For Jurim, Mom Cafe was an all-purpose parenting vending machine for rookie dads. He had started to deeply respect the kind women who resided in those online forums.
Just as Jurim was lost in thought, contemplating various things and about to touch the egg—
He stopped and clenched his left hand. A distinct chill seeped through his gloves.
Startled, Jurim quickly withdrew his hand.
A phantom pain?
In the meantime, Guru swiftly tucked the egg into her pocket.
Jurim’s gloves were a special S-rank creation by Amakusa. There was no way they would react to any external shock or change.
"Guru, hold on a second."
Just as Jurim was about to reach for the egg again—
♪ I’m gonna be ketchup~ I’m gonna dance~ Fancy Tomato~ ♪
A bright, cheerful ringtone from a kids' phone echoed.
"Yes, this is Guru speaking!"
Since she had always watched Jurim answer calls, Guru had started introducing herself as "Guru speaking" instead of saying "Hello."
Jurim shook his head with a sigh, though a faint smile tugged at his lips.
At some point, Guru had begun absorbing everything about Jurim like a sponge, imitating him without fail. Because of this, Jurim found himself frequently monitoring his own behavior.
On the other end of the line, a serious voice rang out.
— It’s me, Wooju.
“Mhm.”
— You didn’t save my number? I even sent a message...
“Huh? I did. I replied yesterday, didn’t I?”
— No, forget it. As long as you saved it, it’s fine.
“Mhm.”
— Anyway, you... do you have anything on your schedule lately?
Sche—what?
“Mmm. Guru has seven sketchbooks.”
— Not sketchbooks! I meant a schedule! Do you have work?
"Work?"
He probably wasn’t referring to kindergarten, and since Wooju was also in the industry, he must have been talking about Hunter-related work.
Guru sneaked a glance at Jurim, but he was too busy flipping through his tablet to react.
It had already been over two weeks since they took down Gidan and Malikian, yet since then, she hadn’t even stepped foot into a dungeon or training hall.
Jurim clearly had no intention of letting her do anything remotely Hunter-like.
Tch. Guru pouted.
“Nope.”
— I figured. The day after tomorrow, come to the place I’m filming at. Networking is important... I got dragged around to meet people all the time, too.
“Ohh, I see.”
Wooju went on, rambling about the ins and outs of the industry.
But since Guru hardly # Nоvеlight # understood any of it, she just blinked and responded with "Mhm" every now and then.
— So, you have to come, got it? I’ll send you the location by text.
“Mmm... okay.”
As soon as she replied, a message notification popped up.
— You better show up!
Wooju emphasized it one last time before hanging up.
Guru checked the address and stared at the word studio for a long moment.
He said he was in the industry, but why a studio? Not a dungeon or a training hall?
Guru tilted her head in confusion.
“That kid from the amusement park? The one you called ‘pretty’...”
“Yes.”
The one with jet-black hair and big, round eyes. Wasn’t his name Seo Wooju? That kid had left quite the impression on Jurim.
A six-year-old, grinning and calling himself pretty while trying to charm people? That was one hell of a kid.
Jurim’s displeasure was clear as he stared intently at Guru.
“You like him that much?”
“He’s fun. Smarter than my kindergarten friends.”
Guru beamed. Unlike her classmates at kindergarten, Wooju, being a working child actor, was knowledgeable and mature beyond his years.
Ever since her awakening, Guru had felt an increasing disconnect with the other kids at her kindergarten. Meanwhile, she and Wooju had quickly built a rapport, as they could actually hold conversations.
Hmm... Jurim exhaled and rubbed his chin with his large hand.
“Still, his family situation is a bit...”
“Hmm?”
Guru tilted her head again, unable to keep up with Jurim’s train of thought, which had veered off into an entirely different direction.
Jurim pursed his lips, fidgeted with his gloves, then lightly tapped the egg in Guru’s pocket.
Once again, a cold sensation briefly swirled inside his left hand.
His jet-black eyes darkened. He pressed down firmly on his glove with his right hand.
If the glove lost its function, he would begin merging with the master of the 99th floor again. The forced seal had imprisoned a being beyond human comprehension within him.
As a result, two souls now resided in one body, and there was no way a mere human soul could resist the overwhelming presence of the 99th floor’s master.
A powerless soul would inevitably be consumed, and the glove was merely a precautionary measure to prevent that from happening. There was no other solution.
Jurim found himself recalling those memories.
In truth, he had no say in sealing the 99th-floor master inside him.
Looking back now, everything had simply been thrust upon him.
Going to the Tower, sealing the 99th-floor master into his left hand, being unable to reach the 100th floor...
Of the entire team that had faced the 99th-floor master, only two had survived. Including himself.
When he bit his lip, the now-familiar taste of blood spread across his tongue. That bitter, familiar despair.
Standing atop the countless corpses of his fallen comrades, Jurim had only wished to turn back.
"Now, we really have to go back. It’s impossible with just the two of us!"
But what had he said back then?
"Jurim—"
Suddenly, the memories from the Tower pierced through him like a blade.
To wash away the lingering taste of blood in his mouth, Jurim instinctively downed his Americano like it was water.
If his gloves were losing their function, he might need to seek out Amakusa. Whether he could even find that elusive man was another question entirely.
"Guildeu-jjan-nim..."
Noticing the shift in Jurim’s demeanor, the child who had been rolling her eyes next to him quietly wriggled into his arms.
Guru clung onto his arm, groaning as if she was gathering energy, then beamed up at him, as if to ask, How was that?
"What are you doing?"
With a small smile, he flicked Guru’s forehead. She puffed up her soft cheeks, holding her forehead with both hands.
"Guru is being filial to Guildeu-jjan-nim."
Filial piety, my ass. He just wished she’d stop causing trouble outside.
And yet...
For some reason, whenever he was with her, his magic leakage and exhaustion seemed to fade.
She was clearly doing something, but he couldn’t quite explain what.
"If I go ha! it goes pow! and then ta-da! it works!"
She just kept repeating vague and abstract words.
"Guru, did you use a skill?"
"Yep! A filial piety skill!"
Well, whatever.
Jurim pulled Guru into his arms.
"Alright, go ahead. I need it today."
"Pat, pat?"
Jurim chuckled softly.
"Yeah."
The small hands patting his back were comforting.
Raising a child, he was slowly learning, meant receiving this kind of solace in return.
Luckily, Jurim didn’t put up much resistance about letting Guru visit the studio.
For someone who refused to let her do anything remotely Hunter-like, was it fine as long as she was just playing?
Of course, there was a condition: she had to go with an adult.
Since that meant an actual adult, the underaged Gidan was immediately disqualified, and Jurim himself was out because of an interview schedule.
"Aah, hyeooong! Dani wants to go with Guru too!"
Gidan whined a little.
"Then you’ll end up repeating a grade while following her around."
Even for an S-rank, high school was a merciless battlefield.
As Jurim debated who to send as her guardian, Gidan suddenly spoke up.
"If it’s a filming set, wouldn’t Nayun noona be the perfect fit?"
And so, Nayun was chosen as Guru’s escort.
The moment Guru climbed into the round, adorable car, Nayun handed her a drink featuring a cute character.
While Nayun punched in the address on the navigation, Guru took a sip and let out a satisfied breath.
"Hee-yah~!"
Ah, orange Pororo juice is the best!
As she was basking in the refreshing taste of her childhood drink, Nayun took a bunch of pictures of her and uploaded them to SNS.
"Ooh, should we take one together?"
Guru nodded enthusiastically.
After snapping a selfie with Guru, Nayun added a caption:
[With my beloved little Guru! 💖]
Within moments, the post was flooded with likes, and comments began rolling in:
"So cute!"
"Unnie, you’re gorgeous as always!"
Scrolling through Nayun’s SNS, Guru noticed that her pictures were posted there from time to time.
"Hooh..."
Seeing such clear proof of Nayun’s affection, Guru couldn’t help but grin.
"If only unnie could get registered as a guardian too."

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