TRHSOS 19

Chapter 19

Run!

“Were you at home?”

I was completely flustered by Jiho’s sudden eye contact, but I kept my composure.

“Where did you suddenly appear from?”

Jiho scanned around me as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.

The master key only had the setting that it would teleport to home the moment the password was spoken; it didn’t specify where exactly it would drop.

But of all places, why did it have to drop right in front of Jiho?!

Where did he even see me from?

I wasn’t sure how much Jiho actually knew, so I couldn’t act recklessly.

At times like this, you just bluff it out!

“I appeared from my room.”

“I didn’t hear the door open… and then suddenly, you were standing in the hallway.”

Fortunately, Jiho didn’t seem to have a clear view of how I ended up in the hallway.

“So are you saying I suddenly appeared out of thin air?”

“Yeah, it really looked like you fell from the sky.”

“Are you still half-asleep?”

I gave him a strange look, and Jiho looked confused.

“You weren’t in the room when I entered! So how did you come out of the room?”

Jiho always looked for me first when he got home.

I had always found it endearing that he cared about me being alone… but in this situation, that attention was annoying, at least today.

“I was just lying in bed all along. That’s how I only now realized that you came back.”

“I think Bak Dondon has awakened.”

While I kept denying everything, Park Siwoo, who had been quietly sitting on the sofa, spoke up.

How… how did Park Siwoo know?

Other than Ssuk Latte, there wasn’t anything that could have given me away.

My heart started pounding like crazy at Park Siwoo’s blunt remark.

He seemed careless, but he was actually pretty perceptive.

I might have unknowingly left some clue that Siwoo noticed.

Had I really been found out?

“Under the blanket.”

I had been holding my breath and tensing up, but it turned out to be unnecessary.

“If he buries himself in the bed, he becomes one with the blanket. You wouldn’t even know he’s there.”

Siwoo laughed as if he found it amusing, having said it himself.

And I had gotten so nervous over that jerk.

I felt pathetic for overestimating Park Siwoo.

“Is that so? Well, I think I kind of saw it too. Anyway, that was a close call.”

Jiho seemed quite startled and brushed his hand over his chest.

“Now that I think about it, our sister’s pitiful. There are no reporters outside today, it’s a holiday, and she’s spent weeks without a single outing, just lying in bed.”

This kid just went straight for the gut.

Caught off guard by an unexpected remark, I frowned.

“Looking at it that way, our sister probably doesn’t have a boyfriend. Right?”

For a moment, the playful smile on Jiho’s face disappeared.

He always smiled, but whenever it came to something genuinely important to him, the laughter would vanish.

I had no idea why he cared so much about someone else’s love life.

I also noticed that Park Siwoo, sitting on the sofa, had turned partially to listen as well.

“Does she?”

Without hesitation, I replied, and both of them visibly relaxed.

They seemed oddly relieved.

“Hey, speaking of which, are there any decent people in the guild?”

To completely deflect suspicion, I shifted the topic to the guild members.

“Nope, none of the guild guys are okay!”

I’d noticed before that, even when he acted like it wasn’t a big deal, Park Siwoo had a subtle way of keeping me in check.

“I agree with that!”

Jiho raised his hand and sided with Park Siwoo.

Is this what sibling camaraderie looks like?

They spar and argue, yet they’re protective when it comes to others.

“What did the guild members do that makes you want to meet them?”

“Exactly. Last time with Ssuk Latte, that was just too harsh.”

Following Park Siwoo, who shook his head at the impossibility of it, Jiho nodded in agreement.

So they were just stopping me for my own good?

Brotherly love my foot. People wouldn’t be that merciless normally!

…Still, I had no words to argue about the Ssuk Latte incident.

“Alright, alright. Anyway, are you two feeling better now?”

“You ask quickly! I was in and out of the bathroom with Park Jiho for thirty minutes, and we barely survived after an S-rank healer had to intervene.”

Ah, so that’s why both of them survived even after the S-rank healer showed up.

The antidote had all been given to Haeryeong, so I was glad to hear they were okay.

“The healer worked hard, then.”

“Seriously, that was poison-level, not just clumsy. Shouldn’t there have been a warning sign?”

“You haven’t even tasted it fully yet. Want another glass?”

Park Siwoo, who had been throwing barbs, went completely silent at the mention of another drink.

This works better than I thought.

I’ll definitely use this tactic again.

Just as I was feeling satisfied at making Park Siwoo surrender, a question came to mind.

“But why is everyone home at this hour? Isn’t it usually time to run dungeons or clear the tower?”

“I wasn’t in the mood for dungeons. Our guild got completely wrecked by someone.”

Park Siwoo missed guild activities? That hardly ever happened, maybe once or twice a year.

His passion was unstoppable unless it was something huge.

“Who could defeat Jiphil? Did Han Changhee’s guild pull some tricks?”

I assumed it was someone stirring trouble or spreading rumors, as usual.

But Park Siwoo shook his head as if that wasn’t the case at all.

“Han Changhee can’t even touch them.”

“Then who?”

“The Oncheon Boss.”

Me?

My name came up at a completely unexpected moment.

“That monstrous human cleared the 46th floor alone.”

How does Park Siwoo know that?

“Judging by the huge notification in hunters’ system windows, they want attention but don’t show their face.”

It appeared in the system?

Even I didn’t know that.

Why does the system do things without permission?

Want attention… no. I actually don’t want it at all!

“Because of that, more people want to find the Oncheon Boss, and there’s even a fan cafe today.”

“A fan cafe?”

“Yes. Called ‘Oncheon Members.’”

Both Park Siwoo and Jiho showed me their phone screens.

‘Oncheon Members — People who want to be members of the Oncheon Boss’
‘Visits: 2,938,475 | Members: 5,002’

Is this the “golden fame” Woonsoo mentioned?

If so, I want to return it.

But didn’t it just open today?

How can it already have over 5,000 members?

If all those people are looking for me…

My instincts screamed: Run!

“But then, why did the two of you join?”

The forum didn’t allow non-members to see posts, but the posts were visible on their screens.

“Obviously to get information about the Oncheon Boss. We need to recruit you as our ally quickly.”

Park Si… there’s no need for that, really.

“I joined as a fan. Clearing ‘Beka’ alone! That’s impressive.”

Jiho knows about Beka?

I suddenly remembered what Beka said on the 46th floor:

‘Everyone trembles when they hear my name.’

“What’s Beka?”

I pretended not to know and asked.

“Beka is the master of the tower we’re clearing, the ruler of the top floor. Basically, the final boss.”

I knew Beka was called the tower master, but I assumed it was just a nickname.

And since this was the 46th floor, I thought the final boss was someone else.

That tiny child controls the tower’s monsters?

[‘The tower master’ comes out of the bath looking refreshed, stretching arms and legs.]

At that moment, I remembered Beka’s display.

And they still looked innocent and cute?

Impossible!

“To be precise, the current Beka has lost 5,000 years of memory, so it’s in a pre-awakening state. Naturally, its power isn’t at post-awakening level, though it was still an SS-rank boss.”

Jiho explained while I tried to make sense of it.

Wait, lost 5,000 years of memory?

That means Beka lived over 5,000 years?

Now I understood why the spiritual realm had treated Beka like a child.

Even though they looked five years old, clearly not 5,000.

But didn’t I read that Beka would regain memory and awaken on the 46th floor?

Did I misread?

“But the Oncheon Boss defeated it!”

Without a moment to dwell, Jiho recounted the Oncheon Boss’s deeds as if it were his own story.

Defeated it?

I only gave it a little nudge; it’s still alive.

And now it’s relaxing in the bath.

I had worried about bringing Beka to the bath, but since Beka was memory-lost and pre-awakening, it wasn’t a problem.

“Our guild needs to clear the tower quickly too. But the 46th-floor gatekeeper’s distracted with the sauna, so we keep getting pushed back to the 45th floor.”

Park Siwoo sighed in frustration.

Ah, that’s why nobody went in while I was on the 46th floor.

“Bak Dondon, want to know something interesting? The gatekeeper’s sauna barrel looked just like our Una’s.”

How does he know that without even going up to the 46th floor?

Another anonymous hunter forum intelligence?

The deeper I got, the scarier it became.

“The Oncheon Boss gave it to the gatekeeper. Seems like our tastes match, so they’d get along well.”

Not at all. 25 years of living together proved there wasn’t a single match.

Unaware of my thoughts, Park Siwoo continued enthusiastically.

“I think this is fate! The Oncheon Boss awakened to join Jiphil!”

No, that’s not it. They accidentally awakened by picking up the wrong key while trying to win the lottery.

Park Siwoo seems determined to find me at any cost.

From now on, I shouldn’t go near the tower.

“Talking about saunas makes me want to use it too. Should I take out Una and stretch a bit?”

Wait, Park Siwoo’s beloved sauna barrel is still with the old man, right?

“That guy loves that sauna barrel like crazy. He kept whining it was like his Una while waiting because he couldn’t go up to the 46th floor. It was so embarrassing.”

Startled by Jiho’s revelation, I flinched.

How does Park Siwoo know it’s Una?

At that moment, from the utility room, a scream rang out, and Park Siwoo came running out, pale as a ghost.

“Our Una is gone!”