"It's a gift. Put mine up too."
"…"
"Well, this kind of fan service is basic. It's not because I was grateful for the rice."
Honeybee brushed her shimmering hair back. She looked ecstatic to meet her fan, anyone could see it.
If a quick-witted person had been nearby, they would have teased her for acting so out of character, but fortunately or unfortunately, the only one with her was the clueless Bae Won-woo. He was genuinely impressed.
"Oh~ are you a fan of Honeybee, part-timer?"
"…Excuse me?"
"Hey, come by more often. He says he's a fan."
Shut up.
"Well, I'm really busy, but I might come by again."
Please, never come back.
Honeybee and Bae Won-woo left the shop together. Cha Eui-jae stared blankly at the ceiling, holding the signed poster under his arm.
'I could get rich just selling signatures.'
However, since Cha Eui-jae's Tomato Market account was suspended, Honeybee's signed poster would end up next to Jung Bin's signature. That afternoon, when Park Ha-eun got home from school, she noticed the Honeybee poster and immediately ran up to it.
"Uncle, what's this?"
"It's a Honeybee poster."
"The real Honeybee?"
Somehow, her voice seemed to get louder. Cha Eui-jae, who had been putting away the groceries, looked at Park Ha-eun with a puzzled expression. She was practically glued to the wall, almost rubbing her cheek against the poster.
"Did Honeybee come by today?"
Her voice was almost a scream now.
"Yeah. She even signed it right there."
"I, I."
Park Ha-eun, close to rubbing her cheek against the poster, began to tear up.
"Huh?"
"Uncle, I…"
"Why, what's wrong?"
"I want to see Honeybee!"
'Damn it.'
He had cursed her not to come back, but now he had to cancel that curse within a few hours.
***
"Sa-young, did you skip a meal again?!"
Thud, thud, thud. With heavy footsteps, the Vice-Guild Leader Bae Won-woo burst into the Guild Leader's office. Lee Sa-young frowned slightly but it wasn't visible because of his blindfold.
He was lying on the sofa in the Guild Leader's office, firmly equipped with a black blindfold and earplugs. Bae Won-woo approached and started nagging out of habit.
"People live on food, you know. You seem to be eating well lately, why are you skipping meals again?"
It wasn't the first time Lee Sa-young had a small appetite. Bae Won-woo clicked his tongue and brought a tablet to stand in front of him. He didn't care if Lee Sa-young had earplugs on or not.
After all, for Lee Sa-young, earplugs were just a tool to slightly reduce noise. That's what it means to be an S-grade awakened.
"The Awakened Management Bureau sent an official letter. They're requesting cooperation as they'll activate the emergency response system on the day of the ranking announcement."
"…"
Lee Sa-young responded by wiggling his foot.
"Okay."
Bae Won-woo flipped the screen.
"The dungeon at Jongno 3-ga will be handled by our team. The advance team will clear it first, and then researchers will enter for resource investigation."
Wiggle.
"And Seowon Guild is asking for a visit sometime."
Wiggle.
"That's the urgent stuff… Oh, and I'm thinking of doing a commercial."
"…"
Whoever had filled his head with such ideas, it wasn't worth responding to, so Lee Sa-young stopped wiggling. But Bae Won-woo kept talking.
"The part-timer at the soup restaurant is a fan of Honeybee. I thought he wasn't interested in hunters at all, but I guess you can't ignore public exposure."
"…What?"
Lee Sa-young slowly lifted one side of his blindfold.
"Say that again."
"What? That you can't ignore public exposure?"
"No, before that."
"I'm doing a commercial?"
"You… are you doing this on purpose?"
"No, what did I do?"
"You mentioned the part-timer."
"Oh, the part-timer? Said he was a fan of Honeybee."
"…What?"
There was only one part-timer Bae Won-woo could be referring to. The part-timer at the soup restaurant.
"Honeybee even signed a poster for him. I should learn from such fan service."
Bae Won-woo started enthusiastically talking about the proper attitude of hunters. Lee Sa-young, still holding the blindfold he had half-lifted, fell into thought. Come to think of it, Cha Eui-jae treated him and Jung Bin differently. And now, he was a fan of Honeybee?
Common traits of Jung Bin and Honeybee…
'Commercial stars.'
Ha, Lee Sa-young let out a dry laugh. It seemed like Cha Eui-jae had a peculiar taste for high-profile individuals.
Roughly throwing off his blindfold, he gestured to Bae Won-woo, who had been babbling about his rosy future as a top-ranking hunter after shooting a commercial.
"Stop fantasizing and call the head of promotions."
"Wow, Sa-young. Are you really letting me shoot a commercial?"
"Quickly."
***
With the evening rush over, Cha Eui-jae was organizing the account book at the counter of the soup restaurant. Today's count was easy since there weren't many unfortunate hunters who threw money and stormed out.
Just then, two text messages arrived on Cha Eui-jae's phone.
Sa-young: CBS
Sa-young: Turn it on
What could this guy, who hadn't contacted him or visited the shop in a while, want? Lee Sa-young had asked him to turn on CBS, but there was no need to change the channel. It was already on, having just finished the popular weekend drama. Cha Eui-jae glanced at the TV.
—Change your color. CyC.
This guy couldn't have contacted him just to watch Honeybee's commercial. What was the next program? Cha Eui-jae was trying to recall the schedule.
The dye company logo disappeared, and now there was a beautiful single house with a large yard. A happy family was watching a retriever run around the yard, laughing. Ha ha ha, ho ho ho, woof woof.
And then, appearing against that background…
A gas mask.
'…Gas mask?'
The pen Cha Eui-jae was using to record the amount on the ledger stopped mid-air. He couldn't help but gape at the screen.
Clink—
This was the sound of a hunter dropping his glass while watching TV by the water dispenser.
Hunters are sensitive to loud noises. Instinctively turning towards the source of the noise, they first saw the hunter who had dropped the glass, then his dumbfounded face, and naturally followed his gaze.
And they saw 'it'.
"Crazy…"
One hunter dropped the spoon he was holding. Another spit out water like an actor in a drama spitting out orange juice. One even made the sign of the cross and started praying. The entire soup restaurant was thrown into shock and horror.
The writing next to the gas mask-wearing figure in front of the family read:
[Pado Guild Leader Lee Sa-young]
The gas mask-wearing figure in a neat suit stretched out his left hand. With his right hand, he made a V sign with his index and middle fingers, overlaying it on his left palm. Although both hands were in black gloves, making it hard to see.
A low, mechanical voice spoke.
—For inquiries about awakening registration, call the Awakened Bureau hotline 777. For unregistered reports and awakened crime reports, call 555.
—The Korea Awakened Management Bureau is always by your side.
Ha ha ha, ho ho ho, 555.
The happy family and the gas mask figure waved their hands side to side. As the screen darkened, the music faded out with it. Silence filled the air. A professional voice actor quickly recited a disclaimer like a rap.
—Failure to report an awakening without special reasons within a month will result in a fine of up to 100 million won. Please visit the nearest Awakened Registration Center for an awakening checkup. Public Service Advertisement Council.
Everyone in the restaurant was speechless for a long time. Even after the ad ended, no one spoke first. It was like they were under a collective silence spell.
It wasn't until the next program began that the hunters started exhaling roughly. One even pulled out a potion and chugged it in one go.
"Wow…"
"Huff. Huff. Crazy. What did I just see?"
"I felt like I was hit by a confusion debuff."
"Me too."
"Is this real?"
"I think my mental strength just dropped."
"Lee Sa-young is nuts. Now he's attacking our minds too."
"I need to go buy some mental strength-boosting gear."
"Does this mean we'll see that ad every time we watch TV?"
"I'm starting digital detox from today…"
"Shield Guy-nim."
All eyes in shock turned to one person. Sitting like a mountain, quietly eating soup, was the Shield Guy. Indeed, his presence alone drew everyone's attention, fitting of Korea's top tank. A hunter sitting at the same table cautiously asked.
"What… is that?"
Shield Guy, Bae Won-woo, replied gloomily.
"A public service announcement."
"Excuse me?"
"Reminding awakened individuals to register… something like that."
'Was that what it was about?'
Listening to their conversation, Cha Eui-jae nearly dropped his pen again. It wasn't a threat that the gas mask guy would come and kill you if you didn't register?
"Why did Lee Sa-young suddenly shoot a PSA? He always refused all commercial offers."
That question wasn't unique to that hunter. Everyone started sharing their own theories.
"Isn't the annual ranking announcement coming up soon? Maybe he did it to secure first place."
"He'd be first place even without doing something like this."
"Did Jung Bin get some dirt on him?"
"No way."
"Well…"
Bae Won-woo's lips moved as if he wanted to say something but he ended up just burying his face back into his soup bowl.
The man of loyalty, the guy among guys, Bae Won-woo couldn't bring himself to say it.
That Lee Sa-young had personally contacted the Korea Broadcast Advertising Corporation, practically forcing them to let him do a public service announcement. The government employees, who had been delighted to hear that the famously ad-averse Lee Sa-young had reached out, and the promotion team, who had been thrilled that their guild leader was finally going to be in a commercial, were all left speechless at the result.
"If this airs, it's the end of Pado Guild."
"…"
"If this was going to happen, he should have never done a commercial in the first place! Why did he do this?"
The promotion team leader wept, clinging to Bae Won-woo. But Bae Won-woo was utterly powerless.
Instead of explaining, he chose silence. He took a big spoonful of the soup and put it into his mouth. The spicy chili pepper made his eyes water. Sniffling, Bae Won-woo wiped his nose with a nostalgic look.
'Sa-young, I kept my loyalty…'
Cha Eui-jae, who had been staring blankly at the TV screen, snapped out of it when his phone buzzed with a message.
Sa-young: Did you see?
A brazen message had arrived. He was so dumbfounded he didn't know how to reply.
Sa-young: I heard
Sa-young: you like people who do commercials.
Sa-young: ^^
"What the hell is he talking about, this crazy guy…"
Cha Eui-jae… resolved that, if he ever found out who spread the false rumor, he would kill them.