Those Who Gaze into the Abyss

On the way home, something suddenly occurred to me, so I asked.

"Hey, Auntie."

"Hmm?"

"Yena was already inside the gate earlier — so why did she come out with us?"

"……."

Kang Jiye chewed on what I meant for a moment, then her eyes went wide.

"Huh?"

Yena had gone in home-to-theme-park, then come out theme-park-to-Director's-office.

From the Hunter Administration's point of view, two people had gone in — Kang Jiye and me — and three people had come out.

Of course, if they weren't particularly tracking headcounts, it might not matter, but…

Kang Jiye asked, looking like she'd just realized her mistake.

"You didn't rewrite anything with hypnosis, did you?"

"Nope. I was busy swapping out my own test results."

"Ah— we're screwed."

"Why? Are the Jungdori going to find it weird?"

"Of course they're going to find it weird. This is the Hunter Administration we're talking about. When they check the entry logs later, only Yena's exit record is going to show up. ……Wait, what's a Jungdori?"

Kang Jiye asked with a puzzled look at a word she'd never heard in her life. I shrugged.

"Central Hunter Administration staff. Saying the whole thing every time is a pain, so I shortened it. For the record, Auntie, you're an Indori."

Kang Jiye blinked at me, looking utterly speechless.

"So you're telling me you made up abbreviations because you were lazy?"

"Yep. That's how language evolves."

"I'm not even going to argue. And why am I an Indori? I'm a woman — shouldn't it be Insuni?"

"If I start distinguishing by gender, it'll get way too confusing."

Yena cut in.

"I think they're suuuper cute! Jungdori and Indori."

"See?"

Kang Jiye laughed like she was getting a headache.

"I never said they weren't cute. You little brat — are you seriously going to keep talking like that?"

"Obviously."

"I'm going to lose my mind, I swear. Wind's picking up. Our girl's not cold, is she?"

While we were busy bickering, the wind had started to turn properly chilly. Even the sunlight that had been hanging on was vanishing behind dark clouds — it looked ready to pour.

It was a rare weekend, and we'd finally managed a little outing for the three of us… but worried Yena might catch a cold, we started looking for a taxi.

"Excuse me — hello?"

That was when a group of men and women suddenly approached us.

Every last one of them was in a suit and sunglasses. Judging by the look alone, they could have been special agents from some government agency.

"Who are you?"

A blonde woman stepped forward.

The moment she started to take off her sunglasses to greet us, I hit her with hypnosis.

But then…

She's not resisting?

I tilted my head, a little surprised.

Those sunglasses were clearly anti-mental-attack gear. If she wasn't going to use them, why bother wearing them?

On top of that, most of the people with her were powerful ability users hovering around B-class.

They definitely weren't ordinary — so what exactly were they after?

"Please, put your mind at ease. We are those who gaze into the Abyss. And I am Raye Ji-won, a loyal servant of Lady Pecia."

The cult…!

The instant Kang Jiye flared her fighting spirit, the sunglasses crowd all turned as one to look at Yena — a silent signal that if anyone tried anything stupid, the daughter would be dealt with first.

Going in swinging against the cult was a bad idea. Even if we protected Yena, bystanders would get caught in it.

I tapped the back of Kang Jiye's hand to calm her down, then asked the blonde woman,

"You said you're my servant. Then what about the rest of them?"

A brown-haired man stepped forward and placed a hand over his left chest.

"I am Gridoth. We serve Lord Endros."

…The sixth one.

It wasn't time for him to show up yet, but I kept my cool for now.

"So you're Big Brother's slaves. What business do you have with me?"

I clapped my hands together with a cheerful smack! as a show of welcome.

The man, who had been slightly tense, let out a quiet breath of relief and launched into his business in an excited tone.

"……So, to summarize — Felln got taken out by Black Serpent, and you're asking me to avenge him?"

"That is correct. Should you bring us his head, Lord Endros will reward you handsomely."

"I see. Let's go!"

"Pardon?"

"It's a chance to earn Big Brother's favor, isn't it? I know where he is, so follow me."

At that moment, I locked eyes with Kang Jiye and tried to send a silent signal.

But of course telepathy wasn't a thing, so she just frowned and tilted her head.

It'd be better to send Yena home.

We might end up using force. These people had come deliberately prepared to block my hypnosis, so a peaceful resolution was off the table.

I could force it through if I really wanted to, but there was almost certainly some mechanism that would make them self-destruct the moment a status condition landed.

There were far too many civilians around — it could turn into a full-blown catastrophe.

"Let's go for now. Come here, Yena."

I scooped Yena up myself.

If anything happened, I planned to plaster her in cards and keep her safe. Or just throw her into a gate.

The problem with that option was the risk: the city's CCTV systems already had image-based gate recognition as a backup for when mana detection failed.

That was why I couldn't casually open a door right now.

I took the lead, and the sunglasses crowd came swarming after me.

The woman called Raye Ji-won fell in on my left; the man called Gridoth on my right.

Then I realized Kang Jiye had vanished — when I looked back, she'd naturally taken up position at the very rear of the group, keeping an eye on them.

I faced forward again and muttered,

"You guys are being kidnapped……."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing."

Humans really are something else.

Even if they don't want to go somewhere, the second the people next to them start moving, they just zombie-shuffle along after them.

It was a lot like little boys marching proudly into a urology clinic chanting about pork cutlets.

Anyway — trust people too easily and your manhood pays the price.

I briefly entertained the idea of sewing their mouths shut, but unfortunately that wasn't my job. Having a monster like me personally dispose of humans wouldn't look good.

Also, it was a little gross.

The Party Bears would have to touch the rides with those hands afterward, after all.

As we drew closer to our destination, the sunglasses men and women started shooting me glances more and more often.

Confused murmuring rose from the rear as well. Gridoth narrowed his brow and asked,

"Lady Pecia — isn't this the Hunter Administration?"

"That's right."

As I said it, I met the eyes of the guard at the main gate. The shift must have changed, because he didn't recognize me and asked for an ID.

"What is your business here?"

Override.

The guard's pupils went glassy, and he started drooling.

He sat down at the guardhouse control panel and worked the controls — and a clear blue barrier began to seal over the entire Hunter Administration.

Everyone inside and outside the main gate stared up at the barrier in confusion. A few people panicked and bolted into the building.

The sunglasses crew was just as lost.

Gridoth couldn't hold it in any longer and asked me,

"Lady Pecia. What on earth is going on? Are we seizing this place?"

"Well, if you want to catch a hunter, you come to the Hunter Administration, right?"

"No, what I mean is—"

Gridoth was starting to sense something was off; he activated a defensive artifact. The others all had their hands in their coats as well.

How dare you put your hands on weapons in front of your queen.

I couldn't tolerate their insolence any longer. Standing in the middle of the parking lot, I bellowed at the top of my lungs,

"WAAAAAH—!!!!!!!! These bastards are assassins!!! They're here to kill Black Serpent!!!!!"

"“……!!”"

KRAAAASH—!!! BOOM!!!

Three or four of the sunglasses crew self-destructed on the spot.

Shockwaves packed with searing heat flipped cars across the parking lot and sent ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them rolling; pillars of fire like a dragon's breath shot skyward and slammed into the barrier. Something like a nuclear cloud blanketed the sky.

The rest tried to blow themselves up too, but Central hunters subdued them first.

It started with Kang Jiye grabbing the men and women at the very back by the napes of their necks and slamming them into the ground…… and from every direction, suppression magic poured into the remaining members.

In the blink of an eye, multicolored beams of light punched through the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sunglasses crew's bodies, and translucent gray spheres closed around their frozen forms.

"Don't move! Move and you're dead."

Guards in something like rapid-response gear came pouring out and surrounded the area.

Dozens of guns, swords, and staves leveled our way — and at the same time the floor tiles writhed, took human shape, and stood up. Combat stone golems.

Dirt clinging to the stone rained down in clumps.

"It's not me and Yena! …Auntie, you explain too, hurry."

I set Yena down and surrendered for the moment.

We'd entered without clearance, so there was no helping it.

For some reason Kang Jiye was staring at me with an incredulous smile when a special forces agent sheathed his sword and ran over.

"Deputy Director Kang?"

Fortunately, a former Incheon Branch employee who recognized her pulled us aside.

We still hadn't coordinated our stories, so Kang Jiye left the entire explanation to me — and I mixed in just enough lies to convince them the group were terrorists.

The special forces agent took off his helmet and thanked us for our cooperation.

"That could have been a disaster. Thank you for your hard work. Still, I'm sorry, but you'll need to go through questioning for now……."

"What the hell is going on here!"

The Director appeared with a murderous air. He strode up to the front of the parking lot and stopped dead, staring at the aftermath of the explosion in blank horror.

"Dead or injured?"

"None, sir."

After confirming casualties first, the Director took statements from the witnesses.

He nodded along, directing the scene — then someone testified that "the people in the parking lot suddenly wandered out like they were entranced," and he turned our way.

I waved hello.

"……We're in trouble."

I blinked at Kang Jiye's mutter.

"Huh? Why?"

I looked over, thinking she meant we were about to get chewed out — but her gaze wasn't on the Director.

"That."

Where Kang Jiye was pointing sat an SUV that looked almost like a carriage.

The heat from the explosion had melted the rear half of the body, and the tires had fused straight to the ground.

Shattered sheets of what looked like tempered glass were scattered around — probably some kind of protective housing.

I remembered it had been wrapped around the vehicle like a container.

The strange magical tools nearby, the way that parking space alone was wide and lavish… was it a luxury car?

"What is that?"

"The fact that you don't know just proves you're a monster. Heh. What are we going to do."

"No, seriously, what is it. Even if it's expensive, I can cover the damages. It's just a fancy car."

Kang Jiye's mouth curved into a smirk.

"How? It's a classic — discontinued for a hundred years. One of two pure originals left in the world, I think? The craftsman who built it is dead, so nobody even knows how to make another. It's a high-level exclusive vehicle."

"……."

Why…… why would anyone bring something like that here. Why drive it around. Put it in a museum.

"For the record, it's the Director's baby."

.

.

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Hmm—