The Emerging Reality
"Ah! That's..."
"What a truly adorable child," Ariel said, smiling warmly.
"Right? Let's go on a double date sometime."
It seemed they simply thought of her as a cute little kid. Seeing the affectionate couple, Taerin smirked.
"I just have to hold out like this for ten years."
Shiver!
A sudden chill ran down Yunjae's spine. He stared at Taerin with a look of sheer horror.
"But eighty-seven years of being single from birth is just too cruel!"
"Seventy-seven years or eighty-seven years, it's basically the same thing! There's no real difference, Mister!"
"Ah! Don't try to convince me! Absolutely not! I'm not like Mr. Demian—I can't be the only one suffering like this!"
"Huh? Why do you keep bringing me into this...?" Demian Lewis blinked, utterly bewildered.
He was eccentric when we first met, but he seems to have gotten even stranger, Demian thought with a wry smile.
Meanwhile, Mari and Akemi, who had been laughing so hard they practically had tears in their eyes, approached Suyeon, who was still standing there in confusion.
"Just ignore them. This happens all the time," Mari said.
"Yep! Exactly! You don't need to know! And today, dinner is on us!" Akemi chimed in.
To be fair, they also felt guilty for badmouthing Suyeon in the past without knowing the full story.
"It's nice... having it so lively," Suyeon murmured with a soft smile. Though she didn't quite understand what was going on, she found herself enjoying the company as she followed them.
"...There he is."
Amidst the bustling crowd, someone emerged, casting a sly smirk in Yunjae's direction.
"The plans for Kadmus and Halles have failed. Because their avatars were defeated, their true bodies suffered severe damage. As a result, we currently have no Demon King-class forces deployed."
The beautiful girl with blue hair and blue eyes, Rozamy, bowed her head in fear. She was bowing before a massive, undulating black portal. Just looking at it was enough to make one suffocate. From the pitch-black depths of the portal, something seemed to squirm, and a voice echoed out.
The chilling voice didn't register in her ears but brushed against her entire body. Rozamy looked at the black portal with terrified blue eyes and spoke.
"I-I thought so too! But there is a human capable of such a feat..."
She hesitated, remembering 'Slender Forearms'. Is that guy even human? If he were, he wouldn't walk around with that floating over his head.
As the massive black portal undulated once more and the voice echoed, Rozamy quickly bowed her head, realizing now was not the time for idle thoughts.
"Yes, such a human exists!"
As the black portal rippled again, Rozamy pressed her forehead almost to the ground and spoke.
"To eliminate him, we opened a portal and summoned thousands of lower monsters and over four hundred Great Demons, but they were wiped out without even being able to touch him."
An unexpected note of surprise leaked from the black portal. Four hundred Great Demons! The entities that Yunjae had vaporized in an instant without taking a single hit were high-ranking demons. Individually, they might be weaker than the avatars of Kadmus or Halles, but in such numbers, they possessed combat power comparable to a Demon King's true body. Of course, due to the Demon King's Authority, the Great Demons could never actually defeat the true bodies of Kadmus or Halles, but their collective strength was still immense.
"Yes! He is our greatest obstacle!"
The future had already been destined. Even if Kadmus failed, Halles was supposed to follow and complete the conquest. But a human's power had completely deviated from the scheduled timeline, and the sudden appearance of 'Slender Forearms'—who was never meant to exist—had changed everything.
Rozamy flinched. She looked extremely flustered. Should she answer this or not?
As a red light symbolizing anger flashed from the black portal, Rozamy blushed furiously and blurted out.
"S-Slender Forearms!"
Even the black portal seemed taken aback. To think that the name of the obstacle ruining their plans was...
"I-I do not know why... but that was his name!"
Reporting such a ridiculous name to her terrifying master was deeply embarrassing and humiliating. She felt a strange, suffocating sensation in her chest, and she was dying of shame.
When her master's voice returned, cold and serious, Rozamy cried out in frustration.
"It is the truth! I wanted to ask him myself why on earth he chose such a name!"
She was truly indignant. Why did she have to be the one feeling embarrassed and making excuses for that jerk's name?!
Hearing her genuine, frustrated shout, a contemplative tone echoed from the portal.
To think her master, who had trampled over countless parallel dimensions, was actually pondering over such a ridiculous name!
Ugh, don't say it so seriously!
Rozamy stared at the black portal with a bright red face, feeling so embarrassed her entire body was cringing.
In any case, since her master accepted it, all that was left was to wait for orders.
Regardless of his name, his combat power was undoubtedly formidable. It was on par with the true bodies of Kadmus and Halles!
"...It seems so. It may be difficult for me to handle him myself."
At that moment, the black portal undulated violently. It was a highly unpleasant movement, like a viscous liquid squirming. Rozamy bit her lip and bowed her head.
Something squelched out of the black portal. It was a sphere! It was a sphere that looked like an egg, harboring a deep, unfathomable darkness.
"This is...?"
The black light of the sphere was sucked back into the portal, and—
"Kehek!"
A naked man revealed himself. His body was filled with black light, and as the light was sucked back into the portal, his body convulsed. It was a grotesque sight, even to Rozamy.
Thud...
When all the black light vanished and he collapsed onto the floor, Rozamy stared at him with a stiff expression. Looking at her complicated face, it seemed she recognized him.
"..."
Rozamy took a sharp breath.
Slender Forearms used the power of Goddess Lupinus!
But she chose not to report this. Rozamy shook her head.
"...Nothing else."
Sensing her brief hesitation, the black portal emitted a strange, threatening light.
Shiver!
Rozamy quickly bowed her head in terror.
"I understand perfectly. I will remain loyal to you until my dying breath..."
Satisfied with her trembling answer, the black portal stopped pressuring her.
It seemed her master only wanted to remind her of who she belonged to.
With that final echo, the light of the black portal completely faded away.
"Sigh..."
Left alone with the man who had emerged from the portal, Rozamy let out a heavy sigh. She didn't look particularly pleased.
"He actually shouted it so seriously!"
She suddenly snapped, her face flushing with a fresh wave of embarrassment.
"Why do I have to be the one who's embarrassed?!"
"Ah! Then is Mr. Demian joining the Blast Guild as well...?"
Meanwhile, Slender Forearms—the very person who had just embarrassed Rozamy to her core—was utterly shocked by this new piece of information.
"There's no longer any reason for us to be at odds," Demian replied. "Taejun isn't an unreasonable man. In fact, if a major crisis arises in the future, it would be far better for us to join forces."
While that was the official reason, the ultimate truth was that Yunjae was currently working at the Blast Guild. Demian had already witnessed the end of the world once. Although Damian had supposedly defeated Kadmus in another timeline using a hidden piece, that was a future Demian knew nothing about. For now, staying close to Yunjae was the safest bet.
"I plan to keep my guild duties to a minimum and open a cafe," Ariel said, looking up from her mug with an excited expression. "Once we open, you must visit often!"
"Ah! A cafe!"
Yunjae's face lit up instantly. Seeing his extreme excitement, Mari couldn't help but chuckle.
"You want to work part-time at a cafe, don't you?"
She could read him like an open book. Serving tables was Yunjae's number-one dream job—solely because he believed it was the best place to spark a romance.
"No way, Mister! Why would you quit your job to work part-time? How are you going to make a living later?!"
However, the five-year-old, who was already planning her future with him, seemed deeply concerned. Hearing Taerin's nagging, Yunjae replied with a hopeful face.
"Ah! But there's always the evening shift! The closing shift is when romance truly blossoms...!"
Money didn't matter to him at all. His only goal in life was to escape his seventy-seven-year streak of being single from birth.
"Pfft!"
Could anyone really be this eccentric? From the 'Slender Forearms' floating above his head to his bizarre train of thought. Yet, because he was an incredibly handsome youth who spoke with a gentle, polite tone, Ariel found him quite charming.
"Then, once we open, please come help us out."
"Yes! I'd love to! But please, only pay me one-third of the minimum wage!"
"Huh? Why is that...?"
"Yunjae is bound by a compulsory force called the 300% reward," Mari explained. "I told you, right? That's why we ended up paying for three hotel rooms we didn't even use in Sumatra."
"Ah!" Ariel burst into laughter. What kind of hunter in the world possessed such a ridiculous ability?
"But Yunjae is an incredibly hard worker," Mari added. "It seems his Mamon's Grace applies a 300% multiplier to experience points as well, not just rewards. He'll probably become a master barista in a single day."
He might seem expensive, but he was actually the ultimate value-for-money worker! The memory of the office machine that had completely cleared out their paperwork flashed through Mari's mind.
Ariel, who was only running the cafe as a hobby anyway, nodded in agreement. "Let's do that then. We can adjust it after seeing how you work."
They were already quite wealthy. Even if Demian kept his guild duties to a minimum, he would easily make at least a billion won a year. Moreover, if he joined the Blast Guild, Taejun wouldn't stop at a mere billion-won salary. No matter his personal feelings, the pragmatic guild leader would undoubtedly offer him the absolute best treatment.
"Yes! Thank you so much!"
As Yunjae rejoiced over securing a part-time job, Akemi spoke up with a serious face.
"Should I work there too?"
"Ah! You too, Ms. Akemi?"
"Yeah. I don't really have anything else to do. Honestly, things have been pretty boring lately. When we go on hunter raids, everyone's roles are already set in stone. And you never know when you might kick the bucket."
"That's true. I'd like to learn the ropes as well..." Suyeon murmured softly.
Hunter work was highly lucrative but incredibly dangerous. Seeing both Akemi and Suyeon—who had already made more than enough money—show interest in a part-time cafe job, Ariel and Demian looked utterly bewildered.
"We'd love to have your help! With such beautiful ladies working with us, how could we possibly refuse?" Ariel smiled.
"Mari, you're joining too, right?" Akemi asked.
"Me...?" Mari blinked, completely caught off guard.
"Ms. Mari!"
Yunjae turned to her, his eyes practically sparkling with anticipation.
"You'll do it with us, right? Please?"
How could she possibly say no when he looked at her like that? His puppy-dog expression made her burst into a helpless laugh.
"Sigh, I guess I have no choice." Mari shook her head, defeated by his gaze. "It's not like I have anything to do at home anyway."
In truth, she would have felt left out if they hadn't asked. Feeling her heart flutter in a strange way, she added sheepishly,
"But it does sound exhausting..."
"Ah! Don't worry about that! We have Cure!"
"Pfft!"
Her roommate possessed the ability to forcefully blow away any fatigue. Having already had her thirteen-hour flight fatigue completely erased on the way back to Korea, she knew exactly what he meant.
Faced with his absolute power to solve any problem, Mari smiled.
"Fine. But you have to pay me more than the standard hourly wage. I'm poor, you know!"