While Uijae was trying to gather information in the restroom, Hong Yesung had rolled in next door, making a ruckus. The numerous footsteps following him and the people waiting outside the restroom were undoubtedly his security personnel.

Uijae let out a silent sigh. Despite having his enemy right next to him, he couldn't move recklessly.

‘Just one hit, that’s all I want.’

It was nice that Hong Yesung had come to him, but the entourage he brought was anything but welcome. Even if he ignored Hong Yesung and pretended nothing was happening, there was only one entrance to the restroom, meaning he would inevitably run into the guards stationed at the door. If luck was against him, he might have to go through ticket checks and ID verifications.

In the end, he had no choice but to wait until Hong Yesung left on his own… Feeling anxious, Uijae unconsciously assumed the pose of Rodin’s *The Thinker*.

‘If you’re going to the restroom, you should hurry up and take care of business….’

He was also one of those people who did other things instead of using the restroom, but he glared at the wall separating them for no reason. If he didn’t hurry back, Sayoung would start to worry… No, he shook his head.

‘Worry? About what?’

Uijae changed his train of thought. Regardless, if he was late, there would be hell to pay. If things escalated, Sayoung might even come storming in here himself. Considering his past behavior patterns, it was a very plausible scenario.

Sayoung occasionally had bizarre fixations and would throw a fit for no apparent reason. He had warned Uijae to stay quiet and yet had dragged him all the way to Songdo. As if this was a date, he was simply making Uijae run errands for him….

“Ugh! Crazy!”

“Are you okay, Yesung-nim?”

“Aaah!”

“...It seems like things aren’t going well. Just keep waiting.”

The thoughts that had wandered towards Sayoung were cut off by Hong Yesung's desperate screams. Uijae shot a piercing glance at the wall as if he could see through it.

‘What the hell, can a person really make such sounds?’

Hong Yesung was now rustling around and intermittently howling like a deer. Thankfully, it seemed the guards were familiar with this level of noise and didn’t rush into the restroom. Listening to the deer-like cries, Uijae fell back into his thoughts.

Hong Yesung and the equipment he created were the stars of the Craftsmen Exhibition this time. So why was the star stuck in a restroom like Uijae, who had nowhere to go? Surely there was a waiting room just for him.

“Ugh!”

He realized it from the time Yesung posted egg pictures on Inhart looking for magic stones. Hong Yesung wasn’t in his right mind. Uijae anxiously, yet silently, shook his legs as he made a decision.

‘If I can’t avoid it, I need to dig up something.’

As much as he wanted to hit Hong Yesung and escape, it was clear he would be caught immediately if he tried to flee.

Ultimately, Uijae chose a different route. He leaned toward the adjacent stall and focused on the sounds coming through. However, the person who had locked himself in the cramped restroom stall only cried out like an animal instead of speaking like a human. Instead, he could hear the whispers of the Hunters waiting outside more clearly.

“…But why did you come into the restroom? You could have tested it in the waiting room.”

“The waiting room doesn’t feel confined or something. I need a smaller space.”

“If that’s the case, maybe we should just make a portable storage bin….”

“This guy misuses the purpose of storage bins. Are you King Yeongjo? Storage bins are for storing grains.”

“And you mentioned that something could explode if you’re not careful.”

Uijae’s eyes widened. What? He could still hear rustling from next door and the sound of buttons being pressed. Was that sound from explosives? Sitting beside a bomb like an idiot, Uijae gasped in horror while the Hunter who had asked the question whispered back, sounding alarmed.

“Can we really stay like this unprotected? If the restroom explodes, it would be a big deal, right?”

Right, stop it quickly. Pull him out. Are we going to let the building explode? Uijae mentally echoed the sentiment, but the response he received was cold.

“As long as they’re not attempting to evade the guards or engaging in behavior that poses a threat to their safety while not producing equipment, it’s the director’s order to let them do whatever they want.”

“Isn’t what you’re doing now a threat to safety?”

“Since he’s S-rank, even if something explodes, he’ll be fine….”

“From the start, he wouldn’t listen even if we tried to stop him.”

“Is that even the case when the building restroom is about to explode?”

“Isn’t he a wealthy creator? He can easily fix a restroom.”

It seemed that this wasn’t the first time such things happened; the Hunters outside remained unconcerned. Hunters were all too confident in their abilities, which made them prone to serious safety issues. Only when a major accident occurs do they finally wake up.

Uijae listened even more intently to the sounds coming from the adjacent stall. After a while, Hong Yesung gasped in awe. Click— a clear button sound that was distinctly different from before rang out.

“Done!”

And at the same moment—

Beeeeeeeeep!

An ominous alarm began to blare, piercing their ears!

As if the alarm wasn’t enough, red lights began to flash wildly beyond the stall partition. The atmosphere outside the restroom shifted, with multiple people rushing in.

‘Is it really going to explode?’

As Uijae frantically pressed himself against the far side of the stall, he contemplated whether he should open the door and run. He wouldn’t get hurt, but his suit from Sayoung could get torn. He had no money to pay for this expensive outfit!

But the very person who had caused this crisis, Hong Yesung, muttered in a tone devoid of urgency.

“Ugh, so noisy. What’s going on? Is it a malfunction?”

“Yesung-nim, are you okay!”

The once quiet restroom was now filled with the incessant alarm and the presence of the Hunters. The adjacent stall continued to flash red. Hong Yesung shouted out loud.

“Oh, I’m fine! I must have accidentally pressed something. It’s nothing serious.”

“Still, please step out for safety checks.”

“Hey, just give me a second.”

Hong Yesung’s disgruntled voice was followed by the sound of him unlocking the door. Had he taken the device with him? Now, not only the adjacent stall but the entire restroom began to flash red. Uijae let out a silent sigh as he gazed at the dazzling red lights. Hong Yesung chattered nervously.

“Oh, it’s really nothing! This is just a detector for unregistered tickets to filter out those crazy bastards who stole and sold tickets from other Hunters last time. It suddenly started ringing.”

“Is it not turning off?”

“Nope. It won’t turn off… Maybe it needs to separate the magic stone?”

Once Hong Yesung’s safety was confirmed, it seemed the tension of the Hunters had eased a bit. One Hunter cracked a joke.

“Is there someone here who hasn’t registered their ticket?”

“Hey, if the blue letters appear on the ticket, everyone must have done it.”

‘…Wait.’

Uijae suddenly lifted his head. Blue letters? The scene he had seen at the entrance of the convention center flashed in his mind.

When he scanned the ticket with a palm-sized device, blue light had floated on the black surface, forming letters like stars.

**藝星**

If that device didn’t just confirm the authenticity of the ticket but also registered it, a chill ran down Uijae’s spine. He quickly opened his inventory with his mouth agape.

The equipment Hong Yesung created was likely made with his awakening skill and would operate according to the system’s rules. And the inventory operated according to the system’s rules as well. Something felt ominous, and all the pieces of the puzzle clicked together.

The two tickets used to enter were both held by Sayoung, meaning his ticket was in pristine condition, i.e., an unregistered ticket. Then—

‘Why is the detector so good….’

That machine was definitely detecting the black ticket in his inventory and causing this ruckus. What kind of insane crafting skills were these? Uijae didn’t want to verify that Hong Yesung’s reputation was well-deserved.

‘If he had time to make something like that, he could have made another piece of equipment.’

Just as Uijae was glaring at Hong Yesung outside the door for the last time—

“…Wait a second.”

A Hunter’s voice suddenly dropped in tone.

“…I think there’s someone next to the stall where Hong Yesung was. The door is closed…”

“Huh? I don’t sense anyone.”

“Isn’t it just a cleaning cart left locked inside?”

“Do cleaning carts usually get locked from the inside?”

Uijae found himself at a crossroads. Trusting in his ‘silent footsteps’ and acting cocky or pretending to be an ordinary person who knew nothing. He heard the sound of a Hunter approaching the door. Uijae decided to close his eyes in resignation and feigned a trembling voice like a goat.

“Um, there’s someone inside….”

The Hunters’ previously relaxed demeanor sharpened again. One Hunter said in a stiff voice.

“…

I’m sorry, but could you please come outside?”

Uijae recalled the zombies he had seen in the hangover soup restaurant. Their appearances had been a mess, looking like they had been through the worst of it. He loosened his perfectly tied tie, unbuttoned one shirt button, and let his well-fitted jacket fall apart, perfectly creating a disheveled look.

He made sure his ID hung around his neck was visible and then stepped out with a staggering gait as if he was the best at pretending. Uijae had a few backup concepts in mind for unexpected situations. This time, the concept he decided to use was as follows:

The rookie employee of the Wave Guild Secretary Team, who had just barely joined, was so nervous to be out in public with Guild Leader Lee Sayoung that he ended up throwing up in the restroom.

“…….”

“…….”

With the blaring alarm ringing and the red lights flashing, the sight of the gas mask-wearing figure emerging from the innermost stall in a suit was indeed bizarre. The Hunters, witnessing such a spectacle, wore strange expressions.

The gas mask clutched the restroom doorknob and whispered in a trembling voice.

“I-I’m so sorry. It’s just that I’m really nervous.”

“May I ask which organization you belong to…?”

“I-I’m with the Wave Guild Secretary Team…”

“The Wave Guild?”

“Y-yes, I came to assist Guild Leader Lee Sayoung at the Craftsmen Exhibition… ugh.”

Uijae pretended to gag, holding the filter part of the gas mask.

Lee Sayoung from the Wave Guild. If he was here alone to assist him, it was no wonder he was nervous. The Hunters’ expressions softened with sympathy. The ID of the Wave Guild dangled from his neck, looking pitiful.

It was then that he sensed a familiar, ominous energy approaching silently. Before he could react, the dark figure of Sayoung burst through the restroom door, followed by a low, mocking voice.

“I see you guys get along quite well in the restroom….”

All eyes that had been on Uijae shifted to the owner of the voice. Sayoung walked straight toward Uijae, hands shoved in his pockets, not sparing a glance at anyone else.

“Going to the restroom together now?”

Thud. Sayoung's black boots came to a stop right in front of Uijae. Beneath the flashing red lights and blaring alarms, an oppressive shadow loomed over him. Sayoung tilted his head slightly.

“Are you ready, Secretary?”

That mocking tone was oddly welcoming for the first time.

---

If you need any adjustments or additional details, just let me know!