RG 63

“Really? The actual Cover?”

“What does it mean that he’ll fight with us? Does it mean he’s joining the competition?”

“No way, can we really trust this? Is this another trick by Ronik?”

“It’s true! Look at this, every news site is going crazy over Cover right now.”

One of the guild members pulled out their phone and showed the news on a portal site. The guild members huddled together to check the screen, and when they confirmed it, they erupted in cheers.

“This is huge! It’s really happening! How… why is he helping us?”

“Maybe we looked really pathetic? We are pretty pitiful, objectively speaking.”

“Wait a minute, if the news is spreading like this, it must mean the guild already made a deal with him, right? But the vicemaster’s reaction is…?”

“Uh, um…”

Ryu Seonghyeon, who had been blinking in a daze, finally snapped back to reality as he noticed all eyes on him.

‘Cover? Why would that Hunter suddenly…?’

Even the guildmaster hadn’t heard about it. Not knowing what was going on, he couldn’t feel happy about it. With a sense of unease, Ryu Seonghyeon abruptly stood. “…I need to see the guildmaster.”

Seeing his unsettled reaction, the other guild members began to realize that something unusual was going on.

Just as Ryu Seonghyeon was about to leave the meeting room in a hurry, Kim Suho burst in.

“Bro!”

Ryu Seonghyeon stopped in his tracks when he saw Kim Suho, who was still sporting bruises on his face, breathlessly running toward him.

“There’s a guest, huff, a guest on the first floor…!”

“A guest?”

As Ryu Seonghyeon repeated Kim Suho’s words, a strange premonition crept over him.

For some reason, he had a bad feeling that the news Kim Suho brought would cause a major upheaval in the guild. And that ominous yet sharp intuition, characteristic of an S-class, wasn’t wrong.

“Cover is here!”

“…”

The series of events was so far beyond what Ryu Seonghyeon had imagined that his mind couldn’t keep up. While he stood there in shock, the other guild members in the meeting room erupted in a frenzy.

“What? He actually came here?”

“Suho, are you sure it’s really Cover? How do you know?”

“Y-yes? He, uh, said he was Cover… and asked for the person in charge…”

“What the… I want to see him too.”

“Are we sure it’s really Cover? No one knows what he looks like.”

“Yeah, I heard even the Bureau doesn’t know Cover’s true identity. And you’re telling me this person just showed up at our guild? In the middle of the night?”

“Hmm, the more I hear about it, the weirder it sounds. Could someone be pulling a scam?”

The room buzzed with confusion as everyone exchanged uncertain looks.

Amidst Kim Suho’s flustered demeanor and the growing suspicion among the guild members, Ryu Seonghyeon was the first to regain his composure. He furrowed his brow and pressed his hand to his forehead, trying to make sense of the situation.

‘This can’t go on.’

Ryu Seonghyeon found it hard to believe that the media had posted breaking news without permission and that Cover had supposedly arrived, especially at such a late hour, close to 10 p.m. Although the guild members speculated that it might indeed be Cover, Ryu Seonghyeon wasn’t entirely convinced. Even if it was him, this was not the way things should be done.

‘I have to go down and check just in case.’

There was a chance the person could be a fraud, and it was safer for him to go. And if it really was Cover, as the vicemaster, it was his responsibility to handle it.

His plan was simple: meet with the visitor and politely send them away. He could explain that the guild was currently too disorganized to receive guests, and they would likely understand.

With that decision made, Ryu Seonghyeon began to calm the excited guild members and prepared to head down to the first floor. But before he could move, a gentle voice cut through the commotion.

“It seems we have a guest.”

Recognizing the owner of the voice immediately, Ryu Seonghyeon swallowed a sigh and turned around. The man smiled as their eyes met.

“Who did you say the guest was?”

It was Song Ji-un, the leader of the Circle Guild. His presence quickly brought silence to the previously noisy surroundings. Ryu Seonghyeon, leaving the now even more anxious Kim Suho behind, approached Song Ji-un and responded calmly, “It seems the current top-ranked Hunter has come to visit.”

The ruckus had apparently been loud enough to reach the representative’s office down the hall. As Ryu Seonghyeon thought about how the situation was growing increasingly complicated, he found it impossible to hide his fatigue. Song Ji-un, noticing this, tilted his head with a curious expression. “At this hour?”

“Yes. There’s a breaking news report. It says Cover plans to join us in the competition… Did you know about this?”

“Hmm.” Song Ji-un remained silent, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. He blinked slowly, as if sorting through his thoughts, and then muttered, “I see. So that’s what it is.”

“…Guildmaster?”

“Seonghyeon.” With a soft smile, Song Ji-un lightly patted Ryu Seonghyeon’s shoulder a couple of times. “Go down and take a look…” For a brief moment, the pale green eyes under Song Ji-un’s golden hair glinted strangely. “If it’s really Cover, bring him to the representative’s office.”

“But…”

“He came all the way here. The least we can do is offer him a cup of tea. We can discuss the competition later.”

Seeing that Song Ji-un wasn’t going to be dissuaded, Ryu Seonghyeon sighed and nodded. “Understood.”

After confirming with Kim Suho where Cover was waiting, Ryu Seonghyeon headed down to the first floor.

Given the late hour, only minimal lighting was on, making the first floor rather dark. In the dim light, Ryu Seonghyeon easily spotted a dark figure leaning against the corridor wall. Judging by the height and build, it was definitely a man.

As Ryu Seonghyeon approached, feeling uneasy, he sensed the powerful aura of an awakened individual emanating from the man. Though he couldn’t pinpoint the exact level, the strength of the aura indicated a high-ranking Hunter.

‘Could it really be… Cover?’

The man had likely been aware of Ryu Seonghyeon’s presence for some time, as he was already looking in his direction.

Standing deliberately in a spot where the light barely reached, the man was further obscured by a black cap and mask that covered his face. Unlike the blue jacket seen in ranking broadcasts or news footage from Ui-dong, he wore a light gray hoodie over a black T-shirt and jeans. If not for the cap and mask, he could easily have been mistaken for a young man stepping out for a quick errand in a casual outfit.

The man standing before him, who was presumably Cover, appeared younger than Ryu Seonghyeon had expected. Trying to hide his unease, Ryu Seonghyeon cleared his throat and spoke as politely as possible, “Are you the Hunter known as Cover?”

The man pressed down on the brim of his hat and replied, “…Yes.” His voice was awkward, as if he was deliberately forcing it to be rough and low. Ryu Seonghyeon briefly wondered if the man was trying that hard to conceal his identity, even altering his voice, but he decided not to press the matter.

“Can you prove that you are indeed Cover?”

In response, the man calmly retrieved something from his inventory: a long sword with a golden tassel. He handed it over to Ryu Seonghyeon without hesitation and explained, “This is the weapon I’ve used multiple times. It’s been captured in videos several times, so this should be enough to prove my identity.”

“May I examine it?”

“Yes.”

Ryu Seonghyeon carefully took the sword and unsheathed it slightly. He recognized it immediately as the weapon frequently used by Cover, a sword that had attracted much attention due to its owner’s fame. It had even been analyzed in detail by experts on a television program.

‘The power I can feel from this… It’s at least S-class, maybe A-class at the very least.’

Weighing the possibilities—either the man was a madman willing to bring such an expensive and rare weapon just to deceive a minor guild, or he truly was Cover—Ryu Seonghyeon reluctantly accepted the truth. This man was indeed Cover.

“I’ve confirmed your identity. Please follow me.”

Ryu Seonghyeon returned the sword and led the way, with Cover quickly stowing the weapon back in his inventory before following.

*** 

Oh, I’m shaking. Placing my palm over my chest, I could feel the erratic thumping clearly.

I swallowed nervously and glanced at Ryu Seonghyeon, who was walking ahead of me. As expected, he didn’t look particularly pleased. Of course, he wouldn’t be; I had caused a mess and he showed up to clean it up.

I had intended to distract Ryu Seonghyeon and the guildmaster, but seeing Ryu Seonghyeon looking so stressed made me feel a bit guilty.

‘I’ll apologize later, bro,’ I thought. Though I wasn’t sure when that would be.

I fiddled with my mask and bowed my head slightly. Even though my appearance and voice changed with this form, making it unlikely anyone would recognize me, I had instinctively lowered my voice even more than usual out of nervousness. For some reason, I had a nagging feeling that Ryu Seonghyeon would be able to recognize my slightly altered voice, even though I knew that was impossible.

‘…Get a grip. You haven’t been granted permission yet.’

The guildmaster, Song Ji-un, was going to be even more difficult to persuade than Ryu Seonghyeon. Where did Ryu Seonghyeon learn to be so composed and unyielding? From Song Ji-un, of course. Despite his gentle appearance, Song Ji-un was far from weak. If anything, he was even tougher.

Just as these thoughts ran through my mind, Ryu Seonghyeon came to a halt in front of the representative’s office. Watching him reach for the door handle, I took a deep breath to steady myself.