Chapter 16: Going Out

“I apologize for coming so suddenly, while you’re busy.”

The woman with purple hair.

A woman with an impressive purple circle tattoo imprisoning her left eye.

A German-Korean, an unaffiliated awakened being who belonged to neither a guild nor the association.

And, an S-rank.

Baek Ji-a looked at Belladona, who was sitting in front of her, wearing a smile, but scanning ‘them’ with sharp eyes, and smiled as well.

“······You should answer that.”

She nudged Shin Hakcheol, who was sitting next to her, with her foot and whispered. Only then did Shin Hakcheol, the owner of the Wildness guild headquarters, snap out of it.

“······Ah. Yes. What brings you here?”

A slightly slow response.

Baek Ji-a suppressed the urge to sigh and concentrated on not furrowing her brow.

“Ahaha, you both seem too tense.”

Belladona’s laughter was cheerful.

However, apart from her lively, bright smile, her eyes scanning Baek Ji-a and Shin Hakcheol were extremely sharp. Baek Ji-a, pretending to be calm, opened her mouth.

“We returned from the association yesterday. We’re tired and sensitive, so I hope you understand.”

“Oh, the two who conquered the S-rank gate? The association is really a bunch of annoying folks. They’re bothering the heroes who risked their lives.”

At first glance, it was a word of comfort.

But Baek Ji-a, hiding her eyes with a smile, interpreted Belladona’s words.

‘She’s saying the association bothered us. Was there a reason for the association to do that?’

It was a natural question.

It was also an unavoidable question, so Baek Ji-a could remain calm.

“It was an S-rank gate. There were a lot of things to report to the association.”

Shin Hakcheol, who had been silent, spoke.

Baek Ji-a clenched her fist, which was hidden thanks to her folded arms. It was a sign of satisfaction.

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Shin Hakcheol nodded at Belladona’s question. Baek Ji-a did the same.

In fact, Baek Ji-a had received a call from Shin Hakcheol saying that Belladona was coming, and immediately came to the Wildness headquarters to coordinate their stories.

To avoid being caught.

To prevent the truth that they had actually failed to conquer the S-rank gate from being revealed.

“I see.”

Belladona nodded softly as if she understood. However, Baek Ji-a still didn’t let go of her tension.

“It’s been a week since the gate was conquered. If you returned yesterday, did you have a lot to report?”

It was a probing question.

Baek Ji-a, who remembered the saying that Germans were quite blunt, sighed and answered.

“The association also suspected us.”

Baek Ji-a spoke as softly as possible. However, the true meaning of the word ‘also’ in ‘association also’ was this.

‘The association or you, there’s no difference in bothering us.’

Baek Ji-a didn’t stop there. She continued to speak, wary of Belladona’s still relaxed attitude.

“Just two S-rank awakened beings and a large number of A-rank awakened beings.”

“Hmm.”

“Conquering an S-rank gate, it’s actually a plausible story, isn’t it? The damage was very minimal, and the time taken to conquer it was very short, but what can we do?”

That’s the truth.

She finished speaking.

Baek Ji-a lied boldly. It wasn’t for nothing that she had dragged her tired body to wait for Belladona as soon as she received Shin Hakcheol’s call.

If Shin Hakcheol had been alone, he would have been toyed with by Belladona.

It was a different matter from trusting him as a person because they had been childhood friends since they were young.

“Hmm······.”

Belladona let out a small breath as if thinking of a rebuttal. There was nothing to refute in Baek Ji-a’s words.

In the first place, didn’t the S-rank gate close without causing any damage?

Of course, there was room for suspicion.

The S-rank gate, which might have been called the worst disaster in human history, was conquered by the power of just two guilds.

Without any casualties.

The news that they had conquered it with a phenomenal result of just three hours, struck not only Korea but the whole world.

Baek Ji-a was silent, remembering that they were suspected by the association for that reason, when Belladona opened her mouth.

“Actually, I also thought this.”

“Hmm?”

“What thought?”

Shin Hakcheol and Baek Ji-a simultaneously expressed their questions. Belladona smiled faintly and slowly stood up.

“Actually, there was nothing in the S-rank gate, and you didn’t actually get any spoils, did you?”

“That’s, right.”

It was already widely known that there were no by-products obtained from conquering the S-rank gate. There might be room for suspicion if she took time to answer.

Therefore, Baek Ji-a quickly nodded and affirmed.

“Just in case, but.”

Belladona said, looking at the two of them one by one.

“In the past, there have been cases where boss-level entities appeared from gates where a break occurred.”

“That’s true, but?”

Shin Hakcheol retorted. Belladona shrugged and continued, as if it were no big deal.

“If I’ve said this much, I think you’ve predicted my next words.”

“Why don’t you just tell us without beating around the bush?”

Baek Ji-a, who couldn’t stand it anymore, urged.

Belladona smiled brightly and revealed what she was thinking.

“There was one case where a boss-level entity came out of a gate where a break occurred, and the gate closed as it was.”

“······!”

Shin Hakcheol quickly shut his mouth, and Baek Ji-a swallowed a dry breath. Belladona, examining the reactions of the two, brushed her bangs with her fingers.

“My father was involved, so I know it well. It’s a fact that only those who participated in the conquest of that gate and the association know.”

“······That’s too much of a leap.”

Shin Hakcheol shook his head. Baek Ji-a quickly relaxed her hardened face.

“Are you suspecting us?”

To Baek Ji-a’s words.

“Of course, I am.”

Belladona nodded with a flawless smile. It was a strange way of speaking, mixing honorifics and informal language. Her eyes were burning like fire.

“If my father heard the news that an S-rank gate was conquered by only two guilds, he might get up from bed immediately.”

The expressions of the two hardened.

It was well known that Belladona’s father had become a vegetable after conquering the S-rank gate that appeared in Incheon.

Silence fell in the representative’s office for a moment.

Shin Hakcheol hesitated, then carefully nudged Baek Ji-a’s foot with his own.

Baek Ji-a suppressed the twitching corners of her mouth as much as possible. It was because Belladona’s words were infinitely close to the truth.

The S-rank gate closed.

The gate, which had even shown signs of a break, sent out one boss-level entity and one unidentified entity, and then disappeared.

The two entities that had escaped with them also disappeared.

The reason why the association had bothered Shin Hakcheol and Baek Ji-a, who would have been tired right after conquering the S-rank gate, for nearly a week was because of that.

A guild member of the Wildness guild.

The video from the recording equipment that Yoo Haneul was in charge of was restored.

The restored video contained the content from the time they entered the gate to just before they reached the end of the gate.

And because of the existence of ‘something’ caught just before the video cut off, Shin Hakcheol and Baek Ji-a could no longer hide the truth from the association.

The story that often circulated in internet galleries.

The story that the number of the attack team that entered the S-rank gate and the number of the attack team that came out were different also reached the ears of the association.

Of course, there were also awakened beings belonging to the association who were filming at the external site of the gate.

The association compared the videos taken by the staff and the restored video of Yoo Haneul.

It was revealed that the white-haired woman who appeared inside the gate was also filmed outside the gate. The angel, which was the boss-level entity of the gate, was also captured on video, and the association was turned upside down.

Baek Ji-a and Shin Hakcheol revealed the truth.

They added a story that was close to an excuse, saying that they were entities with whom communication was possible, so no damage occurred.

The association decided to hide all the facts.

At the same time, they were trying to figure out the current status of the entities that came out of the gate.

Shin Hakcheol and Baek Ji-a.

Wildness and Cultivation, respectively, did not suffer any particular disadvantages.

A gate was always something that contained unknown possibilities, and moreover, it was an S-rank gate.

An S-rank gate could be said to be the most dangerous place on Earth.

In such a place.

To place all the blame on those who risked their lives just because there was a possibility that a break might occur?

The association was not an institution without that much shame. However, apart from that, they were also having a huge headache.

Of course, Shin Hakcheol and Baek Ji-a, the parties involved, did not consider themselves righteous. As a result, they had shifted the responsibility.

But they couldn’t tell that fact to Belladona in front of them. They expected someone to dig into the truth, but Belladona’s case was clearly out of the question.

Shin Hakcheol kept his mouth shut, and Baek Ji-a answered with a snort.

“You’re silent.”

Purple hair is swept roughly.

Belladona broke her neck from side to side and glared at the two.

However, the two answered without regard.

“You’re rude.”

“Are you looking down on us?”

The two don’t know the personality of the woman named Belladona properly. But clearly, her current attitude was rude.

Shin Hakcheol put strength into his eyes, and Baek Ji-a slowly unfolded her arms.

Belladona stared at the two with a smile on her face as if it were interesting, then suddenly looked back. The eyes of the other two also turned that way.

The place where the eyes of the three people gathered was the entrance to the representative’s office. Following that, a black-haired woman with a bang―!

“Guild Master! Look at this, look at this!”

Yoo Haneul came in and shouted.

“The woman who came out of the gate with us and disappeared right after! That woman is here, here······ Huh?”

Then, Belladona, who had approached Yoo Haneul at some point. Yoo Haneul, looking at Belladona, who took her phone, with a blank expression.

Finally, a big sigh came out of the mouths of Shin Hakcheol and Baek Ji-a, who were looking at the two.

‘It’s a clear mistake. Because I was so flustered, I forgot to give a warning.’

Baek Ji-a slowly spread the fingers of her hand that she had placed over her eyes, and there, with her arm around Yoo Haneul’s shoulder.

“I heard an interesting story, do you two know anything?”

With a thick smile on her face, Belladona shook the phone on which the appearance of the white-haired woman was playing.

“I wonder if it’s really okay to be out like this······.”

“If anything happens, I will protect you. Don’t worry.”

Two women walking down the street were having a conversation. Both had white hair, so they looked like sisters at first glance.

One was like a statue.

She had an appearance that could have been created if artists who left their names in history had put their heart and soul into sculpting.

The other one was purely beautiful.

And also cruel. It was an unnatural appearance, as if the puzzles of beauty, which seemed to not belong to this world, were forcibly fitted together.

But the appearance of the two.

It was enough for everyone passing by, regardless of gender or age, to turn their heads and fix their gaze.

As if to prove it.

“Excuse me······.”

The white-haired woman.

The woman with calm eyes turned her head to the voice clearly directed at her.

Ashilis.

The hero with that name.

And here, Yujin.

The woman with that name turned her head.

The street in the afternoon when the sun was high.

Against the backdrop of countless people, there was a man with a neat outfit and a decent appearance.

Yujin answered the call.

“What is it?”

It was a fairly stiff tone.

Perhaps thinking he was being guarded, the man awkwardly scratched the back of his neck and continued.

“Um, I like you so much······.”

“I refuse.”

“Ah, yes······.”

It was a clear rejection, like cutting with a knife.

The man turned around dejectedly, and those who seemed to be his friends were bursting into laughter.

Yujin thought while looking at them.

‘I’m not used to it.’

How many times has it been already?

Yujin’s gaze briefly turned around. It was noisy but full of life. It was on a different level from the battlefield full of death.

‘Will I be able to adapt well?’

Such a thought suddenly came to mind.

Yujin closed her eyes tightly, then opened them again and turned her head. It was because she felt a gaze from the side.

“······Why?”

She asked the woman, Sephie, who was staring at her. Sephie blinked once.

Before blinking, she had the man who approached Yujin in her eyes, and after blinking, she had Yujin in her eyes.

Sephie answered Yujin’s question.

“I will definitely protect you.”

“······?”

It was an answer that she couldn’t understand the meaning of. Yujin tilted her head and expressed her question, but Sephie just looked around sharply with her eyes narrowed.

Yujin, who was looking at that, let out a sigh and walked forward, leaving Sephie behind. Looking at the street crowded with people.

Yujin felt an emotion she couldn’t readily name. It felt like her insides were tickling. It was during such a time.

“Hmm?”

“What is it?”

Yujin turned her head.

Towards the small gap between the countless people behind her. Even with Sephie’s question, Yujin, who had narrowed her eyes at some point, stared in one direction, and then.

“It’s nothing. By the way, is there anything you want to do?”

She shook her head and asked Sephie. Sephie opened her mouth to meet Yujin’s expectations.

“While going out recently, I’ve seen many interesting things. How about a place called an arcade?”

Yujin, who heard Sephie’s words, was silent for a moment. It was a nostalgic name.

She cut off the feelings at an appropriate point so that they wouldn’t last long.

“An arcade, huh? Okay. Let’s go.”

Because after all, she wouldn’t feel nostalgia or anything anymore.

Yujin chuckled and decided to agree. As she did so, she muttered.

“Somehow, it feels like a date.”

“A, date?”

“There is such a thing.”

At Sephie’s reaction, Yujin could smile purely.

As an aside, after the outing ended, Sephie found out what a date was. She couldn’t sleep in the same bed with Yujin that day.