Essence of the Strait sped up their raiding in the Amazon. They were able to progress much faster thanks to their extremely capable pathfinder.

Their pathfinder knew the location, information, inhabiting monsters, etc. of Amazon’s dungeon down to the tee. Essence of the Strait was able to raid a lot of dungeons by following his information.

They busily went from dungeon to dungeon without much rest until it was finally time for them to go back.

Yoo Yeonha was fishing on the riverbed when a voice suddenly surprised her.

“I heard it’s time for you to go back next week.”

It was Jin Seyeon.

“… Yes, our work is coming to an end,” Yoo Yeonha replied.

The maximum time she had for this excursion was three weeks. The second team would come and switch places with her soon. Of course, they didn’t need to send in the second team judging from the success of Yoo Yeonha’s team. It would take them at least six months to dispose of the immense artifacts they gathered.

“I see…” Jin Seyeon nodded before she threw a harpoon into the water.

A fish was skewered by the harpoon.

“…”

Yoo Yeonha pouted and looked at her fishing line floating in the water. She was certain a fish was about to take the bait if not for the disturbance…

Jin Seyeon suddenly asked, “Aren’t you talking to Hajin these days?”

Yoo Yeonha frowned and asked in response, “Why are you asking about that?”

“

Hmm…

I’m just curious.”

“Why would a top hero like you be curious about something like that?”

Jin Seyeon brightly smiled and replied, “I wonder myself. Maybe I’m getting old.”

Yoo Yeonha let out a sigh and changed the subject, “Oh, right… I prepared an artifact to give to you. Would you like to see it? It seems like a very valuable artifact for an archer. Also, please tell me if you need anything else…”

Jin Seyeon was a tremendous help in this Amazon raid. She personally went with them to a few ruins, so Yoo Yeonha felt that it was only natural to give her something in return.

“…”

However, Jin Seyeon looked at her without saying anything. Then she smiled brightly after seemingly thinking of something.

“

Ah

, now I get it.”

Yoo Yeonha tilted her head in confusion and asked, “Get what…?”

Jin Seyeon’s face became quite serious as she said, “Why Hajin left you. I get it now.”

“What did you just say?” Yoo Yeonha retorted with a hint of anger in her voice.

She rarely displayed her emotions before top heroes, but she failed to suppress it this time. She was more in disbelief than angry after hearing those words.

“Excuse me, what do you mean by that?”

***

It was late at night.

Yoo Yeonha sat by the lakeside and thought of what Jin Seyeon told her.

“Not everyone in this world thinks like you, vice guild master. Favor, that’s a good word, but don’t think that everyone is after that simply because most people are after it. I did this for you, so you do this for me has the tendency to diminish a person’s sincerity into a trade.”

Jin Seyeon put it as gently as she could, but was indeed lecturing her.

“The same goes for me and Hajin. We wanted to help you without expecting anything in return. We wanted to help and not make a trade.”

Jin Seyeon extended something to her.

“What is this…?”

Yoo Yeonha asked at the time.

It was a brightly shining jewel.

Jin Seyeon replied,

“It’s called the Jewel of Dream. It’s a treasure I obtained

in the

Amazon. It’ll allow you to dream of an important memory. Why don’t you try using it? It was a big help to me, so I hope it’ll help you too, vice guild master…”

Yoo Yeonha came back to her senses and took out the jewel that was brightly shining just like the lake.

“What are you doing here?”

Someone suddenly asked from behind, but Yoo Yeonha already sensed the presence and wasn’t surprised.

She turned around and said, “Hey.”

“What?”

“Come here…”

Kim Hajin braved through the thistle and sat beside her.

“What are you doing? And why are you asking me to come like a dog?”

“Look at this… It’s called the Jewel of Dream… Jin Seyeon gave it to me,” Yoo Yeonha said as she showed off the jewel.

“So…?” Kim Hajin asked in response.

“So I was thinking… Do you want to have a dream together…?” Yoo Yeonha asked with a hint of embarrassment in her voice.

She instantly regretted it after saying those words. What the hell did she mean by,

‘Do you want to have a dream together?’

How stupid did that sound?

“

Hmm? Ah

, you can’t use that with someone else,” Kim Hajin replied as he shot down the offer.

Yoo Yeonha’s eyes narrowed at his response and asked, “How do you know what this is?”

“

Ah

, I gave that to Jin Seyeon. Just use it alone. I’ll stay beside you while you’re using it.”

Those last words he said made her melt inside.

“… You don’t really have to.”

“Anyways, do you know how to use it?”

“Of course, I just have to do this…”

She hid her blushing face and gripped the jewel. Then, she infused her mana into it. Her vision slowly started getting hazy as she descended into a dream.

It felt as if her body was floating.

She suddenly shot her eyes open and found herself in a limousine.

‘I think this was three or four years ago…’

She couldn’t exactly remember the date, but she was sure this was when she went on a business trip to China.

She was currently on her way to Shanghai from Beijing and was leisurely looking at her smartwatch.

Dudududu…

The ground started shaking and Yoo Yeonha glanced out the window. It didn’t really disturb her though.

It was then that a dark-reddish tornado appeared and the limousine exploded.

Kabooom!

Her hair was burnt by the flames and her eardrums popped. She sustained burns even though she covered herself with mana and was violently thrown out of the car.

She was down on the ground and could feel herself covered in blood, bone shrapnel, and brain particles. It was what remained of her driver and bodyguard in the limousine.

She couldn’t think straight after that. She just sat on the ground dazed as the entire world grew further and further away from her.

“Kyaaaaah!”

“Kyaaaaahk!””

The screaming all around woke her up.

The storm of evil mana was mercilessly slaughtering the civilians. She was forced to watch it unfold right in front of her eyes.

Blood, bones, and organs dyed the streets with rivers of blood.

Yoo Yeonha tried to move, but her body was frozen stiff and the impact from a while ago messed with her head.

The evil mana was spreading all over the place. Her instincts were screaming at her to get out of there.

‘I can’t win. I can’t win against that djinn. That’s why I have to run away.’

She forced herself up and was about to run away, but a large assailant was blocking her path. She couldn’t tell if it was a human or a monster as the assailant’s body was covered in metal.

Yoo Yeonha retreated a few steps, but suddenly felt dizzy from the explosion. The blood and brain matter clinging to her body started to weigh her down.

Then, the djinn gathered its evil mana in both hands.

She was going to die.

‘I was going to die here.’

As she was overwhelmed with fear, a bullet that looked more like a missile flew out of nowhere.

It was actually a shotgun shell.

The djinn took the full brunt of the shotgun shell from close range. It was extremely powerful and the djinn’s upper and lower body was severed in half.

The djinn turned into dust and scattered in the wind.

“Are you alright?” he approached her and asked.

She had no idea what she was doing on the floor and why she was on the floor in the first place when he asked. Instead, she was crying.

“Huuk! Huuk!”

He extended a hand to her despite how shamefully she was crying.

“Stop crying and follow me. I’ll protect you. I’m your bodyguard, right?” he said in a warm gentle voice.

Yoo Yeonha took his hand and stood up. Then she clung to him. She clung to him tightly like a child and didn’t show any signs of letting go.

She could feel a strange sense of warmth and comfort after she buried her face into his chest. No, something much more powerful was welling up from inside of her.

Perhaps… that was the start of everything…

‘I refused to acknowledge the emotions budding inside of me. I didn’t at that time… at least… I… I’ve liked him since that day…’

Yoo Yeonha slowly opened her eyes and saw Kim Hajin’s face. She was lying on his lap.

“What kind of dream did you have?” he smiled and asked.

Yoo Yeonha didn’t respond.

He smirked and guessed, “Did you dream of becoming the president? Or was it that the entirety of Gangnam belonged to you?”

Yoo Yeonha shook her head, but didn’t say anything. She suddenly recalled what Jin Seyeon said.

“The same goes for me and Hajin. He wanted to help you without expecting anything in return. He wanted to help and not make a trade.”

“Hey…” she muttered.

“Yeah, what?” he nonchalantly replied.

However, Yoo Yeonha hesitated. She had no idea what she was supposed to say. She wasn’t used to speaking purely out of emotion without any intent to create a network or do a business deal.

She was completely oblivious to this. She never learned about it, did it, or expected that she would be in this position.

“Shall we… fish…?”

In the end, that was the best she came up with.

***

The time for them to leave the Amazon had come. Essence of the Straits checked their inventory.

[Total Relics Excavated: 737]

[Total Ruins Raided: 33]

This was more than enough to trump whatever record Creator’s Sacred Grace managed to set. Well, at least for a week…

Yoo Yeonha clenched her fist and smiled in satisfaction.

The ES-3 was on the way to pick them up.

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

“

Huh…? Ah…

Dammit… She’s at it again…” Yoo Yeonha grumbled after spotting Chae Nayun casually chatting with Kim Hajin.

Yoo Yeonha pouted and butted in between them.

“Oh, hi Yeonha,” Chae Nayun greeted her with a mischievous grin.

Yoo Yeonha looked at her with disdain and said, “Hey, Nayun. We have to go now. Can you help the others pack our things?”

“Oh, really? Sure thing,” Chae Nayun replied while flashing a sleazy smile.

Yoo Yeonha glared at her as Chae Nayun disappeared into the distance. Then she turned her attention to Kim Hajin.

Kim Hajin met her gaze and shrugged, “What?”

“Nothing… just…”

Whiiiiing! Whoooosh!

A powerful gust of wind blew as the ES-3 appeared in the sky. Yoo Yeonha looked at it before she grabbed the hem of Kim Hajin’s clothes and said, “Nothing much, just… when are you coming back to Seoul…?”

Kim Hajin scratched the back of his neck and replied, “

Hmm…

I’m not sure. Probably a few years?”

Yoo Yeonha lowered her eyes at his response. She had something she wanted to say before leaving, but was scared that she wouldn’t be able to say it this time again.

She breathed in and out before mustering the courage, “What do you think of… coming with me?”

Those were extremely difficult words for her to utter. She wasn’t even this nervous when she was being grilled by Congress.

Still, she mustered her courage one more time and said, “I want… I want to hire you as my bodyguard again.”

She realized it in that dream. It might be too late now, but she liked him ever since that moment.

She did her part and it was now his turn to respond.

“No,” Kim Hajin shook his head.

He didn’t even hesitate for a second. He immediately refused the offer as soon as Yoo Yeonha said it.

It was so harsh that her brain automatically translated

‘no’

as

‘fuck off.’

“At least, not yet,” he added.

Those words gave her hope, but his single word of refusal before was simply too harsh to make her cling to this hope.

Yoo Yeonha’s legs trembled, but then a vein popped up on her forehead.

Kim Hajin bitterly smiled and said, “Both of us… We’re still used to being alone, right?”

Yoo Yeonha clenched her fists. She wanted to deny it. She wanted to tell him how much she regretted it after letting him go. How much her heart ached without even knowing why it was aching.

That was why… she wanted to be with him no matter what it took. She didn’t care if he thought she was being selfish.

She only felt safe beside him.

“You’re right…”

However, her response was quite the opposite of her thoughts.

She maintained her cool and her brain replied before her heart got the chance to. It was the result of her training that allowed her to maintain her cool in these sorts of situations.

“Then, we’re going now,” Yoo Yeonha said with a slight nod.

Kim Hajin suddenly put a necklace around her neck and said, “Yeah, have a safe trip back. Also, this is a gift.”

“What’s this…?”

“What else? Can’t you tell it’s a necklace? Just throw it away if you don’t need it.”

There was nothing special about the necklace. It was sculpted with wood and covered with silver.

Yoo Yeonha fiddled with the necklace and nodded without batting an eye.

“I’m not going to throw it away, but I won’t use it. Anyways, take care. We’re going now,” she said with a hint of coldness in her voice.

Essence of the Straits boarded the ES-3 and the guild members waved at Jin Seyeon and Kim Hajin.

“Wow, it’s finally time to go home.”

“But it wasn’t that bad, right?”

“We’re going to get three years' worth of paycheck as our bonus this time, right?”

“Just three years? I think we can expect to rank up as well!”

The ES-3 was filled with the merry chattering of the bunch.

Yoo Yeonha quietly sat in her seat and looked out the window. She smirked after seeing Kim Hajin waving at them, but that smile almost immediately disappeared.

“

Ah…

My stomach hurts…” she grimaced and went to the toilet.

She turned on the tap, locked the door, and plunged her face into the basin.

“…”

She was trembling. Tears and snot were coming out of her eyes and nose. She suppressed her voice while crying, but then she noticed something strange.

It felt like she wasn’t crying tears, but tears of blood instead. Her heart ached and felt like it would kill her any moment now…

‘I barely got to see him after such a long time, but… why did I have to leave again…?’

However, those thoughts didn’t last long in her mind.

She continued crying until she found it difficult to hold back. She cried and cried without thinking about anything. The tears she held back gushed out uncontrollably as if the floodgates were opened.

“

Ugh… uh…

huuf

…!”

Then, the sound of Chae Nayun playing a game outside could be heard. She was playing a loud fighting game and intentionally blasted its sound to the max.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak!

The noise coming from the fighting game drowned the sound of Yoo Yeonha’s crying.