“So what the hell is this?”
“Huh?”
While I was still caught off guard by how suddenly the kid was acting close to , Hyun Dowoon’s voice brought back to reality.
“You were babbling about being kidnapped by so lab, and now you’re showing up with a kid I’ve never seen before? What the hell are you doing?”
“Ahh.”
Right. This wasn’t the ti to get distracted—I had a purpose for coming here.
Still holding the child, I took the seat Hyun Dowoon had been using and spoke to him.
“Bring an empty box. Any kind will do.”
“...?”
Dowoon narrowed his eyes at , then glanced at the curious won watching us from the side. With a sigh, he grabbed an empty box from the corner and set it on the table.
I placed the box on the desk, unbuckled the hip pouch I’d been wearing all this ti, and opened it. Then I started taking out the items I had borrowed—well, stolen—from the lab.
“Holy shit, what is all this?”
“Magic stones? Pretty decent quality too.”
“Are these artifacts?”
“Seohu, where the hell did you get all this?”
“Let’s just call it the price of my life.”
Leaving out the robe and sword I’d kept for myself, I transferred everything else from the bag into the box.
“Ladies, would you mind selling these items for ? You can take a reasonable cut for the effort and send the rest.”
I was originally going to have Dowoon handle the sale, but since the black market managers were already here, I figured it was better to ask them directly.
Even if they took a fee, the items were valuable enough that I’d still end up with a nice sum.
“And Dowoon. I’ve got a few favors to ask.”
“Why do you always dump so much crap on ?”
“Because you’re the only one who can do it.”
When I answered seriously, Dowoon pouted and scratched the back of his head in defeat.
“What is it this ti?”
“First, set up a guild for . Sothing legit.”
“A guild? Out of nowhere?”
“Yeah. Also, find a decent place to live near Gangnam. I’ll be living there with her.”
“What?”
“And I need a fake ID. For her.”
“......”
Dowoon’s expression worsened the more he listened. In the end, he sighed deeply and shook his head.
“So your entire plan is to commit cris from start to finish.”
“How is this a cri?”
“Then why don’t you go to the Association and submit a proper application to form a guild, instead of harassing here?”
“Oh co on, you know I can’t do that.”
“Let’s just not even talk...”
Looking thoroughly fed up, Dowoon turned away and dragged a new chair over to his computer.
“If you want all that, I’ll need to start with the kid’s ID. What’s her na?”
Click-clack, click-clack—the sound of him typing filled the air.
‘Here it is...’
I’d known from the start that I’d need to register her identity. The problem was, I didn’t actually know her na. I hadn’t asked, and there was no way a kid who only ever nodded would just tell .
“So, uh... her na is...”
“Her na?”
“Uh... It’s... um, I forgot... haah, I can’t rember...”
“...You’re not seriously saying you don’t know, are you?”
“No! I an, I heard it! I just... I’ve been forgetting things a lot lately, so even her na kind of slipped...”
“Sahyeon.”
“...Huh? What was that?”
A whisper, barely audible, tickled my ear. Startled, I grabbed the kid’s shoulders and gently pushed her back, but she tried to crawl right back into my arms, whispering again.
“Sahyeon. That’s my na.”
“...Wow.”
Just like that? She’d ignored everything I said until now—at most, just nodding occasionally. And now she just tells ?
I stared at her in disbelief, still in shock, while Dowoon clicked his tongue.
“Tch. So you really forgot. You’re unbelievably careless, seriously. Fine—her na’s Sahyeon. What about her last na?”
Now looking like so world-class scumbag who forgot a child’s na, I answered bitterly.
“...Make it the sa as mine. Cha. So people will think she’s my little sister.”
“Okay. Cha Sahyeon.”
The won who’d been watching our conversation with curiosity now jumped in.
“Cha Sahyeon, huh? Nice na. So where did you et her? You’re planning to live together, so I guess you’re trying to take responsibility properly?”
“It’s... complicated.”
“She’s not your daughter, right?”
“C’mon, unnie! He’s way too young for that. Seohu’s only, what, 32?”
“...I’m twenty-six.”
“Wait, that young?”
I an... isn’t there a big difference between 26 and 32? Even counting the two years of regression, I’m only 28. Do I look 32? I felt oddly offended.
Trying to shake off the feeling, I turned to Son Gayoung—the most senior of the won—and made one more request besides the item sale.
“By the way, do you have any portable inventory items in the black market? Preferably sothing like an accessory.”
The hip pouch was starting to get annoying. Even if it was pricey, a good inventory accessory was worth having.
“Hm... There’s a gem in stock. If we mount it onto sothing, it should work. What kind of accessory do you want?”
“A ring or necklace would be ideal.”
Gayoung pulled out her phone and sent a ssage sowhere.
“I’ve already got soone working on it. There weren’t any spare rings available, so it’ll be a necklace.”
“A necklace is fine.”
Rings were the most stable choice, but a necklace wasn’t bad either—as long as no one snapped the chain.
“I’ll deduct the cost from whatever’s left after we sell the items.”
“Can’t you gift it to ?”
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
I grinned cheekily, adding a little playfulness to my voice. Gayoung smirked back as she placed an unlit cigarette in her mouth. She didn’t light it—probably out of consideration for the kid.
“Gift it? You think that face is cute enough for a gift? You disappeared without a word, and now you show up only when you need sothing.”
“You’re as sharp as ever, noona...”
I had a lot I could’ve said in response, but talking about being abducted and turned into a lab rat would only earn mockery—and worse, put Cha Sahyeon in danger.
“Here.”
While I was bantering with the won, Dowoon had already finished and handed a few docunts.
“I submitted the guild creation request just like you asked, and bought a decent office space in your na. The guild na can be finalized by text within the week—just send the ID number listed here.”
Even with a few illegal shortcuts, this was my first ti setting up a guild, and everything about it felt new. As I looked over the docunts, Dowoon continued.
“The kid’s docunts are in the back. Cha Sahyeon, age 12, listed as your sibling. I just went with what she looks like. If you don’t like it, too bad.”
“Twelve? Do twelve-year-olds usually look like this?”
I thought she was ten. Even as we talked about her age, Sahyeon just clung to my neck, arms wrapped around like a damn koala.
While Dowoon shrugged off the responsibility with a blank face, the won jumped in to help.
“Twelve’s a borderline save. Kids that age really vary in height.”
“True. Seohu, weren’t you about this tall when you were twelve? It’s probably about right.”
“Still, seeing you two together like that, you do look like siblings. Sothing about the vibe.”
“Right? I thought the sa thing. Can’t put my finger on it, but they kind of resemble each other.”
Son Gayoung, who’d been observing quietly from the back, exhaled smoke and muttered,
“Could she be your half-sister?”
“Not a chance.”
There was no way. I was a kid when I got dumped here in Zone C-281. A sibling with this kind of age gap? I would’ve rembered sothing, even vaguely.
Even if soone connected to —genetically—had a child, and that child ended up being Cha Sahyeon, destined to beco the Catastrophe, and was coincidentally captured and experinted on in the sa lab as ...
No. That would be absurd.
“Alright. I’ve taken care of everything, so I’ll be heading out.”
Perfect timing—the necklace Gayoung ordered had arrived.
I took the necklace from the staff mber, looped it around my neck, and gently pulled Cha Sahyeon off . She blinked up at , clearly displeased, but cald down once I took her hand.
“You’re leaving already?”
“You’re not ghosting us again, are you?”
“If you disappear again, we will track you down.”
Their mix ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) of worry and teasing made laugh. I replied with hollow smiles and empty promises like, “Of course not,” and “I’ll call soon.”
“Cha Seohu!”
Just as I reached for the door handle, trying to escape before the nagging got worse, Dowoon called out from behind .
“You’re really leaving? What about... y’know, she’s probably waiting.”
He trailed off, eyes flicking upward.
I instantly understood who he ant—and stopped without thinking.
Before I could say anything, Son Gayoung spoke as well.
“Shouldn’t you at least say hello? She’s probably already heard you ca back.”
“......”
“How are you going to deal with the aftermath later?”
I barely managed to swallow the deep sigh building in my chest. I kept a smile on my face and replied lightly.
“Well, I’ll just let future deal with that. I’m not in the mood today. Alright then, I’m off!”
“...That crazy bastard...”
Leaving Dowoon cursing behind , I walked away without regret.
As I stepped out of the dark hallways, the flashing lights of neon signs imdiately stabbed at my eyes. Cri-ridden, lawless, and suffocating even with all the space—this place was no place to linger.
‘Yeah. Definitely not sowhere I want to stay long.’
Gripping the child’s hand, I quickened my pace.
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