TFGSR 02

Chapter: 02

The Betrayal

The reporters also looked startled.

—Hunter Gitaewon? What exactly do you mean by that?

—That’s quite an unexpected statement. I think you’ll need to explain.

Gitaewon’s gaze briefly came to rest on empty space.

—Seong Jeyeon put the raid aside and attempted to make a contract with the boss of the final floor, the Lord of the Tower. In the process, she was unable to withstand the backlash, and her body was destroyed.

—Are you saying Hunter Seong Jeyeon had another objective?

—Are you saying there was some kind of conspiracy?

Questions poured in from all directions.

Gitaewon moved his lips, then firmly closed them again. After hesitating for a moment, his low, subdued voice finally emerged.

—It seems Seong Jeyeon’s purpose in climbing the Tower was not to save humanity.

—Then what was it for?

Gitaewon’s pupils trembled briefly as they followed the flashes of the cameras.

—It seems she intended to fuse powerful beings into her own body and become a divine being herself.

In an instant, the atmosphere on the screen changed completely.

—Does that mean Hunter Seong Jeyeon wasn’t our hero, but the exact opposite?

—……That’s for everyone to decide for themselves.

Flashes erupted over his dark expression.

—But if a new Tower appears, it will all be due to the side effects of Seong Jeyeon’s summoning magic.

The reporters bombarded him with questions.

—A new Tower?

—Have you discovered something new?

—Are you saying the traitor Seong Jeyeon has put humanity in new danger?

—Excuse me.

He stood from his seat.

The brief screech of the chair legs against the floor rang out. The reporters also stood and fired questions at him, but Gitaewon never looked back.

At the same time, the screen faded to black, and white lettering appeared.

Jeyeon stared blankly at the electronic billboard, which had switched over to an advertisement.

‘Why?’

Her heart beat irregularly.

‘Why would you say something like that?’

Wasn’t it Gitaewon, of all people?

The person who had remained by her side until the very last moment.

The person who should have known better than anyone what she had done.

And yet, he was the one who had denounced Jeyeon to the world as a traitor.

The corners of Jeyeon’s lips slowly fell.

“……You’re not, are you?”

The bustling city was peaceful.

People were laughing and hurrying along, each of them going about their peaceful daily lives as usual.

Only Jeyeon stood motionless among them.

Until just moments ago, Jeyeon had really liked this street.

A place that had been nothing but short, gray buildings not long ago now shone like another world. She had liked the sight so much that, despite being in a hurry to reach her destination, her steps had kept slowing down.

Now, none of those lights felt like they belonged to her.

The immaculate plaza.

The people passing by with smiles on their faces.

Even the screen high above that had branded her a traitor.

It was all a world she had protected with her own hands.

And there was no place for Seong Jeyeon anywhere in that world.

—Would you like me to continue guiding you?

The route to ‘Giwon Guild’ blinked on the map app.

Blink.

Just like the System warning window she had seen moments before her death.

At the moment she died, in that instant when her heart burst out of her chest, what had she been thinking?

‘I was so relieved.’

She had been glad that at least her friend had survived.

And yet, those were the words that had come out of his mouth.

Clenching her teeth, Jeyeon laughed.

At the end of that laugh, she tasted blood.

<Hey, if we actually clear the Tower, what do you want to do?>

It was a memory that felt like it had happened only a few days ago.

They had finished clearing the 99th floor and were waiting for the final floor to open at a rest area.

Only the two of them remained, and fatigue was heavily etched across Gitaewon’s face in the glow of the campfire.

Only after a long while did Gitaewon finally speak.

<Huh? We’re middle-school dropouts. You mean high school, not college, right?>

<I’m twenty-seven. It’ll be a little weird wearing a school uniform.>

<That’s why I’m asking why you want to go to school.>

With his gaze fixed on empty space, Gitaewon calmly spoke.

<Ha. At our level, what do you mean, student? They should recruit us as professors.>

<……Do you really have to put it like that?>

Jeyeon chuckled and draped an arm over his shoulder.

<Well, I guess skipping lectures and going out drinking is what makes college life romantic, right?>

<Seriously, you’re so boring. We saved the world, and that’s all you want?>

Gitaewon shook his head slightly.

<It’s not about college.>

<Then?>

A brief silence passed.

Gitaewon gazed at the firelight before quietly speaking.

<…….>

Jeyeon’s eyes widened.

<Oh?>

<What? Sounds like you’re planning to stick around until we’re old together.>

Only then did Gitaewon turn to look at Jeyeon.

The words came out as naturally as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

As though that future had already been decided.

<Then, well, it’s not like we’re going to date and break up, so why wouldn’t we keep seeing each other?>

Jeyeon smiled.

<Right. I’m such a pain in the ass that you’re the only friend I have. You’re going to have to put up with me for the rest of your life.>

<Don’t ruin the mood, you bastard.>

Jeyeon lightly shoved his shoulder.

Gitaewon’s body shifted slightly from the force, and the corners of his lips lifted ever so faintly.

<Sure.>

That was the promise they had made before entering the final raid.

Remembering that moment, Jeyeon clenched her fists tightly.

‘But why?’

Blood seeped from her palm, but she didn’t notice.

And she couldn’t understand why Gitaewon had done it either.

‘What did I do wrong?’

She wanted to know.

If she wanted answers, she had to go to him and ask.

He was at the end of the road she was walking along right now.

All she had to do was keep walking as the app instructed.

But her feet refused to move.

She had always been the person who understood the least why someone would run away without facing things head-on.

She was the one who used to call people like that cowards.

Jeyeon looked down at the map app on her screen.

Then she simply turned it off.

‘I can’t hear it.’

How ironic.

For the first time in her life, she thought she might actually understand how a coward felt.

She had no idea how long she had been walking.

Jeyeon continued down the street with the phone switched off in her hand.

Then someone struck her shoulder hard as they passed.

Jeyeon staggered, and the couple she had bumped into startled and immediately apologized.

“S-Sorry!”

“…….”

“Are you alri—”

Their voices trailed off.

Their gazes traveled down Jeyeon’s school uniform and stopped at the dark red stains of dried blood.

“Let’s go, honey. Don’t get involved for no reason.”

The couple hurried away, and only then did Jeyeon raise her head and realize that she had stopped in the middle of a busy commercial district.

At that moment, the noise around her rushed into her ears all at once.

“We’re recruiting new guild members!”

One voice stood out particularly loudly among them.

“As the guild master, I’ll personally give you a ride through the lower floors! Your class and level don’t matter!”

A loud-voiced woman was enthusiastically handing out flyers among the crowd.

Two passersby accepted one out of curiosity.

But the moment they unfolded it, their expressions twisted.

“……What the hell? Seongyeon? That traitor’s guild?”

“These cockroaches still haven’t died. Why don’t they stay hidden instead of crawling back out again and again?”

‘……What?’

Jeyeon’s expression froze.

“Oh, I knew I recognized her from somewhere. Isn’t she one of those Seong Jeyeon fangirls?”

The person openly mocking the woman handing out flyers spun a finger beside his temple.

“Who the hell would join this place, especially when she’s not even a summoner?”

“Everyone’s going crazy joining guilds because of the survival program these days, and they’re still like this. Even if you take away the traitor label, they’re dead last in the rankings. It’s not even a small business guild. It’s basically just a club.”

‘……Dead last?’

Seongyeon?

The very Seongyeon that every aspiring Hunter once wanted to submit an application to?

The crumpled flyers they had thrown away scattered across the ground.

One of them landed at Jeyeon’s feet.

She quietly bent down and picked it up.

[Seongyeon Guild — Recruiting New Guild Members]

Beginners Welcome / Full-Time Employee System / A Family-Like Culture!

A familiar logo was printed on the paper.

A white background with a design of the moon, stars, sky, and lotus flowers in gold.

It was the Seongyeon Guild emblem Jeyeon herself had designed.

When Jeyeon raised her head, the woman happened to turn around.