Chapter 26

Broken Person11-14 minutes 25.06.2023

“It’s a gift. Put mine up.”

“……”

“Well, it’s fanservice, not that I didn’t appreciate the free meal.”

Honeybee swept a hand through her bouncy hair. She was obviously happy to see her fan.

If there was a sharp-eyed person next to her, they would have made fun of her for being a freak, but unfortunately or fortunately, the only person next to her was Bae Won-woo, who had a mind as white as a sheet of paper, and he was genuinely impressed.

“Oh~ part-timer, were you a fan of Honeybee?”

“…Yes.”

“Hey, come here more often. He’s a fan.”

Shut up.

“Well, I’m too busy, but I might come back one more time.”

Don’t ever come back.

Honeybee and Bae Won-woo walked out of the store together. Ui-jae stared blankly at the ceiling with an autograph poster by his side.

‘I’ll be rich if I sell autographs.’

However, Ui-jae’s Tomato Market account was sealed, so Honeybee’s autographed poster could not be sold and was placed next to Jung-bin’s autograph. Later that afternoon, Ha-eun spotted Honeybee’s poster when she got home from school and rushed over to it.

“Uncle, what is this?”

“It’s a poster of Honey Bee.”

“Really?”

Her voice sounded a little… has she gotten bigger? Ui-jae, who was organizing the groceries, looked at Ha-eun with a puzzled face. Ha-eun was clinging to the wall as if she was going to press her cheek against the poster any minute.

“Did Honeybee come and go? Today?”

Her voice was more of a shriek now.

“Yep. She signed it herself.”

“I, I…”

Ha-Eun, who was so close to the poster that her cheek rubbed against it, began to sob.

“Huh?”

“Uncle, I….”

“Why, what’s wrong?”

“I miss Honeybee!”

‘Shit.’

He cursed her to never come back, but she had to cancel the curse after only a few hours.

“Sa-young, did you skip meals again!”

Thump, thump, thump. It was Vice Guild Leader Bae Won-woo who slammed open the door to the Guild Leader’s office with heavy footsteps. Lee Sa-young frowned, but it was hidden by his eye patch.

He was sprawled out on the couch in the Guild Leader’s office, wearing a black eye patch and earplugs. Bae Won-woo, who was nearby, began to nag him out of habit.

“People live on food,” he said, “and I thought you’d been eating well lately, but why are you suddenly not eating again?”

It’s not the first time Sa-young’s mouth has been short. Bae Won-woo clicks his tongue, and soon he’s standing in front of him with a tablet. He didn’t seem to care if he had earplugs in or not.

After all, to him, earplugs were just something to muffle the sound a bit. That’s what an S-rank awakener is.

“The Awakening Management Bureau has sent word that they will be activating the emergency response system on the day of the rankings, and they need your help.”

“……”

Sa-young raised his foot instead of answering.

“Okay.”

Bae Won-woo flicked the screen.

“Jongno 3-ga dungeon will be ours. If the vanguard clears it first, the researchers will go in afterwards and investigate the dungeon’s resources.”

Snap.

“Also, the Seowon Guild has requested a day to visit.”

Snap.

“That’s it for the immediate agenda… Oh, and I’m going to shoot a commercial.”

“…….”

He doesn’t know who blew the whistle on this one, but it wasn’t worth answering, so Sa-young stopped shaking, but Bae Won-woo persisted.

“The part-time worker at Haejang-guk house is also a Honeybee fan. I thought he wasn’t interested in hunter at all. I guess he can’t ignore publicity.”

“…What?”

Sa-young pushed up one side of his eye patch.

“Say it again.”

“What, he can’t ignore publicity?”

“No, before that.”

“I’m going to do a commercial?”

“Shit …. Are you doing this on purpose?”

“No, I’m not.”

“I thought you said something about part-timer.”

“Oh, part-timer? I heard he’s a big Honeybee fan.”

“…What?”

There was only one part-timer in the world that Bae Won-woo would meet. A part-time worker at Haejang-guk house.

“Honeybee personally signed the poster and gave it to him. I want to imitate that kind of fan service.”

Bae Won-woo started talking excitedly about the desirable hunter’s posture. Sa-young was lost in thought, still clutching the eye patch he’d haphazardly pushed up. As it turned out, Cha Ui-jae had a different attitude towards him and Jung-bin. Moreover, he’s a fan of Honeybee?

Jung-bin and Honeybee have something in common….

‘Advertising star.’

Heh, Sa-young chuckled to himself. Apparently, Cha Ui-jae had some kind of bizarre taste that only liked people with high recognition.

Roughly removing his eye patch, he gestured to Bae Won-woo, who was blabbering on about his rosy future after 365 Ways to Become a Cool Hunter and how his popularity had exploded and he was now number five in the rankings.

“Stop being delusional and get the head of PR.”

“Wow, Sa-young, are you really going to let me do a commercial?”

“Quick.”

In the evening, when the shop was reasonably empty, Ui-jae was at the counter of Haejang-guk house, sorting out the books. Today, the number of unlucky hunters who threw their bills and ran away was still small, so it was easy to count.

Then, two texts arrive on his mobile phone.

Sa-young: CBS

Sa-young: Switch it on

He hadn’t come to Haejang-guk’s for a while, and he hadn’t contacted him. Sa-young told him to turn on CBS, but he didn’t even have to change the channel. A popular weekend soap opera on CBS had just finished, so it was already on. Ui-jae squinted at the TV.

-Change your colour. CyC.

He hopes he didn’t call me to watch an advert for Honeybee. What was next? Ui-jae tried to remember the schedule.

The dye company logo disappeared, revealing a pretty single-family home with a large yard. A harmonious family was laughing at their retriever running around the yard.

Hahaha, ho-ho-ho, woof woof.

And against their backdrop…

A gas mask.

‘…Gas mask?’

The ballpoint pen that was writing down the amount by hand in my notebook stopped dead in its tracks. Cha Ui-jae opened his mouth involuntarily and focused on the screen.

Ding!

This was the sound of a hunter watching TV in front of the water dispenser missing his glass.

Hunters are sensitive to sound. Their gaze instinctively darted to the source of the loud noise, first seeing the hunter who dropped the glass, then the hunter’s embarrassed face, and naturally following his gaze.

And then I saw ‘it’.

“Crazy….”

One hunter lost the spoon in his hand. Another spats out water like an actor spitting out orange juice in a soap opera. One hunter started chanting a prayer while drawing a holy symbol. The entire Haejang-guk house was shocked and horrified.

White writing appeared on the waist of the gas mask that appeared like a grim reaper in front of the family.

‘Pado Guild Leader Lee Sa-young’

Dressed in a neat suit, the gas mask stretched out his left hand and formed a V with the index and middle fingers of his right hand, overlapping his left palm. Though it was hard to see, as he wore black gloves on both hands.

A low voice spoke mechanically.

-For awakening registration inquiries, call the Bureau’s hotline at 777, and to report unregistered awakenings and awakening crimes, call 555.

─The Korean Awakening Management Bureau is always by your side.

Ha-ha-ha, ho-ho-ho, 555.

A harmonious family and a gas mask spread their hands and wave from side to side. The music fades out together as the screen goes dark. There is silence. A professional voice actor recited the precautions as quickly as a rap.

-Failure to report within one month of awakening without a specific reason will result in a fine of up to 100 million. Upon awakening, please visit your local awakening registration centre for inspection. Public Service Announcement Council.

Everyone in the shop was left speechless for a long time. Even after the ad ended, no one spoke up. It was as if a collective curse of silence had fallen upon us. By the time the next programme began, the hunters were breathing harshly, one by one. One hunter even pulled a potion out of thin air and emptied it in one swift motion.

“Wow….”

“Huh. Heuck. C, crazy. What have I seen.”

“I thought I had a confusion debuff.”

“Me too.”

“Is that right?”

“I think I’ve lost my mind.”

“Lee Sa-young is crazy. Now he’s doing mental attacks.”

“I can’t do this. I’ll buy a device that boosts my mind.”

“Is that commercial going to be on every time I watch TV now?”

“I’m starting a digital detox today….”

“Sh, Shield Guy.”

The stunned gazes shifted to a single person. It was Shield guy, sitting like a mountain with his back to the TV, silently scarfing down his haejang-guk. Indeed, it was the best tanker in Korea whose mere presence drew everyone’s attention. Hunter, sitting at the same table, asked cautiously,

“That… What is that?”

Shield Guy, Bae Won-woo said grimly,

“It’s a public service announcement.”

“What?”

“When you awaken, don’t forget to register as an awakened… Something like that.”

“Was that what it said?

Ui-jae, who had been listening to their conversation, almost lost the ballpoint pen he was holding this time. Wasn’t that a threat that the gas mask would come and kill you if you didn’t register as an awakener?

“No, I mean, why would he suddenly do a public service announcement? He turns down everything.”

The hunter was not alone in his suspicions, and he began to offer his own theories.

“It’s almost time for this year’s rankings. Isn’t he just trying to get the number one spot?”

“Even if he didn’t do this, he’d still be number one.”

“Did Jung-bin have a weakness of him?”

“No way.”

“What….”

Bae Won-woo pursed his lips as if to say something. But in the end, he couldn’t say anything, and stuck his face back into the pot.

Bae Won-woo, the loyal man of this era, the Guy among Guys, was speechless.

That Lee Sa-young personally contacted the Korea Broadcasting and Advertising Corporation to ask for a public service announcement. The tragedy is that the government officials, who were delighted to hear that Lee Sa-young was the first to contact them, and the PR team, who were excited that our guild leader was finally filming a commercial, were left speechless when they saw the results.

“If this goes out, the Pado Guild is doomed.”

“…….”

“If you’re going to do this, don’t do commercials for the rest of your life! Why!”

The head of the PR team was furious with Bae Won-woo. But Bae Won-woo was helpless…

He chose to remain silent instead of giving a full explanation. He scooped up a large spoonful of haejang-guk and shoved it into his mouth. The spiciness of the cheongyang chilli blurred his vision. Bae Won snorted with a wistful look in his eyes.

‘Sa-young, I kept my loyalty….’

Ui-jae, who had been staring at the TV screen in a daze, was awakened by the vibration of his mobile phone.

Saeyoung: Spring?

A shameless text had arrived. He was dumbfounded and didn’t know what to say.

Saeyoung : Hyung
Saeyoung : I heard you like people who shoot commercials.
Saeyoung : ^^

“What are you talking about, crazy….”

Ui-jae… He doesn’t know who spread the rumor, but he decided to kill him if he was caught.