As luck would have it, Jurim and Kazuki’s interview was coming to an end.
The anchor turned the microphone toward Jurim.
“Please give us a final comment.”
“There are other excellent crafting Hunters in Hyeonak who are no less impressive than the Amakusa Hunter.”
Jurim gave a small smile as he looked at Gru, whose eyes were shining.
“We’ll show you something good together.”
“Thank you for those kind words.”
As Jurim and Kazuki’s interview ended, Seol Yeo-jin tensed as she watched Gidan and Serhi rise to conduct the next interview.
The look the anchor directed at the children was as fierce as though he were stalking prey.
After Germany’s spicy interview, he seemed to be hoping that provocative questions directed at hot-blooded boys would elicit equally sensational answers.
While the anchor and the children exchanged formal greetings and questions, Seol Yeo-jin’s eyes suddenly fell on the chick-shaped drone Gidan was holding.
“You two are both highly likely to be selected for the starting lineup in this exchange match against the German team. Have you made any special preparations for it? Exchange matches proceed somewhat differently from ordinary raids, so perhaps you’ve increased your training volume or made strategic changes?”
“No. We haven’t made any special preparations. We’re training as usual.”
“Should we take that to mean you’re so confident against the German team that your regular training is enough?”
“Hahaha, that’s right. We believe we’re clearly superior to the German team. I don’t think there’s any need to be nervous. Right?”
“Yeah.”
Serhi gave a brief reply to Gidan’s question.
Gidan then grinned broadly and deliberately tapped the chick drone on the head.
‘That’s…?’
Isn’t that the thing Gru has been carrying around in his arms all this time?
‘Why is he holding that?’
Seol Yeo-jin bent down on one knee in front of Gru, who had his mouth hanging open, and asked,
“Gru, what were you talking about with your big brothers earlier?”
“Shh, I can’t tell you. It’s a secret.”
“Can’t you tell your auntie?”
“Umm…”
Gru clasped his hands behind his back and swayed from side to side.
While the child hesitated, the anchor tossed out a provocative question like a fisherman lowering a line.
“Did you happen to see the German team’s interview? They mentioned Hyeonak as well.”
“Of course. I saw it.”
Gidan twisted up the corner of his mouth into a sneer, and Serhi nodded as he said,
“It was a noisy interview. They kept whining. It was so old-fashioned and outdated. I suppose that’s what happens when you’re an old lion.”
He was referring to Löwenherz—the German team manager’s guild, whose name meant “lion’s heart.”
Gidan cackled, and the anchor’s face lit up with satisfaction.
He had managed to capture the blatant war of nerves he had been hoping for, so naturally he was delighted.
Unlike Seol Yeo-jin, who pressed a hand to her forehead, the anchor exchanged a pleased look with the cameraman before moving on to the next question.
“Although the lineup is entirely at the manager’s discretion, could you give us a small spoiler about the starting lineup, as fellow members of Hyeonak?”
Gidan’s eyes glinted at the question.
As if the question had been precisely what he was waiting for.
No way…? Seol Yeo-jin’s gaze wavered.
Regardless, Gidan lifted the chick drone and said,
“Please look forward to seeing our youngest member take part.”
“Excuse me? Your youngest member?”
Gidan grabbed the chick drone by both wings and made it flap.
“Yep. Our youngest member, the Mephisto series, is scheduled to compete.”
The anchor and Seol Yeo-jin’s mouths fell open at the same time.
“Then, could it be… that you’re entering the competition with a drone?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
At Gidan’s firm answer, everyone wore blank, stunned expressions.
Jurim asked Kazuki with his eyes whether this had been agreed upon, and Kazuki shook his head vigorously.
Jurim frowned and turned to Gru, only to find the child gazing happily at Gidan proudly showing off his drone, his face flushed.
“Wait a moment. According to the tournament rules, each competitor is limited to one primary weapon, aren’t they? In that case, is one of you planning to give up your primary weapon and enter with the drone?”
Gidan and Serhi briefly exchanged glances. Then they snickered and shook their heads.
“No. As I just said, our youngest member will be the final member of the lineup. We can’t register a drone as a competitor, so our Gru will enter while carrying the drone.”
“Excuse me? Are you saying you’re going to give up one of the current lineup spots…?”
As the anchor trailed off in astonishment, Gidan stared straight into the camera and answered with a mocking expression,
“As I said, we’re so far ahead of the German team that we thought we needed a penalty this big to make things interesting.”
He smiled brightly.
Following Gidan’s smile, Serhi crossed his arms and said,
“They told us to devote ourselves to playing house, so I thought we’d really give playing house a try.”
It was the ultimate provocation: they would face them with the very toy the Germans had dismissed.
Seol Yeo-jin forcibly suppressed the urge to scream and hurried over to Jurim.
“Guild Master! Are you just going to stand there and watch?”
What she meant was: You’re the one with the authority to make the lineup, aren’t you?
Even if the children had been swept up in the German team’s provocation and blurted that out, everything would be null and void if Jurim, the final decision-maker, refused to accept it.
“Hmm…”
Jurim hummed awkwardly and shifted his eyes toward Gru.
As far as Jurim was concerned, he was no happier about Gru taking part in the exchange match.
But—
Unlike earlier, when he had looked dejected like a puppy caught in the rain, Gru was now blushing with delight.
Jurim let out a deep sigh.
‘It shouldn’t be dangerous…’
The exchange match would take the form of a raid in which each side hunted monsters within its own territory while interfering with the opposing team.
Since directly harming the opposing players was strictly restricted, there would be no danger at all as long as Gru simply sat at the starting point.
In fact, supporters sometimes did nothing but sit deep inside their own base.
Gidan and Serhi must have had that in mind when they said they would register Gru as a competitor.
Thus, all Jurim could do was shrug.
“It’s the children’s game. The children should handle it themselves.”
Before long, Gidan and Serhi finished their interview by promising to show everyone something good, then ran over to Gru.
Gru took item after item out of the cart to show the boys, and the three of them giggled together.
But when Seol Yeo-jin approached with a face like an asura, the children began scampering away.
With his hands in his pockets, Jurim let out a small laugh and quietly watched Gru, who was smiling brightly.
What could possibly make him so happy when he knew nothing at all?
Suddenly, a conversation with his father from not long ago came to mind.
“It was for Gru. I will never let Gru find out.”
While searching for records on “Project Wilderness” in order to learn about Dr. Chloe Han, Jurim had discovered traces indicating that the records had been deliberately destroyed.
It had been a decision made by his father.
On Su-hyeong had told him that he had ordered the experimental data destroyed for Gru’s sake.
‘What on earth is he thinking…?’
The child had been waiting so desperately for her mother and father…
There had to be no truth to what his father feared.
Gru, an experimental subject? It was absurd.
If Chloe Han were still alive, could she have given him the answers?
Yet finding any trace of her remained a distant prospect.
*
[Justitia Exchange Match: Is the Korean Team’s Final Member a Kindergartener?!]
[Hyeonak Voluntarily Takes a Penalty—Will the Goddess of Victory Really Favor Such Overconfidence?]
[Did Hyeonak Fall for Germany’s Provocation? Hyeonak to Enter with a Drone!]
*
Blah blah
[Title: Is this really okay, Hyeonak hyungs?]
Why do we only have three competitors?
[Comments]
- It’s four, including Gru!
Including Gru my ass LOL
- I-I believe in them, I believe in Hyeonak, Hyeonak will do everything, they’ll do it all… right?
Doesn’t sound like you believe them at all.
Hyung, stop trembling or you’re going to lose all your teeth.
[Title: So are these the positions?]
Gidan, Serhi, Lee Tae-min (or Jeong Chae-rin): damage dealers
Gru: cuteness
[Comments]
- Ah, the actual combatant is the drone LOL
- But can’t the drone only perform additional attacks? Does that mean Gru will hit them and the drone will land the follow-up attack?
There has to be more to it.
What the hell is the source of Hyeonak’s confidence?
Gru is cute?
Cuteness may save the world, but why do I feel like it can’t save the Korean team?
[Title: A useful piece of information from this]
It really will be “fun” now.
[Comments]
- Fun my ass, can’t you hear everyone crying out in agony?
- If only Jurim weren’t the manager, this whole mess could have been prevented.
- Everything becomes “fun” if you win.
But if they win, it really will be thrilling.
If they lose after all this, Hyeonak will become public enemy number one LOL
[Title: Why is there not a single sane person in Hyeonak?]
From the guild master to the guild members.
[Comments]
- Don’t insult our Gru.
Like father, like daughter.
How dare you spout such blasphemy!
Stop saying such awful things about Gru!
- But maybe I’m crazy too, because I do feel a little refreshed LOL
Seriously LOL
As expected, Hyeonak is the place to go for bait.
[Title: Aren’t you curious about the German team’s reaction?]
They picked a fight with Hyeonak first,
and basically got hit with, “Yeah, your three members are enough to crush you weaklings~~” LOL
[Comments]
- Gave a straw and got a whole bundle of hay back.
- I’m curious too LOL
- They must be shaking in their boots because they might actually lose, right? Kekekekekekeke