Chapter 298: Episode 298

Everything was falling perfectly into place, exactly as I had anticipated.

For starters, my interview video and subsequent declaration of war served as a brilliant signal flare, announcing the prelude to the Magic Tower’s revival. At the same time, the various countries that had been aggressively circling like vultures to seize the Sky Castle neatly backed off.

France was still stubbornly dragging its feet, maintaining their stance to proceed with a lawsuit, but I figured Jeong Seojin’s legal team would give them a serious run for their money.

Ultimately, France was merely flailing about, unable to let go of their past glory from when Albert was alive and they ruled the world. Now, they lacked the justification, the political leverage, and the sheer power to back it up.

Ha Yerin successfully reclaimed the Sky Castle, and the technicians I hired immediately began its reconstruction. She was officially recognized by the Association as the Lord of the Sky Castle and even received her official hunter license.

Truth be told, it was a severe violation for her, a mere non-combatant, to fight a demon and move the Sky Castle during a disaster of that scale, but the Association President, Hong Yeon, handled the bureaucratic fallout cleanly for us. The same went for the noise caused by the Na Daeyong incident. In exchange, Yeon and I had made a deal.

Beyond that, the personnel selection inside the Magic Tower was also finalized. Kim Sarang would take charge of the fourth-floor Weather Design Bureau, and So Simhui would handle the sixth-floor Mana Mine. Meanwhile, Jeong Seojin was gathering scholars to work on the seventh floor through various academic channels. Key circles seemed genuinely interested, so things were progressing smoothly.

However.

Who am I? Where am I?

I was currently standing in the middle of an amusement park out of absolutely nowhere.

After a fierce, cutthroat parking war, I had painstakingly found an empty spot, parked my car, and was now making my way toward the entrance.

Carnival Land. The largest theme park in South Korea, located in Suwon.

Following the Overlay crisis, outdoor amusement facilities like this had been gradually declining in popularity due to safety concerns. Yet, strangely enough, Carnival Land alone hadn’t experienced a single rift incident to date. Thanks to its pristine safety record, it enjoyed an endless stream of visitors, currently ranking first in theme park attendance by an overwhelming margin.

Well, none of that really mattered to me right now; I was just exhausted from coming all the way down to Suwon first thing in the morning. I trudged forward, yawning widely.

“Mom! Hurry up!”

“They’re lining up over there! Hurryyy!”

Kids sprinted ahead, eagerly pestering their parents. There were families and couples everywhere. Watching the couples clinging to each other and packing on the PDA this early in the morning, I dragged my feet toward the gates all by my lonesome.

The entrance to Carnival Land loomed ahead. Against the backdrop of a towering fortress straight out of the Middle Ages, staff members were diligently checking tickets. Since I had arrived a little later than opening time, the lines were pretty relaxed.

Where am I supposed to go in…?

As I scanned my surroundings, the figure of a woman caught my eye.

She wore a red fleece jacket, a plaid skirt with a slit, black tights, and pristine sneakers. It was the textbook definition of ’girlfriend material.’ Leaning against the wall by herself, she rubbed her arms against the chill and looked around.

Wow, she’s pretty. She must be waiting for her boyfriend…

As my stream of consciousness flowed, I jolted in surprise. I had been thrown off by her dark hair, but looking closer, I actually knew that face. Her conspicuous crimson hair had been dyed black with only the faintest reddish sheen, and her striking golden eyes were now an ordinary brown, disguised by colored contacts.

“Ah.”

At that moment, our eyes met. Having spotted me, she shyly waved her hand. As I approached, she bowed her head in greeting.

“Hello, Yusin.”

“Uh, yeah. Hey.”

Just standing in front of her, a faint, elegant scent of roses lingered in the air. She tilted her head slightly and spoke.

“Thank you for your cooperation. I was half-doubting whether you’d actually show up.”

“…Hey.” I quickly scanned her outfit and asked, “This is an actual mission, right?”

“What else did you think it was, if not a mission?”

Seeing her retort with such a chic, deadpan expression, a sudden, chilling sensation crept up my spine. The contents of my phone call with Yoon Seulah, a hunter affiliated with the Association, suddenly flashed through my mind.

—”Hunter Kim Yusin, please arrive at Carnival Land by 11 AM in casual attire.”

—”Yes, I can do that.”

—”And this might be presumptuous advice, but…”

—”What is it?”

Yoon Seulah’s noticeably hushed voice had drifted from the speaker.

—”Please be careful. When Yeon is working, she’s incredibly vicious, and she absolutely despises people who can’t distinguish between public and private matters. Even as her colleague, I’ve lost track of how many times she’s made me roll in the dirt.”

“Yusin?”

At Hong Yeon’s voice, I hurriedly snapped out of my flashback. She blinked at me, her faux-brown eyes innocent.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

“Then let’s go.”

She turned around, her dark hair fluttering in the wind like something out of an idyllic painting. We walked over to the ticket booth together.

“Welcome to Carnival Land, dear guests!” The employee flashed a cheerful, practiced customer-service smile and waved both hands side to side.

I held out my credit card. “Two adults.”

“Yes! I’ve received your card.” The employee glanced between us before asking, “Shall I apply the twenty percent couple’s discount?”

I was dumbstruck.

“Yes, please.”

The reply came from right next to me. I whipped my head around in surprise, only to see Hong Yeon staring straight ahead with her usual stoic expression.

“I’ll process your payment for sixty-five dollars.”

Suddenly forced into paying with a couple’s discount, we received something resembling plastic bracelets. The design was incredibly tacky. It featured a half-heart drawn on it, with a barcode attached right next to it.

“The gentleman should wear it on his left wrist, and the lady on her right. It doesn’t matter if you switch, though.”

We obediently put on the bracelets as instructed while listening to the explanation.

“The couple bracelets have an electronic code split in half. When you pass through the sensor, it will automatically recognize you if you two hold hands as you enter.”

I fell silent.

Just wait and see, Carnival Land marketing team.

“Please enter using the method I just explained.”

A machine with an attached sensor was visible just up ahead. It seemed Hong Yeon hadn’t expected this either; her eyes darted around in a rare moment of fluster.

I let out a deep sigh and extended my hand. “Let’s just do this quickly. There are people waiting behind us.”

She remained silent.

She hesitated for a second before gently grasping my hand. A moment later, a green light flashed on the sensor, and the gate chimed open. A cheerful automated voice rang out: “Welcome to Carnival Land.”

The second we passed through the gate, we awkwardly let go of each other.

Once inside, the atmosphere shifted entirely. The gardens were composed of brilliantly colored Demon Realm trees, giving the distinct impression of having stepped into a vivid fantasy world. At every corner, various mascots waved their hands and posed for commemorative photos with the guests.

“It’s Bpokkachu! Bpokkachu!”

“Mingi! You shouldn’t hit them!”

Inwardly, I sent my profound condolences to the guys in the mascot suits currently getting mercilessly beaten up by toddlers.

“Yeon. Where should we…”

She wasn’t looking at me. Turning my head, I saw that her gaze was intensely locked onto a specific direction. Following her line of sight, I spotted Purong-Purong Pupipi, famously dubbed the ’President of Children.’

“Wow! Wow!”

While kids eagerly led the charge to be hugged by the giant mascot, Hong Yeon stared at them with undeniable envy.

I stealthily slid up beside her and whispered, “Doesn’t being a fan of Pupipi basically prove you have the mental age of a toddler?”

“No, it doesn’t.” She shot me a piercing glare. “You must be unaware that the newly opened Pupipi channel surpassed 700,000 subscribers this year.”

“Well, inside that suit is probably just a smelly, hairy middle-aged guy anyway…”

“Pupipi is Pupipi.”

She said it with such fierce conviction that I was left completely at a loss for words. Truthfully, my Deva’s Eye was already reflecting the image of the part-timer beneath the suffocating suit.

Uh, well… It was a middle-aged man with a protruding potbelly and a thick beard growing all the way from his philtrum down to his neck. He was flapping his wings and playing with the kids, but his expression clearly showed how much he absolutely hated every second of it. Was that what a sinner flailing in the fiery pits of hell looked like?

“Should we go?” I asked.

“Yes.”

She answered that we should go, but she simply couldn’t tear her eyes away from Pupipi. I reluctantly spoke up.

“…Just go over and say hi.”

“We aren’t here to play right now. Let’s go.”

Look at me when you say that, lady.

“It’s not like we’re clocking in for work right this second. If you walk past him now, you’ll be left with regrets and keep thinking about it all day, won’t you?”

She didn’t respond.

Thick hesitation bled into her usually composed face. I knew exactly what she wanted me to say.

“More than anything, we can’t let unnecessary distractions interfere with the mission.”

Her eyes instantly sparkled. “If you insist, I’ll be right back!”

“Yeah. Go on ahead.”

Taking advantage of a brief gap when the children scattered, she approached Pupipi. Trembling as if she were genuinely nervous, she squeezed her eyes shut. Then, she awkwardly spread her arms wide and scurried over to the mascot.

This is driving me crazy, seriously!

I stifled a laugh.

The hairy middle-aged… No, Pupipi was a professional dedicated to his craft. He spread his two massive wings and engulfed her in a hug, and Hong Yeon displayed a blissful smile as if she held the entire world in her hands.

To think that this girl was the exact same person as that monstrous Association President who went around wielding a sword, mercilessly slicing through demonkins and humans alike… It was almost impossible to believe.

Still, it feels like I’m seeing a new side of her.

Anyway, having achieved her dream hug with Pupipi, she jogged back to me with a deeply liberated expression.

“Yusin. Let’s go.”

“Sure.”

She peeked at my face and tilted her head. “Your expression has darkened.”

“It has?”

“Yes.” She cupped her chin, making a thoughtful ’Hmm’ sound, before spreading her arms wide as if it couldn’t be helped. “Shall I give you a hug too, Yusin?”

“I’m good!”

Perhaps because it was a theme park, there was plenty of spectacle all around us. Character suits were a given, but spontaneous dance routines and flash mobs broke out everywhere.

While I was briefly captivated by the profound mystery of a man in clown makeup performing a traditional mask dance, Hong Yeon approached me.

“Yusin! How is this?”

I stared at her, speechless.

She was wearing a cute pair of bunny ear headbands.

Wait, is she actually enjoying this?

“…Uh, yeah. Sure. It looks good on you.”

“Thank you. But I wasn’t asking if it looked good. I was asking about its function as a disguise.”

“A disguise?”

She promptly placed an identical bunny ear headband onto my head.

“This way, we look like a normal couple.”

“But do we really have to act like a couple?”

“We already bought the couple’s passes, so it can’t be helped. This is to avoid arousing suspicion.” She waved her wrist, showing off the bracelet admission ticket, as she continued, “Or do you perhaps not want to do it with me?”

Instantly, a frost-like chill pierced deep into my bones.

“…It’s not that.”

“Then let’s hurry.” Smiling brightly, she slipped her hand around my arm, which was stuffed safely into my jacket pocket. “For the sake of the mission, I’ll pretend to be your girlfriend for just today.”

The moment her small, soft hand touched my arm, my face flushed hot without me even realizing it. My body tensed up much faster than my mind could process. I realized it belatedly—for the past five years, no, for what felt like thirty years, I hadn’t experienced a relationship or physical affection of any sort.

Was that why it was so hard to distinguish? Was she genuinely doing this just for the mission?

“Yusin.” She tilted her head slightly and smiled, her eyes curving into crescents. It felt as if a romantic backdrop of fluttering flower petals had suddenly materialized around her. “Have you eaten yet?”

Just what exactly is wrong with her?!

Between Yoon Seulah’s grim warning and Hong Yeon’s radiant smile, my mind was engaged in a frantic internal conflict.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep