“I should get going now. Take care of yourself. If things get dangerous, don’t push yourself and fall back immediately.”
It was almost time to wake up. Roy rose from his spot and gave a few words of caution to Heis and Charles.
Catching the Mud Magician was important, but the safety of his companions came first.
“You know I’m good at hitting and running, right? Don’t worry about me.”
“I’ll keep a close eye on Heis.”
“Huh? Charles, did you just call me a troublemaker with that?”
Heis immediately picked up on the implied meaning behind Charles’s words. Roy left the two bickering just as he remembered, and hurried toward the tent.
Entering the tent, Roy opened his sleeping bag and met Aqua’s gaze as she blinked at him.
‘You did well, Arra.’
As he stroked Aqua’s hair, she quickly returned to her small form. Roy slid into the sleeping bag and closed his eyes. It hadn’t been long when—
Beep-bee-bee-beep—beep-bee-beep—
A bizarre wake-up song, so strange Roy couldn’t even guess what melody it was, drifted in from outside the tent.
‘Here it comes.’
Yesterday, through Earth’s reconnaissance, Roy had found out a bit about today’s filming. He didn’t know everything—he’d only managed to spy on what PD Shimjun was holding. But he did figure out what special activity the Red Team would be doing today.
‘Fishing experience… Good thing Lee Hajun and Kim Chan aren’t on our team.’
Today’s mission was to board a boat and head out to sea to catch fish. Those two, notorious for hating the ocean, would have gone pale the moment they stepped on deck.
It’s time for us to get up—♬
As soon as the wake-up song played, Lys removed the air shield she’d placed around Yoo Jaeri and Lee Doha’s faces.
“Ooo….”
With a zombie-like groan, Yoo Jaeri shot up from her spot. Han Honghyun and Lee Doha rubbed their eyes, trying to chase away the drowsiness. Everyone’s hair was a mess.
“…Why is it already 5 a.m.? It feels like it should only be around 2.”
Kim Jaewoo, who had been in a deeper sleep than expected, mumbled into his pillow, as if wanting to escape reality.
“Get up. It gets harder the longer you dawdle.”
Roy tapped Kim Jaewoo’s shoulder a couple of times.
“But Roy, why do you look like you’re not sleepy at all?”
Kim Jaewoo squinted and studied Roy’s face. Although everyone was waking at different speeds, they all still looked groggy—except for Roy, who looked perfectly fine for some reason.
“Stop with the nonsense and get your head straight. Hurry up and get out.”
Leaving Kim Jaewoo’s suspicious glance behind, Roy exited the tent first.
Since the sun wasn’t fully up yet, everything outside was still shrouded in darkness.
“Wow. Roy, you’re the first one out? Aren’t you tired?”
“Ah, PD-nim.”
The first person to greet Roy outside the tent was PD Shimjun.
Apparently, PD Shimjun was just as energetic. Maybe he’d stayed up all night too, like Roy.
The faint redness in his eyes betrayed his exhaustion.
“I can manage.”
“Beep….” (Ber is sleepy.)
At least Aqua and Lys had gotten some rest in the tent. But Ber had been up with Roy, watching the dragon egg, and hadn’t slept a wink.
Still, Ber wasn’t actually a being that needed sleep like a human, but he liked to act spoiled. Roy gathered Ber in his arms and comforted him.
“Ber looks a bit down. Should I give him this?”
In some ways, Roy’s spirits were more popular than the Kkomet-stars.
Even those not interested in Hunter Idols often became fans of the adorable spirits.
Shimjun had also joined a spirits’ fan café after meeting them for the first time.
“Beep!” (Chocolate!)
Ber spotted the egg-shaped chocolate and dashed toward Shimjun.
“For.” (Where’s your dignity as the Spirit King gone?)
Arra shook her head, but even as she did, her eyes flickered with longing for the chocolate.
“There’s plenty of chocolate here.”
Sensing their intentions, Shimjun pulled out three more of the same chocolates. Only then did the other Spirit Kings approach him as well.
{…Spirit Kings, you’re not going to follow a stranger just because they offer you candy, right?}
Even though nothing big would happen if they did, seeing how they were so easily swayed by chocolate made Earth uneasy.
‘No way they’re that thoughtless—’
But Earth’s fears quickly became reality.
“For!” (Contractor, Ber just followed a stranger!)
“…Are you serious?”
“For!” (I’m telling you! Someone offered snacks and he just trotted off.)
With a look of disbelief, Aqua began explaining everything to Roy in great detail.
Here’s how it started.
‘You’re Ber, aren’t you? Don’t you want to try this?’
The incident happened when the Red Team was getting their mics attached for filming. The spirits were sharing chocolates that Shimjun had given them and playing together.
Then, a person wearing a black ball cap pulled low approached the spirits.
Their outfit wasn’t especially suspicious, as most staff wore dark ball caps.
‘For.’ (Doesn’t this person look unfamiliar? Maybe not staff?)
While Arra eyed the stranger suspiciously, Ber, without a care, got excited.
‘Beep.’ (Suspicious? Nah. There’s no such thing as a bad person who offers good snacks.)
Ber instantly fell for the chocolate snack waved before his eyes.
Aqua, dumbfounded as she watched Ber disappear with the stranger, ran straight to Roy.
“…Ber, you troublemaker.”
Of course, Roy knew Ber hadn’t followed a stranger recklessly.
In this world, there were only a handful of beings who could actually harm Ber. The problem was that the number, while small, wasn’t zero.
Even if Ber had just gone for food, there was no telling when or where someone with dangerous abilities might appear—just like with the Mud Magician.
“Which way did they go?”
“Pia—.” (This way, Contractor.)
Luckily, Lys had already tracked where Ber had gone after his sudden departure.
Following Lys’s lead, Roy soon found Ber in a corner, devouring snacks with wild abandon.
“Good, good, that’s it. Eat more. Isn’t it delicious?”
“Beep—!” (This is a taste I’ve never had before!)
Ber buried his face in a bag of snacks, utterly absorbed, while someone recorded him with a cellphone.
“…Who are you?”
Roy tried to keep his voice calm.
It was someone he’d never seen before, but maybe it was a production staff member who’d joined late.
“Huh!”
But the person filming Ber reacted nervously.
“Lys.”
“Beep!” (I’ve bound them so they can’t move.)
The suspicious person struggled, tied up by Lys’s wind. In the process, their cap flew off, revealing their face.
When Roy saw the person’s face, his own expression flickered with surprise.
“Roy, is something wrong?”
Shimjun, having sensed something amiss, hurried over to Roy.
A staff member had told him that Roy had suddenly rushed off after getting his mic attached.
“Are they with the crew? They lured Ber away with food, but I don’t recognize them.”
Roy calmed himself and explained the situation to Shimjun.
“No, I’ve never seen this person before either.”
Shimjun’s face grew grave. He immediately picked up his radio and called security.
“Ugh, let me go! I was just filming Ber’s eating show!”
The reason Roy had been so shocked after seeing the person under the cap was simple. The revealed face looked far younger than expected.
Their cheeks were still babyish, making it seem likely they were a minor.
“…I apologize, Roy. This was entirely our mistake.”
Shimjun bowed his head deeply.
The unexpected ‘kidnapper’ turned out to be a local middle schooler. They’d started YouTube recently and, frustrated with their stagnant subscriber count, had been looking for a way to film a sensational video.
Then, they’d seen the much-talked-about spirits and tried to lure Ber with food to film his eating show.
“It’s fine. With such a large filming location, it’s nearly impossible to control everything.”
Roy also bowed his head politely in response to Shimjun’s sincere apology.
“Beep….” (Something feels off here.)
As Roy lifted his head, he saw Ber trying to sneak away.
Tap—
“Ber, you and I need to have a talk.”
Shimjun could almost see the illusion of sweat beads forming on Ber’s forehead.
“Once you’re done, please come over to the vehicle.”
Shimjun had to finish dealing with the middle schooler, who was still sniffling and apologizing.
One of the crew had contacted the kid’s parents; once the video was deleted, he would be handed over to them.
“Beep?” (All I did was follow someone who gave me food. Why’s the contractor so mad?)
“Haa…”
Roy let out a long sigh as he faced Ber. Ber still looked clueless as to what he’d done wrong.
“Hmm.” (Ber needs a scolding.)
Solum, watching the situation unfold, quietly offered his opinion. This was not the Spirit Realm.
Plus, there were still enemies targeting Roy. Solum couldn’t feel safe until Kairus was dealt with for good.
With Ber still acting so carelessly, Solum thought discipline was needed.
“No more snacking for you, Ber. Until you reflect.”
“Beep!” (That’s not fair!)
Ber threw a fit at Roy’s harsh decision, red flames flaring up around him.
“For.” (Settle down. Unless you want to take all three of us on at once.)
Aqua quelled Ber’s flames. At her words, Lys and Solum quietly added their pressure.
Even for Ber, taking on three other Spirit Kings at once would be impossible.
“Beep….” (I didn’t even do anything wrong. This is so unfair…)
Ber tried rubbing his forehead against Roy’s cheek in a show of cuteness, but it was no use.
Ignoring Ber’s pitiful display, Roy headed for the black van waiting nearby.
“What happened?”
Inside the van, the rest of the Red Team was already seated. Lee Doha, looking worried, spoke up as Roy took his seat.
“Sorry, Ber acted thoughtlessly.”
The others looked just as curious, so Roy gave a brief explanation of what had happened.
Each time, Ber glanced at the Red Team with wounded eyes.
“Ber, you messed up.”
Even Kim Jaewoo, who usually took Ber’s side and showered him with affection, said as much, causing Ber’s feathers to droop. Kim Jaewoo had always been the first to spoil Ber, no matter what he did.
“We’ve arrived. You can get out now.”
Just then, the van reached its destination and rolled to a gentle stop.
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