TCHF 13

Chapter 13

The official, whatever the circumstances, led Gidan right up to the suspect.

“Don’t come any closer! If you take even one more step, I’ll blow this oil pipeline sky-high!”

That lunatic was making absurd demands, like bringing him his ex-wife.

Even after closing the distance to within one meter of the man, Gidan kept tapping away at his phone without pause.

“You! Get lost right now!”

But Gidan paid him no mind. Still not lifting his eyes from the phone, he scratched his chin and spoke in a genuinely troubled tone.

“Ah, I really need to get going. It looks like our guild master hyung kidnapped a kindergartener.”

“What?”

It wasn’t just the suspect who was stunned by that bolt-from-the-blue remark. Everyone gathered for the emergency stared at Dan in shock.

The guild master of Hyeonak did what?

Regardless, Dan flicked his dagger around and grabbed it in a reverse grip. A sharp aura swirled around him, as if he had become a different person.

Gidan narrowed his eyes into crescents and curled his lips upward.

“Let’s finish this quickly. I need to smack our guild master on the back of the head while he’s not in his right mind.”

“Wh—what?”

The man who’d been muttering that no one could even get close took a single step forward.

Tap—

The air rippled, as if following the flow of something unseen.

The official blinked.

No one standing there sensed a thing.

And yet, at the exact moment Gidan took one step toward the villain, he was already standing behind him.

Gidan spun the dagger he’d been holding behind him and regripped it.

“Ugh… ugh…?”

The suspect, groaning without understanding what had happened, dropped to his knees.

Within a one-meter radius around the collapsed Kim Seung-beom, the area had been utterly devastated. Gnats, weeds—every living thing was dead.

In an instant so brief no one could react, the situation was resolved with absurd ease. Everyone was left speechless.

‘That’s impossible…’

Having already reined in his sharp aura, Gidan put the dagger back into his inventory.

“Ah—”

“I’m busy preparing for a coup, so I’ll be leaving now.”

Gidan gave a small bow and turned away.

“A c-coup?”

“Wait! Hunter Gidan! You’ll write an incident report, right?!”

Ignoring the annoying request, Gidan opened his messenger app.

Guildmaster hyung
Gidan, at the Management Bureau?

Why? Is the director throwing a fit again?

Did they find out I wrecked the Gongdeok Station dungeon on my own?
ㅠㅠ

Guildmaster hyung
That was you?

sry sry
(kowtowing emoji)
ㅠㅠ

Guildmaster hyung
We’ll talk later.
For now, go to the Bureau.
We need to modify the awakened-rank data and change the awakened grade to F.

At the Bureau directly?
Hmm, if we get caught, that’s instant arrest.

Guildmaster hyung
If you don’t want to, pass.

I was just saying.
sry sry
Please read my messages sry sry
(A gifticon has been sent)

.
.
.

Hyung, I’m always ready.
Should I go right away?

Guildmaster hyung
Go to the company first.

OK, give me 10 minutes.
I’m out on support right now.
But who is it?
Whose data?

Guildmaster hyung
An S-rank kindergartener.

?

Is this phishing?

Hyung?

Answer the phone
Huh?

Ah, hyung!!
ㅁㄴㅇㄹㅇㄱㅈㄴㅌ

At that moment, inside Hyeonak’s pantry.

“I heard the CEO is adopting a child?”

At someone’s utterly absurd remark, laughter burst out everywhere.

“What? Don’t be ridiculous.”

“The CEO doesn’t even raise plants. Says it’s too much trouble. A child? How?”

“Exactly. Are there really still this many people at Hyeonak who don’t know the CEO?”

The employee who’d inadvertently become a rumor-spreader complained sulkily.

“No, it’s not a lie! The rumor spread all over the secretary’s office— huh?”

Before she could finish, her eyes widened as if she’d spotted something. Everyone’s gaze turned toward the pantry door.

The employees, who’d been chatting about rumors surrounding Onjurim, froze when they saw a child peeking in.

As all eyes gathered on them, a pair of large coral-colored eyes rolled around. The child timidly stepped out and bowed.

“Hewwo.”

“A baby?”

“……Whose kid is that?”

“Can I take a picture?”

“This is insane. So cute.”

“Hi there, little one.”

As the employees fussed and greeted her, a smile spread across the child’s face.

“Hewwo. I’m Han Geuru from Saebom Kindergarten, Chick Class. I came to eat bwead.”

Her adorable introduction made everyone break into smiles.

“Geuru, can you eat this too?”

Blushing bright red, Geuru picked out a sandwich.

“Eat it, eat it!”

“Take it. You can eat everything.”

One by one, the employees loaded snacks into Geuru’s arms. She stuffed them all into her bag and bowed deeply.

“Th-thank you.”

Click—camera shutters went off here and there.

“Where are your parents? Do you want big sister to take you there?”

Geuru shook her head.

“If you go stwaight that way.”

The place at the end of the hallway she pointed to was the guild master’s office.

“The guild master’s office?”

Geuru nodded.

“Uh, you’re not supposed to just go in and out of that—”

“The guild mastah said to just eat bwead and come wight back.”

“The guild master said that?”

“Yesh.”

“Oh, I’m late!” Geuru bowed again and trotted off with light steps.

“Really?”

“For real?”

“That kid?”

The employees gaped, then turned toward the employee who’d mentioned the adoption rumor.

“I-I told you… I said it was real…”

Soon, everyone silently lifted their phones. Fingers flew across keyboards nonstop.

“Loaded!”

Geuru patted her bulging bag, stuffed full of snacks from the pantry.

There were plenty of people who disliked children or found them annoying, but everyone she’d met at Hyeonak so far had been kind.

“I like Hyeonak…”

If it was Hyeonak, wouldn’t she be able to register a new guardian quickly?

“Next time, I should look around and find an S-rank who’ll like Geuru.”

Today, though, she had something else to do.

Stuffing a sandwich into her mouth and patting her round tummy, Geuru hummed as she headed toward the guild master’s office, reviewing today’s plan once more.

“Codename: Hidden Power Project! (Named by: Geuru)”

The plan was to register Geuru as an F-rank, not an S-rank, when officially registering as a hunter at the Awakener Center.

According to Jurim, an awakener’s power was a double-edged sword.

It could be used for good—but there were always people who wanted to wield that power for evil.

Geuru had often seen bad villains misusing their powers on the news.

In an age like this, if it were revealed that a small, weak child like Geuru possessed an L-rank skill? Naturally, many bad people would target her.

So she would register as an official hunter—but hide the fact that she had a powerful skill.

To do that, the core of the plan was to cause a small disturbance at the Awakener Center and alter her rank data.

“Thump-thump.”

Blushing softly, Geuru clenched her small hands.

“I feel like a real Hunter-Level protagonist!”

Loser but Hunter Level 999! was an anime currently airing to rave reviews on public TV.

Every Wednesday at 7 p.m., everyone at the orphanage gathered to watch it live. The older kids who watched together called the protagonist a “hidden-power loser.”

A loser who hides their power.

They said it meant pretending to be weak in order to use one’s power the right way.

“Geuru’s a hidden-power kid now too…!”

Now, aside from Geuru herself, only three people in the world knew her secret.

The guild master, Sister Nayeon, and an unknown person named Gidan.

They were all people who would help with Geuru’s hunter registration today.

“I gotta hurry~”

Walking down the hallway almost at a run, Geuru suddenly stopped.

“Huh?”

Someone was standing at the end of the quiet corridor.

She thought it might be a Hyeonak employee, but oddly enough, the boy was wearing a school uniform.

His tie was slung carelessly over his shoulder, sleeves rolled up, headphones hanging around his neck.

At the orphanage, the older kids would get scolded if they wore their uniforms like that.

“A delinquent!”

Then, the boy pulled a dagger from his inventory.

Gasp! Geuru sucked in a breath and hid behind a pillar.

The black blade jutting out like a shark fin wasn’t just a kitchen knife—it was a hunter’s combat knife.

He spun it lazily.

“Who is he? What is this? What’s he doing?”

Her head spun. Geuru thought hard, slowly.

“…Could he be an enemy?!”