Chapter 5

"You didn't come to make me work, did you?" 

Min Yu-ra crossed her arms, perplexed by the cautious expression on Jin Soram's face as he slowly raised his head.

"Everyone else is on the clock right now, except for Chief Hunter Jin. Just look outside, it's a beautiful day."

"I did overtime this morning."

"Yes, and I deducted 30 minutes from the time it takes you to get to Seocho. So now, get back to work. The Director is summoning you."

"That's a lie. There's no way..."

"It's not a lie. Both the Director and the Deputy Director are waiting for you in the office."

"Ah, the Deputy Director is an old man, so he may not sleep, but why on earth would the Director..."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

Only Jin Soram would dare to speak to Deputy Director Kwon Jung-oh in such a manner. Soram spent a few more minutes rubbing his forehead on the desk, a familiar sight to Min Yu-ra who had been by the Director's side for the past five years.

Ultimately, Soram, unable to withstand her gaze, reluctantly emerged from under the blanket.

"Alright, let's go..."

He muttered weakly, straightening his crooked tie and putting on the jacket draped over his crumpled shirt. This made him look like a perfectly normal person. But if one were to observe him closely for just a few days, they would soon become indifferent to that face.

Min Yu-ra walked back down the corridor with Jin Soram. Soram covered his mouth and yawned briefly, but followed her without a word.

[The moon is rising. My love grows as the moon swells.]

The sound of music drifted in from the corridor windows. Being located in the heart of Jongno, the building often had loud music from nearby stores spilling into the interior.

Suddenly, Soram slowed his pace. He stretched out his hand towards the window. As a blue mist emanated from his fingertips and approached the open window, it closed on its own. The same happened with the adjacent windows. Once five windows had shut, the song could no longer be heard.

While the windows appeared to have closed on their own, the fact that Soram's ability manifested as a blue mist was common knowledge even to a child in the Republic of Korea. Min Yu-ra stopped and asked him, "Was there a problem?"

"I hate that song. It's so boring."

"But it's a new song that just came out yesterday. It's already number one."

"Exactly. I'll have to listen to it for the next two months."

Not understanding his reasoning, Soram simply walked on and caught the elevator, swiping his access card and pressing the button for the 15th floor. The elevator quickly ascended two floors.

"The director called me to his office, right?"

"Yes."

Soram, who got off on the 15th floor and walked to the left, said in front of the director's office without knocking.

"Soram is here."

"Come in."

Soram went in first and held the door. Behind him, Min Yu-ra slightly nodded her head and entered, then quietly closed the door.

"Come quickly. You worked hard since morning."

"That's right. I worked hard."

Soram, who had been lying down until just now, sat down with a brazen answer.

On the sofa, Director Park Jae-seon was sitting at the head, and Deputy Director Kwon Jung-oh was sitting to his right. The two, who were of a certain age, were figures that most young hunters in their 20s and 30s found difficult to approach.

However, Soram was an exception. Or, should it be said that he had no exceptions for anyone? His attitude towards Min Yu-ra, his attitude towards fellow hunters of the same age, and his attitude towards the two people in front of him now were all the same. He showed an appropriate level of courtesy and also an appropriate level of indifference.

Kwon Jung-oh, whose white hair was thick, found that attitude, like an ill-mannered grandson, quite amusing.

"You brat, you don't even knock and always shout 'I'm coming' like you're not a gentleman."

"Director, you don't really like the sound of knocking."

It was something Min Yu-ra, who had been by the director's side for 5 years, didn't know. The director also had an expression of 'Me?' and then slightly furrowed his eyebrows. It was a face that didn't know until now but had a corner that could be guessed.

Looking at Soram again, the director frowned and said, "Hmm?"

"Soram, why is your face like this? Did you get hurt in the morning? Ah, is it a pressed mark?"

"Probably. From lying down and coming here. I was just about to fall asleep."

"Don't you sleep more than 10 hours a day? The doctor said before. Since there's nothing wrong with your body, feeling sleepy all day long is clearly because you're avoiding reality because you don't want to work. Stop being lazy. You're not a sloth."

"Sloths are nice. I wish I could be born as a sloth in my next life."

"Our Chief Jin would be much more popular than now if he was a little more diligent and acted like a hero in front of the public."

Soram smiled with a sleepy face.

"That's really not my thing."

"How do you know?"

"There are so many people like that besides me. Respected hunters. If they make one mistake, they get torn apart, and the posts praising them get filled with posts of disappointment."

"..."

"I'll just live like this."

Soram sometimes caught people off guard even when he was spacing out. But his expression was still lazy and full of annoyance.

"Why did you call me? I'm really tired today, not just being lazy."

"Okay. I'll finish quickly. A new self-flying capable awakener has appeared. He's the same age as you, and he initially awakened as a 3rd-grade and worked at the Guncheon-gun office, but recently his grade suddenly jumped up. It's not an official measurement yet, but just by looking, he's definitely a 1st-grade."

The director handed over the document he had been looking at until a little while ago along with the explanation. There was also a small photo printed on it. Although he looked older than Soram due to his stiff expression, he still seemed to be around the same age.

"For now, we immediately sent an official letter telling him to come up to the headquarters."

Han Tae-un.

That was written next to the photo.

"Even though we said we would send another hunter there in exchange for bringing this person, there is still constant opposition. The higher-ups are pushing to forcibly bring him in by citing the law, so he probably won't be coming up happily either. I called you in advance because he'll be joining your team when he comes."

"..."

As soon as the director finished speaking, Deputy Director Kwon Jung-oh tapped on the document.

"Forget about the rest, just control him well. It's the best issue to talk about."

For the Rift Headquarters, 70% of the rifts in South Korea occurred in the metropolitan area, especially in densely populated areas, so they had no choice but to gather hunters from other regions to the headquarters. However, there was always criticism that they were not considering the danger of the remaining 30%.

In particular, this awakener was leaving his family and all his relatives in the province. So he might have been more dissatisfied with the personnel transfer.

"...Ah, he was a 3rd-grade and then re-awakened."

Soram, who muttered while scratching near his eyebrows, let out a chuckle.

"I guess that's why I slept a lot these days."

"What are you talking about?"

"It seems like someone will join our team soon, so I was avoiding reality because it's bothersome."

The director and deputy director exchanged sighs. More than hoping for the new hunter to get along well, what they desperately wished for was... for someone to come who could finally get along with this guy who spouted this nonsense at the drop of a hat.

"Okay, I'm not asking for anything else, just don't fight with each other."

"Friends originally grow up fighting. We're the same age."

"Soram."

"I'm joking. I won't fight."

Actually, he had already tried that. Picking fights from the beginning and ignoring each other. Deliberately creating a lot of emotional rifts and growing apart. That was the story of his past life.

The results were always the same.

...He had no idea. That he re-awakened from a 3rd-grade. Well, they weren't close enough to talk about such things.

He also found out for the first time that Guncheon-gun was in conflict with the headquarters because they didn't want to lose him. It was because he didn't want to look back at the places related to him, even on purpose.

"He's coming."

Soram pressed the face part of Han Tae-un's photo with the tip of his fingernail, whether intentionally or by mistake. Sleep poured down as if his head was screaming that it didn't want to think anymore. Soram turned the document over and put it down.

The time that had passed in a flash scattered like sand hit by waves. Soram's body had grown tall over the past 8 years, becoming similar to his appearance at the end of his previous life.

But his mind hadn't been able to get up from the hospital bed where he had curled up in exhaustion.

* * *

"Phew..."

The sigh of Noh Mun-young, the head of the Guncheon-gun police substation, was deep. Guncheon-gun was a so-called rural town that had not yet been urbanized. However, he loved this place where he had lived for 50 years, and he also had pride in becoming the head of the substation in his hometown.

"I'm telling you."

That pride sometimes manifested in his old-fashioned behavior, but, well, he thought he was quite a gentleman as it was.

Those who were dispatched to Guncheon-gun from other regions often ignored Noh Mun-young when he started to sound like an old man, saying, "That old man again." However, a few young people who grew up in Guncheon-gun found it difficult to dismiss his words lightly. After all, he was an elder they had known since they were young, addressing their parents and siblings.

In the same room as Noh Mun-young right now were two young men in such a position.

"This is not the time to make a big fuss about discovering something."

Han Tae-un sat across from Noh Mun-young and listened to his words silently. It wasn't that he sympathized with Noh Mun-young, who was sighing deeply now, but rather that he had a blunt personality to begin with. The other two knew that as well.

Lee Jae-hyun, the only rift phenomenon civil service employee in the county office, put down the coffee in a paper cup and said, "That's right, Chief."

"Goodness, they're taking away the child we raised here so cunningly. ...Of course, the central government will have their own circumstances!"

The typical occupation that had to follow orders from above was none other than a civil servant. Moreover, this time, it was an order from a central government agency, so Lee Jae-hyun thought it was right to follow it, but... he couldn't ignore the feelings of Noh Mun-young, who had been the head of the substation for over 10 years due to the regional characteristics.

"Hey, Tae-un. You said you got a call at home too?"

"Yes. Someone from the headquarters visited my parents and left."

"What did your parents say?"

"They told me to choose for myself."

"That's right. That's how it should be... Tae-un, it must be really difficult for you too..."

Not long ago, an official letter was sent to the Guncheon-gun office, stating that Han Tae-un, who had re-awakened from a 3rd-grade to a 1st-grade, would be transferred to the Rift Phenomenon Management Headquarters.

The order to take away the 1st-grade talent that had finally appeared sounded sneaky. However, it was difficult to ignore the reason of "3,581 rift occurrences in the metropolitan area last year, 1,447 occurrences in non-metropolitan areas." Moreover, most of the rift occurrences outside the metropolitan area were also in major cities such as metropolitan cities.

In the metropolitan area, the frequency and size of high-grade rifts and dungeon occurrences were frequent. The hypothesis that population density was related to the frequency and size of rift occurrences was almost confirmed by numerous cases. However, no one in the world had yet clearly revealed the exact reason.

"I know they're in a hurry, but damn it, if they take everyone away, are they telling us to all die when a rift opens up here?"