Chapter: Find Mephisto!
Guru found herself staring into golden eyes gazing down at her.
For a moment, she felt puzzled—this wasn’t how he usually looked.
“Sheir...”
The instant Veilach quietly spoke the name, her heart dropped.
Sheir—the name of the master of the 99th floor.
'That’s... not Dad?'
Thump-thump, thump-thump.
Her heartbeat grew rough and fast.
Could it be the glove had failed, and the worst had come to pass?
Veilach forced himself to speak under Sheir’s oppressive presence.
“What is your business here?”
“Isn’t this Karmirach’s territory?”
When Sheir reached out and made a fist, the mist instantly cleared.
“Karmirach seems to have fled.”
“That’s no excuse.”
“This is a dangerous place for a child.”
“You were never one to concern yourself with a mere child.”
“Yes, and it seems I’ve come to find out why.”
His voice was gentle, yet carried a certain boredom and emptiness.
Listening to them, Guru hugged the baby rabbit tightly.
'I have to open the Cradle.'
According to Veilach, she could separate Jurim and Sheir if she managed to open the snowfield.
But right now, without Lukshifer’s help, she couldn’t open it.
As if sensing her intent, Lukshifer raised his sprout high and let out a determined cry.
“Kkyu...!”
'All right, now...!'
“—Open!”
Just as Guru was about to shout 'Open, Cradle!', her mouth was clamped shut.
Judging by Veilach’s shake of the head, it was his doing.
Did that mean it was impossible right now?
“But...”
The moment she opened her mouth, Sheir’s gaze fell directly on her.
Startled, Guru clamped her mouth shut again.
But strangely... there was warmth in that gaze.
'Why...?'
It was then—
Ding!
[Attachment level fulfilled. [Caregiver Registration] available.]
'Caregiver Registration?!'
If that notification had appeared, it meant the 99th floor’s master wasn’t a danger to her.
Guru’s thoughts grew increasingly tangled—
“Guru!”
“Yellow Guru!”
Just then, Gidan and Serhi burst into the safehouse.
“...Hyung?”
“On Jurim’s here too?”
Both of them looked uneasy at the sight of Sheir.
Guru, with the baby rabbit back on her head, stepped forward.
“Not Daddychann.”
Before either of them could ask what she meant, Sheir answered in that flat, disinterested tone.
“Sheir. On Earth, you call me the master of the 99th floor, don’t you?”
Nod, nod.
When Guru nodded, Sheir hesitated briefly, then reached out and patted her head.
“You are perceptive.”
“Pewceptib?”
“It means you’re smart.”
'P-praise!'
Guru flushed at the compliment, then shook her head hard.
He might have Dad’s face, but he wasn’t Dad! She couldn’t let herself get swayed!
While Gidan and Serhi were still taking in the situation, a heavy silence settled over them.
And then—
“The master of the 99th floor?!”
Gidan’s shout broke it.
At the same time, Serhi turned away, chewing gum.
“Hey! Where are you going?”
“Gonna send a last text before I die.”
Gidan grabbed his shoulder.
“You’re not dying!”
“Yeah, sure, good luck with that.”
As Gidan fussed and Serhi resigned himself, Guru blinked at them.
Only now did the two realize Sheir was right beside her. They froze in place.
Sensing this wasn’t the moment to stall, Gidan opened his inventory for a weapon, while Serhi stepped back and began gathering mana.
Both were ready to use a skill at a moment’s notice.
Gidan bent his knees slightly and spoke carefully.
“Guru, come here slowly.”
Guru looked between the two of them, then up at Sheir.
“Gwuu be wight back.”
“Go ahead.”
Sheir’s reply was surprisingly kind.
Guru toddled toward her Oppaws, with Veilach lazily trailing after her.
The children approached without a hint of tension, leaving Gidan and Serhi visibly confused.
Once Guru was between them, they activated a barrier so Sheir couldn’t hear.
Even with the barrier up, Gidan didn’t lower his guard. He whispered,
“...That thing—are you saying it’s not dangerous?”
Nod, nod.
If [Caregiver Registration] had popped up, it meant he wasn’t a threat.
Serhi, still skeptical, pressed on.
“So he’s not here to take over the world or anything?”
“Nu-uh, didn’t say anyfing wike dat...”
“Then why show up at all?”
It was Veilach who answered.
“He came because the master seemed in danger. An SSS-Class dungeon almost opened here.”
“What? That wasn’t your dungeon?!”
Veilach frowned at Gidan’s appalled expression.
“Why would I open a dungeon?”
'Because that perverted bastard did something weird to you'— The thought died in both their throats.
For now, they had to set aside the kidnapping and focus on the bigger issue.
After a moment’s thought, Serhi asked,
“So if Guru’s safe, shouldn’t we just go back in?”
“If that were my intent, I wouldn’t have come out in the first place.”
“Then Jurim-hyung...!”
“He’s likely asleep inside Sheir’s consciousness.”
“And how do we get him out?”
“Even if I told you, could you actually do anything to Sheir?”
The implication to drop any reckless ideas made Gidan rub his face.
It was a relief he wasn’t a threat to the world, but in another sense, this was hopeless.
If even On Jurim couldn’t subdue the master of the 99th floor, what could they possibly do?
Gidan fell silent, and Serhi, impatient, spoke up.
“So the glove failed? Can’t we ask another guild or organization for help?”
Gidan gave a low grunt and shook his head.
“Absolutely not. You know how many people have it out for Hyeonak. The second rumors spread that On Jurim’s lost his mind, they’ll be calling to bring him down and dismantle the guild.”
“B-bring him down?!”
Guru’s voice shot up in alarm.
Bring him down! That was the kind of phrase she’d read in fairy tales with heroes and demon lords.
In her head, a picture began to form—
99th floor’s master = Demon Lord.
Hunters = Heroes.
Dad, asleep inside the Demon Lord.
Which meant... Dad could be slain by the heroes!
Boom!
The shock was like the sky collapsing. Guru burst out in anger.
“Dat’s why you shouwd wive nicewy!”
“Yeah, you should’ve lived better!”
Guru and Serhi scolded in unison, and Gidan bowed his head.
For once, he couldn’t make excuses for past wrongs.
“No, I mean... it’s not just that...”
Gidan raked a hand through his hair, frustration in his voice.
“Hyung’s On Jurim. We can’t tell anyone.”
No matter what, On Jurim was one of Korea’s pillars.
If it came out that something was wrong with him, it wouldn’t just endanger Hyeonak—it would set off alarms for the whole country.
“On Jurim not being in Korea is basically the same as a war breaking out.”
“...Shit.”
Serhi let out a curse, and Guru rolled her eyes toward Sheir.
“Dani Oppaw, so that means Daddy is a secwet now?”
“Yeah. For now, don’t tell anyone and just watch how things play out—”
Before Gidan could finish, the safehouse door crashed open.
“What the—why are you guys here already?”
It was Chun Gyuri.
“Oh? And for once, the Hyeonak Guildmaster’s here too.”
Behind her came Gu Shinhoo, followed by each guild’s Team 1 and government agents.
They’d rushed over after hearing about the large-scale dungeon.
In an instant, the place was packed with people, and Guru exchanged a wide-eyed look with her Oppaws.
'Uh-oh, what do we do?'
She hadn’t expected a crowd like this.
“Shh.”
Serhi pressed a finger to his lips in a don’t talk gesture.
Revealing that “the master of the 99th floor has possessed the guildmaster” was not an option right now.
They had to smooth this over, no matter what.
The three of them traded glances and nodded.
Guru trotted over and grabbed Sheir’s hand—partly to keep him from saying something weird in front of everyone.
Serhi and Veilach stood guard beside her, ready in case Sheir made a move.
Gidan stepped forward and clapped his hands, drawing everyone’s attention.
“You’re all here, huh? Problem is, we just got here ourselves, and there’s no sign of a dungeon.”
Gu Shinhoo smirked.
“What, Hyeonak didn’t just make another mystery dungeon disappear?”
“Come on, even we couldn’t clear a large dungeon that fast.”
As suspicious as Hyeonak was, ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) Gidan wasn’t wrong.
They’d come almost immediately after the alert—clearing it in that time was near impossible.
“Hmph. False alarm?”
“Happens sometimes...”
“But what is this place, a private home? Why’s it so empty?”
“Yeah, weird.”
Gidan laughed awkwardly as they looked around.
“Beats me. Look around all you want, that’s all we know.”
While the others searched the safehouse, Gidan signaled to Guru and went over to Hyeonak’s Team 1.
Guru, with Sheir and her “guards” in tow, edged closer.
“Gidan, what happened? Why were you and the Guildmaster here first?”
“Well...”
Gidan cast a quick glance at the 99th floor’s master and swallowed hard.
That wasn’t Jurim. He couldn’t be sure if they could make him act like Jurim, either.
And as fellow Hyeonak members, Team 1 would notice the moment Jurim did anything out of character.
That left only one way to deal with this—
“Something did happen. Don’t know if it was an SSS-Class dungeon, but there was some anomaly. It disappeared suddenly, though.”
“Then why didn’t you say anything? What happened after?”
“Nothing else since... but that’s not the problem.”
Gidan clenched a fist.
“J-Jurim-hyung... I’m not sure if it’s from the effect, but his memory’s... a bit incomplete.”

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