“Fucking scumbags.”

But even this exhausting, dragged-out negotiation would be over soon. The studio would fold eventually—just a matter of time.

When it came to dungeon raids, civilians were always at the mercy of the guilds.

“But hey, Guru, are you done for the day?”

Guru turned at the manager’s question and saw the adults nodding. It meant the grown-ups would handle the rest, and the little one could go play now.

“Yeshh~!”

“Then wanna go to the set now? You said you’d come visit today, right?”

“Yesh! I wanna go!”

“Where’s your bag? Let’s tell the adults before we head out.”

“Okaay~!”

Guru scampered off and came back huffing and puffing with her bag in hand. On Suhyeong quickly stepped in and took it from her.

Even when his secretaries offered to carry it for him, he shook his head.

“Gwampaw, Gwuu gonna go pway at Woojoo’s pwace, ‘kay?”

“By yourself? Isn’t that kinda dangerous?”

Ever since finding out that Guru was an S-Rank Hunter, On Suhyeong had become way more protective and was clearly thinking about assigning her an escort.

But Guru—

“Not by myshewf!”

She shouted back and zipped toward the bathroom with her bag.

And came out... not alone.

She was dragging along a boy about her age.

“Gwuu going wiff fwriend.”

'Friend?'

On Suhyeong and Veilach locked eyes.

“.......”

“.......”

Veilach bared his sharp, shark-like teeth in a smile, and his pupils twinkled into star shapes.

“......?”

'Is it really okay for my granddaughter to be hanging out with... that?'

“...Really, a friend?”

When he asked that, Guru leaned in close and whispered:

“Gwuu waising him.”

“.......”

I shouldn’t have asked.

Right. If it were dangerous, Jurim would’ve already dealt with it. No need to worry.

Feigning ignorance, On Suhyeong looked away from Veilach and gave Guru a gentle smile.

“All right then. Be safe.”

“Yeshh~!”

Guru grabbed Veilach’s hand and dashed toward Woojoo.

Trailing after them was Mephisto—not flying, but trudging along on foot with his head bowed and shoulders slumped.

Veilach frowned as he watched.

The chick nearly got stepped on multiple times by the busy staff, but each time he dodged just enough to avoid being hit.

He looked like he’d rather take a kick to the face than spread his wings and fly.

Just this morning he’d been zooming around the sky, so it clearly wasn’t an injury.

The only thing that had changed was that he had taken on a human form.

'That little shit... no way...'

Veilach considered telling Guru that Mephisto wasn’t flying anymore—but then clamped his mouth shut.

'Not my problem. This is that brat’s issue, not mine.'

It’s not like they were friends or anything.

Just then, while gathering her things, Guru spotted Mephisto and scooped him up onto her head.

Mephisto perched there, looking like he was about to cry, his eyes brimming with tears.

Whether it was from the stress of walking alone or the joy of being found by Guru, no one could say.

But he looked pitiful.

“Mephi, youw wings huwt?”

Guru asked with concern, and Mephisto spread his wings wide and shook his head.

“Then why’d you wawwk aww da way?”

“Bip. Bipip.” (I’m fine. I can walk.)

His beak trembled as if holding back a sob.

But Guru, not understanding, just tilted her head with a big question mark on her face. Veilach turned away with a look of disgust.

'Stupid chick.'

Forget it. Not his concern.

Veilach had far more serious things to worry about.

***

Veilach, Guru, and Woojoo sat in the very back row of the van.

Guru, Mephisto perched on her head, and Woojoo were all busy playing with a pop-it toy, pressing the little round bubbles that made a soft popping sound.

What the hell was fun about pressing circles?

Veilach scowled as the three kids giggled uncontrollably.

Apparently, he was the only one who thought this was not the time for play.

Frowning deeply, Veilach leaned toward Guru and asked softly,

“Is it true that Zombie City 2 can’t be filmed?”

“Yuh-huh.”

“What happens if the dungeon isn’t cleared?”

“Can’t fiwm? Woojoo, what happens?”

“It’s not like they can’t film, but it might get delayed for a long time.”

“Yuh-huh~.”

“WHAT?!”

Veilach reeled in shock while the two kids went right back to pressing pop-its.

Then Veilach slapped the seat in front of him with a loud THWACK to grab their attention.

“......?”

“Master. Let us enter the dungeon. If the guild can’t handle it, we’ll raid it ourselves.”

“Ehhh? Us? No way.”

Guru flatly refused, which was unusual for her.

Because—

“Gwuu gonna become a cwiminaw.......”

Actually, she kind of already was.

She just hadn’t been caught yet...

But even with the master's firm rejection, Veilach couldn’t give up.

No, he wouldn’t give up.

Veilach glanced sideways at the confused Woojoo.

'Seo Woojoo must film Mokbang City 2!'

The scene where Woojoo gets eaten by a zombie? Just thinking about it made his mouth water. Watching it would be the ultimate vicarious satisfaction.

To make that happen, he had to reel in this little master first.

Trying to figure out what Guru cared about most these days, Veilach suddenly said:

“Let’s practice opening the cradle!”

“Pwactice......?”

To bait his master, Veilach dangled the lure with finesse.

“Yes. Practice. If you want to be sharp in real combat, you need grueling practice first. Think of the main character in Zombie Hunter.”

“Well... das twue.......”

Guru rubbed her chin, deep in thought.

Sure, practice was important. But hadn’t she learned that you shouldn’t just enter dungeons and raid them as you please?

In her head, a mental scale weighed “Go to dungeon” vs. “Don’t go.”

Noticing her dilemma, Veilach pressed further.

“Master. Can’t you hear the call?”

“...What call?”

Veilach gripped both her shoulders and stared into her eyes.

“The will of the struggling guild... the plea for justice!”

“Juh-justice...!”

“Yes!”

A weight labeled “Justice” dropped onto the “Go to dungeon” side of her scale.

The balance tipped slightly—

“But... might become cwiminaw......”

As a law-abiding preschooler, being a criminal was kind of a dealbreaker.

Seeing her hesitate, Veilach delivered the finishing blow.

“The one who embraces evil to serve ultimate justice... Zombie Hunter called such people Dark Heroes.”

Thump!

Guru’s heart reacted before her brain.

“Dawk Hewo?”

“Yes. Even if they’re scorned and called ‘zombie,’ they carry out righteous acts as Hunters. That’s a Dark Hero.”

Dark! Hero!

Those were words Guru loved. They dropped onto the scale with a heavy THUNK THUNK.

Veilach’s sugar-coated words rang like gospel to Guru.

“Pipip!”

Even Mephisto, who operated on Guru’s level, got fired up and squeaked about justice.

Yes! Watching a guild struggle and doing nothing—that wasn’t ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) the way of a Supreme Hunter.

And besides...

'Gwuu can tattle on Sabu’s suuuuper villain daddy.'

If she turned in a massive baddie, surely they’d forgive a little mischief, right?

Trembling with anticipation, Guru opened her status window.

Her level was still stuck at 40.

“......”

Hmph! She blew a puff of air from her nose—and made up her mind.

Guru dumped all her hard-earned [Filial Piety Points] into her magic stat.

Name: On Guru

Level: LV. 40

Title: ■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■ (Unavailable)

Strength: 2

Stamina: 2 (+14)

Agility: 2

Defense: 2 (+88)

Magic: 162

[Not enough Filial Piety Points to raise stat further!]

[Filial Piety Points: 350]

'I’m outta points already?!'

Once a stat passes 100, each additional increase costs over five times as much.

So she hadn’t been able to raise it that much—but still—

'I can feew it...'

She could feel the rush of newly surged magic coursing through her.

Her magic stat was now 162.

It surpassed even most A-Rank mage-type Hunters.

Even for magic-users, pouring everything into magic was rare.

You needed basic strength and stamina to survive actual raids.

And to boost attack power, strength and stamina were essential too.

But Guru didn’t need those. She had passion and justice.

“Bayee, Mephi. Today we eat yoh-pwlay in da dungeon.”

Guru shot to her feet, skirt fluttering, delivering her hero line like a true protagonist.

Today’s strawberry yogurt would taste sweeter than ever.

Just then—

The manager, glancing at the kids through the rearview mirror, said,

“Guru, don’t stand up in the car. You’ll get hurt~”

“Okaaay......”

Guru sat back down quietly.

She folded her hands on her knees and pouted, clearly embarrassed.

Then she locked eyes with Woojoo, who was watching her blankly.

Guru’s eyes flared up again.

“Woojoo, when we get dere, Gwuu got someding to do. Wait just a wittow, ‘kay?”

“Uh, okay.”

Guru placed a hand on Woojoo’s shoulder.

“Gwuu gonna make shure you can fiwm. Don’t worry.”

“...Okay.”

Electricity jolted through Woojoo’s shoulder as he nodded, entranced.