‘You’re saying you’ll help me?’

A pleasant, melodious voice echoed in my head.

‘Hmm, you know, right? If you help me, you’ll have to bear my fate in my stead. That’s what scares everyone away from even talking to a prisoner. Who would want to bear a fate that isn’t their own?’

‘Is that still okay?’

‘Haha! You truly are the purest form of good, aren’t you? I guarantee you, your predecessor was foolish. If it were me, I would have never let you into this place. Because good that hasn’t been stained by anything is the most frightening thing of all.’

It felt both familiar and strange. It was like something I had never heard before, yet it felt nostalgic. The hand gripping the blanket clenched.

‘Do you still want to help?’

‘Alright, then let’s do this. If you… me this time… then I’ll… you…’

The words began to break up, thump, thump. It was pointless to strain my ears and frown to hear properly; the voice only grew more distant. In the end, it disappeared completely. I wandered for a long time, searching for it. I felt my body floating. Hyungnim, hyungnim! At the sound of someone calling me, I opened my eyes.

“…Ah.”

As my eyelids shot open, the first thing that hit my eyes was an artificial light. I frowned and tried to recall my memory. I felt like I had dreamed of something, but I couldn’t remember it properly. Just as I was feeling a ticklish sensation in my ears and wondering about it.

“…Hyung?”

I heard a voice. Only then did I roll my eyes and survey my surroundings. A familiar place. A bed that smelled of me, an interior familiar to my eyes.

The Night Rat building.

And within it, my room.

Did we clear it and get transported here?

Having grasped the situation, I turned to the one who had called me. Centered around Geon-joo, Jongsik and Gyeongjin were on either side, their eyes wide as they checked my condition. In the back, I could also see Lee Jaehee sitting in a chair. It was, without a doubt, my guild. I smiled unconsciously, and Jongsik, now certain that I was safe, let out a shout that was more like a sob.

“Hyungniiim! Why did you only wake up now! I thought you were going to be closing your coffin lid for sure this time!”

“…You’re heavy, Jongsik.”

I looked pathetically at the grown man who, without any regard for his own size, had thrown himself on top of me and was wailing, and waved my hand for him to get off. When he stubbornly refused, I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and lifted him up. Jongsik, now held up ridiculously, blinked and then scratched his head.

“Oh, …you’re fine?”

“Should I be groaning on the verge of death, then?”

I asked, dumbfounded. Jongsik shook his head, saying that wasn’t it. I unceremoniously tossed my loyal subordinate onto the sofa and then sat up.

“I feel fine.”

No aches, no soreness, completely normal. It seemed all my status abnormalities had recovered while I was unconscious. I stretched my refreshed body and tried to recall the dream.

It’s strange, I can’t remember it.

It was always like this when I used Voice of the Soul. I had definitely dreamed, but the consciousness within it was completely scooped out, as if it had flown away, leaving me with no memory of it. The feeling was unpleasant, so it was a skill I didn’t use unless absolutely necessary, but this time I had no choice.

If Scorpion had really returned, I needed to know how, under what circumstances, and why.

I placed a hand on my shoulder and cracked my neck from side to side. My eyes then turned to Gyeongjin. Han Geon-joo was looking this way with the pitiful eyes of a little lamb, which was distracting, but there was something I had to deal with first. As a substitute of sorts, I placed a hand on his head, ruffled his soft hair, and opened my mouth.

“It was Scorpion, those guys.”

“Who? The kidnappers?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow. I thought it might be, but they really came back? They’ve got some nerve.”

Gyeongjin clicked his tongue. He said they were the kind of bastards who would crawl back from hell, then tilted his head as he looked at me, still in his crouched position with both feet on the chair.

“So, the info?”

It was a familiar way of probing, as if I owed him something. Whenever I used Voice of the Soul to obtain secret information, Gyeongjin would use it as a starting point to branch out and bring back new things. If only he could control that freewheeling mouth of his, he would be a truly useful guild member.

“It seems they’ve become a cult.”

“A cult?”

“Yeah. Oh, right, what happened to the Scorpion bastard in the Gate? Not the dead ones, the one we kept alive.”

I had forgotten about him in the heat of battle. I couldn’t remember his name. “Chang-hyun? Jo-hyun?” I was just throwing out random names when Geon-joo, realizing I was asking him, lifted his head. My wrist, which had been resting on his head, bent slightly.

“…He died in the Gate. At the time, none of us had the leeway to protect him and fight.”

“Is that so?”

If that was the case, it couldn’t be helped. Muttering that Adelia’s Tomb had indeed become his grave site, I rattled off the information about Scorpion to Gyeongjin. When I finished telling him even the information I had gleaned with Voice of the Soul, Gyeongjin touched his lips, his mind clearly working hard, and let out a low hum. Then he shrieked like a dog with rabies. “Waaaaah!”

“What’s wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with me? Are you crazy, hyungnim? First you suddenly announce you’re going to clear Adelia’s Tomb, then the kid you care about gets kidnapped by Scorpion, then you come back unconscious. And after all that, you give me a mountain of work. You think I’m going to say, ‘Oh, thank you for giving me new work,’ and accept it? Why are there so many incidents? I just finished organizing the info related to the Association…”

Gyeongjin roared as if having a seizure. I watched him tear at his hair, screaming that he was going to lose his mind, and then spoke calmly.

“It is about time we renegotiated your salary.”

“Oh my…, I was just thinking I needed some new work. What should I start with, hyungnim?”

What a materialist.

His change in attitude, like flipping his palm, was annoying. What a bat, I thought, flicking my fingers in front of his forehead. I ignored him as he rolled around after getting a flick on the head, took out a handkerchief, and wiped my fingers.

“Start by reorganizing all the past data on Scorpion. Find out who’s alive and who’s dead, and create a new roster.”

“…”

“What, you can’t do it?”

I tilted my head. Gyeongjin, receiving my unfocused gaze, smiled and hugged the tablet he carried around like his life.

“I have to, of course. Of course, I do.”

I swear I’m going to quit this goddamn guild one day.

His added mumble was a bit strange, but it wasn’t the first or second time, so I let it be. Gyeongjin staggered away with lifeless steps, as if his soul had been completely drained, and shared his misery with Jongsik, who was sprawled on the sofa. The sound of the two of them grumbling was quite harmonious.

He’s just lazy. He’s the best at it when he actually gets down to it.

Clicking my tongue after finishing my assessment of Gyeongjin, I perched on the edge of the bed. Now that the most urgent matter was handled, it was time to hear how we got here.

“Han Geon-joo.”

“I told you to rest.”

“Hmm?”

“Why don’t you listen to people and collapse after a battle? Are you a hobbyist fainter?”

As if sensing he now had the leisure to talk to me, he shot his words at me with a sharp tone. At Geon-joo, who had started to get whiny lately, I just raised my eyebrows and maintained my silence. It was annoying, but also strangely fun to listen to, so I was debating whether to let him be or to put him in his place. As I remained silent, the man, sensing something was off, pressed on.

“What are you thinking about now?”

“That you’re being insolent.”

“…It’s not the first or second time.”

“True, it’s not the first or second time, so why do I just let you be?”

I muttered, wondering about it myself. From behind me, I heard Gyeongjin curse.

“Now I have to watch my boss’s romance at work, fucking hell.”

“‘Romance’?”

As I repeated the word I heard, Gyeongjin flinched, said he had to go, and dragged Jongsik up with him. The speed at which he disappeared after saying to call him if anything happened was the fastest I had ever seen. I stared at his back as he vanished beyond the door in an instant and tilted my head.

Who’s having a romance?

The only bosses Gyeongjin had were the other Night Rat executives and myself. One person came to mind. I thought of Yan, but I had no intention of prying into someone else’s love life, so I just shrugged.

“Why did you collapse?”

The topic, which had been derailed by Gyeongjin’s commotion, was brought back by Geon-joo. Perhaps he had given up on scolding me, or perhaps he had taken my earlier words as a warning, because his voice had softened a little. I was about to tell him honestly, but then I saw the black eyes full of dissatisfaction directed at me and changed my mind.

“Do you need to know that?”

“Why wouldn’t I? You collapsed in front of me. You even told me to catch you.”

“I only told you to catch me, I never told you to question me about this stuff.”

“Then in the first place, don’t do things that would make me ask…!”

His voice, rebutting as if wronged, was uncharacteristically loud. I immediately scowled and thump, kicked the leg of the chair he was sitting on. It was a weak force, not enough to tip the chair over, but it seemed to be enough to startle him. His eyes, now wide and round, stared at me.

“Han Geon-joo.”

“…”

“Geon-joo.”

“What.”

There was no answer, so I called him again. Only then did a sullen voice return. I gave him a good-natured smile.

“Just because I let you off, doesn’t mean you can keep climbing all over me.”

Contrary to my smiling expression, the voice that came out was cold. From behind, Lee Jaehee let out a sigh. I glanced his way for a moment and then brought out the words I had been thinking.

“Are you in any position to interfere?”

With me?

At my added words, Geon-joo’s eyes trembled. Then, letting out a hollow laugh, he stretched out his legs, pushed the chair back, and glared at me.

“You interfered with the life of a person who was living just fine by kidnapping them, so I’m not allowed to do the same, hyung?”

“Han Geon-joo.”

“I told you. You really know how to piss a person off, hyung.”

And sometimes, you make me miserable.

The one who had muttered it like it was a monologue stood up from his seat. Then he slammed the door and left the room. A moment later, a voice claiming the wind did it followed. I stared at the closed door and blinked.

“Haaaah.”

Lee Jaehee’s deep sigh filled the now silent room.