“You didn’t know? U-gyeong is Jjap-Sso. I guess you two aren’t that close?”
“Pardon?”
“Ehh?”
Gidan and Geuru looked at U-gyeong at the same time.
At that, U-gyeong smiled as if unperturbed and clenched his fist tight.
“That’s why I’m clinging to him like this.”
Gu Sinhu gave them a look as if to say, So the rest of you stay out of it.
At that, Geuru glared fiercely at Seon U-gyeong.
Recently, Geuru had heard the word “Jjap-Sso” here and there.
In dungeons, at auction houses, on Onion Market.
Until now, she hadn’t had the faintest idea what Jjap-Sso meant, or who it referred to…
“Those glasses are the famous Jjap-Sso…!”
As Geuru murmured, not dreaming for a second that she herself was Jjap-Sso, Gidan’s lips twitched and he bit them down hard.
Geuru looked Seon U-gyeong up and down with wary eyes.
The famous person everyone had been searching for was those glasses?
What on earth had those glasses done for even the mudskipper ahjussi to latch onto him like that?
Whatever amazing ability he had, that Jjap-Sso had to be an enemy who was putting Hanghanggi in danger.
Geuru opened her status window.
In Geuru’s quest window, now that the update had finished, a new quest had appeared.
[Vassal Quest: Danger to your vassal has been detected. Please save your vassal, “Ham Honggi”!]
[Reward: Suspicious Star Candy]
When Geuru had seen the quest and hurried off to find Ham Honggi, Seon U-gyeong had been in the middle of beating him.
‘I have to get those glasses away from Hanghanggi.’
“Oppa.”
When Geuru put her mouth to Gidan’s ear, he secretly opened a barrier.
“Yeah, tell me.”
Geuru whispered softly to Gidan.
“Those glasses are bad.”
“Yeah, seems like it.”
“Glasses hit Hanghanggi.”
“…Really? He’s a really bad hyung, then.”
Gidan narrowed his eyes.
Seeing him go so far as to pretend to be Jjap-Sso, he had thought there was something to it, but this was beyond shady.
What should he do about this?
Gidan glanced at Gu Sinhu.
It wasn’t as if he could say that Geuru was actually Jjap-Sso and that guy was only an impersonator.
Unless that misunderstanding was cleared up, if they touched Seon U-gyeong in front of Gu Sinhu for no reason, it might escalate into a guild conflict.
After all, it would look like Hyeonak was laying hands on Seon U-gyeong, whom Gu Sinhu had personally claimed.
‘Hmm…’
While Gidan was lost in thought,
Gu Sinhu rolled his eyes as he watched the two of them talk inside a barrier, and Seon U-gyeong instinctively realized they were talking about him.
He had to get out of here for now.
“…Guild Leader Gu. The employment conditions—you said you’d meet anything I asked for, right?”
“Of course! Obviously.”
“Could I hear the details?”
“Sure, sure! Hey, Gidan. We’re heading out!”
Gu Sinhu shouted and was just turning away with an arm around U-gyeong’s shoulders when—
“Senior Seon U-gyeong, don’t you have anything more to say to Senior Ham Honggi? Geuru says there’s something the two of you need to resolve.”
Gidan said with a bright smile, and Seon U-gyeong’s face turned deathly pale.
But only for a moment. Seon U-gyeong quickly composed his expression, met Ham Honggi’s eyes, and said gently,
“There’s nothing like that. Geuru must have seen wrong. Right, Honggi?”
“…”
Ham Honggi lowered his gaze and shut his mouth.
He couldn’t say anything.
If he talked about the assault just now, the drugs might be exposed too.
If that happened, not only the seller but he, the buyer, would definitely get dragged into it.
Things at home were already in chaos; if he caused another incident, his card would be the least of his worries—he might be thrown out of the house entirely.
“The four-year-old saw wrong. Nothing happened.”
At Ham Honggi’s words, Geuru furrowed her brow.
‘Why isn’t he saying he got hit by Glasses?’
Meanwhile, Seon U-gyeong smiled with satisfaction at the answer he wanted, and Gu Sinhu, as if in a hurry, quickly cut in.
“Right? Then we’re busy, so we’ll be going now?”
He was about to turn away in haste.
“Hanghanggi!”
Geuru shouted.
She couldn’t just leave it like this.
Bad person!
“Tell us everything that happened with those glasses!”
“Well, honestly…”
Seon U-gyeong burst out laughing as if dumbfounded.
Hadn’t she heard Ham Honggi’s answer just now?
As if he would talk.
‘It’s not like Ham Honggi is an idiot.’
But at that moment,
Ham Honggi answered loudly.
“Yes!”
“…?”
Seon U-gyeong whipped his head around.
He mustn’t say anything.
The thought that he would be in trouble if he talked had already taken over Ham Honggi’s mind.
But before Geuru’s command, all of that was powerless.
“I met Seon U-gyeong when I started illegal sports betting, and for the past few months, I have been continuously buying drugs from Seon U-gyeong!”
His mouth betrayed his thoughts, rattling off every detail of his dealings with Seon U-gyeong.
“Hey! Are you insane?! What the hell are you saying right now!”
“When I said I would quit drugs, Seon U-gyeong pressured me to keep buying them, and he kept making up all kinds of excuses to force me to take them…”
Ham Honggi, who had been chattering away, suddenly seemed to get angry and pointed an accusing finger at Seon U-gyeong. His choked-up voice grew louder.
“And as if that weren’t enough, that dog of a bastard used violence against me!”
It was practically a tone of tattling.
Only after he finished speaking did he seem to realize what he had done, and he hurriedly lowered his hand.
That crazy bastard! Seon U-gyeong’s shoulders trembled.
Gidan, Geuru, and even Gu Sinhu were all looking at him.
“It’s all lies. He’s probably trying to sabotage me because I said I was going to NAG…”
“…Is that so?”
“He’s famous for being a nutcase. You know that too, Guild Leader, don’t you? Ham Honggi.”
“…Uh, well… That’s true.”
When Gu Sinhu reluctantly agreed, Seon U-gyeong smiled in triumph.
At this rate, he could turn the situation around.
But Ham Honggi’s loosened mouth would not close so easily.
“There should be a syrup bottle left over from earlier in his pocket!”
“…!”
It was a counterpunch.
The moment Seon U-gyeong shoved his hand into his pocket, Gidan smiled brightly and seized on it.
“What’s this? Looks like there really is something in your pocket.”
“…No, I just did it reflexively.”
“We’ll know whether there’s something there or not once we check. Right, Guild Leader Gu?”
Gu Sinhu’s gaze sank coldly.
“True. U-gyeong, you can show us what’s in your pocket, right? That would be the cleanest.”
“No, I, that’s…”
Since he was standing close to him, Gu Sinhu could clearly sense Seon U-gyeong’s anxious gaze and quickened heartbeat.
“Why? You can’t?”
Feeling his throat tighten suffocatingly, Seon U-gyeong pressed his lips shut.
He had to run, at least.
When Seon U-gyeong tried to step back, Gu Sinhu tightened the arm slung around his shoulders.
“U-gyeong. If you move one more step, you die.”
A chill ran through him. His knees nearly gave way beneath the pressure.
Though he acted like an easygoing ahjussi, Gu Sinhu was an S-rank hunter ranked fourth.
Just then, Gidan set Geuru down, stepped right up to Seon U-gyeong, and searched his pocket.
Sure enough, there was a syrup bottle inside.
“Should we report it first?”
When Gidan lifted his phone, Gu Sinhu gave a short shake of his head.
“Wait… U-gyeong, while we’re at it, let’s talk about all the lies you told. Are you really Jjap-Sso?”
“That…”
Gulp. Seon U-gyeong swallowed.
Reading the answer in his hesitation, Gu Sinhu let out a deep sigh.
“Damn it, did I just get played by a high schooler? High schoolers these days are seriously scary. Looks like I’ll have a lot to tell the investigators, too. Dan, I’ll call.”
Without removing his arm from around Seon U-gyeong’s shoulders, Gu Sinhu dialed a direct number.
At the sight, Gidan shook his head.
Gu Sinhu usually went around building connections everywhere. With his influence, it was obvious how thoroughly Seon U-gyeong would be grilled.
“Team Leader! It’s me, Gu Sinhu. What are you doing right now? An incident just broke out. Send some people over here, would you?”
While Gu Sinhu called somewhere, Ham Honggi covered his mouth and rolled his eyes.
‘How do I clean this up?’
Could it even be cleaned up?
As he despaired, Geuru approached his side.
“It’s a good thing I didn’t have to take out my fork.”
A child couldn’t recklessly take out a dangerous weapon, after all.
It was a great relief that things had been resolved peacefully.
Ham Honggi looked back at Geuru and asked with a groan,
“Fork?”
Geuru proudly patted his thigh.
“Hanghanggi, you did good.”
What do you mean, I did good! Everything’s ruined because of you!
Thinking that, Ham Honggi shouted,
“Thank you!”
Daaamn iiiiiiiit!
“Keep living nicely.”
“Yes!”
Ham Honggi wanted to die.