Chapter 156

Chapter 156

– Whereabouts are you? Have you arrived?

Inside the car.

A middle-aged woman’s voice came through the speaker.

“I arrived a little while ago.”

– Good job. Did you pick up Do-young?

“Not yet. The bell just rang, so he should be coming out soon.”

– Make sure you bring Do-young back safely!

“I’ll take good care of him, so you don’t need to call like this!”

– Oh my! You were late last time too! Do you know how long Do-young waited? It’s only because he’s such a good kid. It’s getting cold, so don’t make him wait. Go pick him up on time!

“Got it. Ugh, I don’t even know if I’m Mom’s daughter or Do-young is Mom’s son anymore.”

– Hehe, our Eunhee is still her pretty mom’s daughter. Drive safely.

Click.

After the call ended, Eun-hee grumbled under her breath.

When no one was watching, she was the type to grumble too.

“Even if the car gets wrecked, I’d be fine… Mom only thinks about Do-young.”

Eun-hee gazed out the window, looking sullen.

But a faint smile played at the corners of her mouth.

“Mom, really…”

Eun-hee had come to pick up Do-young from school for the first time in a while.

Usually, Mom picks him up, but occasionally she comes herself to meet him at dismissal time.

“Thanks to Do-young, the atmosphere at home has improved. I’m so glad.”

After the Busan raid, Eun-hee and Jeong In-gon had grown distant.

He’d left the association on his own and gone to Busan without consulting anyone.

However, Do-young worked hard to mend their relationship with all sorts of cuteness alongside his mom, and recently, their bond had improved significantly, much like before.

Plus, with Do-young filling the void left by Jung In-gon and Eun-hee, who were busy out every day, her mom, going through menopause, felt less lonely.

“It’s already been two months…”

It had been 55 days since Dojae left.

Right after he left, the increased monsters kept her so busy she barely had time to feel his absence, but moments like this still made him come to mind.

Especially when she saw Do-young like this.

Clunk.

“Noona!”

“Did you have a good trip?”

Doyoung got into Eunhee’s car.

Unlike when she first brought Do-young over, she’d gained some weight and looked much better.

“Yeah! You came today? What about Mom?”

“She’s at the supermarket for a bit. She said she’d make something delicious for Do-young.”

“Wow! Auntie’s the best! Thank you!”

“Heh heh, you little rascal.”

Eun-hee ruffled Do-young’s hair vigorously as he fastened his seatbelt.

“Shall we go then?”

“Yeah! Let’s go!”

Eun-hee slowly pressed the accelerator.

The somewhat embarrassing engine noise rumbled as she moved forward in front of the school.

Vroom-!

***

“Hey, sis! Did you hear? A dungeon break happened in Russia! It just hit the news!”

Park Kyung-min rushed over to Ji-yoon, panting, and said with a look of surprise.

Ji-yoon shook her head wearily.

“Holy crap. They say two Russian S-rank hunters died. And they still can’t subdue it, so they’re asking other countries for help… Damn, so Russia only has one S-rank hunter left now?”

Ji-yoon said nothing, simply removing her armor and setting down her sword.

Having cleared three dungeons just today, her exhaustion was beyond words.

But whether he knew it or not, Park Kyung-min chattered excitedly.

“Not just Russia, but Cambodia, Norway, and… where was it? Ah, Lithuania? Places like that are no joke either! Countries without S-rankers are in big trouble. What are we gonna do? At this rate, even our country…”

“Phew… Kyungmin.”

Ji-yoon sighed so deeply it felt like the ground was sinking beneath her.

Park Kyung-min looked pathetic.

“Huh?”

“Don’t you realize it’s not ‘if this keeps up, our country might be next’—it’s ‘our country could be in trouble right now’!”

“Ugh… Why are you like this, Noona…?”

Ji-yoon yelled.

Thanks to that, the guild members wandering around nearby looked over in surprise.

She’d been holding back her temper a lot lately, but seeing Park Kyung-min spouting such nonsense made her rage boil over.

“What did you do today?”

“Me? I did some training in the morning, had lunch, took a short break, then followed Manager Young-jin to the association for a bit…”

“And?”

“That’s it…”

“Ugh! Look around you. You’re the only one with clean clothes right now. Everyone else is fighting like hell, and you’re just sitting around looking bored to death?”

“Gah…”

Park Kyung-min clutched his chest and stumbled backward.

Ji-yoon’s contemptuous expression seemed to hit him pretty hard.

“Kyungmin, now’s not the time to worry about other countries. We have to be dispatched to Muan tomorrow. You know that, right?”

“Muan? Suddenly?”

“Yes!”

As Ji-yoon said, the situation in South Korea wasn’t any different from other countries.

Even just the official announcements included news articles reporting that Kwak Ji-hyuk of Taebaek was in critical condition after failing a dungeon raid, and that other top-tier guilds had barely managed to clear it in his place.

Furthermore, rumors suggested that Kwon Ran-hee of Manseong had also been seriously injured overseas and returned home, and it was no exaggeration to say the ROM guild had completely collapsed.

“Am I going too?”

“I said us! The entire Guardian Guild!”

“Why… why?”

“Ugh…!”

“I’m sorry!”

“Whether it’s the West Sea or China, monsters have appeared on an island in Sinan. Several islands have already turned into monster dens. We’re going to stop them from spreading further from Muan.”

Thwack-!

Ji-yoon pulled a leather vest from the cabinet and tossed it roughly to Park Kyung-min.

It was the protective gear she had bought earlier for the Park Ha-gong Trio.

“Wear this tomorrow! And get out of here now!”

Park Kyung-min caught the vest, stammered for a moment, then vanished like a flash at Ji-yoon’s furious outburst.

“I wish Taeseong and Soeun had at least followed half as well.”

Ji-yoon stared at the spot where Park Kyung-min had left for a moment before gathering her clean clothes and heading to the shower room.

***

Whoosh.

‘It’s already been two months.’

Ji-yoon swept her damp hair back.

Warm water dripped down her bronze skin in droplets.

‘It’s hard….’

Ji-yoon closed her eyes tightly, focusing on the sound of the water.

In the frantic rush of her day, this was the only time she could truly relax.

After her shower, she had to return to the office to help Young-jin, and she could only fall asleep in a corner of the break room near midnight.

The Suho Guild was so busy she couldn’t even remember when she’d gone home.

‘Taeseong and Soeun are busy too, and I don’t even remember when I last saw Eunhee unni.’

Even Ji-yoon runs through several dungeons a day.

Back then, the standard strategy was to hunt every monster in a dungeon to collect all the loot.

But now, with the sheer number of dungeons overwhelming, they often left loot behind from monsters, let alone collect it. It was commonplace to quickly take down the boss and move on to another dungeon.

As a result, raid party sizes dwindled to the bare minimum. While she often raided with Ha Taeseong and Gong Soeun, Eunhee, whose skill level lagged significantly behind, joined other parties tackling higher-level dungeons.

“Ugh…”

As she washed her body with the fragrant body wash, a moan escaped her lips without her realizing it.

The wound at her waist stung.

“Huh…”

Ji-yoon looked down at her own body.

And she recalled Eun-hee, whom she had once showered with.

Compared to her, I’m so ugly.

Not that it could compare to a man’s, but her muscular frame bore countless small wounds and scars.

Eun-hee, on the other hand, had fair, smooth skin and a body that was firm and supple rather than muscular.

Thinking of Eun-hee’s body made her own seem even more unattractive and pitiful.

Smack! Smack!

Ji-yoon slapped her cheeks hard.

It was to banish those foolish thoughts.

‘It’s all the result of my hard work. No need to worry about it.’

After rinsing off the foam, Ji-yoon turned off the shower.

Although Suh-ho’s guild continued to grow, with the number of members approaching 100, the ratio of women was still low, so the shower room was quiet with no one else around.

Only the sound of water droplets falling from the shower head echoed in the silence.

‘Ah… I wish I could go on another trip soon.’

The last trip had been ruined by the dungeon break, but before that, it had been truly happy.

Laughing and chatting together, it felt like we had truly become one family.

But on the other hand, this feeling of being family wasn’t entirely welcome.

‘It’s a job where dying at any moment wouldn’t be surprising…’

All the members of Chilgokdae Class 3, whom I considered family, died.

The grief was immense, beyond words.

Even when I moved tirelessly and busily, their faces would flash vividly before my eyes.

They say time heals all wounds, but it’s still too soon to forget them all.

“Let’s go!”

Ji-yoon shouted energetically.

This was no time to be slumped over.

There are people she misses, and she’ll wait patiently.

‘I should buy some spicy tteokbokki for the first time in ages and eat it with Young-jin.’

Ji-yoon wrapped herself in a large towel and stepped out of the shower stall.

***

Click-.

Squeak-!

The rear doors of the large cargo truck swung open.

The waiting staff and the truck driver began carefully carrying the boxes inside the association building.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Kim Hwan-soo.”

“Chief of Staff, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Song Jeong-eun, Head of External Support.”

Kim Hwan-soo, who had just stepped off the truck, and Song Jeong-eun, who had been waiting, shook hands.

Both wore welcoming expressions, but their true feelings were different.

‘So this woman is Song Jeong-eun? She certainly has the presence befitting someone who rose to become the association’s head director.’

‘The Chief of Intelligence Operations himself? What could his intentions be?’

After a brief handshake, they both watched the boxes being unloaded.

The back of the 10-ton truck was packed full of boxes, so it didn’t look like it would be over quickly.

“Is the Association planning to branch out into guilds?”

“Yes, that’s correct. We intend to maintain control for now.”

“With this much, the guilds’ situation should improve.”

“Thanks to that. The association president is extremely grateful.”

Song Jeong-eun flashed a fresh smile.

Kim Hwan-soo laughed heartily.

“Hahaha. We must help each other. This isn’t just a guild issue, is it? It’s a matter for all citizens.”

“I’m just grateful you see it that way. It’ll take quite a while to carry everything over. How about a cup of coffee?”

“Yes, I’d appreciate that.”

“Then let’s head to the cafe on the first floor. It’s a private cafe, but it’s so good it’s even famous among the association members.”

“Ah, no. Could I have the coffee in the association president’s office instead? I came here to meet with the president.”

Song Jeong-eun paused briefly, her eyebrows twitching.

But she soon answered with a bright smile again.

“Would you like to talk with me? The chairman is quite busy…”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I have anything more to discuss with the Director. Please guide me to the Chairman’s office. If it’s okay with you, we can talk while we’re moving there.”

“Hahaha… Is that so? Understood.”

Song Jeong-eun whipped her head around.

She frowned deeply, making sure Kim Hwan-soo couldn’t see.

‘Just a staff officer of the punitive expedition force…’

Then, looking back at Kim Hwan-soo, she says.

“Follow me. I’ll show you the way.”

“Thank you.”