Absolute Stability
The incident was quickly wrapped up.
“Everyone who was caught in this incident, please leave your contact information with an Association staff member!”
“Hey! Make sure no reporters get in!”
The Association had thrown every available staff member into controlling the situation and handling the aftermath.
“Baekwol Hunter! What brings you to Busan?”
“Did you already know about this incident?”
Of course, the reporters still managed to swarm the area. The Association staff were sweating bullets, desperately blocking the journalists who kept yelling about their right to know.
Amid the chaos, Baekwol was engaged in a conversation with the Busan branch chief about the incident.
“All of your acquaintances have been brought to the Association. We will mobilize every resource to provide full aftercare.”
“Some people were directly affected. PTSD could develop, so please take extra care.”
“Yes. We will do our absolute best.”
The group moved entirely to the Association. They had to protect the journalists and prepare for any potential aftershocks. Cheon Nuri and Cheon Maru, who had direct injuries, received healing from the healers.
The branch chief immediately resumed directing the site. Baek A-rang glanced around once, then froze.
“Eh?”
“He’s gone.”
She moved swiftly and vanished.
***
“Are you okay?”
As expected, Baek A-rang had ended up at the Association, visiting her friends and family in the Busan branch’s treatment room.
“Yeah. We didn’t get hurt at all.”
“Yeah… we’re fine…”
Kim Chae-eun and Heo Yeon-hwa, who were still a bit drained and sluggish.
“Aah… now it finally hurts…”
“What did you do, brother? Why does it hurt?”
“Instead of letting you hit me, I took the hit meant for you, right?”
Cheon Maru and Cheon Nuri had already started bickering again.
Of course they were worrying too, but there was someone else on his mind at the moment.
“…”
“Don’t look at them like that. People might think they’re dead.”
He wondered why they had targeted them. He didn’t know the details, but he had seen the scene clearly: Cheon Maru and Cheon Nuri tangled in her hair, the swimsuit forcibly ripped off, and the villain’s dirty hands reaching out.
Just that image alone made his blood boil. He couldn’t even imagine how the victims must have felt.
At that moment, he was genuinely worried for Maru and Nuri. They had no choice but to watch their own mother nearly suffer that fate. Maybe they would develop trauma too.
“Aigoo. Your expression brightened a little, then it sank again.”
“…”
“Don’t overthink it. You were just unlucky and got targeted by a weird villain. You’re lucky to have made it out alive. You didn’t do anything wrong this time.”
“But…”
“I said it—today is all about gratitude.”
He stroked her hair. It felt like tears were about to fall, but he held them back somehow.
“Anyway… that… Baek…”
“Baek A-rang. I’m also Baekwol.”
“Haha… I feel like reality is slipping away. My friend is Baekwol Hunter.”
“…I’m sorry I deceived you.”
“It’s fine. You had your reasons too.”
Chae-eun’s words made him even more nervous. It didn’t matter who lied; the deception had happened.
“Anyway, I never imagined…”
“You didn’t know either, right?”
“I… actually knew.”
“Me too.”
“Me too.”
“By the way, I knew as well.”
“…Eh?”
Eh? Yeon-hwa noona also knew?
“What?! I was the only one who didn’t know?! This is really sad!”
“Wait, hold on. You knew too?”
“At Maru’s house… there was white hair…”
“Ah… did you notice from that?”
“Not just that… there were a few others… but that was the key…”
Noona has really good intuition. Is that just high intelligence?
“Well, assuming that’s true for you, Maru and Nuri… when did it start?”
“I found out a week after the semester started by chance.”
“I knew when I visited his house before. I saw him transforming and then ran into him by chance.”
“What about your mom?”
“I found out yesterday. I caught on during a conversation.”
“Surprisingly, no one told me first. So don’t get too mad at me.”
Still, the fact that he was the only one left out made him a little pouty inside.
“Anyway, we should talk about the aftereffects of this incident a bit.”
“Aftereffects?”
“The Red Witch’s terror will be handled by the Association, but there’s a slight issue.”
“We… Baekwol… are connected to it…?”
“Yes. Let me explain why I created the Baekwol identity.”
***
“That’s how it happened.”
Everyone fell silent. It was shocking, but not shocking enough to be amazed. Even Chae-eun was tearing up a little.
“Sob… you really… ugh! It must have been hard.”
“Now I’m fine. I’m not alone anymore.”
Chae-eun was subtly soft and sensitive. In fact, this wasn’t the important part right now.
“The Association will try to suppress it as much as possible, but we can’t completely stop the rumors. The fact that we’re connected to Baekwol will slowly spread. At least to you and noona who had direct conversations.”
“So…”
“Yes. That villain… the Corpse Engineer… might target you.”
The villain who calls me the key. Korea’s worst villain. The one who harmed my parents.
This guy might target my friends this time.
“I’m sorry. I should have at least corrected the title.”
“Hey! No self-blame!”
“It’s fine…”
At least the title had been fixed. He could have said he approached the awakened person directing the site first. But calling out the name and yelling “noona” at that moment made any excuse impossible.
“Also, Maru’s family probably isn’t completely safe either. I can’t hide the fact that you all went on vacation together.”
Even if he put the beach scene aside, Nuri’s broadcast had openly said they all went together. Then Maru would surely assume a connection with Baekwol.
“So for now… how should I handle this?”
Several solutions came to mind, but none solved the root issue. If the villain targeted them on purpose, the first move was always to take the lead.
Blackmail? It didn’t seem possible no matter how much he thought about it. He had felt it clearly in an instant. This guy wasn’t someone easily frightened by death.
“…I’ll contact the Association and do everything possible within the limits of protecting your lives.”
Of course he couldn’t just sit still. He had to do something.
“So you should just live your normal lives as usual. The Association isn’t that easy to deal with. If you feel uneasy, contact me right away.”
He couldn’t lock them in the Association forever. That was basically the same as dying. He would simply do his best with what he could do now.
“Anyway, there’s nothing to worry about from this incident. Just rest today and don’t overthink.”
“Um… so when can we leave?”
“As soon as the Association says it’s okay.”
“I’m really fine, so can we just—”
“Mom.”
He lowered his voice. Even if his image was hurt, this had to be done.
“Trauma or PTSD doesn’t always show immediately. Follow my advice this time. Please.”
“…Yeah. You’re right. Sorry.”
“It’s fine. I’ll be here with you, so tell me right away if anything feels off.”
“Hey! There’s nothing fun here.”
“I’ll go look for board games. Wait here.”
He had to go out and find some entertainment for a while. But did the Association even have any?
***
“-So you two can’t be left alone. A fight is guaranteed.”
“Who can stop the fight between two people?”
“Me and the Pope. The rest—I don’t care if the building collapses or someone gets hurt and dies.”
Unfortunately, there were no board games. That was to be expected. Anyway, Chae-eun chose his storytelling to pass the time.
The most popular topic was obviously the X-grade hunters’ stories. There were plenty of tales, but none so close-up as this.
“Did they really plan to open death games?”
“Yeah. Thoth has that dopamine-addicted vibe. Zeus is the same, but he’s not the planned type and doesn’t make big moves.”
“That’s… terrifying.”
“Last time it was the Octopus Game, right? When it was trending, someone suddenly contacted me. They asked if I wanted to join. They said their game was the Pharaoh Game.”
“Wow…”
Of course he had refused. He wasn’t insane enough to join something like that.
“Good thing it didn’t happen. Who knows.”
“They might be preparing again?”
“Could be.”
As they were chatting, the branch chief suddenly knocked.
“Baekwol Hunter. The Association President’s calling.”
“Oh. I’m coming.”
Electronics were forbidden in this ward. There were too many precise devices that could cause problems.
“Yes. I switched the phone.”
“Baekwol Hunter. First, I apologize for the incident.”
The first words were an apology. As the Association, responsible for protecting civilians from villains and monsters, this was a difficult situation.
“…Can we get straight to the point?”
It wasn’t the President’s fault, but the excuse that everything was okay didn’t seem to apply. If they had been even a little later, something terrible would have happened.
“Yes. There are two matters. First, the origin of the Red Witch’s curse, but unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any clear evidence.”
Spatial Fog and Ruin Curses had been internationally banned due to their danger. Of course, that didn’t mean you could just wish them away.
It wasn’t a curse you could obtain just because you awakened high-grade mana. It felt off, so he had asked for an investigation, but it seemed difficult to trace the source.
“And the second matter. There are calls for the Hunter General Assembly to be convened a little earlier.”
“Whose opinion is it?”
“The three major guild leaders’ opinions.”
The Hunter General Assembly was Korea’s most powerful hunters’ council. There were five chairs: the President and the three guild leaders. If three or more convened it, it would gather. There were also other hunters, but with limited speaking rights.
“It seems the Red Witch incident is causing some trouble for them.”
“Yeah, that makes sense from their perspective.”
Major guilds held enormous influence because of their power. The Mirinae Guild leader in Seoul was said to have more power than the Seoul Mayor.
They carried many responsibilities, one of which was maintaining public order in their jurisdiction. Officially, the police handled it, but when villains appeared, it was an unspoken rule to request guild cooperation.
“Although the Red Witch’s terror failed, the fact that they even tried is the problem. Villains might go on a rampage if they feel provoked.”
“Well, it was time anyway. I’m in favor.”
There was no fixed schedule, but it was an unspoken rule that it would be held at least once a year.
“Yes. Let’s schedule it within the summer break.”
“Thank you.”
“That’s all for now. Oh, I’ll do my best on what you mentioned.”
“Thank you. Then I’ll hang up.”
He ended the call and fell into thought for a moment before emptying his mind. Thinking about it now wouldn’t change anything.
‘During the break there’s also research on my bond with Andre, but there’s no time to rest.’
He would head back. To the place where he could rest and his friends were already resting.