RG 62

Tap, tap. The sound of a keyboard echoed through the quiet room. Hyeon Dowun, who had been intently focused on the monitor, typing away for quite some time, suddenly rubbed his forehead and frowned.

[Cover will be supporting Circle Guild in the competition.]

Cha Seohu’s voice echoed in his mind. With a complicated expression, Hyeon Dowun, who had been ruffling his hair, muttered to himself, “What the… heck?”

Cha Seohu had stormed out of Zone C-281, saying he couldn’t take it anymore, and then he went completely off the grid for several months. Had he gotten tangled up in something again, or was he just living it up somewhere and didn’t bother to get in touch? Hyeon Dowun had been curious, but nothing came up when he searched, which made him feel uneasy. Then, out of the blue, Cha Seohu reappeared, bringing along a boy no one had ever seen before.

Cha Seohu had started selling items from who knows where, rented an office, and even formed a guild. Then, he began to make a series of strange requests.

The oddest one was when he asked Hyeon Dowun to anonymously request Kwon Taehyeok for a ranking match.

Cha Seohu had been so insistent that Hyeon Dowun eventually caved in, thinking, Whatever happens, happens. But instead of Cha Seohu, some unknown guy entered the ranking match, and as a result, a Hunter named “Cover,” who now holds the top rank, was born.

Hyeon Dowun was already wondering what on earth was going on between Cha Seohu and this Cover guy. And now, out of nowhere, he’s asked him to spread the word that Cover would be entering the competition.

‘And I couldn’t even ask him for his opinion because we were on a call!’

So, does Cover do whatever Cha Seohu says? Whether it’s a ranking match or a competition?

‘What’s their relationship?’

Hyeon Dowun had known Cha Seohu for as long as he could remember, practically like a brother. Yet, he had never heard of Cha Seohu being involved with a Hunter like this. He had racked his brain to figure it out and finally decided to ask directly, but all Cha Seohu gave him was an awkward smile.

“It’s a bit complicated right now… I’ll explain later.”

Exactly the response he expected.

If Cha Seohu thought it was necessary, he would have introduced him to Cover long ago, without caring about Hyeon Dowun’s opinion.

“Ugh, that… annoying bastard.”

Muttering yet another curse under his breath for the umpteenth time, Hyeon Dowun, looking weary, placed his hands back on the keyboard. Since he had agreed to it, he figured he might as well finish the job.

Just then, someone knocked on the firmly closed door.

Thud, thud!

Who could that be? Surprised, he pressed a button next to the keyboard, and the door opened automatically, revealing a visitor.

“Sis?”

“Are you busy?”

The person who had come to see Hyeon Dowun was Son Gayoung, the head and manager of the 10th basement floor of this area. Knowing that Son Gayoung wouldn’t come here unless it was something serious, Hyeon Dowun quickly stood up and answered, “No, how can I help you?”

“Hmm…” Leaning against the door, Son Gayoung took the cigarette from her mouth and asked, “Hyeon Dowun, you… know where Cha Seohu lives, right?”

“What?”

Startled by the sudden question, Hyeon Dowun hesitated. Annoyed, Son Gayoung clicked her tongue and continued, “You mentioned you helped him find an office last time. Where is it?”

“…”

“Just so you know, I don’t care what Cha Seohu is doing out there. But you’ve probably figured out who’s asking, right?”

Hyeon Dowun couldn’t bring himself to deny it. But at the same time, he couldn’t easily reveal the address either.

Seeing his hesitation, Son Gayoung sighed, exhaling smoke as if it were a deep breath. “Two months is a long time to be patient, especially for someone with that kind of temper.”

When Cha Seohu briefly returned two months ago before leaving again, she had assumed he’d be dragged back within a few days. When there was no word for over a month, she thought maybe this time, he was being allowed to go off on his own. But it seemed two months was the limit.

Crushing her cigarette, Son Gayoung gave Hyeon Dowun, who still hadn’t made up his mind, a look of frustration.

“Do you think worrying about it will change anything? You know you’re not in a position to do anything about it.”

“I just thought that the person asking already knew where Cha Seohu was living. So it’s surprising to hear this…”

“Yeah, that’s fair. But how would we know what’s really going on?” Son Gayoung shrugged, tossed the cigarette butt into the trash, and turned to leave. “Anyway, I’ve delivered the message. If you don’t want to get dragged upstairs, you should make a decision and contact that man.”

With that final warning, she left without hesitation.

Thud. Alone now, Hyeon Dowun stared at the closed steel door for a moment before covering his eyes and bowing his head. A deep sigh escaped him.

***

In a small conference room inside the Circle Guild, even though it was approaching 10 p.m., the Circle Guild members huddled in the room looked downcast.

“What are we going to do?”

“Is this really something we can solve just by thinking hard about it? We all know that gathering seven A-class Hunters is tough, even for a mid-sized guild.”

The cold remark made the atmosphere in the room even heavier.

“What kind of negotiation is this? Are those Ronic bastards out of their minds?”

“With all the rumors going around, it’s too late to back out now…”

The grade adjustment meeting held by the Management Bureau had ended abruptly, with Ronic pushing their agenda recklessly. If it had stopped there, it might have been manageable, but within hours, news outlets were reporting that the adjustment had failed.

Now, if Circle pulled out, everyone would know they had to forfeit the competition because they couldn’t secure A-class Hunters. And on top of that, they’d be branded as a guild that couldn’t even protect its own Hunters from assault.

Yu Harin, a close friend of Kim Suho, the victim of the recent assault, bit her lip in frustration. “Ronic definitely leaked this on purpose, just to mess with us!”

“Honestly, don’t you find that management staffer at the meeting suspicious? Ronic made those ridiculous demands, and they didn’t even try to stop them.”

“Exactly. Just because we’re not powerful, does that mean we have to be ignored like this?”

“Sigh…”

“What should we do? We have to get revenge for Suho… I can’t sleep peacefully like this.”

The conversation was filled with anger and frustration. Among them, a bespectacled guild member who had been quietly observing the situation finally said cautiously, “If getting seven A-class Hunters is too difficult… we could bring in someone of a different rank.”

“A different rank?”

“Like… maybe an S-class.”

At the hesitant suggestion, the guild members exchanged glances before collectively sighing.

There were fewer than 30 S-class Hunters in the entire country. Because of that, S-class Hunters typically had jam-packed schedules or were leaders of their own groups. The chances of one participating in a competition between guilds like this were slim to none.

“Honestly, we’d have a better shot at finding seven A-classes.”

“But it would be great if an S-class could join. Then, including our vicemaster, we’d have two S-classes on our side. That would balance things out, considering the other side has seven A-classes.”

“Yeah, if it weren’t impossible, that would be the best option.”

“Sigh…”

Seeing the guild members disheartened once again, Ryu Seonghyeon, who had been quietly sitting in the corner, let out a bitter smile.

‘S-class… huh.’

Hearing the guild members talk, he couldn’t help but think of Cha Seohu, whom he had met just a few days ago.

“If my rank is the issue, I’ll take the test again.”

“…”

That desperate and earnest plea had left a strong impression on him, one that he couldn’t shake. 

Ryu Seonghyeon still believed that turning down Cha Seohu’s offer was the right decision. Knowing that Ronic had tampered with the rankings, his response wouldn’t change even if he could go back to that moment. He couldn’t understand why Cha Seohu, a stranger, was so eager to help him and the guild, but the bigger issue was the rank.

It was obvious that Cha Seohu had deliberately hidden his S-class as a B-class for some reason, and Ryu Seonghyeon didn’t want to accept help that required elevating him back to S-class.

But… he couldn’t bring himself to ask the guild members to respect his decision. Maybe he had betrayed their trust.

If he wanted to right the wrong done to Kim Suho and prevent the guild from collapsing, perhaps the right decision was to accept any help offered, no matter who extended the hand.

‘I’m really not suited to be the vicemaster.’

Someone more rational should have taken this position.

At the very least, he should have consulted the guildmaster before rejecting Cha Seohu. Now, as he sat there grappling with this realization, he couldn’t help but feel a wave of regret. Now, he found it funny that he was having such concerns, but his emotions were filled with regret without being able to hold back.

‘Here I am, worrying about others when I’m barely holding it together myself. Cha Seohu must have been baffled.’

The more he dwelled on that day, the more his head ached. Pressing his throbbing temples, he let out a weary sigh just as the sound of hurried footsteps echoed from outside the meeting room.

“V-V-Vicemaster!”

The door burst open, and a new guild member rushed in, his face flushed with excitement.

“Have you seen the news? Cover, Cover is…!”

“Cover?”

“Who’s Cover?”

“You know, the Hunter who just ranked number one.”

“Oh, right. What about him?”

“Cover said he’ll fight alongside us!”

The announcement stunned everyone in the room, including Ryu Seonghyeon, who couldn’t hide his shock. The pen in his hand slipped from his fingers and rolled across the documents on the table.