"Hey~ Noona! Have you found anything interesting in the White or Stellar Market?"
Han Ruby turns as she looks up from her phone and shakes her head, "Nothing eye-catching,"
"Man... seriously?" Yang Semyon scoffs before continuing his doomscroll at the marketplace and when he refreshes the page, something catches his eye.
Yang Semyon sits up from the couch and holds his phone like it's the most precious thing in the world, his orange eyes sparkle while his tail lashes behind him excitedly.
"N-no way..."
"Huh? What is it?"
"Someone's selling a rare loot! It's not just any loot... It definitely belongs to one of the Gods,"
Han Ruby's eyes widen in interest as she takes a look at Yang Semyon's phone, "But Gods rarely give the awakeners loots and blessings... Unless–"
"They're one of
Right, of course —
Only 20 were identified as
They were known to hold such incredible strength and stamina, including the blessings of the Gods, always noticed by those who implemented this system.
Gods rarely interact with anyone else except
Some even speculated Eight was
…and if this item belonged to him—
"It's... It's the earrings I've been looking for forever!!" Yang Semyon cheers as he quickly goes to the account of the seller and types a desperate DM.
[ @yangyangsem: HI!!! is it still available????? do ya still have it???? ]
He is almost trembling from excitement over an item in the White Market and Han Ruby just watches him with an almost confused and yet amused expression as she lets out a short chuckle.
"Are you sure that's not fake?"
"Of course it's not! No one had a clear image of what
"Now, it's all true! And I want to find who's behind this – I won't just pay them 500 thousand won! Heck, I'll drain my entire bank account just to get this...!"
Han Ruby takes another look at the listed item, "But it only provides 500 mana, it should be at least five million won if he wants to make a profit out of it."
Yang Semyon lets out a sarcastic and offended gasp, "Just five!? Make that thirty or a hundred!"
"Even better, five billion won for that item!"
***
Meanwhile, Yeon Yujun just stares at the screen of his phone as his hand trembles from the sheer amount of notifications on his phone.
Even some of the well-known hunters are sliding through his DMs with some of them offering a huge sum of money that Yeon Yujun couldn't even imagine!
"Goodness... What am I going to do with this?"
Yeon Yujun decides to uninstall the app for good but before he does, he deletes his account and disappears for good.
"I'm laying off from social media a bit," he murmurs softly as he reaches up to scratch the back of his head.
He has to admit, some offers were pretty convincing but people would definitely be suspicious of him if he says that he's an unawakener.
What type of unawakener gets a legendary vortex loot and claims he just "found" it?
'I kinda regret posting that, I wish I just kept my curiosity hidden as usual.' he sighs, finally has the peace all to himself as his eyes land on Pouch who's already digging through the open chips snack.
"You're going to gain weight, Pouch."
"Bubu…!!!" Pouch stubbornly continues munching on Yeon Yujun's snack.
"What do you mean you don't care!?"
Even if Pouch doesn't eat, it'll still live as long as Yeon Yujun has a lot of mana left — but ever since Pouch got a taste of human food, it refused to not eat anything.
"Fine fine… Eat everything there, I lost my appetite anyway." Yeon Yujun surrenders with a soft smile, watching the small fluffy ball creature devour the entire chips.
"Pupu!!!"
Before Yeon Yujun knew it, a few days flew by like a blink of an eye and Seo Hwigeon's visits at the café became frequent and it annoys Yeon Yujun to the core.
Every time Yeon Yujun is about to close the shop, Seo Hwigeon would always come out of nowhere and order a coffee —
Since Seo Hwigeon is a customer, Yeon Yujun has to serve him and while he's at it, Seo Hwigeon would hand him his business card that would later on be thrown in the trash afterwards.
Now, it's Saturday, Late September and Yeon Yujun is haggard behind the counter. It's closing time once more and he didn't even leave the counter – he already knows who's coming at the closing time.
The pivot door opens, ringing the bell as Yeon Yujun slams his head to the counter that it almost broke instead of his forehead.
"Order. Up."
Seo Hwigeon just stares at Yeon Yujun before he approaches him with amusement, "Already exhausted, kitten?"
"Oh, only if you knew."
'Fuck, can you just leave me alone already!?' Yeon Yujun finally lifts his head and forces himself to smile at the expected customer.
"Lovely evening, hm?" Seo Hwigeon leans in close to him and Yeon Yujun didn't react at all, a muscle ticks in his jaw.
The wolf-masked man pulls out his card and slides it to Yeon Yujun, "Just the usual."
'Look at him… acting like a loyal customer when he's just here to give me the same recruiting bullshit!'
"Right…" he accepts the card reluctantly and scans it before he turns and starts making the same americano blend that Seo Hwigeon orders every time.
After making the order, Yeon Yujun hands it to Seo Hwigeon and he reaches out his hand — "Give me your business card again so I'll throw it away again."
"Oh? Expecting a card, are you? But I don't really plan on giving you one today,"
Those words made Yeon Yujun flush and shake his head quickly, "I'm… not expecting anything."
Seo Hwigeon sips onto the paper cup with a satisfied hum after lifting his mask just slightly for Yeon Yujun to see his scarred lip.
Curiosity got the best of Yeon Yujun.
"How did you end up with that scar?" he blurts out, sitting down across from Seo Hwigeon.
For a moment, it feels like Seo Hwigeon couldn't speak, the casual amusement and playful composure vanishes in an instant when Yeon Yujun asks about his scar.
He slowly puts his cup down and clasps both of his hands together, staring at Yeon Yujun behind his own wolf mask.
"I've only visited a few times and you're already curious about me?"
Yeon Yujun flinches and scoffs at his words, "Curious? Maybe, but all I just wanted to know is your scar. Not your whole entire sob backstory…"
"My face got burned."
"What?"
Yeon Yujun is almost speechless, as if he just asked a very offending question.
'Was that why he's wearing a mask?' Yeon Yujun thinks as he crosses his arm to squeeze his own shoulder, looking away from Seo Hwigeon.
"Must've… been rough," he murmurs, not knowing what to say.
Seo Hwigeon reaches out without thinking, tapping Yeon Yujun's hand on the table and gently caressing the mole on his hand with his calloused finger.
"It is."
Yeon Yujun quickly retracts his hand, as if he had been burned by Seo Hwigeon's touch.
"Damn, don't… do that." he mutters, more quiet than he intended.
Seo Hwigeon just hesitantly returns his hand to his own slowly and nods, "It just reminded me of something."
Then a surprisingly comfortable silence fills the air around them, Yeon Yujun just sits there and taps the armrest, focusing on the useless thing in the café rather than the person in front of him.
'Why am I captivated by this man's secrecy?' Yeon Yujun finally looks up and stares at the man in front of him who seems to be enjoying the silence between them.
Normally, they would be arguing over something stupid like Seo Hwigeon trying to recruit him while he just tells him to get out… But right now? It's none of those things.
Why did it feel like Yeon Yujun knows him, but he really doesn't?
"I want you to be on my guild,"
"Great to ruin the silence." Yeon Yujun frowns and shakes his head, already standing up from the chair as he looks down at him.
"How many times have I told you I'm not a hunter? I'm not Eight."
"I know you are, Yeon Yujun." Seo Hwigeon sighs, tapping his finger at the table while his head follows Yeon Yujun who goes back behind the counter.
"I'm not Eight, I'm Yeon Yujun."
"You're not."
Yeon Yujun just shakes his head, he had long abandoned that kind of life… For now, he's Yeon Yujun and he always will be. Never 8, not anymore.
"Just leave if you're going to pull the same shit." Yeon Yujun dismisses him, already cleaning the countertop with a wet towel with frustration and that same aching guilt whenever he hears his own codename.
If only everyone knew how desperate Yeon Yujun wanted that old him dead, buried deep into the ground to rot. He refuses to dig that up again.
Seo Hwigeon could sense the emotion from Yeon Yujun by just looking at him as he stood up from his seat to approach the frustrated man.
"Look, I'm not pulling anything, Yujun. I need you—"
Before Seo Hwigeon could finish his words, he and Yeon Yujun heard a portal opening outside, near the café and just across the road.
That same sound of distorted creaking of the rusty gates opening and a gravity force being pulled. The sound that Yeon Yujun hates hearing.
"VORTEX!!!"
"RUN EVERYONE RUN!!!"
"GET OUT OF HERE!!"
The portal swirls into an orange color — A B-rank vortex.
"Shit." Seo Hwigeon curses under his breath as he pulls his mask back into place, covering his lip once more and rushes out of the café in full sprint.
Yeon Yujun watches him enter the portal without any hesitation as he looks around his surroundings before approaching the glass pane windows of the café — people had evacuated but there's still some who seemed too scared to move.
When Yeon Yujun was about to react, the portal released a strong magnetic energy, pulling everything within at least 10 meters and it pulled one of the running children.
"HELP!!" the little girl helplessly cried as she was thrust into the vortex and Yeon Yujun just stood frozen on the spot, terror in his face. He couldn't do anything, he felt useless.
But the little girl, she might die inside the vortex while he knows that Seo Hwigeon is busy fighting the monsters to find the boss!
His own breathing became shallow and he could feel his entire body trembling from fear. Something that even pills can't seem to stop at all.
But does he have any choice left?
( "[B] Sprint" is now activated! )
'Fuck. Just this once.'
Yeon Yujun swallows his fear and pride, biting the inside of his cheek that it bled as he rushes out of the café and enters the portal.
The world outside went silent the moment he crossed the threshold.