Regression Guidelines for the Supporting Character

Chapter 19

“I’ve looked into the young man you ordered, sir.”

The secretary handed over the documents while watching Kwon Tae-hyuk’s expression. As Kwon Tae-hyuk, visibly in a bad mood, took the documents, the secretary began explaining.

“His name is Cha Seo-hu. Age 26. He’s from Zone C-281 and has one younger sibling.”

“A younger sibling?”

“Yes.”

Kwon Tae-hyuk raised an eyebrow as he flipped through the documents while listening to the secretary’s briefing.

‘If it’s a younger sibling… could it be that child who was with him then?’

He had considered the possibility that siblings were captured together, and it turned out to be true. It seems the laboratory kidnapped orphaned siblings wandering around.

“He was held in the laboratory for 3 months. He must have been quite rebellious during that time, as there’s a separate note in the laboratory records marking him as an individual to be cautious of.”

At the secretary’s additional explanation, Kwon Tae-hyuk naturally recalled the moment he first encountered Cha Seo-hu.

The face that smiled awkwardly at him. He didn’t seem to have such a strong personality that would warrant that level of rebellion. Then again, being confined is a special circumstance.

“After being rescued from the laboratory, his whereabouts were briefly unknown, but it’s confirmed that he recently established a guild.”

The secretary turned to another page in the documents. This document contained the name and information of the guild Cha Seo-hu had established.

“Anything else?”

“That’s all for now, but… there’s something strange.”

“What is it?”

“It’s not about Cha Seo-hu, but his younger sibling. While there are detailed records of Cha Seo-hu’s 3-month stay in the laboratory, there’s nothing at all about the younger sibling.”

Checking the documents again at those words, indeed, Cha Sahyun’s file was completely empty.

“It’s not just that the laboratory didn’t record anything, there’s no record at all of the younger sibling being captured by the laboratory. This child is the only case like this.”

“So the child is more suspicious, you’re saying.”

“If we had to say, yes. The secretarial team is focusing their search on the child, but honestly, I don’t think we’ll find much more. There’s just so little information.”

“Hmm…”

Kwon Tae-hyuk blinked slowly as if in thought, then spoke.

“Continue the search, but let’s add another method.”

“Another method?”

“You said he established a guild.”

He tapped his finger near the guild name ‘ONE’ printed on the document and continued.

“Don’t we have a dungeon that needs to be cleared? Schedule it and send cooperation requests to the guilds in Seoul. Include this one too.”

“Understood.”

Cha Seo-hu won’t be able to ignore the cooperation request.

As a newly started guild, they probably don’t have many sources of income. In their situation, a cooperation request from a large guild would provide both safety and income, so unless he’s a fool, he’ll participate.

It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t bring the child to the dungeon. Cha Seo-hu is also a person of interest, and if we approach the guardian, information about the child will naturally come to us.

The secretary, immediately understanding what Kwon Tae-hyuk was aiming for without further explanation, nodded.

“I’ll send out the request today. I’ll reserve a supporter position in case Cha Seo-hu cooperates.”

“And?”

“Pardon?”

Kwon Tae-hyuk narrowed his eyes at the confused expression of the secretary who had replied indifferently.

“You must have more to report? Did I only order you to look into Cha Seo-hu?”

“Ah…”

The secretary, who had tried to sneak away unsuccessfully, cleared his throat unnecessarily and answered.

“Ahem, well… Of course, we also looked into ‘Cover’ as you ordered. But there were no noteworthy results to report.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means exactly that. We found no information at all.”

Kwon Tae-hyuk’s gaze grew colder at the dismal result, but there was nothing to be done about nonexistent information.

“We analyzed the video and found out that the hunter has blonde hair, but as you know, sir, that’s not particularly useful. The only thing left is about the mask…”

The secretary, looking uncomfortable, carefully explained while watching Kwon Tae-hyuk’s reaction.

“The most likely possibility seems to be that he’s a hunter belonging to ‘Spider Web’, a group known for operating while wearing masks.”

‘Spider Web’ was an underground information organization centered in China.

Although their base was in China, their leader was Korean, and it was an elusive group where all members moved wearing black masks engraved with white spider patterns.

“Could he possibly be the leader of Spider Web? I heard their leader is also an S-rank hunter.”

“No.”

Kwon Tae-hyuk shook his head firmly.

“The voice was completely different. The build was bigger for the leader too.”

“Ah, you mentioned you’ve encountered him before, right?”

While both ‘Cover’ and the Spider Web leader were unknown entities, the Spider Web leader was more unpleasant in terms of attitude. Recalling the Spider Web leader who had smiled while subtly provoking him, Kwon Tae-hyuk added,

“Also, the Spider Web leader has silver hair. It hasn’t changed for the past few years, so it seems unlikely he’d suddenly change to blonde now.”

“Hmm, then it does seem more realistic that he’s one of the hunters belonging to Spider Web rather than the leader.”

At the secretary’s words, Kwon Tae-hyuk recalled ‘Cover’ whom he had met in the open space a few days ago.

A moderately low and soft voice with a playful tone. Despite introducing himself as a beginner, his combat skills and sense weren’t bad at all.

If it weren’t for that bizarre outfit and suspicious behavior, he might have even wanted to make a guild scout offer.

‘He didn’t seem like the type to belong to and operate in a closed group like Spider Web.’

To begin with, ‘Cover’ was wearing a plain mask, not the spider-engraved mask worn by Spider Web members.

Considering that it was Halloween Day, there was a good possibility that the hunter had simply bought and worn any mask just to hide his face.

“Haah…”

As the secretary said, nothing was certain. All of this was mere speculation.

“Keep looking into it for now. Especially if anything new is discovered about ‘Cover’, report it immediately.”

“Understood.”

* * *

“A B-rank dungeon cooperation request, huh.”

After confirming the contents written in the document, I raised the corner of my mouth.

“A large guild like Yeseong Guild is sending out cooperation requests for clearing a mere B-rank?”

And to a guild that was created just days ago?

It seems Kwon Tae-hyuk is quite bothered not only by ‘Cover’, the hunter who took his rank 1 position, but also by ‘Cha Seo-hu’.

‘I did act a bit awkwardly when we first met.’

Above all, I ran away with Cha Sahyun to avoid the gazes of other hunters, so from Kwon Tae-hyuk’s perspective, it must be even more suspicious.

“So this is ultimately an invitation sent to me.”

Should I accept this obediently, or what should I do?

Actually, the invitation itself wasn’t bad. Joining a raid party led by a large guild like Yeseong was quite good, and I had business with Kwon Tae-hyuk anyway.

‘Since Kwon Tae-hyuk is one of the protagonists, I need to get close to him.’

I’m not sure if just getting a bit closer will be enough to gain that stoic guy’s trust, but I can’t keep avoiding him forever.

However, there was only one reason why I couldn’t make a hasty decision and was hesitating.

As I folded the document and turned my head, I saw Cha Sahyun sitting next to me. Until recently, he would only come close when I called him, but lately, he always sat right next to me, sticking close.

He wasn’t doing anything in particular, just sitting there blankly, but because he was so clingy, I couldn’t help but be conscious of him.

‘A dungeon raid party for a B-rank dungeon would take at least three days.’

It was unreasonable to leave Cha Sahyun alone here for three days.

But it was also difficult to take the child to the dungeon. Although minors belonging to a guild can participate in raids if accompanied by a guardian, Cha Sahyun isn’t an ordinary child.

It would be a big problem if the Seed’s progress increased by taking him to a dangerous place like a dungeon. And even if the law allows it, taking this young child to a dungeon seems like something an adult shouldn’t do.

“Should I decline and wait for the next opportunity?”

I wasn’t keen on gambling with Cha Sahyun’s safety and the Seed’s progress when there was no guarantee that I could become close to Kwon Tae-hyuk just by going to the dungeon.

It would be better to give up cleanly this time. There will probably be better timing in the future.

Just as I was thinking that and about to put away the document, it happened.

Ding!

《A Main Quest has arrived!》

《Main Quest: Successfully clear a B-rank or higher dungeon with the villain. (Time remaining: 7 days 11 hours 59 minutes)》

A new status window appeared before my eyes with the now-familiar notification sound. After confirming the quest content, I twisted my face horribly.

“This damn…”

“…?”

The child looked at me with a puzzled expression after hearing my curse. Regardless, I held my aching head and lamented.

‘This damn quest is hellbent on turning me into human trash.’

I inwardly swallowed my tears at this miserable reality where nothing goes as I want.