Is It You Again?
The deranged fanboys were still going at it. How much longer did I have to watch this pathetic spectacle?
“Si-eun noona is so kind-hearted that she must be tormenting herself for stabbing us in the back. Every single night before she falls asleep, I bet she thinks, ‘Ah, if only I hadn’t betrayed Dae-gwang back then…’ Every night! Every single night! This is basically a boyfriend thing. The person she thinks about every night is me!!”
“Oooooh, nice, nice. This is huge. Me too, me too! I want to get betrayed by Si-eun noona too!!”
I used to be a fan of Si-eun myself, but I was never anywhere near this bad. These guys were clearly the real deal—stalker-level fans who probably memorized her entire schedule and followed her everywhere. Thankfully, a new arrival finally put an end to their delusional ramblings.
“Hey! What the hell are you two doing over there!”
A short-haired girl came striding toward us, her sharp voice cutting through the air. She was about the same height as Si-eun—the shortest in our group—but her youthful face made it obvious she was even younger. The moment she reached us, she exploded at Dae-gwang and Jin-su.
“Seong-jun oppa told you guys not to act on your own! Why don’t you ever listen?!”
Faced with the scolding of this tiny girl, Dae-gwang and Jin-su looked completely lost.
“Y-Yeah, Yena… But we’re your oppa, so calling us ‘hey’ is a little…”
“If you’re my oppa, then act like it! You keep pulling stunts that put Seong-jun oppa in awkward positions! Are you going to keep doing this?”
“Sorry, Yena. But this time there’s a reason! Look over here. Do you know who this is? It’s Si-eun noona. You know her, right? Of course you do!”
Why are you asking and answering your own questions? Anyway, the girl called Yena looked genuinely shocked when she saw Si-eun. As expected from Ju Si-eun. Everyone seemed to know her. Though I still had no idea who that “Captain” guy was…
Yena quickly regained her composure and snapped at the two men again.
“You’re acting like this just because you saw a celebrity? Are you two out of your minds?”
“Hey! Seong-jun hyung always said the same thing! Even though the world has become like this, we shouldn’t lose our basic humanity. We should be a clan that helps people in trouble as much as possible! Helping Si-eun noona and her group who can’t find a safe place to rest is exactly what hyung would want!”
Wow, what a bunch of suckers. Helping people in trouble my ass. In a world like this, one wrong move and you’re dead. It was honestly impressive they’d survived this long with that kind of mindset.
But it seemed Dae-gwang’s words had gotten through. I saw Yena hesitate.
“W-Well, that is what Seong-jun oppa believes, but… taking in complete strangers without knowing anything about them—”
“Why don’t we know them? I told you, they’re with Si-eun noona.”
“Ugh, seriously…!!”
She looked incredibly frustrated, stomping her feet in annoyance. I felt the exact same way. If I had idiots like this in my own group, I would’ve smashed their skulls long ago and raised them as obedient corpses. But since they weren’t my people, it wasn’t my problem.
I watched the three of them bicker like it was a show on the other side of the river. Eventually growing bored, I gave an order to the Captain.
Step forward and resolve this.
The Captain moved forward and spoke in a calm, polite tone.
“Come now, there’s no need to fight. We’ll find our own place to rest. Please don’t trouble yourselves over us.”
Dae-gwang and Jin-su looked startled.
“N-No, you can’t! It’s really dangerous out there! A group of only seven people wandering around will get attacked one hundred percent of the time. We saw several small groups get ambushed just yesterday…!!”
“It’s fine. We don’t want to cause discord among your companions because of us.”
Hmm. As expected of the Captain. He really knew how to talk smoothly. Even though his heart was pitch black inside.
At this point, Yena let out a small sigh as if she’d given up.
“Haa… I guess there’s no choice. Because of these idiots… Please come with us. It really is dangerous for such a small group to be here.”
“Ah… We really are fine…”
“Seong-jun oppa would probably say the same thing if he saw you. So let’s go together.”
“…What if we turn out to have bad intentions? Why are you showing kindness to complete strangers like this?”
The Captain repeated the same question he had asked Dae-gwang and Jin-su earlier. Yena stared at him quietly for a moment before answering.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. We’ve helped plenty of people since this all started. Surely not all of them had good intentions, right? But none of the ones who tried anything are alive anymore. Our clan is fairly large, but every single member is genuinely strong. And… our clan leader, Seong-jun oppa, is the strongest of all. Even if seven people tried to pull something, they wouldn’t even leave a scratch on us. So, do you have any bad intentions?”
She asked the question with wide, bold eyes. The Captain chuckled warmly.
“Of course not. I was simply worried, so I asked. Very well. We’ll gratefully accept your kindness. Please take care of us.”
“Yes, please take care of us as well. Follow me.”
Having finished speaking, Yena took the lead and began walking. We followed behind her along with the two idiot fanboy brothers.
The reason I decided to go with them was simple—curiosity about this Seong-jun person. A clan confident enough in their own strength to show kindness to others in a world like this. And the person who led them with the greatest power…
…Could he be a Hero?
Anyway, we needed a place to rest too, so it was killing two birds with one stone. If what they said was true, trying to enter any building would mean clashing with whatever faction already occupied it. If they were willing to spare us that hassle, there was no reason to refuse.
While we were walking, one of the idiot fanboy brothers—Dae-gwang—spoke to Juniel.
“Um, excuse me…”
“?”
Juniel turned to look at him. Dae-gwang pointed at her horns with an intensely curious expression.
“Those… are they cosplay or something? The seam where they meet your forehead looks so smooth… They look so real! Actually, I’m really into cosplay—”
“Get lost.”
At Juniel’s icy tone, Dae-gwang flinched. The Captain quickly stepped in to smooth things over.
“My apologies. Our group isn’t in the best mood right now…”
“Ah, I see. I’m sorry. You’re already feeling bad and I was being tactless…”
“Just think of the horns on her head as accessories. She’s a friend who likes unique things—”
Those are real horns, you idiot.
“Pardon?”
The Captain jumped in surprise at my telepathy and looked straight at me. Hey, old man, what kind of reaction is that? Now everyone’s staring at me.
He quickly turned back to Dae-gwang and stammered awkwardly.
“S-She just likes unique accessories, so just think of it that way. Haha…”
Watching him force out that awkward laugh, it seemed the Captain hadn’t believed they were real either. Well, a human with horns does sound ridiculous. Anyway.
Yena led us to a five-story building on the side of the street. Standing in front of it was a large, burly man. In his hand was a long spear—nothing like the crude thing I’d made by wrapping a goblin dagger around a mop handle. This was a proper weapon, probably bought from a shop.
The man holding the spear asked Yena in a gruff voice.
“What’s this?”
“The idiot brothers brought them. Looks like a small group that just arrived today. In our building—”
“Ju Si-eun?!?!”
Whoa. The man’s previously stoic face instantly turned into that of a sweet guy. The power of Ju Si-eun really was something else.
Yena looked at him with an expression that said not you too, then shouted in her sharp voice.
“Can you move so we can get inside?! Seriously, all you men lose your minds the moment you see a female celebrity…”
The man scratched his head sheepishly and stepped aside. We entered the building.
Yena guided us to a real estate office on the first floor.
“You can rest here. When Seong-jun oppa gets back, he’ll decide where you’ll stay. You have your own food, right? Sorry, but we can’t provide that.”
“Don’t worry. We’re already grateful just for the place to rest.”
“Alright, then I’ll be going. Oh, and it would be best if you didn’t wander around outside. Like I said earlier, there are people targeting small groups.”
“Understood.”
After speaking with the Captain, Yena turned to leave but suddenly looked back inside and yelled.
“Aren’t you two coming out?!”
Dae-gwang and Jin-su jumped in surprise.
“W-We can’t stay here—”
“You need to leave so these people can rest comfortably!!”
“Um… Si-eun noona. Are we making you uncomfortable?”
At Jin-su’s question, Si-eun smiled awkwardly.
“Ah, well… It’s not just me here. My companions are with me too… I hope you understand.”
Jin-su’s eyes sparkled as he muttered.
“I… became an uncomfortable man to Si-eun noona… Awesome…”
“N-Noona! Just once, please, just once! C-Could you swear at me just once? It doesn’t have to be too harsh. Just something light—”
“Get out already, you crazy bastards!!”
God, someone please take these lunatics away quickly. Yena dragged the two shameless fanboys out, and we were finally able to rest in peace.
The Captain turned to me.
“It seems we’ll be meeting the leader of this clan soon… Should I continue handling the conversation?”
“Yes. It would feel weird if a young guy like me acted like the leader when you’re right here. Plus, it’s annoying.”
“Understood.”
I looked at Si-eun, who looked exhausted, and said,
“Thanks to you, Si-eun, we found a comfortable place to rest so easily. You really are the goddess of South Korea, huh?”
Si-eun turned bright red with embarrassment. Ji-yun linked arms with her and chimed in.
“It’s only natural that Si-eun unnie has so many fans. But oppa, why did you decide to come here? I thought you’d just tell us to handle it ourselves and look for another place. Even if we couldn’t find a building, we could’ve rested comfortably in the Cradle of Rest…”
Ah, that. I explained to the group that I wanted to check out this person named Seong-jun.
Si-eun nodded.
“Because he might be the ‘Hero’ you mentioned before.”
“Hero? What does that mean…”
To the curious Captain, I answered indifferently.
“Ask Ji-yun or Si-eun about it later when we enter the event dungeon.”
“Yes, understood.”
I finished answering Si-eun.
“Anyway, it’s two birds with one stone. We can check if he’s a Hero or not. We have to stay here until the dungeon opens the day after tomorrow anyway, so we might as well take advantage. Looking for another place would be a pain.”
We each settled in to rest. The four women gathered together, chatting quietly among themselves. The Captain, unable to join them, sat with an awkward expression. Dong-seok, the driver we’d newly recruited, simply stood in the corner with a blank stare.
I was munching on snacks I’d taken out from the Cradle of Rest when the Captain, apparently bored, came over and asked me a question.
“Um… Min-gu?”
“?”
When I looked at him blankly, he glanced at the dazed Dong-seok and said,
“That man you raised today… Why is he just standing there silently without saying a word?”
I answered casually.
“Oh, him. You didn’t know? It’s because I didn’t awaken his intellect. There’s no particular reason to, anyway… As long as he drives when I tell him to, that’s enough.”
“Ah… I see.”
The Captain looked at Dong-seok with a somewhat uneasy expression. It was so obvious what he was thinking that I decided to tease him.
“Hmm… Are you worried? Whether I can turn the intellect of a thrall like you on and off at will? Of course I can. If I deactivate the skill right now, you’d become a soulless doll just like him.”
“….”
The Captain’s face immediately grew serious. Ah, teasing this guy wasn’t even fun. I let out a small chuckle and continued.
“Well, I’m not going to turn you into a soulless doll. You’re doing everything I ask properly right now… Just keep doing that in the future. Then you won’t end up like him.”
His stiff expression instantly brightened.
“D-Don’t worry. I will faithfully follow your orders, Min-gu.”
Instead of answering, I waved my hand to shoo him away.
I was lying on the sofa in the office when someone knocked on the door. Ji-su went to open it, and Yena was standing there.
“Seong-jun oppa is back. He wants to meet everyone…”
The Captain stepped forward.
“Of course. Where should we go?”
“No need. Just stay here. He’ll come this way.”
Almost as soon as she finished speaking, a man appeared from behind Yena.
He was well over 180 centimeters tall with broad shoulders and a solid, muscular build that showed he trained regularly. With a small head and handsome face, he was the very picture of a good-looking, well-built man. He looked at us and spoke.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Jeon Seong-jun.”
He gave us a polite bow. Then, from behind me, I heard a startled voice.
“S-Seong-jun oppa?”
When I turned around, Ji-su was staring at him with wide eyes.
Haa, Seo Ji-su. Is it you again?