]
[The Constellation, ‘One Who Guides the Dead,’ has sponsored you 3,000 Coins.]
[Current balance: 4,500 Coins.]
What now?
[CH. Private / One Who Guides the Dead: I like. This kind of development. More.]
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: Are you for real? Is something wrong with your eyes?]
[CH. Private / One Who Seeks to Escape Destruction: What’s with these reactions?]
I mean, I’ll take the Coins, sure. But what the hell were they even talking about?
While I stood there with a dumbfounded look on my face, Baek Tae-beom clenched his fist tightly and muttered,
“…I’m going to have a word with Lee Myung-won.”
“Huh? All of a sudden?”
“Just wait here, hyung.”
And with that, Baek Tae-beom opened the door and slipped out before I could say anything. Left alone in the spacious dorm, I stared blankly at the spot where he’d just been, then got up and walked over to the desk. There was a standard-issue laptop sitting on top of it.
I had nothing urgent to do at the moment, so it was time to take care of something important.
I needed to figure out what had happened over the last year and nine months—nearly two years. Because of me, the Monster Calamity had clearly been triggered earlier than expected, and there had to have been some resulting changes.
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: Is that really what you should be focusing on right now?]
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: Do you even realize what you just said?]
[CH. Private / One Who Seeks to Escape Destruction: Why are you nagging again?]
[CH. Private / One Who Seeks to Escape Destruction: I’m busy, so keep quiet.]
I turned on the laptop and began scanning through news articles from the past two years. I filtered out the empty fluff and focused on the pieces with high click rates and lots of likes. It didn’t take long.
Most of it had unfolded just like I remembered from the original storyline. The guild master of the Wanderers, Blue Star, who was also an idol, and the Red Apple guild causing chaos as usual—those all matched. But one thing stood out.
“…What the hell is Gongmyeong Guild?”
It was a guild I had never heard of before—a name that didn’t exist in the original story at all. Even weirder, every article about them was glowing with praise.
<Gongmyeong donates 3.2 billion to Sprout Star Children’s Foundation>
<Gongmyeong Guild’s Volunteer Day: A Scene of Harmony>
Compared to the Hansung Guild, which was often smeared in the press, this was the polar opposite.
“Who’s the guild master here?”
I tried digging deeper, but no names came up. Even the hunter-exclusive community was full of rumors about the Gongmyeong guild leader, but nothing concrete.
Then my phone buzzed.
[Baek Tae-beom: Hyung.]
[Baek Tae-beom: Can you come down for a sec?]
[Baek Tae-beom: Someone who needs to bow their head to you just arrived.]
