An emergency was declared in an instant.
If poaching continued, no one knew when another disaster like the silver-light grass crisis would occur.
Everyone agreed it needed to be stopped—but the problems were many.
To poach an A-Rank boss, the culprit had to be extremely skilled.
An undercover investigation was necessary to catch them. But all top-ranked Awakened above A-Rank had recognizable faces, and getting their cooperation wasn’t easy.
An undercover op with no clear end in sight? They’d all refuse, obviously.
High-rankers made money just by existing.
Joining an investigation meant giving up massive earnings.
So the Awakened Crime Division reached out to the Management Bureau for cooperation.
Sure, the Bureau had Jin Siwon, an S-Rank, but even he couldn’t cover every dungeon...
In the end—
“Given the circumstances, we were wondering if we might ask for Hyeonak’s help.”
Jin Siwon sat in the Guildmaster’s office, huddled with the Special Investigations team, explaining everything from the top.
His team members peeked out like meerkats, awestruck to see Jurim in person.
The moment Jin Siwon said he’d try asking Hyeonak for help, they all banded together and rushed over to catch the opportunity.
Seeing Siwon’s embarrassed expression, Jurim responded flatly.
“So that’s how it is, Serhi.”
Serhi, who had been summoned by Jurim, was standing as far away from Siwon as possible, fiddling with his phone. He only lifted his eyes halfway.
“So that’s what this was about.”
Siwon smiled sheepishly, and Serhi looked back down.
“If you don’t want to, you can refuse.”
As soon as Jurim said that, Serhi answered bluntly, like he was tossing the words.
“License.”
“...Sorry?”
When Siwon asked again, Serhi turned his head and replied,
“Hunters need one of those, right? Give it to me. Then I’ll do it.”
Serhi didn’t currently have a [Hunter License].
Given how high his rank was, the moment it got issued, he’d draw massive attention.
Because he was still young and had that kind of history, both of his guardians—Jurim and Siwon—had judged it best to delay.
But if he had the license, he could show Team Leader Seol Yeo-jin that he was capable of living on his own.
What school. Whatever.
He was obediently studying and living with Gidan, but that was only because he had no other choice.
From what he’d looked up, a [Hunter License] could even get you loans and housing.
He might’ve been under Hyeonak for now, but he never planned to rely on them forever.
He had learned the hard way not to trust others lightly.
Most of what Seol Yeo-jin said was correct. If he couldn’t live independently, he needed another option.
Getting a [Hunter License] was the first step.
That’s why he agreed to help this time.
However—
No one said I had to wear this thing!
Wearing a dumb mascot suit was the Special Investigations Division’s idea.
They didn’t know how many dungeons they’d have to hit before catching the suspect, and even though Serhi wasn’t widely known, they said it’d be better to cover his face. So they brought in a costume used for early childhood education.
Who the hell thought this deranged-eyed thing was good for kids?!
Just as Serhi was holding in a curse, a man coordinating the teams called out.
“Hey, Mr. Cat-Eyes, are you the last one? Not many people today.”
Cat-Eyes...
Maybe the costume wasn’t so bad. His cheeks and ears were probably already burning red anyway.
“Uh... yeah, I’m the last...”
Serhi gritted his teeth as he answered.
And then—
“Let us join too!”
“...?”
It was the last voice he ever wanted to hear.
“Hewwo!”
But contrary to his wishes, a boy with a baseball bat energetically waved his hand.
Disguised with a concealment patch, but no doubt about it—that was Gidan.
And it didn’t end there.
Why the hell is Gwuu here too...?
That teddy bear he was holding—definitely Guru.
Guru’s round bear ears twitched nonstop as she spotted Serhi in the cat costume.
She was even puffing her breath through her nose. No doubt about it—she was thrilled.
...Thrilled about what, exactly?
He had a really bad feeling about this.
While Serhi winced, Gidan spun his baseball bat, slung it over his shoulder, and joked,
“Cat-Eyes? Then I’ll be Bat-Man~”
Is this guy fucking insane?
— What’s going on?
A voice came through the earpiece. It was Yoon Arin from the Bureau’s Special Investigations Division.
A brainwave-reading device had sent a signal to her.
They wore the communication device to avoid suspicion among other Hunters.
— It’s Gidan.
— Um... Did you request help from Hunter Gidan?
— No, he doesn’t know a damn thing. That bastard just came here to mess with me.
— Ah...
I’m not letting this happen.
He didn’t really care about boss poaching. What mattered to Serhi was that this was his shot at a [Hunter License].
He glanced at the man he’d been tracking for days.
Today, he had finally gotten into the party of the prime suspect, “An Sanghoe.” This was a golden opportunity.
He couldn’t let that lunatic and a preschooler ruin it.
“Do you just let anyone in this team? That guy’s obviously suspicious. You take randoms into an A-Rank dungeon and someone could get killed—”
Serhi tried to stop them, but Gidan jumped in.
“That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? Suspicious as hell.”
“...!”
Goddammit.
— Told you, the mascot was a terrible idea.
— Mmm... Best not to draw attention. Just ignore Hunter Gidan and proceed.
Serhi exhaled in frustration.
Just then, the teddy bear waddled over and stomped toward him.
— It’s not shamefuw to mimick a gweat huntew.
“...?”
The half-finished bear suit huffed a breath at him.
Me?
Serhi pointed at himself, then at Guru.
You?
Nod!
Wait—that’s why she wiked this?
The ugly cat face opened its mouth in stunned silence.
A-Rank Dungeon — Bloody Werewolf’s Den.
Beast-type monsters were relatively manageable if you knew how to fight them, so even in an A-Rank dungeon, you didn’t need a huge group.
Current # Nоvеlight # count: Five B-Ranks, one A-Rank...
And three S-Ranks in disguise!
There shouldn’t be any problems. Really. There shouldn’t have been...
“They’re coming! Everyone get ready!”
Rustling came from beyond the brush, and An Sanghoe signaled the group.
As Hunters silently readied their weapons—
“Grah! Rrrgh!”
Serhi stepped forward and struck a charging werewolf right in the temple.
His clean, efficient motion made one A-Rank gasp.
Serhi flipped his dagger grip and casually extracted the mana stone.
Annoying kid tagging along, Guru watching—he intended to lead the way to the boss room himself.
“Oooh...”
An Sanghoe raised his eyebrows at the clean hit.
“Cat-Eyes. Not bad. But if you swing like this, it’d probably slice better. Like thiiis~”
He mimed a big exaggerated sword swing, coaching him.
“Ah, yeah... sure...”
An S-Rank getting coached by a B-Rank—ridiculous.
Serhi might’ve specialized in magic, but the gap in class should’ve made this impossible.
Nearby, Gidan smirked as he subdued another werewolf.
The hideous cat tilted toward him, shoulders trembling with rage.
“And you, Bat-Man. Lift your shoulders more.”
An Sanghoe even offered tips to Gidan, who was now biting his lip to hold back laughter.
Hmph!
Guru rolled her eyes as she toddled along.
She worried Gidan might say something dumb, but he looked like he was having a blast.
“Mmm, shoulders up? Like this?”
Gidan adjusted his posture and swung the bat as instructed.
“Yeah, just like that. You’ve got talent.”
“Wow, people say that a lot. How’d you know?”
While the two of them chuckled—
Serhi, behind An Sanghoe, made a “go fucking die” gesture. Gidan responded with exaggerated cutesy hands: “no-no~”
From within the mascot, Guru could tell Serhi was boiling.
The cat costume’s eyes looked ready to explode.
This is bad.
They weren’t getting closer—they were drifting farther apart.
...At this rate, fwiend-fwiend is ova.
Getting Filial Piety Points was important—but having a cold war between the underage trio was way worse.
Guru clenched her tiny fists.
She had to get Serhi out of the dungeon fast and resume the fwiend-fwiend project.
Let’s find him fast!
The scammer who’s toying with that naïve foreigner!

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