“What, what…?!”

The man turned his back on Choi Sangwon without hesitation.

The rest of the group glared at Choi Sangwon before departing as well.

Left behind, Choi Sangwon shouted in panic.

“What the hell are you doing! Hey! Come back!”

Despite his hollering, no answer came back.

It had been a petty squabble to watch.

I had originally planned to return and resume hunting, but the last words the man said nagged at me.

The gods seemed to share a similar thought.

【Seo Kangrim, go talk to Choi Sangwon.】

【From what I can see, he wants to hire you?】

【Choi Sangwon seems to be in a bind. You might be able to squeeze some Spirit Jade out of him again.】

He had been looking at me with displeasure the whole time, but it seemed he actually wanted to hire me on the inside.

Of course, I had no intention of being hired by him.

But if I could offer a brief helping hand and extract some Spirit Jade, that piqued my interest.

Every penny counted in my current situation.

I pushed through the underbrush and stepped out in front of Choi Sangwon.

His eyes went wide as he stared at me.

“S-Seo Kangrim? What on earth…”

“I happened to overhear while passing by. Are you in some kind of trouble?”

He must have wanted to hire me, yet he still regarded me with wary eyes.

Understandable, given the circumstances.

Considering his pride, I expected him to ignore or chase me off, but the situation must have been more desperate than I thought.

He hesitated before speaking up.

“H-hey. I’d appreciate it if you could help me out…”

“With what?”

“Well… my snake is under attack, but I don’t know where it is! I left it with my escort, and the snake disappeared while…”

Now I could understand what they had been fighting about.

No wonder he was desperate with his snake missing.

Just then, a notification window popped up in front of Choi Sangwon with a chime.

[A target equipped with the ‘Token of Friendship’ is under attack!]

[The health of the target equipped with the ‘Token of Friendship’ has dropped below half!]

【Looks like he entrusted the snake escort to others and they failed.】

【Judging by his expression, something went wrong.】

【It’s written all over Choi Sangwon’s face. The snake is dying…!】

At this rate, the snake would die soon.

Choi Sangwon’s face grew increasingly pale.

He grabbed my arm with a desperate expression.

“H-help me! I’ll pay you! I have 1000 Spirit Jade!”

1000 Spirit Jade, huh.

Not quite enough to buy snacks for Rini.

I shook off his arm and said.

“I don’t work for pocket change.”

“What?”

My answer turned Choi Sangwon even more ashen, and then flushed crimson with rage.

He bellowed at me.

“You’re ripping me off again?! Forget it! I’m too good for…”

Choi Sangwon started to speak but clamped his mouth shut.

Even so, the warning messages kept appearing.

In the end, he had only one choice.

“I’ll handle it for 3000 Spirit Jade.”

But Choi Sangwon didn’t answer.

Did he not have enough Spirit Jade?

If so, I had no further business here and was about to leave, but Choi Sangwon spoke in a trembling voice.

“…Cut me some slack. I’m short on Spirit Jade. I have up to 2000…”

“Find someone else.”

“…”

He gritted his teeth and dropped to his knees.

His pride must have taken quite a blow—his face was flushed as though it might burst.

Considering how he usually looked down on me, I could imagine how furious he must be.

I looked down at him and said.

“Fine. I’ll help you for 2000 Spirit Jade. But you owe me 1000 Spirit Jade as well. Until that’s paid, you follow my orders.”

“W-what?! Damn it… Fine! I got it, so just save my snake first!”

“Is that how you speak to me?”

“…Please save it.”

Watching Choi Sangwon grind his teeth was quite entertaining.

After receiving 2000 Spirit Jade, I turned to Rini and said.

“Rini. Find the scent of blood—specifically, snake blood.”

“Uung…”

Rini showed reluctance but eventually nodded.

Kirin were creatures that loathed the scent of blood.

Precisely because they hated it, they were also highly sensitive to it.

“Ung!”

Rini, who had been sniffing around, turned toward a direction.

Rini was pointing west.

With the location confirmed, there was no time to hesitate.

【Kangrim, hurry up. Quickly.】

【That’s right, if the snake dies, you’ll have to cough up 2000 Spirit Jade!】

I sprinted in the direction Rini indicated.

I could hear Choi Sangwon shouting something behind me, but I had no time to pay attention.

Amidst the myriad of scents filling the air, the scent of blood grew steadily stronger.

The injuries were worse than I expected.

As the scent of blood grew increasingly thick.

I spotted the snake thrashing in the distance.

Someone was swinging a sword at it.

-Kakang!

I leapt in front of the snake and blocked the attacker’s sword.

An unfamiliar face. A member from another zone.

The man looked surprised to see me, then hardened his gaze.

“Who are you. You from another zone? This snake is my prey, so go find yourself a different one!”

“I’m afraid that won’t work.”

I channeled strength into my sword and shoved, sending the man reeling backward.

Against a Human Grade opponent, I could win easily.

In the meantime, Choi Sangwon arrived belatedly and frantically gathered the battered snake into his arms.

With our numbers increased, the other zone’s member glared at us resentfully.

“Damn it. Isn’t this a bit cowardly? You could just go find another snake to kill—do you really have to interfere?”

That remark made Choi Sangwon flare up.

“What are you talking about? You’re the one who tried to kill my snake!”

“What? Did you drool on it to claim it or something?”

“I’ve got a Token of Friendship on it! So go find another snake to protect!”

“…Protect?”

The other zone’s member wore a look of utter confusion.

Why that expression?

He didn’t seem to know anything about the mission or the Token of Friendship.

Could it be…

I hurriedly checked the man’s notification window.

Only then could I make sense of the situation.

[The Poison Snake Room has begun.]

[Slay at least one snake.]

[Time Limit: One Week]

“Token of Friendship? Protect? What are you talking about?”

“Can’t you see the strap attached to this snake? My name is written on it!”

The two continued arguing, neither understanding the situation.

This would never end at this rate.

I casually addressed the Zone 3 member.

“Our mission is to protect the snake for one week. What’s your mission?”

“Mine is… to kill them.”

The two zones had been assigned diametrically opposed missions.

One had to keep the snake alive; the other had to kill it.

As that realization dawned, a bewildered silence passed between Choi Sangwon and the Zone 3 member.

-Swik, swiik…

Just then, the faint sound of the snake’s breathing reached my ears.

Having suffered multiple attacks, its body was battered all over.

At this rate, it would clearly die soon.

I said to Choi Sangwon.

“We should treat the snake first.”

“R-right…!”

Seeing his snake, Choi Sangwon snapped back to his senses in alarm.

The Zone 3 member hesitated.

He clearly regretted losing the snake he had nearly caught, so I offered a word.

“Are we fighting? We don’t have much time, so if you’re going to attack, make it quick.”

The man flinched at my words.

Figuring that taking on two people was disadvantageous no matter what, he lingered briefly before leaving.

“Damn it, can this thing be saved?”

Choi Sangwon pulled a Recovery Potion from his coat and brought it to the snake’s mouth.

Fortunately, the snake slowly extended its tongue and began lapping up the medicine.

Choi Sangwon looked relieved, but I was troubled.

Because of Zone 3’s mission.

Why was the mission different from my past life?

It hadn’t been like this before.

In my past life, Zone 3 was definitely assigned to protect snakes as well…

I couldn’t fathom why the content had changed.

Had something begun to change as I altered fate?

【Ooh, ooh. Now things are getting serious?】

【Krr, the fights so far have been way too half-hearted!】

【I’m looking forward to it, Fate Protection Bureau folks! Nice work!】

I wasn’t particularly worried about the Zone 2 members, of course.

Shin Sooa, Yoon Bom, Yoon Gyeoul, and Father Yohan would pass without difficulty, but something else concerned me.

Was that person all right?

I felt oddly unsettled.

Just then, a notification window appeared before my eyes.

[A target equipped with the ‘Token of Friendship’ is under attack!]

【Huh? Seo Kangrim, the imugi is under attack?】

【Ah, probably nothing serious.】

【Looks like it’s just hunting prey.】

As they said, these messages had been popping up once or twice a day.

Even a single scrape while hunting prey would trigger a notification.

But this time, the intervals between notifications seemed unusually short.

Had it encountered a powerful Demon Beast?

I figured I should check, so I said to Rini.

“Let’s go, Rini.”

“Ung!”

I took Rini and headed toward the waterfront where the bridge was located.

I didn’t know the exact location, but I had mapped out the imugi’s primary territory.

As I went to find the imugi, the warning windows kept appearing.

[A target equipped with the ‘Token of Friendship’ is under attack!]

[A target equipped with the ‘Token of Friendship’ is under attack!]

[A target equipped with the ‘Token of Friendship’ is under attack!]

…This didn’t seem like a Demon Beast.

For something to attack this persistently, it had to be humans.

If it had stayed in the water, nothing would have happened—had it come ashore to hunt?

-Kwaaaaah!

Just then, a massive column of water erupted from one side of the bridge.

【Whoa, a water pillar!】

【What, did a water park open or something?】

【Looks like a fight broke out. Let’s go watch!】

The gods were optimistic, but I was not.

If there was someone who could fight the imugi for this long, it could only be one person.

As I sprinted toward where the water column had erupted, I saw someone standing atop the shattered bridge.

Spray erupted as though a bomb had detonated in the water, and the imugi went flying with a shriek.

-Swiik!

I kicked off the ground, leapt into the air, and caught the imugi mid-flight.

It was so massive I could barely hold on.

From its condition, it didn’t seem seriously injured.

The spray settled just as I landed on the opposite end of the bridge.

Through the mist, the opponent’s face came into view.

“What. I had that one first, you know.”

The man spoke in a gruff voice.

It was a voice I hadn’t heard in a very long time.

Through the scattering droplets, a face both familiar and dearly missed came into focus.

The man who had stood with his sect members, blocking Baekyoung’s path.

The executive of the Flying Tiger Sect, Jang Taeheon, stood before me.