Vice Guild Leader Sia Seong (4): The Law of Entropy
“This big sis has graced you with her presence! You’re not even coming out to greet me?”
The booming voice of the Association President echoed through the air.
When I stepped outside, a stunning woman in a red dress was waiting. Unlike earlier, her makeup made her look like a completely different person. Maybe I should learn how to do makeup properly...
The Guild Master bowed deeply in respect.
“Thank you for coming, Madam President. It’s an honor that you’ve made the trip to such a humble place.”
Yoon Seo-ah, the Association President, scanned him up and down.
“Enough, enough. We’re outside. You’ve always been so stiff, just like back in the day. Skip the formalities.”
“Understood.”
He led the way, and we followed him back to our seats. The other guild members had already discreetly vacated the area. She naturally took the empty head seat across from me, which had been spotless.
“Kang Jin-woo.”
“Yes, Madam President.”
“You gonna keep acting all rigid around me? Call me Seo-ah noona like old times.”
Noona...? So they were close enough for that.
“We must separate public and private matters, Madam President.”
“You’re no fun. Where’s the booze?”
Jin-woo twisted open a bottle of soju.
“Why were you so late?”
“Knew this would happen?”
He glanced around the place he’d personally chosen for the after-party.
“Something wrong?”
“What’s with the soju? Soju of all things.”
Jin-woo grinned.
“You always liked whiskey, noona.”
“You remember. And you guys should keep having fun among yourselves. No need for an outsider to crash the party.”
“Outsider?”
“I’m an outsider. The Hunter Association President, no less. They’re probably choking on their food, wondering if it’ll go down their throat or come back up.”
“We don’t mind.”
“You don’t, but they might.”
It was his way of being considerate. Fair enough—having the Hunter Association President show up would make anyone tense. And whiskey... maybe she’d prefer a bar.
“Shall we move spots?”
“Nah, it’s fine. Sia, you gotta have soju every now and then.”
Glug glug glug—the disinfectant-like alcohol filled the shot glass. I still didn’t get what was so great about soju.
Yoon Seo-ah downed her soju in one go and let out a gruff “Krrgh—” like some old uncle.
“Soju now and then ain’t bad. Right, Kang Jin-woo?”
“Yes. Indeed.”
“I said call me noona.”
“Save some face for the Guild Master?”
“For Sia’s sake?”
“Ah, come on...”
“Thought you had something to say... or should I head out?”
“Noo... ma’am.”
“Noona.”
“Noona... f-fine, whatever.”
“Good boy.”
The Guild Master looked noticeably more relaxed around her.
“Anyway, takes me back to when we cleared gates together. We knocked back soju at those street carts, remember?”
“Oh, back then...?”
Yoon Seo-ah smiled faintly.
Is she talking about that time...?
“Madam President?!”
“You charged an Ogre Lord solo, nearly lost an arm. If it weren’t for me, you’d be a one-armed bandit by now.”
“Nearly lost an arm? Even if I had, I’d just be pulling a Shanks these days.”
“How old are you? Still reading that manga?”
“It’s not finished yet. I catch up when I can.”
“Not finished? Hasn’t that author been serializing for decades?”
Old friends, huh... Their conversation flowed effortlessly.
Listening to them, my mind drifted back to ancient history. Back when I was a green rookie hunter. They were already Korea’s top representatives. All I could do was admire them from afar.
“Speaking of, Sia, that was around your time too, right?”
The President turned to me.
“Huh? What was?”
“The re-ranking.”
“Ah... the re-ranking.”
She was the first to uncover my S-rank secret. The Sword Saint’s Blessing—the only one in the known world. But back then, it felt like a curse to me. Like force-feeding raw, bloody meat to a herbivore. Or tossing a kid terrified of water into the deep ocean. That’s what the Sword Saint’s Blessing was to me.
A canary with the world’s most beautiful voice, trapped in a cage, unable to sing. No matter how great the talent, what good is it if you’re locked away?
I didn’t want to fight. I had no confidence I could survive the life-or-death battlefield.
So my talent rusted away in silence until one day, he opened my cage.
Dr. Lee Hyun-seong. With every session, my world shifted a little. Thanks to him, I escaped the cage and could finally sing freely.
No—I had to sing.
“Sia? Sia?”
Snap— The President snapped her fingers.
“Ah... the booze is hitting me. Where were we?”
“Re-ranking.”
“Right, re-ranking. You saw right through me, Madam President.”
“First I’m hearing this.”
He leaned in, listening closely.
“It’s not that big a deal.”
“Not a big deal? You discovered an S-rank hunter.”
“Haha, is that how it is? S-ranks aren’t just about mana output, Guild Master.”
He nodded.
“True. Gotta gauge the level properly.”
“I hesitated to even pick up a sword back then. I was content with A-rank. Sword talent’s common enough among hunters.”
“But I saw it right away.”
“Yeah. You casually asked about my rank results one day.”
“So you sensed something off about Sia from the start?”
The President wagged her finger with a tsk tsk.
“Nah, woman’s intuition!”
“Intuition?”
“Ridiculous, right? ‘Woman’s intuition’... So you re-ranked me yourself.”
“And she nearly killed me in the arena!”
“When did I ever, Madam President... How embarrassing.”
“No, really. Her killing intent alone could’ve cleaved me in two.”
“Cleave in two?”
“Yeah. She glared at me with those blood-red eyes, like she’d murder me. I thought I was already sliced. Aura like no boss monster I’d faced. Passed her on the spot.”
“No way, that legend floating around hunter circles is real?”
“Real. Didn’t you know? The star herself is right here. Right, Sia?”
“It’s true, but... it’s been way exaggerated, Madam President.”
“Nope. I know. Sword Princess is too fancy. She was a true Sword Ghost.”
For those 30 seconds I gripped the sword two-handed, right before my foot even moved, she declared me passed and recognized me as a new S-rank hunter. I can’t forget her stumbling out of the arena, sweating bullets. She looked so baffled...
Of course, facing a person—not some grotesque monster—made it easier to relax. Like a kendo match. Though back then, just holding a real sword changed my demeanor around people...
“If I’d swung, you’d have gotten a death certificate. Haha!”
“No way...! Madam President!”
Thud thud—crash— I’d accidentally slammed the table too hard; it shook, and a side dish bowl fell.
“Ah... sorry.”
“See? See? The Sword Saint threatens the President~”
The Guild Master glanced outside.
“Hahaha. Boss, sorry, but a dish broke. Could you clean it up? We’ll cover the damages, including this.”
The President waved it off like no need to call anyone.
“It’s fine! I got it.”
With a conductor’s gesture, the shattered plate pieces floated up and reassembled perfectly.
Wow... Telekinesis is so handy and amazing the more I see it. One of the abilities I envy most. Awakened folks could do all their chores lounging on the couch. Cleaning ceiling dust from the sofa? Sign me up. So jealous...
The repaired plate floated lazily in the air.
“Perfect, right? But you know, once something’s broken, it can’t truly be put back. That’s the law of the universe.”
“Second Law of Thermodynamics. Entropy.”
“Exactly. Entropy. Spilled water can’t be gathered back up.”
Spilled water can’t be gathered... What’s that got to do with entro... whatever? Thermodynamics? Here I was imagining how nice telekinesis would be for cleaning...
They’re talking over my head—embarrassing. I took a sip of soju to hide my awkwardness.
Something... sweet? Why’s it sweet?
The President dumped the fixed plate into the trash.
“When’d you two meet?”
“Ah, first time in a gate.”
“You know, I thought he was crazy.”
But back in my clumsy days, when the rest of the party was wiped out and we were on the brink, he saved my life. A lifesaver, in a way. Yet he didn’t bring it up. Being considerate so it wouldn’t hurt?
Still, staring at the Guild Master stirred up my disgust toward men...
The President didn’t touch the food, just drank. I dutifully refilled her glass each time. Never his, though. Men are loathsome creatures, after all...?
“Thanks, Sia. Yeah, once he steps into a gate, he’s not right in the head.”
“He went through hell, blood and guts flying, left without swapping contacts, flat-out rejected a guild scout... Gave me a hell of an impression.”
“That’s how it was then.”
Back then, per Dr. Lee Hyun-seong’s ‘advice,’ I’d cut off all outside contact. He controlled my relationships strictly, warning about sleazy guys.
“But you didn’t have that fire back then.”
“Old story.”
“Sia, why so cold to Jin-woo?”
“Me?”
“Yeah!”
“Not really...”
“Did you two fight or something?”
“No. Nothing to fight about. Please don’t push it.”
The Guild Master said nothing.
“Hmm. So you two sync well now?”
“Of course. She’s a reliable partner.”
Kang Jin-woo answered that way, but...
“Lame answer. Shouldn’t expect more from you.”
Yoon Seo-ah lost interest and held out her glass to me.
“Here, Sia. One for you.”
“Ah, I’m... too full...”
I mumbled my refusal, but
“Didn’t they teach you not to refuse a drink from an elder?”
The Guild Master stepped in.
“Noona, enough. Sia’s had plenty already.”
“Oh? So our Sword Saint’s weak to booze?”
She eyed me amusedly.
“More like, what era is this? Still forcing drinks? Total boomer.”
“Boomer? Wanna see the President’s boomer power?”
“If you insist, I’ll drink it for her.”
She smirked at him, then muttered softly.
“Guys like you, upright and all, the Association needs more of ’em.”
“Not interested in the Association.”
“Why?”
“Not free enough.”
She clearly held him in high regard.
As the mood softened, the Guild Master suddenly got serious.
“Noona. Reports say unusual rifts in Europe lately. Any intel from our Association?”
She frowned.
“Ah, stop.”
She cut him off with a hand.
“Ruins the booze vibe. That’s your problem, Jin-woo. Too serious. Carry the world’s worries all the time, you’ll go bald.”
“But noona, this isn’t something to ignore...”
“Think we’re slacking? No guarantee that Sichuan incident won’t hit Korea...”
If the Sichuan incident happened here... I—no, we Baekya—wouldn’t let it.
She rummaged her sleeve irritably.
“But today’s a fun party. Work talk later.”
Later...?
She cackled and looked at me.
“Don’t live like him, Sia. Life gets exhausting.”
But I knew. How heavy the responsibility hid in that light banter.
We were S-rank hunters. Cringe as it sounded, guardians of humanity. Lonely bearers of the world’s crises.
“Look at Sia’s face. Way to kill the mood.”
“Huh? My face?”
“How... Shall we move spots?”
“Sure.”
“One more drink first.”
“Knew you’d say that. Up for it?”
“Yes.”
I politely accepted with both hands.
“You’re acting all boomerish—don’t force it.”
“It’s fine. Just one.”
My stomach felt suspiciously bloated with beer, but... Regeneration’s Blessing would handle it.
Sip sip.
Fwoosh— The President’s cigarette smoke billowed up.
The official after-party wrapped at first round. Those who wanted could follow; otherwise, enjoy free time.
The group scattered.
“Wow, they actually left? This MZ generation?”
“That’s Baekya for you.”
“Nice vibe...”
“And technically, noona’s MZ too.”
“Am I? Thanks.”
The President dangled a cigarette pack at Jin-woo.
“Quit smoking.”
“Good job. Real good.”
“More like, the world’s going mad.”
She floated a cigarette to her lips and puffed. No smell on her hands...
“The world’s always been mad.”
“Not that—gate outbreaks are spiking. We need countermeasures. Feels like something big’s coming.”
Guy who seems carefree in gates, but outside he taps every bridge...
“Told you—hair loss. Fwoosh... Worrying about the future changes nothing. We can’t do squat.”
She exhaled smoke.
“And all these irresponsible bastards keep multiplying...”
“Irresponsible bastards?”
I asked, and she gave me a strange look.
“Folks with power but no sense of duty like your Guild Master. Abusing it like trash.”
Catching her vague words, the Guild Master dropped a bombshell.
“Ever heard of a place called Artemis?”
Artemis...?