Episode 48
4. Why do you give rice cakes to people you hate?
“What level is it?”
“……B-class.”
The first meeting was in front of the gate.
It was due to a sudden crack that occurred in the Yeouido area.
The gate closed, and amid the chaos of people busily moving the wounded, Gyeon Ji-rok looked back at Baek Do-hyeon.
Phew. He spits out spit mixed with dust and starts yapping nervously. F*ck. It’s not like he’s completely hopeless.
“I don’t have any sense of using a sword. But why is that?”
“……”
“Your mind is rotten. That’s why the tip of the sword is a mess.”
“……”
“Do you know what kind of people die first when you enter the tower?”
“……”
“It’s kids like you. Not the low-level ones, but kids like you who foolishly believe in rank and rush in. Those mediocre guys are the ones who get killed first.”
I was angry, but there was no room for excuses.
If it weren’t for Gyeonjirok, Baek Do-hyeon would have died here several times.
Luckily, I was given the opportunity to ‘re-enter’ and made a covenant, and it’s been a month since I upgraded from F-class to B-class.
The awakening level had jumped to a life-changing level, but the person called ‘Baek Do-hyeon’ was still standing still.
“Tsk.”
Baek Do-hyun with a darkened expression.
Gyeonjirok glanced at the spear and took it back. Drops of blood spurted from the blood-soaked spear and fell at Baek Do-hyeon’s feet.
“If you know how to value your own life, you will know how to value other people’s lives.”
“……”
“hey.”
“……”
“Where do you belong?”
“……〈Invibe〉.”
“Ha, but those little trash kids ran away without even taking care of their own family? And they’re just new recruits from Mars?”
I know, I know, you dirty gangsters.
The world is ending, so they can’t even put him in prison, he mutters in a tone of contempt.
Baek Do-hyun shook his head bitterly.
“……Strictly speaking, I’m not a newbie. I’m just re-entering.”
“What level were you before?”
His old rank was his long-standing complex. A very old, very deep-rooted inferiority complex.
“……class.”
“what?”
“F-class.”
Gyeon Ji-rok stared at Baek Do-hyeon, who was clenching his fist tightly.
A light silence falls.
In front of the closed rift after the raid ends.
Two young men with completely different lives.
It is impossible to know what impression the young high ranker got from the hunter much lower down in this five-minute interlude.
Was it pity, or sympathy, or something else……
In any case, the important fact is that at that moment, Kyeonjirok made a decision.
Baek Do-hyeon gets up, picking up his broken equipment and fallen sword.
He was thinking of leaving just like that, but a husky low voice rang out behind him as he staggered.
“Was it Baek Do-hyeon?”
“……”
“That one’s teeth are all gone, so it’s too bad. I’ll change it to black.”
“……?”
Hmm. Is there anything useful in the guild warehouse? Well, you’ll know when you see it. Fortunately, there are many swordsmen scattered around.
“If there’s anyone you want to say hello to, say hello. It’ll be hard to see them from now on.”
〈Invibe〉, 〈Dawn〉.
They’re all the kind of people I absolutely loathe. It’d be best to just give up on the idea of hanging out with them.
Wheeze. The long spear disappears into thin air at the light touch of Gyeonjirok’s hand.
Even then, Baek Do-hyeon did not understand the situation.
Kyeonjirok raises his eyebrows.
“You don’t understand?”
“……no way?”
“Yes. From today onwards, you belong to Babylon.”
「……!」
“I don’t like it, it’s a used rookie.”
The forefront of Babel.
If you want to live under the most glamorous, yet most dangerous name, you’ll have to re-instill that spirit in yourself.
* * *
Back to the present.
Inside the meeting room of the guild “Babylon”.
In front of me was Kyeon Ji-rok, sitting crookedly on a chair.
The image of a rebel who dominated the times was still there.
It’s a face I miss, and miss again.
This is the first time we’ve met in person since returning.
Baek Do-hyun was left alone, chewing over his passionate emotions.
This place, Babylon, was not just a simple guild to Baek Do-hyeon.
To him who had neither family nor home, these people were his family before they were his colleagues, and they were also his home…
It could be said that it was the life of one person named ‘Baek Do-hyeon’.
Among them, the guild leader’s records were especially meaningful.
It also saved Baek Do-hyeon, who was living with a sense of defeat and inferiority.
Even against the opposition of the guild members, he brought me to Babylon in the end.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that Baek Do-hyeon was the benefactor who allowed him to fulfill his role as a person and a hunter.
“Hmm. Do you believe in things like past life?”
“……yes?”
“Why are you looking at me like you’re looking at a lover you broke up with a hundred years ago? It’s clearly our first meeting, but I feel like we’re destined to be together in a past life.”
‘The ghostly feeling is still there.’
“I’m sorry. It’s just too amazing to see the person I admire up close.”
“……Have you finished looking around?”
It’s still not quite friendly, but it’s a much more relaxed tone than before, when he was clearly showing his displeasure.
I like Baek Do-hyun’s simple flattery.
Bambi (very much) dislikes being called a celebrity or something like that, but as a hunter, he likes being called an idol or a model.
Is it because he has been on the battlefield since a young age?
Because he is weak to the so-called ‘big brother’ treatment.
“Somehow, that name sounds familiar to me. Do you have a younger sister? Well, Baek Do-hee… or something.”
A frowning and trailing off remark.
Baek Do-hyun responded calmly, looking at her face filled with subtle suspicion.
“Because the family relationships listed on the documents are all there is to it.”
“ah.”
A hand picking up a file on the table with an expression that says, “I didn’t see that.”
One page at a time. He flips through the pages quickly and then stares at the documents while thinking.
“No, no family.”
“I originally had no siblings, and both my parents passed away in an accident. I am alone.”
“Then just say it doesn’t exist. What’s the point of making people uncomfortable?”
Well, it’s on purpose.
Baek Do-hyeon looked at Kyeon Ji-rok, who was licking his lips with an uneasy expression.
That’s a habit that comes out when you feel awkward or sorry.
Baek Do-hyeon remembered Bambi, who was particularly affectionate towards orphans, because he lost his father at a young age and because his father was an orphan.
Thump. Kyeonjirok puts down the file as if throwing it.
Soon, he roughly tossed my hair.
“Oh, that doesn’t suit my personality.”
“……”
“You know Sasejong, right? Our guild leader.”
“Yes. Because he is famous.”
“He was practically threatening me when I came in here. He’s a super rookie that you absolutely can’t let go of, so do a good job. Coax him and make him sit here, and put a leash on him.”
“Was that so?”
“Oh. But I can’t do that. I’m not good at that kind of thing due to my constitution.”
If you have the talent to turn good words into bad ones, who wouldn’t know?
A guy who has nothing to do with packaging things in a way that makes them sound good. That was Gyeonjirok.
“But it’s not like we can just kick him out like this, Sasejong, that guy is the real power here. As you can see, this place is run by a small elite group.”
“……”
“If you don’t listen to the housekeeper, you’ll get really tired. That’s why.”
“……”
“Let’s go straight and comfortably.”
Kyeonjirok leaned back in his chair.
He spoke with the air of an arrogant young ruler, as if he had never bowed down to anyone.
“Call me whatever condition you want. Whatever it is, I will fulfill it, if not 100%, then 99.9%.”
It was a phrase that was almost a habitual part of his speech.
0.1% is the realm of fate.
The other 99.9% is the human domain.
“Nothing is impossible, bro.”
“If you tell me to die, I’ll go for it 99.9% of the time. The only thing that can’t be filled by human power is a mere 0.1%.”
We acknowledge that we cannot be perfect because we are not God.
But he is a person who believes that he can get to the point where he is just one step ahead, and ends up going there.
A genius of the century, persistent and sincere.
Two pairs of eyes exchanged glances under the light.
Baek Do-hyun opened his mouth first.
“There are no specific conditions that I want.”
“hmm.”
“Just follow the industry standards and I’ll sign the contract right away. But.”
“……”
“The reason I requested a private meeting with the guild leader is… because there is something I must tell you before you join us here.”
Eyes filled with interest instead of cynical boredom.
The scent of green leaves that had been gently permeating the room also became stronger.
I’m still in a relaxed state, but what if I throw this out there?
The regressor threw a spark into the quiet forest.
“I know the future.”
A guide to proper living for rankers.
