Several unfamiliar people stood behind them.
From faces I’d seen a few times on the news to those I’d coincidentally encountered, everyone seemed to be entering the lounge, creating a subtle buzz of anticipation in the air.
With a curious mind, I glanced behind Yeon Hayeon and Ban Eunhyeol, trying to identify any familiar figures, when Han Jibin, ever the amiable guide, kindly explained from beside me, “Ah, the guild masters usually all rest in the lounge after their meetings.”
His voice was low, almost a whisper, as if not to disturb the solemn procession of powerful individuals.
Yeon Hayeon and Ban Eunhyeol entered first, their figures commanding attention even in their relaxed demeanor.
Do Ihyeon and Eunhasu followed suit, their presence adding to the growing assembly of prominent figures.
Then, one by one, the guild masters I’d only ever glimpsed on the news streamed inside, each exuding an aura of quiet power and authority.
The lounge, initially a casual space, began to transform into a meeting ground for the most influential awakened individuals in Korea.
“You haven’t met Dana and Hyeongwang, have you? Oh, you might have seen Hyeongwang before,” Han Jibin remarked, his eyes twinkling with a shared secret.
Saying that, he began to explain which guild each person entering belonged to, offering a running commentary that was both informative and oddly entertaining.
The first was a dignified adult man, clearly not a student, whose presence immediately drew my gaze.
Even without an explanation, I could tell which guild he was from at a glance, a testament to his unmistakable aura.
The man, dressed in a black shirt and black pants, had jet-black hair and eyes that seemed to absorb the light around them.
After living surrounded by men in flashy colors, seeing a man with such simple, stark colors after a long time felt uniquely profound, almost refreshing in its starkness.
“The hyung in the black clothes over there is Cha Hyeonseo, the leader of the Black Guild. I think he’s in his late 20s, but I don’t remember his exact age,” Han Jibin divulged, confirming my immediate assumption.
As expected, he certainly looked like the Black Guild leader.
Black was the most popular guild among adults, a stark contrast to the student-led guilds that dominated the public imagination.
Just looking at his face, it was clear why he was so popular, his features almost perfectly sculpted.
His distinct features, almost biracial in their striking combination, and high nose bridge were particularly striking, giving him an aristocratic air.
His pale skin and red lips contrasted sharply with his black hair, creating an almost theatrical appearance that reminded one of a vampire from classic literature.
He was popular with women for his captivating looks, and with men for his unique aura and disciplined, clean fighting style, a testament to his mastery.
Among all the leaders of the Seven Great Guilds, he was the one who received the biggest cheers from the men, a surprising detail that spoke volumes about his broad appeal.
“Was Black 5th?”
I inquired, trying to recall the often-confusing guild rankings.
I had heard that Black Flame Dragon was the 4th ranked guild last time, and I knew the ranks above that, so I logically guessed Black would be 5th.
But Han Jibin tilted his head at my words and waved his hand, correcting me with a good-natured smile.
“No, he’s 4th! Black Flame Dragon is 5th.”
His certainty dispelled my momentary confusion.
“Huh? My friend said Black Flame Dragon was 4th last time. Was I mistaken?”
I pressed, a flicker of doubt crossing my mind.
“Oh, right. There are quite a lot of kids like that,” he replied with a knowing nod.
“What kind of kids?”
I asked, intrigued.
“Kids who exclude guilds with adult guild masters from the ranking. There are two guilds among the Seven Great Guilds made up of adults, and sometimes kids leave them out and just remember them as the ‘Five Great Guilds’ for short.”
‘No, why go that far…?’
My thoughts echoed the sentiment of disbelief.
When I didn’t hide my dumbfounded expression, Han Jibin and Yeon Hyeongwang, who had been listening intently, burst into laughter, looking at me.
Their reaction showed they agreed with my thought, finding the entire concept equally baffling.
“That person is Rank 3.”
This time, Yeon Hyeongwang, perhaps sensing my continued curiosity, told me the Black Guild leader’s rank.
He must have been the strongest hunter right after Yeon Hayeon and Ban Eunhyeol (who were co-Rank 1) and Do Ihyeon (who was Rank 2), making him a formidable force indeed.
I remembered seeing the Black Guild leader’s rank in the chat list, along with a rather intriguing nickname.
Roughly looking at his appearance, I could infer why his nickname was “Blood.”
He probably heard he looked like a vampire a lot because of his striking appearance, so he incorporated “Blood” into his nickname, a clever play on his looks.
Come to think of it, quite a few guild names and guild master nicknames contained words related to blood, a rather macabre but fitting theme for the world of awakened individuals.
The Black Guild leader walked towards the ping-pong table with an unfamiliar man.
The man had a completely different aura from the Black Guild leader, a stark contrast that was immediately noticeable.
Brown hair and eyes, soft eyes that seemed to hold a gentle warmth, and slightly tanned skin gave him a friendly, approachable demeanor.
Even a habitual smile on his lips like Eunbada’s, a perpetually cheerful expression, added to his welcoming presence.
He was a man who gave off a soft yet healthy impression, exuding a sense of well-being and genuine warmth.
“Oh, it’s James hyung!”
Han Jibin waved his hand, greeting him cheerfully, his voice carrying across the lounge.
The man smiled brightly and raised his hand in return, his enthusiasm infectious.
Perhaps because he wasn’t of ordinary sturdy build, I worried his clothes might rip just from him raising his hand, a humorous observation that briefly crossed my mind.
‘Good teeth,’ I thought to myself, noticing his impeccably white and even teeth, a small detail that somehow stood out.
I only thought this brief observation to myself, but Han Jibin, as if reading my mind, automatically explained who this man was.
“That hyung is in his early 30s. He lived in Hawaii since he was little and only recently started living in Korea. Since he’s Rank 10, they keep telling him to come back to Hawaii, but he likes Korea so much he’s settled down here completely.”
His story painted a vivid picture of a man who had found his home in a new country.
No wonder his name was James; his appearance certainly gave off a strong “foreign” vibe, further confirming his origins.
“Is his nickname Lumos by any chance?”
I asked, a name suddenly springing to mind from the various unique identifiers I’d encountered.
A nickname that somehow stood out more even among the list of equally unique nicknames in the chat window, ‘Lumos (Lumos..★)’ had always piqued my curiosity. I wondered who the owner of the rather flashy nickname was, and it was this person, a surprising revelation.
“Oh, right. Dana, you know him too!”
Han Jibin clapped his hands, a genuine smile spreading across his face, and confirmed my words, introducing James as the leader of the ‘Star’ guild, ranked 7th among the Seven Great Guilds.
Was “Star” perhaps taken from the star at the end of his nickname?
It was quite entertaining trying to infer how guild names and nicknames were created, a fun little game of deduction.
Were adults mingling only with other adults?
Inside the lounge, which was bustling with students, they stood completely apart, as if they were from another world, their interactions distinctly separate from the lively student chatter.
“You’re the one who got caught in that sudden gate with Arin last time…”
Just then, Eunhasu, gesturing exaggeratedly with his hands, walked towards our beanbag chairs with a young-looking male student trailing behind him.
His voice carried a theatrical flair, drawing attention.
“You know Eunhasu, right? The kid next to him is the leader of the Rank 6 guild, Supremacy Guild. He’s the same age as Hyeongwang.”
Han Jibin quickly whispered before Eunhasu and the Supremacy Guild leader came closer, his voice low and conspiratorial, then continued, providing more intriguing details.
“That kid, you shouldn’t underestimate him just because of his pretty, young face. He’s the core of the Gwanak-gu West Alliance. Even if all the school bullies, who are representatives of the Central Alliance and East Alliance, gang up on him, they can’t beat Baek Jiwoo.”
His words painted a picture of a deceptively powerful individual.
“Ah…”
I should have just not listened.
An alliance?
After the Four Heavenly Kings and the Three Great VIPs, now it’s the Three Great Alliances?
The complexities of the student hierarchy were becoming increasingly intricate and exhausting.
“The Gwanak-gu alliances don’t get along, so they’d often get into gang fights. But Baek Jiwoo was an unrivaled bully even before he awakened. Then he awakened as Rank 8, so now the West Alliance is mostly left alone. They say the East and Central alliances just fight among themselves. The atmosphere is a bit different from our Gangnam-gu, isn’t it?”
Han Jibin explained, detailing the turbulent landscape of Gwanak-gu.
It seemed pretty much the same to me, a constant struggle for dominance, regardless of the district.
I was casually filtering out Han Jibin’s words through hazy eyes, my mind still processing the deluge of information, when Baek Jiwoo, surprisingly direct, approached me first and greeted me.
“First time seeing you? Who are you?”
His tone was informal, almost blunt.
“Yeon Hayeon’s friend,” I answered succinctly, picking a simple truth.
He, who had spoken informally right away, glanced at the spot where Yeon Hayeon had left after my answer and said, his voice laced with a hint of surprise, “Wow, even that unnie has friends.”
What is with him?
Yeon Hyeongwang’s first impression was quite intense, a whirlwind of youthful energy, but this kid was even more so, his bluntness bordering on rude.
Yeon Hyeongwang at least became like a gentle younger brother after getting close to me, a delightful transformation, but this kid felt like he’d maintain his rudeness even if we became close, a rather daunting prospect.
I suddenly wanted to see Yeon Hayeon and Ban Eunhyeol, who had gone out again after someone called them while they were trying to enter the lounge.
Their absence made me feel a bit exposed.
Sitting there, hiding my identity among these extraordinary guild masters, made me uncomfortable, a feeling of being an impostor in a room full of legends.
I never thought I’d be introduced to all seven guild masters at once like this, a truly unprecedented gathering.
For a moment, I wondered if I should have even come along, if perhaps it was too much exposure too soon, but then I quickly thought it would be helpful to know them in advance for later, a practical consideration.
For example, if we were unluckily caught in a dungeon together, a not-so-uncommon occurrence in this world, or if I happened to run into them inside a dungeon, it would be beneficial to have prior knowledge of their personalities and ranks.
Since they were guild masters, I would need to be especially careful around them, their power and influence demanding a certain level of caution and respect.
“Is unnie also an Awakened One?”
Thinking I was naturally older than him since I was Yeon Hayeon’s friend, Baek Jiwoo still called me “unnie” and asked, his curiosity evident.
“Yes,” I picked up a snack in front of me and answered briefly, my focus momentarily on the crunchy treat.
He then bombarded me with questions: which guild I belonged to, what my nickname was, what my rank was, and what my tier was, a flurry of inquiries that spoke to his inherent curiosity.
“It’s all a secret,” I replied, a small smirk playing on my lips.
“Hm-hmm. People with lots of secrets are scary,” Eunhasu, hearing my answer, interjected and brought out another old yuhaengeo, trendy word, his usual dramatic flair on full display.
I wanted to say his way of speaking was scarier, but this was the world of the novel, so I figured it wasn’t particularly strange and held back, biting my tongue.
Was I really the only one who cared about that word?
The others all naturally listened to Eunhasu and moved on, completely unfazed by his antiquated slang.
I thought talking to Baek Jiwoo would be better than talking to Eunhasu, whose anachronistic vocabulary was proving to be a minor irritation.
“That hyung is sleeping again.”
Just then, Baek Jiwoo looked behind him and mentioned Do Ihyeon, who was lying asleep on the sofa, a picture of complete repose.
No, was he mentioning Ji Ganghan?
Both Do Ihyeon and Ji Ganghan were lying side-by-side on sofas facing each other, asleep, a curious sight of two powerful individuals completely at ease.
Ji Ganghan, who had laid down to sleep as soon as he entered, and Do Ihyeon, who followed the exact same path and fell asleep, were sleeping soundly, their breathing even and deep, a stark contrast to the lively conversations around them.
“Dana! Were you having fun?”
A cheerful voice came from the lounge entrance, instantly recognizable.
I looked up and saw Yeon Hayeon, who had opened the door wide and entered, her usual vibrant energy filling the space, abruptly closing it before Ban Eunhyeol could even come in.
Because of that, Ban Eunhyeol, whose high nose bridge almost got squashed, twitched his eyebrows and opened the door again to come in, his expression a mixture of annoyance and resignation.
His raised eyebrows clearly showed his displeasure, a subtle but unmistakable sign of his irritation.
“What? Was that unnie always like that?” |
Baek Jiwoo, surprised by Yeon Hayeon’s appearance, which he was seeing for the first time, looked at me with eyes full of admiration, a newfound respect dawning on his face.
“Unnie, I didn’t know you were so capable. I failed at getting close to that unnie,” he confessed, a rare moment of vulnerability from the usually confident Baek Jiwoo.
“Haha, it’s best to give up on the idea of getting close to the boss early on. Though Dana unnie is an exception,” Yeon Hyeongwang, letting out a hearty laugh at their reaction, began a long speech about how difficult it was to get close to Yeon Hayeon, recounting his own arduous journey of friendship.
Yeon Hayeon, as if accustomed to such reactions, shrugged her shoulders with an air of nonchalance and headed to the snack shelf, her priorities clear.
Ban Eunhyeol went straight to the sofa, poked Ji Ganghan lightly, a silent greeting, and then sat down beside him, crossing his legs, settling into a comfortable position.
It was a historic moment, with all the prominent figures gathered in one place, a constellation of power and influence under one roof, a rare and significant occasion indeed.
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