The sun sank lower, and the sky that welcomed the night was gloomy. It was only around midnight when they arrived at the field and got out of the car. The members of the Night Rats Guild, who had arrived early, could be seen moving about busily.
“Oh, hyung-nim!“
“Guild Master!”
“Boss!”
As if he were a mischievous younger brother, he had only one name and title, but several nicknames. Amidst the faces greeting him happily, there was one sorrowful expression. It was Gu-oh, the team leader of the C-Team Raiders.
“Hyung-nim, I clearly told you last time that it’s too hard…”
“Why, was someone bothering you?”
“Aren’t you the one bothering me, hyung-nim…? Alek said that he thinks he got on your bad side. If you added more work because of that, isn’t it too much to hold the entire team responsible…?”
Perhaps lacking the energy to properly appeal and argue, the person with dark circles under his eyes muttered weakly. His voice grew smaller and his pronunciation became unclear towards the end, almost like a curse. Feeling an ominous vibe, Sa-yoon struck Gu-oh’s head with the side of his hand, making a smacking sound. Gu-oh suddenly raised his head.
“Are you coming to your senses now?”
“Not quite yet…”
“Then should I hit you more?”
Sa-yoon, who had reached a simple and clear conclusion, struck Gu-oh twice in a row. Gu-oh, who had a dazed expression, laughed while holding his stinging head.
He was one of the guys who got excited when hit, as mentioned before. He was usually someone to avoid, but hitting him once or twice when he was sulking like this had a good effect.
Sa-yoon, who cleanly ignored Gu-oh’s request to hit him more now that he had regained his senses and had an excited face, surveyed the busy scene. A silver-haired man, who was the overall leader, spotted Sa-yoon and slowly walked out.
“Yen.”
“You’re here, hyung-nim.“
The casual speech was so friendly and natural that anyone seeing it would think Yen was the vice-guild leader and Sa-yoon’s secretary, not Jongsik. He was the second guild member to become an executive, so in terms of timing, there wasn’t much difference between him and Jongsik.
However, Jongsik had an excessively polite side, while Yen was excessively casual, so Jongsik was better suited for important positions.
In fact, he was more loyal too.
Sa-yoon waved at the face he hadn’t seen in a while, and Yen, with a face like a swallow, greeted him with his eyes and glanced at the car Sa-yoon had gotten out of.
“Where’s the newbie?”
“Didn’t he come to the welcoming party last time?”
“That’s too much, hyung-nim. I was in Paris then.”
“Ah.”
“Ah? Did you really forget after telling me to go, hyung?”
“I had a lot of work.”
“Hyung-nim!”
Although he probably wasn’t that sad, Yen pretended to be hurt, acting like a drama queen. Sa-yoon, who had become the audience of a tearful play with Yen as the sole actor, director, and assistant director, checked the time.
“Is everything ready?”
“Yeah. Are you really going in with just the two of you?”
“It’s not like it’ll be a problem.”
“There won’t be a problem for you, hyung-nim, but…”
“I’ve already heard enough from Jongsik, so don’t you start chirping too.”
“Chirping, you say.”
Hyung-nim, you think I’m a real bird, don’t you?
As they approached the gate, Yen’s words were buried by the vibrating sound of the gate going “whoong.” A crow flew over and became Yen’s chatty companion instead of Sa-yoon. Sa-yoon, who had checked every corner of the field to see if there was anything unusual or any suspicious guild members, finished all his inspections and stretched his stiff body.
“Aren’t you going to wake Geon-joo up?”
“I’ll wake him up after the preparations are done. I have to throw him into the gate while he’s half-asleep.”
“…”
“What is it this time?”
Jongsik often gave Sa-yoon sullen looks, but the frequency had noticeably increased after Geon-joo’s arrival. Now sick and tired of it, Sa-yoon asked for the reason, and Jongsik answered evasively.
“It’s nothing. It’s just that at times like this, I think demons and Satan only existed in ancient times to earn their reputation. If they were next to you, hyung-nim, wouldn’t they run away crying too?”
“Jongsik.”
“Yes?”
“Do you want to enter the field together?”
“…What I meant was that you seem stronger than Satan, hyung-nim. You know I’ve always respected you, right?”
Flatterer.
Leaving behind Jongsik, who lowered his tail and reflected upon himself at the mention of entering the field, as if he were a dog being told to take a bath, Sa-yoon moved to the area where the gate entrance opened. It seemed the cycle was almost over, as the red line on the installed measuring device fluctuated.
“Has it already been half a year?”
Each gate has a required period for conquering. If it is not conquered within that period, the number of monster entities inside the gate increases, leading to a phenomenon called gate saturation, where the gate explodes. In the case of “The Ruined World,” that period was six months, so Sa-yoon examined the measuring device.
If they had arrived a few days later, they might have witnessed an exploding gate.
While thinking that they were lucky, the guild members handed Sa-yoon some consumable items.
There were health potions, mana potions, and return stones that he had mentioned beforehand.
They even gave him a few frequently used weapons, all of which Sa-yoon put into his inventory and checked the time.
1:01 a.m.
It was a pleasant time. In case Geon-joo tried to run away, Sa-yoon told the guild members to stand by nearby, and the guild members, who found happiness in others’ misfortunes, snickered while thinking of the sleeping Geon-joo.
“I’m warning you again, don’t recklessly lay hands on him and only catch him when Han Geon-joo runs away.”
“Yes, hyung-nim!“
“If anyone blurts out nonsense, I’ll freely speak about wanting to enter the field together later.”
“Yes, hyung-nim!“
“…”
He should be grateful that the field was located on the outskirts.
If Sa-yoon were an ordinary citizen, he would have reported this response and this group to the police immediately, so he didn’t continue speaking.
Lining up the members who could be considered elites and hearing their answers, it seemed like they were not a notorious criminal guild but just a group of organized thugs.
He should have really made them stop calling him “hyung-nim.”
Starting with Jongsik, the “hyung-nim” craze had spread like wildfire, and before he knew it, the overall way of addressing each other within the guild had solidified into “hyung-nim.” It was already a place with many rough guys, and with them all calling him “Hyung-nim,” an atmosphere befitting their fierce faces had formed.
Sighing, Sa-yoon moved his steps to see his pretty boy.
To the newbie who had the talent to do the work of three people alone among the frustrating and pathetic guild members, and whose face was also stunningly handsome. Just then, Yen approached and abruptly shoved his face forward, only to be hit on the nose by Sa-yoon.
“Ouch… hyung-nim! Are you really dating him?”
“What are you talking about now? Get lost before you get hit again and cry.”
His reaction to the rumor was slow too. By now, Jongsik should have suppressed it to some extent, but Yen suddenly appeared and beat a dead horse. Sa-yoon lightly kicked Yen, who had been spouting nonsense, sending him flying and crashing into a tree. The man, clutching his aching stomach, staggered.
“Ugh, it hurts… So, are you dating?”
“No, I’m not. I’m not. Are you satisfied now?”
“Yes!”
You have to let me know if you start dating. Yen spoke while curving his eyes, with silver eyelashes densely dotting his eye shape. Night Rats was a place where unique and unpredictable guys gathered, but Yen was exceptional even among them.
Although he seemed innocent, his specialties were commissioned killings and assassinations. Perhaps because of that, he enjoyed cleaning and was also outstanding at gathering information through hacking. Above all, what was most peculiar was that Sa-yoon hadn’t scouted him, but when Sa-yoon was just establishing and nurturing Night Rats, Yen had entered on his own, saying it looked fun.
Recalling the memory of when he was initially wary of Yen, thinking he might be a tail from another guild or association, Sa-yoon swallowed his discomfort upon seeing the twenty-eight-year-old Yen lying around playing with crows and snakes.
To think he had even made someone like that an executive.
No matter how lacking in manpower they were, Sa-yoon had no idea what his past self was thinking.
Now that Yen, who had been bothering him out of nowhere, had backed off, Sa-yoon immediately walked to the sedan, opened the door, and shook the sleeping Geon-joo. At that, the guild members cheered with their fists raised.
“Crazy bastards.”
Indeed, his guild members were the most hideous and bizarre when gathered together. Sa-yoon briefly cursed at the insane ones and shook Geon-joo’s shoulder a few more times. Geon-joo, who had been furrowing his brows, slowly reacted.
Blink, blink.
The pretty boy lifted his eyelids.
“Did you sleep well?”
“…”
Perhaps due to the perfume’s effect, his eyes were clear despite having just woken up. After confirming that his condition was fine, Sa-yoon closed the door and moved to the driver’s seat vacated by Jongsik. The excited guild members cheered again, asking if they were going on a date, but this time, Sa-yoon didn’t stop them or curse for the sake of the atmosphere.
Starting with a generic cheer like “Woohoo,” there were distinctive cheers like “Yahoo” and “Ay,” as well as vulgar encouragements filled with swear words. Confused by them, Geon-joo looked around and frowned.
“This doesn’t seem like the guild.”
It was a natural thing to say. Even after hearing Geon-joo’s question, Sa-yoon calmly started the car as if he had been asked if he had eaten.
“Well, judging by the sight of our kids, it seems like the guild, pretty boy.”
“Stop joking around. Where are we?”
Where else would it be?
The field, of course.
Instead of answering, Sa-yoon called Jongsik, who was standing in front of the gate entrance.
“Open the gate.”
“Gate?”
At the low voice, Geon-joo tilted his head. The person, who belatedly grasped the situation, opened his mouth to say, “Ah, no way!” but at that moment, Sa-yoon stepped on the accelerator with all his might.
Jongsik, who had received the call, opened the gate entrance with a reluctant expression, and the car carrying Sa-yoon and Geon-joo charged into the shimmering space.
It slowly began to speed up and then reached its maximum velocity, unstoppable in its sprint.
This was why he had parked far away!
Thud!
The car shook violently due to the rough driving, as if it would flip over. Geon-joo, who grabbed the seat belt out of survival instinct, bulged the veins in his neck.
“What the…! Are you really crazy? Why aren’t you stopping the car…!”
Using the pleasant tenor voice as background music, the black sedan rushed towards the gate. The cheers of the guild members grew louder. Sa-yoon, who had departed amidst 90-degree bows wishing him a safe return, felt great and forcefully pressed the horn.
Hoooonk!
A bright light struck along with the noise.
“Hold onto the belt tightly.”
Sa-yoon advised for the safety of his pretty boy just before they were transferred to the gate. He took the scream-like shout of “crazy bastard” as a compliment.