Chapter 289

“Pardon?”

Team Leader Choi looked more violently shaken than I had ever seen him before.

Even Butler Kim, who at least looked calm, wasn’t much different.

Lingering anger and bewilderment. And questions about what I had said.

I didn’t know they could make faces like that.

Whenever I charged ahead without thinking things through, these two always took two calm steps back and handled the fallout.

For once, they seemed human—just like me.

Feeling strangely moved, I opened my mouth.

“The answer is simple. If our enemies are strong, we get stronger too.”

“Mr. Jin Taekyung.”

Team Leader Choi’s voice was quiet and steady. He had reined in his initial emotions and returned to his usual composed self.

“This isn’t a math problem that can be solved simply because you know the answer. Reaching that answer would require a process more difficult than you can imagine.”

“Then we’ll be fine. If I tutor you, we should be able to solve it eventually, even if it takes some time. Oh, but let’s change the subject. I’m hopeless at math.”

“Have you forgotten? Our opponent is Ares Guild. You may not know this, but I do. I know exactly how powerful they are.”

“Unfortunately, the Young Master is right.”

Team Leader Choi and Butler Kim fell silent after that.

One was the maternal grandson of Cheon Taemin, Guild Master of Ares Guild. The other was a core member who had served Cheon Taemin for many years.

Given their positions, they must have seen and experienced a great deal firsthand. Their blood might have been boiling, but their cool heads had already calculated the answer.

But…

“Team Leader Choi.”

I looked into his eyes, which already said the matter was settled.

“Do you remember what you said to me before we went to Myeongdong Guild?”

“Of course.”

“What did you say back then?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Team Leader Choi parted his lips.

“Mr. Jin Taekyung may seem reckless at first glance, but…”

“I always anticipate the worst-case scenario before acting. And?”

“You always bring back the best possible result.”

“You said you trusted me more than you trusted yourself, Team Leader. Did you only say that because it sounded nice?”

“Absolutely not.”

“I may have been a lousy student, but I’m not stupid enough to risk my life on a game with zero chance of winning. This is doable.”

“Doable…”

“If you can’t believe in yourself, believe in me.”

Light seeped into Team Leader Choi’s eyes as he sensed the sincerity behind my words. It was faint, but I knew what it was.

Hope.

Hope was like a spark. It could flare up or die out in an instant. You had to fan it before it went out.

“Since we’re on the subject, let me ask you something. If I leave the Guild now, will you give up too? I suppose shutting down the Guild, retiring, and farming with Butler Kim wouldn’t be so bad. Lee Jungryong might even supply the fertilizer.”

“Hunter Jin Taekyung!”

Ignoring Butler Kim’s attempt to stop me, I continued.

“You said you wanted to build the greatest Guild in the world. If you send me away, send Uncle Kkeokjeong and Song-i away, and let even the new recruits leave, are the two of you planning to fight Ares Guild by yourselves?”

“……”

“Team Leader Choi.”

He remained silent. No answer came.

But the spark in his eyes was still alive.

Before long, a hoarse voice slipped between his lips.

“Ares Guild is an empire. An empire so powerful that even the ten largest Guilds in Korea couldn’t stand against it if they joined forces.”

“Good grief. We’ll have to work hard if we want to catch up with them.”

“I may not know everything about Ares Guild, but I know a great deal. That only makes them seem even more dangerous.”

“It also improves our chances. It means we know our enemy well. Know your enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster. Right?”

“I’ve considered it countless times, but every calculation told me it was impossible.”

“Then run the numbers again.”

“Is it really… possible?”

“Yes.”

“Where exactly did my calculations go wrong? What makes you so confident in your answer?”

He wasn’t asking because he failed to understand.

More than anyone, Team Leader Choi wanted his answer to be wrong. He wanted even the faintest possibility that we could stand against Lee Jungryong.

I was happy to give him the answer he wanted.

“The person talking to you right now.”

“……!”

“The process of your calculations was accurate. Except for one thing.”

I slowly raised a finger and pointed at my chest.

“Me.”

At that moment, Team Leader Choi’s eyes shook. I could feel the spark in them beginning to fade.

Disappointment, not hope, filled the void it left behind.

“You were included in my calculations, Mr. Jin Taekyung.”

“Of course I was. You wouldn’t be the Team Leader Choi I know otherwise.”

Team Leader Choi was a brilliant man. He possessed natural leadership, exceptional judgment, and the drive to act on it.

He had weighed Peace Guild against Ares Guild with a cool head, and I must have been included on Peace Guild’s side of the scale.

“Everything you’ve shown us until now has been astonishing. No, almost miraculous.”

I already knew what words would follow his fading voice.

“But I’m still not enough?”

Team Leader Choi nodded gravely.

“Even excluding Lee Jungryong, an S-rank Hunter, Ares Guild officially has more than a hundred A-rank Hunters. Their mid- and low-rank Hunters are beyond counting.”

The way he emphasized officially implied that they had even more strength hidden from the public.

And they still have more than a hundred A-rank Hunters.

I had heard the rumors before, but hearing it directly from Team Leader Choi made the true scale of Ares Guild’s power sink in.

No matter how strong I was, in the end, I was still only one pair of hands. Team Leader Choi’s judgment was cold and clear.

But…

“If that’s how you’re calculating it, you’ll have to run the numbers again.”

“Pardon?”

“The formula is right, but the numbers are wrong. I don’t know what value you assigned to me, but you’ll need to multiply it several times over.”

Team Leader Choi’s eyes widened. So did Butler Kim’s, Im Kkeokjeong’s, and Song Song’s.

Considering everything I had done until now, their reaction was understandable.

I had hunted a Named Monster alone, crushed nearly thirty Black Hunters, and confronted a major Guild like Myeongdong Guild head-on.

Leaving everyone frozen like statues, I fixed my gaze on Team Leader Choi.

“I feel like I’ve told you this repeatedly. I’m a man with more secrets than you think.”

Murim was Murim, and the modern world was the modern world.

There had always been a clear boundary in my mind separating the two. But Lee Jungryong and Ares Guild had erased that line.

If none of this had happened, I probably would have kept my secret for the rest of my life.

Was wanting to live quietly too much to ask?

Perhaps this was the fate that came with the power I had been given. If so, it was time to accept it. I couldn’t keep running forever.

To protect the things precious to me from my enemies, I had to become stronger.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

Team Leader Choi still stared at me in disbelief.

“Mr. Jin Taekyung, you never cease to surprise me.”

“Save it. There’ll be plenty more surprises from now on.”

“It will be a dangerous road.”

“I happen to specialize in thorny roads.”

“Far more dangerous than anything you’ve faced until now.”

“Nothing to compare it to, my ass. You just don’t know it. This side is already hell…”

He seemed to have taken my words as a joke.

I watched Team Leader Choi as he finally let out a quiet laugh.

“Team Leader.”

“Yes?”

“Sometimes, it’s okay to be honest.”

The smile vanished from the corners of Team Leader Choi’s mouth. His gaze settled, and his lips pressed into a firm line.

I waited for him to speak. What came next was something I needed to hear directly from him.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait long.

“I know this is a presumptuous request, but… would you continue with Peace Guild?”

Yes. That was it.

I grinned and lightly tapped Team Leader Choi on the shoulder. He looked intelligent and cold on the outside, but he was softhearted underneath.

That was why he had tried to send us away despite wanting us to stay. He was afraid we would get hurt.

“Let’s make this work.”

“……Thank you.”

Team Leader Choi offered a fleeting smile before turning toward the others.

Butler Kim, his devoted retainer and someone practically no different from family, spoke first.

“I trust you already know my answer.”

“Thank you, Butler Kim.”

Next was Song Song. When Team Leader Choi asked her the same question he had asked me, she heaved several deep sighs before answering.

“Ares Guild? Ah, the numbers really don’t add up on this one.”

Honestly, that was the most normal reaction. We were openly declaring our intention to make an enemy of Ares Guild. Anyone who welcomed the idea would be strange.

“Double my annual salary. And add hazard pay.”

“……”

Song Song wasn’t normal either.

When I stared at her in disbelief, she shrugged.

“What? Why?”

“No reason. I just thought most people would walk away in a situation like this.”

“Do you want me to leave?”

“Now, now. Absolutely not.”

“Do you know why I transferred from Ares Guild to Peace Guild? Why I followed Team Leader Choi even with everyone trying to keep him down?”

“How would I know?”

“Because Team Leader Choi promised me double my salary.”

“……”

“My goal is to retire at thirty. If I earn as much as I can over the next two years, I’ll be able to live comfortably for the rest of my life.”

She spoke as though it were nothing, but this was only her roundabout way of saying she wanted to stay with us too. Everyone knew the frugal Song Song had already amassed a small fortune.

“And, well, you seem to have a plan too, so I’ll trust you for now. It’s hard to find a superior as capable and handsome as Team Leader Choi.”

And just like that, Song Song’s decision to stay was settled. Everyone’s gaze, including mine, shifted toward the last person.

“Uncle Kkeokjeong.”

He didn’t answer when I called him. Only after a long silence did he finally speak.

“Taekyung, will I be any help?”

“More than enough.”

“Even though I’m only a D-rank Hunter?”

“People associated with D are the real protagonists, after all.¹ Why not legally change your name while you’re at it? Im D. Kkeokjeong. How does that sound?”

Im Kkeokjeong burst out laughing, then looked Team Leader Choi straight in the eye.

“It wasn’t your fault I got hurt, Team Leader Choi. So don’t blame yourself.”

“No. It was all my fault. Please focus on your recovery and rehabilitation first, then take your time thinking it over. You have a family, Hunter Im.”

“Team Leader Choi.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know what my first thought was when my arms were cut off?”

“Your family?”

He was a woman’s husband and the father of two children.

But Im Kkeokjeong calmly shook his head.

“Ah, I guess I can’t work as a Hunter anymore. That was the first thing that came to mind.”

“……”

“I love this work. I spent twenty years going in and out of Gates not merely to earn a living, but because I felt a sense of duty as a Hunter. But…”

Im Kkeokjeong bit down hard on his lip. His gaze remained fixed on his own two arms, wrapped in bandages.

“Can I recover?”

“You can. Absolutely.”

A faint smile spread across Im Kkeokjeong’s lips.

“Then I’m coming too. I can’t abandon a Hunter’s duty over something like this.”

Something churned deep in my chest at the sight.

People dismissed him as a low-rank Hunter in name only, but Im Kkeokjeong was one of the few true Hunters left in this age.

They’re all far too good to stop here.

All right. Strike while the iron was hot.

Having made up my mind, I opened my Skill window for the first time in a long while.

There, among the densely packed entries in the holographic window, I found what I wanted.

System

Skill: Martial Arts Manual Creation

Yes. This was the beginning.

With firm resolve, I touched the holographic window.

Beep!

System

To create a martial arts manual, you need at least 300 sheets of A4 paper!

“……”

What the fuck.