S Chapter 71

……Dead, he said. Shin Jukyeong lowered his eyes and fell into thought. Then, clinging to a thread of hope, he asked again.

“Are there no other possibilities?”

“Other possibilities?”

Shin Jukyeong’s gaze fixed on the Monster Guy.

“Yes. Other possibilities.”

The Monster Guy, flustered by the unexpected question, coughed briefly. Possibilities? What on earth kind of possibilities? He couldn’t understand Shin Jukyeong’s words and inadvertently wore a bewildered expression.

He, who had been continuously making question marks, suddenly widened his eyes. It seemed something had just occurred to him. Hmm, uhm… The Monster Guy pondered for a moment, then soon mumbled, opening his mouth.

“Well… if I were to look for exceptions… they could be trapped in a Dungeon, or hiding themselves of their own will, something like that.”

The Monster Guy, speaking as he folded his fingers, soon glanced at Shin Jukyeong and reacted with an ‘Ehh~’ as if it were absurd.

Well, it was a natural reaction. In fact, Shin Jukyeong also agreed to some extent.

First, Dungeons have too low a survival rate. It’s not a good place to hide, whether willingly or unwillingly. More importantly, isn’t there the Hunter Association? It’s their ironclad rule to clear a Dungeon within a day of its appearance. It’s simply impossible to maintain life inside a Dungeon while avoiding the Association’s eyes.

‘What’s left is that they are unregistered B-rank (or higher) manifested individuals, or being protected by such a person. …Hmm, or perhaps they really are dead.’

In any case, the problem was that no more information could be obtained from the Monster Guy’s monsters. How frustrating. Now, only Eve remained. Was there no choice but to use Eve? Damn it. That’s a bit problematic.

Shin Jukyeong bit his lip.

‘Of all times, the timing…’

Could the timing be any worse? Shin Jukyeong sighed deeply.

Certainly, if it were Eve, it could travel the entire country within two days. It would undoubtedly show performance incomparable to the Monster Guy’s monsters. Whether the person he was looking for was in a Dungeon, or protected by a skilled Hunter, if they weren’t dead, Eve would surely find them.

However, as mentioned before, there was the problem of the price.

Shin Jukyeong irritably ran a hand through his hair. If it were just one village, he might be able to manage somehow, but it meant covering the entire country…

‘I’d be incapacitated for at least a few days.’

Damn it, what should he do?

No matter how many times he ran simulations, the results were the same. His own image, collapsing helplessly and groaning in pain, was vivid in his mind.

He couldn’t just not feed it. It was only natural to pay for its use. Especially with someone like Eve, who was clear about give and take. Well, it was a contractual relationship, so perhaps it was obvious.

Anyway, if he didn’t give Eve proper compensation after using it, Shin Jukyeong would be in trouble. Because once that one got sulky, it lasted at least two months.

‘But… I can’t even afford to collapse comfortably.’

Hadn’t there been an assassination attempt targeting U-dam recently, on top of everything else?

Shin Jukyeong ran his hands over his face in frustration. There was no certainty that such a thing wouldn’t happen again. On the contrary, they would likely seize the opportunity to try and kill him again and again.

‘Just imagining me not being there at that time is terrifying.’

Of course, he had only assumed the worst-case scenarios. He knew. But as long as there was a 0.01% possibility, he couldn’t ignore it.

‘More importantly, there’s also one definite accident that will happen this year.’

The biggest reason he couldn’t use Eve, in fact. The inevitable accident.

Yes… there was that. Shin Jukyeong lowered his head. Because things were complicated in many ways, and irritation surged up within him without him realizing it. He slowly took a deep breath, recalling the upcoming event.

‘Kang Seo-oh and my stepmother. This was the year they were murdered by robbers.’

The incident that might have been the biggest reason for Jae-min to go astray, that is, the ‘Cha Hee-yeon Death Incident’… Shin Jukyeong absolutely had to prevent it.

Especially since the future was twisting little by little, and he didn’t know when it would occur, Shin Jukyeong intended to have Eve stick to the two of them until this year passed. Thus, he concluded that he couldn’t use Eve for the search.

‘It would be best if Kang Seo-oh’s and my stepmother’s matters were resolved first, but until then, there’s nothing I can do. I’ll have to find another way.’

While Shin Jukyeong was lost in thought, the Monster Guy suddenly offered an apology with a dispirited face.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of help.”

He seemed to have misunderstood Shin Jukyeong’s scowling face, caused by his worries, as something else. Since there was nothing particular to apologize for, Shin Jukyeong quickly waved his hand, but the Monster Guy repeatedly apologized, looking uneasy.

“No. I couldn’t even properly help… I’m ashamed.”

‘This guy. He’s not usually like this, but he’s becoming more subservient, which makes me a bit uncomfortable.’

He wasn’t in the mood to coddle anyone, so he was about to get up and leave, when the Monster Guy hesitated and stopped Shin Jukyeong. Then came an unexpected request.

“Hey, when are you free again?”

‘Why my time, all of a sudden?’

Shin Jukyeong rolled his eyes. Isn’t there anything else to discuss? The business is over, isn’t it? But the other person seemed to think differently from Shin Jukyeong, looking expectantly for an answer.

In the end, though he wasn’t curious at all… Shin Jukyeong had no choice but to ask.

“Why?”

“Uh, no. Ji-ho said he wants to see you.”

The Monster Guy awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

“…Ah? Oh!”

Shin Jukyeong recalled the snot-nosed kid who stubbornly insisted Shin Jukyeong was his best friend.

A short, impudent young mammal.

‘Even young, he has good judgment of people.’

Now that he was done with the Monster Guy, he didn’t have to deal with that kid anymore.

However, when he actually tried to refuse harshly, he felt a lingering unpleasantness. It was as if he wanted to ignore it but couldn’t. Perhaps it was because he had a youngest brother, or maybe it was just his nature. Shin Jukyeong was unusually soft towards children.

“Then I’ll contact you soon. I’ll be busy adapting to the company until next week.”

“You got a job?”

Ah. Right.

‘This guy doesn’t know I joined the Management Department, does he?’

Hmm… Shin Jukyeong pondered for a moment. He wondered if he really needed to tell him, but thought explaining it later if they happened to meet would be more troublesome, so he decided to just tell him honestly.

“I decided to join the Management Department.”

“Oh. Really?”

The Monster Guy widened his eyes in surprise, then whistled, saying he was skilled. The offer to contact him anytime if he needed help in the future was a bonus.

Well, he doubted there would be any personal reason to contact him, but he nodded, saying he understood for now.

As the conversation was winding down, the Monster Guy was the first to get up and leave.

“I have to go now. I’ll wait for your call. Then, let’s all watch a movie together.”

Take care, then. The Monster Guy offered a brief farewell and quickly disappeared.

“…?”

Only Shin Jukyeong, left alone and bewildered, slowly blinked his eyes.

‘Let’s all watch a movie together?’

No, I mean… Did that mean you were coming along too?

“Just sending Ji-ho would have been fine.”

And I’d be much more comfortable that way.

But it was already too late to turn back.

‘I just planned to share some ice cream, play a few arcade games, and then part ways. Now I’ll just have to spend more time.’

However, he didn’t entirely fail to understand the Monster Guy’s feelings. How could he entrust his precious younger brother to a stranger? If it were him, he would have accompanied them too.

“Ah. Right. I should go too.”

He quickly got up, shaking off his miscellaneous thoughts. It was probably time for the dormitory room assignments to be finished. Everyone else would be with their families, and he couldn’t just leave his brother alone.

Shin Jukyeong hurriedly ran to the auditorium.

“Where have you been?”

Sure enough. U-dam stood with his arms crossed, wearing a sulky expression. It was as if an invisible tail was thumping against the floor.

‘He’s just like an angry cat.’

Shin Jukyeong chuckled softly and apologized.

“I’m sorry. I was outside for a bit.”

“Hyung. Do I have to wait for you? Isn’t this my celebration?”

U-dam retorted with a sharp tone. It was as if ‘I’m the protagonist!’ was written right in the middle of his pretty face. Yes, you are the protagonist. Shin Jukyeong readily admitted it and apologized again.

“I’m sorry.”

“Why do you keep leaving me alone?”

But U-dam’s irritation showed no signs of subsiding. It was just like a little kid whining for attention, which made Shin Jukyeong let out an inappropriate, silly laugh.

“Are you laughing?”

Seeing him, U-dam’s expression turned chillingly serious. His voice was so sharp that some people nearby glanced over, wondering if they were fighting.

But Shin Jukyeong still maintained a calm expression. This level of pouting was simply softened to ‘he’s sulking’ in his mind. Yes, it was all thanks to his ‘younger brother-only softie filter.’

“I’m really sorry. There was someone I had to see for a moment.”

“Someone you had to see?”

U-dam’s eyebrows twitched. He stared intently at Shin Jukyeong, as if telling him to continue.