“Nine. I told you not to do nasty things.”“Kii.”With a small cry, Nine withdrew his finger and returned to being a guard. Sawon scratched between his brows and sighed. He’d never made that gesture in front of Nine.“Where do you even learn that stuff...”TV?Now and then, when Sawon watched TV, Nine would sit beside him and watch the screen intently. But what Sawon watched was mostly news or documentaries.“Who did you learn it from.”Before he knew it, he’d reached the elevator. When he brought his hand to the reader by the doors, a blue light lit beneath his palm.〈Identity verification complete.〉Beep.With a sprightly sound, a hologram popped up over the elevator doors.〈CODE 16 identity verified〉He entered 60 on the keypad. Before long, the doors opened through the hologram. He stepped in at an unhurried pace.Jungheon-guk was an H-shaped complex with two wings. On the left, Wing 1 was the Bureau headquarters; on the right, Wing 2 was the hunters’ residence hall. The lounge on the 60th floor was the bridge connecting the two buildings.To get from the director’s office back to his room in the residence hall, Sawon had to pass through the lounge—unless he planned to use Nine to smash through the building and fly.“Still, by now they should all have gone in.”It was long past dinner hour. He’d visited the director late on purpose, precisely so he wouldn’t run into people in the lounge right after a mission.Ding![This is the 60th floor.]Keeping his face as composed as possible, he stepped out. He was striding across the lounge in long steps when—“Gu Sawon!”...Ha.No payoff for being scolded by the director for dragging his feet—his name was called immediately.“Hey, Gu Sawon!”He tried to ignore the familiar voice and keep walking. Chairs scraped, quick footsteps closed in, and an arm dropped over his shoulder. He lurched forward with a wobble.“Look at this punk pretending he didn’t hear.”The man was Hunter Mok Geonho, his next-door neighbor in the hall and fellow cohort entrant. Sawon grabbed the arm weighing on his shoulder and flung it back.“Heavy.”“Then why’re you ghosting me when I call? I’m having a drink with the kids. You too—come.”“I’m good. I’m tired.”“C’mon. When I say come, just come.”This time, Mok Geonho hooked an arm around his neck and tugged. Resigned, Sawon let himself be pulled along. The closer they got to the table, the louder the sniffling became. Geonho shoved him into an empty seat and took the one beside. Across from him sat a baby-faced guy. Judging by the bloodshot eyes, this was the sniffling culprit. As if they’d been waiting, the surrounding hunters—and the runny-nosed kid—fixed their eyes on Sawon.“...What. Why.”Puzzled, he gave a shrug. The runny-nosed kid scrubbed his eyes with his forearm and spoke.“Senior, thank you so much.”“...For what.”“Senior... right before I got eaten earlier... hhk.”He trailed off and the tears started running again. Startled, Sawon straightened from the backrest.“What. What’s with him?”When he looked to Geonho, the latter pulled some tissues and handed them over.“New kid on Rescue. Today was his first deployment after team assignment.”“Ah.”Dryly, he answered and retraced the day. As he replayed the Deaters and hunters strewn right before the black sphere, he almost heard a dying groan.‘Save me... Scrapper...’He thought of the hunter who died without even leaving any last words. Slowly, he looked at the kid sniffling before him—so young a face he might not even be twenty.“Thank you... really...”He couldn’t say anything. He had no memory of saving the kid in front of him. He had no idea which Deater he’d killed or how in the moment the rookie was saved. He’d only moved, eyes fixed on sealing the black sphere.When he didn’t answer, Geonho set a can of beer on the table. Pssht, with the hiss of escaping carbonation, the tab popped.“Our Scrapper saved a precious asset.”He pushed the can toward Sawon. Lifting his brows, Sawon tugged one corner of his mouth up—an awkward face anyone could see was a forced smile. He gulped the beer. Another hunter chimed in:“Yeah, thanks to the Scrapper, at least the rescue team didn’t get wiped.”On the news out of the director’s office, he was listed as a ruthless hunter who made the damage worse; before a rookie hunter, he was the world’s greatest savior. He never got used to that gap. He didn’t even know what beat to march to. He moved with only one aim: sealing the black sphere.“Hey. I mean, I get it every time, but couldn’t they have put you in a little earlier?”Another guy, sipping, opened his mouth—his dragging cadence said the buzz was kicking in. Geonho sighed like the floor might cave.“You know that spot was packed with people. If Gu Sawon had gone in earlier, civilian casualties would’ve been higher.”“No, yeah, f— I know that. I do know, but.”The same old repertoire for post-deployment drinking sessions.This is why I was trying so hard to avoid the lounge...He clicked his tongue lightly and set the can down. Just then, part of the guard on his right arm shifted to organism, and a small monkey hand popped out.“He said the same crap last time and now—ack!”Geonho yelped as he reached for the snacks. Nine’s hand was under his, on the pile of chips laid out as bar food. Startled, Geonho yanked his hand back to his chest.“Ah, damn—this little monkey. Scared the hell outta me. Hey, do something about him.”By now Nine had formed his right arm and face into a small monkey. He quickly shoved the chips into his mouth. Propping his other arm on the table, Sawon rested his chin on it.“Nine.”With chips in his mouth, Nine turned his black eyes to him. With a lazy little click of his tongue, Sawon fixed him with a look.“You’re spooking the big scaredy-cat hyung. Give a heads-up before you eat.”Nine stared at him blankly and chewed. Tiny crunches sounded from that small mouth.“Kki.”His answer was equally half-hearted. Geonho glanced between Nine and Sawon and gave a helpless laugh.“No wonder—like owner, like pet...”“Gyuu!”Nine glared at Geonho in protest. But without even looking at Nine, Geonho asked Sawon:“Hey. What’s it feel like to walk around wrapped in a Deater? Totally different from using an amplifier, right?”He toyed with his earring as he asked.Hunters used accessory-type amplifiers to wring out their abilities to the max. With a bored expression, Sawon eyed Geonho’s earring.“Different—and very different.”“How different?”“How...”If an amplifier was like pulling a trigger on a gun, then Nine was like using a part of his own body—the hand pulling the trigger itself. The gap between the two sets of stats was that stark. But he’d never laid that out for anyone in detail.“It just feels different. I can’t really explain.”He answered vaguely, then raised the hand propping his chin and finished the beer. Geonho let out a deep sigh.“Maybe I should go to the institute and get augmented. Think I could handle Deaters too then? I hear your stats go up after augmentation.”But another guy who’d heard Geonho pushed back.“You got a death wish? Not long ago, Number 82’s arm necrotized during augmentation.”“Wasn’t that an injury from a sortie?”“Injury my ass. You think getting chomped by a Deater and tissue necrosis are the same? They don’t make you sign waivers and consent forms for nothing. Don’t get stupid ideas.”“Haah... nothing’s easy. Nothing...”With a complicated look, Geonho reached toward the snacks. Again, his hand bumped Nine’s.“Ah, damn. This monkey’s doing it again.”He scolded Nine. Nine grabbed a fistful and crammed them into his mouth again.“Hey, monkey. Why do you keep going after human food!”Irritated, Geonho flipped up a middle finger. Chewing with his mouth full, Nine shot his own middle finger up with gusto. Geonho answered with an even more emphatic one. Watching their little war, Sawon’s brows drew together.“Kkii—ii! Kkii!”In a thoroughly aggrieved # Nоvеlight # voice, Nine looked up at him, his round black eyes brimming with injustice.So that’s who he learned it from. The culprit was closer than I thought.“...Mok Geonho. It was you.”

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