I Will Protect the People
"What do you mean by that?"
This time, even though she understood exactly what he was saying, Seoya deliberately asked again. Her expression had already cooled into something icy.
"You mean I shouldn't care whether this world perishes or not?"
"Yeah."
The man nodded without a flicker of change in his expression.
"If you let this world fall and head somewhere else, you could live comfortably without any hassle."
"Just leave all these people to die?"
Seoya enunciated each word deliberately, stressing every syllable.
"I've met so many people in this world—do you really think I could just stand by and let them die?"
The man gazed down at her then, his eyes inscrutable.
"You..."
His voice came out slow and deliberate.
"You've never changed."
"What?"
"Always... the same..."
The man looked conflicted—joyful, perhaps, or sorrowful. It was hard to tell.
In truth, it had only been a few weeks since Seoya had started encountering him in her dreams. Yet for him to say she was always the same probably meant...
He's talking about the future me.
She knew the higher world beings could see the future, so that had to be it.
Seoya sharpened her voice a fraction.
"Why bring that up all of a sudden? You've never cared much about what I do in this world before."
"I've been thinking... instead of raising you to grow strong in this harsh world..."
He spoke in a gentle tone she'd never heard from him before.
"It might be better just to keep you locked in my arms, surrounded only by pretty, delicate things."
That sounds seriously off.
Seoya narrowed her eyes at the suspiciously sweet words—anyone would find them suspect—then met his gaze head-on.
"In that case, I don't want your help."
A rare flicker of panic crossed the man's eyes at her words.
Seoya pressed on coldly.
"Don't help me. I'll find my own way back to my world. And I won't let this world perish or its people die."
The dream was ending; she felt the space around her blur and fade. Staring at his dissolving form, Seoya declared:
"I'll protect the people."
After that, Seoya stuck with So Eunsu and So Euneung, raiding several more dungeons and snagging S-rank magic stones each time.
S-rank stones were massive compared to the others, incomparable in size. She'd already gathered about half of what she needed.
Hunters usually went into dungeons for the item rewards, so Seoya felt a twinge of guilt about taking all the stones and casually asked about it. But the So siblings seemed more interested in fame than loot.
-We're already making plenty to live on anyway, so it's fine.
-Gasp! We gotta film that YouTube gold button unboxing vid!
Meanwhile, Seoya had tested the monster rank measurer over ten times, confirming each reading spot-on without a single error.
"This should be good enough," Seoya said, handing the device to Lee Gayeon. "Nailed it every time, no misses."
"Good work. Patent it quick and get it to market—should draw more investors..."
Lee Gayeon stared at the measurer with hollow eyes.
From what So Eunsu and So Euneung had told her while she collected stones bit by bit, guild rivalries had exploded in the meantime. It started with Na Seonghyeon's guild's insane rampage, prompting Neverending to ramp up hunter recruitment to catch up. Even BlackPen, which usually operated in the shadows without fanfare, had suddenly gone aggressive on dungeon grabs.
"That Na Seonghyeon punk's lost his mind lately..."
Go Heejae muttered from his perch on the top floor of the Neverending Guild Building.
Lee Gayeon shot him a sour look.
"How long are you planning to camp out here? Time to go already?"
"Sigh, too much headache to leave."
Na Seonghyeon's mad drive to make his guild number one wasn't just tormenting his own hunters. Even guildless Go Heejae was feeling the biggest impact of his career.
He'd barged into Neverending's building out of the blue and told Lee Gayeon:
"You know the media's been pressuring me lately, right?"
"Yeah. I check the news daily—impossible not to notice. And Na Seonghyeon's behind it, obviously."
"Spot on. Starting to get annoying..."
For just over two years before Seoya arrived—holding domestic rank 1 and world rank 1—Go Heejae had sat at the pinnacle. He'd always said, "The highest must stay neutral," refusing any guild.
Lee Gayeon clicked her tongue.
"Why'd your family have to pull that scandal crap?"
"Nothing to do with me. I cut ties ages ago."
Go Heejae's family ran Maenne, one of Korea's top conglomerates alongside Na Corporation. But recently, Maenne's scandals had blown up in the media, stirring public calls for him to take responsibility.
"Na Corporation's the one with the bigger recent blowup—why isn't Na Seonghyeon catching heat?" Go Heejae said, baffled.
"You asking 'cause you don't know?"
Lee Gayeon gave him a pitiful look.
"You're just unlucky."
"What?"
Go Heejae's jaw dropped in a dumbstruck expression Seoya had never seen.
"You're the clueless rich kid who doesn't know the real world, and Na Seonghyeon's just capitalism's dog. Different images mean different hits, obviously."
As Lee Gayeon pointed at Go Heejae lounging arrogantly with legs crossed, he uncrossed them in flustered haste.
"To people, Na Seonghyeon's just some poor sap tangled in corporate BS—a regular worker who hates commuting and wants easy cash. You? If you weren't a hunter, you'd be the trust-fund brat coasting into Maenne off a degree and climbing the ladder."
Go Heejae shut his mouth, out of retorts.
"Anyway, even if both corps screw up, you'll be the only one roasted. Figure out how to handle it. Na Seonghyeon's goal is obvious anyway."
"...Yeah."
Only Seoya looked puzzled amid their talk, so Lee Gayeon glanced her way and added:
"He wants you in his guild."
"...Not happening, obviously."
Recent media had latched onto Go Heejae's old "highest must stay neutral" quote to stress he wasn't the top anymore. Pushing guild hunters as more effective at rescues than independents? Na Seonghyeon's play was clear: rope in the more influential Go Heejae or diminish him by leaking Maenne dirt.
Go Heejae said firmly:
"If I joined WithYou, it'd wreck the balance completely. No guild should monopolize the hunter market."
"Pretty much. You'd just give us more headaches too."
"Still, after seeing his face for over two years... Na Seonghyeon's obsessed with capitalism and money. Going this far for success."
Seoya scratched her head awkwardly.
She'd rejected even the dream man's help to save people somehow, but Earthlings were just infighting. What now?
Forget their squabbles for later. Focus on gathering magic stones...
She shook her head and stood.
"Hahaha, that's hilarious!"
So Euneung clutched her stomach laughing after Seoya relayed Lee Gayeon and Go Heejae's chat.
"Whoa, the unlucky bourgeois vs. the monster spawn who'll do anything to become bourgeois—total comedy gold!"
"Na Seonghyeon's already bourgeois though. How much more does he want?"
So Eunsu slammed his wand down on a snake monster that had slithered up.
So Euneung popped a crab monster with soap-bubble-like blasts from her wand.
"He'll profit most from this mess. Why does he always win?"
Seoya blinked at So Euneung. It sounded like Na Seonghyeon would come out on top.
"Go Heejae joining WithYou for sure?"
"Nah, no way~ His pride won't let him. He'll find some workaround and shake off the scandal heat."
"Then how's Na Seonghyeon winning?"
So Euneung turned serious, humming thoughtfully.
"Tricky one. How to explain this to you, Seoya..."
"Public psychology matters."
"Right, it's all about the masses again..."
Having sorted her thoughts, So Euneung spoke up.
"When someone's trashed, someone else rises by comparison."
"Why?"
"That's how it works. Flip it: praise one, trash another for contrast. Gotta have a foil to make praise or hate hit harder."
"Uh... okay..."
Seoya mumbled uncertainly, so So Eunsu chimed in kindly.
"Go Heejae the unlucky bourgeois makes Na Seonghyeon the relatable guy look even better."
"Yep! Humans turn evil in mobs, after all..."
"Euneung, don't go all dramatic now."
"Sigh~ I wanna sound charismatic too! Like Baek Yena-style..."
"You'll never pull it off."
The seriousness faded fast as they bantered. Seoya silently felled monsters while watching.
Yeah, they could be smart one minute, pathetic the next. What could she do?
She focused on saving them.