Serhi officially joined Hyeonak under the title of probationary recruit.
During his probation, he was to assist as an intern for Raid Team 1, with Gidan assigned as his mentor.
And when Guru heard the news about Serhi, she was slightly shocked.
Guru doesn’t have a team...!
Up until now, Guru had been the only new recruit, so she hadn’t noticed.
It felt like being the only kid in kindergarten without a class. It was like...
Reeling from this sudden realization, Guru clung to Jurim’s leg and asked in a trembling voice,
“W-What about Gwuu? Why Gwuu no have team? Why Gwuu da onwy outcast?”
And lately, Jurim had been so absurdly busy that he couldn’t even be bothered to sugarcoat it—
“You’re a parachute.”
Until that point, the only “parachute” Guru knew was the thing you used to jump out of planes.
“What’s a pawachute?” 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶
“Someone so important nobody can mess with them.”
“That’s why you don’t have a team. Nobody’s allowed # Nоvеlight # to touch you.”
Patting her back, Jurim added not to worry about it.
Guru cupped both hands over her mouth, eyes sparkling.
Gwuu’s amazing! Gwuu a pawachute!
From that day on, Guru proudly went around the guild, spinning in circles and declaring the truth.
“Team Leaduh! Gwuu is actuawwy... a pawachute!”
The strange thing was—everyone had the same reaction. Every person she told burst into laughter and hugged her, ruffling her hair.
Parachutes must be super cool, huh?
People love Gwuu more just hearing she’s a parachute!
Gwuu mustn’t reveal it too freely. Too pwoud not good.
A wise grain of rice bows its head. Guru decided that as a parachute, she would now walk the path of humility.
As Hyeonak’s parachute, Guru set herself a goal.
It all started because—
A new school year was coming. And every year in kindergarten, they had a lesson:
Let’s welcome our new fwiends!
At the start of the year, lots of new kids joined the class.
You stayed close with friends from the previous year, but the totally new faces? If you weren’t careful, they might end up alone.
Gwuu has to take cawe so Sewuhi not wonewy!
Guru huffed out a determined breath.
Right now, Serhi was in a pretty weird spot in Hyeonak.
There was nothing good about revealing he’d been Gnosis—but he’d gone and yelled “I’m Gnosis!” proudly in the lobby.
To fix this mess, Jurim had taken drastic measures—
“Just say he’s got eighth-grader syndrome.”
He explained Serhi was impressive, but had fallen into a delusional spiral because of that brilliance. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
And strangely enough, the Hyeonak guildmates actually bought it.
To them, it was more plausible that some foreign 16-year-old with sudden immense power had gone through a mental breakdown than that the actual Gnosis had wandered in through the front door.
Thus, in Hyeonak, Serhi became the foreign boy suffering a severe case of eighth-grader syndrome.
From then on, guild members couldn’t help giggling whenever they saw him—or they’d click their tongues in pity.
“He looks normal enough...”
“Well, it’s just a phase.”
“Why does everyone in this guild start grinning when they see me?”
...had absolutely no idea what was going on.
“What even is this eighth-grade thing?”
Gidan was laughing too hard to answer, and Guru didn’t know either, so Serhi had to go to Jurim to get the full story.
Jurim explained it in a surprisingly gentle tone.
“Oh, it’s nothing. Just means you’re a delusional weirdo.”
“What?! How the hell is that nothing?!”
Once he realized the truth, Serhi was furious. But what could he do? He had no choice but to accept it.
Even if he yelled again about being Gnosis, people would just say he was having another delusional episode.
In the end, he seemed to decide there was no point in correcting the misunderstanding.
He didn’t really want to get close to people anyway.
But Guru wasn’t about to let that happen! She wanted Serhi to fit in at Hyeonak.
As if responding to that resolve, a quest window popped up.
[Caregiver Quest: Welcome the New Caregiver!]
[Let’s welcome the new caregiver! Help the new caregiver adjust to the unfamiliar environment by giving them someone to rely on.]
[Reward: 5,000 Filial Piety Points]
Clatter clatter clatter—
A toddler-sized tricycle skidded to a stop in front of the break room.
Inside, the muffled sound of Serhi and Gidan chatting drifted out.
“Never been in a dungeon as a team.”
“What? Why? Gnosis doesn’t go into dungeons?”
“Why the hell would I raid? I’m not even a Hunter... huh?”
Serhi frowned as he spotted Guru. His expression clearly said, What the hell is that thing?
Guru just smiled contentedly.
At weast he tawks to Oppaw.
He’d freaked out at first about having to share a dorm room with Gidan—but after a week, they seemed to be getting along okay.
—New recruit, S-Rank Hunter, Serhi.
Serhi blinked. Gidan burst out laughing.
—Welcome to Hyeonak. Time to do your initiashun!
“What the hell is this.”
Serhi peeled off the bear mascot head.
Guru flailed her arms, trying to get it back.
“Don’t take it off. She gets mad.”
At Gidan’s warning, Serhi sheepishly placed the head back on. Then he turned to Gidan.
“You went through this ‘initiation’ thing too?”
“Dani already a team with Gwuu.”
Gidan held out his fist. Guru bopped it twice with her bear paw.
Serhi narrowed his eyes at the overly in-sync pair.
“This place really is just a collection of losers—ow!”
A duck-shaped grabber whacked him in the thigh.
—Bad words get punished.
“You’re the one who called me a tryhard introvert first!”
Serhi rubbed his stinging thigh, scowling.
Then Gidan brightened like he’d just had a great idea.
“Tryhard introvert? Great. That’s the theme for your initiation.”
—Ooooh! Sounds juicy! Approoved!
“Let’s hit a guerrilla dungeon! S-Rank Tryhard Introvert Teen Squad!”
Serhi shook his head in disbelief... then paused, a question mark practically floating above his head.
“Wait... don’t tell me that thing’s coming too?”
The bear’s head tilted.
“Where the hell would you even go?”
Hmph! UnfinishedBear mk.1 raised an eyebrow with disdain.
—Serhi, Gwuu is an S-Rank too.
With her [Caregiver Registration] done, Guru could speak freely.
“S-Wank is name of someone’s dog or what.”
But Serhi just sneered.
It was the same kind of sneer people gave him whenever they assumed he had eighth-grader syndrome.
Guru’s shoulders trembled in outrage, and Gidan snorted a laugh.
Guru pouted, sniffling.
—Is twue! Gwuu don’ teww wies!
“She’s right, she never lies.”
Unable to stand it anymore, Gidan stepped in to back her up.
Serhi waved him off with a sarcastic “yeah yeah,” then looked back and scowled.
“What’s with that weird face?”
“I’m telling you, she’s really S-Rank.”
“What are you talking about?!”
Gidan stepped behind Guru and clapped her on the shoulders.
“Allow me to introduce: S-Rank Production-Type, Miss Hanguru!”
—Nice to meetcha! S-Wank Hunta Hangwuu hewe!
UnfinishedBear raised a paw in greeting.
Serhi stared, mouth agape.
The excavator in that RP dungeon farm?
The sprinkler system?
They were all Guru’s doing?
Serhi stiffly turned to Gidan, moving like a rusty robot.