Chapter 100

Everyone had at least one hobby. Im Chunsoo was no different.

The first thing Team Leader 1 saw when he entered the Guild Master’s office was a golf ball rolling toward the door.

Roll, roll. Thunk.

The ball had rolled far wide of the hole and only stopped after striking Team Leader 1’s shoe. As he bent down to pick it up, Im Chunsoo waved him off.

“Forget it. Come over here and have some tea.”

“Yes, sir.”

A brief silence passed between them. After savoring his tea, Im Chunsoo suddenly spoke.

“Smells good, doesn’t it?”

“Ah, yes. I suppose it must be good tea.”

“This is Longjing tea. I received it as a gift, but to be honest, I don’t really know what it is. It’s just filthy expensive.”

“What?”

“Why are you so surprised?”

“I thought you liked tea.”

“Not at all. I only pretend to savor it because I want to look sophisticated. At home, I drink instant coffee.”

Team Leader 1 let out a quiet laugh. Im Chunsoo’s love of tea was famous among the Guild executives. They had even begun competing to see who could give the Guild Master the better tea.

“A few people are going to be surprised.”

“For example?”

“Team Leader 3. He’s been bragging that he’ll bring back some famous tea from his upcoming business trip to China.”

“Fire that bastard. He’s lost his mind thinking about gathering weeds instead of doing his job.”

“You’re serious?”

“Of course I’m joking. Am I not allowed to joke?”

Light laughter passed between them. Im Chunsoo gulped down the remaining tea as if it were cold water, then smacked his lips.

“So, when are you going to tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“You have some new information. I went out of my way to tell you a secret because you were having trouble speaking up…”

“Was it that obvious?”

“Look in a mirror before you come in next time. With a long face like that, anyone could tell.”

It wasn’t long before Team Leader 1 finally managed to speak.

“The investigation into the Peace Guild that you ordered previously… has failed.”

“Both of them?”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

“Explain in more detail.”

“They approached carefully, but they say it would be better not to provoke the Peace Guild Master or Team Leader.”

“I expected as much. I should have made the request personally. In the end, I didn’t step in because of my useless pride, so some of the blame is mine.”

“No, it was because I was inadequate.”

“That’s true, too. Even if those locked-down bastards were out of reach, this C-rank Hunter named Jin Taekyung should have been a success.”

Im Chunsoo shot him a cold glare.

“Why exactly did you fail? I gave you a Familiar mage hired from outside and even assigned the Guild’s Security Team to him.”

“Well, that…”

Team Leader 1 hesitated, then finally forced out the words he had been unable to say.

“We lost contact.”

“Hm? That bastard Hong Woojin?”

“Hong Woojin disappeared after leaving a single text message. The ones we lost contact with were the Security Team.”

“Why the Security Team? Don’t they report the situation regularly?”

“Yes. Reports come in every two hours, but… the last one was four hours ago.”

“Are you saying the entire Security Team walked out on us?”

“No. Judging by the circumstances, it’s highly likely Jin Taekyung got to them.”

“What?”

What was that supposed to mean?

As Im Chunsoo stared at him in disbelief, Team Leader 1 handed him the pages he had printed out.

“Today’s report.”

The fact that only certain sections had been highlighted in red showed that this was an emergency report, not a regular one.

Im Chunsoo’s eyes raced across the words.

The target had spoken on the phone with someone whose identity was unknown, and both the contents of the conversation and the target’s actions were suspicious. After reading the report from beginning to end, Im Chunsoo let out a sigh.

“Hah. He’s more interesting than I expected. What happened next?”

“The Security Team Leader contacted me directly. He said they needed to pursue the target immediately, so he would take action first and report afterward.”

“And then they lost contact…”

Im Chunsoo fell deep into thought as he tapped the table.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

When he raised his head, the high-quality wooden table had frozen solid.

“Who did Jin Taekyung call? You found out at least the person’s full name, or you wouldn’t have shown me this.”

“Seong Jinho. A thirty-year-old exam candidate living in Bucheon.”

“……Team Leader 1. Did I hear you wrong? An exam candidate, not a Hunter?”

“I checked again myself, but there’s no mistake. He’s the manager of the goshiwon where Jin Taekyung lives. They’re supposedly like sworn brothers.”

“Hah. Today keeps surprising me.”

Im Chunsoo had expected him to be at least an A-rank Hunter. But what was this? A civilian exam candidate?

Shaking his head, Im Chunsoo rose from his seat.

“Ugh, we really got played. How does a Guild with only five people have so much to hide?”

“What should we do?”

“What do you mean, what should we do? It’s almost dinnertime. We should go have a meal.”

“……What?”

Im Chunsoo clicked his tongue at the bewildered Team Leader 1.

“Stop talking and follow me.”

He was thinking of having dinner in Ilsan that evening.

The six-on-one fight ended in an instant.

To begin with, Choi Byungil was the only one who could exchange blows with me. Even he didn’t last long before dropping to his knees.

Obviously.

But it seemed to have been a tremendous shock to someone.

With both ankles broken, Choi Byungil continued talking to me with a face as white as a sheet.

“An A-rank Hunter? Were you hiding your identity?”

“No. I never hid my identity.”

“Tell me your real affiliation! Is Ares Guild making a move against our Sangdong Guild…?”

“I’m with the Peace Guild. And Ares Guild wouldn’t be interested in your Guild. You’re in completely different weight classes.”

“Then who was the person you called?”

“How many times do I have to tell you? He’s my goshiwon manager hyung. Would you know him if I said his name was Seong Jinho?”

“This can’t be. This can’t be happening.”

In the end, there was nothing for it but to use the mouth-sealing technique. I tore his clothes into strips and gagged him, then treated all the remaining wounded, including him.

Of course, I didn’t use the potions I had bought from the Store.

“Wow, Sangdong Guild gives you guys some serious support.”

Even after looting only what they had brought with them, the quality and quantity of their Equipment and consumables were nothing to sneeze at. I used some of them for treatment, and the rest…

“I’m confiscating this for now. Anyone have a problem with that?”

Naturally, no one raised a hand.

They must have been so intimidated by my overwhelming strength that, even after their injuries had been healed, they didn’t dare attack me again. They were fairly smart men.

“Now, who wants to tell me all about your mission?”

Once again, nobody raised a hand, so I had to choose someone myself.

The choice was easy.

“You.”

“M-me?”

“Yeah, you.”

The Familiar mage, Kim Junsu, flinched. Then he declared with a resolute expression,

“I’m with the Security Team. I cannot carelessly disclose the Guild’s confidential information to an outsider.”

“Oh.”

I was impressed. At the same time, I grabbed him by the hair and yanked.

A small sound like tape being ripped came from somewhere, and his wig came clean off. The gleaming bald crown hidden beneath it was exposed.

“What is this?!”

“From now on, if you lie or keep claiming ignorance in response to my questions, I’ll pluck your hair out by the handful.”

“……!”

After that, everything proceeded smoothly. All kinds of information poured from the mouth of a balding man desperate to protect his hair by any means necessary.

“Hong Woojin?”

“Yes. He’s a B-rank mage hired from outside by Team Leader 1. Like me, his specialty is Familiar magic.”

“Really?”

What a waste. I should have caught that bastard and beaten the information out of him, too.

I’ll run into him someday. If it takes too long, I can always track him down myself.

Smacking my lips, I continued extracting information. Whenever Kim Junsu seemed to hesitate, I encouraged him by fiddling with his remaining hair.

“That’s everything. I really mean it, that’s all. Even though I’m in the Security Team, I truly don’t know anything else. So please, just leave my hair alone…”

His tone was full of both resentment and sincerity. The final words in particular struck a chord with me.

This should be more or less everything.

The mastermind behind it was the Sangdong Guild—or, more precisely, Im Chunsoo.

After seeing that his spendthrift son had been shaken down for a hundred million won in income, he had started digging into our Guild.

Well, in the end, I was the one who robbed him instead.

“The Guild Master won’t let this go.”

“Is that some line reserved for weaklings? Forget invoking the Guild Master and clean up the shit you made yourself.”

“……Tch.”

At my sharp retort, Choi Byungil lowered his head in frustration. But the man wasn’t entirely wrong.

The Sangdong Guild Master is going to be pretty pissed when he finds out.

He had sent his subordinates to watch me, only for them to get robbed and captured instead. For the Guild Master—and the Guild as a whole—this was about as fucking humiliating as it got.

Given the seriousness of the matter, I could only hope they would quietly bury it and move on.

Should I call Team Leader Choi?

That was when it happened.

010-xxxx-xxxx

A call from a number I didn’t recognize.

What was this?

A strange tension rose within me for no apparent reason as I answered.

“Hello?”

“Come downstairs. I’m waiting below.”

“Huh? I think you have the wrong number.”

“Jin Taekyung. That’s right, isn’t it?”

“Well, yes, but… who are you?”

“My name is Im Chunsoo. I heard you have a few of my people with you.”

“……”

“Are you listening?”

I was listening. I just couldn’t speak.

The Guild Master of a mid-sized Guild had come all the way here himself to meet me. And it was Im Chunsoo, of all people—the man with the terrible temper.

“Come down. We can clear up any misunderstandings over a meal.”

There was no misunderstanding that needed clearing up, but I had no idea what would happen if I said, No.

Hadn’t the man already found out my location?

In the end, I had only one option.

“I’ll be down shortly.”

Im Chunsoo’s first impression was intense. He was younger than I expected, and although his eyes seemed gentle, they burned with heat.

Fiery.

Ironically, that was my first thought upon meeting a master of ice magic.

“Hello. My name is Jin Taekyung.”

“I’m Im Chunsoo.”

His voice was cold, unlike his burning gaze. At last, he seemed like someone who deserved the nickname Frozen.

“It’s interesting to see in person the face I’d only seen in report photos.”

There were actually people who could admit so bluntly and without embarrassment that they had dug into my background.

“What about my people?”

“They’re upstairs.”

“Are there any fatalities?”

“Of course not. I have no desire to become a criminal.”

“I appreciate that.”

Im Chunsoo gave me a slight nod.

“My people got impatient and made a mistake. Can you let it slide?”

“If there’s reasonable compensation.”

Im Chunsoo let out a quiet laugh, and the man beside him, who looked like a Team Leader, frowned.

“Young man, you’re rude.”

“I am, somewhat… but hearing that from someone who even put me under surveillance feels a little strange.”

“Even so—”

The man couldn’t continue. Im Changsoo raised a hand to stop him.

“Team Leader 1, go upstairs and release my people.”

“……Yes, Guild Master.”

If Kim Butler possessed a gentle charisma, this man possessed a rough one. Maybe it was because they were both mages. Somehow, the two men overlapped in my mind.

“Come take a walk with me.”

Im Changsoo went ahead, and I followed behind him.

“Do you know something?”

After walking briskly for a while, Im Chunsoo suddenly spoke.

“Once I have a grudge against someone, I have to see it through to the end. I don’t know about you, but that’s the kind of person I am.”

Very Murim of him.

The strong devour the weak. Survival of the fittest. It seemed the blood of a Murim tough guy flowed through this man’s veins, too.

“That’s how I built the Sangdong Guild. I climbed higher by stepping on what I had brought down and salvaging whatever I could.”

“I see.”

“What about the Peace Guild?”

“……What do you mean?”

“The past decade has been dull. We’re allies with every nearby Guild, and we haven’t had a rival for a long time. Then you people appeared.”

As I looked into his eyes, where curiosity and passion seemed to be boiling, I had only one thought.

This is dangerous.

Whether I cared or not, Im Chunsoo continued speaking.

“Your Guild Master and Team Leader are people whose information I can’t easily access myself… But more than anything, your existence has stirred me up.”

We were climbing a hill now. Despite his considerable age, Im Chunsoo didn’t seem short of breath.

“Do you know why I came all the way here?”

“To see me.”

“You’re only half right.”

Im Chunsoo’s footsteps stopped. Slowly turning around, he released a frigid chill from his entire body.

System

Level 75 Im Chunsoo

“At my age, time is money. I’m not so indulgent that I’d come all the way here just to see your face.”

Frozen. The seasoned A-rank mage who had fought his way through the Great Cataclysm himself.

The moment he extended his hand toward me—

Hissssss.

Around a dozen ice spikes formed in the empty air above my head. The midsummer air froze, and frost settled over the scorching dirt path.

I’d been well and truly caught.

I had thought he was an old man with some sense of propriety. I never imagined he would launch straight into something like this.

“Do you really have to go this far?”

“I’m going this far because it’s you.”

“I’m only a C-rank.”

“Exactly. I want to see what that C-rank Hunter can do.”

The moment he finished speaking, Im Chunsoo clenched his fist. The ice spikes, streaming with biting cold, shot toward me.

Whoosh!

But they couldn’t even touch the hem of my clothes.

“Rise up. Fire Wall.”

At the sound of a clear voice, the mana permeating the air began to churn. The ground, which had been frosted over by Im Chunsoo’s magic, melted as flames surged upward.

Fwoosh! Fwoosh!

It was exactly what its name suggested: a wall of fire. Blue flames swallowed the ice spikes and split the space between Im Chunsoo and me.

Beyond the wavering flames, Im Chunsoo cried out in shock.

“What is this…!”

But I wasn’t looking at Im Chunsoo.

Behind him, a man standing at the entrance to the hiking trail greeted me in a gentle voice.

“I’m glad I’m not late. Chunsoo, you’re here too.”

System

Level 80 Kim Hwajong

Kim Hwajong.

Kim Butler had arrived.