To be honest, I didn’t have any big issues with Kim Hyun-Sung. He was still doing a good job as the guild master and as one of the Eight Seats of the country, he was handling many tasks simultaneously. He took the rookies to an epic-ranked dungeon and obviously, he didn’t neglect his own growth. Charlotte disliked him a bit, but he seemed to be reestablishing his relationship with her by meeting her regularly. Moreover, while he was filming a love comedy with Jo Hye-Jin and Kim Ye-Ri, he also regularly met with Park Yeon-Joo, the Guild Master of the Black Swan Guild. He was handsome and competent, so women would obviously fall in love with him. Basically, he was having it easy these days.

Even though everyone was busy organizing the country’s internal matters, it was undeniable that we had a relaxing and peaceful time. I was certain the incident a few months ago was the cause of it.

It honestly wasn’t a big deal. Basically, a small event was held for the guild members, and from my perspective, it was kind of a funny incident. About two months ago, our regressor summoned the guild members in a serious tone and went on an ambitious expedition. I thought that going on an expedition was a bit too much because we were really busy organizing things internally, but I had no choice but to trust him. It was very rare for him to summon everyone, so I assumed he had a reason. Kim Hyun-Sung’s face was filled with a great sense of responsibility to prepare for one of the disasters that would happen in the future, so I couldn’t help but feel nervous. Kim Hyun-Sung seemed like he hadn’t taken into account the deaths in case something went wrong. The other guild members continued the expedition while questioning his intention, but nothing happened when we reached our destination, which surprised us. What we saw was the underground area of an average-ranked dungeon, and the expedition group looked at Kim Hyun-Sung with confusion. Rather than a future disaster or a dark secret that would put him in danger, there were small, cute monsters in the area that never attacked unprovoked, so we placed a mat and enjoyed our camping trip.

“Well… all of you seemed really busy recently… so I prepared this. It’s a… pep rally. Yes, that’s right. So I hope you enjoy… this break.”

He wasn’t good at lying, and I still couldn’t forget how his face kept on quivering back then. He searched every corner of the dungeon to see if his memory was wrong, but of course, he couldn’t find anything. He confirmed with his own eyes that the future had changed. He seemed relieved, but at the same time, he seemed nervous. Seeing our lovely regressor in that state broke my heart. Of course, I understood how he felt because he had been dealing with many surprising things in his current position.

‘He’s probably thinking that the future had changed too much…’

If this world was like his past life, then at this point, the city where Park Deok-Gu and I lived should have already disappeared from the map, and Park Deok-Gu should have been dead as well. It was during this time that Kasugano Yuno found me in the ruins. I was sure some of the timing would be off, but when calculating the timing of things, that was what should have happened. The Lee Ki-Young of the Dark World was being taken care of in Kasugano Yuno’s room during this time, and even though I didn’t know the details of what happened, the incident caused the disappearance of a city. I was certain everyone had incessantly been talking about this incident in his past life. Regardless of the reason, the city I had seen through Kasugano Yuno got completely destroyed to the extent that it was unrecognizable.

However, that didn’t happen in this life. The dirty murderer, Jung Jin-Ho, was killed before he had gotten stronger and we stopped the founding of the Murder Brigade. We had even stopped the devil worshiper Ito Sota from taking control of Lindel and summoning the devil thanks to my work—the honorary bishop. The Yozora Guild grew, some influential figures became cautious upon the creation of the media, and the sacred democracy was established in this empire. All these were thanks to me.

Many big incidents took place, so a butterfly effect was inevitable. Obviously, Ito Sota and Jung Jin-Ho’s spies, as well as the people who had been working with them never came out into the world, so the members of the Murder Clan were tremendously low.

And since the Free City of Celia and Lindel were paying close attention to security, it wouldn’t be strange at all that some of the future disasters Kim Hyun-Sung had experienced would never happen. He should be happy about this, but from his point of view, I was sure he was anxious as well. The big picture he had for the continent may have remained the same, but the merit of knowing the future was slowly disappearing, which wasn’t something to be happy about. However, Kim Hyun-Sung poured that anxiety over to his training and obsession to grow stronger. He started wandering around the continent more frequently, and he seemed like he was chasing after someone. Considering our current situation, he could have relaxed, but he chose to push himself even more, so he could get rid of his anxiety.

‘The fact that he’s anxious…’

It was making me anxious as well. This was the only thing that bothered me about Kim Hyun-Sung, but Jung Ha-Yan was a different story.

“Huh? Hyung-nim!” Park Deok-Gu called out.

I heard a voice while I was spacing out.

“Hey, Deok-Gu,” I greeted.

When I lifted my head, I saw the same old Park Deok-Gu. Besides the fact that his frame had grown bigger, he still looked the same. The way he ran toward me while being wary of his surroundings was amusing. He seemed like he was guarding me, but unfortunately for him, I wasn’t in any danger.

“Wandering around by yourself is dangerous. If you sent a message through the carrier pigeon, I would have met you at the nest,” he said.

“Danger, my ass… We’re inside Lindel anyway… By the way, is Ha-Yan not with you?” I asked.

“I think noonim has locked herself in her room today, too… I asked her to come with me to see you, but she declined and said she was busy,” he replied.

‘I’m getting worried…’

I guarantee that the Jung Ha-Yan I knew would have never done something like that. She was strangely quiet these days, but there were some small changes in her actions.

“By the way, you and noonim seemed to be spending more time apart recently… Did you two fight?” he asked.

“Of course not…” I answered.

“If there’s something on your mind, how about consulting Park Deok-Gu, the Love Doctor—”

“It’s nothing like that,” I said, cutting him off.

“I’m sure even you have things you’re worried about. I’ll gladly listen to your troubles with an open mind,” he offered.

‘It would actually be better if we did fight, you bastard…’

If we truly had a lover’s quarrel, I wouldn’t be this nervous. To be honest, her usual behavior was basically the same, and one thing I was relieved about was the fact that Jung Ha-Yan was still stalking me. She would sometimes watch me through Anemone’s Eyes, and whenever we saw each other, she would stick to me as always. There were many times when she insisted that we go on dates and even made moves to physically express her affection to me. The part that changed was that she wasn’t trying to spend time with me around the clock as she had always done before. Nowadays, the average time she spent with me in one day was less than five hours. The situation was unbelievable compared to the times when she had always tried to spend all day with me. I thought that maybe she simply matured, but it was unlikely.

‘No. It’s possible that she really… did mature, but…’

There were times when it seemed like she was trying to suppress herself. For example, she didn’t throw a fit when I went to go see Hee-Ra noona or Kasugano Yuno. Moreover, when I went out to eat dinner or didn't return to the Guild House because I was busy, she didn’t come looking for me. She still told me to return as soon as possible while waving her hand and biting her lips, but she seemed to be telling herself not to cause any trouble.

I welcomed that side of her, but Jung Ha-Yan seemed like she was putting herself under a lot of stress, and I could tell just by watching her from the side. The nails on her right hand were a mess because she had been biting them so much, and she also looked exhausted due to the lack of sleep. In addition, I would sometimes see her mumble to herself and yell out the word “idiot,” so I was understandably nervous. Jung Ha-Yan had become considerably quieter compared to before, but she was like a bomb that could explode at any moment. And since this situation had been going on for several months now, there were sometimes when I took the initiative to approach her.

‘I hope she’s just not playing hard to get.’

Obviously, I couldn’t imagine her doing that, but if this was her actual plan, then her plan could already be considered halfway to success, as I had been spending more and more time worrying about Jung Ha-Yan.

“What is she doing?” I asked.

“It seems to be the same thing as usual… but isn’t Ha-Yan noonim going to Laios with you?” Park Deok-Gu asked.

“She is…” I replied.

“I think I heard her say that… she was making preparations…” he mentioned.

‘Maybe she really did mature.’

I couldn’t imagine Jung Ha-Yan being the first to pack up and wait for us, but if Park Deok-Gu’s words were true, then I thought it was safe to assume that she matured.

Walking slowly, I soon reached the Guild House. A guild staff member greeted me, and I greeted the new members as well as the other guild members.

“Miss Hee-Young.”

“You’re here, Mr. Ki-Young. Are you leaving now? There’s something I need to discuss with you regarding the Vatican…” she requested.

“Yes, I need to leave as soon as I gather my things. If it won’t take long then…”

“It’s fine. I think it’ll be better if we discuss it next time,” she suggested.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized.

“No, no. There’s no need to apologize,” she said.

After saying goodbye to Sun Hee-Young, I checked in on Han Sora, who had decided to go with me. Her urinary incontinence whenever she saw Jung Ha-Yan had gotten somewhat better and since she was actually competent, I thought it was only right to take her as an adjutant.

I couldn’t help but think that she was trustworthy when I saw that she was already done packing up and was ready to leave. Since I couldn’t afford to make Cha Hee-Ra and Kasugano Yuno wait for me again, I had to go upstairs and grab my things.

‘What in the world is she doing…? Is she really preparing for the trip?’

Naturally, I was most curious about what Jung Ha-Yan was up to. This was the first time she hadn’t shown her face, even though I had already returned to the Guild House.

All of a sudden, there was a boom, and the door of the next room flew away.

That was when I heard Jung Ha-Yan’s excited voice…

“I-I did it. I-I really did it… It’s done! Hehehe! It’s done!!”

The way she mumbled to herself in joy sounded very familiar, so naturally, I peeked into her room. And when I saw Jung Ha-Yan in her room, I couldn’t help but swallow a mouthful of my own saliva.

‘What the…’

It was so absurd all I could do was laugh.

‘Magic… magic stat… 99.’

Jung Ha-Yan immediately looked toward me.