Queen of the Shadows

14. Someone's Doing

"Mom! Moooommm!"

"Ugh.." Cale groaned as he forcefully opened his tired eyes. "Sooah.. what is it?" He sat up against the bed-frame, rubbing his eyes.

"Your phone has been ringing since earlier." Sooah handed Cale his phone with her tiny hands.

Cale opened his phone, looking at the notifications. There were a few missed calls from an unknown cellphone number.

Ring!

Ring!

It rang again.

Cale picked it up this time. "Hello?"

"Ah! Mr. Henituse."

It was Jinchul's voice.

"Oh, it's you." Cale said nonchalantly.

"Huh- ahem.. yes, it's me, Woo Jinchul.  I called you today to discuss about some business."

'Business?' Cale became confused. Then he frowned, realizing what he meant. 'He's not talking about the missing children, is he?'

"As the media knows, you have awakened as a S-rank hunter. Thus Korean Association would like to request your help."

"And what is the problem where you'll need my 'help'?" Cale inquired for more information, not that he was skeptical.

"Recently, there has been an increase in both gates appearing and children going missing. The association believes that these may be linked. In order to investigate, we need manpower to enter the dungeons and explore."

"I see." His voice barely evoked interest.

"If you comply with us, we'll offer you generous compensation according to your help."

'Gotcha.' Cale smirked. "Alright."

"Thank you. I look forward to working with you in the future. The association will send the necessary information to your address."

"Actually," Cale stopped him, "can you send it to Jinwoo's place?"

"Jin.. woo's place...?"

"Yeah." Cale felt a bit embarrassed saying this. "I'm currently living in his house, to avoid attention from the media."

"Ah, I see. Then I will send it over to his address under your name."

"Thank you."

The call ended.

Ding!

[ A new quest has appeared ]

[ Quest — The Missing Children of the Night ]

'Ahh shit...' Cale sweated. His smile twitched with anticipation...

"What was that about?" Sooah asked, tugging on Cale's sleeves.

"Just grown-up matters." Cale looked away to have a deep sigh. "It looks like I'll be away for a while. I'll ask Jinah to take care of you, so be good, okay?" He ruffled up the top of her hair.

Sooah nodded. "How long will you be gone?"

Cale shrugged. "We'll find out later."

"My queen." Erebus came out of the shadows. "Let me accompany you in this journey."

'...' Cale hesitated. After the shit-show he (Erebus, but it's really Cale) caused in the dungeon, he wanted to say no immediately. 'The shadows might be useful in infiltration and espionage.' He thought for a good moment. "Okay..." Cale felt defeated again.

[ The Missing Children of the Night

Time limit: 3 months (2189:99.99...)

Failure: The missing children will die and the case will be buried

Summary (current):
Children have been going missing more often as the amount of gates opening have increased. The Korean Hunters Association is currently looking into this issue. ]

Cale drowned. 'The children who're missing will die...?' Something made Cale feel anxious.

Ding dong!

Cale glanced at the door. 'That's quick.'

"Was there supposed to be mail? You didn't order take-out, did you, oppa?" Jinah peaked outside her room.

"No. It must be for Cale then." Jinwoo came outside.

"Yeah, it's for me." Cale confirmed. He opened the front door, greeted by a tall, big man in a black suit.

He handed Cale a sealed packet and left silently.

'Awkward much.' Cale ignored it.

"What is it?" Jinah asked, standing beside him.

Cale opened the packet, pulling the papers out. "I volunteered to do some hunter work."

"Huh? I thought oppa said you weren't planning to do that stuff?"

"I wasn't going to..." Cale looked over the documents. "Can you take care of Sooah while I'm gone?" He asked Jinha for a favor.

"Sure." Jinah easily agreed. "Who else would take care of that adorable fella? Brother isn't good with children anyways and mom is usually away."

"Thank you." Cale nodded.

"No need." Jinah smiled. "Since it's hunter work, shouldn't brother also participate?"

"I don't think so. One s-rank should be enough." Cale distanced himself from that man Jinwoo.

"Actually, I am also participating." Jinwoo leaned into the conversation.

Jinah grinned. "I still have schoolwork to finish, you guys can continue your conversation." She left with Sooah.

"What?" Cale asked Jinwoo to clarify.

"The president called me earlier and asked if I could volunteer as well. I couldn't reject him after hearing the details." Jinwoo smiled cunningly.

'Aah.. fuck...' Cale could feel the misfortune coming his way before it even happened.

"What did he send you?" Jinwoo asked, slumping down as his chin laid onto Cale's shoulder. He peaked over at the documents. "The situation seems worse than before."

"What do you mean?" Cale flipped over the papers, quickly scanning each page.

"There used to be more children missing than gates appearing," Jinwoo pointed at the paper, "but lately there's been a lot of trouble."

"Because of the gates appearing?"

Jinwoo nodded. "Even though we left the missing people cases on the side, the government should've taken care of them."

Cale frowned. "What sorts of trouble?" He asked.

"Well.. you already know, more and more gates are appearing, but that's not all. The difficulty rank of the dungeons have abnormally increased as well, like back then in the C-rank double dungeon."

"When did this start happening?" Cale began investigating the known facts.

"You're starting to sound like a detective." Jinwoo joked.

'Do you think this is a joke?' Cale glared at him. 'Children are going missing and gates are appearing more frequently. How am I suppose to rest knowing the end might be coming?'

Jinwoo flinched. "Anyways.. probably two months ago...? It started when this unknown organization appeared."

Cale's eyes widened. 'An.. unknown organization...?' Cale had a really bad feeling about this...

——-
Should I add "some" characters from TCF into this crossover?

Wink wink

Btw your answer doesn't matter 😐