IH Ch 5

Chapter 5

Muttering curses once again, he activated the robot vacuum cleaner and started heading to his room, only to stop midway. He didn’t want to give that thing any of his own clothes, and besides, they probably wouldn’t fit anyway. Then he wondered—was there anything here that thing could change into?

After a brief moment of thought, he remembered the storage room where he’d thrown the brat the day before. That place was a mess of all kinds of things—and among them, there had definitely been clothes.

They were all gifts sent to Hwang Jae-i. Even when he told the guild he didn’t need them and to handle it themselves, they still sent organized packages of gifts every quarter. No matter how many times he rejected them—throwing them out in front of his eyes—they never stopped. Eventually, Hwang Jae-i had just raised both hands in surrender. Muttering again about pointless nonsense, Hwang Jae-i kicked open the door with his foot.

The disorganized clutter always irritated him. He expected it to be the same this time, but it wasn’t. What he saw was a room that had been cleaned up—about a quarter of it, at least.

To the right of a half-open window, neatly arranged items were stacked, and similarly sized and colored plastic bags were grouped together. Near the door, items had been sorted into cardboard, tape, paper, plastic—clearly meant for recycling.

It hadn’t looked like this the last time he saw it. And he didn’t remember organizing it himself, so the only one who could’ve done something this stupid—

“Pointless crap…”

Scowling, Hwang Jae-i strode into the room.

Even in the still-messy parts, some clothes caught his eye, and he grabbed them. Gathering a few pieces that looked like tops and bottoms, he walked back out. The robot vacuum was still diligently scrubbing the floor. When he reached the bathroom and saw the spot where the metal mask had had their accident, he grimaced and swung the door open.

“Hey—!”

He had been about to bark that they’d be sent back to the Association soon, so hurry up, wash up, and change—but he clamped his mouth shut. So did the person inside, who was halfway through pulling down their pants.

Startled, they fumbled to yank their pants back up and darted behind the shower booth, but the transparent glass hardly concealed them. Realizing this, they turned away, crossing their arms to shield themselves—but their back was streaked with thick and thin scars.

“……”

And not just the visible ones—faded, older scars covered the whole of that dry back.

The masked figure turned to lean against the wall, curling in on themselves and slowly raising their head. Seeing this, Hwang Jae-i tossed the clothes he brought onto the floor.

“Put on what fits.”

His voice was cold even to his own ears. After saying that, he left the bathroom, one hand on his hip, head bowed, face stiff with displeasure. He stormed away without another word.

Left alone, the metal mask lowered their arms and clutched their pants. They pulled the unpleasant, stained garment all the way down and sat down, crouched on the floor.

“……”

Though the physical discomfort had passed, a wave of shame followed. They had never made such a mistake in front of someone else before—and yet now…

Blankly, they raised a hand to wipe their face and felt the cold, solid sensation of the mask covering their head. It had been a year or two since they started wearing it—plenty of time to get used to it—but sometimes it still felt suffocating beyond belief. In moments like that, they wanted nothing more than to slam their head into a wall. That desire stirred again as they tilted their head back. Clunk—the clear sound echoed in their ears.

This wasn’t the same place they had been before. If they cracked the wall with that, Hwang Jae-i would definitely not let it slide. Sighing deeply, they rose to their feet. Washing up didn’t take long. They picked a decent enough outfit from the clothes scattered on the floor and changed. But when it came time to step outside, embarrassment gripped them.

Too embarrassed to face Hwang Jae-i directly, they hesitated for several minutes before finally taking a deep breath and stepping out. There, moving quietly with a soft hum, was the robot vacuum.

The white circular vacuum busily scrubbed the floor. The moment they realized it lingered near the spot where they had made their mistake, they dropped their head in shame.

Clutching at the loose waistband of their pants, they trudged forward slowly. Hugging the wall as they moved, they peeked around the corner of the living room—and there he was, sitting on a plush sofa bathed in soft sunlight.

“……”

Apparently ready to go out, Hwang Jae-i was dressed in a shirt, jeans, and a hat pulled low. He stared straight ahead, not even glancing in their direction—though there was no way he hadn’t noticed them. As they looked away, a voice filled the quiet space.

Listening closely, the sound became clearer.

[The Association claimed to have eradicated the remnants of Lee Myunghwan’s group, but new intel suggests that some escaped before the main site was breached. Among them is someone believed to be Lee Myunghwan’s successor, raising doubts about whether the mission truly dealt with the most critical threat. Despite the joint operation involving the Association and three major guilds, the failure to complete the mission has stirred concern.]

“Bullshit.”

The harsh word made the masked figure flinch and look up—just in time to meet Hwang Jae-i’s gaze. His face twisted in displeasure as if to say What are you looking at?—so the metal mask quickly looked down, eyes dropping as well. But even that wasn’t enough to cool the heat they felt under his stare.

Hwang Jae-i seemed to be in a foul mood. They debated whether it would be better to disappear back into the bathroom, when he suddenly stood up. After watching the large news screen mounted on one wall, he shut it off and jammed a hand into his pocket, striding off.

“……”

He didn’t say follow me, but just watching him go made it clear they shouldn’t just stand there. Hastily, they followed—and barely took a few steps when ding-dong, a cheerful chime echoed through the house.

Startled by the unusually bright and clear tone, the masked figure looked up. Hwang Jae-i clenched his eyes shut. Already on edge from lack of sleep and the news, now someone had rung that bell, despite being told not to disturb him. His irritation boiled over.

“Goddamn bastards…”

Grinding his teeth, he muttered curses and stormed toward the front door.

Somehow, word had leaked, and the press had been in a frenzy since early morning. Despite the joint operation involving the Association and the three leading guilds of Korea, the media was focused on their failure to completely eliminate Lee Myunghwan’s remnants. Sure, a few had slipped away in the end—but whether one of them was truly “Lee Myunghwan Junior” was still uncertain. Even if the info was legit, what could a handful of fugitives do? It was only a matter of time before they were all caught. Still, the media’s tone clearly pointed to ulterior motives.

Perhaps the newly elected ruling party leader wanted to pressure the Association. Or maybe someone who’d failed to make it into one of the top three guilds was acting out of petty jealousy. Either way, it was a misstep.

“By around lunchtime, things should settle down. So there’s no need for you to worry, Guildmaster. Just continue enjoying your break. In fact, the guild wanted to express our gratitude for all your hard work, so we’ve prepared a few things.”

“……”

“We made sure to include all your favorite desserts, not missing a single one. Just open it up whenever you want a snack.”

The man, who spoke effortlessly without pause, opened a travel suitcase and stacked several boxes on top of each other. Then, folding his arms and glancing up at the visibly irate Hwang Jae-i, he added as if suddenly remembering:

“Oh, right. This is an official notice from the Association. And this one is a cooperation letter from Director Ahn Yuna. Please review them after I leave.”

From there, even larger items somehow emerged from the suitcase, despite how compact it looked.

Johan was starting to feel overwhelmed dealing with Hwang Jae-i, who had been seething with rage from the moment the front door opened. He shouldn’t have come. Of all people, why did he have to be the one chosen?

Though he’d acted casual in front of the guildmaster, the situation was actually a mess. The fact that such an article was published without any prior notice to the Association meant someone from the outside had a hand in it. The article itself was clearly meant to mock the Association and the guilds. Why did they have to stir things up like this?

The world was full of lunatics, and the Association and guilds had no shortage of enemies. There were at least five people who immediately came to mind—people who would do anything to tarnish their image. Hwang Jae-i had officially declared a break, so no one had any business bothering him. But thanks to the article that morning, they had to stay on alert.

Plus, Johan had his own task to complete. He subtly turned his head—and spotted the metal mask standing a distance away.

“…He’s really wearing a metal mask.”