IH Ch 130

Chapter 130

“Hello there. How did you get all the way here?”

At Ahn Yuna’s gentle greeting, the stiffness on the child’s face melted, and he gave a quick bow.

“Hello. My name is Seo Jaehyeon. Um… is Guildmaster Hwang Jae-i here?”

The moment she heard the name, she immediately recognized him.

When Jae-i had quietly handled the issues in this seaside village, she had checked every person who had been involved. The villagers themselves had promised to stay silent about everything the guildmaster had done for them, insisting they would never speak a word. Their sincerity felt convincing enough that Yuna chose not to impose further measures. She didn’t trust people blindly, but this time she felt she could let it be. She also confirmed that the guildmaster had given a mana stone containing a substantial amount of energy to one of the residents.

Seeing Jaehyeon standing firmly on two healthy legs, Yuna smiled brightly.

“The guildmaster is here, but I don’t think you’ll be able to meet him today, sweetheart. What should we do about that?”

If he looked too disappointed, she planned to hand over a signed guild merchandise item forced from the guildmaster earlier.

But instead, Jaehyeon shook his head vigorously and held out the paper in his hand.

“He must be busy, so of course I shouldn’t meet him. I just… wanted to give this.”

Yuna let out a small gasp when she saw the drawing.

It showed Hwang Jae-i drawn like a prince—radiant and heroic. Beside him stood a smaller figure who was clearly meant to be Dohwa, bright-eyed and smiling. But something was odd about Dohwa’s right hand. It looked almost like a blade—something sharp attached, exaggerated as though he were holding a weapon.

Tearing her gaze away from the drawing, Yuna looked back at Jaehyeon.

“You drew this so well. Thank you. I’ll make sure the guildmaster receives it.”

“It’s embarrassing, but I worked really hard on it! And um… could you also tell him something for me? We—we’ll always support the guildmaster all the way to the end.”

“……”

“All the villagers are cursing out the news channels that are saying bad things about him. They’re talking without even knowing anything! I—I think the same!”

His cheeks flushed as he stared up at her with sincerity.

“The guildmaster is a really good person!”

Hoping she would agree, he gazed up at her with earnest eyes. Yuna softened her expression and nodded. “Mm. You’re right.”

Then she slowly stood and gestured toward the air, pulling a soccer ball from her inventory and handing it to him.

“This is a reward for your wonderful picture.”

“……”

“Keep working hard at your sports.”

As if unable to believe it, Jaehyeon took the soccer ball with both hands and stared at the signature written on it by Hwang Jae-i. He hugged it to his chest with both arms, eyes shimmering.

“Thank you so much…”

To Yuna, it was nothing. But depending on the recipient, that ball could very well be worth more than gold.

Since things had turned out this way, she decided she would make the suddenly freed-up guildmaster sign a hundred each of soccer balls, baseballs, and the newly printed magazines. He caused trouble, they suffered, so signing that much was the bare minimum. Waving to the child as he walked off, Yuna waited until he disappeared from view before erasing her smile and looking at the drawing once more.

He had drawn the guildmaster almost too coolly—but what caught her attention most was Dohwa’s right hand. Staring at that detail for a long moment, she carefully folded the drawing so it wouldn’t crease and headed into the guild building. She greeted the passing employees with her usual cheerfulness before stepping into the elevator up to the guildmaster’s office.

Because of the sudden relocation, Jae-i had been staying in the sleeping quarters attached to the office.

And his expression had not been good.

For someone who used an entire building as a living space, he wasn’t usually particular about sleeping environments. Even when traveling abroad, he slept anywhere in whatever hotel they booked—more accurately, he never planned to sleep much, so it didn’t matter.

But now he wasn’t alone, and there was someone he had to take care of.

“……”

It was 11 a.m.—a time when Hwang Jae-i should already be awake. Yuna used to fling open the office door without hesitation, but now she hesitated. If she barged in and saw something she shouldn’t, it would scar her.

Standing before the door, she grew solemn. Should she call first? But knowing the guildmaster, if he saw her name pop up, he would hang up immediately.

Then…

Taking a deep breath, Yuna raised her hand to knock.

At that moment, the door quietly slid open.

“Oh?” Yuna made a small sound and pushed it wider. But then—

CRASH!

Something behind the door toppled over with a tremendous noise.

Startled, she burst in.

“What is it? What happened—!”

She wasn’t remotely worried about something happening to Jae-i. In her mind, the only possible misfortune involved Dohwa—maybe he fell.

She did not expect to see a small child plastered against the window like a tree frog.

The long hair tied messily, revealing a tiny face that looked exactly like Hwang Jae-i—she had never anticipated this.

“…….”

Her mind went blank.

Frozen in place, Yuna stared as the child stepped on Jae-i’s head, using it as leverage to flip backward off the window.

Jae-i grunted, eyes flashing in fury as he chased after the child darting away.

Tables toppled, the couch leather shredded, the entire room a disaster—

But to Yuna, it looked like the guildmaster was playing some kind of “catch me if you can” game with… his child.

And when she finally processed this, an impossible, explosive scream tore out of her mouth:

“GUILDMASTER, DID YOU HAVE A BABY?!!”

—Spore-type Beast.

When prey approaches, it releases powder that induces paralysis or hypnosis, then devours the target whole, head to toe. It prefers to keep its prey inside its belly for three days while absorbing physical information, producing an imperfect copy of their form.

Maximum size replication is limited to about 1.5x its body.

Easily handled by C-rank hunters and above.

Not especially dangerous.

Highly sensitive conditions required for forming colonies; only seven cases recorded in Korea.

Ahn Yuna pushed her tablet forward, having crammed this lengthy entry into her brain.

The round, fluffy creature perched on Dohwa’s shoulder jolted violently and tried to hide.

But Dohwa’s much shorter hair didn’t provide adequate cover.

It twitched anxiously, seeking escape—

Until a long, slender finger shot in from the side, flicking the beast sharply.

With its round eyes squeezed shut, the beast flew across the room, hit the floor with a soft thud, then bounced twice and rolled behind the desk.

“Oh—”

Startled, Dohwa looked toward the sound, only for Jae-i to immediately grab his wrist. Dohwa flinched, then relaxed halfway through rising, sinking back down under Jae-i’s stare.

Only then did Jae-i’s expression soften.

Yuna let out a hollow laugh.

“I honestly don’t know what I’m looking at anymore.”

She still couldn’t believe the expression Jae-i had made earlier. She almost jabbed her own eyes to erase the memory before flipping to the next page.

The spore-type beast in the encyclopedia was similar—but also different.

Most notably, the one in the book was the size of a fingertip.

The current one was larger, sturdier, and…

“Cute, but…”

“Then you take it,” Jae-i snapped immediately.

Yuna shot him an incredulous glare. “Absolutely not.”

Deciding that flipping through entries was pointless, she placed the tablet on the table and pressed her palms to her face.

Her head throbbed. It had calmed since the first time she’d seen the beast’s humanoid form, but her temples still pulsed.

At least the beast wasn’t actually related to the guildmaster. When she thought it was, she nearly died. If Jae-i had truly produced a child, how would she even begin to manage the fallout?

Thankfully, it wasn’t real. But… could she really say “thankfully” about this?

With a deep sigh, she lifted her head—

Only to lock eyes with the child peeking from behind the desk.

It vanished immediately, ducking down.

Looking blankly for a moment, Yuna turned to Dohwa.

“…I need to speak with the guildmaster. Could you take that child and wait in the other room for a moment?”

“No.”

Jae-i answered instantly, cold and sharp.

Yuna’s own expression hardened. “Yes.”

The air crackled with tension. Then she turned back to Dohwa with a bright smile.

“It won’t take long. Please?”

“……”

Dohwa hesitated, then gently tapped the back of Jae-i’s hand still holding his wrist.

Reluctantly, Jae-i released him.

Dohwa slowly stood and walked toward the beast.

Immediately, it leapt out and clung to him—wrapping tiny arms around his neck, its legs around his waist.

Jae-i’s eyes darkened dangerously, but the beast simply pressed its face into Dohwa’s shoulder with a pout.