"Haa... haaa... ugh."
A girl suffering inside a hospital room.
Knock, knock.
"...Yes, come in."
To Gyeom-shin, it was always a heartbreaking memory.
A fragment of the past stained with regret until the very moment he died.
Creeeak.
"Jang-mi, I'm here."
"Aaah... oppa! Hehehe."
He had visited the girl's hospital room for the first time in a long while.
It had been eight years.
"Have you been doing well, Jang-mi?"
The bob-haired girl was smiling brightly with a pretty smile.
"Yeah... I've been doing well without hurting! Gyeom-shin oppa."
Had Gyeom-shin not died and undergone regression through the power of the Demonic Sword, he would never have been able to see this pitiful girl ever again.
"...I see, so you have."
Gyeom-shin did not care even if everything he was seeing, feeling, and experiencing right now were all an illusion.
For this moment alone, where he had reunited with his precious people even like this, he was sincerely grateful to the Demonic Sword.
"Yeah! Since I've been exercising hard, the doctor said I'll be able to get better soon too."
Unlike her older brother, Jang-mi was a very mature child.
Even when she was in pain, she did not let it show.
She even knew that she needed surgery and that the surgery cost was expensive for their financial situation.
"...That's really a relief. Jang-pil hyung seemed to be worrying about you a lot too."
So in order not to burden her older brother as much as possible, she was doing her best like this to recover on her own without surgery.
"But Jang-mi."
Because to this young girl as well, only Jang-pil was her last remaining family.
She hoped he would not needlessly overdo it and get hurt because of her.
"You should still get the surgery, right?"
"Huh...?"
However, there were very few cases where the illness Jang-mi suffered from healed naturally.
This was truly the kind of illness where proper treatment was only possible if one had money.
"Jang-mi, you know it too, right? That your illness will easily heal as long as you get a transplant."
"Aaah... yeah."
Moreover, a new viral epidemic that would circulate before long would severely worsen her respiratory disease.
Ultimately, complications were the problem.
"There's no need to feel down. You're brave, so you'll easily pull through a mere surgery like that."
"N-no... it's not that...."
Therefore, right now was the exact golden time when she had to undergo surgery.
There was no time left now.
If they missed this window, Jang-mi would die.
Swish!
"Here, the surgery schedule."
"Huh...?"
"I already consulted with the doctor and scheduled the surgery."
That was why he had stopped by here.
It was different from the miserable past where they had no money and had no choice but to let her die.
He had urgently liquidated all the items he had earned while hunting monsters in the meantime.
"B-but oppa! With our financial situation, the money to pay for this surgery cost is...."
"Don't worry about that, Jang-mi."
If he could save the girl's life with that, it was a total bargain.
It was not a waste at all.
"No matter what it takes, I'll save the people precious to me without fail."
Furthermore, to the current Gyeom-shin....
"Because I've already paid for the surgery in full."
He had the power to sufficiently change the past, and even the future.
"O-oppa... sob...."
"So let's overcome this. Because you're at the age where you're just about to blossom."
The power to save the entire lives of the people precious to him.
***
Becoming a Player was convenient.
"Good, that wraps up today's mission too."
[Experience has increased.]
[You have reached Level 83.]
The results of his actions were clearly accumulated, making explosive leveling possible.
Ordinary Hunters could not even see a Status Window like this, and needed bone-carving effort just to raise their level.
"Vice Guild Master...!"
On the other hand, growth that would take several years was happening in just a few days for Gyeom-shin.
It was when about a month had passed since he started grabbing the guild by the collar and carrying it all on his own like that.
"The Phantom Guild has contacted us!"
The other side had contacted them first.
"Good, got them."
It was a situation where the guild they had tried to ruin was instead thriving openly.
The Kaiser Guild had also expressed its stance that it would no longer be swayed by the Phantom Guild.
"A proposal for a joint guild mission...."
"Those bastards finally bit the bait."
Therefore, it was now a situation where the Phantom Guild had no choice but to move personally.
The reason Gyeom-shin had saved the Kaiser Guild Hunters was also aimed at this.
"D-did you already know it would turn out like this...?"
"Well, those bastards couldn't just sit still anymore while their prestige was falling."
"Ooooh...!"
Choi Sang-hyeok looked at Gyeom-shin with bright eyes shining with respect.
"See, what did I tell you? Didn't I say those bastards would contact us first if we stayed still?"
"Y-you are truly amazing...!"
What Gyeom-shin had wanted were these exact eyes.
Not the hypocritical honey on the lips with a sword hidden in the belly like Yoon Chan-ho, but eyes that sincerely respected him.
"Even though it has only been a mere month since you came to the guild, you have pulled this guild up to 30th place in the overall rankings...!"
Generally, eyes like those did not betray.
He had learned that in his past life.
The comrades who had fought and died for Gyeom-shin until the very end in his past life had been like that.
"Jang-pil hyung probably put more effort into that than I did."
"Pardon...?"
"Even if that guy is a bit old-fashioned, he has a lot of talent when it comes to running a guild."
Winning Jang-pil over first thing right after his regression was not merely out of affection.
He possessed one talent that shone brighter than anyone else's.
"I-is that so...?"
"Yeah, ordinary Hunters mainly grow only in combat ability, but Jang-pil, that hyung is a bit different."
Namely, the talent to grow a guild at a terrifying speed.
"Soon, he'll take the position of Vice Guild Master of this guild alongside me."
The Kaiser Guild had failed to make use of that talent of his.
They had not even given him an executive position.
Only after entering Gyeom-shin's guild had Jang-pil blossomed in his potential.
"Because that's also the best choice for this guild."
His efforts had also played a huge part in how Gyeom-shin's guild had been able to become the strongest guild.
However, his potential had not yet fully bloomed, and he was only beginning to stand out.
Jang-pil needed more experience.
"Accept the joint mission, of course. What date did they propose?"
"Ah, it is three days from now!"
"Is that so? Then shall I get going?"
Because Jang-pil was also too warmhearted and did not suspect people, he had died.
From now on, Gyeom-shin intended to set that straight.
"Wh-where to...?"
"To strike first, of course."
That was his role and his destiny.
"Pardon...?! St-strike first, you say? Don't tell me you are planning to dig a trap in advance?"
"Well... something even worse than that?"
Stepping into the mud and waging all sorts of dirty psychological warfare was his specialty.
"It's not like we're sincerely cooperating with each other and going on a carefree picnic, right?"
Therefore, it was now time to hunt the Phantom Guild with that specialty.
***
They were walking along a night road in the late hours before dawn.
"Where... are we going right now...?"
Yeon Da-hee asked with an uneasy gaze.
"A joint mission came in from the Phantom Guild, didn't it?"
At that, Gyeom-shin answered with bleary eyes as if bothered.
"We're going to do some prep work on that."
"Pardon...? Wh-what did you say?"
The Phantom Guild—they were quite literally a ghost guild with no physical substance of their own.
"Just what on earth are you trying to do right now...."
"Do you know much about those bastards?"
In the first place, it was enough to make one doubt whether that organization was even a Hunter guild at all.
"...Yes, I heard that not even a main guild building exists, and that they are scattered here and there, operating in the form of a cell organization."
Because not a single thing was known about their Guild Master.
"Yeah, that's the kind of bastards they are."
Therefore, dealing with the Phantom Guild was no different from dealing with a phantom illusion.
"They're bastards like a criminal syndicate. I don't know who on earth is running it for a dead-end guild like that to be at the very top of the rankings, though."
That meant in order to catch a ghost, corresponding preparation was necessary.
So he had brought Yeon Da-hee out with him.
"...So then, where are we going right now?"
In the middle of the night at dawn, to avoid people's eyes.
"I'm taking you somewhere nice, so relax."
"......."
Usually, it was rare for a Vice Guild Master to call out a Guild Master like this.
Unless it was a strange Hunter who defied common sense like Gyeom-shin.
"I will ask one more time. If you do not answer me properly, I am going back."
"Ah, in that case...."
Moreover, although Yeon Da-hee had strong swordsmanship skills, she was a woman.
When being secretly taken to an uninhabited place, it would have been strange if she were not on guard.
"Instead of answering, I'll show you."
"Pardon...?"
"Since we're already here."
Gyeom-shin showed her.
"...I brought you carefully so word wouldn't leak out as much as possible, though it'd be awkward if you mistook this for a date course."
A sight that was just like magic.
"Th-this place is...?"
"Pretty, isn't it? The fireflies."
Before their eyes, a romantic and fantastical grand feast of fireflies had unfolded before they knew it.
"...Why at a riverside like this at dawn?"
"Wait, is this actually even more likely to cause a misunderstanding?"
It was the grassy thickets of a lake on an early summer night.
"Because it's right here. The shortcut."
"Pardon...?"
Da-hee stared at Gyeom-shin with eyes that said she could not understand what he was talking about.
It was a natural reaction.
"Watch closely."
Because this place was a secret route that no one had discovered yet.
"And follow me carefully."
"Pardon? W-wait a moment! Wait...!"
Trudge, trudge.
Splash.
"Th-that place is...!"
As Gyeom-shin entered the water of the lake, her eyes widened and she chased after him.
However, there was not even time to stop him.
"From what people say... where there are lots of fireflies, there are lots of souls."
"Are you crazy right now?! Come out at once!"
"Though of course, there are probably lots of evil spirits and ghosts too."
Without hesitation, he strode into the water.
"Still, from our perspective as Hunters... we have to fight bastards like those ghosts and monsters in dungeons anyway, don't we...?"
Even without that, this lake was famous for people dying in it every year.
Most died while swimming or fishing, but there were also many rumors that it was because they were bewitched by ghosts.
"So let's not be scared and keep moving forward."
Of course, from the perspective of Hunters, it was merely a superstition.
"What's far scarier than things like ghosts are people."
However, at this very moment, Yeon Da-hee believed in ghosts.
"And Hunters, at that."
"Wh-what nonsense are you spouting right now...?!"
Because right now, Gyeom-shin's gaze was truly dreamlike, like a bastard possessed by a ghost.
In Yeon Da-hee's wide-open eyes, a very urgent tension lingered.
"Are you really crazy?! At this rate, you are going to become a ghost yourself...!"
On the other hand, Gyeom-shin was composed.
Instead, he even smiled and beckoned to her.
"Come on, you get in here quickly too."
Grin.
He was amused by the reaction of Yeon Da-hee, who was flustered and unable to do this or that.
"Let's hang out together on the other side."
"N-no! Do not go!"
Sink.
"Kyaaa—!"
And then, he disappeared down into the water.
"Mr. Gyeom-shin...!"
As Gyeom-shin disappeared into the water, Da-hee collapsed to the ground with a dumbfounded expression.
"Aaah...."
THUD!
A person had died right before her eyes.
Thinking so, Yeon Da-hee broke out in a cold sweat as though she were having a terrible nightmare.
"Wh-what on earth is this...."
However, she had already received a hint.
"W-wait a second... on the other side, he said...?"
Yeon Da-hee also moved, as if she had only now noticed Gyeom-shin's hint.
"N-no way...!"
Trudge, trudge.
She hurriedly approached closer, shone a flashlight into the water, and examined the inside.
Shaaaa!
Then, blue-colored mana was faintly sensed from within the water.
Smirk!
At that moment, Gyeom-shin faced her from inside the water and wore a sly smile.
"Kyaa...! M-Mr. Gyeom-shin...?!"
He was truly the spitting image of a water ghost.
"Hah, my goodness...."
What had made this magic trick possible was none other than a Gate.
Namely, a dimensional door connecting the world of monsters and the world of humans.
"This... don't tell me it was a Gate...?!"
"Yeah, that's right."
Gyeom-shin had crossed over beyond that dimension and was facing Yeon Da-hee.
"As expected, you've got a good head on your shoulders."