---

The negotiation went very well in a good direction.

Jeong Ha-yul goes to America to rescue the Prophet.

Jeong Gyeoul becomes an instructor at the Academy.

Even if she becomes an instructor, it’s unclear whether her life will be as sweet as she thinks, but she got the instructor position she wanted.

The Association President is happy to bring the Prophet to Korea.

Jeong Ha-yul is happy to have a way to use the Prophet.

Jeong Gyeoul is just happy thinking about the sweet life.

It was a good outcome for everyone.

“I’ll explain the details after finalizing the plan.”

“Sure.”

You can’t just barge into America without a plan and rescue the Prophet.

The Association’s brains needed time to come up with a plan.

After the project planning was done, they decided to listen to the overall plan proposed by the Association and give feedback.

Jeong Ha-yul easily agreed, thinking that participating from the planning stage wouldn’t make much difference.

Not long after Jeong Ho-min left, Park Seol-hwa came.

“You’re early. Want to eat before you go?”

“I’m busy, I need to appraise some items and head to the guild.”

“Then I’ll just call Gyeoul.”

“It feels a bit wrong to make her go back and forth after she worked hard in the Demon Realm.”

“Thanks.”

“What are you talking about, no need to thank me.”

After the Satan Church incident, the distance between them seemed to have narrowed a bit.

They seemed to realize it themselves, as their expressions showed some awkwardness.

“Gyeoul is in the living room, talk while you work, I need to prepare breakfast.”

“…You cook these days?”

“Gyeoul said she’s tired of delivery food.”

“What?! Is Gyeoul sick or something?”

“She already went to the hospital for a thorough check-up, she’s fine.”

“Phew… That’s a relief.”

Saying you’re tired of delivery food is something anyone can say.

But if it’s Jeong Gyeoul, it’s different.

For Jeong Gyeoul, who complained about food and ended up getting a check-up as thorough as a regular medical exam, it was unfair.

“Is Sister here?”

“Ahhh! Gyeoul! What are you wearing!”

Park Seol-hwa, who came in after a light greeting with Jeong Ha-yul, was shocked by Jeong Gyeoul’s outfit.

“Ah… right, I was wearing this.”

“It’s so cute!”

A pink animal pajama with rabbit ears.

Every time her head moved, the ears fluttered, attacking Park Seol-hwa’s heart.

“I played games with Eun-chae yesterday and lost.”

“Tell Eun-chae I said thanks. A week’s worth of stress just disappeared.”

“The Association President’s expression was a bit odd, must be because of the pajamas.”

“…That bald middle-aged man with a beard was looking at me with a weird expression?”

Park Seol-hwa reacted as if she had a seizure at Jeong Gyeoul’s casual remark.

It was a similar reaction to when she heard Gyeoul was tired of delivery food.

Jeong Gyeoul, who saw the reaction head-on, stepped up for Jeong Ho-min, who had suddenly become a bald middle-aged man with a beard.

“Even if it’s true, you shouldn’t hit like that, there’s something called defamation. And it’s not like that, it felt like he was holding back laughter, like he wanted to tease.”

“…You’re hitting harder than me.”

Whether this was defense or a joint attack was unclear.

“What are you appraising today? Sister really has to go soon.”

“Since Ha-yul is going to America soon, let’s appraise the weapons first.”

“…Are you going to war with America? What weapons are you giving to someone who’s called the Demon King with just two fists?”

“There’s something. It’s a national secret, so I can’t tell you.”

“You’ll probably tell the Association President anyway… whatever, got it.”

It seemed that saying she was busy wasn’t just because of the awkwardness with Jeong Ha-yul, as she restrained herself from enjoying her time with Jeong Gyeoul.

She was very disappointed though.

So Park Seol-hwa, who came early in the morning like going to work, started her work.

Unlike the first day, which was done roughly, it was a proper appraisal.

With the appraiser’s seal on the appraisal document.

The first item was the bow she carried on her back.

[Guide Bow.]

[A bow that shoots magic-guided arrows.]

[Item Grade: B]

“I get the ability and grade… but what’s with the name? Did you name it, Sister?”

“Why? Is it weird?”

“Yeah, as weird as when Ha-yul suggested naming me Jeong Panja because she brought me from the shantytown.”

“What? Jeong Panja? Pfft! Jeong Panja? What the hell is Jeong Panja? Pfft hahaha!”

Park Seol-hwa burst out laughing at the name Jeong Panja.

Jeong Gyeoul just silently watched.

“Jeong Panja… hahaha… haha…”

Park Seol-hwa, who seemed like she would laugh endlessly, had a pupil earthquake.

“…Am I that bad?”

“Yeah. Jeong Panja level.”

“…”

Park Seol-hwa, with a stiff expression, erased the name with magic and engraved ‘Undecided’ before picking up a sword.

[Undecided]

[Unbreakable Sword.]

[Item Grade: A]

[P.S.: Harder than any existing sword, but whether it’s harder than the Demon King’s fist is unknown.]

Without stopping, she picked up the next sword.

[Undecided]

[Sword that automatically returns to its sheath.]

[Item Grade: C]

[Undecided]

[Sword that ignites with fire.]

[Item Grade: B]

“I’ll stop here for today, bye.”

“…Huh? Oh, bye.”

Park Seol-hwa, who finished the appraisal at lightning speed, left as if running away.

Hearing the door open, Jeong Ha-yul, who was cooking, came out of the kitchen and asked Jeong Gyeoul.

“What’s up? Why did she leave in such a hurry?”

“Not sure. Maybe because I said her naming sense is similar to Jeong Panja?”

“Jeong Panja? The name I gave you when I brought you from the shantytown? Hmm… was she embarrassed to be praised for her sense?”

“…?”

Jeong Gyeoul’s look at Jeong Ha-yul was similar to Park Seol-hwa’s earlier.

Her shaking pupils showed no sign of stopping.

“Why. What.”

“…Nothing.”

***

The time to depart for America came faster than expected.

The Association President’s TF (Task Force) team was sitting in the meeting room.

Jeong Ha-yul, who entered the meeting room, asked in surprise.

“Is the planning already done?”

“Haha, this is the Association’s capability.”

“Even so, in two days… Is this the same Association that couldn’t handle the media during the youngest Awakened incident?”

“…Please forget about that dark history.”

Jeong Ha-yul, who brought down Jeong Ho-min’s proud shoulders in one go, sat down with a victorious smile.

“Let’s start the briefing.”

“Yes, Association President.”

As the lights in the meeting room turned off, a beam was projected onto the screen.

The screen displayed reports sent by the Ghosts and images of the Prophet’s profile.

“A few days ago, we received shocking intelligence from the Ghosts in America. An Awakened with prophetic abilities has appeared in LA.

The purpose of this project is to bring that Awakened here. The agent to be deployed is the Demon King Jeong Ha-yul. Entering America alone and getting the Prophet to defect. That’s the simple project.”

“…Is he Korean?”

“Yes, he’s a Korean who was sent overseas for adoption as a child. If he weren’t Korean, we wouldn’t have even considered this plan.”

“Whatever, let’s move on to the method.”

Jeong Ha-yul wanted to get straight to the point.

The Association President nodded, and the employee quickly flipped through the PPT.

“There’s no official way to enter America. Even though our Ghosts have expressed his willingness to defect, he’s an Awakened whose identity is hidden by America, so physically, we have to abduct him. So we chose an unofficial route. Smuggling.”

“…Smuggling?”

The smuggling ships seen in movies and dramas.

Jeong Ha-yul, who had experience catching villains trying to smuggle at some ports, frowned.

Long voyages where you can’t properly eat or wash.

She knew how harsh the conditions were.

As Jeong Ha-yul frowned, the presenting employee’s voice started to tremble.

Even though he had prepared mentally, he couldn’t stop the trembling.

“Th-there’s nothing to worry about. We have no intention of proceeding at the level of smuggling ships seen in dramas or movies. If it were that shoddy, we wouldn’t have asked Hero Jeong Ha-yul.”

“Can you explain in more detail?”

“Fishing boats are too harsh, so we excluded them from the start. But we can’t use a large cruise ship either, we might get caught before even setting foot in America. So we thought of specially manufacturing a ship.”

This was the most burdensome presentation he had ever done.

Feeling thirsty, the employee took a sip of water and continued.

“We’ll specially manufacture a ship to minimize discomfort and cross the maritime border. We’ll slip this ship into the departure infrastructure. You can enter comfortably as if on a cruise.”

“What about coming back?”

“It’s the same. We’ll dock at the port and bring the Prophet back, then depart. Very simple. But honestly, we can’t expect things to go perfectly. America isn’t stupid… oh sorry, America won’t just sit still.”

“I didn’t think it would be easy. What’s the countermeasure?”

“If there’s trouble in America, we’ll mobilize the Ghosts to help you escape as much as possible. And… in the worst case, we recommend abandoning the Prophet and escaping alone.”

If it were just the Prophet as baggage.

Jeong Ha-yul escaping America alone wouldn’t be too difficult.

“Hmm…”

Tap, tap.

Jeong Ha-yul, who had heard the Association’s plan, tapped the table with her fingernails, seemingly pondering something.

‘Did I mess up? Was my presentation lacking? Should I have done more research? Does she not like the ship? Even now, a cruise… damn, the budget is too tight…’

As Jeong Ha-yul’s pondering dragged on, the employee felt the urge to tear his hair out.

Not just the presenting employee, but everyone in the meeting room was tense.

They all looked at Jeong Ha-yul, hoping she’d say something, even if it was a rejection.

“Just one question.”

“…Yes! Ask anything.”

“Can the Association provide security for Eun-chae and Kang-woo?”

A question far from this meeting.

The employee asked back with a dumbfounded face.

“Huh? That’s possible, but why suddenly…?”

“I’m going to America with Gyeoul. In return, protect those two.”

“…Huh? You mean Awakened Jeong Gyeoul?”

 

---