“Why?!”
“You’re seriously asking me why...?”
“Did he get experimented on too?”
“Like hell that’s possible!”
“There’s only one S-Rank crafting type in the whole world...”
“Now there’s two—counting Gwuu.”
Hmph!
Guru blew air through her nose and put her hands on her hips.
— As mentioned, Guru was hiding her power.
Serhi looked at Guru with a complicated expression.
“Shouldn’t we... hide her or something?”
People would definitely come gunning for her from all over.
— Guru is hiding her power.
“That’s right,” Gidan added with a grin.
“Officially, she’s F-Rank on the [Hunter License]. We worked some strings at the Awakener Center. It’s top-level classified, so don’t go running your mouth.”
“As if I would...”
Impossible. That thing’s supposed to be an S-Rank crafter? That little thing?
Serhi staggered toward the couch and collapsed into it, leaning his head back.
“Ever since I got here, it’s like I’m constantly losing my damn mind.”
Guru scurried over to Serhi with little tapping footsteps.
— Is Serhi’s head hurting?
Gidan, following right behind, smiled sweetly and patted Guru’s head.
“What Serhi means is, he’s losing his mind because Hyeonak’s so awesome.”
“Ah, yeah. I’m really losing my mind thanks to you.”
“See? Told you.”
Gidan burst out laughing, and Guru looked at Serhi with a gaze of deep, shared understanding.
Oppaw Serhi’s Dani Oppaw’s new toy now, huh?
It was her sign of camaraderie toward a fellow victim, but Serhi’s face just twisted like his mood got worse.
Tch, look at him acting all high and mighty, like he’s any different.
Grumbling to herself, Guru took off her bear costume and plopped down beside him.
Gidan perched on the couch armrest, scrolling through the “Knock Knock, Where’s the Dungeon?” app.
“Nothing much today. Can’t go if the rank’s too low.”
Meanwhile, Serhi snorted as he looked at Guru, her face flushed red from the heat of the bear costume.
“Why do you even wear that? Look at you, sweating buckets.”
“Cuz... it’s Gwuu’s equipment!”
“Unbelievable.”
While Serhi wiped Guru’s face with the back of his hand, Gidan quickly grabbed a towel, reading the mood fast.
“Hey-yup!”
He tossed the towel, and Serhi caught it one-handed.
“Oh, nice.”
“Oooh!”
Serhi wiped Guru’s sweat with the towel, and Gidan helped strip off the bear outfit and fanned her with his hand.
Guru closed her eyes, face melting in bliss under the breeze.
Hyaaa, S-Rank fanning’s weawwy coow.
“Hey, Serhi. Wanna go play catch in the dungeon?”
“Nope.”
“Come oooon~ If not you, I got no one else to play with.”
“Ask the Guildmastuh.”
“You think that’s gonna happen?”
“I don’t wanna go, so quit bothering me.”
While they bickered, Guru squirmed and laid her head on Serhi’s lap.
She kinda understood now how Gidan had accepted Serhi, a Gnosis, so easily.
Same age, same grade... people around your level always felt special.
Like how Guru had clicked so fast with Uzhu, their shared wavelength just worked.
It’s like a sweet potato sprouting among a field of potatoes finally finding another sweet potato friend.
Serhi might be keeping his distance now but...
Hope they get closer soon...
Before she knew it, Serhi and Gidan were both fanning her together, and Guru, all warm and fuzzy, was blinking sleepily—
The two suddenly turned their eyes toward the door.
She’d seen this exact scene before, hadn’t she?
Someone’s coming?
The moment Guru sat bolt upright—
Knock knock—the door burst open.
Gidan stood up awkwardly, visibly flustered.
“Daniii, long time no see, huh?”
A woman with long, sleek hair tucked it behind her ear as she adjusted her glasses.
With her delicate, pure appearance, she smiled brightly at Gidan.
“...Y-Yeojin Nuna?”
Her friendly, easygoing tone contrasted sharply with Gidan’s stiff, cautious posture.
“W-What brings you here?”
Guru’s jaw dropped slightly at Gidan’s stammering.
Dani Oppaw’s actually flustered?
Even with Jurim, Gidan was always chill and smooth-talking.
But seeing him totally freeze up in front of this dainty, fragile-looking woman had Guru unconsciously clenching her sweaty little fists.
In comparison, Seol Yeojin exuded nothing but relaxed confidence as she winked and smiled crookedly.
“What, I’m not allowed to visit? Unless there’s a reason you don’t wanna see me?”
“No waaay! Of course I’m happy to see you! Just thought you said you were busy...”
She let out a tiny snort.
“Oh, I’ve been crazy busy. Thanks to you little chicks.”
You guys? Guru blinked.
“...Ah, cuz of us...”
Gidan’s halting words screamed I’m so screwed.
Who even is she to make Oppaw this nervous?
Guru gulped and half-hid behind Gidan’s back.
And then, their ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) eyes met.
“Hewwooo...”
“Oh my goodness, even cuter than I heard.”
Yeojin chuckled softly, clearly charmed by stiff, frozen Guru as she elegantly flipped her hair.
“First time we’re meeting, right? Our team’s often out on fieldwork, so sorry for the late intro. Heard all about you though. I’m Seol Yeojin, head of the Management Team.”
She barely finished introducing herself before turning back to Gidan.
“Even when I’m super busy, I still hear updates. Dani Hunter, I heard you ranked 9th on the midterms?”
“Uh...”
“Dani, I told you, with your special admission to university, you only needed to hit the bare minimum scores.”
“W-Well, I...”
“You think I’d let a Hunter under my management not make it into college?”
“Uh, no, I mean, I had my reasons...”
“And now, to make things worse, another minor joins the mix.”
Yeojin whipped her head toward Serhi.
Her sharp gaze made Serhi’s shoulders flinch instinctively.
“The new minor has zero record of compulsory education. Where’d you live, a deserted island?”
“Kirus Lab—”
Just as Serhi opened his mouth to say he was a Kirus lab test subject, Gidan slapped a hand over it lightning-fast.
“Kirus?”
Yeojin’s eyes widened in feigned surprise, and Gidan scrambled to explain.
“Uh, Kirus... the orphanage he stayed at... turns out it was run by a cult. That’s why he couldn’t go to school.”
Serhi furrowed his brows hard.
A cult? Of all possible cover stories, they had to go with that?
Now Serhi wasn’t just a delusional eighth-grader with a savior complex—he also had a cult kid backstory.
“Ah...”
Yeojin trailed off softly.
Coming from Kirus, he probably had a rough life. And a cult orphanage on top of that...
Her pitying look screamed, So that’s why you turned out like this?
Serhi clamped his mouth shut and turned away.
“So that’s why Director Jin Siwon from the Management Bureau became your guardian? Same Kirus background, huh.”
“What? Who’s my guardian?”
“You didn’t know Director Jin’s your legal guardian?”
“...I didn’t.”
Serhi mumbled.
“Well, you know now, so just say hi properly next time, yeah?”
Yeojin clapped Serhi’s shoulder with a bright smile.
“Alright, let’s get to the point, shall we? The Management Team’s here to oversee your education and daily life.”
She strutted over to the couch and sat down, gazing at them all.
“Looks like this’ll take a while, so stop standing around and sit.”
“Do you guys know what kind of affiliation minors are allowed to have?”
“Hunters?”
“Gnosis.”
“Nakasan!”
Gidan, Serhi, and Guru all answered in unison.
“...Hmph.”
Yeojin’s eyes dimmed with disappointment at their answers.
Meanwhile, Serhi leaned toward Guru, whispering softly.
“What’s Nakasan?”
“Dey the gweat big people nobody can touch.”
“Ah...”
Misinformation was spreading from a preschooler to a foreigner now.
“Ahahahahaha!”
Gidan burst out laughing, but Yeojin cut him off sharply.
“Hey, illiterates, stop holding a Q&A session.”
Ding!
The two of them snapped their heads forward, faces stunned.
Yeojin smiled sweetly and clapped her hands together.
“The correct answer is... student.”
Student?
Guru’s eyes widened in shock at the unexpected response.
“So, the Management Team’s setting up a special entrance exam support class and finals crash course to prevent any ‘immediate rejection’ incidents. Applause, please!”

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