*
Inside the private jet bound for Jeju Island.
Irina rested her chin on the armrest, looking bored.
Just then, a glass of whiskey suddenly appeared before her eyes, the liquid swaying.
“We’ve still got another ten hours to go. Care for a drink?”
The one offering her the glass was Zachary McLaren, one of the co-CEOs of Infinity Wave and also a Gnosis.
Irina took a sip of whiskey and spoke in a sulky tone.
“It’s too far. Why Jeju Island this time?”
The venue for Infinity Wave’s new product announcements had changed continuously, but it had never once left the United States. Yet this time, it had suddenly been set for Jeju Island in Korea.
She had been planning to return to Korea anyway, but since it hadn’t been long since she had gone to the United States, she couldn’t help feeling displeased about heading back to Korea already.
“It was Allen’s recommendation. Knowing that nerd, it’s probably because he found some mysterious Pokémon on Jeju Island or something.”
At his unconcerned reply, Irina pressed her lower lip tight.
Allen Kravis.
He was a co-CEO of Infinity Wave.
A typical nerd with no interest in anything besides development, he had left all management to Zachary.
Allen almost never voiced opinions on matters like this. Was his reason for insisting on going all the way to Jeju Island truly something that trivial?
“Since we’re going to Korea, we ended up changing all the agencies too. Mm, do you think he might have noticed something?”
She meant whether he had noticed that Zachary was secretly dealing with Gnosis.
At that, Zachary let out a snort of laughter and declared confidently.
“I know Allen best. That guy doesn’t know anything.”
“Hmm……”
“Is that why you insisted on coming along? To keep an eye on Allen?”
“No, I’m not interested in that sort of thing. I heard there’s a decent item up for sale this time, so I’m only going to buy that.”
“Ah, so that’s why you were whining for that enormous sum of money.”
Even at his light rebuke, Irina merely smiled sweetly.
“By decent item, do you mean that SSS-rank?”
“Yeah. I’m going to make it the owner and open a Great Dungeonization.”
“Why are you trying to open a Great Dungeonization again? The previous experiment failed.”
It had been an experiment to open a Great Dungeonization, kill the boss, and then artificially create a new owner.
But the Core did not permit it.
No matter how many times they tried to change the owner using the chimeras they had created through experiments, it ended in failure, failure, failure. All it did was cause countless casualties.
“It’s not an experiment…… Han gave me some advice. The child’s guardian is a frightening person, so I need to separate them somehow.”
“By opening a Great Dungeonization?”
“He still can’t perfectly control the owner of the 99th floor. I heard that was why he went into hiding a year ago too.”
A year ago—then she must have been referring to the Great Dungeonization that had occurred in Jumunjin, Korea.
And the person who possessed the owner of the 99th floor.
With a chilling premonition, Zachary straightened his back.
“……Don’t tell me that frightening guardian is On Jurim?”
Irina smiled without answering.
“My God, Irina……!”
On Jurim, of all people. He was a top-tier danger.
“Do you want that child that badly? It’s just a tiny, cute four-year-old.”
Irina burst into tinkling laughter as she recalled the child who had made duck shaved ice.
“That’s right. Cute.”
“And a little……”
As Zachary trailed off, as if something had occurred to him, Irina’s eyes curved into crescents.
“Yes. You and Han will both like her.”
Zachary narrowed his eyes in displeasure and downed his whiskey in one gulp.
“A four-year-old Gnosis. I’m not fond of children.”
“It’s fun, though.”
Irina laughed in a clear voice.
He sighed at Irina, who showed no sign of giving up.
“Why don’t you focus on that person called Jenya instead of the child?”
“……”
For a moment, Irina pressed her lips shut and stirred her glass, rolling the ice around.
Everything was prepared.
This time, she would not fail.
She spoke in a low voice.
“This time, I’m going to bring Han good news.”
Because this time, she was confident she would have both Jenya and the child in her grasp.
*
“Woooow!”
When they were shown to a room with a full view of the sea, Geuru stepped onto the fluffy carpet and pattered over to the huge floor-to-ceiling window.
‘It’s the ocean!’
The vast sea, with blue waves rolling over it!
It was Geuru’s first time on an airplane, her first time on Jeju Island, and her first time seeing the sea, so she was beside herself with excitement and pressed her nose to the glass.
“Daddy! There! Waves!”
As Geuru made a fuss, Jurim chuckled and teased her.
“If you stick yourself to it like that, you’ll fall down.”
“Hic!”
Startled, Geuru moved away from the window, and Jurim smiled as he dragged the suitcase into the room.
While Jurim unpacked, Geuru, who had been wandering around the room here and there, heard her phone ring.
After checking the message on her watch, Geuru called out to Jurim.
“Daddy! Geuru’s gonna go to the kids’ center with Gidan oppa!”
“With Gidan?”
Nod, nod!
Jurim seemed to sink into thought with a puzzled expression, then quietly muttered, “So that’s what it was?”
“Your watch?”
“Here!”
“Come back before it gets late.”
“Okaaay—”
Geuru drew out the end of her answer and spun around.
To Geuru’s back, Jurim tossed out a remark.
“Don’t bother Serhi too much.”
Patter, patter—Geuru, who had been about to leave the room, suddenly froze in place.
“H-how did you know?!”
When she asked back in utter panic, Jurim shrugged.
He had heard that Serhi and Gidan had fought.
After that, it had been reported that Serhi had moved lodgings and headed to Jeju Island to help with an undercover investigation.
Because of that, it was easy to infer that this tiny little one was planning to reconcile the two of them.
Somehow, he had thought it was strange from the moment Gidan said he wanted to come along.
It seemed she had lured Gidan to Jeju Island somehow for the sake of their reconciliation.
Leaning his shoulder against the doorframe, Jurim folded his arms.
“Boys that age fight as a matter of course. If you just leave them be, they’ll make up on their own.”
“If I leave them?”
“Yeah.”
“Until when?”
“That depends……”
It would differ from person to person. If it took long, it could be a month, or even a year. Jurim closed his mouth.
Geuru grew downcast and rolled her eyes.
Jurim brushed back Geuru’s drooping head.
“Are you worried?”
Nod, nod.
Jurim let out a breath and lightly pinched her cheek.
“All right. Go on.”
“Okaaay!”
Once permission was granted, Geuru answered at once and left the room.
‘The rendezvous point is the lobby!’
Geuru scurried down to the lobby and looked for Gidan.
Gidan was sitting on a sofa in a corner, his baseball cap pulled low, holding a newspaper as he looked around here and there.
Geuru sat with her back against his and whispered quietly.
“Geuru has now arrived, Agent Gidan.”
“You’re late, Agent Geuru.”
Gidan slowly turned his head toward Geuru.
“Did the Black Wolf suspect anything?”
Flinch!
At the mention of “Black Wolf,” the code name referring to Jurim, the corners of Geuru’s mouth trembled.
She had been found out. Though not in the way Gidan was thinking.
“Th-that’s right. Nothing happened.”
“Really?”
“Yep!”
When Geuru nodded repeatedly, Gidan turned back around without any particular suspicion.
‘Phew.’
Trying to hide the blind date from Jurim and the reconciliation from Gidan made her heart hop wildly around like an angry foal.
‘Geuru feels like a double spy.’
Thump, thump!
Geuru watched Gidan’s reaction as she took out her tablet and located Serhi.
She had already memorized the resort map on the plane.
Thanks to that, she could tell where Serhi was just from the simple marker on the tablet.
‘Good.’
It wasn’t far.
Gidan was absorbed in finding Meongnyang’s daughter, but Geuru had one more objective.
The operation was to pretend to search for Meongnyang’s daughter while making Serhi and Gidan run into each other by chance!
She thought that once Gidan learned Serhi had left Hyeonak’s lodgings in order to work on Jeju Island, his heart might soften a little.
Serhi might have calmed down by now too.
Quite a bit of time had passed since the two of them had fought.
Even feelings that boiled fiercely would gradually settle as time passed.
Anyway.
‘Mm, how do I lure Gidan oppa over there?’
Just as Geuru was lost in thought—
“H-huh……?”
Gidan’s flustered voice sounded.
‘What’s wrong?’
Geuru looked over Gidan’s shoulder toward the place he was staring at.
“Hunter Nayeon, you need to take this with you.”
“Oh, right. I almost forgot. Thank you.”
‘Huh?’
Nayeon was smiling as she spoke with the resort employee who had handed her ID back. It seemed she had checked in and nearly left without her ID.