A Visitor Arrives

I returned safely to middle school.

Though there had been quite a stir for a while, my daily routine remained unchanged.

'Craft puppets and steadily climb the Tower.'

And keep an eye on the kids.

"I'm sorry."

Lately, Hwa Yeonhwa apologized to me every single time she saw me.

Yeonhwa had been acquaintances with Kang Yongchan, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at least on paper.

Because of that, she seemed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to feel a deep sense of responsibility for my kidnapping, which had been orchestrated by him.

Consequently, Yeonhwa had become extremely quiet.

'What should I do about this?'

Whenever our eyes met, Yeonhwa would quickly look down.

I felt like I needed to resolve this situation as soon as possible.

On the other hand, Seo Harin seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood.

She spent the entire day humming to herself, staring intently at her phone.

What on earth was she plotting now?

Shedding light on Harin's schemes always made me anxious.

And finally...

"Yuna."

There was Chaerin, who had practically glued herself to my side.

She had always stuck close to me, but lately, it had reached a whole new level.

It got to the point where if I went to the restroom, she would stand right outside the door, waiting for me to come out.

"...Chaerin."

"Are you done? Let's go."

Chaerin smiled as if this were the most natural thing in the world.

I don't think even my own mother would cling to me this much.

It seemed my kidnapping had traumatized her. After all, Kang Yongchan's grudge had been partially fueled by Chaerin's aggressive handling of him in the past. She felt responsible and was trying to protect me even more fiercely now.

'I thought I was working hard to make sure the kids were okay.'

So why did it feel like getting involved with me was only making them more mentally unstable?

Ironically, the lethargic Namgung Yuon, who had barely interacted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with me lately, seemed to be the most mentally stable of the bunch.

I needed to take some kind of special measure, but...

'I don't know.'

I wasn't omnipotent. I could only hope that time would heal these wounds.

'Dismantling Axion was a good start, though.'

Letting out a quiet sigh, I decided to climb the Tower again today. For the sake of Chaerin, who followed me around all day, I needed to put some distance between us by entering the Tower. Even a newborn chick imprinted on its mother wouldn't follow her around this much.

Conquering the Tower was straightforward. Unless it was Nightmare difficulty, there were no monsters currently capable of stopping my puppets.

And so, I cleared the floor without a hitch. Along with it, my stats grew once again.

My Mana stat had actually reached D-rank!

I had finally become a D-rank Hunter.

On top of that, my Strength, Agility, and Constitution had all reached E-rank. There was no longer any trace of an F-rank Hunter left in me.

All that focused climbing had paid off!

Goodbye, E-rank Hunter title.

I was now a D-rank Hunter, fully capable of holding my own in active duty.

I rubbed my nose proudly as the waiting room of the Tower began to dissolve. The scenery shifted, and I returned safely to my Puppet Workshop.

Lately, I had been making it a point to enter the workshop every time I finished a Tower run. It was the result of taking Harin's advice to heart.

'I'll craft a few puppets and then head back.'

I couldn't afford to have my identity exposed yet. Since I didn't know when I might be targeted by Tower Hunters or natural-awakening Hunters, I planned to spend as much time as possible inside the workshop before leaving.

Growl—

A small sound echoed from my stomach. Startled, I quickly covered my belly. Even though no one was watching, having my stomach growl was incredibly embarrassing.

Feeling the tips of my ears turn red, I let out a dry cough and turned toward my snack box.

"...I should probably eat something first."

You can't work on an empty stomach. In the past, the damp, peculiar smell of the workshop made me hesitate to eat anything here, but now it had become a part of my daily routine, and I was completely used to it.

While I opened the snack box, the puppets efficiently set up a table and chair for me. They might be my creations, but they were wonderfully competent.

'I should have some of that chocolate biscuit I was saving.'

It was a high-end chocolate biscuit my mom had given me, which her friend had brought back from France. Since I had been rationing it to one a day, I was determined to treat myself to it today. Lately, I had been craving sweets and chocolate more and more.

Salivating slightly, I rummaged through the snacks.

"Huh? Uh..."

What?

Why wasn't it there?

I was absolutely sure I had left it right here.

No matter how much I searched the box, the chocolate biscuit was gone. I ended up dumping the entire contents of the box, but the chocolate biscuit was nowhere to be found.

I stared blankly at the empty box in despair. Soon, my gaze drifted to the surrounding puppets.

The moment my eyes landed on them, the puppets flinched and began to wave their hands and shake their heads frantically. They were trying to say it wasn't them.

I knew that. The puppets only consumed my mana; they weren't the type to eat snacks.

"Hmph, but then where did the chocolate biscuit go?"

I felt a tear prick the corner of my eye, mixed with a sudden surge of annoyance. That biscuit was my daily reward for working so hard.

As I bit my lip, swallowing my grievance...

Rustle—

A spider puppet crawled over, carrying something. It was an empty wrapper.

It was the familiar wrapper with French writing printed on it.

"Spider!"

I hastily snatched the wrapper, but as expected, it was completely empty. Only the faint scent of chocolate remained inside.

"Where... where did you find this?"

The spider puppet immediately waddled over and pointed toward the underside of the puppet workbench.

I lay flat on the floor and swept my finger across the ground. There were crumbs.

"..."

I fell into a silent hush.

Because this meant...

'Someone was inside the Puppet Workshop.'

There had been an intruder. My gaze instantly sharpened.

Puppets couldn't eat snacks. But this wrapper proved that a living being had consumed it.

The first person who came to mind was the princess. She had become a puppet, so she might have the ability to move in and out of the workshop.

'But...'

If that were the case, the other puppets would have alerted me. Most of all, my creations would never have allowed anyone to eat the chocolate biscuit I treasured most.

'This person clearly knew I loved chocolate biscuits and ate it on purpose.'

It wasn't the princess, who was the most likely candidate. Then who could it be?

I pondered for a moment, and then a recent event flashed through my mind.

'...A visitor?'

The reward I had received right after clearing the Nightmare difficulty.

A visitor ticket.

The ticket that had vanished the moment I held it in my hand.

Perhaps it was related to that.

'So the visitor wasn't coming to some other place, but to my Puppet Workshop?'

Once my thoughts reached that point, my expression grew serious. An unknown entity had visited my workshop. And for some reason, the puppets hadn't laid a finger on them.

'They're the type to react violently at the first sign of an intruder.'

Yet none of them showed signs of having fought. In fact, they hadn't even reported it to me.

After a brief moment of deliberation, I reached a conclusion.

'Let's wait for a day.'

This was the visitor's first time. They might return. If they didn't show up after a day, I would leave a note to request a conversation.

'It's a reward from the Tower. It must have been given to me because it's beneficial in some way.'

So, I would wait.

Of course, it wasn't because I was petty about my stolen chocolate biscuit. Definitely not.

Spending a day in the Puppet Workshop could have been boring, but since I was naturally someone who enjoyed tinkering with things indoors, the time spent crafting puppets wasn't bad at all.

This way, I could follow Harin's advice and keep some distance from the overly clingy Chaerin. It was killing two birds with one stone.

'If I stay away for a bit, Chaerin might calm down.'

Clearing the Tower normally took a long time anyway, so no one would suspect anything if I returned a day late.

I spent my time crafting, sleeping, and eating snacks. Eventually...

Click—

A sound echoed in my ears. My hands froze mid-craft. I slowly turned my gaze toward the door.

The doorknob, which had been perfectly still until a moment ago, was now tilted and turning.

Which meant...

'They're really here.'

The visitor had arrived.

Tensing up, I stood up and summoned my puppets to my side. Who was it? Who was coming in?

Click—

The doorknob turned further. I swallowed hard.

Creak—

Finally, the door swung open, and someone stepped inside.

Jet-black hair tied to one side fluttered in the air. They wore a long robe woven from various colors, and a bird-shaped mask completely concealed their face.

And finally...

'M-Melons.'

A chest that made its presence clearly known through the robe. It was the first time I had seen anything like that since my mother. No, they might be even larger than my mother's.

'Mine are well above average too, but...'

They were on a completely different level.

Furthermore...

'The puppets aren't on guard.'

Even though an intruder had appeared, the puppets remained completely passive. As I stood frozen, unsure of how to handle this bizarre situation, the visitor lightly raised a hand.

It was a slender, beautiful white hand. Her nails were decorated with a sky-blue nail art.

"Hello."

The voice that spoke was peculiar. It sounded remarkably similar to the voice I often projected through my puppets.

'A puppet?'

With that thought, my eyes drifted back to the mask. The bird-shaped mask.

"...Is that mask a puppet?"

"Hehe, correct. It is a puppet."

I knew it. I finally understood the visitor's identity and why the puppets hadn't reacted.

"You are a puppet maker, aren't you?"

"That is also correct."

The visitor's identity—she was a creator of puppets, just like me.