“Guild Leader-nim! Guild Leader-nim!”
Jaehee frowned at the loud noise rousing his dazed mind. It was so noisy his head throbbed. And that wasn’t all. His whole body ached as if he’d been beaten up.
What on earth happened? Why is my body in this state?
But there was no time to ponder such things.
“Guild Leader-nim! Come to your senses! We’re under attack! An attack!”
“What… What on earth is going on?”
Even shaking his head lightly didn’t ease the headache. It felt like a sharp awl was digging into his brain, but he had no time to worry about that.
“It’s an attack! It’s Guild Sahae!”
“Guild Sahae…? Why would Guild Sahae…?”
Though his mind hadn’t fully returned and he was still dazed, Jaehee drew his sword and gripped it. He realized the person speaking to him was Kim Jisu. Only then did Jaehee come to his senses.
“Damn it. Wait, this isn’t a dream? What the hell is this! What’s happening!”
Seeing a masked person about to attack Kim Jisu from behind, Jaehee jumped to his feet. He felt his mind snap into focus. In an instant, Jaehee switched the sword he was holding to a dagger and threw it. Without even a groan, the masked person collapsed.
“I don’t know either! Shortly after you collapsed, Guild Leader-nim, and the Vice Guild Leader-nim lost consciousness, they suddenly rushed in! Damn it! I don’t know what’s going on either! I’m so relieved you woke up, Guild Leader-nim…”
Seeing Kim Jisu on the verge of tears made him feel like he’d been hit in the head. He felt nauseous enough to vomit, but he couldn’t even show it.
“Wait, then what about Jeongwoo? What’s happened to Jeongwoo?”
“He’s right there!”
Kim Jisu pointed behind Jaehee with her hand. Looking back, he saw Jeongwoo lying down. Even amidst this chaos, he looked like he was sleeping peacefully.
“Why, why can’t he regain consciousness? Wait, what about the others? There are civilians too!”
Jaehee threw several more daggers at the masked people. Since he originally used a bow, throwing daggers wasn’t too difficult for Jaehee. Though it was his first time doing it this way, the daggers hit their targets quite quickly and accurately.
Not long after Jaehee joined in, they were able to quickly eliminate all the intruders in their area.
Only then could Jaehee look around. Though it was a mess, it wasn’t hard to tell it was an office.
“What on earth happened? I need to know something to deal with this.”
At Jaehee’s words, Kim Jisu burst into tears.
“I don’t know much either. *Sniff* After the Night of the Dead passed and we were trying to catch our breath, Vice Guild Leader Woo Jeongwoo returned. Then we saw you had collapsed, Guild Leader-nim. The Vice Guild Leader was naturally jumping around in anger. Apparently it was a newly added mission.”
“A newly added mission?”
Only then did Jaehee remember the newly added mission, Manifestation of Nightmares.
“I don’t know the details either, but he said if we left you alone, you’d be in danger, Guild Leader-nim. So Vice Guild Leader Woo Jeongwoo said he’d enter your dream and wake you up, Guild Leader-nim. In that process, you know that Kaengkaeng you were raising, Guild Leader-nim? It seemed like they were helping.”
“Ah… Kaengkaeng! But why can’t Jeongwoo regain consciousness? I’m already awake. And where’s Kaengkaeng? Ah, what happened to the other people? Don’t tell me… those attackers didn’t attack civilians too, did they?”
“Slowly, please. I don’t know everything either. And the attack, fortunately, happened after the civilians went home. You know, Guild Leader-nim. We decided to gather only at night. During the day, everyone had returned home. There were some people who stayed behind, but they’re in a completely different building so there doesn’t seem to be much damage. Well, even that’s not certain though. And I don’t know why Vice Guild Leader Woo Jeongwoo can’t wake up either.”
“What about Kaengkaeng? Where is Kaengkaeng?”
“I think they went home with your family members, Guild Leader-nim. Kaengkaeng didn’t want to be separated from your younger sibling.”
Jaehee nodded. While the Night of the Dead mission continued, people had decided to return to their daily lives during the day and gather inside the Eternal Guild’s territory at night. The attack seemed to have happened after the civilians went home.
This was fortunate in that there were no civilian casualties. But for those who were attacked, it was also unlucky.
“Damn it. Do you know how many came in? And what about the others?”
“Suyeong-ssi went to the Management Bureau because of the hostages we captured and the reports. The only ones left in the office were me and Yongpil-ssi. Ah! No wait, Kang Mingyu, I think that person was here too… I don’t know where he is now.”
“What about Yongpil-ssi?”
“He should be downstairs. We were fighting earlier and he rolled down there.”
Kim Jisu said, pointing at the gaping hole in the floor.
“It seems quiet now though… I wonder if there are still some left.”
“I don’t know. I could hear fighting sounds until earlier, but judging by how quiet it is…”
Kim Jisu couldn’t continue. Watching that, Jaehee bit his lip too.
Kim Jisu and Park Yongpil were people who had been with Jaehee at the Daejeon Station dungeon.
“First, Jisu-ssi, go look for Yongpil-ssi. Just in case he’s in a dangerous situation. Do you have enough potions?”
“Yes! I have potions, but… then you’ll be alone, Guild Leader-nim. Will you be okay?”
“I’ll try to wake Jeongwoo first. And once Jeongwoo wakes up, we’ll head to the Management Bureau.”
“The Management Bureau?”
“There’s hardly any combat personnel here right now, isn’t there?”
“Ah… That’s true, but… If just the Vice Guild Leader-nim wakes up, it’ll be fine. Actually, we thought you or the Vice Guild Leader-nim would wake up quickly, Guild Leader-nim.”
At Kim Jisu’s words, Jaehee smiled bitterly.
While it was true that Jeongwoo had exceptionally outstanding abilities, it was also true that they generally relied heavily on Jeongwoo.
He himself had become guild leader and received respect because his classification grade was King, but Jeongwoo was truly recognized for his actual skills.
That’s why during this Night of the Dead mission, when Jeongwoo was chosen as the one with the strongest military power in the guild to determine the size of the veil, he wasn’t surprised. Everyone reacted as if it were natural for Jeongwoo.
“Understood. Then please go find Yongpil-ssi now. And check if there are any survivors inside. If you discover any attackers, try not to fight if possible and avoid them. Please.”
“Yes, then I’ll look around and search for Yongpil-ssi. Guild Leader-nim too… don’t overdo it!”
Kim Jisu glanced once at Jeongwoo lying down, bowed her head, and disappeared.
Jaehee sighed as he looked at the office that now looked like a building on the verge of demolition.
Last night, while Jeongwoo fought the dead, the Eternal Guild was attacked.
Though they had expected it to some degree, when an actual attack occurred, people were shocked. Fighting monsters was already overwhelming enough, and now they couldn’t trust even fellow humans.
Since they had set citizenship to auto-enrollment, it was easy for spies to infiltrate, so they had anticipated an attack to some extent. That’s why they only accepted people they could trust inside the building. Even if they were outside the building, the veil’s effect was the same, so it was just a bit inconvenient with no major problems.
And as expected, the first attack took place outside the building. The attackers’ skills weren’t very outstanding. Since they were prepared, it didn’t take long to subdue them.
While maintaining the King’s Veil and preparing for attacks was tiring, it couldn’t be helped. And when the night was almost over, there was a second attack. This time, from inside the building.
The second attack was honestly unexpected. Moreover, the timing of the attack was bad. As the night was ending, people’s guard was down, and it was when most of the attack teams had gone outside for surveillance and to watch the hostages captured during the first attack.
There was quite a bit of damage during the second attack, but fortunately, it was all to an extent that could be resolved with potions.
After the second attack ended, the night was truly ending. The dawn was breaking, and they didn’t think anything else would happen.
So the moment he entered the office saying he’d rest a bit, he was caught by the nightmare.
“Damn it. At this rate, I’ll have nothing to say even if Jeongwoo teases me later. I’m really pathetic. Right, Jeongwoo? You always do your job splendidly, but I always seem to be the problem.”
Jaehee plopped down on the floor and examined Jeongwoo.
Fortunately, Jeongwoo looked comfortable. When he woke from the nightmare, Jeongwoo should wake up too, but why can’t Jeongwoo get up? Is Jeongwoo trapped in a nightmare?
Jaehee swept back the forehead of the lying Jeongwoo. A handsome guy apparently had a neat and handsome forehead too.
“Resting while lying down is fine, but I’m worried, so wake up, Jeongwoo.”
He felt like he’d dreamed many dreams, but he couldn’t remember any of them properly.
Jaehee playfully flicked the tip of Jeongwoo’s nose lightly.
“Sleepyhead. Wake up. I think I’ll be scared if you fall asleep now. You lost consciousness last time too and put everyone through that trouble… No well, this time it’s my fault. Huh? What’s this?”
If Jaehee hadn’t discovered the wound near Jeongwoo’s neck at that moment, Jaehee would have continued waiting lightheartedly for Jeongwoo to wake up.
