Retire 269

269 Meeting (3)

—How have you been? You haven’t even been in touch all this time!

“Ah, yes… I’ve just been a bit busy.”

—Busy? Oh, I see.

Chen Yijun.

A hunter from Taiwan.

She married the Australian hunter Oliver Hope, and together with her husband, she was mainly active in Australia. They had one child—a son.

Alex Hope, regarded in Australia as a promising figure who would lead the next generation.

Ever since his awakening and the start of his career as a hunter, Alex Hope had drawn considerable attention. His striking appearance and respectable abilities both played a part.

Honestly, I wasn’t so free as to keep tabs on hunters working on the other side of the globe. But Alex Hope was close to Gamble from Pharos Corp… No, to call it mere friendship wouldn’t do. They were practically siblings.

Even if Alex Hope had tried to hide his abilities, his relationship with Gamble alone would have brought him into the spotlight. Especially with that face. Yet I’d never heard of him before. Why? Had Alex Hope deliberately kept a low profile? Or was it on Noah Michel’s orders?

Whatever the case.

Whether he was Australia’s rising star or the friend of the century’s genius magic engineer, the problematic Alex Hope had a rather awkward history.

He wasn’t human.

Well, his body was human, but opinions were divided on whether his essence was, too. What did Hope say about it?

“Hmm? Well, I guess I’m human?”

According to Alex Hope himself—who couldn’t even be sure about his own nature—Chen Yijun had entered a dungeon while carrying a newly conceived, tiny cell.

That minuscule cell, which would have been naturally miscarried under the dungeon’s magical influence, became the vessel for a wicked little faerie.

“That poor faerie thought… maybe this was its last chance.”

The faerie, desperate to escape a dying dungeon, took a gamble. Whether by fortune or misfortune, that gamble succeeded splendidly. The monster inside the dungeon became human and walked out into the world.

If this were a movie, this would have been the opening act. Thus, a disaster akin to a ticking time bomb was born to humanity, and by the time people realized it, it was already too late—the world was heading for ruin….

Right before I returned to the past, Hollywood was churning out those kinds of B-grade films. They spared no expense, and it was admittedly fun to watch American cities explode one after another on the big screen.

Of course, quality aside, movies have protagonists. If the director had a particularly maniacal taste, maybe the world would end anyway… but most films sang of dreams and hope. In the end, humanity regains hope—usually through the protagonist.

That’s how it goes in the movies.

But this wasn’t a movie. It was more cinematic than any film, so much so that anyone hearing about it would scoff at how ridiculous it sounded.

In this wretched reality, the monster who became human was, of all things, transformed by a mother’s love.

I’m not denying the power of love. There’s more to love than just the erotic kind.

I know well how unconditional support and affection can change a life.

So… yes. I could understand Alex Hope. I could, and I hated that. It felt like I was being dragged down to the same level as that monster.

The woman who had unwittingly transformed a monster squinted at Gamble.

—Sandra, I heard you got a job in Korea? I was so surprised when I heard from Shanshan.

“Ah, yes…”

—Are you keeping in touch with your father?

“Yes, yes… Of course.”

For a conversation between an Australian and an American in English, it was oddly Asian in tone.

—How could you not even tell me… And you even joined that guild!

That guild?

—So, what’s it like seeing Mr. Hong in person? I saw him once from afar when he visited Australia a few years ago. He’s an impressive man, but he didn’t seem like someone I’d want to work with.

“Yes… Yijun. Um, by the way…”

—Having a boss like that would be such a pain. Not that I’m in any position to talk, running a guild myself.

“…Yijun? Um, what about Shanshan…”

—You always have to stay on your toes so it doesn’t turn out that way.

“Yes… Hahaha.”

Gamble answered Chen Yijun’s words while glancing at us. Hong Seokyoung, arms crossed, wore a subtle smile.

From the camera angle, it seemed we weren’t visible to Chen Yijun, but I could see her face clearly.

Pale skin and black hair. She looked so young, it was hard to believe she had a child over twenty.

Unlike her son, her composed, beautiful face seemed more fitting for an actress than for a hunter making a name for herself in Australia. It was obvious who Alex Hope took after.

—Not long ago, our Shanshan went to see you, didn’t he? He didn’t do anything strange again, did he? Sandra, I know you find him adorable, but you have to scold him when he deserves it!

“Yes…”

—Don’t just look at his face! Even if he’s my son, I made him too pretty. Everyone falls for that face.

“Yes……”

—Sandra, what would I have done without you?

Kim Chaemin clapped a hand over her mouth. Her shoulders shook intermittently.

Gamble shot Kim Chaemin a glare, then hunched his shoulders and replied to Chen Yijun.

“Still, he’s coming to his senses and working hard now.”

—He should! He’s old enough!

Didn’t even get her point across.

Looked at this way, she was just an ordinary parent. Worrying about her child’s future, nagging, and slipping in a bit of pride about how wonderful her kid was.

A parent’s love isn’t something sacred or extraordinary.

It’s the first ordinary thing a child can experience. But for that monster… it was an experience capable of turning the world upside down.

Ah.

I really didn’t want to understand.

—…Mom? Who are you talking to—wait, is that my phone?

—Shanshan, I told you to wash your hair properly before coming out!

—You don’t die just because you skip washing your hair!

—Who did you take after to end up like this?

—Well, I take after you, Mom, that’s why I’m so pretty.

—…If you couldn’t talk, you wouldn’t be so pretty. It’s Sandra’s call.

—Sandra?

A head of red hair suddenly appeared in the camera. Hope took the phone from Chen Yijun.

The phone screen dimmed for a moment, and then I heard a language that wasn’t English. Considering Chen Yijun’s nationality, it was probably Taiwanese. Mother and son exchanged soft words and gentle laughter.

After a moment, Hope returned, tilting his head as he asked,

—What’s going on all of a sudden? Did something happen?

Hope frowned.

—For Sandra to call at this hour… it can’t be anything too serious, right?

Gamble’s face flushed.

“What!?”

—For Sandra, isn’t it almost dawn right now?

“W-well… about that…”

—……

“……”

With lips pressed tightly together, Gamble suddenly lifted his head and shoved the phone at me.

“How should I know what’s going on?! Here! The people who asked for you are over here!”

This is why people need to get enough sleep.

I shot Gamble a sour look, then accepted the phone. Gamble grumbled and plopped down in his chair. I half-expected him to say he was going back to bed, but apparently he wasn’t that far gone.

Hope shrugged when our eyes met through the camera.

—What’s up? Is Noah suddenly debuting as a singer?

“What?”

—Or has Henry finally jumped into the idol business?

“What are you talking about?”

—Just kidding. Or did Henry cause a terrorist attack? I’m actually asking because I’m worried.

“…Not that I know of.”

—Ah, that’s good, then. Great! Once you’re inside a dungeon, you can’t get any news from outside, so even I get worried sometimes.

Hope said this with a face that looked anything but worried.

—So, what’s the matter?

---

—The dungeon I gave you? Oh, that one? What was the standard for choosing it, you mean?

Hope twisted his hair as he spoke.

—If I knew, I’d have told you. That’s up to the lab over there—I don’t know either.

“If you don’t know, then how did you realize it was a key dungeon that needed checking?”

—Sandra peeked at some stuff… Some of it I heard when I visited Noah or Henry? Noah tries to hide things from me, so I had to find out in secret sometimes.

Hope spoke indifferently.

—Henry doesn’t care that much, though.

“Henry Lehmann? I thought he didn’t get involved with the lab’s work?”

Henry Lehmann. Thanks to Alex Hope’s tip, I’d learned he was… Noah Michel’s little toe, or whatever.

Ark was a deranged organization where the boss and the executives were always looking for a chance to stab each other in the back. That made it unpredictable—and therefore even more dangerous. Unlike Hope, Henry Lehmann was systematically running Ark’s criminal operations.

—Hmm… He probably just wanted to annoy Noah. Even if he doesn’t actually do anything in the dungeon, just showing interest in one that Noah’s watching is enough to stress Noah out!

“How does Ark even function?”

—Noah’s popular. There are plenty of people willing to work in his place.

Ah. So that’s how it is.

—But Henry’s the type who has to do everything himself.

Hope continued in a light tone.

—The dungeon in Myeongdong… it was in a prime location. Right in the middle of a big city like Seoul. If everyone’s attention is focused there, it’s easier to do something in secret, right?

“Are you saying someone deliberately triggered the dungeon’s break?”

—I’m not sure about that. Maybe the power just ran out and the system activated on its own.

Hope fidgeted restlessly. He just couldn’t keep still.

“All right. Then what about the Bangi-dong dungeon?”

—Bang… what?

“The dungeon with the beautifully drawn centipede.”

—…Did I draw a centipede there?

Hope’s eyes went wide, blinking slowly.

—Why would I do that?

“Why did you?”

—Hmm… Good question.

Hope, still squirming, finally spoke up.

—That one… needs special management. Noah’s been watching it closely ever since it appeared.

“Wait.”

Hong Seokyoung, who had deliberately stayed out of the conversation, interrupted Hope.

“I’ve been wondering about this for a while.”

—Hm?

“The dungeon with the centipede appeared on the same day as the Myeongdong dungeon break.”

I had no idea what Hong Seokyoung was getting at.

Fortunately, I wasn’t alone—Kim Chaemin wore the exact same expression. Gamble, meanwhile, was dozing off in his chair.

“After that, our people took control of that dungeon and started monitoring it.”

—Hmm?

“That dungeon was outside our surveillance for, at most, a month. After that, we kept track of everyone who approached it. There wasn’t a single unidentified person.”

Once dungeon management was transferred to the government, any reported dungeon was checked by government staff. The Bangi-dong dungeon had also been inspected.

“So how did Ark find out about that dungeon? What made them take an interest in it? What did they discover there in just a month?”