The kids clapped at that neat conclusion, going "Oooh, makes sense!" — but before long, someone shook their head.
"But that's weird too. That old guy — he looked like he was super fond of the Director."
The kids thought back to the phone call they'd secretly overheard on the Director's birthday.
The voice on the other end had been unmistakable — a doting father, completely besotted with his son.
"Yeah. To be threatening his life…… he really seemed to like the Director, didn't he?"
In the end, the theorizing had veered off in a strange direction and was spiraling deeper and deeper into a maze.
"Ugh! What's the point of us puzzling over this on our own! At times like this, we go ask the Number One mister! He's a grown-up, so he's bound to know something!"
Ari, at the end of her patience, sprang up and shouted.
The kids all agreed and sprang up in a rush, tearing off toward the training ground.
The kids came rushing over, panting for breath; at their question, Han Jewoon stroked his chin and murmured, intrigued.
"Hmm…… who knows. I can't tell you exactly what's going on between that father and son, but the possibility's real. Chae Ganghyeon is, in every real sense, the single most powerful man in this country."
"Whad's powuh?"
Sea-ah answered Hayun's puzzled head-tilt, calm.
"The strength to grab hold of people and jerk them around however you like. The strength to hurt someone, force them to do things."
"So if the Direektuh gets stwonger, then he doesn't get bwackmailed anymore?"
At the innocent question, Han Jewoon let out a small laugh.
"The Director getting stronger? Hmm……. It'd be a lot more realistic for you kids to get stronger and pull him up along with you."
"Us? We're already super strong!"
Han Jewoon shook his head slowly.
"I'm not talking about mana or physical strength. Prove your own worth, and you can put real power in the Director's hands."
"How do we do that?"
Sea-ah's eyes flashed with a new light.
"Well…… as your reputations rise, naturally your guardian Chae Junhyeok's clout rises with them. Clearing Gates nobody else would dare touch, sweeping up rare artifacts — that kind of thing."
Han Jewoon shrugged and went on.
"But…… as if that Chae Junhyeok would ever send you into a dangerous Gate. He throws a fit if you so much as get a scratch."
There was no arguing with that.
The Director couldn't stand the idea of them being exposed to even the smallest bit of danger.
"Tch. And this is exactly the difference between how Awakened and non-Awakened think."
Han Jewoon clicked his tongue and continued.
"Truth is, Awakened don't give a damn about age. Young doesn't mean weak, old doesn't mean strong. But non-Awakened like Chae Junhyeok — one look at your age or how you look and they just want to bundle you up and protect you."
"Don' insult our Direektuh!"
Maybe they'd picked up on the subtle jab in his words — Hayun in the lead, the kids all glared at him, huffing.
Under the sharp glares, Han Jewoon lifted both hands lightly and let out a small chuckle.
Well… this whole press conference is probably part of Chae Junhyeok's bigger picture anyway…….
No need to spell all that out to the little ones.
Meanwhile the kids had put their heads together, whispering, and now looked up again.
"So if we perform in Gates…… the Director gets power?"
"That's true, but… you actually planning to go in? Gates are a whole different world from training. One slip and you could really die."
Han Jewoon put on a stern face to scare them off, but the kids' eyes didn't waver an inch.
"We don' care!"
"I want the Director to get completely free of the Bureau and live with us, happy."
"Yeah! I hate him being near those bad guys!"
A small, unshakeable resolve to protect Chae Junhyeok.
Watching those fierce eyes, a deep curve pulled at the corner of Han Jewoon's mouth.
"To go in there, you'll have to survive training way rougher than anything you're doing now, you know?"
"All the better! Train us harder!"
Under the heat pouring off the kids, Han Jewoon finally burst into a hearty laugh.
Hah. This wasn't the kind of thing any half-hearted attempt to talk them out of would work on.
Buddy, I really did try to stop them, all right? Don't come blaming me for this later.
He swallowed the resigned aside toward the absent Chae Junhyeok and looked down at the little ones in front of him.
"All right. Starting today, I'll treat every one of you as a proper Hunter. Try and keep up — for dear life."
Thump.
Panting hard, I collapsed onto the bed in my office.
The plush mattress swallowed my exhausted body up like a bog.
"Are you all right, sir."
At Kang Taemin's question from behind me, I mumbled with my face buried in the pillow.
"Well…… turns out standing in front of a few hundred cameras is pretty exhausting."
A heavy silence settled over the room for a moment.
Then, quietly, Kang Taemin spoke.
"Thank you for looking out for me, sir."
A short, weighty thank-you.
Right after wrapping up the confrontation with Chae Ganghyeon, I'd pressed him and secured an antidote to the brainwashing drug.
Thanks to that, even if Kang Taemin was exposed to the drug again, he'd be able to fight it off entirely on his own.
Face still in the pillow, I waved a hand vaguely in the air, like even that was too much trouble.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I did it so I can work you into the ground as my bodyguard. The guy watching my back can't be a ticking time bomb who might put a knife to my throat any minute, right?"
It was a cold-sounding excuse, but Kang Taemin nodded silently, as if the answer had actually pleased him.
"Ughh……."
I let out a pained sound and rolled over.
The kids had probably watched the broadcast…
I'd stood up there yapping about joining hands with the Bureau to prepare for second awakening, and a sigh escaped me at the thought that they might have taken it the wrong way and assumed I was going to run those horrific experiments again.
"Ssss……."
To make things worse, the throbbing pain in my right arm — aching ever since I'd met with the Bureau Chief — was steadily getting worse.
As I rubbed the burning arm over and over, brow furrowed, Kang Taemin, watching, came over.
"May I work on it a bit, sir?"
"What?"
"There's a fine tremor running through your right arm. And you're sweating heavily, too."
Huh……?
Only then did I properly register the state of my own body.
My shirt was already soaked through with cold sweat, and my right arm was trembling on its own, independent of me.
"Ah……."
So it hadn't been fatigue or tension after all.
I nodded, half-dazed, and he stepped in without a word.
A big hand wrapped around my right arm, and with just the right amount of pressure, worked into the knotted muscle.
Startlingly gentle and soothing, for someone of his build.
"Ahh…… nice……."
The burning pain melted slowly away.
The taut tension gave way, and my eyes drifted shut, heavy.
Just as the steady, gentle massage was pulling me toward light sleep, Kang Taemin spoke in a low, weighty voice.
"What do you intend to do from here, sir?"
Pushing down the exhaustion showing on my face, I answered offhand.
"Well. For now, whatever that old man tells me to do, I'll go along with it on the surface. Hide the kids more thoroughly, find a proper guild building right away…… I'm going to be run off my feet."
The plan I laid out sounded calm enough, but inside I was burning to a crisp.
Chae Ganghyeon's grotesque obsession, and the way he talked and moved as if he knew every weak spot I had.
If things kept going like this, there was no telling when the kids might get dragged back into that hellish pit.
Time's running out. I have to get them out as fast as I can.
My eyes snapped open and I sat up.
"Wait. Step back a bit."
At my sudden move, Kang Taemin silently retreated; I crossed my legs, sat, and closed my eyes.
No notes, no data. Nothing to leave behind.
I had to build the skeleton of this escape entirely inside my head.
First things first — set a deadline.
Fix a firm date, and by then, use every means at my disposal to carve out an escape route.
Target…… next summer.
In the original novel's timeline, next summer was when the tension between the government and the Bureau finally exploded — the worst possible moment.
Right after, the mastermind Chae Ganghyeon would swallow the corrupt government whole.
That chaotic window, when his attention was entirely fixed on the power struggle.
That was the one perfect moment to slip the kids out.
Second. Get the kids to a second awakening before we run — bet my life on it if I have to.
Next summer.
An escape schedule pushed way earlier than the original.
Compared to when they escaped in the original, the kids will be much weaker… without enough strength, they could get caught mid-escape.
Which was why I had to force a second awakening out of them, somehow, before we ran.
At the very least, they needed enough strength to keep themselves alive.
Whether Sea-ah's re-awakening came down to the Chaos Mana Stone or the Fox's illusion, I couldn't say… but nothing to lose by trying.
In the end, there was only one thing I could do for the kids.
Get hold of five Chaos Mana Stones, whatever it took.
Which means going into at least five overload Gates.
For a non-Awakened's body, it was practically suicide, and a sigh escaped me on its own.
I'd figure out the specifics as I went.
And last, number three. Clear out the obstacles in Bawi Guild's path ahead of time.
Once the kids were out, the only truly safe, truly large shield in this country was Bawi Guild.
Han Jewoon and I had built up a solid trust by now, and above all, he wasn't the sort by nature to coldly refuse a request to hide the kids.
That said, there's no shortage of rotten political enemies inside Bawi Guild dragging Jewoon down.
As long as they were around, there'd be fierce pushback against taking the kids in — that much was obvious.
So…… before I leave, I'm clearing that trash out myself.
So Han Jewoon could take firm hold of the guild without any noise and become a perfect fence around the kids.
I'd gladly put every ounce of my original-novel knowledge to use and lay out a smooth path for him.
I etched those three massive goals into my head, sharp and clear.
"Kang Taemin."
"Yes, sir."
"You said you wanted to work under me again."
"Yes."
"Then from here on, follow my orders without question and don't ask why. Keep your mouth shut, tight. Can you do that?"
"That's exactly what I want."
The instant Kang Taemin bowed his head deep, like a loyal hunting dog —
Woong—!
Along with a low, resonant hum, red mana circuits bulged eerily up around his throat, like capillaries.
The red circuits soon wove themselves into a shackle pattern that closed tight around his throat, blazing intensely, and then vanished, quick, as if seeping under his skin.
The Deceiver's Contract had etched its binding into him.
Kang Taemin would never be able to betray me now.
"If you ever…… catch even a hint that your mind is slipping, or that you're about to lose control, tell me — however you have to do it, no matter what."
At my cold warning, Kang Taemin nodded silently, no complaint.
All right — where to start.
Overload Gates weren't something I could hunt down whenever I felt like it, so those were on hold.
First priority was pushing the guild relocation forward. After that, the obstacle blocking Bawi Guild's path was…….
Just then, a single name flashed through my head.
Oh Taejin.
The man who, in the original novel, had sold out his own friend Chae Junhyeok — leaked his location to Cha Yul and driven Junhyeok to his death. A hypocrite to the bone.
And the ringleader who'd one day rise up against Han Jewoon and split Bawi Guild clean in two.
Granted, it was still a way off before he'd stage that revolt.
But the best way to handle a poisonous weed is to pull it up before its roots run deep.
Far better to remove him now, before he built up a power base of his own.
He'd definitely said…… Club Icarus, right?
Chin propped in one hand, I began coldly working out exactly how to get rid of that bastard.
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