I decided to first find out what the guild leaders thought about Nada.
Until now, I had been diligently closing gates with the hope that no other Awakener would fall into danger or get hurt, even just a little.
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized the guilds might actually dislike that.
“After all, from the guild’s perspective, it means less income.”
Every time I closed a gate, the guilds earned a considerable amount of money.
If I closed all the gates myself, their income would shrink accordingly.
For an Awakener who wants to close as many gates as possible to earn more money, my actions wouldn’t come across as goodwill.
“What should I do?”
How should I gather the guild leaders’ opinions?
Since everyone was busy, meeting them one by one would surely take too long.
That meant I had to wait until the next regular meeting where they all gathered…
I checked the date of the next regular meeting on the calendar sitting on my desk.
The meeting had just taken place recently, so I had to wait several days.
“So, that means I can’t do anything until then?”
[Can’t do anything?]
[What are you talking about?]
Bishap and Red flew quietly over to my side as I moved from bed to chair, still lost in thought.
They settled right on my desk, curious about what I was worrying about.
[You mean going around closing gates alone? I need to conduct a survey.]
I spoke in a whisper transmission, worried my words might leak outside the room.
At the word “survey,” the two dragons tilted their heads and gave a very straightforward reply.
[Then just do the survey quickly!]
[Yeah, yeah!]
“Well…… I want to do it quickly, too.”
I forced a troubled smile and racked my brain.
“Should I just ask in the chatroom?”
My behavior had gotten much bolder compared to when I was first possessed.
Back then, I was only focused on hiding my identity and wouldn’t have imagined doing something like this.
But now, with the theory that the hooded girl is an outsider from another dimension and the Phantom Hunter is the same person being accepted as fact, and with both fan cafes and anti-cafes springing up, plus Do Ihyun already discovering me, and half the mask given by Blood, hiding my identity seemed meaningless.
I even wondered if I should just reveal it since it seemed pointless to hide it this far.
“Hmm…”
I rested my chin on one hand and thought seriously.
Since I wasn’t very good with words, it seemed better to go straight to the point rather than meeting and trying to talk around it.
I would honestly admit which theories were true, explain why I was closing gates all alone, and ask the guild leaders for their opinions.
Once I organized my thoughts, I opened the chatroom and sent my first message.
[Nada(0): I have a question]
***
Suddenly, a chat window appeared in front of the eleven Awakener ranked in the top ten—everyone except Nada.
They all stared at the chat in some surprise.
“What is this…?”
Yun Ha-yeon, who had been busy with the Yeonhwa incident, frowned as she threw the gangster she had grabbed by the collar aside.
Nada had never properly shown up or sent a message until now, yet here they were, initiating conversation.
And the first words were simply, “I have a question.”
Nobody knew what exactly Nada was curious about, but there was no doubt it captured everyone’s attention.
Yun Ha-yeon herself was waiting eagerly for the next message.
So were the other Awakeners.
“What on earth are they planning?”
Late at night, Ban Eunhyeol was walking outside alone.
“…?”
Do Ihyun, who had gone out for a walk with Choco, froze in place when he saw the chat.
“Nada sent a message?”
“Wow, a message from rank 0! That’s amazing!”
“What are they curious about?”
“Boss! Did you see the chat? Nada has a question!”
“Wife, Nada sent a chat! It said…”
“Oh, this is interesting!”
The Four Heavenly Kings, Yeon Hyeonggwang, Eunhasu, and Baek Jiwoo, who were at home or out, all saw Nada’s message.
“…Are we hallucinating from too much drinking?”
“No, we’re not.”
James and Cha Hyunseo were quietly drinking together late at night.
“…Looks like overtime for a while.”
Even Lee Hwan, who was working late, reacted as everyone had upon reading Nada’s message.
As everyone held their breath waiting, the next chat came through.
[Nada(0): Recently, the number of gate occurrences has decreased because I’ve been closing all of them myself. Is it okay if I keep closing this many gates alone? Guild leaders, please reply.]
Nada officially acknowledged one of the many rumors circulating about them.
Everyone had the same thought after reading it.
‘Are they thinking of officially becoming active?’
If not, there was no reason for Nada, who had never sent a single chat before, to ask this now.
Hmm?
Everyone carefully considered and sent their thoughts via chat.
[Sashimi(1): Leave a few during vacation, but no problem once school starts.]
[Wan-so(7): It’s okay when school starts! Please leave more than now -3- But seriously, they’re an outsider from another dimension.]
[2(Judeum)(8): I hope they leave more than now, too.]
[Lumos(Lumos..★)(10): Of course it’s okay! Nada’s chat is amazing.]
[Blood(3): Lumos is drunk right now, so take that with a grain of salt. I agree with the other guild leaders.]
Five of the seven guild leaders answered.
Only Ban Eunhyeol and Do Ihyun were slow to reply, as if they hadn’t even read the chat.
Meanwhile, Nada was bombarded with tons of questions.
Of course, Nada didn’t answer any of the many questions.
Seeing the chaotic chat filled with questions, Ban Eunhyeol and Do Ihyun finally sent replies.
[Focus(1): Close fewer.]
[Gaonnuri(2): Do as you like.]
After that, a suggestion arose among the guild leaders to even set a fixed number of gates Nada could close.
They decided to discuss that at the next regular meeting.
I sifted through only the questions I was curious about and then closed the chatroom.
***
After asking the guild leaders’ opinions, I stopped indiscriminately closing every gate I saw like before.
Since the common opinion was to leave some for the guilds, even if I happened upon a gate while walking, I sometimes passed it by.
Because I wasn’t pushing myself as hard, I didn’t hear as much about Yeon Ha-yeon and the Four Heavenly Kings complaining about my bad attitude as before.
But lately, the number of gates really seemed to have decreased; I just didn’t see them as often.
Thanks to that, I could focus more on sudden gates or dungeon breaks.
Wearing a mask, no one recognized me, and I was gradually able to appear in front of people more, expanding my activities.
[Nada rescues citizens from a sudden gate near the Han River.]
[A dungeon break occurs in Suwon; rank 0 Nada manages the situation.]
[Nada appears in Busan? The first A-rank gate ever opened there.]
Articles about my exploits poured out day after day.
Public opinion about me seemed to be shifting somewhat positively.
Of course, it wasn’t enough to completely overturn the negative views, but it was progress.
“Nada, who recently started official activities, is gaining heated attention. Two days ago, Nada was here…”
While walking with the Four Heavenly Kings and Yeon Ha-yeon, I happened upon a live news broadcast.
The reporter was enthusiastically talking about my recent gate-closing efforts.
“Everywhere you look, it’s Nada this, Nada that.”
When Ji Kanghan spoke as if uninterested, others chimed in.
“I want to try dungeon raids with Nada just once. It’d be so fun, don’t you think?”
Although her wish had already come true, Yeon Ha-yeon, unaware of that, said with a bright expression that it really seemed fun.
“Me too, me too! I want to beat monsters with Nada!”
“Lately, Nada’s actions have been pretty good. They must be really responsible.”
Beside Yeon, Eunbada quietly raised their hand.
Ban Eunhyeol didn’t seem interested in Nada and just walked silently.
“But have you started working at your company recently? You look a bit haggard.”
I tried to gauge Ban Eunhyeol’s reaction, but when I saw his face looked worse than before, I worried.
He took his hand out of his pocket and casually touched his face, speaking nonchalantly.
“I’m fine. Why?”
“Is that so? You’ve got some dark circles, though.”
His complexion was definitely worse, but Ban Eunhyeol kept denying it.
‘Am I just seeing things wrong?’
Since he insisted he was fine, I had nothing more to say.
That night, I got word that a new gate had opened not far from town, so I hurried there.
[Here it is, my lord.]
Our familiar spirit quickly arrived at my house and pointed to the gate hidden in a corner of the park.
I immediately stepped inside.
The distinct dungeon atmosphere shifted instantly, filling my nose deeply.
Taking a deep breath, I moved further inside.
The dungeon was a dense forest. The trees were so thick that it was hard to see far ahead.
“This is going to be annoying. Should I just clear everything?”
I was debating whether to start by clearing the trees when suddenly a huge blaze shot up ahead.
‘Is that a monster?’
I rushed toward the fire, hoping to encounter a boss monster right away.
Parting the waist-high grass and weaving between the trees, I stayed alert.
Rustle—
Then the grass on the opposite side moved.
Something pushed through the grass and appeared.
“Huh…?”
I was about to attack, thinking it was a monster, but my instincts told me to dodge.
At that moment, I locked eyes with something that had emerged from the grass opposite me.
“…Why are you here?”
Ban Eunhyeol stood between the grasses, his blue-black hair fluttering in the wind.