The Villainous Director Is Raising a Child!

Kwaaang—!

The plain screamed.

Together, Kang San and Cha Yul tore through the field with a force beyond imagination.

Kang San would kick up a sonic boom and scatter the monster ranks, and Cha Yul would tear into the gaps and smash whatever he could catch.

"Move!"

In the middle of a wolf pack, Cha Yul kicked off the ground.

Wuuung—!

[B-rank Artifact: Skyward Leap]

Blue mana light flared out of the boots the Director had gifted him specifically — designed to make the most of Cha Yul's potential energy.

Shwuuuk—!

With his jump amplified ten times over, Cha Yul's body shot up dozens of meters into the sky in an instant.

The kid twisted his body once in midair, then drove himself straight down, layering his own mana on top of the falling speed.

Kuguguguung—!

A huge crater opened up centered on the point where Cha Yul landed, and the monsters around him were swept up in the shockwave and blown away like scraps of paper.

Watching from behind, Han Jewoon pursed his lips and let out a whistle.

"Whew~"

He looked at Cha Yul's boots and smacked his lips.

"That, that. I'd had my eye on those when they went up at auction. Got snatched before I could bid — wondered what happened. Turns out the Director grabbed them."

He chuckled and gave the sword a light swing.

Shk.

A monster he'd let slip past up front was cut in two before it could get any closer.

"Well, easier for me, at least."

Honestly, it was too easy.

Even with an S-rank Hunter and an A-rank prospect in the mix, an A-rank Gate wasn't a place you were supposed to breeze through like this.

But luck was on their side.

The matchup was perfect.

The monsters here were the sturdy power-type.

To the speed-based Kang San, they were slow-turtle sluggish; to Cha Yul, who turned power against itself, they were batteries walking up on their own two feet.

A perfect counter.

As a result, they were clearing the Gate at more than three times the usual pace.

At last their sprint stopped in front of a bizarre stone gate rising up in the middle of the wide-open plain.

A massive door piercing the clouds, and above it, the words [BOSS ROOM] were vivid.

"Whoa, whoa, easy. What are you, a runaway train?"

Han Jewoon caught them by the scruffs of their necks just as they looked ready to throw the door open right then and there.

"Nng!"

"Why are we holding, boss?!"

Han Jewoon set them down and clicked his tongue.

"Boss room already. Catch your breath, sort your gear. Let me rest too."

He was just about to suggest a break — that was the moment.

"Huff... huff..."

Beside him, Sihyeok's expression had dropped, fast.

"Kid? You feeling sick?"

"I... I can't... hold it any longer..."

Sihyeok staggered and dropped into a sit on the ground.

That instant.

Sqwelch—!

The shadow beneath Sihyeok's feet started roiling violently, like bubbles boiling up.

A grotesque motion, like something was forcing its way out.

"Huh?"

Han Jewoon's eyes went wide.

Fwup!

Out of the shadow-pool, a familiar tuft of blond hair suddenly popped up.

"Ugh!"

What the shadow spat out was — of all people — Chae Junhyeok.

I'd been sitting in snug, pitch-black darkness a moment before — no question.

Wuuung—!

In an instant my sight spun and dizziness hit, like the world had flipped upside down.

When I opened my eyes there was bright light in front of me, and... three pairs of eyes looking down at me.

"Ha, haha... Hey? Hi?"

The moment I gave an awkward smile and waved.

Tak!

A rough hand seized my collar and dragged my upper body up.

"You!"

The red eyes of Cha Yul, now right in my face, were burning like a wildfire.

"Guk!"

The hands were a ten-year-old's — small, twiggy things — but the grip was an A-rank Hunter's.

My throat was crushed, and my breath cut off.

"Are you insane?! A non-Awakened, in here, of all places! You really wanna die?!"

Cha Yul screwed his face up, vicious, and shouted.

"I told you not to come! You said you'd sit tight outside! Weak as you are, why the hell won't you listen?!"

"Guk... but I've got things I need to—"

I was hacking, trying to get an excuse out, when Cha Yul's small hand cinched down harder.

That was the moment.

"Let go."

Han Jewoon stepped over and grabbed Cha Yul's wrist.

"We're inside a Gate. Mana density in here isn't even in the same league as outside. For an Awakened like you, sure, you're overflowing — but you throw that kind of strength at a non-Awakened..."

Han Jewoon's eyes cooled, hard.

"He actually dies."

At that, Cha Yul jerked his hand back in shock.

"Cough! Cough!"

I dropped down and hacked at the ground, and Cha Yul bit his lip hard enough to draw blood and turned his face away.

Amid the vicious mood, Kang San asked, incredulous:

"But seriously, Director. Why the hell did you come in? Is something actually wrong?"

Every eye pinned on me.

But I couldn't tell them the truth.

That I'd come in for the one-of-a-kind byproduct that only drops after the boss monster is killed.

I couldn't very well say that.

Sure, I knew Han Jewoon wasn't the kind of man to go back on his word over a single item.

But the position of Bawi Guild — a massive organization — was another matter.

If they knew what that thing was actually worth... someone in there would want it.

I steadied my ragged breathing, made a show of dusting my clothes off, and got to my feet.

Then I put on the face of the most brainless, most curious spoiled brat in the world.

"What's wrong, he asks."

I shrugged, shameless.

"I was just... curious, you know? What an A-rank Gate looks like from the inside."

"...Hah?"

"I mean, all my dolls are in here — feels wrong for the owner to sit outside. Let me sightsee, too. What, got a problem?"

At my absurd bravado, the group could only sit in astonished silence.

"Director... are you, by any chance, insane?"

Kang San pulled his headphones off and asked, dead serious with concern.

Han Jewoon let out a sigh deep enough to sink the ground and dragged a dry hand down his face.

"Haah... sometimes I want to crack your head open and see what's inside."

He ran his eyes up and down over me, a complicated look on his face.

Right then, Cha Yul turned on Sihyeok.

"Kim Sihyeok! Open that shadow, right now. And swallow him back in!"

At Cha Yul's savage order, I flailed, panicked, waving both hands.

"H — hey! Hey! Wait! I'll be still, I swear! I'll just watch, quiet as a mouse!"

I hurriedly pointed at Sihyeok, who was swaying beside me.

"And look at Sihyeok's state! He's at his limit! He can't do it again!"

At that, every eye swung to Sihyeok.

Sure enough, Sihyeok's face had gone bloodless as a sheet of paper.

Normally, the ceiling on how long he could hide another person inside his shadow was ten minutes, tops.

Between the mana-saturated Gate environment and the kid's own willpower, he'd forced it to thirty.

"And calm down. I didn't come in unprepared."

I pulled out the artifacts strung all over me from inside my coat with a look of injured innocence.

"Look at this. Five [Warding Jade Talismans], a [Mana Pistol], [A-rank Healing Potions]. You know how much I blew on this?"

I thumped my chest.

"With this much, I'm not going down. I'll walk out without a scratch — bet on it."

The pleased look I wore, thinking I'd nailed the perfect prep, seemed only to stoke Cha Yul's anger.

"That's not the point!"

Huh?

At the kid's furious reaction, I blinked.

"Then what is the point?"

Defensive gear on, quiet spectating planned, and on the off chance things went sideways, an expensive escape artifact ready to go. What exactly was the problem here?

I tilted my head, genuinely at a loss.

Faced with my honest question, Cha Yul opened and closed his mouth, unable to get a word out.

"That's... I mean, it's..."

The kid's face went red, and he couldn't put the words together — and in the end, he clamped his mouth shut.

While an awkward silence stretched, Han Jewoon stepped in.

"There's no way to send him back now that he's this far in. Push him out, he runs into a monster, that's more dangerous."

He jerked his chin at the boss room's sealed door.

"Easier to bring him in with us, take the boss's head fast, and get out. That's how you keep this one alive."

"..."

At Han Jewoon's ruthlessly practical read, Cha Yul had nothing to push back with.

Taking the opening, I quickly flattered Han Jewoon.

"That's why you're the Guild Master! The judgment's still sharp!"

I whipped my head around and slipped, quiet, behind Kang San's back to duck the killing intent in Cha Yul's stare.

"Right! If you're really that worried, we just keep him safe, no?"

Kang San threw up a confident thumbs-up.

"No worries! Yours truly, Kang San, will wipe them all out!"

Cha Yul let out a deep sigh and swept a hand through his hair.

"Hah! ...Do whatever you want."

The way he turned away and stalked off — somehow, it looked... like a sulking kid with his lip stuck out.

Wait... is he pouting?

Nah, no way.

I forced the optimism to hold and called out, urgent, at his retreating back.

"I really won't get hurt! I swear! Don't worry!"

A little later, having finished our reset, we stood in front of the huge stone door.

I ran another careful check over the artifacts wrapped around me.

Right hand: [Mana Pistol]. Left hand: [Warding Jade Talisman], gripped tight.

Last, I tossed two [Candies of Calm] into my mouth. One wasn't going to cut it.

I rolled them carefully — careful not to crack them — and the forced calm pressed my racing heart back down.

Good. This much, and I won't faint in front of an A-rank boss.

Prep was done.

"Let's go."

Han Jewoon shoved the massive stone door open.

Kuguguguung—!

Past the door, the same vast plain we'd just crossed stretched out again.

The only difference — day had flipped to night.

"Whoa..."

A sound of admiration came out on its own.

Overhead, a Milky Way spilled thick enough to pour down onto us, filling the deep blue-black sky, and dead center in it hung a huge full moon, close enough it seemed you could reach up and touch it.

The moonlight, silver and searingly cold, lit the ink-black plain up bright as high noon.

"Kyah! The visuals are insane! That moonlight... unreal!"

Kang San adjusted his headphones, jaw dropped open.

And in the middle of that vast plain.

There was one huge male lion, with dozens of lionesses ringing him like an honor guard.

No... could that even be called a lion?

The shapes of the lionesses pacing along the base of the rise were grotesque beyond description.

Where soft fur should have been, cold, glinting silver-gray metal scales covered them like armor, and their lipless mouths gaped open, bright red gums exposed, with saw-toothed steel fangs jutting out, hideous.

But even that vicious pack looked shabby next to the king seated at the top of the rise.

"Grrrrr..."

House-sized bulk.

His whole body was covered in golden fur that looked harder than steel, and around his neck — instead of a mane — hundreds of razor-sharp golden blades stood on end, glinting like a crown made out of swords.

And the tail stretching out long behind him.

That wasn't a tuft of fur.

Ssshhk—.

At the tip of the tail, the head of a hideous cobra flicked its tongue, giving off its own skin-crawling killing intent, distinct from the lion at the other end.

The creature slowly opened its closed eyes.

In the dark, two enormous gold spotlights lit up — that was what its blazing eyes were, staring down at us.

An overwhelming pressure that stopped the breath in my throat.

If I hadn't eaten two candies... my heart might've stopped from the look alone...

Sreung—.

Han Jewoon finally drew the sword at his waist for the first time.

"Guess we should take out the lionesses first."

But right then, Kang San stepped in front of Han Jewoon.

"Save your strength, boss. In a bit, you've got to feed that one till his belly bursts, right?"

Kang San adjusted his headphones and grinned.

"I'll sweep the small fry."

He nudged Cha Yul beside him.

"Hey, you got this, baby? Don't start planning to hitch a ride on hyung."

At that, Cha Yul flushed hot and snapped his eyes onto Kang San.

"Stop calling me a baby."

Cha Yul pulled his red mana up and shot a glance back at me.

Then he barked a short order at Sihyeok.

"You. Keep him safe."

"..."

Sihyeok nodded without a word, quietly stepped over to my side, and unfurled his shadow.

Ha... these kids, honestly.

I was their guardian, at least on paper — hadn't expected to be babied to this extent.

I let out a small helpless laugh, half grateful, half embarrassed. Right at that moment.

Kwaang—!

Kang San and Cha Yul kicked off the ground at the same time and shot out, into the middle of the pack of lionesses.

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