Of course, I expected to hear things like, “Are you kidding me? Trying to do something so dangerous on your own?” or “Why do you always make decisions like this by yourself, hyung?” and then something along the lines of “I knew it—hyung never thinks about me.”
So I was momentarily at a loss for words.
Did Baek Tae-beom really just nod?
On top of that, he even added,
“I’ll take you as far as the area.”
Did he eat something weird?
I had mentally prepared around twenty-seven counterarguments against his rejection, so I couldn’t help but feel completely caught off guard.
Was there poison in the refreshments Ahn Ki-yoon served earlier?
While I stood there flustered, Lee Myung-won chimed in, completely unaware.
“That sounds like a good idea. Still, just in case—it’s probably best to take two guild members whose faces aren’t widely known.”
“You heard him, hyung.”
“Huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
Baek Tae-beom asked, looking at me with a confused expression. His calm demeanor was so unfamiliar, he didn’t even feel like the Baek Tae-beom I knew.
“Ah, it’s nothing. We’ll do that, Mr. Lee Myung-won.”
Of course, I couldn’t exactly say anything aloud in front of everyone, so I just brushed it off with a vague response.
Then I went home and fell deep into thought.
[CH. Private / Free Wind: What are you doing?]
“Reflecting on my past mistakes.”
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: What is it? Is this about love?]
I ignored Apollo’s comment as naturally as breathing.
“Hermes. Can someone who treated me like family suddenly change their attitude completely?”
[CH. Private / Free Wind: Hm. I don’t know who you’re talking about, but…]
Hermes replied playfully.
[CH. Private / Free Wind: If their attitude shifted that quickly, maybe you did something wrong, Ga-hyeon?]
Did I do something wrong?
But no matter how many times I replayed things in my head, I couldn’t think of anything I’d done to Baek Tae-beom that could’ve been considered wrong.
Was he hurt because I made such a unilateral decision again? But if that were the case, he wouldn’t have acted so unfazed in front of Lee Myung-won. That’s just not like Baek Tae-beom. He would’ve said something right there on the spot.
[CH. Private / Free Wind: Maybe he was hurt by something you said offhandedly.]
Something I said offhandedly?
I clutched my head and tried to think hard, but nothing came to mind.
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: Why are you obsessing over something you can’t even remember?]
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: Wanna drink?]
“No thanks.”
Why would I want to drink at a time like this?
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: Dionysus brewed some legendary booze. Oh, did I mention? That guy’s a huge fan of yours.]
“Tell him to shove his fandom.”
In the end, I couldn’t sleep a wink, staying up all night thinking about Baek Tae-beom.
The next morning.
“Hyung, you don’t look so good.”
Baek Tae-beom said as he served breakfast. His voice sounded genuinely concerned, but given how unsettled I was about his attitude yesterday, all I heard was: “What the hell happened to your face?”
“Are you worried about the infiltration? Should we call it off?”
“No, it’s not that…”
I opened my mouth to speak but stopped short.
“No. It’s nothing.”
In the end, I didn’t say a single thing about it to Baek Tae-beom, all the way up until we arrived near the Red Apple headquarters for the infiltration.
Yeah, thinking that Baek Tae-beom would always care for me—that was just my arrogance.
Without realizing it, I’d grown so used to the affection he gave that now even the smallest change was enough to get under my skin.
It was always too much for someone like me.
I sighed.
The two people Lee Myung-won assigned to me were ones I didn’t recognize at all—even in the original The Apocalypse Chronicles of Another World. It was highly likely they specialized in undercover operations like this.
Near the Red Apple headquarters, I drank the <Imitator’s Potion>.
The fact that it contained strands of Kim Seong-jae’s hair was more than a little off-putting, but I had no choice.
Then my body began to twist and warp.
My belly swelled, then shrank. Then swelled again. My ears stretched out, then returned to normal. My fingers puffed up, then slimmed down.
After several rounds of bizarre contortions, I looked at myself in the mirror Baek Tae-beom held up—and I was stunned.
It was a perfect match. I looked exactly like Kim Seong-jae.
Once I put on the Association-issued uniform handed to me by the two individuals assigned by Lee Myung-won—whom I’d dubbed A and B for convenience since they hadn’t given their names—the disguise became flawless.
“You got the ID card, right, hyung?”
“I’ve got everything.”
Even my voice wasn’t mine, which felt incredibly awkward. I bounced on the spot a few times, then took a deep breath and exhaled. With a badge pinned to my chest and glasses perched on my nose, I turned to Baek Tae-beom.
“I’m heading out.”
“Be careful. I’ll be waiting nearby, so if anything happens, just yell.”
He probably meant to message him, but I nodded in response.
And then I walked into the Red Apple headquarters—disguised as an ordinary company.
Channeling Kim Seong-jae, I made my entrance with as much arrogance as possible. I strutted in with an exaggerated swagger, and as soon as I reached the reception desk, the staff member greeted me.
Though their expression hardly looked welcoming.
“Aren’t you Mr. Kim Seong-jae? Looks like you’ve recovered already.”
“Uh, well. Yeah.”
“But why didn’t you reach out to let us know?”
Tilting my chin up casually, I replied,
“Am I supposed to report every little thing like that?”
The receptionist’s face visibly soured before returning to a professional expression. Definitely seasoned.
“No, of course not. It’s just that the Guildmaster’s been waiting for you.”
Guildmaster—Yoo Ji-won?
“He’s been singing your praises for clearing that S-rank dungeon.”
I let out a small cough and said to the receptionist,
“The Guildmaster’s so dramatic… it’s nothing special.”
“What do you mean? That’s a major achievement! Anyway, the Guildmaster isn’t in right now. What would you like to do?”
“Pfft, I’ll just wait for him to come back.”
“In that case, please wait in the reception room. I’ll contact the Guildmaster. But um…”
The receptionist eyed the people behind me with a puzzled look.
“Who are those two?”
I responded smoothly, without missing a beat.
“They’re friends who worked with me in the dungeon this time.”
“…With Mr. Kim Seong-jae?”
She asked with a skeptical look, clearly finding something odd. Well, I couldn’t blame her—Kim Seong-jae didn’t exactly come off as the type to form close bonds or cooperate.
So I laughed and added,
“Yeah, together. Well, it was more like I did most of the helping, really.”
“Ah…”
She finally seemed to buy it, nodding in understanding.
Kim Seong-jae. What kind of life did you lead, that people only believe things when they’re dripping with arrogance?
I adjusted my glasses and said with a resigned air,
“Anyway, I was thinking of introducing these friends to the Guildmaster. They seem like they’d be really good at their jobs. Hahaha!”
“Ah, well… sure. If you say so…”
The receptionist, clearly too tired to keep feeding my bravado, gave a half-hearted reply and let it drop.
[CH. Private / Free Wind: Something feels off, though.]
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: What do you mean?]
[CH. Private / Free Wind: It’s like Ga-hyeon isn’t imitating that guy…]
[CH. Private / Free Wind: It feels more like he’s imitating someone else entirely.]
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: Huh? Who else in that bastard’s circle walks around oozing this much arrogance?]
I wrapped up the conversation quickly before Apollo could pick up on anything.
“Ahem, well then, I’ll head up now.”
“Understood.”
After swiping my ID card and stepping inside, I rode the elevator and spoke to A and B.
“We’ll start with the Guildmaster’s office. You two check the other areas. If anything goes wrong, just drop Kim Seong-jae’s name.”
“Understood.”
I got off on the fifth floor and began walking at a measured pace. I never greeted anyone first. I only gave a curt nod to those who greeted me first, and seeing no one question that behavior, I was once again reminded of Kim Seong-jae’s character.
“Where are you headed?”
Someone dared to ask.
‘Check Information.’
[Accessing subject’s information…]
[Yeon Eun-hee of Wind Pressure]
[Title: Wind Pressure]
[Grade: D]
[Status: Cannot be verified]
[Contracted Constellation: None]
[Owned Coins: Cannot be verified]
[Skills: [Spirit of Wind], [Light of Mist]…
A contracted Constellation is not present.]
I replied without breaking stride.
“Do I owe you an answer?”
“Excuse me?”
“I asked if I need to bother answering someone who’s just a D-rank Hunter.”
The color drained from her face, turning bright red. She clenched her teeth, then bowed her head.
“I’m sorry.”
It made me feel sick to treat someone like that, but I had no choice.
As she walked past, I immediately entered the Guildmaster’s office next to her—Yoo Ji-won’s office.
