noveldrama
Chapter 179
Chapter 179
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**Title: [Anonymous] What the hell just happened?**
I just saw 240 chasing someone down the emergency stairs like they were about to kill them.
Did I see that right?
---
**Comments (99+)**
— Yeah, you saw it right, lol
?? Oh really? I thought there were hallucinogens in my salad. Good to know I wasn’t imagining it.
?? What kind of life are you living, anonymous?
— Did you only see 240?
?? Yeah, it was my first time hearing 240 shout;;
?? You missed the most important part... J was in front of him.
?? ????? Why is J even at our guild?
?? No idea. Maybe 240 brought him here.
?? Did he kidnap him?
?? Come on, would he really?
---
**Title: [Anonymous] By the way, 240 had...**
a huge bruise on his neck.
It was shaped like a hand.
To leave such a mark on an S-rank’s neck…
Could it be...?
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**Comments (99+)**
— It sure seems like…
— I don’t want to say more because I feel like I’ll end up having a one-on-one talk with 240 if I go into detail.
?? For real.
?? How would anyone know if you’re anonymous, lol?
?? Never underestimate Minggijeok’s information-gathering skills...
— Ah, I get it now. J and 240 are just sacrificing themselves to keep the staff awake and entertained...
?? J-men.
?? I was dead tired after lunch, but I’m wide awake now, seriously.
---
**Title: [Anonymous] But the top ranker is a top ranker for a reason.**
He’s seriously fast and agile.
I blinked, and he was already all the way down there.
---
**Comments (99+)**
— For real. He was as quick as the wind and disappeared down the stairs.
— It’s practically teleportation level.
— At least he didn’t destroy the building. J is the best!
?? Actually, we’d get to go home early if the building got wrecked.
?? True.
?? Could you come back and destroy just enough so the building doesn’t completely collapse? Please?
---
**Title: [Anonymous] Summarizing the situation based on what’s been posted in the forum.**
Might be some made-up stuff.
So, after the news article dropped, it seems 240 had J locked up.
Freedom-loving J choked 240 and escaped like the wind.
240 chased after him, ready to kill (multiple witnesses).
Evidence: 240 screamed threats like “Are you crazy? Stop right now!”
J kicked down a door and made his escape.
Minggijeok used his ability to block the glass walls so no one outside could see, turning the first floor into a greenhouse.
Shield Guy is in despair.
Does this sound right?
---
**Comments (99+)**
— Just reading this makes my brain feel infected.
?? lololol
?? Now they’re doing mental attacks through text. Savage.
— Is this real?
?? No idea.
?? What’s true is that J choked him, and 240 chased J like he was ready to kill him. I saw it myself.
?? A mix of truth and lies.
?? I was so scared I almost collapsed.
— Where are the assistants? Spill the tea.
?? They shouldn’t be here. They’re probably busy trying to manage the situation, lol.
?? True;; Hang in there.
?? Looks like they’ll be working overtime today. Stay strong.
---
**Title: [Anonymous] Let me sum it up in one line.**
J and 240 were choking each other and playing “Catch me if you can.”
---
**Comments (99+)**
— What even is happening?
— This post will be deleted soon.
---
"Haa…."
Thud. A large, bony hand put down the phone. A deep sigh followed. Baewonwoo held his head in his hands, groaning. It felt like he had let out a similarly hopeless sigh not too long ago.
On the first floor of the Wave Guild building, in the company café. The café, which had been bustling just moments before, was now eerily quiet. Only three people were sitting there.
Baewonwoo sighed again, deep and heavy.
“Haaa…”
“Stop sighing already, Deputy Guild Leader.”
“…They saw everything, didn’t they?”
“Well, I tried to cover it, but yeah, they probably saw the important parts.”
A refreshing scent of fresh grass filled the air. The glass walls that used to offer a clear view outside were now covered in lush greenery and flowers. The leaves swayed gently. Kang Jisoo stirred her strawberry latte with a straw. Her dark green eyes glimmered with a bright greenish hue. Behind the café counter, instead of the usual barista, a vine-like humanoid was tending to the area.
Baewonwoo muttered under his breath.
“I should’ve just gone straight to the dungeon. Why did I stop for coffee….”
“What’s the point of regretting it now, Deputy Guild Leader? We need to focus on fixing it.”
“What the hell is happening, Sayoung? How many times are you going to make the front page of the news?”
“This time, it wasn’t my fault….”
Sayoung replied in a low, displeased tone. He was sitting with his legs crossed, rubbing his temples, eyes closed.
The long ringing tone on his phone stopped, and a notification informed him that the call couldn’t be connected. His delicate brow furrowed slightly. Sayoung dialed the number again, muttering in a cold voice.
“Now he’s ignoring my calls….”
Baewonwoo cautiously asked,
“There must be a reason J… I mean, why did you two play that ‘catch me if you can’ thing?”
“I don’t know either….”
There was a sound of teeth grinding. Behind the black coat-clad Lee Sayoung, a menacing aura loomed. Sayoung spat his words out like venom.
“Damn it, I suggested we eat, and he just ran off like his feet were on fire. How is this my fault?”
“……”
“Tell me, Baewonwoo. Is this my fault? Asking someone who’s been asleep for a whole day to eat?”
“Uh, no… Making sure someone eats is a good thing….”
“He doesn’t say anything no matter what I do. What, does he hate eating with me? Does he hate talking to me that much? Enough to run away?”
As Sayoung’s voice grew more and more agitated, the situation seemed to be spiraling toward an outburst. Kang Jisoo and Baewonwoo exchanged glances. You start. No, you start. After a moment of internal wrestling, Kang Jisoo shot Baewonwoo a sharp look, and he finally spoke up.
“Sayoung… Could it be that you, uh… locked J up?”
“What? Ha…”
Sayoung snorted. A deadly smile formed on his sharp features.
“Are you blind? Does J look like someone who can be locked up?”
“Well, no… but you never know, there’s always a chance….”
“No.”
Sayoung’s firm response left Baewonwoo sighing in relief. He glanced at the bruises on Sayoung’s neck. The vivid, hand-shaped bruises stood out against his pale skin. For an S-rank with a durable body, it wasn’t easy to leave such marks. To leave a bruise that noticeable on such a tough body….
Oh no, I don’t want to know anymore. Sayoung had been like a little brother to him, someone he had raised with care. He didn’t want to know the messy details of his relationships. But even Baewonwoo, who usually missed social cues, couldn’t help but notice it. The signs were all too clear.
He covered his face in despair. Why couldn’t he have stayed oblivious just a little longer?
At that moment, Kang Jisoo slammed her cup down with a loud clatter.
“Alright!”
Both Baewonwoo and Sayoung looked up at her. Despite the sharp looks from both men, she clapped her hands, showing no fear.
“Minggijeok followed J, right?”
The tiny figure, Minggijeok, had slipped back into Sayoung’s shadow before he could even process what had happened. Baewonwoo nodded.
“Y-yeah, that’s right.”
“Minggijeok can’t beat J, but at least he’ll have tracked his location, right? He probably has GPS on him.”
“Right?”
“There’s no point in us sitting here guessing.”
She raised her index finger.
“Deputy Guild Leader, call in the top-ranking hunters.”
“Uh? Alright.”
“And Guild Leader…”
Kang Jisoo added seriously,
“You need to act pitiful.”
---
Cha Uijae leaned against the building’s railing, looking up at the sky where white ash fluttered down like snow. The ashes didn’t care about how he felt; they just drifted gently. He clicked his tongue in frustration. The phone in his hand was vibrating non-stop.
Running away had been a good idea. But….
He had nowhere to go.
‘Can you really have nowhere to go?’
Uijae rested his chin on his arm. The hangover soup restaurant was too obvious, so that was out. Jungbin was probably busy, and Hong Yeseong’s cozy love house… Uijae quickly shook the thought out of his head. No way. Running from Sayoung to Yeseong’s place would be like jumping from one hell to another.
‘Should I buy a house?’
He recalled that Ham Seokjeong was managing his old house. Maybe he should go check it out…. Uijae let out a small sigh.
“Please, sir, return my phone. I’ll be dead if I don’t get it back.”
Minggijeok, who had his wrists tied with a necktie to the rooftop railing, pleaded. It was a loose knot he could easily free himself from, but it wasn’t the necktie binding him; it was Cha Uijae’s presence.
Buzz. The phone vibrated again. Uijae glanced at the caller. It was the Guild Leader. Since Uijae wasn’t picking up, Sayoung had apparently switched targets to Minggijeok. Uijae crouched down in front of him and showed him the phone.
“Answer it and tell him you lost track of me.”
“W-what? But….”
Crack. Uijae silently cracked his knuckles. Minggijeok quickly nodded. The Guild Leader was far away, but the fist was right here. Uijae slid the call button and put the phone to Minggijeok’s ear. Minggijeok took a deep breath and spoke.
“Yes, Guild Leader?”
?……
“Guild Leader?”
There was a long pause, and then a small, barely audible sigh from the other end.
?J’s with you, isn’t he?
“Uh, no, no!?”
Minggijeok’s voice squeaked into an awkward high pitch. It was a pathetically obvious lie. Uijae grabbed Minggijeok by the collar and mouthed,
*Do you want to die?*
Minggijeok shook his head vigorously. His sunglasses rattled against the phone’s screen. Meanwhile, Sayoung was silent on the other end of the call. Eventually, a defeated voice muttered,
?Did I… do something wrong?
“……”
Minggijeok’s jaw dropped. Uijae, holding the phone, was equally stunned. He’d never heard Sayoung sound like this before. He kept mumbling,
?I just wanted to have a meal with you, but you suddenly ran away like that….
…Really?
Well, it must’ve been confusing for Sayoung. They’d been talking normally, and then Uijae just bolted. But still….
Uijae rubbed the back of his neck. Just hearing Sayoung’s voice made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. His ears tingled, and his fingers curled involuntarily.
‘If just his voice does this to me, how am I supposed to face him?’
?Are you mad? Are you really not going to answer me?
Uijae opened and closed his mouth, trying to form words, but he couldn’t bring himself to speak. If he tried, something strange might come out of his mouth. Meanwhile, Minggijeok, sensing the tension, untied the necktie binding his wrists. He slowly scooted away from the phone, inch by inch.
Uijae was just about to respond when Sayoung beat him to it.
?Then I’ll…
Something appeared behind him. It was a sensation he’d experienced a few times before. Uijae immediately turned around to look.
A large door had appeared in the middle of the rooftop. Slowly, it creaked open. Beyond the door was a greenhouse filled with plants, the fresh scent of grass filling the air.
“Screech.”
The door’s handle was gripped by a whimsical figure, the “Romantic Opener,” who let out a squeaky groan. Long legs stepped over the Opener’s collapsed body as a figure entered the rooftop. A black coat billowed behind him. Uijae muttered soundlessly,
*Shit.*
“…He’s got to be kidding me.”
*Shit!*