Chapter 7
When the team members arrived in front of the guild, they scattered in different directions. Soohyuk, Yejin, and Rina headed toward the training ground, while Dasol mentioned he had an appointment. That left Heero and Jeongeun.
“Shall we go up? I’ll show you to the accommodations.”
Heero said, fluttering the white wings behind her (at least that’s how it appeared to Jeongeun).
The Sooryun guild building was an 18-story high-rise located in a prime area of Seoul, directly connected to the subway and a complex shopping center, making it both accessible and convenient. It was said that the building itself belonged to the Sooryun guild.
The Gibaek guild, where Jeongeun had been, was also considered a large guild, but it was more like a hole-in-the-wall compared to the Sooryun guild, as they only rented a few floors in a high-rise tower for their offices.
“The team accommodations are on the mid-level floors. Floors 5 through 7 are used for lodging. The first team’s accommodation is called Lucky Seven.”
As Heero pressed the button for the 7th floor in the elevator, Jeongeun nodded in admiration. Lucky Seven? Truly, Heero was lucky.
On the way to the first team’s accommodations, Heero briefly explained about the Sooryun guild.
The guild leader’s office is on the top floor, the 18th. The first team’s meeting room is right below that on the 17th floor, so Jeongeun can report there for meetings in the future. However, the main duty will be to protect the healer, Dasol, when they are deployed into dungeons, so most of the time will be spent training in the training ground, which occupies the entire basement levels 1 and 2…
Heero neatly summarized the necessary information and opened the door marked ‘1st Team’ at the end of the 7th floor, which looked like a hotel corridor.
“This door was made to respond to the magic of the team members. We’ll register your magic later.”
“Yes.”
A door that uses magic as a key. The locking mechanism alone must have cost hundreds of millions. Jeongeun was once again impressed by the Sooryun guild’s wealth.
“This is our first team’s accommodation… Usually, team members only use it for overnight meetings before tackling large dungeons or during group training periods. Since I’m the guild leader, I have a lot of paperwork to handle, so I sleep here more often than the other team members.”
Jeongeun’s heart raced. That seemed like the best benefit in the Sooryun guild, Heero! He cheered inwardly, even though he appeared stoic on the outside.
“Still, you should be able to live alone most of the time. The interior looks just like a home, right?”
As Heero said, the interior structure and decor resembled a home. It was a luxurious house with a huge living room, five rooms, and three bathrooms.
“I’ll… take the smallest room.”
“Hmm, it doesn’t matter where you choose, but you should use the biggest room since you’ll be staying here the longest.”
“No, I… once I save up some money, I’ll buy a separate house, so I won’t be here long.”
When he was an S-rank, he earned at least tens of millions a month, but now, with his magic issues, he could only manage around B-rank efficiency… I wonder if I can even make ten million.
Having lived as the best hunter in the country since his teenage years, Jeongeun felt his sense of money had become numb. If he couldn’t even earn ten million… he would have to work hard to save while maintaining just one meal a day.
Unaware of Jeongeun’s thoughts, Heero shrugged and said, “Alright, then.” He opened the door to the small room. Even though it was the smallest room, it was spacious enough to fit a king-size bed and a desk.
“You’ll be staying here from now on… You don’t have a phone, right?”
“Yes, I don’t.”
“I’ll tell them to prepare a new ID and phone for you. And there’s one more thing I want to mention…”
Heero leaned against the wall and smiled brightly.
“Do you remember when I said our team’s bodyguard hunters weren’t doing well?”
“Yes.”
“Actually… the new ones, I mean, those guys were fired because they were bothering Dasol too much.”
Heero continued with a worried expression.
“They were confessing their feelings, making subtle physical contact, and trying to take advantage of him… It caused Dasol a lot of stress.”
Jeongeun became serious. While he thought Dasol was cute and delicate, he hadn’t realized he had suffered to that extent.
“Actually, Dasol has only been awakened for five months, so I’m quite concerned. I worry he might develop a hatred for hunters because of the strange ones bothering him.”
Heero’s beautiful face was filled with worry. Jeongeun clenched and unclenched his fists secretly. He felt anger toward the strange hunters who had caused Heero concern, and he wanted to do anything to make her smile again.
“I absolutely won’t do that.”
Jeongeun said firmly, his voice steady. Heero paused for a moment, then smiled brightly.
“Right. I believe you won’t do that to Dasol.”
“...Yes!”
He said he believed in him.
Heero believed in Jin Jeongeun.
In an instant, Jeongeun felt as if he was being pulled back to that day eight years ago. The day he first went to a dungeon with Heero.
That dungeon had suddenly opened as an S-rank dungeon, filled with enormous carnivorous flowers and dense vines.
At that time, Jeongeun, who was affiliated with the Hunter Management Bureau, had been sent in as a guest team member to tackle the plant dungeon alongside other S-rank hunters.
The raid had gone relatively smoothly. Jeongeun, who had claimed the number one spot in the country upon awakening, was still young and inexperienced back then. So, two other S-rank hunters took the lead, and their team members supported their respective leaders skillfully.
However, the higher the rank of the dungeon, the larger it was, and it took a long time to reach the boss monster’s room. This dungeon was no exception, and they had to stay inside for about six days.
During those six days, Jeongeun had been completely alone.
As an S-rank Word Sorcerer, he could manipulate all hunters as his slaves or make them kill each other with just his tongue. Plus, he was still a hot-headed and naive minor.
The hunters, unaware of Jeongeun’s personality, kept their distance to avoid crossing him. They found it difficult to even make eye contact, let alone engage in conversation.
It might have been better if the other S-ranks had paid him some attention, but the S-rank telekinetic hunter, Sim Gayeon, was inherently averse to others and preferred to go solo. Heero, at just twenty years old, was busy taking care of her team as the guild leader.
If Jeongeun had initiated a conversation, those two might have accepted him kindly. However, Jeongeun was in a state where his tongue was pressed down by a mouthpiece-type restraining device, and he was under everyone’s scrutiny, so he couldn’t just remove the mouthpiece unless they were in combat.
So, for six days, Jeongeun chewed on the loneliness of being in a crowd while focusing solely on the raid. Even after defeating the final boss monster, all he could think was, “I want to quickly part ways with these people and go home to rest.”
The other hunters were busy collecting the boss monster’s core, byproducts, and reward items. However, Jeongeun had little interest in such things.
What caught Jeongeun’s eye during that boredom was a small blue flower blooming in the corner. In a dungeon filled with large and extravagant flowers, that small and delicate flower looked so pitiful, like a wildflower.
Without realizing it, Jeongeun crouched down in front of the flower and touched its petals with his fingertips. He was curious about the flower’s scent, but the mouthpiece covering his face made it difficult to smell anything.
Should I quickly take it off for a moment and then put it back on? After all, no one is paying attention to me right now.
As Jeongeun was conflicted, suddenly someone behind him unbuckled the mouthpiece and pulled the strap off his head. Startled, Jeongeun turned around to see a handsome young man with a bright face holding up his hands.
“I thought you wanted to smell the flower, so I was going to help you. This thing is really tightly and complicatedly tied. It must be hard to deal with every time.”
It was Heero. Jeongeun stood up with a wary look in his eyes.
“It’s okay to take it off. I’ll cover for you.”
‘...’
“Seriously? You can trust me.”
Jeongeun shook his head. Then he tapped his chest with his index finger. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Heero; it was about his own issues.
Seeing this, Heero narrowed her eyes and said firmly, “Taking off the mouthpiece won’t harm anyone else.”
As he spoke, Heero bent down and picked the blue flower. He held it in front of Jeongeun and said, “You’re someone who worries about scaring others just because you want to smell a flower, right, Jeongeun? I want to trust you.”
He smiled gently and lightly shook the flower.
At that moment, Jeongeun realized that Heero’s eye color was a clear blue. He also recognized that he was more beautiful than any flower in that dungeon.
In that instant, he felt an overwhelming urge to smell Heero’s scent.
