Chapter 279

Jin Taekyung.

The three-syllable name stood out clearly on the screen.

Park Jihoon was about to press the call icon without thinking when a thunderous shout stopped him.

“I’m not finished talking. Put that damn phone away and sit down right now!”

“……”

“Are you deaf?”

“……No, sir. Go ahead.”

Park Jihoon turned off the screen and dropped heavily into a chair. Park Tae Seop glared at him with blazing eyes.

“Was killing a Team Leader-level Hunter without permission not enough for you?”

“I was under the impression that matter had already been discussed. ‘That person’ said they had personally contacted you to ask for your understanding.”

“Understanding? You mean threaten me?”

“They’d be hurt if they heard you say that.”

“What the hell do you have against Jin Taekyung and the Peace Guild that you’d go so far as to send Black Hunters…?”

“That’s enough.”

Park Jihoon cut him off, his voice hard.

“There’s no need for you to know things you’re better off not knowing.”

“……!”

“Isn’t it important that the Guild Master accepted the proposal? One way or another, the result matters more than the process.”

“Yeah. So is that why you turned that important result into this mess?”

Park Jihoon frowned. Park Tae Seop’s complaints were nothing new, but this was the first time he had been so openly hostile.

What the hell happened?

“That’s enough bickering. What went wrong?”

Park Tae Seop, breathing hard with anger, tossed out a single sentence.

“Two hours ago, Team 11 sent an emergency message.”

To the outside world, Myeongdong Guild had ten teams.

But that was merely its public face. Team 11, the team Park Tae Seop had mentioned, did not officially exist. It was made up entirely of Black Hunters.

“Did you say an emergency message?”

“If you have eyes, see for yourself.”

Park Tae Seop pulled something from his robe pocket and tossed it over. Park Jihoon caught an old-fashioned cell phone so outdated that he couldn’t even guess when it had been made.

The call history had been wiped clean. The inbox held only a single text message, received two hours earlier.

Intruder detected.

One short line.

But its contents were anything but ordinary.

Park Jihoon closed the phone and asked, “Where was it?”

“Far away. A backwater hole beside some nameless mountain. It’s outside the safe zone, and there aren’t any Gates nearby, so no one has any reason to go there.”

“Any word after that?”

“If there had been, would I be bringing this up?”

“So they’re out of contact.”

“I sent people to check, but… I have a bad feeling about this.”

Park Jihoon felt the same.

Seven years ago, as soon as he had been assigned to Myeongdong Guild, his first task had involved Team 11.

Park Tae Seop, the Guild Master of Myeongdong Guild, had strongly objected to hiding and training criminals. But he had been unable to defy the orders of that person.

That was how they had gathered roughly thirty Black Hunters.

Three A-rank Hunters. And twenty-five B-rank Hunters.

They were a force powerful enough to rival—or even surpass—Team 1, Myeongdong Guild’s elite.

And now they had lost contact after an intruder appeared.

Just as unease began creeping through Park Jihoon’s chest—

Brrrrr.

The phone in his inner coat pocket began to vibrate again. The longer it continued, the more his unease grew.

Ring. Ring…

The call went unanswered and ended in voicemail, just like every time before.

This was already my tenth call. I’d sent him a text ages ago, too, but he hadn’t replied.

He should be at work by now.

The entrance of the high-rise building towering over the heart of Seoul was crowded with people. I was watching them absently when someone spoke to me.

“Excuse me.”

The man addressing me was dressed in a suit.

His face was angular, and his eyes were sharp. I could sense the solid build beneath his clothes and the energy coiled inside him. The man beside him, apparently his colleague, was much the same.

I put away my phone and answered,

“Yes, excuse me.”

The suited man hesitated, then opened his mouth. The name tag on his chest clearly displayed both his name and his affiliation: Myeongdong Guild.

“We’re from the Security Team. We received a report about you.”

“I’m not a sir. What kind of report?”

“We checked the CCTV footage and saw you loitering in front of our building for quite a while… Is there something you need?”

Their eyes were full of suspicion and wariness.

I was wearing track pants and a hoodie, with a cap pulled low over my face and sunglasses on top of that. A guy dressed like this peering into the building was bound to attract a report.

“Sir, would you mind moving somewhere else for a moment?”

“No, I’d rather not. And I told you, I’m not a sir.”

“It’ll only take a moment.”

Despite his fairly polite tone, his actions were anything but.

Whoosh!

With a short rush of wind, both men reached for me at the same time.

In the next instant, question marks appeared on their once-confident faces.

Tap. Grab.

“Huh?”

“What?”

I casually caught both their wrists and put on a stern expression.

“Y-You rude punks. How dare you lay hands on your teacher?”

“W-Wait a second.”

“Who the hell are you? Let go!”

The two C-rank Hunters from the Security Team were visibly flustered. No matter how hard they strained, they couldn’t move an inch, and their mouths fell open.

Should I break them?

I considered it for a moment, but the time wasn’t right yet. I released their wrists before the commotion could grow any larger.

“Let’s not go around putting our hands on people.”

Rubbing their reddened wrists, the two men cautiously asked, “Were you… a Hunter?”

“Excuse me, but could we have your name and affiliation?”

“I’m Jin Taekyung of the Peace Guild.”

“What?”

“Could you be the Lord Fuck I’ve heard about?”

“……You must have seen that internet broadcast.”

I’d rather be the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi. What the hell is Lord Fuck supposed to mean?

I sighed and lowered my sunglasses slightly. The two men gasped and immediately bowed deeply.

“It’s an honor to meet you.”

“You’re much more handsome in person.”

Their eyes sparkled like high school students who had just spotted their favorite idol. Judging by their reaction, they clearly knew nothing about what was really going on.

Of course. Anything involving the Black Hunters would be top secret. If an ordinary Security Team Hunter knew about it, the secret would have leaked long ago.

“But what brings you to our Guild…?”

“I came to see someone I know.”

“Someone you know?”

I pulled a thin piece of paper from my wallet and held it out. It was Park Jihoon’s business card, which I’d received a while back and kept.

“Hunter Park Jihoon of Team 1?”

The Security Team Hunter tilted his head at the card, then turned to his colleague.

“Senior, do you know who this is?”

“Who?”

“He’s supposedly Hunter Park Jihoon from Team 1. I know all the Team 1 Hunters, but I can’t quite place him…”

“Park Jihoon, Park Jihoon… Oh, him. You know. That guy.”

He elbowed his colleague in the side, and only then did the other man let out an “Oh!”

The two of them looked back and forth between me and the business card with fascinated expressions.

What’s with that reaction?

My eyes narrowed. Unable to see my expression behind my sunglasses, the Security Team Hunter asked, “Are you close with Hunter Park Jihoon?”

“We went to middle school together.”

“Ohhh, so you’re friends.”

I gave him a gentle smile.

“Well, for now.”

“Huh?”

“I’m joking.”

Maybe.

Oblivious to my thoughts, the Security Team Hunters laughed and kept asking questions.

“So you came to see Hunter Park Jihoon?”

“Yes. He wasn’t answering his phone, and he wasn’t at home, either. I thought I might find him at work.”

“We’re sorry. We had no idea.”

“You were just doing your job, so don’t worry about it. More importantly, is Jihoon inside?”

The senior Security Team Hunter answered, “He probably won’t come in today, either.”

“Today, too?”

“Yes. He hardly ever comes to work. Maybe once a month? I’ve been here almost a year and have only seen him a few times. This guy’s barely been here a month, so…”

“Sounds like Myeongdong Guild’s Hunters don’t come to work very often.”

“Of course they do. I don’t know why, but everyone just accepts that he doesn’t.”

Yeah. Why is that?

I’d never heard of a Guild Hunter who showed up for work once a month.

The question that had taken root in one corner of my mind grew deeper.

Without letting it show, I said, “Could you try contacting Jihoon for me? I understand there’s a separate phone for Guild summons.”

“Uh, that’s…”

The two men hesitated, so I made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.

“I came to discuss a cooperative raid. If I put in a word, I think I could get another person or two added…”

“Whoa.”

“Are you serious?”

Of course not.

It was all a lie from beginning to end. But I kept a perfectly straight face and continued.

“You’re both C-rank, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“How did you know?”

“I can tell at a glance. But you two seem too good to waste away in the Security Team.”

Strictly speaking, a Guild’s Security Team was little more than a backwater department.

If a Hunter were truly skilled, why would the Guild waste him on guard duty? From the Guild’s perspective, sending him on raids would be far more profitable.

There was no way the two Security Team Hunters didn’t know that. Their eyes lit up.

“I’ll contact him right away!”

“I’d appreciate that.”

“Is there anything else you need?”

“Would it be all right if I looked around the Guild for a bit? I can wait for Jihoon inside.”

“Yes. Yes, of course.”

Unlike the senior, who was bowing obsequiously, the junior Hunter’s face had gone stiff.

He’d only joined a month ago. His sense of duty and loyalty to the company were probably still burning bright.

“Senior, I don’t think that’s right.”

“What? You little punk.”

“I really respect Hunter Jin Taekyung, too, but doesn’t this violate the Guild’s internal regulations?”

“Hey, you idiot!”

The senior seemed to realize he’d slipped up as soon as he shouted. He glanced at me, then lowered his voice to a whisper.

“Are you crazy? It’s an A-Rank Gate. You could rot in the Security Team for three years and never get another opportunity like this.”

“Then we should report it to the Team Leader first…”

“God, you’re so damn rigid. Why do we need to report that he wants to look around for a moment? It’s not like he’s just anybody. He’s Hunter Jin Taekyung.”

“No, even so…”

“Please. Try to live with a little yutori, okay?”¹

“Yutori?”¹

The junior Hunter’s expression suddenly turned grave.

“In the current climate, please refrain from carelessly using words like that. It makes me uncomfortable.”

“You’re out of your mind. Do you want your life at the Guild to get uncomfortable?”

What a complete circus.

Clicking my tongue, I stepped forward. The junior Hunter flinched, then thrust out his chest.

“D-Do you have something to say?”

“No. I was just moved by what I heard.”

“What?”

“You’re a true patriot, and your loyalty to the company goes without saying. I’ll be sure to mention it when I meet the Guild Master of Myeongdong Guild later.”

“T-The Guild Master?”

“Yes. Jihoon said he’d speak to the Guild Master, too. I should make sure to mention that there’s an excellent talent here.”

I glanced at the name tag on the junior Hunter’s chest and added, “Hunter Kim Cheol Soo.”

“……!”

The eyes of Kim Cheol Soo, devoted company man, trembled with emotion.

With my most amiable smile, I asked, “Can I go in now?”

Kim Cheol Soo shouted at the top of his lungs, “Irasshaimase!”²

“……Ah, yes. Arigato.”³

The luxurious twenty-story building belonged to Myeongdong Guild.

The senior Hunter had pulled rank to ditch his junior and come with me. He chattered away as we walked.

“The first through ninth floors house the civilian departments—tax, accounting, corporate affairs, and so on. From the tenth through the nineteenth floors, each floor belongs to a raid team.”

“What about the twentieth?”

“The Guild Master and the board of directors, obviously.”

“I see.”

“Team 1 is the Guild’s elite team, so they’re on the nineteenth floor.”

Ding.

The elevator arrived as he finished speaking. I pressed the button for the nineteenth floor and was waiting for the doors to close when—

“Hey, hey! Wait!”

The senior Hunter hurriedly pressed the open button.

The doors slid open, and a middle-aged man with a receding hairline stepped inside.

He gave us a sidelong glance, then covered the receiver with one hand as he spoke.

“Yes, yes. No, it’s nothing. Just the elevator. Yes.”

The energy coming from him as he continued his important call was formidable.

An A-rank Hunter?

The senior Hunter had gone rigid at the man’s appearance. I gave him a questioning look, and he discreetly raised one finger while mouthing the answer.

Team 1 Leader.

No wonder he hadn’t pressed a button.

As Team 1 Leader, he was naturally headed for the nineteenth floor. I listened to his call.

And in the next instant, a familiar voice pierced my ears.

“How does it make any sense that all twenty-eight of them were wiped out? Hurry up and—”

“……!”

My body trembled as if I’d been electrocuted.

That familiar voice.

And the number twenty-eight.

So it was you.

My hand moved the instant the thought struck me.

Grab!

“Ghk! Who the hell are you…?”

I clamped a hand around the Team 1 Leader’s throat like a shackle and whispered into the receiver.

“Park Jihoon. You fucking bastard.”