Yeom Jeonghwa.

Go Byeonggap let out a quiet gasp. Right, that was the name.

Yeom Jeonghwa found his reaction amusing and let out a soft chuckle.

“What a coincidence. I never thought I’d see you again, Mr. Byeonggap.”

“I know. I’m surprised too.”

“I bet. You even forgot my name.”

“No, that was…”

“Just kidding. Why are you so flustered?”

Yeom Jeonghwa waved a hand playfully. Go Byeonggap could only swallow a bitter taste.

He let his gaze drift to her chest. The ID tag read “J-3.”

“Did you apply for the raid team too, Mr. Byeonggap?”

“Huh? No. I signed up as a porter. What would I be doing on a raid team?”

“Why not? You…”

Yeom Jeonghwa trailed off. She checked their surroundings, then tugged at Go Byeonggap.

“Want to step outside for a bit?”

“Sure, okay.”

Go Byeonggap and Yeom Jeonghwa slipped out of the main hall into a wide corridor. It was quiet — no eavesdroppers.

Yeom Jeonghwa lowered her voice and got straight to the point.

“Actually, I’ve been curious ever since that day.”

“About what?”

“About who you really are, Mr. Byeonggap.”

Go Byeonggap felt a stab in his chest. But he didn’t want to show it, so he kept his poker face.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Don’t play dumb. I saw it with my own two eyes.”

“Hm.”

“Remember those three people who went into the dungeon with us that day?”

“Vaguely.”

“They concluded you’re a high-ranking awakener hiding your grade. Said you’re good at concealing karma since you’re an assassin type.”

“……”

“But I can tell. You’re not hiding your grade. I do agree you’re hiding your power, though—a power unknown to the world.”

‘This woman…’

Go Byeonggap swallowed hard. Yeom Jeonghwa had nearly seen through his otherness.

Of course, she couldn’t have discovered he was the Goblin Lord. Still, she seemed certain Byeonggap was different from ordinary awakeners.

“That day. Before I lost consciousness, I saw it. You, fighting alongside… something unknown.”

“Ghk!?”

Byeonggap choked on his breath.

‘Did she spot the goblins too?’

A chill ran down his spine. If she’d seen him fighting together with the goblins, it would be hard to talk his way out of it.

His mind churned on how to silence this woman.

But then Yeom Jeonghwa said something utterly bizarre.

“I kept thinking about what that was. And I reached a conclusion. Mr. Byeonggap, can you summon ghosts?”

“……Huh?”

‘Ghosts? Is she out of her mind?’

His carefully maintained poker face cracked. Bewilderment spread across his features.

But Yeom Jeonghwa was more serious than ever.

“Ghosts?”

“Ah, I used a term familiar to the public by mistake. We call them spirits.”

Yeom Jeonghwa pulled out a necklace hidden beneath her top. A pentacle pendant—commonly called a hexagram. A creepy eye was embedded in its center.

Go Byeonggap recognized it instantly.

‘This woman. She’s a Hexagram Order follower?’

The Hexagram Order.

One of the countless cults founded after Deep Impact. Its difference from the others: its scale was enormous.

Like other cults, the Hexagram Order,

Believed in some transcendent being that might be behind Deep Impact.

Those ‘transcendent beings’ were seven in total: one absolute god and six apostles serving him.

They hid somewhere in the hidden world, occasionally showing themselves.

If you encountered them, you could master the truth of the world, know the universe’s secrets, and grasp the principles of all things—

‘…so they claim. Well, who knows.’

Go Byeonggap agreed that some transcendent being might exist. But he never blindly believed it.

Even now, as the Goblin Lord, that hadn’t changed. To him, the concept of God was no different from a Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Whether she sensed his thoughts or not,

Yeom Jeonghwa’s voice shed its playfulness as she asked,

“Can you summon spirits or make contact with them?”

“Um—”

“When did you first meet them? Did you see what they looked like?”

“Excuse me, Ms. Jeonghwa.”

“Yes. Go ahead.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but whatever it is, it’s not what you think.”

“No…?”

Jeonghwa looked a little stunned.

Byeonggap seized the momentum and doubled down on playing dumb.

“I don’t know what you think you saw. There was no one else in that dungeon except us that day. You must’ve seen things, or mistaken a monster for something else.”

“But I’m sure…”

“And as for my abilities—let’s just call it a constitution thing. I’d rather not go into details.”

“A constitution? Seriously?”

“Yes. And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t go around blabbing about my constitution to everyone.”

“I wouldn’t do that. But…”

“But?”

“Is it really a constitution thing? You’re not just making excuses because it’s awkward to talk about? Don’t worry. Even if you did make contact with spirits, I won’t tell anyone. I just have personal questions. Where you met them, when—any clue…”

“No. I’ve never seen any spirits or ghosts. Period.”

Byeonggap shut it down. Jeonghwa’s shoulders sagged in defeat.

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll head inside first.”

“Mr. Byeonggap! Wait!”

Jeonghwa called him back urgently. She pulled a business card from her wallet and held it out.

It was a card for her religion.

‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’

“If you ever feel like talking—anything at all—please contact me here. We’re not… we’re not the weirdos you think we are.”

Jeonghwa gave a quick bow and hurried ahead into the main hall.

“For crying out loud.”

Go Byeonggap was no egalitarian.

He had his prejudices, his ideological leanings. Naturally, he didn’t look kindly on cults, either.

He stared at the card with hollow eyes. Six endpoints and an unsettling eye.

A symbol representing six apostles and one absolute god.

“What kind of nonsense is this world?”

Byeonggap shoved the card into his pocket without a second thought.

“Well, at least I smoothed that over. Thank god.”

He let out a hollow laugh and stepped back into the main hall.

* * *

People trickled into the fourth-floor auditorium one by one. Whenever an S-rank hunter strode in, a chill crept up the back of your neck all on its own.

Every time a new person stepped into the hall, Go Byeonggap craned his neck to get a look, like a meerkat popping up from its hole.

‘A bit uncouth, maybe.’

The embarrassment hit him a beat late. He composed himself, staring primly ahead. He didn’t know the people on either side—he’d deliberately sat apart from Yeom Jeonghwa.

Byeonggap rolled his eyes sideways to sneak a glance at his neighbor. Not that he had room to talk, but these folks were nobodies. Low-rank hunters, that’s what they were.

Come to think of it, the whole crowd around him was low-rank.

‘Are they all deliberately avoiding the high-rankers’ seats?’

The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth—like a pack of mongrels that had wandered into a tiger’s den.

-Click!-

The dim conference hall blazed bright in an instant. A man walked onto the stage.

Tall, with a stiff, upright look about him. He tapped the microphone a couple of times to test it, then began.

“Good evening. I am Jeon Minsik, the general team leader for the 1st North Korea Reclamation Operation. Pleased to meet you.”

Even after Minsik bowed his head in greeting, there was no response. The hunters just sat there, arms crossed or legs folded, their eyes saying, ‘Go on, then. Let’s hear what you’ve got.’

Unfazed, Minsik kept going.

“We have a total of 600 hunters present today. I’d like to thank everyone for attending without a single absence. Now, let’s begin the orientation in earnest.”

‘Here we go, then.’

Go Byeonggap focused and started to listen carefully.

Some part of him had half-expected this orientation to feel like a university freshman welcome party.

People coming up one by one to introduce themselves, maybe a talent show if things got loose, then heading to a bar for the after-party. That sort of thing.

Needless to say, it was nothing like that. The orientation proceeded in a grave, heavy atmosphere.

An overview of the three-month operation. The expedition’s objectives. Various precautions and regulations to memorize.

All of it could have been tedious. And yet, no one was half-listening.

Of course not. Every detail was a matter of life and death. If he could, Byeonggap would have started taking notes.

“I’m sure everyone has checked the name tags you were given. The letter at the front is your team assignment. Please look at the screen for a moment.”

A massive display lit up.

It was a visual breakdown of the team assignments. Byeonggap immediately found his spot.

‘C again. C… Wait, what?!’

A few seconds later.

He let out a silent scream.

The expedition was composed of fifty teams in total.

Ten of them were made up of S-rank hunters and porters. Those teams would be inserted deep into the operation zone from the start to carry out special missions.

But then…

‘A through J are the special forces. So that means I’m in the special forces too?’

C-7. Go Byeonggap. He was assigned to a team with S-rank hunters.

Holy shit.

‘Should I be happy about being teamed up with S-ranks? Am I insane? It’s obvious we’ll be doing some dangerous mission.’

He couldn’t decide whether to be thrilled or devastated. His emotions were tangled into a knot. Couldn’t he protest and change teams?

Go Byeonggap wanted to raise his hand and ask right then. But the atmosphere didn’t allow it.

Judging by the looks around, he wasn’t the only one feeling this way.

Regardless, the orientation marched on. Byeonggap could only fume inwardly, stamping his feet in frustration.

“Departure is next Tuesday at 10 AM. We’ll move as a group from this Ancient Building. If there are additional notices, we’ll send them to your personal contact information.”

“I have a question!”

Go Byeonggap shot his hand up and shouted. For a moment, every eye in the auditorium fixed on him.

“Yes. What is it?”

“Can’t we change our teams?”

“That would be difficult. The teams were formed based on the Association’s database to create the most synergistic combinations. The organizers’ stance is to minimize any changes.”

Jeon Minsik answered without hesitation. Byeonggap could only purse his lips bitterly.

“With that, we’ll conclude the orientation. Thank you all for taking the time. We’ll see you again on Tuesday.”

And just like that, the orientation ended. Go Byeonggap filed out of the grand hall with a heavy, tangled heart.

‘What a headache. I was just hoping to do some porter work, and now I’m stuck in some special task force crap.’

Nothing soothes a restless mind like a cigarette. He stepped out of the building and looked for a smoking area.

Luckily, there was one right in front of the building.

It was crowded with hunters who had just finished the orientation. He lit a cigarette and squeezed in among them.

There were plenty of famous hunters in the smoking area. Standing shoulder to shoulder with them, puffing away, felt oddly surreal.

Just then, someone tapped Go Byeonggap on the back.

“Hm?”

“You’re the one who asked the question earlier, right?”

“Oh…”

Go Byeonggap’s mouth fell open in surprise. The person who spoke was S-rank hunter Song Hangil.

He was a young man who had started hunting at eighteen and was barely twenty now. His face still held an air of boyishness.

He stared intently at Byeonggap’s chest. Byeonggap had forgotten to take off his name tag.

Song Hangil extended his hand and spoke.

“Nice to meet you. I’m in Squad C too. My name is Song Hangil.”

“Oh, an honor. I’m Go Byeonggap. I’m a fan of yours, Mr. Hangil.”

“Really? Doesn’t seem like it. Heh heh.”

Byeonggap quickly put out his cigarette and shook his hand.

Song Hangil flashed his trademark smile, playing it smooth. As he hinted, the whole fan comment was just flattery.

“Don’t worry too much. There won’t be any dangerous situations. I happened to glance at the roster—every Hunter assigned to Squad C is incredibly capable.”

“Ah, I wasn’t really worried or anything.”

Go Byeonggap replied out of courtesy.

How could he tell the man to his face that he actually found it a little hard to trust?

“Heh heh. Well, that’s a relief. Anyway, we’re in the same squad now—please take care of me.”

“Likewise, please take care of me.”

“Go ahead and finish your cigarette.”

“Mr. Hangil, don’t you smoke?”

“I don’t smoke. I just followed you in here to say hello.”

“I see.”

“Yes. Anyway, I’ll see you on Tuesday.”

Song Hangil left those words and vanished.

‘I shook hands with an S-rank Hunter.’

Go Byeonggap looked down at his right hand, lost in a strange sense of wonder.

‘If I play this right, maybe I could make an S-rank friend?’

He let out a dry laugh and put the cigarette between his lips.

And so time drifted on, aimless and swift.

The weekend and Monday passed in the blink of an eye. Before he knew it, the day of the expedition had arrived.