Chapter 06
Clinging to my battered sanity, I followed Kang Kwon-hoo to a place called Table, a café by day and a pub by night.
During daylight it looked harmless enough: a hangout where hunters searching for guilds and guild managers looking for new recruits came and went.
But after dark the story changed. Once it switched to a pub, the shop became a gray zone where hush-hush deals took place between hunters and clients wanting to hire them. Best not to step inside after 11 p.m. if you could avoid it.
Still, daytime visitors were mostly normal people.
Finding new connections here wasn’t difficult. If you ordered a drink and sat around, those casting for guild members would approach you. If someone craned their neck and tried to draw attention, they were probably hunting for a guild. Most people were in a hurry for work, so under normal circumstances recruiting guild members shouldn’t have been hard.
“Don’t tell me you’re about to talk to that guy. I could grab his neck and he’d drop in one go.”
…If only Kang Kwon-hoo weren’t here.
There aren’t many people who’d stay standing if you grabbed their neck, I thought, sighing.
Finally, unable to stand it, I gathered my courage and decided to put some distance between us.
“Mr. Kang Kwon-hoo, would you mind waiting here at a table for a bit?”
“That sounds good,” he replied.
He agreed so easily that my shoulders loosened. My plan was to lie—say I had a new quest that required exactly three members and no more once we cleared it. Special quests were given only to individuals or small groups, so there was little information about them and it was easy to bluff. Feeling lighter, I headed toward the crowded tables.
But why is he still following me?
Instead of sitting in the chair I’d pointed to, Kang Kwon-hoo closed the distance.
“Didn’t you just say you’d wait at that chair?” I asked carefully.
He gave a sly shrug and smiled.
“Oh, I meant I liked it when you called me ‘Mr. Kang Kwon-hoo.’ Not the other part.”
Heat rushed to my face. So he hadn’t listened at all—just heard what he wanted.
Still… hearing that from a face like his feels strange.
He was frightening and dangerous, yet his looks and voice made me forget that for a moment.
He’s a bad guy. The kind who could kill me, then sip an espresso with a clear conscience. Don’t be fooled.
Recalling a few of his misdeeds quickly brought back my senses. I mustn’t let his smooth words and handsome face trick me.
“If you stay so close, it’ll be hard for me to recruit guild members…”
“So what? Last time you sounded like you already had people lined up.”
I’d lied so much that little slips like this happened. But if I explained that I needed more members, I’d lose the excuse of rejecting him later for exceeding the limit.
He’d just say, ‘First you were short on people, now it’s full?’
“It’s because I need someone with a specific ability,” I improvised—a fairly convincing excuse, even to myself. I’d later claim that when I finally found someone with that ability, the next quest locked the team size.
“Just tell me what ability. I can find them for you.”
Sure, recruiting two or three from his guild would be nothing for him. And that would drag me deeper into the trap.
“It’s… it’s a rule that I recruit them myself. I must politely decline.”
“Why is it that you act like a timid little squirrel around me but like a careless jerk around your brother? Almost like you’re two different people.”
His quiet mutter made chills run down my spine—it was uncomfortably close to the truth.
I’m only acting this way because of my abnormal state, but to others it must look bizarre. And I can’t start bluffing again; I already failed once.
“I’ve never acted like a squirrel,” I insisted, if only to steer the conversation away and reject the cute-animal comparison.
“Well, maybe not a squirrel, but the way you behave is pretty cute.”
“Haha… thank you,” I replied with an awkward smile.
If I keep letting him stick to me, I’ll lose my chance to get anything done.
Maybe it would be better to just go home now and risk coming back after dark.
“It seems there’s no one suitable today, so I’ll head out.”
I couched it politely, but the meaning was clear: I couldn’t find anyone because of him.
“Ah, what a shame there’s no one worthwhile. Then again, even I don’t see anyone useful,” he said, perfectly unfazed.
“By the way, aren’t you busy?” I asked.
You’d think he’d go his own way after bothering me this long, but even after we left the café, Kang Kwon-hoo stayed at my side.
“I’m busy following you, Baek Woo-jin,” he said.
At this rate he might follow me home. If we ran into Baek So-hyuk again, someone would end up in an ambulance, so I wanted to separate quickly. I deliberately took a roundabout route to buy time.
“I’ll contact you later, so—”
Wiiiiiing!
Before I could finish, a sharp emergency alarm blared and my status window flashed red.
What’s happening?
[Spatial Distortion Gate detected. Otherworlder emerging.]
Just as the system said, in the game Two Choices there were not only monster dungeons but also irregular gates. Sometimes, instead of monsters, an “other species” appeared—solitary but more intelligent and often possessing special abilities.
Could it be…?
As far as I knew, there was only one spatial distortion near Baek So-hyuk’s house in the story. I quickly reached out and yanked Kang Kwon-hoo back. He frowned slightly, glancing at me, displeased at the sudden contact.
“Why?”
“It—it’s dangerous.”
A fresh, almost cheerful laugh spread around us. Why he found danger amusing, I had no idea.
“Who’s in danger? Me?”
Only then did I realize how foolish my action was. “Still… you never know,” I added lamely, but it made no difference. Kang Kwon-hoo simply put his hands in his pockets and watched the gate open. To anyone else it might look arrogant, but knowing his skills, it felt more like confidence.
“Run!” someone shouted.
“Call a hunter!”
In contrast to him, the crowd was in chaos. This was a city far from any dungeon, where gates were rare and hardly anyone—except Kang Kwon-hoo—was strong enough to fight an otherworlder.
But if I remember the story right, Kang Kwon-hoo wasn’t supposed to be here. I clearly recall it from a flashback. Did my presence change the future?
Scanning the area quickly, I caught sight of a young boy in a school uniform at the edge of my vision.
That’s him!
Kkuweeeek!
A creature oozing green fluid leapt from the gate. It was vaguely human-shaped but over 2.5 meters tall, reeking of poison and slime, an image of pure disgust and fear.
[Otherworlder Appeared]
[Race: Rezen
Grade: B
Attribute: Poison
Reward for Elimination: 1,000 Diamonds, Hidden Skill]
Exactly as I remember.
The blood drained from my face. Maybe it would be fine if Kang Kwon-hoo stepped in—but a glance told me he had no intention of doing so. Of course, a misanthrope like him wouldn’t play hero for free.
If things go like the original plot, everyone here will be hurt. Rezen is supposed to be defeated by Baek So-hyuk, not me.
Despite its B-grade label, an otherworlder was far harder to handle than an ordinary monster. And even if I was using Baek Woo-jin’s body now, two days ago I’d lived in a peaceful world with no such dangers. Of course I was terrified.
“Are you trembling?” Kang Kwon-hoo asked, his tone amused as he noticed my tension. For an A-rank hunter—barely A-rank, but still—to shake before a B-grade otherworlder must have looked odd.
But I’ve never fought in my life!
