I’ll Retire After Saving the World

TL: SHW

"Find out where Alex Hope is right now!"

Lee Mi-seon shouted at the top of her lungs, gripping her phone. The poor Daseon Hunters shrank back with every yell, their shoulders flinching.

"A kid disappeared right under your noses, and none of you noticed? What were you doing? Do you think you’re earning your salary for free right now?!"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Lee Seung-yeon's room was located at the farthest end, not in the area where the kids usually stayed. Since the villa was used as the Daeyeon Family's retreat, Lee Seung-yeon also had a room here for his visits. Naturally, as someone merely staying under someone else’s roof, Hong Seok-young avoided intruding into the owner’s private space. In fact, it was more accurate to say there was no reason for him to go there in the first place.

Because of that, Hong Seok-young hadn’t paid much attention to it either.

Still, even so, it was hard to believe someone would be bold enough to come in and kidnap a kid with Hunters around, many of whom were at least A-rank. Besides, Kim Chae-min had also enhanced the security spells.

Could someone really sneak in and take an eighteen-year-old boy without leaving a trace?

"Alex Hope entered a dungeon in New Zealand around 3 p.m. today. In Korean time, that’s about 11 a.m."

Even if he pretended to enter the dungeon and came out, it would still be physically impossible to be here. Lee Mi-seon knew that too, so she didn’t bring up Alex Hope any further.

Regardless of whether it was Alex Hope or not, it was understandable that Lee Mi-seon was angry, her beloved nephew had disappeared from inside the house. I slowly looked around Lee Seung-yeon's room. It was clean with no signs of a struggle. The only thing out of place was the slightly messy bedding.

Maybe because I saved his life, Lee Seung-yeon clearly admired and followed me. I wasn’t cruel enough to treat a well-behaved kid poorly either. I had taught him sincerely, even though I sometimes wanted to cut corners when explaining things. Still, I made an effort to adjust my teaching to his level and even went out of my way to give him tailored lectures. Back then, everyone’s abilities were still mediocre, so it wasn’t much of an issue.

Come to think of it, I need to talk to Hong Seok-young about Lee Seung-yeon. This wasn’t something that could be solved with brute force, so Hong Seok-young needed to give it serious thought as well.

"……."

I looked beside the bed. There was a small nightstand. On top of it were a nightstand lamp, a clock, and a power strip. A power strip? Only the nightstand lamp’s plug was connected to it.

Would someone pull out a power strip just to plug in one lamp? I wasn’t so sure.

Even though Lee Seung-yeon followed me well, our relationship was strictly that of a teacher and a student. If I wanted to grow closer, I could, but pretending to be friendly with an eighteen-year-old just to gain some advantage… Well, if someone asked whether I stirred up all that chaos in Myeong-dong for something like that, I wouldn’t have a good answer. But with Hong Seok-young, Kim Chae-min, and Lee Mi-seon around, there was no need to manipulate a kid. After all, Lee Seung-yeon was a minor with clear limitations on what he could do, and getting on the bad side of Hong Seok-young or Lee Mi-seon could lead to unnecessary trouble.

That’s why I kept a certain distance from Lee Seung-yeon, and not just him, but all the other kids as well. During lessons, I would joke around and mess with them, but that was it. I had no intention of getting close enough to know their personal belongings.

So, even if I searched Lee Seung-yeon’s room for hours, I wouldn’t know what belonged to him or what might belong to a possible kidnapper. To begin with, any kidnapper sneaky enough to get in here wouldn’t leave such obvious evidence behind.

However, there was one thing missing, an item that should have definitely been in Lee Seung-yeon’s room.

I began walking around the room to find more solid evidence. If Lee Seung-yeon had even the tiniest bit of sense in his brain...

I didn’t have to look far. A piece of paper was lying under the desk, with a pen rolling nearby. It seemed like the paper had been weighed down with the pen but had fallen off.

I picked up the paper.

At the same time, I heard commotion coming from outside. A high-pitched girl’s voice. There were a few girls here, but only one would raise her voice like that. Hong Seok-young, who had been frowning, forced his expression to relax and opened the door.

"Ji-eun? What’s going on?"

"Ah, teacher!"

Yoo Ji-eun stood with her sister.

“I’m trying to do today’s homework… but I have to do it with Kang Tae-woo, and I can’t find him. Do you know where he is?”

“Kang Tae-woo’s not here?”

“If it’s okay, can I just do it with my sister? All we have to do is record the practiced moves on video anyway.”

“Right now….”

“Tae-woo is out because I sent him on an errand.”

“Oh… really?”

“You can do it with your sister.”

“Okay!”

“Then go… and don’t just rest, make sure you do your homework.”

“Yes….”

At the mention of homework, Yoo Ji-eun gave a deflated reply and walked away with her sister. While Yoo Hye-eun bowed politely, I could feel my back burning under the stares of Lee Mi-seon and Hong Seok-young.

Once the sisters’ footsteps faded away, I raised an eyebrow at the two of them.

"Both of you, relax your eyes a bit. They're about to pop out."

"You just..."

"Tae-woo didn't kidnap Seung-yeon or anything like that."

"What?!"

"I'm telling you it's not that."

I held out the paper I’d just picked up from the floor. The message was short and simple. Lee Mi-seon snatched the paper from my hand and read it, her face turning pale as a sheet.

“It’s just a normal runaway.”

***

‘I’m going out to get some fresh air with Seung-yeon hyung. He told me not to write anything, but I thought you’d worry, so I left this secretly. I’m not sure where we’re going. I didn’t want to let him go alone, so I’m going with him.’

"That little shit Seung-yeon!!"

Lee Mi-seon practically spewed fire from her mouth. Even if Lee Seung-yeon returned home, it didn’t look like he’d survive unscathed.

“Well, let’s think of this positively, Hunter Lee. At the very least, it’s physically impossible for Alex Hope to travel from New Zealand to Korea.”

"That's not helping at all?!"

I shrugged.

Hong Seok-young, now noticeably more relaxed, was sitting comfortably.

“Boys need to run away at least once as they grow up. It’s a rite of passage.”

Since he was the one saying it, his words carried an oddly convincing weight. Of course, Lee Mi-seon wasn’t swayed. In fact, she looked at him as though he were insane. Understandably so.

“What nonsense are you talking about?! Do you know how recently the kids were attacked? Seung-yeon is one thing, but Kang Tae-woo is in danger too!”

Lee Mi-seon was right to worry. After all, Alex Hope wasn’t necessarily the only one targeting research lab test subjects.

But Hong Seok-young, still finding the situation amusing, chuckled quietly.

“It’s always the ones who don’t look like it that show strange determination in the weirdest ways. I should’ve known when he blackmailed me into letting him enroll.”

“Blackmailed?”

"He said if I didn't let him enroll, he'd report me and Daeyeon for accepting illegal dungeon raids.”

"How could that Seung-yeon try to ruin his family!"

Lee Mi-seon couldn’t believe her beloved nephew’s betrayal and could only shout. Her reaction wasn’t much different from when she thought he had been kidnapped. If anything, this situation seemed even worse for her health.

Soon, Lee Mi-seon sank onto the sofa and buried her face in her hands.

“When I said to let them rest until Sunday, I didn’t mean they could just run away like this….”

But what could anyone do about something that had already happened?

While half-frustrated and half-stunned, Lee Mi-seon seemed lost on what to do next. The Daseon Hunters began moving in her stead. I suddenly thought they were pitiable souls, handling guild affairs, association tasks, and now even their guild master’s family issues.

…Not too different from my situation back at the Ability Management Agency.

“We’re not exactly sure when they left….”

“You don’t know?”

“Seung-yeon knows this place well. He turned off all the security cameras.”

“…….”

He really planned this out.

Well, what could anyone say about the homeowner leaving their own house? I nodded, signaling them to continue.

“Still, we estimate they left about two hours ago. He called a taxi using his phone.”

If it was two hours ago, it means they left right after dinner.

"He threw away his phone as soon as he got out of the taxi."

"His phone?"

"It had a tracking function installed to prevent kidnapping..."

Crunch.

A terrifying sound came from Lee Mi-seon. I pretended not to hear it.

"He withdrew money from an ATM near the bus terminal."

He even prepared cash.

He was meticulous in many ways.

The Daseon Hunter cleared his throat and continued explaining.

“It seems they used the cash to buy clothes at a market near the terminal and changed into them. There are many alleys in the market without CCTV, so we couldn’t track them. Even after reviewing the surrounding CCTV, we didn’t see the kids leaving.”

“So…”

I asked, just to confirm I understood correctly.

“You lost them?”

“…….”

“Two teenagers? One of them is seventeen. You lost them?”

“…….”

“Aren’t you with the International Ability Association’s Special Operations Branch? They’re minors, not adults, and you lost them?”

“W-We specialize in analyzing information, not gathering it directly….”

“Stop making excuses.”

I kept thinking.

“What about Kang Tae-woo’s phone?”

“He left it in his room.”

It was highly likely that Lee Seung-yeon told him to leave it behind.

“How much cash did Lee Seung-yeon withdraw?”

“Uh…”

“How much?”

The Hunters hesitated before answering.

“Two million won.”

That’s more than my monthly salary. Rich kid, huh.

I doubted Lee Seung-yeon withdrew that much to spend recklessly. If he wanted to blow money, he would’ve withdrawn more or just used his card. Fortunately or unfortunately, he wasn’t that thoughtless.

Ultimately, it was an amount prepared just in case things didn’t go as planned.

“Keep monitoring to see if the card is used…”

If I were Lee Seung-yeon, I wouldn’t use it. At least not until I decided to come back.

“For now…”

Kang Tae-woo said they were going out to get some fresh air.

A taxi leaves witnesses. If I were Lee Seung-yeon, I wouldn’t use something like that.

“Check everyone who bought bus tickets from the terminal after the time they left. Look for two teenage boys. There should be CCTV inside the terminal, right? If they’re two boys with their faces covered, it won’t take long to find them.”

“Ah, yes!”

“Wait a minute.”

Let’s think this through again.

Two teenage boys, methodically withdrawing two million won in cash and even changing clothes in the market,

Would they really be stupid enough to go straight into the terminal and buy tickets? If it were me, I’d pay someone extra nearby to buy the tickets for me.

Let’s just hope Lee Seung-yeon isn’t that smart. But, typically, these situations unfold exactly as you imagine.

"You can check the terminal's computer records, right?"

“Huh?”

“You guys can forge identities, so this shouldn’t be too hard. Go through the system and check for anyone who bought two tickets at the same time during that timeframe. It’s late, so there shouldn’t be that many routes…”

I trailed off, noticing how eerily quiet it had become. Lee Mi-seon, who had been hurling unmentionable curses at her nephew, Hong Seok-young, who had been chuckling away, and the two Daseon Hunters,

All of them were staring at me with wide eyes.

…Did I overstep?

I stood up abruptly.

“Well then, good luck. I’m going to check on my brother.”

With absolutely no shame, I admit it.

I ran away.