IH Ch 8

Chapter 8

Suddenly, his head felt incredibly light. Everything around him was so bright that he wanted to look at it all, but contrary to his desire, he found himself lowering his head deeply. He gathered his excessively long hair into his hands and buried his face in it. For now, it felt like he had to hide his face.

It felt liberating and yet strange that the thing which had weighed so heavily on his head was now gone. Without it, he had no way to cover his face. It meant he would have to go around with this face exposed. He recalled how cleanly the severed edges of the iron mask had been cut. Was there any way to fuse it back together?

There had been times when he’d wished for the mask—no different from shackles—to disappear. But now, with no preparation at all, his lightened head only felt unfamiliar. Again and again, he tried to gather his hair to hide his face, when he suddenly felt a chilly presence in front of him.

“Hey.”

“……”

He peeked out slightly from behind his hair and looked at Hwang Jae-i. The moment he confirmed the other’s sharp, intimidating expression—as if he’d been waiting for this—he buried his face back into his hair. A scoffing chuckle followed immediately, as if the other found it absurd. At the same time, a finger lightly tapped his head.

“Did you just avoid my gaze the moment you saw me? Why? Do you hate looking at someone like me that much?”

It wasn’t something he’d even considered. Startled, he lifted his head again, but his hands still clutched his long hair tightly. Gathering as much of it as he could, he used it to cover his nose and mouth like a mask and mumbled,

“It’s not that. It’s because I look strange.”

“……”

“You probably don’t want to see me.”

Hwang Jae-i’s eyebrow lifted high.

Blinking at the reaction, he found it unfamiliar not to be met with discomfort or dislike. Once again thinking he should try to reattach the iron mask, he started to fiddle with his tangled hair like yarn—but then, a loud sound erupted from his lower belly.

Grrrgle.

“……”

His mind went blank. He clenched his fingers tighter around his hair, then bolted to the side.

Hwang Jae-i flinched as the enormous stomach growl echoed, then tried to grab him with a shout. But the boy darted away like he was fleeing and stumbled badly. His pants, too big for him, had slipped down and tangled his legs. Miraculously, he didn’t fall—he just slipped out of the oversized pants and vanished down the hallway.

Tatata-dak! Light footsteps echoed down the corridor, followed by the slam of a door closing. And Hwang Jae-i stood there, arm still outstretched toward the direction the boy had run.

“……”

Uncharacteristically dazed, his expression slowly twisted.

“Running around with your pants off like it’s nothing…”

Then, he suddenly remembered—this was the same kid who had peed on the floor. If he’d done that, what was taking off his pants in the hallway? Scowling, Hwang Jae-i strode over and yanked up the pants that had been shed like old skin. Holding them up in front of his face, he noted that they were indeed oversized. Well, it had been a gift meant for him—no way they’d fit that scrawny boy.

Staring at the pants with a hardened face, Hwang Jae-i eventually tossed them aside. They seemed to land on the sofa with a thunk, but he ignored them and walked into the kitchen. He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and was about to head out when he noticed the takeout food sitting on the oversized dining table, which only took up space. It was the food Johan had left earlier. Looking at it with an expression of clear displeasure, Hwang Jae-i remembered the rumble from that boy’s stomach.

Such a small body—how could it make a sound that loud? Had he not eaten in a while? Come to think of it, since bringing him here, he hadn’t seen him eat properly even once. Just half a bottle of strawberry milk—maybe even less. He recalled how the boy had tried to drink it little by little, only for him to knock it out of his hand.

Narrowing his eyes, Hwang Jae-i stood stiffly for a moment before muttering, Whatever, and left with only the water in hand. As soon as he entered the living room, he plopped down on the sofa and began looking for the remote—then stopped.

Even if he turned on the TV, it would be nothing but irritating noise. The fact that Ahn Yuna had sent Johan meant that something had leaked internally. That he had brought back a cult member had probably spread, and those who were displeased with him were ready to pounce.

It had already been a long time since the media stopped functioning as it should. With the influence of the government, conglomerates, and even some guilds, objectivity and expertise had been abandoned in favor of biased reporting for immediate gain. Still, the media typically avoided targeting Awakened individuals. But the parasitic ones targeting Hwang Jae-i had their reasons.

Thanks to his Awakening, three generations of his family had become S-class hunters—an unprecedented achievement. Not just domestically, but globally, he had garnered immense attention. At this point, it was almost a given that any child born after him would also be S-class, so corporations lined up to sponsor him. An S-class hunter was, in essence, a walking conglomerate—or a living billboard.

But as soon as Hwang Jae-i became Guildmaster, he cut all ties with the companies that had previously sponsored the Jae-i Guild. Some of them had been in close contact with his grandfather’s generation, so the backlash was significant—especially in a negative way.

Initially, people excused it by saying he was just seventeen and naïve about the world. Some even tried to teach him how to “properly” run a guild. Obviously, none of that worked. Hwang Jae-i shut down every attempt to approach him arrogantly or with ill intent—ruthlessly, and in his own way.

That was when the media turned against him, and discontent began to grow among the existing guild members. As a result, there were many personnel changes in the six months after he took over. Honestly, if it had been any other guild, it would have collapsed. Major revenue streams like sponsorships and advertisements had been severed, and many of the guild’s core members had left.

For nearly a year, one of the hottest topics on gambling sites was whether the Jae-i Guild would shut down. But in the end, it didn’t. Because Hwang Jae-i was there.

To clear major domestic Gates, he was indispensable—a genius at his actual job. As a rare S-class attack-type hunter, he explored and cleared Gates faster than anyone else and monopolized the valuable loot that came out.

Those became the guild’s main source of revenue, and that was why the Jae-i Guild still hadn’t fallen. In fact, it had become more solid. And the fact that the Jae-i Guild continued to thrive after cutting off what had once been “essential” support became a new benchmark. Perhaps because of this, some other guilds had begun to sever ties with entities that tried to interfere excessively.

Maybe those in power couldn’t stand the idea of guilds thriving independently. If more started breaking away like this, the ones who would ultimately lose out were the investors.

That was why Hwang Jae-i’s relationship with the media was like oil and water.

“Maybe I should conveniently wipe them all out during a Gate appearance.”

Those hands typing up trash articles—surely they could live without them. If he took out one or two in spectacular fashion, they wouldn’t dare mess with him again.

If he really wanted to, it wasn’t impossible. And knowing that was likely why Ahn Yuna had sent Johan. A subtle request to stay put and behave—while also filling him in on the external situation. Hwang Jae-i knew what Ahn Yuna wanted, but he had no obligation to cooperate.

If he didn’t like something, he didn’t. There was no need to force himself to tolerate things he didn’t even want in the first place.

“……”

Hwang Jae-i looked back.

It wasn’t too late—he could still kick him out. Stepping forward with one foot, he stopped almost immediately. Staring down the narrow hallway with a hardened face, he clicked his tongue in clear irritation.

When one became S-class, it was possible to go ten days without sleep. Hwang Jae-i went beyond that—he barely slept at all. Because every time he did, he saw something unpleasant.

“……”

He stood alone in a stark white space, then looked down.

His arms and legs were short. Troubled by the sight, he clenched and opened his fists repeatedly, then roughly swept away the thick hair that covered his face. He rubbed his face hard, not caring if it flattened his nose or cheeks. Somewhere, a small sound echoed.

Meow.

His body reacted first. He rushed over and lifted the crumpled blankets piled in the corner like a garbage bag. There, lying stretched out inside, was a black cat.

Then, it came back to him. Where he was—and who he was.

He didn’t know when it had started, but as far back as he could remember, he had been living here. He used to have someone else with him when he was younger, but now he was alone. He had been alone for quite some time—until this black cat appeared.

He wasn’t sure how it had gotten in, but from the very first time he saw it, it had been trembling uncontrollably. It didn’t look well. So he had tucked it into the blankets, but it didn’t seem to be getting better. It was strange. He had been told that if you snuggled up under a blanket and pressed close, the pain and tears would stop.

Blankets pulled up over his head, he stared down at the cat, then knelt and sat. Draping the blanket over both of them, he leaned down, gently cradling the cat.

“……”

Don’t be sick. Please get well.

Because if you disappear, I’ll be alone again.