S-Grade House Guard (1)
“If it’s Function, it should be possible. An overwhelming clear of the first floor.”
The director gazed at the suffocating Magic Tower collapse counter in the room, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
“Three years ago. When the Magic Tower rose in Incheon. You were a rookie back then, weren’t you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Time has flown by already.”
Three years ago.
The moment the Magic Tower appeared in Incheon, people’s reaction was the same.
‘It’s finally here.’
Along with the tower’s emergence, 1,033 citizens lost their lives.
The damage was especially severe because it happened right after rush hour.
The tower itself was only slightly larger than the World Tower in Jamsil.
But instead of rising from an empty lot, it had erupted straight through an eight-story apartment complex and the surrounding villas housing around seventy households.
Debris from the collapsed buildings flew in all directions, causing secondary damage.
A nearby hundred-unit low-rise apartment building crumpled like dominoes in a chain reaction.
‘The Magic Tower swallowed the apartments whole without a trace.’
Scattered wreckage of the buildings. Survivors wandering through the ruins, wailing as they searched for their families.
Everyone felt it in their bones—this disaster was only the prelude to something far worse.
“Do you think he could become someone like Yu Junhyeok?”
“Honestly, if he were S-grade, I would have thought we’d gotten a second Yu Junhyeok.”
“Being F-grade means his limits are clear. That’s what you’re saying.”
“In reality, right after he cleared the seventh floor, I went straight to his house. He looked extremely exhausted.”
“Exhausted already at the seventh floor.”
“It was as if he’d barely survived a life-or-death crisis. He was catching his breath.”
“At that level, if he’d summoned an S-grade summon, he could have cleared it easily. Of course, he wouldn’t have set a new record that way.”
“That’s true.”
The director nodded as if he understood.
“So it’s too early to treat him on the same level as Yu Junhyeok.”
“I think we can afford to watch him a little longer. Even the Sword God didn’t receive a security detail until he reached the fifties.”
“That’s right.”
Revealing Function’s real name—Choi Junseok—and assigning him an escort paid for with taxpayer money when he hadn’t even cleared the tenth floor?
The media would explode with headlines like “Do players think they’re nobility?” and debates over special treatment and wasted taxes.
The hero who cleared the Incheon Magic Tower.
Rank 1 player, Sword God Yu Junhyeok.
Unprecedented climbing speed.
He conquered every tower by obtaining all its gimmicks.
Even as he grew rapidly, he selflessly helped other players improve for the sake of everyone.
He shared items.
Discovered promising players. While preparing to clear the highest floors, he never missed a chance to assist mid- and lower-floor players with their training whenever he had time.
His actions made the front page of newspapers every single day.
The government deployed military forces within a 300-meter radius of his residence for protection.
National Intelligence Service agents and soldiers guarded him at close range.
It was even said that the President once declared at an event attended by Sword God Yu Junhyeok:
— Even if I am in danger, the Sword God, Player Yu Junhyeok, must be protected at all costs.
There had been 37 confirmed assassination attempts on Yu Junhyeok from North Korea alone.
The number of foreign brokers who had tried to contact him exceeded three digits. That was public knowledge.
That was how meticulously they had protected him, treating him like precious gold and jade.
After overcoming countless hardships, Korea became the third country in the world to clear a Magic Tower.
Yet among the returnees, Yu Junhyeok was nowhere to be found.
— …He sacrificed his life to save everyone in the final moment.
— The Sword God gave his life… and cleared the tower.
— In his final moments, he burned his body to reach a new realm.
Even though he had cleared the 100th floor, not a single person had witnessed Yu Junhyeok’s end to the very last second. Most had fallen into combat-incapable states midway and escaped using return scrolls.
Some said he had become a god.
Some called it ascension.
Some claimed he had simply gone into hiding to live quietly.
In truth, that man was now inside Choi Junseok’s inventory, his soul connected to it.
“The damage if the Suseo Magic Tower collapses now would be overwhelmingly greater than when the Incheon Magic Tower fell back then.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Good. I know you’ve been working hard lately. Is there anything else you need support for regarding Function, or any concerns?”
“Aside from his flashy habit of smashing through every floor… Well, there’s the tenth floor. That floor requires clearing three branching paths simultaneously, doesn’t it?”
“It does.”
“That said, it didn’t seem feasible to reveal Choi Junseok’s identity to others.”
“So that’s why you made the request.”
“Surprisingly, it wasn’t my idea.”
“No? It wasn’t your idea? Are you saying the summon requested it directly?”
“Yes. The summon’s Korean name is Song Hana.”
The director’s previously gentle expression sharpened instantly at the name Song Hana.
“And you’re reporting this to me without prior notice?”
“My apologies. The truth is… since Song Hana herself made the request, I had no choice but to report it after the fact.”
Song Hana, an S-grade player and a key force in Magic Tower raids.
Publicly unknown, she was one of the Player Management Agency’s secret assets.
“She said she could sense an energy connected to Function and was waiting in front of my house. My blood ran cold on my way to work. Fortunately, she showed me her summon player registration card, so things worked out.”
“…I see.”
The director thought that with her divine power, such a feat wasn’t impossible.
“…Song Hana. That was the right call. Good work. You may go.”
‘Just who is Song Hana that he’s brushing this off so casually?’
Kang Jinsu left the room with that question lingering in his mind.
Behind him, the director recalled information about her.
An S-grade humanoid summon.
Alias: Amaterasu.
She was a Japanese summon who had fled to Korea for some reason.
Blessings, healing, talisman arts, illusion magic, barrier magic, exorcism, archery, and more.
Her evaluated combat strength placed her among the single-digit rankers. She was the perfect candidate to guard and assist Choi Junseok in various ways.
─┼
After sending off the technicians who had installed the TV, Lee Nayeon kept flipping through channels, her face filled with wonder.
The television and the ultra-luxury sofa.
Both had been purchased with the card Team Leader Kang Jinsu had left behind.
Choi Junseok lounged on the sofa.
Lee Nayeon sat a little distance away, repeatedly startled by whatever was on the screen.
“Why are you so surprised?”
“That creature. Its gaze moves incredibly fast.”
“What does?”
“The one whose vision I’m currently sharing. Its footwork is different.”
“Hmm…?”
“Perhaps it possesses considerable movement speed?”
Just then, the camera angle shifted to focus on a celebrity.
Ah… so that’s what she meant.
“Oh. That’s called a camera cut.”
“Hmm. Camera cut… An excellent footwork technique.”
‘…That’s not what it is.’
While they continued their strange conversation—explaining things to her as if she were a child—the doorbell rang.
Ding-dong—
Lee Nayeon shot up like a startled cat and stared at the front door.
Then she whispered in a tense voice.
“There was no presence.”
She placed one hand on her waist as if ready to summon her sword and nodded sharply.
As if urging him to summon Kim Chun-sik’s Longsword right into her grip.
Choi Junseok listened to the voice beyond the door and had no choice but to comply without argument.
“I’m the neighbor who just moved in downstairs! I came to say hello!”
Up to that point, it was normal.
But the next words made it clear this was no ordinary person.
“I brought some talismans to celebrate your move-in!”
‘Wait. What did she say she’s giving out? Talismans?’
“We don’t buy that kind of thing!”
“I’m not selling them! They’re free moving-in gifts!”
“Ah… We’re fine!”
“Then I’ll just stick one here and go!”
“What?”
She sounded like someone delivering flyers.
Even more suspicious.
Choi Junseok wet his dry lips as Team Leader Kang’s earlier words replayed in his mind.
— She seems to have quite a few eccentric traits.
A small woman visible through the peephole. She had a cute appearance that would make most men’s hearts flutter, yet she was seriously licking a talisman.
“Why don’t you come out and at least say hello!”
He had zero desire to greet someone licking talismans with such enthusiasm.
So this was what Team Leader Kang had meant when he warned him about the new downstairs neighbor.
In the end, Choi Junseok opened the door.
She seemed strange, but he could tell she wasn’t hostile.
When he cracked the door open, a short woman stood there, looking surprised.
“Oh! You startled me. Hello?”
“…Hello.”
Lee Nayeon remained in her drawing stance, thumb resting on the hilt as if ready to draw at any moment.
The first impression of the downstairs neighbor was extraordinary.
A short black-haired woman was casually licking the back of a yellow talisman.
Anyone watching might have thought she was licking yellow ice cream or candy.
Yet the red markings drawn on the yellow paper were unmistakably a talisman.
And there was one more absurd thing.
She was licking the talisman while calmly accepting a greeting.
“…What exactly are you doing?”
“Ah, well. Mmph—the talisman…! I’m here to stick it up for you!”
“Uh…”
Where should he even begin pointing out what was wrong?
Was licking the back really the proper way to attach a talisman?
No.
Shouldn’t he start with why she was attaching a talisman in the first place?
Yet her eyes were filled with such pure goodwill that he couldn’t bring himself to stop her.
“Um… Actually… I mean… This is… a moving-in gift… Ah! Right! Do you want to stick it yourself?!”
The talisman, its back now damp with saliva, drew closer.
“Uh… It’s fine.”
“Hehe. Then I’ll finish it up?”
Slap!
She stuck the talisman onto the doorknob in one swift motion and beamed.
The moment the talisman adhered to the knob, a blue flame flickered across its surface before vanishing. At the same time, a chill swept through the house like a cold wind.
“Hehe, done. My name’s Song Hana! I ran away from Japan!”
Her blunt introduction mixed with her personal history on their first meeting. She was definitely not normal.
She wiped her damp, saliva-covered hand on her waist and extended it for a handshake.
Choi Junseok reluctantly took it.
“I’m Choi Junseok. And behind me… that’s Lee Nayeon.”
“Yes! Please take good care of me, both of you! By the way… Could I maybe come inside?”
Choi Junseok had no choice but to step aside. Lee Nayeon quietly nodded without suppressing her hostility.
She had already dropped her drawing stance earlier.
“…Come in.”
“Great! We should work together! We’re both summons and fellow runaways!”
The cheerful woman’s words took on a slightly eerie tone.
It sent chills down his spine—she already knew far too much.
“D-don’t worry! I’m here to help!”