A Familiar Backstory
"Ah! It's really fine. It's just a spare item anyway. Besides, I needed to free up some space in my inventory!"
"Yunjae, you really are too sweet." If there was one undeniably positive thing about him, it was that he never hesitated to help others.
"Anyway, please try them on!" When Yunjae offered the gloves once more to Suyeon, who looked on the verge of tears again, she nodded and accepted the Saint's Gloves. The moment the fabric touched her hands, which had been shimmering with a dark, ominous aura, shhh... The dark energy vanished in an instant.
"Now, for the test..."
"Mari, you do it this time!"
"...Me?" Mari looked slightly flustered, her gaze shifting back and forth between Yunjae and Suyeon.
"It's okay, Mari! There won't be any problems!"
"Well, if you say so." Having already placed her absolute trust in Yunjae, Mari extended her arm without much hesitation.
"Then..." Suyeon carefully took hold of Mari's hand.
"See? I'm fine. Nothing's happening." It was a complete success.
"Thank you so much! Thank you so, so much!" Having obtained an item that couldn't be found anywhere else in the world, Suyeon bowed deeply over and over again. "I don't even know how I can possibly repay you..."
"Ah! No! No rewards!"
"She's right!"
"Absolutely no rewards!" Terrified that the 300% tidal wave of Mamon's Grace might crash down on Suyeon, the three of them frantically stopped her.
"...What?" Suyeon blinked. To her, even hundreds of millions of won wouldn't be enough to pay him back. Why was everyone reacting so intensely?
"You could literally go bankrupt! You must never, ever talk about rewards in front of Yunjae!" Suyeon undoubtedly wanted to give him an astronomical reward for such a life-changing favor, but one wrong move and the final bill would end up being three times the expected estimate. Although they weren't official partners, Akemi, who had worked with Suyeon the most, intervened to protect her. Suyeon looked utterly dumbfounded.
"If you must, please give him gift cards. Like department store gift cards."
"Yes! I need to buy furniture!" What he needed most right now was furniture! Mari suggested that specifying the exact item might be the safest and most effective way to bypass the passive, and Suyeon nodded blankly.
"But is that really enough..."
"No, that will be more than enough." At those words, Suyeon nodded, privately resolving to prepare an absolutely massive stack of gift cards.
"Alright. By the way, where are you all headed?"
"We were just going to a cafe to kill some time. Want to come with us, Suyeon?"
"If... if it's really alright for me to join..."
"Of course it is!"
"Ah! But I want to do some work..."
"This is work! You're assisting the directors!" Suyeon, thanks to her terrifyingly powerful ability, was treated with almost as much respect as Taejun himself, even if there was no official hierarchy. Akemi, as seen earlier, also held immense sway, with the other office staff practically walking on eggshells around her. Since Akemi's logic wasn't entirely wrong,
"Ah! In that case, I will do my absolute best!" He instantly switched back into his diligent office-machine mode!
"By the way, what's that folder you're holding?"
"Oh, I grabbed it in a hurry on my way out. It's nothing important!" he replied casually to Mari, who had been curious about the folder he had been clutching to his chest this whole time.
"Hmm..."
Hwagok Portal. Mari caught a brief glimpse of those words, but since the primary job of the support staff was documenting various requests and passing them along to the guild members, she figured it wasn't anything out of the ordinary.
"So, what should we get? I'm having a caramel flatccino! What about you, Suyeon?"
"I'm fine with anything..."
"Then try the macchiato flatccino! It's delicious!"
"I'm not really a fan of overly sweet things... I'll just have a grapefruit juice..."
"Eee~? But grapefruit isn't sweet at all!" Suyeon let out a shy smile, unable to hide her happiness at Akemi's energetic chatter. She seemed genuinely thrilled to be making friends. Watching them, Mari chuckled softly, thinking that this peaceful daily life wasn't so bad after all.
"I should make sure to remember their orders. They are directors, after all."
"Yes, Mari! I've already memorized the caramel flatccino and the grapefruit juice! What about you, Mari?"
"Just an americano for me."
"Got it! Order received!" Even Yunjae was taking this seriously as part of his job, diligently committing the orders to memory.
As the four of them walked into the cafe on the first floor of the Blast Guild headquarters, someone standing outside the building smirked. Even through the transparent glass windows, the floating username Slender Forearms was instantly recognizable.
"So that's the guy who stopped Kadmus?"
"Alright, now that we have two new employees joining us today, how about a welcome dinner? A team dinner!"
Welcome dinners and new hires were practically inseparable. This was especially true when the new hire was an incredibly beautiful boy who was on intimate terms with the upper management—and was secretly an overwhelmingly powerful ability user. Naturally, everyone in the office was eager to get close to him outside of work.
"Ah, the inevitable has arrived!" Of course, very few new employees actually wanted to attend a team dinner just to get closer to their bosses.
"Yunjae, Mari, you both have time tonight, right?" When Department Manager Woo Yeonhui, the Support Part Leader, asked to confirm their attendance, Mari, who had absolutely no attachment to corporate office culture, made her reluctance clear. "Didn't we agree to go look at sofas today?"
"Ah! But since it's our first day, I think we really should attend! It's our welcome dinner, after all. If we don't go, won't it make things awkward?" When Yunjae whispered his concerns, suggesting they should go, Mari let out a sigh.
"Team bonding, huh?"
"Yes! Since it's a department with a lot of women, we'll probably just go to a family restaurant, take some group photos, eat, and then wrap things up!" Impressed by his oddly specific insight, Mari figured she could handle that much and nodded. "Fine."
"Yes, Part Leader! We're free!" When Yunjae answered on Mari's behalf, Yeonhui chuckled warmly and nodded. "Excellent! Alright, everyone, let's wrap things up early today, shall we?"
In reality, overtime was usually a given in this department, but the arrival of the office's new hero, Yunjae, had changed everything. The moment any task was handed to him, he resolved it effortlessly. Thanks to him, the entire team had managed the miraculous feat of finishing all their work within regular hours, and they had even completed the preparations for tomorrow's tasks.
"Let's head to the Red House then. Minseon, could you call and make a reservation first?" "Yes, Department Manager!" The corporate hierarchy was well-established. Under Yeonhui's direction, Minseon, the most senior manager below her, handled the reservation, while the rest of the staff moved in perfect, orderly unison.
"See? I told you! Red House is definitely a family restaurant!"
"Honestly, I'd rather just grab a quick drink. That sounds much better to me."
"Ah! But we have to take photos! If the atmosphere is good during the first round, we'll probably head to a cocktail bar for the second round!"
"You know an unnecessarily detailed amount about this."
"Ah! That's how it was at my previous company!"
"Your previous company?"
"Yes, Mari! Anyway, let's go!" Mari wanted to ask what kind of company he could have possibly worked at before, but since Yunjae had already changed the subject, she missed her chance.
"Alright." Accepting that this was just how corporate culture worked, Mari nodded and stood up.
...Ah." However, having spent the entire day in a skirt suit and high heels—outfits she rarely ever wore—her feet were killing her. As Mari frowned, Yunjae looked at her, his large eyes filled with concern.
"Are you okay?"
"My feet are just a bit sore."
"Ah! In that case, Cure!"
Flash! Her companion was, after all, a master of healing magic. "Pfft..."
The fatigue in her feet vanished instantly. As Mari let out a chuckle, Yunjae stood up and slipped on his jacket.
"Let's go, Mari!"
"Alright."
As the two of them stood up and walked side-by-side in comfortable familiarity, Miju, unable to contain her curiosity in an office dominated by female employees, chimed in. "By the way, are you two dating? Yunjae and Mari!"
"Huh?"
"I mean, you two look so close! You're always together during breaks, too!"
"Seriously, where on earth do you find a guy this cute?"
It wasn't just Miju; the other employees were practically bursting with curiosity. An incredibly handsome, flower-boy-like colleague had just joined their team—how could they possibly stay quiet? Seeing their prying eyes, Mari shook her head. Perhaps because she had spent so much time in the rough, male-dominated hunter world, she felt uncomfortable with people trying to pry into her personal life under the guise of friendly banter.
"It's not like that. Please don't try to link us together."
"Oh, sorry..." Unlike the approachable Yunjae, Mari was difficult to get close to. Her sharp response left everyone offering awkward smiles.
"Mari! Yunjae!" Just then, Akemi, who had dropped by right at the end of the workday, called out to them.
"Akemi!"
"Where are you guys going? Home?"
"We're going to a welcome dinner!"
"Really? Then I'm coming too!"
In that instant, the expressions of Yeonhui and the other Support Part employees stiffened slightly. This was a Support Part dinner—why was Akemi tagging along? Moreover, she was a high-ranking S-class hunter in the guild, making her someone they couldn't easily refuse. Despite their awkward expressions, they couldn't possibly stop someone who held director-level authority.
"Why? Am I not allowed to come?"
"O-Of course not! It would be an absolute honor to have you join us, Akemi!"
"Right?"
Akemi placed her hand on the shoulder of Suyeon, who was now finally able to touch others, and giggled. "And as a special treat, Suyeon is coming with us today too!"
At that, the faces of the Support Part staff turned pale. While Akemi was eccentric, she was at least bright and cheerful. Suyeon, on the other hand, was surrounded by terrifying rumors. Stories like how a pet dog had withered and died instantly upon touching her hand, or how an employee who had briefly brushed against her fell ill and died. With so many urban-legend-tier rumors floating around, it was only natural that they feared her.
Let's absolutely not drink tonight! If anyone made a drunken mistake,