Inside the private jet headed for Jeju Island.
Irina leaned her cheek against the armrest with a bored expression.
Just then, a clinking glass of whiskey suddenly appeared before her eyes.
“We’ve still got at least ten hours to go. Want a drink?”
The one offering the glass was Zachary McLaren—one of the co-CEOs of Infinity Wave and a fellow Gnosis.
Irina sipped the whiskey and grumbled like a sulking child.
“It’s too far. Why Jeju this time?”
The launch location for Infinity Wave’s new product had always rotated, but it had never left the United States. This time, out of the blue, it was chosen to be in Korea—on Jeju Island, no less.
She’d intended to return to Korea anyway, but the fact that she was already heading back so soon after leaving rubbed her the wrong way.
“Allen suggested it. Knowing that nerd, he probably found some mysterious Pokémon in Jeju or something.”
Irina pressed her lower lip together at the offhand reply.
Allen Kravis.
The other co-CEO of Infinity Wave.
He was the classic nerd type—zero interest in anything outside of development—and left all management matters to Zachary.
Allen rarely involved himself in decisions like this.
Was that really all there was to his insistence on Jeju?
“You switched all the partner agencies too just for this. Hm, do you think he might’ve caught on?”
She was suggesting that Allen may have caught wind of Zachary’s black market dealings with the Gnosis.
Zachary let out a chuckle and confidently replied.
“Nah, I know Allen better than anyone. That guy doesn’t know a damn thing.”
“Hmmm...”
“You tagging along just to watch him?”
“No, I’m not interested in that stuff. I heard there’s a good item up for grabs, so I’m going to buy it.”
“Ah, so that’s why you were whining for more funds.”
Despite the jab, Irina just smiled sweetly.
“That ‘good item’—you mean the SSS-rank?”
“Yeah. I’m going to make it the master and open a [Great Dungeon Call].”
“And why open another [Great Dungeon Call]? The last experiment was a failure.”
They had tried opening the [Great Dungeon Call] to kill the boss and forcibly create a new master.
But the Core wouldn’t accept it.
Again and again, they had used artificially created chimeras in their experiments to change the master—failure after failure after failure. All they had achieved was massive human loss.
“This isn’t just another experiment... I got a tip from Han. That child’s guardian is dangerous. I have to separate them somehow.”
“You’re opening a [Great Dungeon Call] just for that?”
“He still doesn’t have full control over the master of the 99th floor. I heard he disappeared because of it a year ago.”
A year ago—that would be referring to the [Great Dungeon Call] that happened in Jumunjin, Korea.
And the one who possessed the 99th floor master...
Zachary straightened in his seat, a chill creeping up his spine.
“...Don’t tell me. That scary guardian is... On Jurim?”
Irina simply smiled in response.
“Holy shit, Irina...!”
On Jurim. That man was an extreme-level threat.
“You’re really that obsessed with the kid? She’s just a tiny, cute four-year-old.”
Irina burst into a laugh, recalling the little girl who had made duck-shaped shaved ice.
“She is cute.”
“And maybe a little...”
Zachary trailed off like something had just occurred to him. Irina’s eyes curved in delight.
“Yup. Han likes her too. So will you.”
With a displeased scowl, Zachary downed his whiskey in one gulp.
“A four-year-old Gnosis... I don’t like kids.”
“It’s fun.”
Irina laughed brightly.
Zachary sighed at her unrelenting persistence.
“Shouldn’t you focus on Zenya instead of that kid?”
Irina fell silent, stirring her glass to roll the ice.
Everything’s ready.
This time, I won’t fail.
She whispered softly.
“This time... I’m bringing good news back to Han.”
Zenya, the child—this time, she was confident she could claim them both.
“Woooow!”
Guru bounced across the fluffy carpet of the hotel suite that overlooked the ocean, dashing straight to the floor-to-ceiling window.
Da seaaa!
The great, rolling blue waves of the sea!
It was her first time on a plane, her first time in Jeju, her first time seeing the sea—Guru was overwhelmed with excitement and pressed her nose against the glass.
“Daddyyyy! Wook! Da wave!”
As she shrieked in delight, Jurim chuckled and teased her.
“If you stick to the window like that, you’ll fall out.”
“Eek!”
Guru jumped away in surprise, and Jurim strolled in with their suitcase, still smiling.
While Jurim unpacked, Guru explored the suite until her smartwatch buzzed.
She checked the message and called out to him.
“Daddy! Gwuu goin’ to da kids centuh wif Dani Oppaw!”
“With Dani?”
Nod nod!
Jurim raised an eyebrow, seemingly puzzled, then murmured to himself.
So that’s what this is about...
“You have your watch?”
“Yup, wight hewe!”
“Don’t come back too late.”
“Okaaay—”
Guru stretched the last syllable into a long chirp as she spun around.
As she skipped toward the door, Jurim called out casually.
“And try not to bother Serhi too much.”
Freeze!
Guru stopped in her tracks.
“G-Gwuu, how’d yoo knoow?!”
Flustered, she turned back. Jurim just shrugged.
He’d heard about Serhi and Gidan’s fight.
He’d also been informed that Serhi had relocated his lodging and was now in Jeju on an undercover assignment.
It didn’t take much to guess that this tiny gremlin was scheming to reconcile the two.
He’d already found it /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ suspicious when Gidan suddenly decided to tag along...
Apparently, she’d baited Gidan into coming here—all for the sake of patching things up.
Leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed, Jurim spoke.
“Boys that age fight all the time. If you leave them alone, they’ll sort it out.”
“Leab ‘em awone?”
“Yeah.”
“Fow how wong?”
“That depends...”
Could be a month. Could be a year. Jurim left it unsaid.
Guru’s eyes rolled mournfully.
He gently brushed her hair back.
“Worried?”
Nod nod.
He sighed and gave her cheek a soft pinch.
“Okay. Go ahead.”
“Yeshh!”
With his permission, Guru chirped back and left the suite.
Da contact point is da wobby!
She zoomed down to the lobby to meet Gidan.
He was seated on a secluded couch, baseball cap pulled low, holding a newspaper and scanning his surroundings.
Guru sat down back-to-back with him and whispered.
“Gwuu has awived, Agent Dani.”
“You’re late, Agent Guru.”
Gidan slowly turned his head toward her.
“The Black Wolf didn’t suspect anything?”
Eek!
The moment he used the code name “Black Wolf” to refer to Jurim, Guru’s lip trembled.
She had been caught—though not in the way Gidan imagined.
“U-Um, yeah. No pwobwem.”
“Yeah?”
“Uh-huh!”
Guru nodded rapidly, and Gidan turned away again without much suspicion.
Phew...
Keeping the matchmaking a secret from Jurim and the reconciliation plan a secret from Gidan... Her heart thudded like a wild horse.
Gwuu feews wike a doubwe agent...
Ba-thump ba-thump!
Guru, glancing at Gidan’s expression, pulled out her tablet and confirmed Serhi’s location.
She had memorized the resort map on the plane in advance.
With the tablet, it was easy to track where Serhi was.
Good.
Not far.
Gidan was focused on finding the “Daughter Lady,” but Guru had a second objective.
To pretend they were looking for the matchmaking lady—then accidentally run into Serhi.
Once Gidan learned that Serhi hadn’t just disappeared, but was working in Jeju for the Management Bureau, maybe his anger would cool down.
By now, Serhi was probably less mad too.
It had been a while since they fought, after all.
Hot tempers usually simmer down over time.
Still...
Umm, how does Gwuu get Oppaw to go over dere...?
As she was pondering—
“Uh... uhh...?”
Gidan suddenly muttered in confusion
Wha’s wrong?
Guru peeked over his shoulder to see what he was staring at.
“Hunter Nayeon, you left this.”
“Oh, right! I totally forgot. Thank you.”
Huh?
Nayeon was smiling as she accepted her ID from the resort staff. She must’ve been about to walk off without it after checking in.
Wait—why’s Nayeon Unnie here?

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