CFZ

While the conversation dragged on endlessly, I eventually had to leave the room with a thoroughly disgruntled expression.

Naturally so.
I had been called in for something important, yet the discussion had been cut off midway—it felt like someone interrupted me right in the middle of taking a dump.
“What the hell was that?”

So what was the conclusion supposed to be?
Why did that old man, the founding head, summon me? And why, of all things, did he bring up questions about the Gu family?
What could possibly have been his reason?

I was dying of curiosity, but now there was no way for me to find out.
‘…Hmm.’
Madam Mi had barged in suddenly, and a cold war erupted. In the end, I was summoned for nothing, didn’t even get proper answers, and got kicked out instead.

This was downright pitiful—I couldn’t even complain about it.
‘…Should I just eavesdrop?’
The thought crossed my mind—using my qi arts to spy on the room.

‘Tsk.’
But I quickly abandoned the idea.
The fact that Madam Mi had burst in during their talk despite a soundproofing barrier meant she had been listening through it somehow.

It was probably the power of a spiritual artifact, and if I tried to eavesdrop now, they’d definitely have countermeasures in place.
‘If it’s for eavesdropping, then… Eavesdrop Stone, maybe?’
A few artifacts came to mind, but the Eavesdrop Stone seemed the most likely. Its range was decent, and its clarity wasn’t bad as long as the distance was right.

The problem was—
‘It’s an artifact that’s easy to detect, so people rarely use it.’
Normally, I would’ve scanned the area with my qi senses to detect such things.
But it never even crossed my mind that Madam Mi would hide something like that in her own quarters.

That’s why I hadn’t noticed it earlier.
‘Did she anticipate this and plant it ahead of time?’
Was it hidden in anticipation that I wouldn’t detect it?

It wouldn’t be surprising if Madam Mi had thought that far ahead.
‘…’
But it was already too late to dwell on it.

‘The room’s already sealed off anyway.’
I had sensed the deployment of a new barrier as soon as I left and retrieved my qi field.
‘The barrier’s at Hwagyeong-level.’

Judging by its density and sturdiness, it was at the level of a master in the Hwagyeong realm.
I could force my way through it if I wanted, but—
‘That would be a risky gamble.’

In my current state, the chances of getting caught were high.
And besides—
‘The old man’s reaction was weird too.’

The founding head’s behavior when he summoned me—
It was too strange. What exactly did he want from me?
‘Was he asking if I wanted to become the head of the Gu family?’

He even asked if I knew what it meant to be the head of the Gu family.
Was that really what he called me in for?
Doubt began to creep in.

‘Something about this doesn’t sit right.’
It didn’t feel like that was his only intent. If it were, he wouldn’t have set up a meeting like this.
Which meant—

‘There had to be another purpose.’
Something beyond just asking me questions.
He did want to see me, but that wasn’t his main goal.

More likely—he was trying to use me to draw something out.
And the most likely target was—
‘Madam Mi.’

The moment the topic of the Gu family came up, Madam Mi had burst in through the door.
From the looks of it, the old man had been aiming for that exact reaction.
‘Hmm.’

What was it?
What was that old man’s deal, and why did Madam Mi react so strongly?
I was mulling over the possibilities when—

“Hehehe!”
“Oh? Are you having fun?”
“Yeah!”

A familiar voice caught my attention, and I turned my head.
Outside, on the wooden veranda, Gu Heebi was cheerfully waving her hands.
And floating in midair, Dol-Dol was laughing gleefully.

“…What the hell are they doing?”
Dol-Dol rose and fell in the air with each movement of Gu Heebi’s hands.
‘She’s using telekinesis to entertain him?’

What kind of insane martial artist would use such techniques just to play with a kid?
Apparently, Gu Heebi would.
She even looked like she was having fun while Dol-Dol seemed to enjoy it just as much.

‘That idiot.’
It was absurd.
‘He can fly by himself, so what’s so fun {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} about this?’

Dol-Dol didn’t need telekinesis to float, but he was clearly playing along to humor her.
It was ridiculous.
“What the hell are you doing?”

I walked over, frowning.
“Oh? You’re here.”
“…”

I reached out and grabbed Dol-Dol by the back of his neck, yanking him down.
“What’s this?”
I turned to Gu Heebi with Dol-Dol in my grasp.

Looking a little sheepish, she answered.
“Well, he looked bored, so…”
“And you’re using telekinesis to play with him? Are you out of your mind, sis?”

“What? If I have the ability, why not use it? It’s not like it’ll wear out.”
Wear out, my ass.
Telekinesis was an inefficient technique—it was flashy but consumed too much energy to be practical.

Sure, using it briefly might be fine, but maintaining it to keep a child afloat? That was beyond wasteful.
I looked at her with exasperation.
“So. Who is this?”

“…”
Her question made me freeze.
“…My brother.”

“…”
What the hell was I supposed to say?
After a brief pause, I decided to stick with the explanation I’d used before.

“…My father’s son.”
Since Madam Mi had sort of given her approval, it should be fine, right?
“Oh, I see. Your father’s son—wait, what?”

She nodded at first, then stiffened.
“…Wait. What did you just say?”
“You heard me.”

“No, that doesn’t make sense—”
“What, you think he’s my kid?”
“…”

Her expression twisted—she actually seemed to think that made more sense.
To be fair, he did look exactly like me, so it wasn’t an unreasonable assumption…
“…Do you even know how old I am?”

“Then how does it make sense that he’s the son of Father—the head of the family?”
“Things happen.”
“What kind of things? What kind of life have you lived that—”

“I’m illegitimate, remember?”
“…”
Gu Heebi’s mouth clamped shut.

“Exactly. So he could be too.”
“…Well.”
“That’s enough. Where is she?”

“Huh?”
Her confused expression told me she didn’t know who I meant.
“You know—her.”

“Who—oh.”
Finally, realization dawned.
“You mean Yeon?”

Yeon. That was what Gu Heebi called Cheonma.
“…Yeah. That one.”
I had seen her clinging to Dol-Dol earlier, making a fuss, yet now she was gone without a trace. That’s why I asked.

“Yeon went home.”
“Went home?”
I tilted my head at Gu Heebi’s response.

Just like that?
“And you didn’t stop her…?”
“She said she was going home, so why would I stop her? Besides, she left before I could even react.”

“…”
She had been hugging Dol-Dol and bawling earlier, so I thought there’d be more drama involved—but she just up and left?
It felt anticlimactic.

The unsettled feeling crept back in.
Then—
“Oh, by the way. I heard you’re a big deal these days, huh?”

Gu Heebi suddenly brought up my recent reputation.
“They say you’re doing amazing. Aren’t you proud of yourself?”
“…Proud, my ass.”

“I always knew my little brother would do great.”
She tried to pat my butt, and I dodged immediately.
“Are you insane?”

“What? You’re running away from your sister’s praise now?”
“Praise me from afar. Don’t do it up close.”
“You’re no fun.”

Gu Heebi laughed as she said that.
I took the chance to ask her another question.
“Sis.”

“Yeah?”
“This might seem random, but—”
“What is it?”

“Why didn’t you come?”
“…”
The laughter faded from Gu Heebi’s face.

It was a vague question, but she clearly understood what I meant.
Why didn’t you come?
I was referring to the monster attack and chaos in Hanam.

Back then, countless martial artists had shown up.
But even more hadn’t.
And Gu Heebi was one of the absentees.

She had been in Hanam but didn’t appear during the incident.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect you to come.”
I had hoped she wouldn’t show up.

But—
“Knowing you, I didn’t think you’d stay away either.”
Gu Heebi wasn’t the type to sit idly by when disaster struck.

As foul-mouthed as she was, she wouldn’t ignore something like that.
“But you didn’t come. What happened?”
I wasn’t blaming her for it.

I had no right to do that.
Like I said, I was just curious.
Gu Heebi stayed silent for a while.

I waited, sensing she wasn’t trying to avoid answering.
Finally—
“…I don’t know.”

Gu Heebi spoke.
“Why didn’t I?”
“…What?”

“I was told not to.”
“By who?”
“Yeon.”

My eyes narrowed.
‘Cheonma told her not to go?’
Was she saying Cheonma stopped her during the incident?

Why?
And more importantly—
‘And she actually listened?’

Even if Cheonma told her not to, it didn’t make sense for Gu Heebi to obey.
I wanted to ask why—but—
“…”

I couldn’t bring myself to.
There was something unfamiliar about Gu Heebi’s expression.
She looked deeply troubled, almost pleading for me not to ask.

So I held my tongue.
“…Alright.”
As long as nothing bad had happened, that was enough.

I nodded, brushing the topic aside.
The mood felt a little heavy.
I decided to shift gears.

“By the way, Sis.”
“…Yeah?”
“About her name.”

“Her name?”
“Yeah. Why do you call her Yeon?”
“Oh.”

I had been wondering about it for a while but hadn’t asked until now.
Why give Cheonma a name like that?
Gu Heebi explained.

“It means fate.”
“…Fate?”
“Yeah. Inyeon (因緣). A sudden connection. That’s why she’s Yeon.”

“…”
“Isn’t it a pretty name? I thought I did a great job picking it. Not that she likes it.”
She smiled, as if proud of her choice.

Sure, it was a pretty name.
It didn’t suit Cheonma at all, but it was pretty.
Maybe that’s why—

“Hey.”
“Hm?”
“What’s wrong?”

“What do you mean?”
“You look weird. Did you eat something bad?”
“…”

I touched my face without thinking.
It did feel strange, like something was off.
It wasn’t because of food—I hadn’t eaten anything.

‘Something…’
Something felt wrong.
‘…Yeon.’

Fate.
Hearing Gu Heebi call Cheonma that gave me an inexplicable sense of discomfort.
It felt—

‘Unsettling.’
Like it wasn’t the right name.
Like it didn’t fit at all.

This strange, heavy unease—that’s exactly what I felt.
 
   ******************
   
The next thing I knew, I was outside the room.

I hadn’t felt this burdened when I first went in, but now it felt like I was carrying a mountain of worries.
Gu Heebi had mentioned she needed to speak with Madam Mi.
I left Dol-Dol behind since there was no reason to drag him along.

They seemed to get along well enough, so I figured they’d keep each other entertained.
And as I stepped outside—
“Oh, you’re here.”

“…Elder Il?”
Elder Il was waiting just outside the door.
I widened my eyes at the sight.

Now that I thought about it, he had come here with me but never actually went inside.
Why was a man of his size standing at the door like some kind of gatekeeper?
“Why are you out here instead of going in?”

“Felt like things might get noisy in there.”
“…”
What an astonishing level of insight.

“Besides, judging by your face, it seems I made the right choice. Haha. Looks like you had a rough time in there.”
“…You’re the one who dragged me here.”
“Ha ha ha!”

Was this guy trying to laugh his way out of it?
I couldn’t believe him.
His laughter only made my irritation boil over.

“What the hell is with that guy?”
“Who are you talking about?”
“The founding head. What’s with all that talk about becoming the head of the Gu family?”

“He said that to you?”
“Yes.”
Hearing that, Elder Il suddenly chuckled.

“What a sly old fox.”
It was more of a sneer than a laugh.
“He claimed he’d approach this rationally, but he pulled the same old tricks as always.”

“…What do you mean—”
“Never mind that. A young man like you shouldn’t sulk over something so trivial. You need to have a bigger heart!”
Whoosh—!

I dodged as Elder Il’s hand reached for my head.
He was trying to ruffle my hair again.
“Haha! Look at this brat.”

“Don’t. I’m tired….”
Normally, I might have humored him.
But right now, I was mentally drained.

My head was already spinning with too many thoughts, and I was far too on edge to deal with his antics.
“Tired? That just means you haven’t been training enough.”
“Training isn’t a cure-all, Elder.”

“Oh? Then how about sparring with me to shake off that fatigue?”
“…”
That escalated quickly.

I didn’t want to train, let alone spar.
Even on a good day, sparring with Elder Il was exhausting—and today, it was out of the question.
I was mentally drained, and my body didn’t feel right either.

I was about to refuse, but—
“…No, I can’t. I don’t think I can control my strength right n—”
I froze mid-sentence.

My hand shot up to cover my mouth.
‘Control my strength’?
That was an obvious slip-up.

It sounded like I was looking down on him.
I glanced at Elder Il, hoping he hadn’t heard it.
“Haha.”

‘…Crap.’
Judging by the veins bulging on his forehead, he definitely heard it.
His eyes were smiling, but the heat radiating from his body told a different story.

I hurried to explain myself.
“No, Elder, that’s not what I meant. I’m just tired, and I misspoke—”
“Yangcheon.”

“…Yes?”
I straightened up as I answered.
Boom!

A shockwave exploded through the air.
Elder Il had thrown a punch, and the force of it rippled outward.
If I hadn’t dodged, it would’ve hit me square in the face.

“Elder…?”
“I’m sorry I’ve been too busy lately to properly look after my grandson….”
Whoosh—!

Before I could react, his massive hand grabbed me by the collar.
“…!”
“All of this is my fault.”

“Elder, this doesn’t seem like—ahh!”
Before I could finish, he hurled me through the air.
Whoooosh—!

The sudden burst of force sent my body flying.
I gritted my teeth and channeled my energy.
Fwoooosh!

Flames erupted around me, creating a wave of heat that slowed my momentum.
Screeeech—!
My feet scraped against the ground, leaving deep marks as I skidded to a stop.

But before I could catch my breath—
Hissss!
“…!”

The sound of steam boiling erupted nearby.
I spun around just in time to dodge.
Boom!

An explosion rocked the ground, sending debris flying everywhere.
I widened the gap between us and checked the center of the impact.
The once-smooth ground was now a cratered mess.

And rising from the middle of it—
Hissssss!
Steam poured off a muscular figure.

Elder Il slowly retracted his fist, steam still hissing from his body.
“Seriously?”
I clicked my tongue, exasperated.

‘…This is bad.’
Judging by his expression, he was actually pissed.