After the decision to go to Songdo was made due to Uijae''s karma and Sayoung''s threats, time cruelly flowed until the dawn of the Craftsmen Exhibition day.
Uijae stood in front of the hangover soup restaurant, wearing the navy suit and shoes that Sayoung had sent. An A4 paper stuck to the door pped pitifully in the morning breeze.
**Closed on the day of the Craftsmen Exhibition.**
**Reason: Taking Grandma to the hospital.**
**└ Wishing Grandma good health!!**
The suit that Sayoung sent fit him perfectly, neither too loose nor too tight. How did he know Uijae''s size? Uijae fidgeted with the jacket sleeves for no reason.
A momentter, a familiar figure appeared from the alley. It was the usual Sayoung. As he slowly walked towards the hangover soup restaurant, he crossed his arms and scanned Uijae from head to toe. He seemed displeased, which made Uijae narrow his eyes in response.
“What?”
“Your tie….”
“Hmm?”
“It’s tied nicely?”
It was an unexpectedment, but Uijae felt a swell of pride in his shoulders. After all, he had learned to tie it by watching tutorials on YouTube. However, Sayoung reached out and flicked the tie with his finger, messing it up.
“I didn’t think you could do it.”
“Are you picking a fight?”
“If you couldn’t tie it, I would have done it for you.”
“Shut up with the nonsense early in the morning.”
Uijae clicked his tongue. Without replying, Sayoung continued to fidget with the tie for a while before pulling out a staff ID and a gas mask from his inventory. The ID disyed the picture of an ordinary man along with the name.
**Wave Guild Secretary Team Kim Seung-bin.**
Uijae hung the ID around his neck and asked, “Is this person real?”
“Yeah. Just wear this for now.”
As he donned the gas mask, gloved hands approached to adjust his appearance. To anyone watching, it would have looked bizarre—a gas mask assisting another gas mask in front of a run-down hangover soup restaurant. Thankfully, it was early morning, and there were no passersby.
Sayoung muttered, “Just in case… when you speak, keep your voice as low as possible. Only let me hear it.”
Instead of answering, Uijae nodded. A ck finger tapped the filter of the gas mask.
“And you know how sharp-eared Hunters can be.”
“…….”
“From now on, you’re part of the Wave Guild Secretary Team.”
His low voice had a hint of a smile. Uijae guessed what wasing next and frowned slightly. As if she could tell through the gas mask, Sayoung smiled and asked, “You can use honorifics, right?”
Uijae squinted his eyes. Is he purposely doing this to me? Of course, Sayoung had a valid point. It would stand out if the secretary team spoke informally to their superior.
Deciding to let it go, Uijae thought it was time to showcase his acting skills, making him feel much more rxed.
“...So the title is Guild Leader, then?”
“Guild Leader Lee Sayoung.”
“That’s too long.”
“There will be quite a few Guild Leaders attending, and if they get confused, what then?”
“Fine. I’ll just call you Guild Leader.”
Ignoring the nonsensicalints, Sayoung shrugged while pulling out an emergency escape paper from his inventory.
“Do as you like. Grab my arm.”
“Do you have a lot of those? It seems like you use them every time I see you.”
“It’s a pain to drive all the way to Songdo.”
What a bourgeois remark! Just as Uijae was about to lecture Sayoung on the reckless spending habits of rankers, Sayoung ripped the emergency escape paper without hesitation.
When he opened his eyes, they had arrived in front of a massive building he had never seen before. It must be the Songdo Convention Center, where the Craftsmen Exhibition was taking ce.
Neatly lined up along the well-kept road were streetlights, each adorned with banners of the Craftsmen Exhibition. A huge banner depicting Hong Yesung giving a thumbs-up was attached to the exterior wall of the center.
**The Craftsman Returns After Two Years!**
**Genius Hong Yesung’s Craftsmen Exhibition**
Since it was early morning, there weren’t many signs of life. Near the entrance, a few reporters and fans huddled in thick padding and nkets, but it seemed that no Hunters had arrived yet. Uijae found this fortunate.
At the spacious entrance of the center stood four exhausted-looking Hunters. When they spotted the two gas masks striding toward the entrance, they wore expressions of confusion.
“Oh? No way, at this early hour….”
“Two.”
Sayoung swiftly handed over two ck tickets. The startled Hunter quickly scanned the tickets with a handheld device norger than the palm of his hand. Blue light red up on the ck surface, forming letters like stars.
**藝星**
“Uh, y-yeah, your tickets have been confirmed. Wave Guild Leader Lee Sayoung, and the person next to you is….”
“Secretary.”
The Hunter''s gaze fell on the ID hanging around Uijae’s neck. He seemed to want to confirm the face hidden behind the gas mask, but upon receiving Sayoung''s icy re, he quickly bowed his head.
“Yes, you may enter.”
Lee Sayoung''s free pass was incredible. They could enter the center without any verification process of removing the gas masks. Is this what power feels like? Uijae thought as he surveyed the interior of the center, then poked Sayoung in the back.@@novelbin@@
“Guild Leader, I’m going to the restroom for a moment.”
Sayoung, who had been walking ahead, suddenly turned to face Uijae. The aura emanating from him clearly expressed his displeasure.
“...You’re going to leave me alone right after arriving?”
“I think I’ll need some mental preparation if I’m going to use honorifics all day.”
“Ah….”
Crossing his arms, Sayoung began to mock him.
“Kim Seung-bin doesn’t seem like the type to be well-prepared.”
“If I don’t mentally prepare, I might identally curse at some point, and is that okay with you?”
“…….”
“…….”
Silence sparked between the two gas masks. What can I do if I just want to go to the restroom?
In the end, Sayoung flicked his hand first. It seemed to be a gesture of permission. Uijae quickly took a step back from Sayoung and walked swiftly to the restroom he had noticed earlier. Despite the gazes following him, he felt it was worth enduring. At least he wasn’t being followed!
Fortunately, there was no unusual presence in the restroom either. Uijae entered the innermost stall, locked the door, and sat silently on the toilet lid, letting out a sigh.
From the day he received the suit until today, he had memorized the information of famous Hunters with the help of Nexby and was now mentally exhausted. Plus, the gas mask limited his vision, making him more sensitive.
‘How does Sayoung wear this every day?’
The mask he had used when he was J was a precious item that even modted his voice. Now, wearing the stifling gas mask, he found himself missing that old mask. He couldn''t reuse it since it broke at the West Sea Rift just before he was ejected.
Uijae quietly checked his inventory. He had potions gifted by regrs from the hangover soup restaurant, the Basilisk''s fangs upying a generous slot, the cursed magic stone that was the source of all evils, and two ck tickets.
Excluding the potions, the items in his inventory were enough to turn the convention center upside down if the knowledge of their existence leaked. Was this what it felt like to be a teacher assigned to a problem child ss? Uijae began to understand, at least in part, the heart of a teacher he had never experienced.
The particrly problematic items were… the magic stone and the ck tickets. The magic stone was understandable, but this damn ticket was something he wanted to bury in his nket.
‘I’m really anxious….’
Even if he thought about it, thebined value of the two tickets would be around 10 billion won. It was hard for Uijae to feel at ease leaving them tucked under his nket while going out. When he worked at the hangover soup restaurant, the whole area was under his watchful eyes, so it wasn’t a big deal. But now that he was far away in Songdo, it was possible that a thief could break into the restaurant without him knowing.
‘It’s better to keep it in my hands.’
After experiencing situations that couldn’t be solved merely with force, like nearly burning down the hangover soup restaurant because he left the stove on, or recklessly attacking Awakeners without considering the aftermath, Uijae couldn’t afford to neglect preparations for the unexpected. His life just never went ording to n.
Now, having entered a space without Sayoung, he needed to quickly finish what he had to do. Uijae opened the Rankers'' chat that he hadn’t checked since he was forcibly entered. In Songdo, where danger lurked at every corner, information was crucial.
The number one Ranker channel would have the most valuable information. Who was attending the Craftsmen Exhibition, what were they aiming for, and what were their current locations? Though Sayoung was next to him, it was Uijae''s responsibility to avoid any risks that he could actively evade.
Uijae began
to scroll back up, reading the chat messages from around midnight one by one. As expected, the chat started with the addiction of the Hunter known as Hong Yesung.
---
[8] I am a Craftsman: The day of the Craftsmen Exhibition has dawned! ^^
[8] I am a Craftsman: Everyone in channel one ising, right?
[6] Honeybee: Yesung!
[6] Honeybee: Have you finished making the rapier?
[8] I am a Craftsman: I’m a native Korean, so I don’t deal with foreign weapons.
[6] Honeybee: You ****.
[6] Honeybee: Just wait for me in Songdo.
[11] Shield Guy: Oh, haha, are you looking for Honeybee’s ticket?
[6] Honeybee: Yup.
[6] Honeybee: Matthew brought it.
[8] I am a Craftsman: If it weren’t for Matthew, I’d be busy scamming tickets in Songdo.
[6] Honeybee: You’re really in trouble, huh?
[11] Shield Guy: He’s just a kid, that’s why.
[11] Shield Guy: Can you just let it go this one time?;;
[6] Honeybee: ??
[6] Honeybee: In the HB Guild, it’s me and Matthew going.
[6] Honeybee: Are youing too, Shield Guy?
[11] Shield Guy: Yup.
[6] Honeybee: What about Lee Sayoung?
[11] Shield Guy: He said he woulde, but…
[11] Shield Guy: He’s moving separately, so I’m not sure;;
[6] Honeybee: How many of you are there that you’re moving separately?
[11] Shield Guy: I don’t know, but at least I’ll get thepany card --v
[4] Jeongbin: Good morning, everyone in channel one! ^^ The Craftsmen Exhibition is back after two years! ^^
[4] Jeongbin: I just want to remind you of something important to remember while attending the exhibition! ^^
[8] I am a Craftsman: Here we go...
[4] Jeongbin: Please do not cause any trouble! ^^
[4] Jeongbin: Don’t fall for others’ provocations! ^^
[4] Jeongbin: I strongly rmend that you do not interact with others at all! ^^
[4] Jeongbin: Always maintain a safe distance to avoid shes with other Hunters! ^^
[4] Jeongbin: Please be careful that bumping shoulders doesn’t lead to a building copsing! ^^
[4] Jeongbin: If you cannot avoid a fight, please handle it discreetly in a ce out of the reporters’ eyes and then contact the local response team! ^^
[4] Jeongbin: I hope you do not threaten the reporters! ^^
[4] Jeongbin: I would like to ask for your cooperation in sessfully holding the Craftsmen Exhibition and hope you behave well so that I do not have to meet you one-on-one! Have a great day! ^^
[50] Romantic Opener: That wasn’t just one sentence…
[34] Tiny Miracle: It’s technically one sentence if you think about it.
[50] Romantic Opener: I’m not curious…
---
As he read through Jeongbin’s lengthy message, a sense of solemnity washed over him. With prideful, hot-tempered, and sensitive Hunters gathering in one ce, idents were bound to happen….
Just then, he felt a light presence rushing toward the restroom in a near sprint. Uijae hurriedly closed the unread chat and quickly concealed his presence.
<Silent footsteps!>
Following the lead buffalo, other presences rushed in, but fortunately, they stopped just in front of the restroom door and didn’te inside.
Squeak, bang. The sudden intruder, inexplicably, settled in the stall right next to Uijae. After a while, all he could hear were rustling sounds, suggesting that they weren’t there to use the restroom but rather for something else.
“Damn, why isn’t this working?”
The muttering voice was familiar. It was a voice he couldn’t pretend not to know. Uijae stared at the wall adjoining the adjacent stall with a startled expression.
Because what he heard next was…
‘Crazy.’
The repeated reys of WeQuiz echoed…
‘It’s Hong Yesung.’
It was the voice of Hong Yesung.