# 15
* * *
While Jin-ha suffered under Cha Ki-young’s control throughout his long vacation period, the Anomaly Management Agency joined forces with Narak Guild to complete preparations for crossing the otherworld portal.
The process wasn’t easy. Even though they had a relationship of mutual assistance, both the Anomaly Management Agency and Narak Guild had their own interests to consider.
Still, both sides achieved relatively satisfactory results. The Anomaly Management Agency gave up a small portion of profits in exchange for being able to use the S-rank Hunter, the Narak Guild Master, like their own hands and feet. Meanwhile, Narak Guild secured several privileges that private guilds couldn’t normally dream of.
“Good. The final preparations are complete.”
Seo Ji-seop, the Narak Guild Master, said as he pinned the brooch handed to him by Section Chief Nam to his chest.
All of Seo Ji-seop’s team members had identical pins with black jewels embedded in them—another one of the privileges they had obtained. Narak Guild had gained the authority to commission artifacts from the artifact creator affiliated with the Anomaly Management Agency. Since the Office employed the country’s best artifact creator, this was quite an achievement.
Thanks to this, they could easily commission an artifact to solve the “magical power oversaturation phenomenon.” The request was made with consideration of Jin-ha’s report about losing consciousness immediately after falling into the portal.
“Now then, let’s go.”
Narak Guild’s mission this time was to eliminate monsters near the portal to secure safe passage for the diplomatic delegation.
Seo Ji-seop’s team confidently disappeared through the portal.
But less than 30 minutes later, they were chased out, tumbling through the portal.
“Guild Master!”
Section Chief Nam, who had been monitoring the portal, jumped up. The group was in terrible shape. Not only were they soaking wet, but they were also covered in dirt and filth.
Among them, Seo Ji-seop rose to his feet, looked at the portal in bewilderment, then turned to Section Chief Nam.
“Section Chief Nam, what on earth is something soft, crispy, and sweet?”
* * *
After resting for several days, Jin-ha completely recovered his exhausted body. While he stayed at home, Cha Ki-young didn’t even go to his shop, instead lazing around playing some game called Animal Crossing.
Though Jin-ha found this disagreeable, when did Cha Ki-young ever listen to him? Especially in matters like this, Cha Ki-young always did as he pleased, so advice to sincerely attend to business operations ultimately fell on deaf ears.
Any other time, Jin-ha would have kicked him out, but whenever he tried, Cha Ki-young kept bringing up the chocolate bars he had arbitrarily put in Jin-ha’s pockets, so Jin-ha had to let it go. He should never have mentioned that he was able to appease the man in the portal thanks to the chocolate bars. Emboldened by this casually shared story, Cha Ki-young began acting arrogantly, claiming everything he did had profound meaning. Additionally, Jin-ha’s briefcase now contained a box of eight chocolate bars occupying a permanent spot.
“The internet seems a bit slow.”
Jin-ha tilted his head while checking the new dungeon list on his laptop, and Cha Ki-young responded:
“It’s been like that lately. I’m thinking of changing our internet provider.”
“Don’t we still have a contract?”
“Yeah, there’s still time left, but what can we do?”
Cha Ki-young clicked his tongue as he fiddled with the game controller. The TV showed a game over screen.
Jin-ha thought it strange that he had died in the early stages of a game he must have played hundreds of times, but soon shifted his attention back to the sluggish laptop. Though he still couldn’t use his Information Eye, he hadn’t lost the knowledge he’d gained so far, so he could still offer advice about dungeons.
“But do you really have to work even when you’re at my house?”
“It’s not work. And if I’m not doing anything, I keep…”
‘I want to know about Hunter Lee Jin-ha.’
Jin-ha unknowingly grabbed his left ear. Whenever he wasn’t focused on something else, that man’s voice kept coming back to him.
To toy with someone like that—he truly was a garbage person. Considering what happened at the end, he was clearly a promiscuous man as well.
Jin-ha was so focused on shaking off thoughts about the man that he failed to notice Cha Ki-young casting subtle glances at him from the side.
* * *
It was the fifth day of his vacation.
“Mother.”
Mrs. Cha Seo-hee, who had just finished her meal and taken a sip of the green tea brought by the servant, turned to Jin-ha. She nodded before he could even speak.
“Yes. You can go back to work now.”
As Jin-ha looked at her, Mrs. Cha smiled gently.
“I know how much you love your work. I’m happy when you do what you love. As long as you don’t overdo it.”
“I’ll be careful.”
“Good. Make sure I won’t be ashamed to face your mother.”
Cha Ki-young, who had been watching their conversation, raised his eyebrows while taking a sip of green tea.
“When are you planning to go back to work?”
“Starting today.”
After narrowing his eyes for a moment and looking back and forth between his mother and Jin-ha, Cha Ki-young took an exaggerated breath, then pulled out something resembling a lighter from his pocket.
As he pressed the button on the lit device, Jin-ha’s phone immediately began to ring. Soon after, Mrs. Cha’s phone also loudly announced its presence.
“As of this moment, I permit communication with the outside world, my friend.”
“…You dog…”
As Jin-ha tried to utter an insult but closed his mouth while glancing at Mrs. Cha, she abruptly stood up, grabbed Cha Ki-young, and began slapping his back.
“Grow up, you idiot!”
“Ahh! Ow, why! Mom, didn’t you also say you didn’t want Jin-ha receiving calls from the Office during his vacation?!”
“That doesn’t mean you should do things this way. Who told you to use something like a signal jammer? Where did you get that?”
“I made it myself. That’s what Mrs. Cha’s son can do. Though I was shocked when even the internet slowed down…”
“What are you so proud of…!”
After briefly watching Cha Ki-young, who continued to argue despite being slapped on the back, Jin-ha finally let out a deep sigh.
The call was from Section Chief Nam. Given that the phone rang as soon as the signal jammer was turned off, he must have been holding onto the phone, continuously calling despite knowing the connection wasn’t going through.
“Mother, I’ll be heading to work now.”
“Alright. I need to go out soon too, so you go ahead.”
Sensing that this wouldn’t end with just a few slaps on the back, Cha Ki-young belatedly panicked and turned to Jin-ha.
“Ah, Jin-ha, come back here after work for the time being.”
“…Yes.”
No overtime work for the foreseeable future.
Feeling glum, Jin-ha ignored Cha Ki-young’s desperate gaze, picked up his briefcase, and left the Cha residence.
As he left the house, Jin-ha slid his phone screen to answer the call.
“Yes, Section Chief.”
* * *
Upon arriving at Mount Yonghwa at Section Chief Nam’s request, Jin-ha encountered an incomprehensible scene.
When contacting civilizations beyond portals, the standard approach is to shower them with gifts. While bringing strong Hunters for safety, the goal is to demonstrate peaceful intentions and desire for goodwill through an overwhelming display of offerings. This was especially important for the Mount Yonghwa portal, which was a special case where they had opened the portal from their side, making it crucial to avoid falling out of their favor.
Therefore, Jin-ha had expected to see a busy procession going back and forth through the portal, but the area around the resort was eerily quiet. He had an ominous feeling. Jin-ha exchanged brief eye greetings with the agents guarding around Resort C and hurried inside.
“…What is all this?”
“Jin-ha!”
Section Chief Nam, who had been absorbed in something while standing in front of a large desk, turned around with delight.
“I’m sorry for not receiving your calls during my vacation. There were circumstances.”
“No, I should apologize for calling during your vacation… I’m sorry for calling again this morning. It’s just that, since you’ve always been reachable, I was worried you might not come to work even after your vacation ended…”
Section Chief Nam looked extremely tired. And he wasn’t the only one. Seo Ji-seop, the Narak Guild Master who had taken off his armor, was half-leaning against the desk and merely waved his hand.
Jin-ha greeted him as well before turning back to Section Chief Nam.
“The calls are fine. More importantly, please explain what all this is about.”
“When the Guild Master crossed over, there were people waiting. But one of them posed a riddle.”
“A riddle?”
Was this riddle related to the abundance of snacks filling the resort? The interior was so full of various desserts that the sweet smell made Jin-ha dizzy.
“Something soft, crispy, and sweet.”
Seo Ji-seop continued, crushing a Pepero stick against the table.
“That’s what they asked for. All the snacks over there were rejected.”
Baguettes with crispy exteriors and soft interiors filled with cream, sweet granola bars with crispy rice crispies, fried cream buns, madeleines coated with chocolate on one side…
The desserts piled on one side definitely met the stated conditions. The standard procedure would be to record the rejected desserts with photos to create a database, then have the agents eat the leftovers, but everyone seemed to have pushed them aside in disgust. It was clear they had already eaten their fill of the remaining desserts to the point of nausea.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
