“Your girlfriend, um, well… You’re so handsome, you could probably date a thousand women if you wanted. But… do you have a girlfriend you have been with for more than nine years?”
“Nine years? I barely had any relationships that lasted nine months. The Cult is always short-handed, so I am constantly busy.”
Kim Sibaek tilted his head, puzzled by why Tae Woon was fixating on such a strangely specific number—not ten years, but nine. Then, the answer clicked. Tae Woon had met Kim Sibaek when he was five and they had parted when he was fourteen.
Ah.
“…….”
No way. That couldn’t be it.
He tried to shake off the sudden thought that surfaced in his mind. But once it appeared, a child’s voice, thick with the heat and humidity of that summer, echoed in his memory.
“In just a few more years, I will be an adult. Just like you, hyung. So I… I…”
No, no. That couldn’t be it. It had been twenty-one years since then.
“Guildmaster, we are ready to begin the raid briefing.”
The voice of an approaching Hunter from the Paranormal Phenomena Response Agency finally pulled Kim Sibaek out of his tangled thoughts. As he walked toward the meeting room, he glanced at Tae Woon, whose expression was perfectly calm, as if there was nothing to dwell on.
The meeting was held at a café near the Management Center—the very same café where Tae Woon and Kim Sibaek had coffee before the incident. The owner, who had escaped unharmed, laid out all the desserts and brewed a mountain of coffee for them before stepping out.
Since the incident took place right in the city center, six guilds based in Daejeon had gathered for the meeting. Among them, the two major guilds were the 7777 Guild and the Tobazishu Hussars.
These people must all be big names. But… is it really okay for someone like me, a nobody back on Earth, to be here?
Kim Sibaek absentmindedly stroked Lord Biendeoé’s feathers, worried that he might somehow tarnish Tae Woon’s reputation. Technically, this was a meeting reserved for guildmasters and their official representatives, so he had no real right to attend. But Gwak Yoonsang had practically begged him, as if he were ready to grab onto his pants leg, and Kim Sibaek could not bring himself to refuse.
Ironically, his presence had a calming effect. Tae Woon—who was known for flipping tables even in front of the president whenever something displeased him—had become surprisingly docile. When Kim Sibaek glanced at him anxiously, Gwak Yoonsang gave him a double thumbs-up and a playful wink, as if saying Tae Woon now had a personal charm to keep him in check.
That said, Tae Woon sat so closely behind Kim Sibaek that he wrapped his arms around his waist and rested his chin on his shoulder. Kim Sibaek simply ignored it. The others in the room watched the bizarre sight, their expressions twisting with barely contained questions, but he continued to ignore them. As long as the meeting went smoothly, that was all that mattered.
Gwak Yoonsang tried hard not to glance at Tae Woon as he addressed the group.
“Before we start the briefing, let me introduce someone. This is Hunter Kim Sibaek. He recently returned from working overseas. His identity will remain confidential for now. He is an S-rank.”
“……Nice to meet you. I am Kim Sibaek.”
Tae Woon’s constant clinging was nothing new, but the unfamiliar awareness stirred by his earlier comment made the warmth pressing against Kim Sibaek feel strangely tense. He responded a bit slowly, stood up slightly from his seat, and offered a polite bow. Because Tae Woon was still holding his waist, he rose along with him, causing the others to briefly meet eyes with Tae Woon and flinch at the unexpected sight.
“He may look young, but he is forty-nine years old. Forty-nine. In two months, he will turn fifty. I swear on Director Noh’s name, this is true.”
During the Cataclysm, many first-generation Awakeners achieved great feats. Still, plenty had dismissed Tae Woon simply because of his youthful appearance. Of course, Tae Woon had made sure those people never dared act superior again. But there was no guarantee something like that would not happen here. To prevent any such issue, Gwak Yoonsang emphasized Kim Sibaek’s age.
“Ahem.”
An elderly Hunter, wide-eyed upon hearing that this youthful man was S-rank, cleared his throat awkwardly.
A middle-aged white woman with an eyepatch raised her hand. It was Justyna Nowacka, Guildmaster of the Tobazishu Hussars. Speaking fluent Korean, she asked,
“I heard there was a promising Hunter that my kids considered A-rank, but I did not expect him to be S-rank. Are you with the Seven Guild as well?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, well, it would have been odd otherwise…”
The people gathered were clearly dying of curiosity about their relationship, but they endured it. If they only had to hunt the Giantvine, they might have had some leeway, but since they also had to rescue civilians, time was tight.
With introductions wrapped up, Gwak Yoonsang posted blueprints of the Management Center and the Manastone Exchange onto a transparent board. Areas covered by the Giantvine, estimated through external demonic energy readings, were marked in black.
“As you can see, the Giantvine has completely overtaken both buildings. Although the structures were designed to withstand demonic energy and monster attacks, we cannot be entirely confident, especially since the Giantvine has absorbed manastones.”
“How much has it absorbed?”
A young Hunter, clearly nervous, asked. Tae Woon had previously told Kim Sibaek that this was the heir of the Gabyeolcho Guild, currently training to succeed his father.
“Fortunately, it could not reach the mid- and high-grade manastones stored underground. But it seems to have devoured most of the low-grade ones.”
The room filled with sighs and sounds of clicking tongues.
In truth, when monsters cannibalized one another, even if manastones were absorbed, it usually did not lead to significant changes. However, manastones refined by humans offered efficiency far beyond what monsters naturally possessed. Even though these were low-grade manastones traded by weight, absorbing them had caused its rank to skyrocket.
“What about the people trapped inside? Are they still alive?”
“The communications inside the Center were destroyed during the first attack. The signal interference has completely cut off contact. But a Hunter with communication abilities is trapped inside the Exchange and managed to send out some information…”
Gwak Yoonsang picked up a marker and wrote the number 6 on the board. Six survivors.
The elderly Hunter who had initially eyed Kim Sibaek with distaste—the Guildmaster of Jeongmyeong Guild—frowned.
“That is far too few.”
“That number only includes people confirmed to be near the communicating Hunter. Many others managed to evacuate during the attack.”
Despite his reassuring words, Gwak Yoonsang’s face remained tense. With the buildings now swallowed by the Giantvine, everyone still inside was essentially being held hostage inside a structure that could collapse at any moment.
“As you all know—but let me summarize once more to make things clear: Giantvines produce two types of fruit. One type spreads spores. The other mimics monsters it has absorbed. Unfortunately, the Giantvine in the Management Center has not absorbed any monsters.”
“…….”
“If the fruits fully ripen and burst, it will release nothing but spores.”
“Damn it.”
That was the true danger of Giantvines. When they sprouted in areas with monsters, they absorbed the creatures and most of their fruits would spawn those mimicked monsters. Since the copies could not grow or reproduce, Giantvines were sometimes planted in heavily infested zones as a last resort—temporarily stabilizing the area before they were eventually cleared out.
But this Giantvine was different. It had germinated in a place completely devoid of monsters. With nothing to absorb, all of its fruits would turn into spore bombs. Once they burst, it was only a matter of time before the entire city would be crawling with Giantvines.
No one in their right mind would ever plant a Giantvine in purified land. That insane scenario, once considered nothing more than a theoretical possibility, was now playing out right here in Korea.
Gwak Yoonsang’s voice grew heavier.
“Since it absorbed manastones, its growth rate has become unpredictable. We have no idea when the fruits will fully ripen. To prevent even greater damage…”
He was just about to explain that the Director had made the tough decision to prioritize subjugation over rescue when a clear, calm voice cautiously interrupted.
“There is a way to slow down the ripening of the fruits…”
Everyone’s attention snapped toward the speaker. Though he had been introduced earlier as a new S-rank Hunter, most of them had nearly forgotten about him—aside from Tae Woon clinging to him, he had stayed completely silent.
Kim Sibaek had kept his mouth shut, thinking it was not his place to speak since he was not a guild representative. But this was something he could not ignore.
“You are not seriously suggesting we just cut the fruits off before they ripen, are you?”
The Jeongmyeong Guildmaster, still irritated by the youthful-looking newcomer, spoke sharply. But Kim Sibaek answered, completely unbothered.
“If you cut them off early, they will just burst ahead of schedule.”
“Then what are you proposing?”
“Before the briefing, one of our guild’s mages gave me a new version of a reagent. It slows down the stem growth of Giantvines. I have it with me.”
Suppressing the stems and tendrils would not stop the fruits from absorbing demonic energy and maturing. The Guildmaster had been ready to dismiss the young-looking Hunter as naïve or out of touch after spending so many years abroad—but then he froze.
Because he had just locked eyes with Tae Woon.
