Chapter 87: Under Surveillance

“Come in.”

As soon as permission was given, the door swung open with a bang, and the first thing that caught the eye was an overwhelming stack of file folders.

A slender leg stepped forward, carrying the files and placing them on the Director’s desk, and Sagong Arin appeared.

Judging by the sweat beading on her forehead, moving the files had been quite a task.

“What is all this…?”

The Director swept his eyes over the towering pile of documents, so high it looked like it was about to topple sideways.

“You asked me to investigate ‘Nada,’ remember?”

Unlike the other Dungeon Management Bureau staff, she spoke casually, her tone light as she picked up a file with a satisfied expression.

On the cover of the file, the words ‘Dimensional Outsider’ were boldly written.

The moment he saw this, the Director practically snatched the file from Sagong Arin’s hands, his eyes wide as he opened it.

It was well-known that Eunhasu’s girlfriend had Awakened in information gathering, so he had given her the task as a test.

But he hadn’t expected her to bring back this much information.

Seeing the files stuffed with more documents than he could have hoped for, the Director’s eyes sparkled with rare excitement.

“Wow, how did you manage to investigate all this? That information gathering skill is really something.”

With a pleased smile, the Director began reading through the papers one by one.

Then, glancing at the mountain of files on his desk, he seemed overwhelmed by the sheer volume, set the file down, and asked Sagong Arin,

“But… is there a summary? If not, can you give me a brief report of just the important points?”

He’d pulled out the files in a hurry, but for now, he just needed Sagong Arin’s report; later, he could have his subordinates summarize the rest.

Most of the information Sagong Arin had gathered about Nada could be found on the internet.

However, among them were key details she’d identified using her skill.

One of the most important pieces was that, while personally investigating out of interest in the Phantom Thief Hunter, she’d found a common point between the Phantom Thief Hunter and the Hooded Girl.

“Phantom Thief Hunter? Hasn’t it been quite a while since the Phantom Thief Hunter showed up?”

The Director, remembering the headaches caused back then, tilted his head as he spoke, since the Phantom Thief Hunter hadn’t been active recently.

“There’s CCTV footage of the Phantom Thief Hunter entering a Gate. The way the Phantom Thief Hunter disappeared in that video is very similar to how Nada vanished this time.”

At those words, Ihwan, who’d been standing a step back and quietly listening, showed interest.

“It’s the shadow.”

Sagong Arin showed them both the CCTV footage: one of the Phantom Thief Hunter entering a Gate, and one of Nada suddenly vanishing.

As she’d said, for a moment, a previously unseen shadow appeared where she had been standing.

“I looked for any Awakened with a skill like this, but couldn’t find any. It’s possible that the Phantom Thief Hunter and Nada are the same person.”

It sounded plausible, but not quite convincing; the Director and Ihwan both looked unconvinced.

With this kind of information, they couldn’t be sure the Phantom Thief Hunter and Nada were one and the same.

Most Hunters’ skills had been revealed, but if someone hid one or two, the Bureau would have no way of knowing.

They needed more definitive proof.

Watching their reactions, Sagong Arin played her final card. What she showed was a CCTV video taken at night, in a residential alley.

The Director narrowed his eyes, staring intently at the monitor. Behind a utility pole in the alley, a Gate had opened in a spot that didn’t attract attention. Soon, a person dressed in black from head to toe suddenly appeared.

“Huh? What’s this?”

The Director’s attitude changed in an instant; just a moment ago he hadn’t been that focused, but now he leaned forward as if he might be sucked into the monitor, eyes glued to the video.

Back when the Phantom Thief Hunter was active, the Director had responded to his staff’s suggestions to investigate like this:

“Do we have people to spare? The Gates have only just started appearing, we’re swamped with work, and the Dungeon by products are being left in front of guilds without causing trouble, right?”

So, wasn’t that a good thing?

They were already busy enough without having to investigate the Phantom Thief Hunter.

He’d said they could look into it if there were more incidents.

With Gates popping up unexpectedly and the number of Awakened growing by the day, and the sudden appearance of Gates bringing a flood of new work, everyone was too busy to bother.

Not just the Dungeon Management Bureau, but the whole country was in chaos, so the Phantom Thief Hunter had naturally been overlooked.

Of course, there were TV stations and reporters interested in the Phantom Thief Hunter, but any time someone tried to investigate, something scary happened and they all gave up.

‘If I’d known, I should have started investigating sooner.’

Swallowing his regrets, the Director kept watching.

After the person who looked like the Phantom Thief Hunter entered the Gate, not long after, a figure he could never mistake—accompanied by a dog—peeked into the Gate.

The second-ranked, and always difficult to approach due to his silence and reclusiveness, Guild Master of Onsaemiro—Do Ihyeon—entered the same Gate the Phantom Thief Hunter had gone into.

Then, he came out before the Phantom Thief Hunter did. The Phantom Thief Hunter closed the Gate, briefly appeared, then vanished right away.

“I can’t believe I didn’t know about this until now…”

The Director was so dumbfounded by his past foolishness that he grabbed the back of his neck.

That’s when Ihwan spoke up in a heavy tone.

“Even if you had known back then, you probably wouldn’t have launched an investigation. You didn’t know that the Phantom Thief Hunter was ‘Nada’ at all.”

“That’s true, but still…”

The Director, at a loss for words, cleared his throat awkwardly and pointed at the laptop screen.

“Then, we should arrange a meeting with the Onsaemiro Guild Master.”

He nodded at Ihwan, who said he’d contact him right away, and expressed his endless gratitude to Sagong Arin.

Now that they’d found an unexpected clue, hope that they could uncover Nada’s identity surged up again.

***

It was the day when the top 10 ranked Awakened were gathering at the Hunter Association for the first time in a while.

I entered the Association building following Yeon Ha-yeon.

Only the top 10 were supposed to gather for the meeting, but since I’d been with Yeon Ha-yeon until right before the meeting, I ended up coming along.

“I’ll be back. Just hang out and have some yogurt or something!”

“Noona, even if you miss me, try to hold back a little.”

“That won’t happen, so hurry up and go.”

After the Yeon Sibling left, I had the Association lounge all to myself.

The thought of spending time alone in such a nice place made the corners of my mouth lift on their own.

“Huh? Dana?”

Just then, the closed door opened, and a cheerful voice broke the pleasant silence.

Turning my head, I saw Eunhasu and his girlfriend, Sagong Arin, standing in front of the lounge.

“Ah, now you have someone to hang out with. I was worried my wife might get bored—what a relief.”

Who said you could decide my plans for me…?

I’d planned to spend time alone, but not only had an uninvited guest appeared, he assumed I’d obviously be hanging out with them.

Before I knew it, Eunhasu and Sagong Arin were giving off a sweet, couple-y vibe, as if they were the only ones here, but when it was time, they said goodbye with regretful faces.

Before heading up to the meeting room, Eunhasu pushed his girlfriend toward me, not even giving me a chance to refuse.

“Wow, that could’ve been a disaster.”

The way he hurriedly backed away, as if touching me would be a huge problem, was almost comical.

‘Oh, right, he said he had some weird allergic reaction.’

He supposedly had a bizarre condition where he broke out in hives all over if he touched a woman—a condition I’d never heard of or seen in real life.

Since Eunhasu rarely had contact with women, I’d completely forgotten.

After Eunhasu went up to the meeting room, Sagong Arin looked at me with sparkling eyes and asked,

“What should we do for fun?”

“How about lying on those beanbags over there and closing our eyes?”

I pointed to the several beanbags by the window.

Because Sagong Arin had listed me as a possible candidate for being ‘Nada’ and investigated me, I didn’t want to have a long conversation with her.

Especially now, when there were even claims that Nada was a Dimensional Outsider, it was really risky.

If we talked, I might accidentally say something that could become a clue.

Of course I’d be careful, but it was best not to create a risky situation in the first place.

“Talking with our eyes closed sounds fun too!”

“No, just closing our eyes. That’s it.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Sleeping.”

Sagong Arin’s face turned into a question mark at my reply, which had come out almost without thinking.

Just from her expression, I could tell her mind was full of question marks.

I did feel a bit bad treating her like this, but for my own safety, I had no choice.

“Well… if you’re tired, you should sleep. Then I’ll just do some work next to you.”

She seemed a bit down for a second, but quickly regained her energy, unzipping her bag as she spoke.

I decided not to pay attention to what Sagong Arin was doing and tried to catch a quick nap.

But when I saw the titles of the files coming out of Sagong Arin’s bag, I couldn’t possibly close my eyes.

Dimensional Outsider, Phantom Thief Hunter, Nada, Hooded Girl—all words describing me were boldly printed on the covers.

There was no way I could ignore those huge letters and words referring to me—my eyes were wide open instead of closing.

“What’s that?”

Trying to sound as calm as possible, I asked. Sagong Arin carefully organized the files and replied,

“This? I got a job from the Dungeon Management Bureau. The higher-ups want to know the identity of the Rank 0 Hunter—guess they’re desperate because you’re their wife or something.”

“Ah… is that so?”

This definitely needed some digging.