Chapter 446 — Still Working After Coming Back (2)
The photo shoot took place inside the Haeyeon building rather than anywhere far away. Since we were photographing adult-form Peace in the first place, it would have been difficult to use a normal studio. Going through all the procedures for that would’ve been more trouble than it was worth, so it was easier to just do it at Haeyeon.
“We’ve already begun production on Chirpie and Bellaré, and Sorok was supposed to be next.”
Team Leader Kim Hayeon said that while looking at Mar, who had come with Yerim.
“You said the name was Mar, right? What do you think about doing it simultaneously?”
“I’m all for it! Right, Mar?”
- Kkyureuk!
Then did that mean Yerim and Hyuna-ssi would take photos together with their own kiseungsu too? Since no one knew whether Mar and Sorok would be able to learn juvenile form, they planned to do the shoot while they were young first and then do another one later when they were fully grown.
“By any chance, isn’t Soyoung-ssi doing one?”
“She proposed, ‘How about making a life-size doll?’”
Hayeon-ssi said that. A life-size doll?
“For Comet, of course. And for Hunter Riette too.”
“Ah…”
Riette was a little too big for that, wasn’t she? Where would you even put it?
“She also wanted to push for making one-tenth-scale figures of Hunter Riette and Hunter Noah.”
“Th-that’s, um… passionate.”
“Her final goal was to open an exhibition hall. She said that while the real thing is best, love should be expressed through every possible method available.”
…Was it something like wanting to leave records in many different forms? Well, they did say that what stayed behind were photographs. Maybe I should start taking more pictures and videos of the kids too. I had no intention of opening an exhibition hall, though.
“Director Han’s concept will go for an everyday feeling.”
One of the shoot staff came over and said that.
“A warm, ordinary day with your lovable pet. One indoor shot and one outdoor shot.”
“Ah, okay.”
“You just need to dote on Peace as naturally as possible.”
That part wouldn’t be difficult. I’d been worried I might have to do posing or facial acting, so that was a relief. My leg condition was a secret, but thankfully the set had a sofa and benches so I wouldn’t have to stand for long. They did my makeup, styled my hair, and then brought me the outfit—
“Um, excuse me, this is…”
“They’re Chirpie pajamas. A matching set with Peace’s pajamas.”
…So it wasn’t enough that I had to appear in front of other people in pajamas, now there would be photographic evidence of it too?
“Peace, come here.”
- Kkiang!
“Please just act naturally and ignore us! As if you normally would!”
How was I supposed to ignore that? Still, I did my best to pretend they weren’t there and threw Peace his toy ball. I hugged him, petted him, brushed him, gave him treats, changed clothes and shot again, switched backdrops and pretended to take him out for a walk, had him spread his wings and all that.
It took longer than I’d expected. Fortunately, while I was a little worn out, Peace still looked perfectly fine. And Peace still had to take pictures with Yoohyun too.
“Good job, Peace.”
- Grrrung.
I was petting Peace when Yoohyun came out. In total contrast to me, he was dressed in a monochrome suit with a long coat flowing down over it. His hair had been straightened and swept back too. He gave off a slightly chilly, weighty atmosphere. I got the intended concept just fine, S-rank versus Stat F and all, but still, I’m the older brother here.
“Ugh… I feel gross, and the irritation is bubbling up.”
Yerim muttered that quietly after seeing Yoohyun. Didn’t he look cool?
“He’s handsome.”
“That’s the problem. Ah, this is so annoying.”
Maybe Yerim just didn’t like handsome men very much. She’d been a little brusque with Sung Hyunjae too. Though she seemed to get along well with Noah. And she was very close with Hyuna-ssi.
“Hyung.”
Yoohyun looked at me and smiled. Whose little brother was he, honestly—there really was not a single flaw to find. Then Peace went over to Yoohyun and transformed into his adult form. Golden-red fur filled the field of view. Since some of the shoot staff were unAwakened, a few of them backed away in fear.
He really was cool. But—
“…Haeyeon Guild Leader, please look this way. Peace needs to turn his head too.”
They were both looking only at me.
“Yoohyun, you need to look over there. Why are you looking at me? Peace too.”
“But how am I supposed not to look at you when you’re right here, hyung?”
- Grrreung.
These kids, seriously. Yerim muttered, “Two fire foxes.” The issue wasn’t only their line of sight either. Since the atmosphere between them changed whenever I was there, they asked if I could step out for just a little while. Yerim said she didn’t want to keep looking at that either, so she came out with me.
“Mar, you saw Peace transform, right? You can do it too! Juvenile form! Or shrink form!”
- Kkyuuk.
“Even if Mar can’t learn it, unni will definitely get you a skill for it!”
As if the baby water dragon actually understood, it flapped its chest fins together like clapping. Yeah, if worst came to worst, I’d have to get it a flight skill and make it learn that too. Peace had done it.
Outside the set, people were checking through and selecting the photos of me and Peace. The sight made me want to turn around and go right back inside.
“Do my photos really have to be included for the promotion? It feels like taking pictures of Peace alone would be enough. Or maybe just Yoohyun. Peace is his kiseungsu.”
“Story matters for character goods too.”
Team Leader Kim Hayeon said that while setting a Peace doll on my lap.
“Especially for kiseungsu goods, since they’re also meant to improve image. More than the Guild Leader, Director Han actually needs to be placed more prominently.”
Because I was basically the certificate of safety reading Stat F-rank, safe to handle.
“Additionally, the photocard will be a limited bonus item.”
“…What? A bonus item?”
Wait a second. Photocard? What was that supposed to mean?
“W-what exactly do you mean by that?”
“It’s a card with a photo on it. About this big.”
Yerim explained it. No, I knew what the thing itself was, but—
“You’re saying… you’re putting that in with the doll?”
“Yes. It’s a first-edition limited event.”
“No, but why? Why with the doll…? And besides, mine… I don’t think there are even that many people who’d want that!”
Yoohyun was popular to begin with, so there was no problem there, but didn’t I seem weird being included? Or was it okay because Peace was there too? More importantly, why was a photo being included as a bonus with a Peace doll in the first place? Weren’t we just using it for advertising and calling it a day?
“Why? Director Han has lots of fans too.”
One of the Haeyeon employees overheard our conversation and came over to say that. Another person agreed.
“The one and only Awakened person who can raise monsters. The person who took care of the Haeyeon Guild Leader in place of his parents, discovered S-rank Awakened Hunter Bak Yerim, and was the only one to recognize the craftsman with the golden hands. That alone is more than enough to make you famous.”
“And he’s even got a kidnapping history!”
…Why was the kidnapping history being included?
“Director Han is popular with middle-aged people too.”
“Because they feel sorry for him.”
“Sitting among all those S-rank Hunters just makes it worse.”
“He looks so unstable and worrying.”
Th-that… what was this. It wasn’t like I hadn’t intentionally tried to look a little pitiful sometimes, but what exactly had my image become?
“I’m… grateful to the people who like me.”
“There’s even a fan club.”
No, uh, um… The back of my neck suddenly burned hot. Well, I guess if you got famous, things like that could happen.
“Mm, I had no idea at all. Then maybe I should at least treat them to a meal sometime—”
“No, Director. Don’t.”
“The Haeyeon PR team is already handling it together with the Guild Leader and Hunter Bak Yerim, so there’s absolutely no need~”
“Please just update your SNS more often.”
I hadn’t been able to because I was stuck in China. Once Seseong finished registering the baby monsters, I should introduce all the new faces.
After a while, they told us the shoot was finished, so I went back inside. Yoohyun had changed clothes too—into formal wear this time. His hair was messed up as though just after battle, and there were fake bloodstains on his cheek. Taking a cleansing wipe, Yoohyun wiped his cheek as he came over to me. Peace shrank his body down too and came bounding over.
“For the last one, they want the two of us together with him in his subadult form.”
“Really? Just how many versions are going in there? It’s not like they’re stuffing five different photocards into a single doll, right?”
“They’re probably not giving all of them?”
What? It turned out that the juvenile-form version, juvenile-form wing version, adult-form version, and adult-form wing version were all separate bonus versions. And on top of that, the final subadult-form photo was random. Wasn’t this supposed to be more about publicity and improving image than profit? Though at the end of the day, it was still just a photo.
By the time the shooting was completely over, it was already dinner time. On the way home after eating out, I sent the kids and Peace ahead first and stopped by the rearing facility. The baby Horn Fox was still crouched in the corner.
“I’ll keep it with me until it settles down.”
Even if Peace might dislike it, it still seemed better than leaving it here. I also brought home the mysterious egg with me. The moment I stepped inside the house, Peace came running out as if he’d been waiting. Then he tilted his head and looked up at the fox in my arms.
- Grrng.
“Peace, be good. It’s a timid younger sibling, so let’s not scare it, okay?”
Carrying the fox with its ears pricked up, I headed into the living room. Peace came padding after me and hopped up onto the sofa first.
“Yoohyun, step in if it looks dangerous.”
After asking my younger brother that, I set the Horn Fox down on the sofa. Its fluffy tail curled around tightly against its body.
- Arrrrrr.
The baby fox looked at Peace with extreme wariness. Peace gazed back at it through narrowed eyes. It was obvious he really didn’t like it much.
- Grrr.
Peace let out a low growl and raised a forepaw. Then he tapped the fox’s nose with it. Just enough to slightly establish dominance—
- Kyaeng! Kaeng!
“Wh-what, what happened?”
“What’s going on?”
Yerim, who had gone upstairs to her room with Mar, came rushing into the living room in surprise too.
- Kkaeaeng! Kyeong! Kyeong!
The baby fox let out an absolutely dying sound and flung itself at me. Peace’s eyes went wide and his ears pricked straight up.
“Is it hurt? It didn’t look like he hit it that hard…”
- Kyaeaeng! Ggeung, kyeong!
Was it because the difference in rank was so huge? But there wasn’t a scratch on it. As I stood there flustered, trying to soothe the baby fox, Yoohyun, who had been watching, finally spoke.
“It’s faking it.”
“Huh?”
“Leave it alone.”
- Kkaeng, kaeng!
The baby fox looked up at me with its ears and tail drooping pitifully. It definitely didn’t look actually injured.
- Kkiuung.
Peace let out a small whine, watching me carefully. I hesitated, but forced myself into the firmest attitude I could manage and stepped back from the baby fox.
“Peace, you didn’t really hit it hard, did you?”
- Kkiang.
“It’d be nice if you treated your younger sibling well, but you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s okay.”
They weren’t the same species that could even talk to each other; they were, in the end, one monster and another monster. And Peace was the first monster in this house.
- Kiiing.
The baby fox rubbed itself against my leg as if asking to be picked up. I avoided it and stepped back again.
“Peace.”
Peace hopped over to me. When I petted Peace instead of the baby fox, the fox froze rigid, looking flustered.
“You come here too.”
- Arrreung.
Watching Peace carefully, the baby fox crept over bit by bit. I reached out with my other hand and petted the fox too. Even while accepting my touch, it still let out little aggrieved whines.
“If Peace had really attacked you, I would’ve taken your side too. But no pretending to be hurt.”
- Keung, kyeong.
“Peace is first here, and he’s the leader.”
It probably couldn’t understand the words, but maybe it caught the atmosphere, because the baby fox lowered its head toward Peace. Then it rolled over and showed its belly.
- Kyareureu.
Peace stared down at the baby fox, which lay there wagging its tail from side to side, looking a little dumbfounded, then lifted one forepaw. And then he lazily tapped the fox on the bridge of its nose.
“I don’t think this one is ordinary. Even Peace looks baffled.”
“Maybe it learned to read the room after having to survive on scraps for a long time.”
Once Peace turned away and climbed back onto the sofa, the baby fox sprang to its feet and looked between me and Peace. It seemed to think for a moment, then headed toward Peace while making little purring sounds. Well, would you look at that. I was glad they seemed likely to get along, but what an odd little thing.
The procedures for the new monsters were completed in just one day. Seriously, when it came to handling work, they were amazing. The next day, people from the Hunter Association came and checked the monsters over and took photos.
However, while the Hunters from China had arrived safely in Korea, I was told their paperwork would take a bit longer. Unlike Noah, the fact that they’d entered illegally, along with the whole situation in China, seemed to complicate things. Since changing nationality normally was impossible, it looked like there were a lot of places where hands would have to be greased. Still, since Teacher Hoyeon was an A-rank healer, he was expected to be quickly registered as a Korean Hunter.
“So this is the little one.”
Evelyn said that while looking down at the baby Pegasus. Her expression didn’t look especially moved. It made me a little worried whether she’d take proper care of a kiseungsu.
“Yes. I thought it would suit Evelyn-ssi well.”
“The Pegasus can be said to belong to Medusa, too.”
“Huh?”
“I think I’ll get to hear something interesting.”
Evelyn smiled faintly. Then she reached out and stroked the Pegasus’s head. That touch, at least, was quite gentle.
“Shall we go, Director Han?”
Evelyn had come both to check the Pegasus and to provide bodyguard duty for me. For a while, whenever I went out, an S-rank Hunter was supposed to stick close to me. After nodding, I picked up the lamb.
“Let’s go see Daddy, Songi.”
- Meeeh.
Seseong had also taken care of registering the new baby monsters together with the registration of a kiseungsu affiliated with the Awakened Management Office. Thanks to that, Sung Hyunjae and Director Song were now waiting for me at the Hunter Association. Ugh, it took long enough. Still, since I’d pulled this off, maybe the handcuffs and wire would be possible too.
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