A back alley behind an old commercial building. A place rarely visited by people — and yet Hunters stood guard around the perimeter of the building.
Clad in black suits and wearing earpieces, they were clearly security personnel.
Watching the scene through binoculars from a nearby rooftop, Hyun Dowoon furrowed his brow.
‘What the hell are they guarding that place for?’
Unable to make sense of what he was seeing, Dowoon lowered the binoculars and muttered,
“You really not gonna tell me who those guys are?”
“I told you, I don’t know.”
The man beside him snapped in a sharp tone.
His tousled, coppery-red hair was ruffled by the wind. Leaning against the rooftop railing, Kwon Seoyul watched the security guards with irritation flickering in his eyes.
‘There’s no presence at all.’
Not even a trace of Cha Seohu — not even a hint of movement. The second floor of the commercial building, formerly used as Seohu’s office, was completely empty.
Yet the security team remained, loitering nearby without budging. What exactly was their purpose?
Kwon Seoyul’s already short fuse was burning away by the second. If he wasn’t supposed to be hiding right now, he would’ve barged in already.
‘I have a guess who’s behind this, though.’
Today marked the second day since they slipped out of the district.
It wasn’t easy to sneak out of a zone that was larger than most cities. If it weren’t for Hyun Dowoon — who had access to the district’s full network and could tamper with CCTV — they would’ve failed.
It had taken three days to get out, which felt like a waste. But to stretch their time outside as long as possible, they had no other choice. After all, it wasn’t certain whether “Father” would allow their outing at all.
“If you’re so curious, just let me go. I’ll beat it out of them, kill someone, whatever it takes to find out.”
“You say you’ll commit a crime so casually.”
Letting out a sigh, Dowoon looked away from Seoyul, who was grumbling like a petulant child.
“What’s the point of sneaking out if you’re just going to cause trouble?”
“Aren’t you a hacker? Can’t even find Seohu-hyung’s location? You even brought your laptop. Can’t you do something?”
“Do you think I would’ve come all the way out here if I could? We’re here because there’s no contact.”
There was a way, but it could only be used once. He had to be cautious.
Seoyul, growing frustrated with Dowoon’s overly cautious behavior, pushed out his last ounce of patience.
“Just today. If nothing changes by tomorrow, I’m doing things my way—”
He abruptly stopped mid-sentence. His expression twisted as he glared at the building, then turned sharply on his heel.
“What is it? Where are you going?”
“Shut up and follow me.”
“Kwon Seoyul! Goddamn it, this bastard—!”
Startled by Seoyul flinging open the rooftop door and storming down the stairs, Dowoon quickly followed after him.
The rooftop they’d been watching from was just one block away from the target building. Sprinting through the back alley, Kwon Seoyul arrived at the scene and shouted without hesitation.
“Hey!”
A tall man stood directly opposite him. Even in the warming weather, he wore a pristine three-piece suit buttoned to the collar.
The man turned, revealing dark blue hair and neatly arranged brows that twitched with irritation upon spotting Seoyul.
Unbothered by the man’s wariness, Seoyul strode forward and barked,
“Where’s Seohu-hyung?”
“What?”
“I said, where the hell are you hiding Seohu-hyung?”
The bold, shameless accusation made Kwon Taehyuk’s dark eyes turn cold.
“What kind of bullshit are you spouting?”
“Damn, can’t even understand plain speech?”
Fwwip—with a short whistle in place of an instrument, a faint spark crackled in the air. Detecting the killing intent, energy began to ripple from Taehyuk as well.
The tension between the two instantly altered the flow of ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) air around them.
Just as a violent clash was about to break out, Dowoon rushed in, panic written all over his face.
“Kwon Seoyul! Don’t cause a goddamn scene, you lunatic!”
After three miserable days of struggle, they had only just managed to escape the district. He couldn’t afford to get arrested without even meeting Cha Seohu.
But Kwon Seoyul neither understood nor cared about Dowoon’s feelings. He shoved Dowoon aside and snapped,
“Move! That bastard definitely knows where Seohu-hyung is!”
“...What?”
Now even Dowoon looked over at Kwon Taehyuk with suspicion.
At this point, even Dowoon couldn’t help but realize who the security team belonged to.
Which made everything more confusing. If his intel was correct, then this man was none other than the Guildmaster of Yesung Guild — Kwon Taehyuk.
Why would the leader of Yesung be guarding the building Seohu used to occupy?
“That guy.”
Seoyul said it offhandedly.
“He’s Seohu-hyung’s fuck buddy.”
“...!”
Dowoon’s jaw dropped.
‘...Cha Seohu’s fuck buddy?’
But he’s a man. Not to mention — that man? The Guildmaster of Yesung? How the hell did that happen?
Staggered by the implication, Dowoon looked reflexively at Taehyuk.
Just moments ago, his eyes had been cold and murderous. Now they wavered uncontrollably — clearly rattled. Dowoon was floored.
‘No fucking way...’
Seohu, who used to roll around with women constantly back in the district, was now into guys, too?
“...”
“...”
An awkward silence descended upon the alley.
Taehyuk’s face was a mess of conflicting emotions. Dowoon looked distinctly uncomfortable. Seoyul was about to lose his temper.
Roughly ten seconds passed before Taehyuk finally regained enough composure to open his mouth.
“It’s a misundersta—”
“Guildmaster.”
One of the security guards, who had been pretending not to hear anything, stepped forward and said quietly,
“We’ve just received a progress report from the driver. They’ll be arriving soon, so you’ll need to leave now.”
The guard had identified Kwon Seoyul as an S-rank Dealer and intentionally left out critical details. Taehyuk gave a small nod, briefly glancing at both Dowoon and Seoyul.
Taehyuk wasn’t exactly happy with the situation either.
While Cha Seohu had been away in the snowy mountains on a request from Circle Guild, Taehyuk had been monitoring the building nonstop. After the lab attacked both Seohu and Sahyeon, there was always the risk they’d strike again.
Yet despite the round-the-clock surveillance, nothing happened.
Seohu had returned to Seoul, so today was supposed to be the last day of watch duty — and then Kwon Seoyul showed up. Along with another S-rank who was clearly from the same district.
‘Hunter Cha Seohu said the attackers weren’t from the district, but...’
Regardless of that incident, Seoyul — who had attacked and threatened Seohu — was still a thorn in his side. Same for this new guy.
‘I’ll have to let Hunter Cha Seohu know.’
With a final glance at the pair, Taehyuk turned his back.
He left the alley, taking his guards with him without hesitation. Dowoon, dumbfounded, only came to his senses after Taehyuk disappeared from view.
“Hey... was that really—”
“Shh.”
Cutting him off, Seoyul closed his eyes and focused.
Beyond the alley, the street bustled with the sounds of countless people. Amidst the overlapping noise, Seoyul homed in on a single voice with perfect clarity.
This was his power — a skill derived from relentless training in music and sound, not a system-awarded ability.
After a few seconds, Seoyul opened his eyes with certainty.
“Hyung, use your skill.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. They said it’ll take about 30 minutes. He’ll be arriving around the same time as Seohu-hyung.”
Seoyul repeated the exact line spoken by one of the departing guards.
Even for an S-rank, hearing a conversation from that far away would be impossible. But for Kwon Seoyul, it was a matter of natural talent.
“...If it’s a 30-minute distance, that means he’s still within Seoul. Got it.”
It would’ve been better if they had the destination, too. Dowoon let out a sigh, reluctantly preparing to use his skill.
Crackle!
Sparks surged around his eyes. His pupils turned pale blue as everything before him broke down into zeroes and ones.
The realm expanded rapidly, until a full map of Seoul unfolded in Dowoon’s mind. Roads, buildings, and living beings, all interconnected like plant roots. Within that web, he searched for one specific code — and soon found it.
Crack! Zzzzt!
“Hah...!”
His head felt like it was about to burst from the heat. Dowoon hastily terminated the skill and stumbled, grabbing a wall for balance.
Seoyul watched with arms crossed and asked,
“Did you find him?”
“Yeah.”
Sweating profusely, Dowoon pulled a pair of glasses from his inventory and put them on. The lingering sparks around his eyes began to fade, the veins calming.
“...I know where he went.”
His eyes still blue, Dowoon recalled something from the past.
There had been a time when Seohu asked him to retrieve CCTV footage. If he remembered correctly... it had been tied to an incident involving Circle Guild.
Now, seeing Seohu’s current location, he made the connection.
With a weary look, Dowoon told Seoyul,
“Circle Guild. Let’s head there.”
“Hyung, are you okay?”
Someone reached out and held my hand. I turned to see Cha Sahyeon seated beside me, gazing up at me with those green eyes.
“...It’s nothing.”
I gave a brief reply and looked back out the window.
Right now, we were riding in a Yesung Guild vehicle on our way to Circle Guild.
After descending the mountain and wondering how we’d return to Seoul, we’d stumbled upon drivers from Yesung Guild — a ridiculous coincidence.
As if they had prepared for this, they bombarded us with explanations:
[We’ve been taking turns on standby by order of the Guildmaster.]
[We were to respond immediately if we saw a distress flare or signs of danger.]
[Are you returning to Seoul? We’ll escort you.]
And so, we comfortably made our way back to Seoul in one of the two cars they had prepared — two people per vehicle.
Naturally, I rode with Sahyeon. Eunbok came with us, curled up on my thigh and yawning without a care. Despite my worries, she seemed totally at ease with cars.
Everything had gone smoothly. Except for one thing.
‘This is driving me insane.’
Thirty minutes ago, I’d felt a sudden heat below my waist.
More precisely — a sharp sensation near my tailbone.
It was brief — almost instantaneous — but I knew exactly what that part of my body was used for. I couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
‘Dowoon used his skill to locate me.’
Thump. Thump. Anxiety pounded through my chest.
I swallowed dryly, bracing for the worst.
‘No way...’
Did that person give the order? Did they use Dowoon’s skill to track me down...?
“We’ve arrived.”
The driver’s voice pierced through my spiraling thoughts. I stepped out of the car, carefully keeping a neutral expression.

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