Chapter 65

Theo, who had spent nearly the whole day in the dungeon, suggested to Blaine that they stop somewhere before heading down the cliff. There happened to be a small village called Kish at the cliff where Hexi’s fortress stood, and Theo knew of a shop there that made delicious tulumba.

Blaine agreed without hesitation, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and the two of them headed to Kish. The village was carved into the steep cliffside, tier by tier. While Blaine stood awestruck at the breathtaking scenery spreading out in all directions, Theo led him to the familiar shop, bought tulumba, and grabbed a seat by the window where the view of the cliff stretched out in full.

“Did you check your rewards yet?”

Handing Blaine a piece of tulumba while he still stared blankly out the window, Theo asked the question. Only then did Blaine snap out of it and look back at him.

“Not yet. What about you, hyung?”

“About to.”

With that, Theo opened his inventory and cracked open his reward chest. Out came tier experience points, agility and stamina stats, and most importantly, the long-awaited gold pouch.

“Oh, a gold pouch.”

Eyes lighting up, Theo eagerly opened it. The pouch gave a random amount of gold, anywhere from five million to one hundred million.

“Come on, at least ten million. Just ten million…”

Muttering like a prayer, Theo scowled at the result. It was the minimum: five million.

“Damn it, who the hell is supposed to make do with this…?”

Fuming, he clenched the tulumba in his hand and trembled before glaring at Blaine.

“What did you get?”

“Huh? Oh… I got an accessory chest, an equipment chest, a gold pouch, an obsidian bundle, and Hexi’s Essence.”

“…”

Theo stared at him in disbelief, his eyes hollow. Never mind the other stuff—Hexi’s Essence? Collecting ten of those allowed you to exchange for rare-grade boss gear. Even a single piece sold for an astronomical price.

“You should’ve shared half your luck with me…”

“I will!”

As if waiting for permission, Blaine shouted and spread his items out on the table. Theo waved him off with a sigh.

“Forget it. Just open the gold pouch. Let’s see what you got.”

Excited at first, Blaine quickly wilted, packing the items away with a sullen face. He opened the gold pouch gloomily.

“You opened it? How much?”

“…One hundred million.”

“…Huh?”

Theo dumbly asked again, and Blaine only raised his eyes, reminding him with a glum look.

“One hundred million…”

“…Damn it, I got five.”

“I’ll g—”

“Don’t say you’ll give it to me. I’ll actually end up wanting it.”

That sharp line cut him off before he could even finish. Blaine bit his lips, unable to offer again.

The two of them chatted idly for quite a while longer, and only when it grew late at night did they finally set off for Ratteon.

Walking through the darkened streets, Blaine stopped in front of Theo’s house and waved as Theo climbed the steps to the entrance.

“Go on inside.”

“You must be tired too. Get some rest. See you tomorrow.”

At those words—see you tomorrow—Blaine’s cheeks flushed red. He nodded happily, and once Theo disappeared inside, he lingered a while at the doorstep before settling into the flowerbed beneath the window.

Above him, the faint sounds of Theo moving about drifted down. Blaine let out a small smile at the pleasant noise, then leaned his back against the wall and pulled out a small pouch. Pinching up a bit of powder from inside, he popped it into his mouth.

The next day, as Theo stepped outside, he halted when he saw Blaine waiting at the door to greet him. He was used to finding him there, but the tired look on his face was not something familiar.

“Did you not sleep? What’s with your face?”

“Huh?”

Startled by Theo’s question, Blaine quickly touched his face. Even though the powder was supposed to remove fatigue, living on it day after day was starting to show.

“Oh, uh… I had trouble sleeping last night. Guess that’s why.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Blaine forced his usual smile to cover up his unease, but Theo’s expression remained unconvinced.

“I don’t plan on doing anything today. Do you have plans?”

“Me? Not really…”

“Then let’s head to Gilha. We’ll ask Father to make us coffee with Retai Powder.”

“I’ve got some Retai Powder too…”

“Don’t waste it. Save yours.”

Theo practically dragged Blaine along toward the relay station.

When they arrived at the guild house, Mastar was the one to greet them. It looked like he hadn’t even set up a proper residence, spending most of his time living and eating at the guild house instead.

“Where’s Father?”

Not seeing Father in the central hall, Theo asked Mastar. Mastar pointed toward the workshop. Theo and Blaine headed in that direction, and Mastar followed politely behind them.

“Father.”

Theo called out as he stepped into the workshop. Father, who had been standing in front of the cooking tools with her hands full of ingredients, turned around.

“What brings you here so early?”

“Make some coffee for him with Retai Powder.”

“Hm?”

Father looked at Blaine with a puzzled expression, then widened her eyes when she got a proper look at his face.

“Whoa, your face looks wrecked. Forget coffee, I’ll make you something better.”

Humming to herself, Father continued cooking. Not wanting to get in the way, Theo led Blaine and Mastar back out to the central hall and found a table. Before long, Noquia and Bastard Kid came into the guild house.

The two of them were surprised to see Theo and Blaine hanging around the guild house so early and started chattering away. Mastar prepared welcome drinks for the four of them.

A little later, Father emerged from the workshop and set food down on the table. There were two dishes: panforte, an Italian cake, and francesinha, a Portuguese sandwich.

The francesinha even came with fries and beer. Everyone swallowed hard at the sight, and Father gave Blaine a separate portion, probably with Retai Powder mixed in.

“Eat.”

At Father’s word, everyone immediately reached for the food. The breakfast turned into a lively, noisy affair.

When the meal ended, Father holed up in the workshop for a little longer before heading out, saying she was going hunting. The moment she left, the place felt oddly empty.

“So, do you guys have anything to do today?” Noquia asked.

Mastar didn’t seem included in the question. Theo, Blaine, and Bastard Kid glanced at each other, then nodded toward Noquia.

“So you’re all just extras…”

“What about you? Got anything planned?” Theo asked back.

Noquia leaned against the chair as if lying down and let out a long yawn. “Even if I go out to the field, no one will fight me. They all just run away the moment they see me.”

“That’s your own fault.”

“Che… maybe I should just go to the territorial war.”

“If you show up there, all the guys who hold a grudge are gonna swarm you.”

“Fine by me.”

“Which side are you even on?”

“Haven’t decided yet.”

“Well then…”

With that, the conversation died out. Noquia yawned again and again, clearly bored, then tilted her head at the three sitting close together.

“Come to think of it, Mastar, you’re twenty too, right?”

“Uh? Y-yeah.”

“Wow, then you’re all twenty?”

At her words, Theo also glanced at the three of them. Sitting together, still with a touch of youth in their faces, they looked strangely refreshing.

“Then do you know dalgona?”

“Huh?”

All three echoed the same confused question. They clearly had no idea. Noquia straightened up, clapped her hands together like she’d just found something fun, and grinned.

“Want me to make you something amazing?”

She set up some makeshift cooking tools in the central hall, stole an entire sack of Father’s sugar from the storage, and lined up the three twenty-year-old rookies in front of her. Then she began making dalgona (a Korean sugar candy).

She even swiped Father’s ladle, scooped a spoonful of sugar, and heated it over a flame. The sugar slowly melted into a muddy liquid. Everyone leaned in, curious.

With a smug look, Noquia glanced at them, then dipped the spoon into baking soda and stirred it into the melted sugar. The dark brown liquid turned lighter and started to puff up.

“Whoa.” “Wow.” “Amazing.” Blaine, Mastar, and Bastard Kid couldn’t hold back their exclamations.

When the mixture puffed up enough, Noquia poured it onto a sugar-sprinkled tray and pressed it flat with the bottom of a sugared cup. She repeated the process twice more and handed one to each of them.

The three exchanged skeptical looks, then each took a bite.

And discovered a whole new world.

Excitement spread across their faces as they praised both the dalgona and Noquia, who basked in their adoration, nose held high, hands moving dramatically as she kept making more.

As she continued churning out dalgona under their cheers, her brows furrowed. Something wasn’t right. The three rookies tilted their heads in confusion, watching her stare at the candy with a grave expression before suddenly calling for Marco.

Marco soon arrived at the guild house, and Noquia asked him for a favor. Though confused at first, he took one look at the central hall and quickly understood. He went into the workshop and tinkered around until he returned with something new.

It was a press to flatten the dalgona and a set of molds to stamp shapes into it—stars, trees, snowmen, and more.

They enjoyed the upgraded dalgona even more. By then, the three rookies were complete devotees of Noquia. She made them flat dalgona, puffed dalgona cakes—crispy on the outside, chewy inside—that became an instant hit.

The four of them practically devoured an entire sack of sugar. When Noquia asked if they wanted more, they nodded furiously. She ordered them to fetch another sack from storage.

While the three dashed off to the third floor, Noquia made another request of Marco. Though hesitant, he still made what she asked for.

A massive ladle. One big enough to hold several sacks of sugar at once. Satisfied, Noquia set it over the cooking tool, and when the rookies returned, she dumped all the sugar they had brought into the ladle.

At first, the three were shocked, but soon they joined in the excitement, circling her like cultists around a witch’s cauldron, watching her brew some mysterious soup.

Anyone passing by might have thought they’d stumbled onto a witch’s coven. Watching with his chin propped on the table, Theo muttered to himself.

“Should I report this?”

But instead of a miracle, the sugar didn’t melt. It started burning from the bottom. The rookies, who had been cheering, fell silent, their faces growing serious as the smell of scorched sugar filled the guild house.

Realizing too late that it was going wrong, Noquia tried to lift the giant ladle to get rid of it. But she hadn’t considered the weight of all that sugar.

Unable to hold it, she spilled the entire contents onto the floor. The ground was instantly covered in sticky sugar and molten caramel.

The panicked rookies rushed in to help, only to knock over the makeshift cooking tools. Flames spread to the table. They tried desperately to put it out, but the fire caught fast, devouring the interior.

Theo, who had wisely escaped the moment the tools toppled, watched the flames swallow the entire guild house and realized he really did have to file a report.

Outside, Noquia, Marco, Blaine, Bastard Kid, and Mastar stumbled out at last, flustered and helpless. The burning guild house behind them and their strange, frantic gestures made them look like they were in the middle of some dark ritual. Like they were summoning something.

Like a demon. Or maybe a demon. Or… yeah, a demon.

And in the end, they really did summon one. Hearing the news that the guild house had gone up in flames, Father arrived at a sprint—the true demon in the flesh.

As the ringleader, Noquia was seized and shaken violently in front of Blaine, Mastar, Bastard Kid, and Marco. Father didn’t stop until the NPC fire brigade, called in thanks to Theo’s report, had arrived and put out the blaze.