SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon

“Where did all the guild members go? Does anyone else know what’s going on?”

This question was answered by another person.

“That … these all the Hunters belonging to The White Silver Guild.”

“What?”

“There are some Hunters who aren’t present because of the Dungeon duty, but they’re only a few. That … something happened recently, so our Hunters decreased a lot.”

He lowered his gaze as if it was an uncomfortable story. Again, Park Heeyoung recited in a trembling voice.

“Earlier, that bird must have caused the problem! Otherwise, why the deputy guild leader suddenly … heuk.”

A mournful cry broke out. She looked really shocked.

“Hey, calm down. This may be a simple barrier stone malfunction. Let’s try it again.”

The wizard closed his eyes and reached forward. However, the translucent membrane only shook a little, and there’s no change.

“Cough, cough!”

Perhaps due to the rebound of the skill, the wizard stumbled with a rough cough. The wind cut off the skill. When the wizard tried to reach forward again, someone stopped him.

“That’s enough, that’s enough. You don’t have to.”

An old man came forward from the back row of the crowd.

A stumbling gait. Seeing the people around us taking half a step back with a nervous expression, he seemed to be someone in a high position.

“We don’t have time for this. Everyone knows how important the protective barrier installed in the guild is. As soon as the sun comes up, we will start working on the creation of a new barrier.”

“Wait … what do you mean?”

“Did you not hear it? That’s literally it. The father disappeared and the young hunter took over the barrier, and it seems that he didn’t manage it properly.”

“…….”

At this moment, I really hated this arrogant bastard.

“If a protective barrier is destroyed in one place, it will adversely affect the barrier of the entire city. If we leave it as it is, it will weaken the chain and increase the possibility that a rift will burst. We can’t leave it as it is. I will close this place right now.”

“Close … what about Kwon Jiwoon?”

“When he wakes up, he will break the seal on his own and come out … if he wakes up.”

“You … what are you doing?”

“I’m late to introduce myself. My name is Kim Doochun, the Defense Barrier Response Officer of the Dungeon Management Office.”

Tak! I slapped his outstretched hand that shamelessly asked to shake hands.

My stomach was boiling.

His words just now … this person intends to leave Kwon Jiwoon, who is now in a coma, inside the barrier as it is.

I don’t know how good he is in defense response, but how can he say that about Kwon Jiwoon?

Apart from my personal feelings for Kwon Jiwoon, I know his life. A top-class Healer, a deputy guild leader of famous guild, and a young Hunter with good looks to use.

While praising that Kwon Jiwoon was great, I clearly remember how much burden the Dungeon Management Office put on him since he was a kid.

“Is that what you’re saying now? How could the Management Office do that?”

“Hoo. So you can take responsibility, miss?”

“What?”

“Tsk, I don’t think you know because you’re an ordinary person.”

At this moment, I hated this person so much to the point that I wanted to kill this arrogant idiot.

“Each guild’s protective barriers form a single great barrier, and that plays a role in suppressing the incidence of high-grade rifts. The power of this barrier also helps when closing the rift. However, if this chain is destroyed and there is even an A-Grade crack in the middle of the city, can you take responsibility for it, miss?”

“What, that’s….!”

It was the moment when I was about to scream in anger.

“……That’s strange.”

A low, calm voice cut through the air. It was Ki Yoohyun.

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t know the cause or the details of the situation yet, but you hurriedly said you will close the barrier.”

“Hmmm.”

“As far as I know, the crisis response procedure isn’t like that, but … it seems like you want to deal with the barrier quickly. I wonder if there’s anything about it that would danger you.”

The arrogant old man asked Ki Yoohyun with a disapproving look in his face.

“What are you?”

“I’m just accompanying Rieul-ssi. You don’t need to know the details.”

Smile. Ki Yoohyun, who was staring at the arrogant old man for a while, pulled the corners of his mouth.

“Did you not hear anything from your boss? There seems to be no possibility of promotion.”

“What, wha-what….!”

Perhaps promotion was a red button, the arrogant old man’s face quickly turned red with anger.

“One more thing. The protective barrier here has not been destroyed.”

“What? Is that true?”

“Yes, it was destroyed once, exactly, but regenerated shortly thereafter.”

“Wh-wha-what nonsense!”

Ignoring the arrogant old man’s protest, Ki Yoohyun continued speaking.

“As you said, this barrier is under the management of Hunter Kwon Jiwoon. Although the barrier is not a living thing, it does protect itself to some extent. It seems that the moment Hunter Kwon Jiwoon was fatally wounded, a barrier was activated to protect him.”

“Fatally wounded?”

A bitter light flashed in his dark eyes for a moment.

“It’s strange. He’s from the Healer class, but Hunter Kwon Jiwoon, an A-class hunter, was fatally wounded in the guild building, not anywhere else.”

Naturally, everyone’s gazes followed Ki Yoohyun’s movement. His feet stopped in front of Hunter Park Heeyoung.

“Hunter Park Heeyoung … do you have anything to tell? Did you not feel anything unusual?”

All of sudden, her shoulders trembled.

“I … I don’t know. Outside, I was looking outside….”

“Okay, you’re outside. Then, you must have seen the Gate that occurred today disappear.”

“Yeah, I saw it. It appeared big in the sky.”

“After that, you discovered and reported the incident, and the response officer came so quickly, I guess you had a connection.”.”

Eyes are intertwined in the air. Park Heeyoung screamed.

“Me, a-are you doubting me?”

“That’s something you’ll find out if you look into it slowly.”

Ki Yoohyun came close to Park Heeyoung. His voice was so low that only Park Heeyoung and I could hear it.

“You’d better not expect the one who approached you to save you….”

I couldn’t hear the last words. I don’t know what he said, but after Ki Yoohyun took a step back, Park Heeyoung’s face turned pale.

The emotion that appeared in eyes that trembled like aspen trees … it was horror.

Then, she vomited the words in a trembling voice.

“That … I didn’t mean to do it. The deputy guild leader, if only he didn’t doubt me….”

When Ki Yoohyun and I left this place, the time when the white bird with its golden tail flew across the sky and scattered light.

Kwon Jiwoon, who was left alone, called Park Heeyoung and asked: was it Park Heeyoung who brought the dying Long-tailed Phoenix?

“You don’t have to tell me who ordered it. I already know.”

“Deputy guild leader, I don’t……!”

“If you tell me honestly about why you did this, I’ll take care of it on my own.”

Panicked by those words, she attacked him … and Kwon Jiwoon was seriously injured. At that moment, the barrier that was in a state of rest was activated, triggered to protect Kwon Jiwoon’s body.

After that, Park Heeyoung contacted that arrogant troll behind the same background and tried to fix the situation.

“You! Shut that mouth!”

A roar from the arrogant old man sounded far way.

My patience ended there.

“How….”

The reason I’ve been ignoring Park Heeyoung and did not do anything to deal with her, even though she has been very unkind to, was simple. She was Kwon Jiwoon’s subordinate, so I thought that she would be helpful to Kwon Jiwoon.

However, it’s not enough to betray him, she also tried to hurt Kwon Jiwoon.

Why? What’s the price that made you do something like that?

Unable to hold back my anger, I strode forward, but Ki Yoohyeon grabbed my arm.

“Rieul-ssi.”

“Don’t stop me.”

“….I wouldn’t dare.”

A large hand covered my hand. Long, hard fingers dug into my clenched fist. It tickles.

I had a scratch on my palm because I clenched my fist as hard as I could without realizing it. I was so agitated that I didn’t even feel the pain.

Ki Yoohyun slightly stroked the red blood-stained wound with his finger and dropped a few drops of potion. The wound healed quickly. As if that was the only purpose he had, he let go of his hand and took a step back.

“Just, there’s no need for Rieul-ssi to be in pain because of people like this.”

My tears were about to pour down.

***

The situation was all sorted out.

Less than 10 minutes later, a new person from the Dungeon Management Office, and Hunter Park Heeyoung was detained.

“Why … ho-how did the Director come all the way here … aren’t you supposed to be in Jeju right now….!”

“Take him.”

Even the arrogant bastard was dragged somewhere.

Now, we only need to rescue Kwon Jiwoon, who is trapped inside the barrier. The new wizard tried to open the barrier again, but….

“Eheuk, heuk!”

The barrier doesn’t even budge. Drops of blood fell from the wizard’s mouth, who let out a strong cough due to the skill’s reaction.

“Wait.”

Ki Yoohyun, who had been quiet for a while, sighed lighty and stepped forward.

“It will be difficult to forcibly open the barrier from outside. The barrier worked to protect the caster, that is, Hunter Kwon Jiwoon. It recognizes an external approach as an attack and pushes it away.”

The wizard replied in confusion.

“But if we don’t open this, we won’t be able to save the person inside.”

“We shouldn’t force the barrier to open, someone has to go inside the barrier and wake him up.”

“It’s too dangerous. It’s just invisible to the naked eye, but the ether flow is tangled in there.”

“Don’t worry. I….”

“I’ll do it.”

“….wait, Rieul-ssi?”

“I can do it.”

[Main Quest: Into the Silver Storm

The barrier seeks to protect the caster.

Come into contact with the barrier and rescue the caster.

Contact the barrier: 0/1

Rewards: Fragment of Memory, The resurrection of the Target]

I glanced at the system window in front of me with dry eyes.

Now, running a quest like this means I can do it. However, I did not say that I would do it because of this system that forced me to do it.

This incident didn’t happen before the regression. Back then, the White Silver Guild was solid, and Kwon Jiwoon was also safe.

That’s why I subconsciously thought that nothing would happen to Kwon Jiwoon again this time.

However, something that’s different from the pre-regression past happened again. As far as I know, the variable is only me who came back from the future.

If the situation is like this…….

What if it happened because I changed the future?

Just as saving Ash turned into a big deal, what if something I didn’t notice led to this?

……what if it’s because of me?

Translator’s Corner:

The “old man” used in this chapter is actually a very rude slang lol it’s like “old man (derogatory)

(I love how the ML plays the part as a safety net in this story … it’s imporant to have someone who can do everything for you if you dream of a lazy future.

and save your tears for the , everyone. don’t cry yet T___T (yes, this is me purposefully leaving you all with cliffhanger)