But his body still wasn’t in good shape. At this rate, he might end up being the one who got taken down.
At the very least, he had to link up with Naohyeong.
Even if he couldn’t kill Jin Siwon right now, the fact that Jin Siwon didn’t recognize who he was might actually be to his advantage.
He could track the Gnosis Hunter’s movements—or maybe even trip him up.
“I’m a mercenary from Freefall.”
Freefall was a subsidiary guild under Brom.
“B-rank.”
When Serhi added that, Guru perked up her ears.
“B?”
“What?”
Serhi looked confused, but Guru only glanced at him with her big eyes and then hung her head.
Since the [Caregiver Registration] system message had appeared for him, Serhi’s actual rank was definitely S.
But now he’d introduced himself as B-rank.
That could only mean one thing...
Oppaw Serhi's a hidin’-his-powews guy wike Gwuu?!
That meant she wasn’t the only special one. And Guru’s own [Hunter License] said she was F-rank...
“Tch, too many hidin’-powew peopow.”
Guru muttered quietly, a bit dejected. The two foreigners just looked at her with question marks over their heads.
“If you were really B-rank, you wouldn’t need to go around as a mercenary. Any guild would take you.”
“I only awakened recently. Don’t know much yet, so I’m taking it slow.”
“You speak Korean fluently.”
“I’ve been in Korea a while.”
“Study abroad?”
“No, came here to make money. Did that thing. Day jobs? Where they give you money if you ride a truck with a bunch of guys and do labor.”
It was easier to hide behind a backstory of drifting through day jobs in Korea than claiming membership in any particular group.
“Ahh... So farms or hauler work?”
“Built stuff. Farm work too.”
Claiming farm labor in the countryside was also easier to fudge than any official awakened industry.
“Then you must be good at farm work.”
“Well... I just did what they told me.”
“You’ve got experience then.”
“Well, yeah, but—”
Before Serhi could even clarify, the two complete amateurs started praising him with sparkling eyes.
“That’s great! With an experienced guy, we can grow acorns really well!”
“Waaaah! So many gwreatest acowns!”
Don’t be happy about that if you don’t even know what you’re doing.
There had been tension in the air just moments ago, but thanks to their dumb, soft reactions, the whole thing deflated like a balloon and left Serhi feeling drained.
Either way, it had led to a pointless misunderstanding. He’d have to read the situation and make an early exit.
Feeling awkward, Serhi changed the subject.
“Anyway, did you two enter the RP Dungeon together?”
“Of course not.”
“Nope.”
Only now realizing Guru hadn’t come with Serhi, Jin Siwon asked,
“Then how did you get here, Guru? Did you come with Guildmastuh On?”
Shake, shake.
Guru shook her head.
“Gwuu came awone.”
“You? Alone? That normal in Korea?”
“What? You came here alone? How? Why?”
Serhi shuddered at the idea of Korea sending kids into RP Dungeons alone, imagining some terrifying Spartan system, but felt a bit reassured by Jin Siwon’s reaction.
Guru, overwhelmed by their flustered responses, recalled that day once again.
Hah! The black flame dragon slumbering in her chest twisted, and the pain of that day surged up.
Like someone had gone dong-dong on her head with a spoon... That dizzy, neck-stiffening sensation!
As she recalled the fury of that day, Guru covered one eye with her hand.
“Gwuu came to get wevenge on Ham Honggi.”
Serhi quietly asked Jin Siwon,
“Does ‘revenge’ mean something else in Korean? Like, not revenge revenge?”
“I’m not really sure either, but... probably?”
The two foreigners failed to grasp the depth of a four-year-old’s vengeful heart.
“Gwuu went to Onion Mawket to ask dem to find Mama, Dada. But a bad guy took da money and wun away.”
Guru explained, her tiny fists trembling with fury.
She detailed everything—how she met Ham Honggi, how he scammed her, and how that led to their reunion at the law firm, the moment she turned dark.
How she’d followed Ham Honggi into the dungeon, became a sky squirrel, and started growing acorns.
“Bad guy is in Snow Leopard Tribe, wight? Gwuu gonna go dere too. Wevenge!”
After hearing her entire story, Siwon and Serhi fell silent.
At the end of their complicated stares stood a baby sky squirrel chanting vengeance.
After some thought, Siwon summed it up.
“Then for now, let’s grow the acorns.”
“Yeah.”
“Eh?”
Serhi answered nonchalantly, while Guru jumped in surprise, ears perked.
“Sky squiwwel’s job is to gwow acowns. I’m a squiwwel, so I’ll hewp Gwuu gwow ‘em.”
“Gwuu has more impowtant stuff dan acowns!”
But Siwon, chin resting on one hand, asked seriously anyway.
“Looks like the squirrels planted acorns today. I wonder if they’ll grow fast enough to be harvested. Do trees grow that quickly?”
“Normally, no. But we’re inside a dungeon. Conditions are different. The acorns they planted must be special.”
“Hmm. If it’s possible, that means the time limit was designed to be tight.”
“Probably.”
No one’s wistening to me!
Guru’s shoulders trembled. With the stern face of someone leading a labor strike, like in those documentaries, she raised her fist.
“Gwuu! Wiww! Wevenge!”
“Too dangerous.”
“No way.”
Jin Siwon and Serhi said it at the same time.
They didn’t even need to discuss it—it was a silent agreement. There was no way they’d let a four-year-old go into a contaminated zone for revenge.
Shff! Guru puffed her cheeks out.
“Mr. Serhi. The contamination zone is dangerous. Why don’t you stay here a bit longer before going?”
“Not ‘Mr. Serhi.’ Just Serhi.”
“If that’s alright, I’ll call you that from now on.”
“Fine. And you’re telling me to stay here and help with the acorn farm, right?”
“Ah, you caught me.”
Siwon sheepishly scratched his cheek, a little blush rising.
Serhi shot back that he’d just seen them all getting excited about having a guy with experience, and now they were backpedaling.
Guru, just breathing out little shffs, pushed her mouth out like a bird’s beak.
Adults never listened to kids.
Wittwe kids got feewings too, y’know.
It stung. But fine.
Den Gwuu just gotta twy hawd awone!
Serhi was from the Snow Leopard Tribe. Once he was healed, he’d leave for the contaminated zone to rejoin his guildmates.
Which meant that was her chance.
Gwuu just fowwow Oppaw Serhi!
Their acorn alliance was only temporary.
Serhi and Siwon were blissfully picturing the bright future of the acorn farm.
So naïve, da aduwts...
Guru was no longer the old Guru. The current Guru had a pitch-black heart with a black flame dragon asleep inside it.
Gwuu wiww stwike when dey weast expect it.
She smirked slyly, twisting her lips as she secretly glared at the two of them.
“Then I’ll stay until I’m healed.”
Serhi replied dispassionately, then glanced sideways at Siwon. The wide-eyed man was still smiling blankly, completely unaware.
More importantly—Ham Honggi...
That name sounded familiar.
That bastard?
The one causing chaos in the Brom Guild had a similar name.
Serhi faintly recalled the name and shook his head.
What does it matter. Once he found the Core, Brom would be wiped out anyway.
The mission this time was to purify the swamp using the acorns, retrieve the Core ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) hidden inside, and extract it.
A dungeon’s Core could only exist within the influence of its boss—so once it was removed, a Dungeon Break would be triggered. But that didn’t matter.
Sacrifices always happened. This time, he’d simply be the one choosing who got sacrificed.
The more chaos erupted, the better it was for them. Fear made infiltration easier.
If the Dungeon Break triggered, even little yellow Guru probably wouldn’t survive...
Serhi glanced briefly at Guru.
Still, sending her straight into danger left a bitter taste. The only reason he wouldn’t let her into the contamination zone was just that.
The acorn farm? He’d just play along a little while longer.
Once he healed, he’d kill the Gnosis Hunter—and leave.

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