When we had headed to the dungeon, we walked to the meeting point on foot, but on the way back, there was no way we had the strength left for ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) that. We had no choice but to take a taxi.
I pulled my wallet out of my inventory, paid the fare, and safely returned to the office with Cha Sahyeon.
"Ugh..."
Maybe it was because the tension had finally released, but my entire body was starting to ache badly.
As I hunched over, groaning and punching in the door lock code at the office entrance, Cha Sahyeon, who had spotted something on the floor, picked it up and showed it to me.
"This..."
"Hm?"
Curious, I took it. It looked like just a scrap of paper — the kind ripped hastily from the corner of a notebook — so at first I thought it was trash.
But when I flipped it over, I noticed something drawn on the back.
'A spider?'
It was a picture of a spider descending on a thread.
Looking closer, it wasn’t hand-drawn — it had been stamped on.
Why would something like this be lying in front of the office?
It felt too unsettling to dismiss it as a prank or coincidence.
"...Let's go in first."
Standing here glaring at the spider wasn’t going to solve anything.
I tucked the scrap into my pocket and entered the office.
"You go wash up first. I’ll make a call."
I shoved the hesitating Cha Sahyeon into the bathroom and pulled out the cellphone I hadn’t touched since putting it into my inventory.
"What the hell?"
Since I hadn't checked it while I was in the dungeon, it had been almost two days, and the phone was full of missed calls and messages.
Skipping over the spam and unknown numbers, I checked the ones from Hyun Dowoon first.
Hyun Dowoon
Pick up your phone
If you don’t call me back by tomorrow, I’m deleting the files, good luck
Seriously
If you were going into a dungeon, you should've said so
Damn it
Call me when you’re out
In between were a lot of other messages that were basically just curses.
Anyway, summarizing: ‘I found what you asked for, so why the hell are you ignoring me?’
I thought something major had happened.
Still, a message from Hyun Dowoon meant he had discovered something about the lab I had asked about — good news, overall.
I called him.
— ...Hello?
Hyun Dowoon answered in a voice that sounded half-asleep.
Even though it was late afternoon, with the sun just starting to set, Dowoon’s sleep schedule was a total mess, so he was probably in his prime nap time.
"Hey, darling."
— Ah, f***...
"You must’ve missed me a lot.
My inbox was pretty full while I was away in the dungeon."
I teased him with a laugh. There was some rustling, and he sat up and grumbled back.
— Stop screwing around. Transfer one million won to my account immediately.
"Come on, we know each other too well for that. Tell me how valuable the information is first, then we’ll talk payment."
— Your tone is seriously pissing me off, stop it...
Clearing his throat, Hyun Dowoon finally got serious.
— About that lab incident you asked about.
"Yeah?"
— It’s true that the lab collapsed after the Yesung Guild raided it. All the staff were taken away by the Administration Bureau.
"Wait, the Administration Bureau? Not Yesung Guild?"
— That’s what I thought at first, but nope.
Even if the Yesung Guild has a good reputation, it’s still a private organization. If the Administration Bureau demands it citing human rights, they have to hand people over.
"Human rights, huh."
Taking care of the rights of those bastards who kidnapped people and performed human experiments?
The very thought made my stomach churn.
'Probably just an excuse to mess with the Yesung Guild.'
It wasn’t new — the constant power struggle between guilds and the Administration Bureau.
And Yesung Guild, being highly competent and fairly well-regarded, naturally clashed often.
— Anyway... so Yesung Guild didn’t get much out of it. I dug into the Bureau’s side too, but honestly, they're doing nothing with the staff they took.
"What do you mean, nothing?"
— I mean literally nothing.
They’re just keeping them. You know how interrogating those types requires skilled specialists and Awakeners with the right abilities?
"Haa..."
In short, they grabbed the lab staff to save face against the guild, but didn’t want to put in the effort to interrogate them properly.
As I sighed in disbelief, Dowoon clicked his tongue.
— It’s obvious. Since the victims were orphans and vagrant Awakeners, they don’t feel any urgency to actually solve anything.
They’re fine with just sweeping it under the rug.
"Goddamn bastards."
I leaned against the window with a sigh.
It was practically in my hands — the chance to finish things cleanly — and the Bureau had to mess it all up.
My head was pounding.
"So you're saying there’s no real information to be gained?"
— Not right now.
All we can do is wait and watch.
If the Bureau keeps dragging its feet, Yesung Guild might eventually get fed up and make a move.
I had asked Hyun Dowoon to look into it because it was important, but now there wasn’t even material to dig through.
As I frowned, Dowoon offered,
— If you want, I can at least send you a list of the staff they detained.
It’s not impressive though.
"...Wait."
Something struck me.
"You're saying no important people are on the list?
Isn’t there a woman called the Director?"
— The Director? Hmm... no.
No one with that title is listed.
"You’re sure?"
— I double-checked just now. She's not there.
Not on the list.
Then... the Director had escaped during that chaos?
Even after being dosed with her own experimental drug?
The memory of the woman trying to inject Cha Sahyeon flashed across my mind, and a cold chill ran down my spine.
'I should’ve just killed her.'
Back then, I couldn’t.
With the possibility of hunters arriving at any moment, I had to prioritize getting Cha Sahyeon out.
I had only sabotaged her so she couldn’t escape easily, thinking killing her would cause too many complications — but now, I regretted not finishing the job.
Sighing, I told Dowoon,
"Alright.
Send me the list anyway."
— Got it.
"And... one more thing."
— ...You better transfer me ten million won for this next one, you bastard.
"Isn’t that a bit steep?"
Trying to hide my sinking mood, I joked lightly. Dowoon sighed.
— Fine, what is it?
"I picked up a scrap of paper just now."
— A scrap of paper?
"Yeah.
There’s a spider symbol on the back — looks like a spider descending on a web."
— A spider symbol... descending on a web...
Dowoon muttered like he was remembering something.
As I waited for his answer, I casually glanced out the window—
And narrowed my eyes.
In the dimming twilight, down a back alley,
A man was staring up at me — wearing a mask with a spider symbol.
The moment I saw it, I immediately cut in,
"Sorry, something came up.
Just send your answer with the list by email."
— Hey, wait! What? No, listen—
I hung up before he could finish.
Throwing the phone onto the couch, I rushed back to the window.
The masked man, our eyes having met, quickly turned and started running.
'Dammit.'
No time to stand around.
I instantly activated my Hidden Skill.
Zap!
《Hidden Skill: Silverlight’s Blessing (S-rank) activated!》
《Hidden Skill: Silverlight’s Blessing (S-rank) [Active]》
"Urgh...!"
Electricity crackled over my body with sharp pain.
Transforming quickly into S-rank, I threw on a change of clothes and jumped out the window.
"Shit!"
The moment I landed, I realized — I forgot a mask.
What was the point of pulling my hood down low if my face was still exposed?
Cursing my own stupidity, I took off running after the man anyway—
And spotted a brightly lit store nearby.
'There!'
In this situation, it was exactly what I needed.
I rushed into the store.
The clerk greeted me brightly, unfazed by my black hat and deeply pulled hood.
"Welcome."
"Hi. Do you have disposable masks?"
"Only black ones left. Is that okay?"
"That's fine."
Without batting an eye at my suspicious appearance, the clerk grabbed a pack of black disposable masks.
"Three thousand won."
"Ah, yes."
I hurriedly pulled out my wallet.

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