Chapter 28
While I was glaring at the status window full of complaints, I suddenly felt a sinister aura.
The moment I pulled Baek Hamin into my arms, Baek Eunseong blocked our path. At some point, Baek Jiseong and his secretary had entered the room.
"Haha. Congratulations on clearing the dungeon, Hunter Seong Dohyeon."
At the secretary's words, Baek Jiseong, who had been glaring into empty space, quickly changed his expression and clapped with a gentle smile. The pressure that had stung my skin until just now had vanished without a trace.
"Hamin, Eunseong, you both worked hard."
Baek Jiseong's eyes swept over Baek Eunseong's cloak wrapped around my body before approaching me to congratulate me on safely clearing the dungeon.
Baek Hamin, who had been quietly nestled in my arms, began to struggle.
"Uncle... put me down."
Then, before I could even bend down, he leapt out of my arms, gathered his hands politely, and bowed to Baek Jiseong.
"Hello, Guild Master."
"Yeah, right. Hamin, is your cold all better?"
At that moment, Baek Eunseong made eye contact with me. Seeing him quietly smiling, it seemed like he wanted me to play along. He must have made an excuse that Baek Hamin had a cold when he was shrunk. I swept my bangs back to signal that I understood.
As if reading my signal, he erased his smile and silently watched Baek Hamin and Baek Jiseong.
"Thanks to your concern, I've gotten better."
"...I see. How was the dungeon? Was it okay?"
"It was scary."
Baek Hamin lowered his eyelashes and trembled slightly as if he had truly been frightened. I was momentarily bewildered, but seeing Baek Eunseong's calm demeanor, I managed my expression as well.
Wait, scary? This kid who pouted about not being able to play with skeletons?
I looked in turn at Baek Eunseong keeping his mouth shut, Baek Hamin watching the mood, and Baek Jiseong whose heart was pounding like it would burst, then swallowed a sigh.
'...I want to go home.'
If I stayed here, my back would definitely get torn up in the Baek family's internal power struggle. I secretly summoned Asil and ordered it to find the exit. Having also obtained the dark bat's claw, all I could think about was going home, scrubbing myself clean, and sleeping just like that.
But then, morning glories quietly sprang up and wrapped around my ankle.
Ugh, Baek Hamin.
I squeezed my eyes shut then opened them, and spoke to Baek Jiseong who was glaring at Baek Hamin with the eyes of a beast. Seriously, is it okay for an uncle to dislike his nephew that openly?
"So, what brings you here?"
"Ah, I heard Hunter Seong Dohyeon came to take the test, haha. As the guild master, I couldn't help but be curious about the results."
"I think I roughly passed. So I'll be leaving now."
I had never agreed to any entrance test or whatever, but I answered dismissively. I wanted to get out of there quickly. Asil had also just returned, saying it found a way out.
As I turned toward the exit, Baek Jiseong and his secretary slowly followed me. Only then did the morning glories around my ankle smoothly unravel, and I heard Baek Hamin let out a small sigh. It seemed the tension drained from him once Baek Jiseong disappeared from sight.
My mouth tasted bitter. Because of this situation where that kid had to desperately act just to survive.
"While you're here, why don't you look around the guild as well."
I scratched my forehead, feeling puzzled by Baek Jiseong's unexpectedly friendly attitude toward me.
Anxiety, impatience, fear. Though he pretended to be relaxed on the outside, all kinds of negative emotions were flowing from him.
Right, he'd feel anxious. He'd feel threatened by Baek Hamin.
When Baek Kyeongmin cleared a dungeon at eleven, they made such a huge fuss, but Baek Hamin succeeded in clearing a dungeon at a much younger age, so even front-page headlines wouldn't be enough. Yet not a single reporter was in sight and only these two came, which meant they intended to keep this incident hush-hush.
"Who's going to guide me?"
"Ah, since Eunseong conducted the skill assessment, I'll explain about the guild. Please come this way."
Phew, if Baek Hamin were even a little less young, I would have just ignored it. Swallowing a sigh at the thought of the morning glories wrapping around my ankle again, I followed behind Baek Jiseong to leave the pavilion, but was stopped by Baek Eunseong.
I raised my eyebrows at Baek Eunseong who was extending his hand toward me. What, he wants the cloak back? If he gave it, that's that—how petty to ask for it back. I was about to walk away while firmly gripping Baek Eunseong's cloak draped over my shoulder, but this time I was grabbed by Baek Hamin.
"Uncle, hand."
Ah, right. Without the Baek family guys, I can't get out of here.
I felt along the invisible wall with my hand and took Baek Hamin's hand. While passing through the wall, a lingering attachment made me glance back at the P's chest placed in the middle of the room.
'They really hid it tight.'
I really should give up on raiding the warehouse.
I swallowed my regret and let Baek Jiseong's grandiose explanation of how amazing Baekwoo Guild was go in one ear and out the other.
After explaining everything, Baek Jiseong abruptly handed me a contract. After scanning the amount written at the bottom of the document, I had to bite my tongue to keep from screaming.
Wait, how many zeros were there?! The base contract fee was in the hundreds of millions, and there was even additional pay upon successful dungeon clearance.
I struggled not to show my surprise and set the contract on the table.
"The contract fee can be adjusted as much as you'd like, so please feel free to share your thoughts."
With those words, Baek Jiseong gave a signal, and the hunters guarding the door left the room. After keeping his mouth shut for a long while, Baek Jiseong quietly spoke.
"If Hunter Seong Dohyeon joins Baekwoo Guild, there's something I'd like to propos—"
"Don't do it."
"...Excuse me?"
"I'm not joining. Baekwoo Guild."
I looked at Baek Jiseong, who let out a hollow laugh with a bewildered expression, then gestured with my chin toward the guild building visible outside the window.
"The guild is a bit too small to contain me."
Small my foot—the guild building was so massive it could be called a city in itself.
But while following Baek Jiseong around earlier, I had deeply felt something. Every person in Baekwoo Guild disliked 'Seong Dohyeon'—disliked me.
Now, imagine it.
If everyone in a city hated me enough to kill me? I wouldn't be able to sleep out of worry about getting stabbed in my sleep, and my paranoia about poison in my food would keep me from eating a single meal properly.
What good would billions be in such an environment? I needed peace of mind.
Even if I tried to endure it, that was a problem too. After I returned to my original world, how furious would the real Seong Dohyeon be upon finding out he was a member of Baekwoo Guild? An enraged Seong Dohyeon tearing through the original story to come after me was something I'd pass on.
Whatever the case, this was a body I needed to use until I finished repairing M, so I should treat it well.
"Well then."
As I stood up and tried to open the door to leave, the hunters guarding it glared at me with murderous eyes.
"What are you looking at?"
So what if they glare? I scoffed and headed toward the outside of the building following Asil's guidance.
Then, I don't know where he'd been watching from, but Baek Hamin came running from afar.
"Uncle! I told you to tell me when you're leaving!"
"Yeah, I'm leaving."
Baek Hamin, who had been hitting my thigh repeatedly while calling me a liar, looked back and forth between me and Baek Eunseong with a tearful face.
"Uncle..."
This was shaping up to be another tantrum situation like last time.
"No."
Taking the initiative, I pushed away Baek Hamin, who was looking up at me with teary eyes, his chin still chubby like he had walnuts stuffed in his cheeks. Living with that kid? Absolutely not.
First of all, given Baek Eunseong's personality, he would never allow Baek Hamin to live with me at my place. That meant I'd have to come live here.
Only a crazy person would do that. No, it absolutely shouldn't happen. After working myself to the bone to save up for the deposit, there was no way I'd agree. Do you know how hard it was to find that place?
"I'll escort you."
"Suit yourself."
I had already lost some blood from the nosebleed earlier, so I was feeling dizzy and a bit chilly.
Baek Eunseong gave me a subtle look before bringing his car around. Baek Hamin, who had clung tightly to me the entire ride from Baekwoo Guild to our house, looked up at me with tearful eyes when the car stopped in front of the house.
Since he had returned to his normal size—no longer something I had to handle with care for fear of bursting—there was no need to hold back. I was about to grab Baek Hamin by the scruff of his neck and peel him off when Baek Eunseong spoke.
I had been on high alert, expecting this guy who'd been watching me with a subtle expression to say something like "You're suspicious," but what I heard was a completely different story.
"Is there nothing else you need besides the bat's claw?"
"...What?"
"It seemed like you needed dungeon byproducts. You also appeared to be eyeing the warehouse when we looked around the guild earlier."
I had looked closely thinking about raiding it. But I gave up immediately when I saw multiple layers of barriers even without examining it carefully.
"If I need something, what? Are you going to shovel it out for me?"
"...If that's what you want."
"What?"
"And if the warehouse doesn't have what you're looking for, I can check whether the items Hunter Seong Dohyeon needs appear each time a dungeon opens and provide them to you."
What was he talking about right now? Did I hear that wrong? How much money was just one of those materials worth, and he's offering to just hand them over? My eyes went wide.
"Is that possible?"
At my question, Baek Eunseong smiled softly, the corners of his lips curving up.
"I can make it possible."
"Hah."
How obnoxious. What was even more annoying was that it wasn't an empty claim. That made it even more obnoxious. But why was he suddenly offering this... Ah.
I rolled my eyes for a moment before looking toward Baek Eunseong's heart. Baek Eunseong must have felt my gaze land, as he gave a small smile. Of course. He wanted something, which was why he was suddenly offering uncharacteristic goodwill.
'What? You think I'd do something for free? That guy...'
Furrowing my brows, I asked Baek Eunseong with a sarcastic tone.
"Sounds like you must be in pain."
"Thank you for your concern, but Hunter Seong Dohyeon doesn't need to worry about that. I simply mean that since we each hold what the other needs, let's make an exchange."