They cheered at successfully slowing the ripening of the fruit, and amidst the flurry of preparations for entry, none of the Hunters noticed the anomaly. Only Justyna and a few guild members near her froze in shock at the unexpected turn of events.
Justyna clenched and unclenched the hand of her previously broken arm several times, then spun around toward Kim Sibaek in a panic.
“W-What… what the hell? You—weren’t you just a jacked mage who liked working out? This isn’t magic, is it?!”
“The injury has healed, but you should still avoid overexerting yourself for the rest of the day.”
“Wait, wait! Do not tell me… you reached S-rank with this ability?!”
“Come now, Guildmaster Nowacka. You know better than that. If you have any business with Hunter Kim Sibaek, you may address me.”
“Chief Gwak! Who do you think you are, blocking me like this?!”
“Starting today, I am his manager.”
“A government official with a side gig?! Hey, Sibaek! Come on, let your noona have an honest talk with you!”
Justyna called out desperately as Gwak Yoonsang blocked her path, but Kim Sibaek merely gave her a polite nod and quickly stepped away. His healing ability had already been thoroughly discussed with Director Noh.
Before any larger commotion could break out, Kim Sibaek arrived at the parking lot entrance of the Manastone Exchange. Tae Woon and the other Hunters were already exchanging a brief strategy update.
“Teacher! We live in the same building, but for some reason, it feels like it has been ages since I last saw you.”
“Let me assist with preparations. Do you need anything else?”
The Hunters of the 7777 Guild, including Seo Gaeun and Yang Eunho, greeted him one by one. Though it was Kim Sibaek’s first time meeting most of them, they were already quite familiar with him.
“So the one they call The One Whose Name Must Not Be Spoken on the internal board is him…”
“He seems close with both the raid leader and the operations chief too.”
“Of course he is, you idiot. He’s living with the Guildmaster.”
They exchanged furtive glances and whispered among themselves. Standing nearby were members of the Gabyeolcho Guild and Jeongmyeong Guild.
“P-please take good care of us.”
The one whose voice trembled with nervousness was Lee Sarang, the successor of the Gabyeolcho Guild, whom he had briefly met earlier in the conference room.
“Hello. I am Hwang Suho from the Jeongmyeong Guild. I heard you recently started your S-rank activities. If our Guildmaster happened to say anything inappropriate earlier, I hope you can overlook it. His tone often leads to misunderstandings, but he means no harm.”
“Not at all. In fact, he spoke quite well.”
Hwang Suho looked visibly relieved at Kim Sibaek’s calm response.
Kim Sibaek had already noticed that the Jeongmyeong Guildmaster seemed to disapprove of him, but it hardly mattered. His temperament was not so fragile that petty posturing could shake him, nor did the words cause any real harm. At most, it felt like a puppy barking noisily at an elder several decades its senior. Though he had to admit, thinking that way made him sound like an old man himself.
“Guildmaster, please continue the briefing.”
“Briefing? But I’m powerless, you know?”
Seo Gaeun glanced between Tae Woon, who blinked innocently, and Kim Sibaek beside him, then sighed and spoke in a resigned tone.
“Right, you were just a pushover, Oppa… Fine. Then as usual, Guildmaster and Mentor will take the rear guard.”
Since they needed to locate both survivors and the core inside the Manastone Exchange, the team decided to sweep the building from the basement upward. The plan was to rendezvous with the survivors currently sheltered under the protective magic circle on the second floor.
“Our first objective is to join the survivors before the protective magic circle fails. The second objective is to destroy the Giantvine’s core within the next eight hours and thirty minutes.”
To destroy the core, they would first need to eliminate the tentacles infesting the building, weaken the main body, and open a path forward. Searching for survivors while clearing the tendrils would take considerable time.
Gabyeolcho and Jeongmyeong Guilds would focus on escorting the rescued survivors from the second floor to safety, while the 7777 Guild would handle clearing the remaining floors alone.
“The center of the attack will be led by our Guildmaster—”
“Seo Gaeun.”
“—Actually, by me and my raid team. I ask for your understanding.”
Though surprised by Tae Woon’s uncharacteristic decision to step back, both Gabyeolcho and Jeongmyeong Guilds accepted it without protest. Acknowledging overwhelming strength was not something to be ashamed of.
However, this plan was based on the assumption that no survivors remained above the third floor. In a world where monsters rampaged, the value of life inevitably grew cheaper. Kim Sibaek quietly swallowed the bitterness rising in his chest.
“Everyone, take your tranquilizers. We move out immediately.”
The tranquilizers prevented the formation of Eid Portals caused by mental instability during combat. All the Hunters—except those confident in their mental fortitude—swallowed their pills.
With all preparations complete, the raid team entered the parking lot, where the Giantvine’s tendrils squirmed and writhed like living things.
***
[Death and Beauty wonders what has you so lost in thought.]
“You can read it if you want.”
[Death and Beauty says that if it involves that person, she would rather not read it.]
“Then it is better if you do not.”
Kim Sibaek awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. The conversation he had with Tae Woon earlier at the café kept resurfacing in his mind, jumbling his thoughts. No… it couldn’t be…
It was probably just him overreacting. Either way, now was not the time to dwell on it. The priority was hunting the Giantvine. They needed to stop Daejeon from falling—and prevent Earth’s destruction.
“Kyaaaaah!”
Thwack!
“Gaaah!”
Thud!
“Haaah! Daddy! Help me!”
Crash!
Screaming at the top of her lungs, tears streaming down her face, Lee Sarang tore through the lunging tentacles, shattering the cars and concrete hurled by the writhing vines like they were nothing.
“You’re amazing for aggro management. It makes tanking so much easier.”
“G-Gaeun-unnie, I—I feel like I’m going to die from fear right now!”
The Giantvine lacked auditory organs but was extremely sensitive to vibrations in the air. Lee Sarang’s screams made for perfect bait.
Despite her frightened, tear-streaked face that looked like she could collapse at any moment, Lee Sarang continued shredding the budding flower pods sprouting from the tentacles with her mutated bare hands. The Hunters, accustomed to the routine, calmly dismantled the Giantvine’s tendrils as it was drawn toward her cries. The rear guard had not even needed to step in.
“You seem pretty close with Gaeun.”
“Lee Sarang was born in Seoul maybe two or three months after the Cataclysm.”
“Oh… meaning…”
“Yeah. She was the first child born in Seoul after the Cataclysm. Her parents were with us at the time, but we were short on medical supplies, and there were no doctors. It was a rough delivery. Gaeun even had to cut the umbilical cord herself.”
It was only natural that she would feel attached after helping deliver the child.
They progressed through the parking lot without anyone suffering serious injuries. But none of them relaxed—the real fight was still ahead.
With the Giantvine’s tendrils wrapped around the elevators, they had no choice but to descend to basement level two using the emergency stairs. At the stairwell entrance, Seo Gaeun tended to the wounded and made one final check.
“If you need a mana recovery potion, speak up now. Everyone, inject the antidote doses I handed out earlier. We have some extra, but you all know we cannot overload on medication in a short time.”
Even Tae Woon, who had skipped the tranquilizer earlier, pulled out a syringe.
“I brought an extra dose for you, hyung.”
“What kind of shot is it?”
“The Giantvine’s venom is everywhere, right? It helps block some of the toxins. Not completely, but it provides decent resistance.”
“Ah, that one.”
“But the needle is so sharp… It looks like a monster’s fang. It’s kind of triggering my tra—”
“Woon-ah, lower yourself a bit.”
Kim Sibaek interrupted softly, motioning his hand up and down.
“Lower? My back?”
“Yeah. You’ve gotten too tall.”
Tae Woon tilted his head but obediently bent down.
“More.”
“More?”
He lowered himself to a crouch until his gaze, which usually looked down on Kim Sibaek, now tilted up from below. The others exchanged puzzled glances, wondering why the injection still had not been administered.
“Hyung… This angle’s kind of nice.”
Kim Sibaek, oblivious to the faint blush tinting Tae Woon’s cheeks, leaned in. A moment later, a startling sound rang out for everyone nearby.
Smooch.
It was unmistakable—the moist, gentle sound of skin pressing and parting.
“Hic!”
Hwang Suho could not even scold the Jeongmyeong guild member who hiccupped in shock. Everyone else was just as stunned.
No one would normally make a fuss over a forehead kiss—it was not like it was on the lips. But the fact that the recipient was Tae Woon made it feel like common sense had been obliterated.
Completely unaware of the stares on him, Kim Sibaek pressed his lips to Tae Woon’s forehead, traced the holy sigil of the Underworld across his chest, and sealed the simple blessing with another kiss to the forehead.
With the breath of the Underworld upon him, the Giantvine’s venom would not penetrate. His divine power was limited and precious, but blessing Tae Woon was non-negotiable.
“I applied a purification technique. You should be safe for half a day… Woon-ah?”
“……”
“You can stand up now…”
But Tae Woon remained frozen in place, as though time itself had stopped.
What alarmed Kim Sibaek even more was the sudden absence of emotion on his face. Tae Woon, who always radiated warmth and color, now looked completely blank. His heart sank.
There were no side effects when I first received the blessing… Is it different because we’re on Earth?
Worried that something had gone wrong, Kim Sibaek reached out to check on him—but then his entire field of vision turned red. As if dunked in crimson dye, Tae Woon’s face and even his neck flushed bright red, the veins swelling like they might burst.
