Chapter 33: Black Dragon Guild

The unfamiliar name echoed through the crowded supermarket.

Kei opened his eyes.

"Kai?"

"Yeah."

Kai placed the tray of meat into the shopping cart, then stepped closer to Kei. He leaned down, and the distance between the two instantly shrank.

"And you..."

His fingertip stopped just before Kei’s chest, never touching, but an invisible energy spread out as if probing for something.

"There’s something very familiar inside your body, and the scent on you is too distinctive. Kei... why do I know your name?"

Kei’s expression shifted. Kei coldly stared at him. Whether he was an acquaintance from the old world or the little dragon in Kei’s memories, this rude attitude made Kei very displeased.

His little dragon was so adorable, how could it resemble a naive lunatic?

"Don’t casually probe into other people’s bodies."

"Are you afraid I’ll discover something, Kei?"

Kai looked at him seriously, his vertical pupils appearing quite proper, but his actions and words reeked of teasing.

"It’s none of your business."

Kei picked up the shopping cart and quickly walked toward the checkout counter. But this time, he no longer had the mood to pick out any more items.

Behind him, Kai remained still.

He watched Kei’s back gradually disappear among the shelves, his golden gaze growing deep. In his chest, an unfamiliar feeling was slowly awakening.

He didn’t remember where he had met that young man. Yet every time he saw Kei, a dull ache spread from his heart.

As if at some distant point in time, he had lost something incredibly important.

Kei... Kei...

Vague memories swirled through Kai’s mind, but he had grown too accustomed to this chaos, simply standing in the middle of the supermarket’s meat section, dazed.

Just as Kai was still trying to dig out a name, a face, or any fragment of memory related to the one who had just left from his chaotic recollections, a girl came running from behind.

She reached out and lightly patted his back.

"Kai, why did you suddenly abandon everyone and run off on your own a moment ago?"

Kai slowly turned his head. His golden eyes still followed the direction where Kei had vanished, as if with just a blink, that figure would completely fade from this world.

"Do Ae Young..."

"Yeah, it’s me."

"I just found Kei."

Do Ae Young was startled.

"Who is Kei?"

Kai shook his head. He didn’t know how to answer either. That name had spontaneously surfaced in his mind, so familiar that it made his chest ache, yet so foreign that he couldn’t find any clear memory of it.

"I don’t know."

"You chased after someone without even knowing who they were?"

"I only know that person’s name is Kei."

Kai muttered, his expression so serious that Do Ae Young couldn’t help but laugh when she saw it.

"I just met them... they have a very pleasant scent on them, very pleasant..."

Do Ae Young raised a hand and gently rubbed her temple.

"Alright, let’s head back to the hotel first. If you keep standing here talking to yourself, someone’s going to call security soon."

Kai didn’t argue. Mumbling disjointed phrases, he followed Do Ae Young out of the supermarket.

He wasn’t worried about losing track of Kei.

The very moment they met, Kai had used his special ability to place a mark on him. That mark left no trace on the skin and couldn’t be seen by the naked eye, but it connected to Kai’s senses through an invisible thread.

As long as Kei remained in this world, no matter where he went, Kai couldn’t lose him.

Thinking of that, Kai suddenly stopped in his tracks.

This world?

Why would he think that way?

Could Kei possibly run out of here and go to another world?

Kai clutched his head, the chaotic fragments of memory beginning to clash in his mind once more. A sky burning red. A roar echoing among ruined mountains. A small figure clinging tightly to him, as if that were the most enchanting warmth of Kai’s life, a tenderness he must remember even unto death.

"We’ve met before... Papa... It seems like Papa..."

He murmured softly.

Do Ae Young turned back to look at him.

"Kai, what did you just say?"

"I don’t know. No, it’s not that.It’s not "papa"... It’s "an important person"... no, "very important person," don’t forget... I don’t want to forget..."

The answer was so chaotic that Do Ae Young could only sigh, and Kai continued to stare blankly into the void.

The hotel where the Black Dragon Guild was staying was not far from the supermarket. When Kai and Do Ae Young returned, the hunters waiting in the lobby immediately looked toward them.

Then everyone fell into a helpless silence, because Kai was spacing out again.

He stood in the middle of the hotel lobby, holding a bag of meat in one hand, the other hand placed on his chest, his golden eyes gazing through the wall as if following something far away.

A young hunter let out a soft sigh.

"The guild master is at it again."

"He’s good in every way, just too naive and chaotic. He also frequently spaces out and talks to himself."

"The times he’s truly lucid are rare."

The whispers reached Kai’s ears, but he showed no reaction. He remained immersed in the unfamiliar sensation clinging to his body.

Do Ae Young ignored Kai. She led the hunters to sit in the sofa area of the lobby, then spread the city map of Dong-San on the table.

"Alright, let’s start the meeting."

Every pair of eyes instantly turned serious.

This was the real reason their SS-rank Black Dragon Guild had come to Dong-San City.

Do Ae Young pointed at the areas marked in red on the map.

"In the past two weeks, the mana fluctuations in the Dungeons around the city have noticeably increased. Some Dungeon gates have even shown temporary rank shifts."

A hunter frowned.

"Temporary rank shifts? Doesn’t that only happen when the internal structure of a Dungeon is altered?"

"That’s right. But this time, the change isn’t coming from a single Dungeon." Do Ae Young tapped her finger on the map. "They’re all being affected by the same source of fluctuation."

The entire hotel lobby fell into silence.

Kai was still standing not far away, his expression vacant as if he hadn’t heard anything. But just as Do Ae Young mentioned the source of the fluctuation, his golden pupils slightly trembled, becoming lucid in a way rarely seen.

"I want this city!"

Kai’s voice made the hunters of the Black Dragon Guild turn to look at him.

Do Ae Young asked back:

"What do you mean, guild master?"

Even if Kai was a foolish or absent-minded dragon whose mind often fell into chaos, he was still one of the top 5 strongest hunters in Korea, their guild master.

Kai’s orders were the Black Dragon Guild’s purpose.

"This city... after the useless hunters here are all dead, take it for me."

His golden eyes gleamed with the greed endemic to giant reptiles, eagerly anticipating the treasure falling into dragon claws.

A city where a dragon’s treasure dwells, this greedy dragon wanted it at any cost.

Do Ae Young bowed, her hand placed on her chest.

"At your command."

She smiled, the light in her eyes fierce and bold.

"We will seize everything you desire."

The Black Dragon Guild would seize everything the black dragon loved, money, jewels, cities, or people, all of it would belong to their black dragon!