“I-It’s Joorim hyung. I don’t know if it’s because of that, but I’d say his memory is a bit incomplete…….”
“What?”
“……Huh?”
The members of Team 1 dropped their jaws.
Everyone’s gaze turned toward Joorim.
He did seem to have a strangely hazy look in his eyes.
He should be able to hear everything since he was within the barrier’s radius, so it was suspicious that he remained silent without saying a word.
But…….
“Dana, now’s not the time for jokes.”
“Yeah, hey. Considering the situation.”
“No, I’m not joking…….”
Gidan sent Serhi a look, as if asking him to do something about the awkwardness.
Then Serhi chimed in, stammering.
“Y-yeah, I know, I know. I’ve seen it a lot too. If you look at Korean chaebol families, their memories go back and forth all the time.”
“Aah! I get it. So that’s what happened to Dad~”
“No, that’s from dramas!”
Son Taeha of Team 1 finally failed to accept the situation and let out a choked shout.
Gidan approached Son Taeha closely and cautioned him to be quiet.
“Hyung! If you shout that loudly, everyone will hear!”
Then, the leader of Raid Team 1, who had been listening to the conversation silently, abruptly approached Sheier.
“……Guild Master, do you perhaps not remember me?”
Sheier looked down at him quietly.
The man asking in a timid, fidgeting manner seemed extremely nervous at the thought that Sheier truly might not know him.
“…….”
Sheier, silent for a moment, tilted his face slightly to the side.
However the man interpreted Sheier’s silence, his face drained of color.
Meanwhile, the children who had insisted Joorim had amnesia wore expressions that didn’t hold an ounce of doubt that Sheier wouldn’t know them.
Pfft, as a laugh nearly slipped out, Sheier lightly clenched his fist and covered his mouth.
It seemed those young ones held a preposterous misunderstanding. He had been in a state of synchronization with Joorim’s consciousness the entire time, so he had heard and witnessed everything Joorim saw.
This meant he had seen and heard everything from the birth of Hyeonak until now.
So there was no way he wouldn’t remember. If he wished, he could even act as Joorim.
But.
“Who are you? I don’t remember at all.”
He simply wanted to play along with the children.
Sheier was in a rather excited state, and all of this was simply enjoyable.
Meanwhile, Beillakeu looked at him blankly.
Because the sight of Sheier smiling so cheerfully felt unreal.
“Then do you not know me either?”
“Me too?”
The team members pointed to themselves one after another.
“Well? Who are you?”
While Sheier played along with a shamelessly straight face, Geuru let out a sigh of relief.
She had prevented Dad from being hunted down.
Now it was time to solve the next problem!
‘Beiyi will turn into a hamster soon.’
He couldn’t maintain human form forever. He would soon transform back into a hamster.
Geuru dragged Beillakeu, who was staring blankly at Sheier, and slipped behind the curtain.
Perhaps thinking the kids were just playing among themselves, no one seemed to pay attention.
Geuru asked, lowering her voice as much as possible.
“Beiyi, where is Mepi?”
Beillakeu, who had been in a daze, blinked his eyes as if waking from a dream.
“……Ah. Mepisto…….”
“Why, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”
Did Mepi become enough for two servings?
As Geuru covered her mouth at the terrible thought, Beillakeu waved both hands.
“No, no. It’s not because of that. There’s a life response. If Mepisto were gone, the system would have been reconfigured.”
“System?”
“Such a thing exists. In any case, Mepisto is a fool, but not a completely irredeemable one, so it means he’s still alive, having used some means or another.”
“R-really?! What a relief…….”
Like a balloon deflating with a hiss, Geuru squatted down on the spot.
At that, Beillakeu crossed his arms. Seeing that his body was already reacting, it seemed he would soon turn into a hamster.
“The situation isn’t good right now, so I’ll look for him tomorro…… Myuuu…….”
Soon, having become a hamster, Beillakeu lost his balance and plopped down on the spot.
Geuru lifted him up and asked.
“Tomorrow?”
“Myu!”
At the answer that seemed to be affirmative, Geuru pouted.
“Tomorrow’s no good.”
If they started looking tomorrow, Mepisto might really become two servings.
Geuru rummaged through her bag.
It should be here…….
The child soon pulled out a round item that fit in her hand.
‘Spy Ladybug ver.2!’
It was larger and heavier than the previous version, an upgrade with increased functionality to match.
Geuru inserted one of Mepisto’s flight feathers into the spy ladybug ver.2’s mouth.
Then she flipped it over and pressed the button on its belly firmly. The spy ladybug’s eyes snapped open fiercely, and it took flight.
“Mumu, find Mepi for me.”
The spy ladybug nodded with all its might and zoomed out through the gap in the window.
“Myu…….”
Beillakeu squeaked discontentedly, as if dissatisfied, but Geuru had no intention of changing her mind.
Then, Gidan opened the curtain and knelt down.
“Geuru, Geuru, let’s go to the company.”
“Are the grown-ups done talking? But why are we going to the company?”
Shouldn’t we be going home, not the company, if Dad is sick?
“Hmm…….”
Gidan smiled awkwardly.
“I guess rumors spread among the team leaders.”
At that moment, Sheier approached from behind Gidan.
Gidan, having not sensed any presence at all, turned around in confusion. In that moment, Sheier spread both arms to pick up Geuru.
“Let’s go.”
The indifferent yet affectionate voice was Joorim’s. The arms stretched out to hug Geuru were entirely Joorim’s as well.
‘But it’s not Dad.’
Geuru quietly looked at the hand stretched out to her, then walked over to Gidan.
Grinning, Gidan picked Geuru up in a flash.
Sheier alternated his gaze between Geuru’s back as she went into Gidan’s arms and his own empty hand.
In his memories shared with Joorim, Geuru was a child who liked being held.
After pondering for a moment, he asked Beillakeu, who was perched on Geuru’s shoulder.
— Is there any difference between my appearance and his?
“Myu.” (No.)
— Is my behavior different from his?
“Myu.” (It is not.)
— Then why does the child not come into my arms?
“……Myut?”
He was bewildered.
His question felt as innocently pure as a child who had just awakened to their ego.
Was this due to the prolonged synchronization with On Joorim?
Since Sheier had been a solitary, lofty existence in his own world, the consciousness sharing with Joorim must have affected him greatly.
He might have even felt as though On Joorim was but a very small part of himself.
“Myu.” (Sheier, you are a different being from him. Just as a Kareumirak may wear the skin of its prey, its essence remains that of Kareumirak Noknireu.)
Beillakeu answered thus, and Sheier fell into thought over what it meant.
*
After arriving at Hyeonak.
Sheier sat familiarly in the Guild Master’s chair, while the minors lined up close behind him as if guarding him.
Before him, the PR Team Leader had rushed over like a ghost and was panting.
Thud!
She set down a mountain of stacked files and shoved contracts toward the Guild Master who had supposedly lost his memory(?).
“Here, here, here, you just need to sign your name here. Ah, and here too.”
The children tilted their heads and scanned the contracts.
PPL, advertisements, sponsors, and so on…… They were all contents that Joorim had to fulfill.
Joorim as a model? PPL?
He would never welcome such contracts.
“Noona, I don’t think the Guild Master hyung would like that.”
Then, in an instant, her eyes grew fierce.
At that sight, Geuru flinched.
‘The team leader is super scary today!’
“Wouldn’t he? He would have loved it?”
Her eyes were blazing. As if she knew this was an opportunity that would never come again if not now.
She even seemed to harbor a hint of resentment.
Sheier looked at the throng of humans brimming with life and diverse emotions, then asked with a smile.
“So, I just write here?”
Then he began to elegantly write the name ‘On Joorim’ on the contract.
“N-n-no. No……!”
Gidan cried out in alarm and tried to stop him, all while the PR Team Leader dragged Gidan out.
Geuru pouted as if angry and administered a cosmic extract nutrient shot to the seed potato pot.
While entering the company, Sheier had naturally exchanged greetings with numerous guild members.
But.
‘Why don’t they all know he’s not Dad?’
They did have to hide it strategically since getting caught might get him hunted down……. Still, she felt oddly spiteful that no one knew.
If only Dad had finished kindergarten, he might have treated people kindly and had a lot of friends…….
When Geuru glared at Sheier fiercely, Sheier met her eyes with a genuinely puzzled expression.
‘Hmph!’
Geuru whipped her head away and checked her tablet.
The spy ladybug was still moving to track Mepisto’s whereabouts.
‘Slow…….’
The spy ladybug, now chubby and heavy, was so slow that it seemed it would take ages just to find Mepisto.
Was there no other way Geuru could do besides waiting?
‘Hmm.’
Geuru squinted her eyes and stroked her chin.