Chapter 279

Jin Taekyung.

The three-syllable name appeared clearly on the screen.

A thunderous shout stopped Park Jihoon just as he was about to press the call icon.

“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 phone 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?”

“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? Not a threat?”

“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 went as far as sending Black Hunters…?”

“Let’s stop there.”

Park Jihoon cut him off in a rigid voice.

“You don’t need to know facts you really ought not know.”

“……!”

“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’s brow furrowed. Park Tae Seop’s complaints were nothing new, but this was the first time he had been so blatant about them.

What the hell happened?

“It would be best if we stopped bickering here. What problem has arisen?”

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. The Team 11 Park Tae Seop had mentioned was a team that officially did not exist—in other words, a team made up of Black Hunters.

“Did you say an emergency message?”

“If you have eyes, check it yourself.”

Park Tae Seop pulled something from his robe pocket and tossed it over. When Park Jihoon caught it, he saw an old-fashioned cell phone so outdated that he couldn’t even guess when it had been made.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. In the message inbox, there was only one text, sitting there by itself. It had arrived two hours ago.

Intruder detected.

A short, single line.

But its contents were anything but ordinary.

Park Jihoon closed the phone and asked,

“Where was it?”

“Far away. A backwater hole in the middle of nowhere, beside an unnamed mountain. It’s outside a safe zone, and there aren’t any Gates nearby, so there’s no reason for anyone 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 shared his concern.

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 then, anxiety began to crawl up from a corner of Park Jihoon’s heart.

Brrrrr.

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

Ring. Ring…

The call went unanswered and ended in voicemail, just as it had every time before.

This was already the tenth call. I had sent a text a long time ago, too, but no reply had come back.

He should be at work by now.

The entrance of the high-rise building towering over the center of Seoul was crowded with people. I was watching the scene blankly 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 his solid build and the energy coiled inside his body. The man standing beside him, 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?”

The looks they gave me were full of suspicion and wariness.

A guy in casual track pants and a hoodie, with a cap pulled low over his face and sunglasses on top of that, 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 the exact opposite.

Whoosh!

With two short bursts of wind, both men thrust their arms toward me at the same time.

And in the next instant, question marks appeared on their confident faces.

Tap. Grab.

“Huh?”

“Hmm?”

I caught both of their wrists without the slightest effort and put on a stern expression.

“Y-You rude punks. How dare you lay hands on this gentleman?”

“W-Wait a second.”

“Who the hell are you? Let go of this!”

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

Should I break them?

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

“Let’s not lay our hands on other people so carelessly.”

The two men rubbed their reddened wrists and cautiously asked,

“Were you… a Hunter?”

“Excuse me, but what are your affiliation and name?”

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

“Excuse me?”

“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 let out startled exclamations 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 seen their favorite idol. Judging from their attitude, they clearly didn’t know anything about the deeper circumstances.

Of course. Anything related to 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 took a thin piece of paper from my wallet and held it out. It was Park Jihoon’s business card, which I had received a while ago and kept there.

“Hunter Park Jihoon of Team 1?”

The Security Team Hunter tilted his head as he looked at the card, then asked his colleague,

“Senior, do you know who this is?”

“Who?”

“He says he’s Hunter Park Jihoon from Team 1. I know all the Hunters in Team 1, but I can’t quite remember this person…”

“Park Jihoon, Park Jihoon… Oh, him. You know, the one…”

He jabbed his colleague in the side with an elbow, 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 is this reaction?

My eyes narrowed on their own. The Security Team Hunter, unable to see my reaction hidden behind my sunglasses, asked,

“Are you close with Hunter Park Jihoon?”

“We went to middle school together.”

“Ohhh, so you’re friends.”

I answered with a gentle smile.

“Well, we are for now.”

“Huh?”

“I’m joking.”

I might not be.

Without knowing what I was thinking, the Security Team Hunters laughed and continued their 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 be able to see him if I came to his workplace.”

“I’m sorry about this. We didn’t know.”

“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 doesn’t come to work often. If you count the number of times, maybe once a month? I’ve been here almost a year and have only run into him a few times, and this guy’s been here barely a month…”

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

“Would that make sense? I don’t know why, but everyone just accepts it.”

He’s right. Why is that?

I had 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 showing it, I opened my mouth.

“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 add one or two more people…”

“Gasp.”

“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, yes.”

“How did you know?”

“It’s obvious at a glance. But you seem too good to waste away in the Security Team.”

Strictly speaking, a Guild’s Security Team was little more than a non-mainstream department.

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

There was no way the two Security Team members didn’t know that. Their eyes began to shine.

“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 kept bowing obsequiously, the junior Hunter’s face had gone stiff.

He had only been with the company for a month. It was probably the time when a sense of duty and loyalty to the company burned brightest.

“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!”

He seemed to realize he had made a mistake after shouting, because he glanced at me before lowering his voice to a whisper.

“Are you crazy? It’s an A-Rank Gate. Even if you rot in the Security Team for three years, you’ll never get an opportunity like this.”

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

“God, you’re so rigid. Why would we need to report it just because 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. Let’s live with a little yutori, okay?”¹

“Yutori?”

The junior Hunter’s expression suddenly turned grave.

“Please refrain from using such a thoughtless word in times like these. It makes me uncomfortable.”

“You’re out of your mind. Do you want to make your life at the Guild difficult from now on?”

This was a complete circus.

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

“D-Do you have something to say?”

“No. I just found it inspiring listening to you.”

“Huh?”

“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 would tell 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, so devoted to his company, trembled with emotion.

With the friendliest smile I could manage, I asked,

“Can I go in now?”

Kim Cheol Soo shouted at the top of his lungs,

“Irasshaimase!”

“……Ah, yes. Arigato.”

The twenty-story luxury building belonged to Myeongdong Guild.

The senior Hunter, who had ditched his junior by pulling rank and followed me, continued chattering.

“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 floor?”

“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 slightly as he answered the call.

“Yes, yes. No, it’s nothing. It’s because of the elevator. Yes.”

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

An A-rank Hunter?

The senior Hunter had gone rigid at the man’s appearance. I gave him a questioning glance, asking who it was, and he slowly raised one finger while mouthing the words.

Team 1 Leader.

No wonder he hadn’t pressed a floor.

As Team 1 Leader, going to the nineteenth floor was only natural. I focused on his conversation.

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

—Are you saying twenty-eight people were wiped out? Hurry up and—

“……!”

My body trembled as though I had been electrocuted.

A familiar voice.

And, on top of that, the number twenty-eight.

So it was you.

My hand moved at the same time as the thought.

Grab!

“Ghk! Who the hell are you…?”

I seized the Team 1 Leader’s throat like a shackle and whispered into the receiver,

“Park Jihoon. You fucking bastard.”