Clearing Shadows Amidst the Spotlight
News spread quickly. “Good work.” “You’ve all worked hard!” No matter where you went, finishing a job quickly always brought happiness. Especially on days when a gate opened and was cleared, once the follow-up measures were done, everyone could head home right away. That was why the expressions of Hwanryeong Team 2 were all bright. Yes, it was an early dismissal. Moreover, since they already knew Yusoha’s personality, none of them viewed her through the same prejudiced lens as outsiders. To them, having a competent team leader was something to be grateful for just by her existence.
“You worked hard, Team Leader.” “Good job.” “Oh come on, what hard work did we do? It was all thanks to you, Team Leader.”
When Cha Hyeonseong, the vanguard of Hwanryeong Team 2, cheerfully praised her contributions, several others nodded in agreement.
“Alright then, let’s recover the Fragments of Knowledge first.”
Fragments of Knowledge were rewards obtainable only by clearing Shadow Gates, unlike ordinary gates. They contained knowledge from other worlds. Even though they offered no other rewards, the mere fact that they provided “knowledge from another world” made Shadow Gates highly sought after by many guilds. After all, that knowledge could include information on mana utilization or previously unknown magical beasts. Because of this, various guilds often clashed over Shadow Gates, which brought a smile to Yusoha’s lips.
‘These achievements will prove that I’m a fitting A-class Awakened. Good. My luck’s been pretty decent lately.’
When she had first risen to A-class Awakened, there had been plenty of talk that she only got the rank thanks to Hwanryeong’s protection. Even now, those gazes hadn’t completely disappeared. Yusoha’s abilities were clearly lacking compared to other A-class Awakened. Her individual skills were excellent, but the absence of a Guardian Star had always held her back. Some mocked her as a half-baked A-class without a Guardian Star, while others said it was impressive that she reached A-class without one at all. Yusoha hated the controversy itself, which made today’s results all the more noteworthy. The fact that a Shadow Gate had appeared in Hwanryeong’s territory—and one with relatively low difficulty at that.
Well, to be precise, it wasn’t exactly low difficulty. It was simply that the compatibility between Yusoha and the gate had been exceptionally good. All they had to do was hold back the waves of magical beasts, the walls were already prepared, and there had been no single powerful entity capable of breaking through Hwanryeong Team 2’s defensive line. In other words, it had been nothing more than a swarm of magical beasts without a leader, allowing Yusoha’s magic to demonstrate maximum efficiency.
Anyway, Yusoha nodded and smiled contentedly at her teammates’ words praising her contributions. Being recognized for her achievements was always a happy time for her.
Eclipse simply smiled as he watched the smug expression on Yusoha’s face. Even someone as arrogant as her, who based her personality on the belief that she was always right, looked like a docile puppy the moment her arrogance produced results that others acknowledged.
Well, if he compared her to the people he had met before, Yusoha was exactly like a princess. Somewhat stubborn, convinced she was always right, yet fiercely protective of those she chose—a tomboy princess.
While recovering the Fragments of Knowledge, Yusoha kept smiling the entire time. In the end, she handed her corporate card to Team 2, who had fought alongside her that day, and headed home. Of course, she personally submitted the Fragments of Knowledge to Hwanryeong’s research team before leaving.
News traveled incredibly fast. It had only been yesterday that Hwanryeong Team 2 cleared the gate.
As expected, the comments under the article were a chaotic mess.
“What the hell is this……”
Eclipse, who happened to have a smartphone he was being educated on, felt dizzy as he searched for information about his contractor. There were comments that seemed to support Yusoha mixed together with those that dragged her down by comparing her to Yu Danha. Most of them were spouting things he couldn’t even understand.
“Soha.”
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
Since the gate had been dealt with, Yusoha had been given a day off and was lounging on the sofa in her mansion.
“What’s a Red Moon dog?”
“Red Moon dog? Ah, that’s…… They call the toxic fans of Red Moon ‘Red Moon dogs.’”
“Red Moon?”
“Oh, I never told you about them.”
“Explain.”
“They’re just another guild. We don’t get along well with them.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. But why are you asking about that all of a sudden?”
Yusoha reached for Eclipse’s smartphone with a curious expression. Eclipse dodged her hand with a troubled look and hid the phone. Of course, since Yusoha only saw his old iron helmet, his expression wasn’t visible. But that very reaction only fueled her suspicion.
“Give it here.”
“No.”
“I said give it.”
“I won’t.”
“Hand it over right now. If you don’t……”
The problem was that Yusoha had no justification to take the smartphone from Eclipse. She couldn’t impose any restrictions either, and without him, she would be the one in trouble. With nothing left to say, Yusoha let out a sigh.
“Haa. Fine. It’s not like I can fight my Guardian Star over something like this.”
“Good thinking.”
Just as Eclipse was about to relax, Yusoha dropped a bombshell.
“Then I’ll just look it up myself.”
“What?”
“Weren’t you looking at the article just now? Besides, when Se-yeon was teaching you how to use the smartphone, she probably told you not to mess around in the article sections at most.”
She was right. For reference, Se-yeon was the tutor assigned to educate Eclipse. Anyway, after quickly finding her own smartphone, she easily located the article Eclipse had been reading. After all, with hints like “Red Moon dog” and “Red Moon,” there was no way she could miss it.
“Found it. This is the one, right?”
The article Eclipse had been reading was now displayed right in front of his eyes. And beneath it were the raw, vulgar comments—impossible to fully understand, but clearly not positive.
Yet Yusoha simply looked at those comments with a nonchalant expression and laughed.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Why wouldn’t I? My amazing Guardian Star is trying to look out for me.”
“There are a lot of comments insulting you, aren’t there?”
“I’ve been insulted so much that this level doesn’t even faze me anymore. I don’t really care. Besides, these comments are actually pretty favorable, aren’t they?”
“These?”
“Yeah. This is actually pretty favorable. See the part about the unfair dismissal?”
“Yes.”
“There was this woman who was terrible at her job and threw the team into crisis because of her pride. She had no skills but was full of arrogance.”
“So?”
“So what? Of course we fired her. If she had been good at her job, we might have considered keeping her, but she wasn’t. So why bother carrying dead weight? Just cut her loose.”
“Then how do people know about this?”
“That woman claimed she was unfairly dismissed and exposed it. But later, all my teammates refuted her claims, and when we sued her, public opinion flipped immediately. Of course, there are still plenty of people who use that as an excuse to insult me.”
“I see……”
“Anyway, there’s no need to worry about things like this. Ah, but it’s good to remember that Red Moon is hostile toward us.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. They might pick unnecessary fights. You especially need to keep that in mind.”
“Why?”
“Because you can’t just kill Red Moon’s people when you get angry. If you swing your fist even once with real intent, their skulls would shatter.”
“I wouldn’t just swing my power around recklessly, but……”
“I know. Still, even if they provoke you, just stay still. I’ll handle it.”
“Alright. Understood. Ah, by the way…… When did you say the Hwanryeong competition was again?”
“It’s not far off now. I hope nothing happens in the meantime.”
“Are you looking forward to it?”
“Of course I am. I can’t wait to see the faces of all those people who’ve been ignoring me twist in frustration.”
Yusoha wore a wicked smile. To her, the sight of those who had looked down on her making bitter expressions was already playing out right before her eyes.