Four days after the grand incident back at the museum, Yeon Yujun finds himself in the training room of the Hunters Division Building.
The Chief Examiner, Baek, is talking with some of the seemingly important people while the other awakeners who were selected are practicing.
Instead of practicing, Yeon Yujun keeps looking at the viewing area where Seo Hwigeon, Ki Yeonbom, Woo Taehwa, and Woo Woojo are watching him as if they're his parents.
'When are they going to give me a damn break...?' Yeon Yujun rolls his eyes, still not moving from the seat as he clasps both of his hands together in a ball and looks down at his feet touching the ground of the room.
And those four days ago, Ki Yeonbom had figured out the truth by himself.
***
"You're Eight, aren't you?"
Ki Yeonbom stared at him, his gaze hardened as if he's not letting Yeon Yujun slip away from the topic easily like a cat that just successfully trapped a mouse.
All Yeon Yujun could do is stare at him in disbelief, his brows furrowing like once he lies to a person like Ki Yeonbom... Something bad was going to happen.
"Why did you come with that conclusion?" Yeon Yujun composed himself quickly, his grey eyes shifted away from Ki Yeonbom's.
Ki Yeonbom tilted his head just slightly, his lips turned into a disappointed frown. "Just a lucky guess, but I know that you're not a new awakener at all."
"And that doesn't mean I'm Eight, he's dead." he muttered, his eyes focusing back to Ki Yeonbom. He surely won't let this man get away without doubting his lucky guess because he just hit the lottery right on that guess.
'I need to smooth things over before this gets out of control.'
"I wouldn't be talking to him now if he's dead, right?" Ki Yeonbom groused under his breath and cleared his throat despite Yeon Yujun hearing those whispered displeased words right out of his mouth.
Ki Yeonbom slightly bowed as a sign of politeness and forgiveness that almost made Yeon Yujun cringed on his spot, knowing it's probably an act.
"Forgive me for assuming, Mr. Yeon." Ki Yeonbom then looks at him with those eyes clearly saying the opposite.
'He definitely meant to say "I know who you are"...' Yeon Yujun sighed, nodding at his words.
'And he doesn't seem to be the type to spread his guess to others too...'
"It's fine."
With another short bow, Ki Yeonbom took his leave without even telling his members or to Seo Hwigeon.
Speaking of Seo Hwigeon, he walked over behind Yeon Yujun, placing his hand to his shoulder as he leaned down to whisper. "Don't mind him, he's just being analytical as usual." He says with almost a hint of annoyance in his tone.
Yeon Yujun isn't even surprised that Seo Hwigeon sneaked up on him, he carefully and slowly retracts his hand away from his shoulder. "I don't really care, I'm sure he's not that naive to connect the dots so easily."
"Then you should take it as a sign to be careful." Seo Hwigeon chuckled, shrugging on the provided jacket by one of the cleaners. "You'll be training in four days at a B-ranked vortex, it should be easy cakes for you, but too bad I won't be there to watch."
"And I'm not even going to invite you to."
"The chief will keep an eye out for you though, it's best to be careful." he nodded to the others, chuckling once more.
'I guess I'm really readable to those observant types… I really need to downgrade my skills for now.'
Then he remembered the
"How about the sword? How about… him?"
"Song? I'll handle him, I'm sure he believes that I'm the one who took the sword anyway," Seo Hwigeon trailed off, lowering his voice.
"Just don't use it much, alright? When you're in public, but if it's just you and me… well, of course you can." He said those words in a tone that made Yeon scoff quietly and watched Seo Hwigeon turn and left him there on the spot.
"I need to start preparing for the upcoming vortex raid too."
***
"Is everyone prepared?" Chief Baek's voice cuts through the tense air of the room and everyone nods.
"Yes, Chief!" They all answer except for the distracted Yeon Yujun.
'I should've never relied on my instincts back at the training… then maybe I wouldn't have ranked the highest to raid a B-ranked vortex!' Yeon Yujun groans internally before he stands up from the chair and walks over with his fellow awakeners.
Chief Baek points at the map spread out on the table and marks the spot where they need to go.
"There's a B-ranked vortex in the plaza, it spawned around 9:30am and it is now 10:00am. It is also reported that there's an unstable flux of energy radiating around the area," Her gaze shifts at Yeon Yujun with her usual seriousness and commanding presence.
"So, please, everyone here proceed with caution." Chief Baek firmly warns everyone in the room and Yeon Yujun nods while the rest seem panicked and confident for their first raid.
'It's not exactly my first raid, but…' Yeon Yujun fishes out his bottle of pills from his pocket and then he takes a look at his other pocket where Pouch is currently resting at.
'I should still drink some before I go.'
Once they are in the plaza as what the location on the map said, everyone goes to the swirling portal and everything that surrounds them changes.
"Woah!" Everyone looks up at the hazy and strange clouds of the vortex dimension, amazed by what they see except for Yeon Yujun who is already on high alert for any danger.
"This is what inside a vortex looks like!?"
"This is sick!"
"Agh… If only I had my phone with me I would've filmed this…!"
Chatters fill the thick and smoky air of the vortex before the hologram screen displays in front of everyone, stopping their conversations.
[ WELCOME TO THE VORTEX. ]
[ GUILD CHAT: Hunter Trainers ]
[ Chief Baek: We have gained access to monitor you through his chat system and your chips in this vortex, proceed with caution and report anything unusual to us immediately. Good luck. ]
Then, the screen disappears once more and the most confident one among them raises his hand and holds his shield weapon. "Alright everyone, listen up! The chief wants us to investigate this vortex so let's split up!" he confidently suggests, just what Yeon Yujun is hoping for since the announcement of their training inside the vortex.
'Thank you, luck lady goddess… if she exists out here,' Yeon Yujun can't help but chuckle in relief and cheerfully at the fact that everyone will go on their separate ways to investigate the vortex.
That means less responsibility for Yeon Yujun.
Before he can start moving at the unfamiliar landscape around them, some have already disappeared in the thick foggy air to start playing detectives — his pocket wiggles.
Pouch is now awake.
"Pupu…" Pouch crawls out of his pocket, rubbing its eyes with its own tiny fluffy arms before registering where they are at.
"We're inside the vortex right now, we'll get outta here once we get to the boss, alright?" Yeon Yujun giggles softly, reaching to pat Pouch gently in the head as he starts moving in the surprisingly lush ground with his companion.
"How can we find the boss easily…? I don't want to stay here for a long time now," he mumbles, scratching the back of his head as if he's trying to come up with a better solution.
And then he finally gets it like he just had a light bulb on top of his head.
'Got it…! The skill… would it work?'
Yeon Yujun lets his skill <[SS] The Mind's Eye> activate passively once he starts focusing on the surroundings around them —
'Since this is an upgraded ability… maybe I can somehow see it or the traces of it?'
His glowing purple eyes suddenly detect the unusual flux energy coming from the distance and when he looks much more carefully… There's a big nest, the biggest one like a dinosaur's nest? Yeon Yujun can't quite figure it out but he swears that there's a big monster resting in it.
"Pubu!!"
"That might be the boss!" Yeon Yujun declares it confidently and starts running towards it despite being a bit far from them.
And just when Yeon Yujun starts picking up his pace and plans on activating his <[B+] Sprint> skill, shouts and screams of his fellow awakeners fill the hazy air, completely freezing Yeon Yujun from his place.
"— AHHHHH!! MONSTER!!!!"
Yeon Yujun couldn't seem to walk or move at all, his mind completely went blank the moment his fellow awakeners started screaming and asking for help nearby.
'Yeon Yujun… Focus… You're not in the Great Vortex… Not the Great Vortex…'
Even his senses were heightening on its own despite not even activating his <[SS] The Mind's Eye> skill! It seems… like he's connected to the abnormal energy he had been sensing.
The one that Chief Baek warned them about, it's all radiating from the nest in the distance but it's still a bit too far from them.
Then he shakes his head, looking back between his teammates and at the targeted place.
He feels conflicted from everything all of the sudden.
'This isn't good… I've never felt like this in a long time, not after the Great Vortex raid…'
"Bubu!!! Bubu!!!"
"Damn it… where should I even start first…?"