Chapter 6
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: 6. Coup
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- So, you'll have to select another guild.
"Ah... hold on a moment."
I pressed my temple, lost in thought.
By the time Haetae had failed to apply, there was no way to add an application now.
The application period had already ended yesterday.
I quickly ran through the list of backup guilds in my mind.
- I'll send you the list, so take your time to think it over and give me a call. I was surprised too.
"Ah, thank you. I will."
Fortunately, the kind association staff gave me some time.
I hung up the phone. By the time the call ended, I had already arrived in front of the counseling office.
As soon as his words finished, my phone vibrated briefly.
The file from the association—I opened it without hesitation.
Familiar guild logos and names filled the table.
I scrolled down, but Haetae was nowhere to be seen.
"It's really not there."
Jin Sea must have gotten something mixed up.
I called her.
Right in the heart of Seoul, Haetae Guild headquarters.
Wi Jae-wan chewed on a stiff convenience store kimbap, dragging his exhausted body into the office.
He simply hadn't had time to eat properly.
As the team leader and scout, having all these miscellaneous guild tasks and field support dumped on him had probably started...
With Yoo Seon-woo.
From the day his promising junior had walked out of the guild on his own two feet.
This unfair fieldwork might be the price he was paying.
After that day, all planned raids had fallen apart.
And the 'responsibility' from the higher-ups had fallen squarely on him, the team leader.
'I'll have to bear it.'
He had prepared himself for it to some extent.
That's what he thought.
He didn't particularly regret it.
A bitter smile crossed his face as he entered the office.
But someone was already there at his desk.
At the innermost seat with a full view of the scenery.
She was sitting in his chair.
Holding her phone in one hand.
"Mm... looks like there was some mix-up. I didn't check either."
Her long hair shimmered like moonlight, silver or gray—he couldn't tell.
And even in broad daylight, her golden eyes gleamed sharply like jewels.
The heart of Haetae Guild.
The one called a one-woman army.
S-Rank Hunter Jin Sea.
She sat there, phone in hand, mid-call.
Her voice on the call was bright and laced with playfulness.
"Yeah, no helping it..."
The voice on the other end was Yoo Seon-woo's.
In truth, he could tell without even listening.
"Yeah! I'll make sure they apply next time. Must've been the team leader's mistake. Sorry for bothering you when you're busy~ Text me when you get home!"
And matching that voice, her face brimmed with happiness and excitement.
Her cheeks slightly flushed, the soft curve of her eyes.
Anyone could see it was the face of a girl in love.
- Click.
But the moment the call ended, every expression evaporated from Jin Sea's face.
A look utterly incompatible with the sweet voice from moments ago.
She slowly, very slowly turned her head to gaze at Wi Jae-wan standing at the door.
And quietly opened her mouth.
"Team leader."
Her cold golden eyes scanned him.
The playful tone from before was gone.
"Why did you do it?"
Her tone already assumed he had done it.
And he had.
He forced a calm expression and spoke as steadily as he could.
"Haha... Sea... there must be some misunderstanding."
Forcing a smile, he began laying out his prepared logic.
He had excuses ready for this.
He knew she'd come here the moment she found out.
Just not this quickly.
"Seon-woo's from our guild, right? As the top counselor, he's already super popular. If his first house call is to us, people will cry favoritism and come at us."
He nodded as he continued.
"Other guilds will complain, suspicions of cronyism will pop up. So... we decided to skip the first application. Higher-ups approved it too."
Even to his own ears, it sounded plausible.
"......"
He paused to gauge her reaction.
But Jin Sea just sat there, chin propped, listening silently until he finished.
So Wi Jae-wan hurriedly added one last line.
"It's good for Seon-woo too. He needs to go long-term, and we can't be a burden—we have to protect him, right?"
At Yoo Seon-woo's name, the chill on Jin Sea's face softened like ice melting in sunlight.
"Hmm..."
She unpropped her chin and whispered lowly.
"Well, this excuse is pretty well put together."
A faint sneer laced her voice.
"Team leader."
She was clearly smiling.
But her eyes didn't move a fraction.
"You don't need to worry about Seon-woo anymore. I'll take care of him."
Chin propped again, she asked with pure curiosity.
"He's not even a team member you need to look after anymore, right?"
Wi Jae-wan had no reply.
"Yeah, hang up."
I closed my phone.
It was just as I expected.
No real problem had arisen.
Jin Sea simply didn't know.
She hadn't even known Haetae hadn't applied.
She could be this careless when not in combat or on missions.
I smiled and poured myself a glass of water.
The empty waiting room.
No afternoon hunter patients, as expected.
I understood.
It was the first day, and guilds decided when mental care for hunters and Otherworlders was needed.
Top hunters or Otherworlders rarely admitted they had issues.
Even with confidentiality guaranteed, they wouldn't drag themselves here admitting weakness.
With Haetae out, I needed a backup.
I eyed the impressive list on my screen.
Aegis, Hwarang, North Star...
Korea's mightiest guilds, names that swelled the chest with pride.
But I thought differently.
'If I have to do it anyway, why not pick one that's helpful to me?'
Guilds in this world fell into two main types.
First, those centered on native Awakeners, not Otherworlders.
These guilds treated Otherworlders like me as secondary or rejected us outright.
Guilds shunning Otherworlders for pure local Awakeners were called pureblood guilds.
Second, exclusive groups like the Azure Heaven Alliance, clumped by specific worlds.
But there was one oddball guild that fit neither.
I scrolled down and stopped at the sixth-ranked guild.
'Union Guild.'
True to its name, it had a strong federation-of-Otherworlders vibe.
Union had started as a mid-tier guild.
But early in the Dimensional Transfers, while others shunned Otherworlders, Union welcomed and absorbed them, climbing to its current rank.
They ignored origins, valuing only ability and will to survive here.
Martial artists from the Central Plains, Empire knights, Beastkin... excellent environment for Otherworlders from diverse worlds to rely on each other.
As an Otherworlder myself, I'd feel a kinship, and conversations would flow easily.
Above all, as a Hunter Counselor, I'd be the first to greet Otherworlders arriving here.
Experiencing their traits early would be valuable.
The decision didn't take long.
I called the association again.
"This is Yoo Seon-woo."
In the brief silence as the staff awaited my words,
I named the guild for my first patient.
"Union Guild."
The confirmed date was next Monday.
That night, when the lights of the Heavenly Demon's Palace went out and deep darkness fell.
In the deep underground training hall of the cult.
Two shadows gathered.
Dozens of demonic fiends lined up behind them, holding their breath.
The Ten Demons, now reduced to five. Among them, two faced each other in heavy silence.
One was Hyeok Yeon-bo, the cult's Left Protector and one of the Ten Demons.
The other was the Dark Venerable, Muk-un-hyeon, the most insidious and inscrutable of the Ten Demons.
Finally, Hyeok Yeon-bo murmured quietly.
"Did you see it, Dark Venerable?"
His low voice echoed eerily through the empty hall.
"Was I not right?"
Days ago, Hyeok Yeon-bo had secretly warned the Ten Demons.
That the Supreme One seemed possessed by a heart demon.
One raged in denial, another dismissed it as nonsense.
The last, the Dark Venerable, had sided with him here.
But today, what happened in the Heavenly Demon's Palace changed everything.
Jahwa-yeon had struck first.
Seating Geumgang as Right Protector was a clear ploy against the Left Protector.
Hyeok Yeon-bo continued.
"To seat a mere bodyguard as Right Protector... the Supreme One is in peril."
His voice began to heat up.
But then, one fiend cautiously spoke.
"However, Left Protector... even so, if it's the Supreme One who inherited heaven's will..."
"Foolish talk!!"
Hyeok Yeon-bo bellowed. His eyes blazed fiercely.
"Is watching your lord bitten by a viper loyalty? Extracting the poison from his body and restoring his mind—that is the true way of a loyal retainer!"
He spread his arms to the one Ten Demon who followed him and the dozens of fiends behind.
His eyes burned with a chilling flame of ambition and grand purpose.
"We must save the Supreme One from that horrific heart demon's torment! And before his illness dooms this cult to ruin, we must set things right first!"
This was no rebellion.
For the cult's future... and the throne's master.
"It's a coup."
'We will set everything right.'
His declaration filled the underground.
This time, no one opposed.