I looked up at the building in front of me.
The second floor of this four-story commercial building would be the new home—and guild office—for this kid.
‘A bit away from Gangnam, quiet neighborhood... pretty much perfect.’
Leaving it to Hyun Dowoon was the right choice.
He always grumbles, but he really gets things done. Pleased, I walked into the building with Cha Sahyeon.
We climbed to the second floor and unlocked the front door, revealing a bare office space.
Two rooms and a bathroom—perfect for doubling as both an office and a place to live. First thing to do was furnish the place.
‘I’ve got enough cash to get by, so we’ll stay quiet here for a while.’
Thanks to Son Gayoung and the others selling the lab items on my behalf, I now had about 150 million won in my account.
Even after deducting their cut and the cost of the necklace inventory item, it was clear that the loot had been worth a decent amount.
With the remaining funds, I could buy furniture and officially start running the guild. Not that there was much to run—with only the two of us.
‘Maybe I’ll get some low-level dungeon requests.’
Plenty of guilds out there. It was possible nothing would come in. But I couldn’t live forever on just 150 million won, so I’d need to work eventually.
“Haah...”
I sighed as I wandered around the space, lost in thought.
Figuring out how to survive could wait. I already had a mountain of things to do—I didn’t need to start worrying about the future too.
“Hey, kid.”
While I was checking the place out, Sahyeon stood silently near the door, watching me.
“Hungry?”
“......”
Grinning, I reached out and ruffled her hair. For now, rest came first.
After picking up some clothes at a nearby department store, we headed to a hotel.
If I were alone, I would’ve crashed at a sauna or motel, but I wasn’t comfortable bringing a little kid to a place like that.
When we stepped into the hotel lobby, some life returned to Cha Sahyeon’s otherwise blank eyes. She fixated on the chandelier in the center of the lobby—specifically, the gem hanging from it.
She stared at the jewel sparkling in the chandelier light with unusual intensity. This was the first time I’d seen any genuine interest or reaction from her.
‘So she likes shiny things? Or maybe jewels themselves?’
Either way, figuring out her preferences wasn’t a bad thing. If I ever had to coax her into something, knowing what piqued her interest would be useful.
‘Jewels, huh...’
If it meant keeping her calm and close, I’d buy her as many gems as she wanted.
I was already planning to equip her with a tracking item later. If she liked jewels, she wouldn’t resist wearing one. That made things easier for me.
I made a mental note to give her an item later and led her up to our reserved room.
I tossed the key card onto the table and spoke, but Sahyeon just kept following me around the room, blank as ever, not even trying to find the bathroom.
Like a damn duckling. Was I really going to have to drag her into the bathroom myself? Kids were a pain in the ass.
I reached to grab her by the scruff and toss her in, but right then—a window popped up in front of me.
Ding!
《Main Quest has arrived!》
《Main Quest: Get closer to the villain who bears the Seed of Catastrophe (1/10)》
[Main Quest: Get closer to the villain who bears the Seed of Catastrophe (1/10)]
To slow the growth of the Seed, you must build rapport with the villain.
Objective: Bathe together with the villain.
(Time remaining: 50 minutes)
Warning! If the quest is not completed within the time limit, it will be marked as failed.
Quest Failure: Seed of Catastrophe progression increases.
“...Son of a...”
I barely managed to choke back the curse that nearly escaped my lips.
What kind of quest was this? Just out of the blue—bathe together?
‘And what’s with that number at the end? Are there going to be nine more of these quests?’
I’d been planning to use this time to check my status while she washed, but the system decided to screw me over instead.
I swallowed my frustration and took a deep breath. No use blowing up—it’d just make me look like a lunatic.
“Hey, kid.”
I forced a bright smile and patted Sahyeon’s head.
“You’re scared to wash alone in a new place, huh?”
“...?”
She looked at me like I was insane. Don’t look at me like that. I’ve got my reasons, okay?
“Just for today, your big brother will help you. Let’s wash together, alright?”
“......”
She gave me a face that clearly said, ‘What the hell are you talking about?’ but I didn’t wait for permission. I scooped her up and marched straight to the bathroom. No time to waste—the clock was ticking.
I brought her inside, shut the door, and set her down. Thankfully, the bathroom was spacious enough for both of us.
“Take your clothes off.”
Sahyeon just stared at me blankly, unmoving.
Was she embarrassed? With no choice, I started undressing first. I’d been wearing the same T-shirt since the lab anyway, so I was glad to get rid of it.
As I pulled it off, her shoulders flinched and she quickly looked away. Through her tousled black hair, I noticed her ears slowly turning red.
‘Wow, seriously? She’s this shy? Or is it because she’s a kid?’
I could understand being embarrassed, but I couldn’t afford to let this quest fail just because she was being slow.
With slightly rough hands, I helped her undress and turned on the shower. The warm water poured over her head, and she squeezed her eyes shut.
“Let’s try to cooperate, okay? We’re gonna ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) be living together from now on.”
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
I moved the shower head aside and gently brushed her wet bangs back while I spoke softly. Maybe it was the warm water, but her face turned bright red. After a moment of hesitation, she looked me in the eyes and gave a firm nod.
Like a stiff, broken robot, I flipped her this way and that, scrubbing her clean before finally washing myself as well. We left the bathroom together afterward.
I wrapped a bathrobe around myself. For Sahyeon, I put her in the clothes we’d bought earlier. After washing, her already-pretty face looked even more radiant.
‘This kid... she’s gonna break a lot of hearts when she’s older.’
Annoyed by the thought for some reason, I grabbed her cheeks and stretched them out.
“Hang tight. I’ll order room service. I’m starving—I haven’t eaten since yesterday.”
We’d gone straight from the lab to Zone C-281 without stopping to eat. I was sure she hadn’t eaten either, even if she wasn’t saying anything.
Ding!
Right then, a window popped up in front of Sahyeon’s stretched-out cheek.
《Main Quest: Get closer to the villain who bears the Seed of Catastrophe – Cleared!》
《Main Quest reward granted.》
《Trait acquired: “Missing Something at the Side?” (F-rank)》
“...Am I supposed to be happy about this?”
“...?”
I muttered with a hollow laugh as I read the clearly useless reward. Sahyeon blinked at me, confused.
I shook my head, letting her know it was nothing, and released her cheek.
‘This won’t do.’
So damn frustrating. With some time before room service arrived, I figured I should finally dig into the system and check my status.
I lay back on the couch and opened the status window.
Age: 26 (28)
Main Skill: Bond of the Guardian (S-rank)
Hidden Skill: Silverlight’s Blessing (S-rank) [Inactive]
Attack Power: F-rank
Attack Speed: F-rank
Movement Speed: F-rank
Agility: F-rank
Traits ▼
└ Soaked Cat (F-rank)
└ Just Lie Down (F-rank)
└ Missing Something at the Side? (F-rank)
Skills were decent. The traits, though? Absolute garbage—just looking at their F-rank made me sigh.
Clicking my tongue, I checked the first one—Soaked Cat, a trait I’d had from the start.
[Soaked Cat (F-rank)]
A 0.5% chance to elicit sympathy from others.
...What the fuck?
Staring at the status window with dead eyes, I quickly opened the second trait, praying it wasn’t more trash.
[Just Lie Down (F-rank)]
A 0.3% chance to knock out your opponent on impact.
[Missing Something at the Side? (F-rank)]
A 0.8% chance to detect an opening in your opponent’s defenses.
“......”
I couldn’t even finish reading. I closed my eyes tight as a splitting headache bloomed across my skull.
Not a single one of these traits had even a 1% activation rate. And there was no way to remove or disable them.
“Ha... hahaha...”
I clutched my pounding forehead and laughed aloud.
I really thought maybe at least one of them would be useful.
‘Nope. They’re all trash.’
Fucking hell.

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