Chick 251

251

Chapter: Find Mephisto!
On Groo met the gaze of golden eyes staring down at him.

His confusion at this unfamiliar appearance lasted only for a moment.

“Shea…”

As Bailach quietly spoke his name, On Groo’s heart dropped.

Shea—the name of the Master of the 99th Floor.

‘Is that Dad? No, it can’t be…’

Thump. Thump.

His heart began pounding wildly.

Had his glove failed, leading to the worst-case scenario after all?

Just then, Bailach spoke, overcoming Shea’s oppressive presence.

“What brings you here?”

“Isn’t this the domain of Karmirak?”

As Shea extended his hand in a gesture of clenching a fist, the mist abruptly cleared.

“So Karmirak has fled.”

“That does not excuse anything.”

“It is, after all, a dangerous place for a child.”

“You were never one to concern yourself with mere children.”

“Yes, and I suppose I’m here now to learn why.”

Shea sounded kind, but there was a certain emptiness and ennui in his tone.

Listening to their conversation, On Groo hugged the baby rabbit tight.

‘I have to open Yorang.’

According to Bailach, On Groo just needed to separate Joorim from Shea.

But right now, he couldn’t open the snowfield without Lucifer’s help.

Sensing On Groo’s resolution, Lucifer, holding his sprout high, let out a determined cry.

“Kyu…!”

‘Good, now…!’

Just as On Groo began to shout, “Open—!”

His mouth was forcibly closed before he could utter, ‘Open, Yorang!’

Bailach, shaking his head, seemed to be the cause.

Did it mean that it was impossible for now?

“But…”

As On Groo tried to speak, Shea’s gaze fell sharply upon him.

Startled, On Groo pressed his lips together.

Yet, for some reason, there was a gentleness in Shea’s approaching gaze.

‘Why?’

And then—

Ding!

[Affection Level is sufficient. Caregiver Registration is now available.]

‘Caregiver Registration?!’

On Groo’s mouth fell open in surprise.

If Caregiver Registration appeared, it meant the Master of the 99th Floor was not in danger.

His mind quickly grew more tangled.

“Groo!”

“Yellow Groo!”

Just then, Gidan and Sergey entered the safehouse together.

“…Hyung?”

“Was On Joorim here too?”

Both froze in confusion when they spotted Shea.

Placing the baby rabbit back on his head, On Groo stepped forward.

“That’s not Dad.”

Before the two could ask what he meant, Shea replied with indifference.

“Shea. On Earth, they call me the Master of the 99th Floor, don’t they?”

Nodding.

On Groo bobbed his head in agreement, and as he did, Shea hesitantly reached out and stroked his head.

“You’re clever.”

“Cleber?”

“It means you’re smart.”

‘Th—That’s praise!’

Blushing at the compliment, On Groo shook his head furiously.

He may have Dad’s face, but he’s not Dad! I mustn’t let my guard down!

As Gidan and Sergey took in the situation, a brief silence settled among them.

And then—

“The Master of the 99th Floor?!”

Gidan’s shout shattered the quiet.

At the same time, Sergey spun on his heel, chewing gum.

“Hey! Where are you going!”

“I figured I’d send one last text before I die.”

Gidan caught Sergey by the shoulder.

“Why are you talking about dying?”

“Fine, good luck with that.”

Caught between Gidan’s fussing and Sergey’s resignation, On Groo blinked.

“…”

“…”

Only then did the two realize Shea was standing right next to On Groo, and they froze in place.

Deciding this was no time for hesitation, Gidan opened his inventory to draw a weapon, while Sergey stepped back and drew on his magic.

Both looked ready to unleash their skills at any moment.

Kneeling slightly, Gidan spoke cautiously.

“Groo, come here slowly.”

On Groo looked once to Gidan, then Sergey, then up at Shea.

“I’ll go and come right back.”

“Go ahead.”

Shea answered with unexpected warmth.

On Groo toddled toward his older brothers, and Bailach followed leisurely behind.

Seeing the children approach unafraid, Gidan and Sergey looked all the more bewildered.

They placed On Groo between them and activated a barrier—to keep their voices from reaching Shea.

Even with the barrier up, Gidan stayed on guard, whispering,

“…So, it’s not dangerous?”

Nod, nod.

The fact that Caregiver Registration had appeared meant Shea was not a threat.

Still unconvinced, Sergey pressed on,

“He’s not about to conquer the world or anything like that?”

“Uhm, he didn’t say anything like that…”

“So why did he show up?”

It was Bailach, not On Groo, who answered that question.

“Because the master seemed to be in danger. An SSS-class dungeon nearly broke out here.”

“What? It wasn’t your dungeon?!”

“…?”

Bailach frowned at Gidan’s astonished face.

“Why would I open a dungeon?”

‘Well, that’s because you were harassed by that perverted bastard—’ Neither of them dared to voice their thoughts, and fell silent.

For now, the abduction was a secondary concern; they had to get back to the main problem.

After a pause, Sergey asked,

“Then, since Groo’s safe, shouldn’t we put him back inside?”

“If that were the plan, we wouldn’t have come out at all.”

“Then what about Joorim hyung…?”

“He must be asleep within Shea’s consciousness.”

“How do we get him out?”

“Even if I told you, would you be able to do anything to Shea?”

Bailach countered.

His words made it clear they shouldn’t get any foolish ideas, and Gidan rubbed his face in frustration.

At least the world wasn’t in danger—but it still felt impossibly daunting.

How could they do anything about the Master of the 99th Floor, whom even On Joorim hadn’t managed to defeat?

As Gidan fell silent, Sergey, frustrated, spoke up.

“Did the glove fail? Can’t we ask another guild or organization for help?”

Gidan shook his head with a grim expression.

“Absolutely not. There are too many people who hold a grudge against Orchestra. If word gets out that On Joorim has lost his mind, they’ll call to subjugate him and tear Orchestra apart.”

“S—Subjugate?!”

On Groo cried out in alarm.

‘Subjugate’—the word often appeared in fairy tales featuring heroes and demon kings.

A picture began to form in On Groo’s mind.

Master of the 99th Floor = Demon King

Hunters = Heroes

Dad is asleep inside the Demon King.

Which meant Dad could be defeated by the heroes!

Boom!

The sky seemed to fall, prompting On Groo to burst out in anger.

“See, you should’ve lived kindly!”

“Yeah, you really should’ve!”

On Groo and Sergey scolded him in unison, and Gidan hung his head.

For once, he had no excuse for past misdeeds.

“No, but that’s not all…”

Gidan ran a hand through his hair, frustrated.

“Hyung is On Joorim… I simply can’t say a word.”

No matter what, On Joorim was Korea’s pillar.

If it got out that something was wrong with On Joorim, not just Orchestra but all of Korea would go into crisis.

“If Korea lost On Joorim, it’d be like a disaster on the level of war.”

“…Insane.”

Sergey let out a sigh, and On Groo rolled his eyes, glancing at Shea.

“Dani-oppa, so then Dad is a secret?”

“Yeah. For now, don’t tell anyone and just monitor the situation…”

Before Gidan could finish, the door to the safehouse crashed open with a bang!

“What’s this? Why are you guys here so soon?”

Breaking down the door was Cheon Gyuri.

“Oh? What a surprise—Guildmaster is here too.”

Following behind was Gu Shinhoo.

Soon after, the rest of the first teams from each guild and government agents also arrived.

They had rushed over after receiving reports of a major dungeon event.

The room grew crowded in an instant; nervous, On Groo exchanged glances with his brothers.

‘W-What do we do?’

He hadn’t expected everyone to pour in like this.

“Shh.”

Sergey pressed a finger to his lips, signalling silence.

At this point, it would be troublesome if anyone were told, ‘the Master of the 99th Floor possessed the guildmaster.’

Somehow, they had to smooth things over.

The three exchanged glances, gave a brief nod.

Quickly, On Groo ran over and grabbed Shea’s hand.

He was ready to clamp Shea’s mouth shut at the first sign of him speaking nonsense in front of the others.

Sergey and Bailach stood protectively on either side of On Groo, lest Shea attempt any surprise move.

Stepping to the front, Gidan clapped to draw everyone’s attention.

“You’re all here already? But what can I say? We just arrived too, and there’s not even a whiff of a dungeon here.”

Gu Shinhoo chuckled.

“Orchestra didn’t happen to sweep up another unidentified dungeon, did they?”

“Come on, even we couldn’t clear a major dungeon this quickly.”

Doubt hung over Orchestra, but Gidan’s words were not untrue, either.

They’d arrived almost immediately after receiving the message—no matter how efficient Orchestra was, clearing it in that time was impossible.

“Hm. Was it a false alarm?”

“These things do happen sometimes…”

“By the way, is this a private home? Why is it so empty?”

“Good question.”

As the others glanced around, Gidan matched their awkward laughter with one of his own.

“Exactly. Have a look around. That’s all we know too.”

While people wandered about inspecting the place, Gidan signalled to On Groo and moved closer to Orchestra’s first team.

On Groo, with Shea and his newfound “guards” in tow, sidled a bit closer.

“Gidan, what’s going on? Why are the guildmaster and you guys here first?”

“Well…”

Gidan shot a glance at the Master of the 99th Floor, swallowing hard.

That was not Joorim. He couldn’t even be sure he could make it behave like Joorim.

Moreover, since the first team members were all Orchestra, they would immediately notice any strange behavior from On Joorim.

That left only one way out.

“There was something. Not sure if it was an SSS-tier dungeon, but there was an anomaly. Disappeared just as suddenly, though.”

“So why didn’t you say anything? And what happened?”

“Nothing happened after that… but that’s not the main thing…”

Gidan clenched his fist.

“J—Joorim-hyung, you see. Maybe as a side effect… his memory seems a bit… fragmented…”