The Returnee’s Guild Must Grow Properly #Chapter 7 - Read The Returnee’s Guild Must Grow Properly Chapter 7 Online - All Page

Chapter 7

Episode 7

The Grand Duke had slumped to the ground, shielding my unconscious brother with a shimmering barrier. When I glanced behind him, I noticed the scorched ground.

Apparently, the area of effect from my Divine Punishment had extended a bit beyond the designated range.
Sighing, I picked up the sword embedded in the ground.

[Grade B Relic, ‘Ancient Sword,’ has reached its durability limit and is destroyed.]

“Ah.”

Even as a Grade B relic, I thought it would last longer. Guess I overestimated it.
I clicked my tongue as the sword crumbled into dust before my eyes.

Weapons are rare as rewards for commissions; who knows when I’ll get something like this again.
Still, at least the dungeon was cleared.

【00:02:11】

Seeing the time left, I felt a surge of satisfaction.

On another note, it seemed the Constellation was busy. Even though I’d completed the commission, the reward hadn’t arrived yet.
The rewards always come eventually, so I decided to prioritize leaving the dungeon for now.

“Grand Duke, take care of that guy. The dungeon’s going to collapse any―!!”

Before I could finish, the scenery shifted in an instant.
Barely a blink later, pain erupted at the back of my head.

“Argh!!”
I clutched my throbbing head and rolled on the ground. It seemed some restriction on my authority had kicked in during the brief moment we exited the dungeon.

Once the pain subsided, I immediately grabbed the Grand Duke by the collar and shook him.

“Grand Duke! Could you please drive safely for once?!”

“S-sorry! But if I hadn’t moved, we would’ve been caught for sure!”

“Caught? What do you mean….”
I froze.

What in the world was that swarm of people, gathered like ants?!

“Where’s my brother?”

“Right here. But are you sure you’re siblings? You don’t look alike at all. It’s like he got all the good genes.”

“Shut it.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I inspected my brother, my face twisting into a grimace. His face was pale, crusted with dried blood, and looked far worse than I’d expected.

Damn that bird-brained Francesca. I should’ve made her suffer more.

While I was tending to my brother, the Grand Duke tried to slink away.

“I’ll just be going― Ack!!”

I grabbed his ankle and yanked him back down, smirking as he hit the ground.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Why?! It’s over! We’re done!!”

“Done? This is just the beginning.”

The Grand Duke’s erratic teleportation had landed us on the roof of an unlit house. With my authority restricted, I was no better than an ordinary person, unable to safely jump down or return home easily.
And what about my brother?

“Didn’t we clear the dungeon?”

“We did.”

“Then where’s the dungeon clearer?”

I had two options:

Leave my brother where the swarm of people could find him, making it seem like he cleared the dungeon. This would inevitably land him in the news, with a bonus hero image.

Pretend I know nothing, take him home, and risk him questioning his sanity and potentially visiting a hospital.

“……”

After deliberating, I chose the first option.

“Grand Duke.”

“No. I’m not doing it.”

His sullen expression made me silently pull out my phone. I tapped the screen and played the recording I’d made earlier.

‘You, what exactly is your problem?’

The Grand Duke stiffened, his face turning rigid as he stared at me.

“T-that….”

I pressed play again.

‘You cry so mournfully—how can I possibly console you…?’

“Aaaaah!!”
The Grand Duke lunged at me, but I easily sidestepped, and he landed face-first on the roof.
Groaning, he picked himself up with teary eyes.

“Isn’t this too much?! How can a guild master store a guild member’s embarrassing moments like that?!”

“It’s allowed.”

Everything is allowed for my guild members.

So, the Grand Duke claimed that all that “you there, my dear” nonsense was just a forced requirement for his title? Judging by how embarrassed he was calling it his “dark past,” even he found it cringeworthy.
For a moment, I’d worried he might be like the Demon King, utterly shameless with his ridiculous theatrics, but thankfully, no.

| Demon King |: How loud the nights in Seoul have become, I cannot say.
Watch the news, buddy.

I grinned smugly and tapped my phone screen again, letting more of the Grand Duke’s melodious voice echo out.

“Come on, Grand Duke. Be reasonable?”

He hung his head, humiliation written all over his face.

*****

My brother became a hero.
The headlines declared it boldly:

[EXCLUSIVE] Do Hajun, Guild Master of Haun, Solo-Clears S-Class Outbreaker Dungeon!

Do Hajun Solo Clears an S-Class Dungeon?!
└ Yes, confirmed.
└ Haun officially claims there were two others involved, though.
└ Haun’s statement is out—turns out it wasn’t Do Hajun but an unknown male-female pair who cleared it.
└ Where’s the source?
└ 222
└ haun.com/main.html
└ Crazy; now they’re wanted or something.

Minor issues cropped up, but oh well.

I sighed and ignored his private messages.

―Guild masterrr!!

“Gah!”
The price of ignoring him was steep.

His shrill, nerve-wracking voice blasted into my ears, causing me to shriek and tumble sideways out of my chair.

Crash.
I felt all the eyes in the room swivel toward me.

“……”
Ignore it. Just ignore it.

“The… the chair’s unstable….”
Muttering a lame excuse, I set the chair upright and sat back down.

| Pr. Godslayer (Guild Master) |: Watch your words, you lunatic.
| Pr. Northern Grand Duke |: What are we going to do?! How could you not tell me that guy was Haun’s guild master?!
| Pr. Northern Grand Duke |: What if my calm and peaceful life is ruined because of this?!

What a pointless thing to worry about. There’s a less than 1% chance anyone could recognize us due to the disguise effect.
Oh, wait. That effect only applies to me, doesn’t it? The Grand Duke didn’t take the commission, so… yeah, maybe he is at risk.
Still, calling him “oppa” back there shouldn’t lead to any trouble.

Despite the chaos caused by the Outbreaker Dungeon, my brother even managed to stop by our house.

“Haun, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. What about you?”

“I’m fine too.”

After that brief exchange, he left with Do Hain to return to his guild. Thinking about how Do Hain woke up right after the Grand Duke dropped me off still makes my stomach churn.

The Grand Duke sent a flurry of enraged expletives my way. I smirked, sipping my iced Americano.

Life is bitter. Just like coffee.

The idea of him quitting his guild?

For the Grand Duke, refusing was simply not an option.

Actually, that didn’t just apply to the Grand Duke.

| 9th Circle Archmage |: Is there anyone who’ll blow up my company for me~?

It applied to that Archmage casually sending nonsense in the guild chat, and it applied to me too.
In other words, it applied to all of us in Return.

For context, joining the guild is mandatory.

The moment a returnee reenters Earth after crossing dimensions, they automatically become part of this guild.

Three years ago, the last new member—a guy nicknamed Dragon Slayer—had joined with nothing more than a single question mark as his introduction. No new members had appeared since.

The only thing we had in common was our nationality: Korean.
Our ages, genders, and personalities were all vastly different.

Well, maybe we shared one other thing.

[The Constellation, ‘Unfilial Son of Confucianism,’ has sent a commission.]

We’re all a bunch of hopeless cases.
Excluding me, of course.

As soon as the commission notification appeared, both the personal and guild chat fell eerily silent.

I sipped the last half of my Americano. It wasn’t quite enough to warrant taking it to-go, but it felt like too much to throw away.
What to do?

The answer was obvious—finish every last drop.

He’s ignoring me, huh?
I stopped messaging him privately and turned my attention to the guild chat.

One day, I swear I’ll record that Archmage’s most embarrassing moment too. With renewed determination, I sent another message.

Right on cue, the Grand Duke appeared, clearly panicked. Smirking, I downed the rest of my Americano and sent him a private message.

| Pr. Godslayer (Guild Master) |: You’re handling this commission. 🙂
| Pr. Northern Grand Duke |: Oh, come onnnnㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

| Pr. Godslayer (Guild Master) |: My dear, why do you cry so mournfully—☆

The floating commission window vanished.

[‘Northern Grand Duke’ has accepted the commission.]

I clamped a hand over my mouth to stifle my laughter.

Ah, these fools. All this time, you must’ve seen notifications saying the Godslayer accepted the commissions, huh?

“……”
Looks like everyone’s alive and well, judging by the chaos flooding the chat.

*****

“Ah, what a pitiful sight this is,” a refined, pleasant voice suddenly said.

“……?”
Startled, I turned to see a man with long black hair sitting in the previously empty seat beside me.

“What’s ‘pitiful’ supposed to mean, uncle?”

“……!!”
Across from him, a small child sat down, the same one who had once attached the nickname angel to me.

Prev Chapter Next Chapter

Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters.