Finally, they arrived. Escape.
The moment the engine turned off, Lee Kanghyun immediately unfastened his seat belt as if he had been waiting for it.
The two of them took the elevator to the 25th floor. Even the short time it took for the floors to rise felt unbearably long to Lee Kanghyun.
Ding.
They arrived at the 25th floor. Lee Kanghyun quickly stepped out and walked toward Unit 2501.
His home.
He reached out toward the door lock.
But a moment faster than him, Kang Yujun’s hand suddenly appeared and skillfully entered the code first.
‘0127.’
Beep—.
The lock was released.
Lee Kanghyun glared at him.
This guy had not said a single word the entire time, so why was he suddenly following him instead of going to his own home?
Understanding Kang Yujun was impossible for Lee Kanghyun.
“Hey. I told you to stop entering my door code.”
Lee Kanghyun snapped at him, but Kang Yujun did not even blink.
“It’s my birthday. What’s wrong with me entering it? Just don’t forget it.”
Kang Yujun shamelessly shoved Lee Kanghyun aside with his shoulder and entered the apartment first.
Lee Kanghyun let out a deep sigh and took off his shoes.
It was ridiculous, but he had experienced too many ridiculous things because of that guy. He was used to it by now.
Rather, he felt slightly relieved.
Maybe Kang Yujun was not that angry.
“Ha… So what did you want to say? Say it quickly and leave. I’m going to sleep.”
Lee Kanghyun complained as usual and dropped onto the living room sofa.
Kang Yujun silently stared at him for a moment before opening his inventory.
A thick envelope suddenly appeared in midair and landed on the table with a thud.
“Look at this.”
Normally, Hunters stored potions to preserve their lives or weapons to use in emergencies inside their inventory.
But this guy had put nothing but a stack of papers in there.
Lee Kanghyun himself was far from normal, but Kang Yujun was not exactly ordinary either.
With an incredulous expression, Lee Kanghyun picked up the envelope.
The moment he checked the contents, his brows furrowed.
It was a contract.
[Guild Membership Contract]
Affiliation: Waterglint Guild
Name: Lee Kanghyun
Below it were countless clauses written in detail.
“This again? I told you I’m not doing it. It’s annoying. I’m not joining a guild. How many times do I have to say it?”
Lee Kanghyun dropped the contract onto the table.
As if he had expected this reaction, Kang Yujun calmly pushed the contract back toward him.
“Look at the conditions again. They’re different from before.”
“What’s different?”
“No mandatory attendance. No mandatory training. No forced gate raids. You just have to put your name down as a member of our guild.”
Lee Kanghyun narrowed his eyes at Kang Yujun’s explanation.
“What kind of guild member is that? That’s a ghost member.”
“Yeah. Be a ghost member. I’ll even pay you a salary. I’ll provide the four major insurances too.”
“Don’t need it. I just hate being tied down somewhere.”
Seeing Lee Kanghyun reject him without hesitation, Kang Yujun smiled.
“Then if you refuse, you’ll write all future gate raid reports yourself.”
“Why would I?”
“Because they’re gate raid reports.”
“No. You led the raid, so you should write them. I only helped from the side.”
Lee Kanghyun protested.
But Kang Yujun calmly countered without even flinching.
“What an unfair thing to say. You and I are a party. We obviously cleared them together.”
“……”
Lee Kanghyun had no response.
They were officially registered as a two-person party, so both legally and practically, they shared responsibility.
Lee Kanghyun quickly started calculating.
There was no way he could let himself take all the burden.
“Fine. Let’s say I accept that after giving in a hundred times. Then we should take turns writing them. Why are you dumping everything on me? Where did your conscience go?”
“Take turns?”
Kang Yujun repeated it as if interested.
Lee Kanghyun nodded, thinking he had found his chance.
“Yeah. You wrote this one, so I’ll write the next one. That’s fair.”
“Hmm. That makes sense. It’s reasonable. Then let’s calculate. I’ve written everything alone for the past two months without complaining…”
He raised two fingers and smiled.
A chill ran down Lee Kanghyun’s entire body.
If a demon smiled, it would probably look exactly like that.
“Then you can write everything alone for the next two months. That makes it perfectly equal, right? Very fair.”
“…Hey.”
Lee Kanghyun’s face turned pale.
Just imagining it was enough to make him miserable.
Kang Yujun bit his lip while looking at him.
Was that bastard holding back a laugh right now?
Lee Kanghyun had been serious, but seeing Kang Yujun laughing at him made his insides twist.
“No. Forget it. Taking turns is rejected too. Just keep submitting all the reports from now on. I’m too busy to write them.”
“Hey! How is that fair?”
“You’re unemployed. I’m the Guild Master of a major guild. Whose time is more valuable? No matter how I think about it, you should write them.”
“Most of yours are written by guild employees anyway.”
“Exactly. That’s why you should join the guild too.”
Now he was threatening him.
Lee Kanghyun hated that even more.
Should he just write the reports?
When Lee Kanghyun looked like he was considering it, Kang Yujun quickly added:
“I’ve also killed most of the monsters until now, and I handled most of the boss monsters too, right? That feels unfair as well. From now on, we’ll take turns.”
No way.
Writing reports was already bad enough, but now he wanted him to take the lead in fighting monsters too?
He would rather join the guild a hundred times over.
In the end, Lee Kanghyun surrendered.
“Seriously… I only have to put my name down?”
“Yeah. I won’t ask you to do anything. I promise.”
Joining Kang Yujun’s guild felt suspicious, like putting on shackles.
But if he refused, he would fall into the hell of writing reports.
There was no room for negotiation.
“Ha… Give me a pen.”
In the end, Lee Kanghyun gave in.
He snatched the pen Kang Yujun offered and signed without hesitation.
He did not even read the contract.
Well, it was Kang Yujun.
He probably would not include any unfair clauses.
Despite being annoying and overly involved, Kang Yujun was a good person.
Lee Kanghyun had that vague trust in him.
“Good choice. Welcome, Lee Kanghyun.”
Kang Yujun carefully picked up the contract as if it were a treasure and stood up.
“If you’re done, leave. I’m tired.”
“Yeah. Eat properly. If you need anything, call me.”
When Kang Yujun left, silence finally returned to the apartment.
Only then did Lee Kanghyun relax and let out a relieved sigh.
Finally alone.
“Ah. Happiness.”
Lee Kanghyun crawled into bed and pulled the blanket over his head.
The familiar scent of fabric softener.
The warm, comfortable feeling of being wrapped up.
As expected, his own home and his own bed were the best.
He fell into a deep sleep almost instantly.
***
Several days passed.
Lee Kanghyun was happily wasting time as usual, practically fused with his bed.
On a warm afternoon filled with sunlight, he enjoyed his peace.
Crash—!
But then the sound of breaking glass from the living room shattered that peace.
“……?”
Lee Kanghyun frowned.
That was not the sound of a single cup falling and breaking.
It was far too loud for that.
It was clearly the sound of the living room window being smashed.
He reluctantly got out of bed and slowly walked toward the door.
Dragging his feet, he opened it.
In the middle of the empty living room stood an unfamiliar black figure.
A man wearing a black mask and black tights.
His outfit practically announced, “I am suspicious.”
The intruder stepped over the shattered glass scattered beneath his feet and looked around the living room.
Then he met eyes with Lee Kanghyun, who was standing crookedly in front of the bedroom door.
“……”
“……”
The intruder’s eyes shook.
The moment he recognized Lee Kanghyun, his face went pale and he stepped backward.
“I was told he wouldn’t be here at this time…”
Lee Kanghyun heard him mutter quietly.
He quickly understood the situation.
Ah.
So he came here targeting the time when I was away to rob my home?
You dare interrupt my rest time?
Lee Kanghyun’s figure blurred.
The intruder thought Lee Kanghyun had disappeared from his sight.
But he was already standing in front of him.
Lee Kanghyun grabbed the intruder’s wrist and twisted it.
Crack.
The horrifying sound of bones breaking echoed through the living room.
“AAAAH!”
The dagger in the intruder’s hand dropped helplessly to the floor.
Lee Kanghyun twisted the man’s arm behind his back, subdued him, and slammed his head into the floor.
Bang!
“Be quiet. You’re noisy.”
He pressed his knee down on the intruder’s back.
The man could barely breathe and only coughed weakly.
“Now, answer only what I ask. Who are you? Who sent you?”
“Ghk…”
“You’re not just some petty thief. You knew this was my home before entering. What kind of bold idiot breaks into an S-rank Hunter’s house?”
Lee Kanghyun applied more force to the arm he had twisted.
“This is annoying. I want to sleep. If you don’t answer quickly, I’ll make sure you can never use this arm again. One, two…”
Of course, he had no intention of actually crippling him.
He only planned to scare him a little.
The intruder’s body trembled violently from fear.
Seeing that reaction, Lee Kanghyun thought the man would soon talk.
But then—
Something hard broke inside the intruder’s mouth.
Lee Kanghyun’s brows narrowed.
What was that sound?
Before he could even resolve his suspicion, the intruder’s body began convulsing violently.
Then, moments later, it went limp.
“…What?”
A bad feeling came over him.
Lee Kanghyun grabbed the intruder’s hair and forcibly lifted his head.
Black foam mixed with dark blood flowed from the corners of his mouth.
His eyes had already lost focus, rolled back to reveal only the whites.
He was not breathing.
Lee Kanghyun stared blankly at the man’s face.
The strength left his hand.
The intruder’s head dropped limply to the floor with a thud.
“Ha…”
A hollow laugh escaped Lee Kanghyun’s mouth.
He had killed himself.