Yoon Taegyeom’s condition these days is at its worst. It was because he’d been assigned the supporting role for the newly appeared S-rank Awakener, Vermouth.
“Can’t you assign this to someone else?”
He’d suggested that to the Director, but in truth, Yoon Taegyeom knew it himself. He was the most suitable personnel to stick beside this expert who came from another world and assist him. If this bastard were to do something crazy, someone had to stop him, but who could stop an S-rank Awakener? They at least needed to match ranks.
For that reason, he was helping Vermouth adapt to Gates and this world together with Yoon Sora. The problem arose here.
“Oh my, this steak isn’t cooked well.”
Yoon Taegyeom momentarily recalled the curses Hong Seoyoon would spit out like breathing.
“I think it’s not bad.”
“I’m a bit sensitive.”
A bit? A liiittle bit? He had no idea where such nonsense was coming from. A guy who’s a bit sensitive can’t be satisfied even with expensive hotel bedding and asks to change it? Makes this fuss if the meal quality drops even slightly? That human only felt satisfied after wearing suits made by artisans.
Just looking at what he did, he was like the Princess and the Pea from a fairy tale. What’s the Princess and the Pea? A princess who noticed a single pea under dozens of blankets and couldn’t fall asleep.
Yoon Taegyeom’s patience could be called remarkable in that he didn’t let these words escape his mouth.
“Mr. Vermouth must have been raised very preciously.”
“You can call me Vermouth. I don’t think I was raised that preciously.”
“That can’t be.”
“It’s true.”
Vermouth put down the fork he’d been stabbing the steak with several times. Then he smiled faintly and continued.
“I also choose time and place. On the battlefield, I slept anywhere and ate well. But this isn’t a battlefield, is it? Since you’ve decided to treat me as a VIP, please do it properly.”
He was going to lose his mind. The expression on Yoon Sora beside him was more naked than Yoon Taegyeom’s. She only belatedly started managing her expression after Yoon Taegyeom poked her side with his finger. Yoon Sora, who’d been happy at first saying he was handsome, seemed tired after tasting his fucking picky fastidiousness for several days.
After the meal, they put Vermouth in a luxury protocol vehicle and took him to a B-rank Gate. If he cleared this safely, next they were thinking of throwing him into an A-rank Gate. If he cleared even that alone, he could gain the fame he wanted.
Recently, Hong Seoyoon and Phoenix Guild had gained fame by conquering a Gate that had risen to S-rank. But that didn’t mean what Vermouth was doing was meaningless. Originally, the standard for S-rank was clearing A-rank alone.
All Awakeners who receive S-rank from the Management Bureau go through this. Usually this process takes about 1-2 years though. Vermouth said he’d finish all procedures in a week.
“If that happens, it’ll be a new record.”
Yoon Sora said while examining the Awakeners’ Gate clear records.
“It’s a new record. Usually even for S-rank Awakeners, they don’t push them this hard.”
What if that precious body dies from being handled wrong?
“But that’s what Vermouth wanted.”
“Drop the Mr. He said to just call him by name.”
“That’s true, but it still feels awkward.”
“What’s so awkward about it?”
“The part where he’s like a sensitive princess, and his appearance too?”
Yoon Sora said with an awkward laugh.
“It’s not your ideal type anyway.”
“Of course not! I like burly people. But in front of overwhelming looks, it all becomes meaningless. It’s fascinating, you know.”
“Everything’s fascinating to you. More than that, is the A-rank properly prepared?”
“Yes, Arachne’s Mirror Labyrinth. It’s prepared as a clean A-rank Gate.”
Gate names are mostly straightforward. With a name like Arachne’s Labyrinth, most monsters that appear are spider types, and true to the name labyrinth, it was a Gate where you couldn’t get out easily.
However, Gates with the name labyrinth had advantages. Since it was a Gate made of narrow and winding paths gathered together, monsters didn’t swarm all at once. Because there was no space for that.
Though the rank was high because the labyrinth walls were made of mirrors, it should be cleared smoothly. In the past they just solved everything with their bodies, but these days items that help clear labyrinths had come out.
[Labyrinth Thread]
If you leave this at the entrance and move while unraveling it, you won’t get lost easily.
Then the place where reporters who’d followed this far had gathered became noisy.
“Clear! The Gate has been cleared! Time taken is 10 minutes! It’s a world record!”
At those words, Yoon Sora also hurriedly checked the record sheet.
“It really is a new record.”
Right now they’d put up barriers around the area so reporters couldn’t cross over, but every single one was shining their eyes greedily. Vermouth came out looking unchanged from when he entered the Gate.
“Hello! I’m a reporter from NBS. Could we have an interview?”
“Hello. I’m a reporter from Daehan Daily. I’d like to interview you for a moment!”
Among the interview requests from reporters bursting out here and there, other words were mixed in.
“Kyaaah! You’re amazing!”
“Vermouth!”
“Please look this way!”
As times changed, Awakeners were also being treated somewhat like influencers. So fans would form sometimes, but this was the first time seeing so many attach in such a short period.
“Oppaaa!”
A powerful male voice called for Vermouth.
“That one’s also precious.”
Yoon Sora, who’d once been into idols, looked at the gathered people with a strange expression.
“But they might not be real fans. They take photos like that and sell them to other fansites.”
“Never mind. I don’t particularly want to know that far.”
“But you have fans too, oppa.”
Right, Yoon Taegyeom also had fans. It was a fact he naturally learned because Hong Seoyoon acted cocky saying he had more fans. Conclusively, Choi Jaeheon had the most fans, so Hong Seoyoon experienced the pain of defeat though.
“That’s not what’s important right now.”
Yoon Taegyeom looked at Vermouth peacefully giving interviews to reporters. He’s a guy building up his fame in real time like that, so how long can they hide information from Ian?
Let’s do our best for now.
***
Vermouth habitually used his ability periodically. After learning that if he used his ability inside Gates, it wouldn’t be detected outside, he used it more often.
The Republic of Korea has narrow land compared to other countries. So if they were in the same country, Ian should have noticed that Vermouth was using his power. There was still no news. He’d requested information about Ian from the President, but that side was also quiet.
Then the answer comes quickly.
The President is too incompetent to grant what Vermouth wants. Or someone is desperately obstructing him.
Then who was obstructing him?
Vermouth picked Yoon Taegyeom as the culprit. The Management Bureau had a separate Director, but the real power was Yoon Taegyeom. The Management Bureau’s Awakeners and staff followed Yoon Taegyeom’s words better than the Director’s. External evaluations weren’t different either.
The Director was a position in name only.
But even if Yoon Taegyeom had swallowed up the entire Management Bureau, would it be possible to obstruct what the President was trying to do? Surely there must be collaborators. Yoon Taegyeom was known to be close with Hong Seoyoon, another S-rank Awakener. And there was one more person, Choi Jaeheon.
“Come to think of it, Ian’s surname was Choi.”
The name of the guild Choi Jaeheon established was Stigma. Yoon Sora explained the meaning contained in the word Stigma. Most of the people affiliated with that guild were those who’d experienced great despair due to Gates.
Lost parents, lost children, lost siblings.
Stigma’s Guild Master Choi Jaeheon had lost his younger sibling. People with the same wounds as him gathered and were working hard to close Gates. For that reason, it was a guild with a very good reputation domestically.
Thoughts branched out and extended. And so when he finally reached a certain conclusion, Vermouth smiled. If his thoughts were correct, Ian was in a not-too-distant place.
***
Arachne’s Mirror Labyrinth.
At the news that the fifth S-rank Awakener was entering an A-rank Gate, even more people gathered than last time. Because of that, this time even police and soldiers were mobilized as control personnel.
“You can’t come any closer! Please maintain order!”
While police shouted until their throats burst, Vermouth finished all preparations.
“Are you really fine with just that?”
Vermouth had told the Management Bureau he didn’t need any support items.
“Yes, this is enough.”
Instead, he wore the outfit and weapons he’d brought, and dressed like that, a certain profession from games came to mind.
“Holy Knight!”
When Yoon Sora, whose mouth had been itching, shouted, exclamation marks rose above the heads of people around. That’s right, right now Vermouth looked like a Holy Knight.
