Chi-Woo looked a bit taken aback by Chi-Hyun’s sudden question.

“Repeat which part?”

“Describe how the environment looked again.”

Chi-Woo rummaged through his memories and slowly said, “…It was dark.”

“…”

“The city, the sky, and even the ground…everything I saw was black, as if all the colors in the world had disappeared…”

“And?”

“And…ah,” Chi-Woo gasped, “I think I heard voices of the dead at the end.”

“Voices of the dead?”

“Well, you know the things the dead say.” Recalling what just happened sent shivers down Chi-Woo’s spine. “I…couldn’t help but turn back. Their voices grew closer to me quickly…like they were coming for me…”

Chi-Hyun looked at his frightened brother in disbelief and thought, ‘If he heard the voices of the dead, it must mean we are dealing with a spiritual monster…’ As his brother, Chi-Hyun knew what kind of life Chi-Woo lived on Earth. Since he was born, Chi-Woo had grown up seeing things he shouldn’t have and stayed in churches, temples, and shaman homes to counter that. Thus, Chi-Woo was someone who was hardly fazed by most spirits. And yet he was shaking in fear right now because of a spiritual encounter. It didn’t appear like he was acting either, nor was it a time to crack jokes.

‘That means a spiritual monster formidable enough to instill fear in my brother appeared.’ When Chi-Hyun connected this fact with the environment that Chi-Woo described, his eyes narrowed. A long silence followed, and Chi-Woo felt a mix of anxiety and relief while looking at Chi-Hyun’s slightly tilted head. Chi-Hyun looked like he had an inkling of what was going on. Perhaps there was a proper way to respond to this situation. After all, this was Chi-Hyun they were talking about. He was a hero called ‘The Legend’.

However, Chi-Woo couldn’t be completely relieved, because his brother’s expression seemed grim. It was then Chi-Hyun made his decision.

“I should go out,” Chi-Hyun said and got up from his seat.

“Where to? You mean outside the city?” Chi-Woo asked.

“Yes. I need to personally investigate what is happening right now.”

“Then I can also—”

“You should stay put,” Chi-Hyun cut him off. “Stay in Shalyh quietly for a while.”

“But…”

“From what I can tell, the scale of this event is quite big. It’s not something that can be solved by only working outside the city. We need to work internally too,” Chi-Hyun continued, “You should watch Ru Amuh and especially the hero named Ru Hiana carefully. Tell me immediately if something happens. Since we are in a godly territory, I will be able to receive your messages as long as I don’t go too far away.”

Hearing this, Chi-Woo didn’t insist anymore. He couldn’t be sure if Chi-Hyun would’ve allowed him to follow him in the first place anyways.

“I am repeating myself, but don’t think of doing something stupid like following my tracks to find me because you are worried. Do you understand?” Chi-Hyun firmly warned Chi-Woo again, making it clear that it was something greatly worrying to him.

“…Okay. Be careful.”

Chi-Hyun left after hearing Chi-Woo’s response and closed the door behind him. Left alone, Chi-Woo stood with a mixed expression on his face. But soon afterward, he quickly moved knowing he didn’t have time to sit around.

***

Chi-Woo collected his thoughts after coming out of his brother’s office. All he could currently think about was how he could prevent Shalyh’s destruction. How would he act right now if he didn’t know the future?

‘I’ll probably be training.’ 

Chi-Woo’s original plan was to use up all the merits he had collected and negotiate with La Bella while he was at it. He also thought of requesting his brother to open the training ground of Image Representation again; and if Ru Amuh approached him with another job, he planned to turn it down. Since they had already earned a good amount of money along with equipment, Chi-Woo thought they would be able to take care of things on their own for the time being; and in the meantime, Chi-Woo planned to train until he was satisfied, especially since he had learned many things from the recent expedition.

‘If I had acted according to these plans…’ Then he would’ve separated from Ru Amuh. But now that he knew the future, he couldn’t let that happen.

‘I’m not sure, but there’s a high possibility something would happen during this period…’ That was probably why Chi-Hyun told him to watch Ru Amuh and Ru Hiana carefully too.

‘I should stick close to them whatever happens,’ Chi-Woo thought and hurriedly walked toward their zone. What should he say to make them stay inside the city? Should he reveal everything he knew and ask for their collaboration? Chi-Woo pondered endlessly as he entered Ru Amuh’s residence, but the place was quiet. He didn’t see Ru Amuh or Ru Hiana. While feeling anxious, Chi-Woo sent a message, asking where they were and saying that he wanted to meet them. It didn’t take long for him to be notified of a response.

[Ru Amuh (Received): I was also looking for you, sir. I didn’t expect you to be at my place. Please wait a moment. I will be there soon.]

What a coincidence. Ru Amuh also went to Chi-Woo’s house to find him.

‘Why?’ Chi-Woo grew more nervous. He waited anxiously and soon heard the door open.

“Teacher.” It was Ru Amuh. “I heard that you were looking for me.”

“It seems you were also looking for me, Mr. Ru Amuh.”

“If it’s alright with you, could I tell you my concerns first?” Ru Amuh said in an uncharacteristically urgent voice. He looked quite flustered as he spoke, “I woke up later than usual because of a hangover and saw a message from Ru Hiana.”

Ru Amuh continued, “She told me there was no need for her to get her share of the money, and that I should exclude her from the reward distribution. Furthermore, she said that she plans to act separately for the time being so we shouldn’t look for her.”

“What?! Why?” Chi-Woo said in shock.

“I don’t know either, sir.”

Chi-Woo felt his heart sink as Ru Amuh shook his head.

“Does that make sense to you? It hasn’t even been long since we came back. It’s only been two days…!” Chi-Woo shouted and stopped himself. He raised his voice without intending to when Ru Amuh wasn’t even at fault.

“…I apologize. I didn’t mean to…”

“No, it’s fine.” Ru Amuh appeared surprised, but he said calmly, “It seems she’s going out for an adventure. Or she may have already gone out.”

“An adventure?”

“Yes, although Ru Hiana can probably join an expedition with her current tier, an official expedition isn’t a common thing.” An expedition was similar yet different from an adventure. An expedition relied on records and information, while an adventure expected results from exploring unknown territories. In short, the person who did the former was comparatively more professional, while the person who did the latter lived day to day in uncertainty.

There were quite a lot of heroes who gathered in groups and aimlessly wandered outside Shalyh city these days. This was because they needed to earn money. They couldn’t dream of participating in expeditions, and accepting trivial requests earned them too little, so they aimed to hit the jackpot on one of their aimless wanderings. Rather than earning chump change on strict deadlines, they assessed that it was more profitable catching and selling monster corpses; and many hoped to luckily discover a dungeon in the process. Ru Hiana must have joined one of these many adventure teams.

“No…but an adventure all of a sudden…alone at that…?” Chi-Woo murmured like he couldn’t understand and briefly recalled how dejected Ru Hiana had looked last night while leaving the celebration on her own.

“I also called her multiple times, but she isn’t picking up. She won’t answer when I send her a message either.” It seemed Ru Amuh had no idea what was going on, and Ru Hiana had made up her mind.

“But wouldn’t she answer if you send her a message, sir? Of course, I respect Ru Hiana’s decision…but she has never done something like this before. I want to at least hear what she is thinking.” When a person was acting completely different from their usual self, there was usually a good reason behind it.

“I understand. Please wait a bit,” Chi-Woo said. Though Chi-Woo had already sent a message to Ru Hiana, he turned on his device and sent a message to his brother, explaining the current situation. After waiting a bit, he quickly got a reply from Chi-Hyun.

[Chi-Hyun (Received): Stop her first. Use any means necessary. It’s fine if you need to kill her. I will cover for you later.]

‘What the hell is he talking about? Why will I kill Ms. Ru Hiana?’ Chi-Woo thought, baffled, and stared at the message sternly. His brother wasn’t the type to joke about such things; in fact, he wasn’t one to joke at all. And it sounded like they would at least be able to prevent the event caused by Ru Hiana if they killed her because it was ‘necessary’. Of course, Chi-Woo had absolutely no intention to do that. Unfortunately, he hadn’t gotten a reply from Ru Hiana yet.

‘…No.’ Even if she replied, would anything change? Would Ru Hiana obediently come back because he told her to?

[At the least…if we had listened to…your words…]

[If only…I…had been with Ru Amuh and…you…]

[I’m…really…so…rry…]

With the way things were progressing, she might repeat the exact words he had heard in the future. Chi-Woo gnawed on his lip. Ru Hiana acting on her own—Ru Amuh coming to him to ask if Chi-Woo could send her a message—these two incidents were definite futures according to his brother, or were at least events that had already happened. Then how would he have responded to Ru Amuh’s request if he hadn’t learned of the future? Would he have refused? No, he would’ve easily done what Ru Amuh requested, saying, ‘Of course, sending a message isn’t a big deal’. 

Then Ru Hiana might turn them down with a message, and the incident that brought forth Shalyh’s fall could still arise…explaining Ru Hiana’s apology in the future. Though these were all still conjectures, everything seemed to fall into place. Thus, Chi-Woo thought there was only one thing he could do right now, which was to personally find Ru Hiana and stop her. Only then would he be able to beg or forcefully drag her back if necessary. This wasn’t something that could be resolved with a message.

“Let’s go together,” Chi-Woo finally said.

“Sorry?”

“To get Ms. Ru Hiana.”

“N-No…It’s fine. I’m also worried, but there’s no need for you to get so deeply involved.”

“No, we must find her,” Chi-Woo said firmly. “We must at all costs.”

Ru Amuh looked a bit taken aback, but in the end, he agreed after seeing Chi-Woo’s determined face.

“I understand. Then I’ll look around the city gates. She couldn’t have gone out of the city yet, and there could be people who’ve seen her.”

“I’ll ask around the street.”

Chi-Woo and Ru Amuh went outside and quickly parted ways.

***

Now that he was on the streets, Chi-Woo didn’t know what to do. Finding a person in this big city was like searching for a needle in a haystack. Still, he couldn’t give up.

‘Where would Ms. Ru Hiana have gone after leaving yesterday?’ Chi-Woo thought he would look around that area first, but soon stopped walking. He saw a familiar face wave at him.

“Yo! Boss!”

“…Mr. Eval Sevaru?”

“I heard the news—that you all succeeded in the expedition. I should tell that old man, Mangil…?” Eval was saying cheerily when he flinched, “W-What is it? Are you okay? Your face….”

Chi-Woo’s face was stricken pale with cold sweat dripping down his forehead, his gaze wavering. It was as if Chi-Woo was broadcasting to everyone who saw him that he was currently dealing with a very difficult problem.

“I’m looking for someone.”

“Who?”

“Ms. Ru Hiana.”

“Ah~ That cute lady with the blonde ponytail? Isn’t she usually with you and that Ru Amuh bro? But why…?” Eval was about to ask, but stopped. His particularly keen senses sounded an alarm that he was going to be screwed the moment he asked. He didn’t know what it was, but the topic oozed danger.

“Well, anyways, congratulations. I will be on my way now…” Eval said his farewells and turned around.

“Help me.” But then he heard Chi-Woo’s voice from behind.

“I need your help, Mr. Eval Sevaru.” Chi-Woo sounded desperate. For some reason, Chi-Woo’s intuition was telling him that things would resolve easier than he expected if he got Eval Sevaru involved.

“Ah…boss. I’m sorry but I’m a bit—”

“A thousand royal.”

Eval mouth closed.

“What? A thousand royal?” He laughed in disbelief and said, “Ah~ Boss, what are you saying? This is embarrassing. What do you take me for? Do you think I’ll do anything for money?” Eval looked back in astonishment and tilted his head. Then he flashed Chi-Woo a wide smile with a slanted posture and shouted, “Give me ten minutes!”

***

Holy City Shalyh, had more than one official residence. While Chi-Hyun’s residence was like a base that took care of general administrative affairs, there were other buildings with more specialized functions. For example, there was the Guild Association that Allen Leonard was currently working for. Though the place was managed by the Cassiubia League, heroes often came to the Guild Association because the place continually released official requests that had been certified. The majority of heroes didn’t take on these requests as the compensation for them was very small, but the place was still crowded as a meeting place for heroes.

“Looks like everyone is here. Should we go now?”

“We’re still waiting for two more.”

As usual, the first-floor lobby was busy. A woman and man conversed in the corner.

“I have a good feeling this time. Really good.”

“What’s with the groundless confidence suddenly?”

“What do you mean groundless? A silver tier hero is joining us.”

The male warrior said, and the female archer glanced at the deadly silent woman near them. It was Ru Hiana.

“Yeah, what is with that? Why is a silver tier participating in an event of this scale? Shouldn’t she be able to get a better request?”

“That’s true. I was honestly curious about that too.”

The pair asked simultaneously, and Ru Hiana hung her head.

“…No.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

Ru Hiana closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She raised her voice a bit more to say, “I’m not silver tier.”

“No? Then what?”

“Bronze…tier…” Ru Hiana barely managed to blurt out. Her face looked pained as she spoke.

The two blinked in surprise. “Uh… Did I misunderstand? Were you aiming to be a silver tier instead?”

“Yeah, you must’ve been misinformed.” The warrior backed away while the archer shrugged.

“Anyways, get ready. We’re going to leave immediately as soon as the rest of our companions arrive.”

Ru Hiana nodded without replying. Then she closed her eyes and got lost in her thoughts again. When a hero came back from an expedition, they usually had to seek the god of their denomination and report to them. It was so that the god could assess their merits and decide whether to raise their tiers or not. Thus, Ru Hiana had gone to Shahnaz’s temple the following day she came back from the expedition, equal parts expectant and anxious. Unfortunately, only her worries turned out to be right.

—I declare in the name of Shahnaz. At the present time, Ru Hiana’s tier will be demoted from silver to bronze tier.