Even if we shouted, “Let us live our own damn lives!”-and flipped a middle finger at them, the beings beyond this world wouldn’t even blink. It’s not like Seong Hyunjae had a sharp, decisive method to reclaim his freedom. The only thing we could realistically do right now—

‘—is stop the apocalypse.’

Though, “only” really doesn’t fit in that sentence. Anyway, as long as the world didn’t fall, the Crescent Moon couldn’t easily breach it. Thanks to Changeling, our country had also been reinforced more securely. In short, it was best to leave Korea as is and focus on what’s happening overseas.

“So when are you leaving? I’ll at least see you off.”

Surely he wasn’t leaving today. I hadn’t even gotten to talk to him about the regression yet.

“You’re just sending me off cold-heartedly? So much for being partners.”

Seong Hyunjae pulled a face like a man who’d just been dumped. Moon Hyunah covered her face with a palm like she couldn’t stand the sight. Yerim’s face twisted into a grimace too.

“What would I possibly gain from going abroad? Japan is enough for me. If I go anywhere else, I’ll probably just get kidnapped or dragged around nonstop.”

“Why would you even move together with the Sesung Guild to begin with, Hyung? If you’re going, it should be with Haeyeon.”

Yuhyun said coldly. That was true, too. While the Breeding Facility was technically neutral, it couldn’t be denied that it leaned toward Haeyeon. And although I was technically partnered with Seong Hyunjae—

“Anyway, unless I get kidnapped or something, I’m not planning to leave Korea. Maybe I’ll visit Japan occasionally.”

Japan had Shishio, who had already been tied to our keywords and bound by contract. It should be safe.

“Are you telling me I should kidnap you?”

“God, seriously—go apologize to Chief Song. Prostrate yourself and beg.”

How much worse was he planning to make this? If I ever got dragged away, a whole lineup of people would probably come storming after me. After getting told off and prompted for actual details, Seong Hyunjae reluctantly answered.

“I’m planning to leave in two weeks. We need to restructure the domestic raid team system. I thought you’d happily follow along.”

“Take care, farewell, wow, peace of mind for a while. And bring back gifts. Ideally, rare local specialties—like S-Rank weapons or something.”

Especially for Chief Song—it must’ve felt like a bad tooth had finally been pulled. It wasn’t like Seong Hyunjae was disappearing forever; he’d just be in a faraway country. It probably made things easier to cope with. Just then, Song Taewon entered. I waved a hand and called out.

“Chief Song! The Sesung Guild Leader’s going overseas again!”

The moment he heard me, Song Taewon froze in place. He did not look pleased at all. Maybe he hated the idea of the man he always used as his moral compass being far away. That’s how much he must’ve relied on Seong Hyunjae…

“Chief Song had to make several overseas trips to clean up after Seong Hyunjae’s messes.”

Moon Hyunah said with a nostalgic tone, like recalling some long-past story.

“Chief Song’s famous among overseas Hunters too—not just in Korea. Overseas, unlike here, Hunters aren’t the only problem. Firearms, tanks, °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° even anti-materiel rifles are involved. You didn’t know about the time he barehandedly wiped out a tank unit with high-grade Hunters mixed in, did you, Director Han?”

Of course I didn’t. Come to think of it, I guess overseas they’d have to face modern weaponry too. Missiles, bombing runs from fighter jets… Yep, no thanks. I liked setting off explosions myself, but I had zero desire to be caught in someone else’s fireworks.

“Um… Chief Song, I’m sorry.”

“…It’s fine. I expected this. Honestly, things have been quiet for longer than I thought.”

Song Taewon relaxed his frown and looked at me as he spoke.

“The Amaterasu Guild Leader has arrived.”

Shishio would be the first foreign Hunter to receive a Gate-S unit. This wasn’t some random product being peddled to a regular customer; it wasn’t going to work on a country-to-country scale just by saying, Hey, I’ve got this amazing machine, wanna buy?-Of course there’d be performance checks, negotiations, drawn-out discussions. Meanwhile, the ones taking the damage and panicking would be the general public. Who cared about them, right?

That’s why I asked Shishio to come in person to receive the machine. I was thankful he agreed so readily, but…

‘…I really don’t want to meet him.’

I still wasn’t mentally prepared. Still, he wasn’t clueless, so he wouldn’t bring that-title up in the middle of a live broadcast. If he did, I’d lock myself in my room and not come out for at least three months. How could I ever show my face again?

“Le… Let’s go. I mean, I have to.”

One of the conditions for him coming was that we meet. I had no choice. Damn it, why that-condition of all things. What was Shishio’s Daddy doing—why did he leave him unsupervised?

“Director Han Yujin!”

Shishio greeted me with a beaming face, dressed in a guild uniform flashy enough to pass for royalty. Thankfully, the title he used was perfectly normal. With the cameras rolling, I forced a big smile of my own.

“For the top Guild Leader in Japan to personally, and so readily, come all the way here—it’s an honor.”

“Only fools would hesitate to recognize its value! Yo.”

Shishio let out a booming laugh, then reached out toward me like he was really-glad to see me. Hey, wait a sec—what’s with the hug? No, seriously, wasn’t he way more reserved before? Since we were on camera, I tried to return the gesture with a light embrace. This guy’s body was ridiculously solid.

“Well then, let’s get the explanation from Team Leader Seok.”

As soon as I was released, I quickly backed away and handed Shishio over to Hayan. I was a bit worried since he was an S-Rank Hunter, but thankfully, Seok Hayan took the approach of Ah, another clueless one,-and explained everything kindly and clearly. From her perspective, that is. Shishio pretended to understand at first, but eventually froze up completely. Turn the camera, someone turn the camera.

“By the way, Guild Leader Seong. Could I ask you to make some time next week? There’s something I want to discuss privately.”

“Contact me anytime.”

“And…”

I started to say something else but stopped. I’ll say it then, not now.

True to his promise, Shishio talked up Gate-S with impressive enthusiasm. After the interview, he gave me a shiver-inducing, tingly look and asked me to visit Japan again, but aside from that, nothing else happened. I never want to know what goes through his head when he makes eyes like that.

On the way home, I got a new pair of glasses to check my vision again. It had improved, but I had only just made it out of the negatives. Still, being able to see at all—what more could I ask for?

As I was watching the news about today’s announcement, Peace quietly clicked open a drawer and pulled out a brand-new phone. Still in its box, it was gently placed at my feet.

-Kkyaang.

His tiny front paw tapped the phone box a few times.

“What is it, Peace? You want me to open the phone for you? You want to play with it?”

Phones aren’t cheap these days, but it’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him. I took the phone out of the box and handed it to Peace. He grabbed it in his mouth again, set it back down in front of me, and tapped it with his paw.

-Kyaaang, gguung.

“Peace?”

-Kuuuung, ?

What do you want? When I turned the phone on, he poked the screen with the tip of his nose. Why was he suddenly showing interest in a phone? Don’t tell me…

“Yuhyun! I think Peace wants a phone!”

“Huh? A phone? Peace? No way.”

Yerim flew down from her room and answered in Yuhyun’s place.

“But he’s been messing with phones lately and whining. Do they make phones for pets?”

They’ve got all sorts of pet products nowadays. Phones might be a thing too. Yuhyun came out of the kitchen holding some medicine and glanced at Peace.

“It’s probably because of you, Hyung.”

“Because of me?”

“Like last time—if your condition suddenly gets worse, Peace has no way to contact anyone. And your vision hasn’t fully recovered yet. He probably wants some kind of emergency communication method. Here, drink this.”

Taking the medicine, I looked between Yuhyun and Peace. Sometimes I thought Yuhyun treated Peace more like a person than anyone else. To Yuhyun, Peace, Noah, Seong Hyunjae, Chief Song, and Hyunah were probably all on equal footing. …Peace might even rank higher. He was his mount, after all.

“Peace, do you want a phone?”

“Hyung, the medicine.”

“…This stuff tastes awful.”

“I got some chocolates as a gift.”

“Then just one… Wait, you got chocolates as a gift?”

“A girl who said she was my fan gave them to me.”

Ah, a girl-fan. I had a feeling. After drinking the medicine and accepting a chocolate from Yerim, I turned back to Peace.

When I held up the phone and asked if he wanted it, his tail wagged gently.

“Would there be a phone Peace can actually use?”

“We’d probably have to get it custom-made. Like, a super simple one with just speed dial video calls or something.”

That seemed manageable for Peace. He’s smart, after all—our Peace.

“I’ll look into it.”

“You will, Yuhyun?”

“It’ll help keep you safe. And he’s my mount.”

“Thanks. Peace, say thank you.”

-Kyaaaooong.

He really is so polite.

“Chirp, should I get you a phone too?”

-Ppiyak!

Chirp answered loudly. Probably not because he understood, but still. No, I’m pretty sure Chirp’s secretly smart too.

The TV continued airing dungeon specials late into the night. The excitement over the upcoming changes practically spilled out of the screen. There was even talk of everyday goods eventually being replaced by dungeon-sourced alternatives. New industries and professions would continue to emerge, and even if not everyone became a Hunter, more people might Awaken, gaining inventories and skills.

Things could definitely become better than they were before. Just the resolution of many environmental issues alone was a massive improvement. The real problem was that it was all happening during the collapse of the world.

“I’m going to check on the breeding grounds for a bit—wanna come?”

I asked Yuhyun, who was sitting beside me, as I turned off the TV. Of course, he said yes.

The exercise field connected to the breeding facility was still open due to the nocturnal monsters. The white wolf pups had been rolling around together but now came bounding over to me.

-Kyang!

-Arrrr!

They had been wagging their tails without a care but then noticed Yuhyun and bared their teeth. Even monster puppies tried to act all fierce and growly.

“It’s okay. He’s not a scary guy.”

The baby ostrich and sheep were already asleep. Just a bit more nudging and I felt like Chief Song would finally give in. Once I made him name them, it’d be over. I’d just ask which name he liked best from the list that day and shove the responsibility onto him.

After checking the breeding grounds, we went up to the rooftop garden. The Lake Lizard was resting near the pond. I spotted the lizard sprawled out on a wide rock, fast asleep.

“You seemed like you were in a good mood today, Yuhyun.”

“They said Korea would be safe.”

My brother smiled as he spoke.

“And you’re going to stay here.”

And Seong Hyunjae had said he was going overseas, too. Yuhyun seemed to have been pretty bothered by the Sesung Guild Leader because of me, but now he looked more at ease, probably thanks to that. My vision had also recovered a lot.

Yeah, now’s definitely the right time.

“These past few days have been really nice. We had a great Chuseok too, didn’t we? The moon’s still big. Yuhyun, what did you wish for?”

“I wished to stay like this, together with you. In our home.”

“I wished for every day to be like Chuseok. I wonder what Yerim wished for.”

“Park Yerim probably wished for something similar.”

“That’d be nice.”

Yuhyun really did care about Yerim in his own way. Maybe I should’ve asked him how he saw her. No—what if he just said, “Park Yerim,” and that was it? It might hurt her feelings for no reason. Even if she always says she only cares about Mister Han Yuhyun, if he turned out to have no real interest in her, it’d probably sting. People’s hearts are like that.

“As long as you two are happy, I really don’t need anything else.”

“I’m the same. As long as I can be with you, Hyung, I don’t need anything more. I’m happy now. …Even though I know there are things I can’t control.”

Yuhyun said, his voice tinged with lingering anxiety.

“If something happened again, and I had to be separated from you like before…”

“That’s not going to happen. And even if we were forced apart, our home would still be here. You can always come back.”

Back then, our home had vanished completely. Not just the place, but what it meant. But now, no matter how far we get dragged away, our home will always be our home. The place to return to won’t change. Whatever happens, I’ll make sure we meet again, stay together again.

“So don’t worry. More than anything, we both want to be together, right? That’s enough!”

“Yeah.”

Yuhyun nodded and smiled. When I think about it, just because the kids are grown up doesn’t mean they have to move out. Back in the day, even married couples lived with their families. Big families are great. If the house is big and we’ve got the money, what’s the problem?

“So—”

Uh, hmm. How do I say this? You need to get stronger to protect our happiness, so here, take the Black Dragon’s heart…-Damn it. That’s exactly the kind of thing I didn’t want to say. Like you don’t deserve a happy life unless you’re strong. He’s already strong enough, anyway.

Not like this. I couldn’t think of a good excuse, and looking at my little brother’s bright, smiling face, I just couldn’t get the words out. Did I really need to drop a bomb on someone who was feeling this good lately? His vision wasn’t fully recovered yet anyway, so I could delay it a little longer.

So instead, I brought up something else.

“I was thinking about entering your mental realm.”

“My mental realm?”

“Yeah. It’s kind of like a mental world skill. I got it back when I caught Diarma.”

“…Caught? I thought you said the Filial Duty Addicts helped you.”

“Of course they did! But before that, I got dragged into the mental realm myself. Hey, don’t frown! While I was in there, I was able to use the stats I had through the Teacher skill, so I actually gave him a good beating.”

Well, I did take a bit of a beating myself first, but still.

“And you don’t die in there. It’s not real. So I was thinking I could… Yuhyun?”

I was still trying to come up with an excuse when Yuhyun suddenly lit up with a bright smile. His face was full of anticipation.

“So I can fight with you? Safely?”

“Huh?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep