“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 expressions like that.
Whenever I charged ahead without thinking things through, these two always took two calm steps back and handled the situation.
For once, they looked like ordinary people just like me.
Feeling a strange stirring in my chest, I opened my mouth.
“The answer is simple. If the enemies are strong, we get stronger too.”
“Mr. Jin Taekyung.”
Team Leader Choi’s voice was quiet and steady. Having gathered his initial emotions, he had returned to his usual calm self.
“This isn’t a math problem that gets solved just because you know the answer. To reach the correct answer, you have to go through a process so difficult it’s beyond imagination.”
“Then that’s fine. If I take on the role of your private tutor, I think we can solve it even if it takes some time. Ah, 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 an opponent 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 who they were, 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 had already reached their conclusion, and asked,
“Do you remember what you said to me before we went to Myeongdong Guild?”
“Of course.”
“What did you say back then?”
After hesitating for a moment, Team Leader Choi parted his lips.
“Mr. Jin Taekyung may seem reckless at first glance, but…”
“He always anticipates the worst-case scenario before acting. And?”
“He always brings 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 not have been good at studying, 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, then believe in me.”
Team Leader Choi sensed the sincerity behind my words. Light began to seep into his eyes. It was faint, but I knew what that light 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 talking about it, let me ask you something. If I leave the Guild here, will you give up too? Well, shutting down the Guild, retiring, and farming with Butler Kim wouldn’t be so bad. If that happened, Lee Jungryong might even supply the fertilizer.”
“Hunter Jin Taekyung!”
I ignored Butler Kim, who tried to stop me, and 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 as well, and even the new recruits leave, do you two plan to fight Ares Guild by yourselves?”
“……”
“Team Leader Choi.”
He remained silent. No answer came back.
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.”
“Well, looks like we’ll have to work hard to catch up with those guys.”
“I may not know everything about Ares Guild, but I know a great deal. That’s why I think they’re even more dangerous.”
“At the same time, our chances just went up. It means we understand the enemy well. Know your enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster. Right?”
“I’ve thought about it over and over, but the answer to my calculations was impossible.”
“Then calculate it again.”
“Is it really… possible?”
“Yes.”
“Where exactly are my calculations wrong? What on earth gave you such confidence 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 of standing against Lee Jungryong.
I was happy to answer that wish.
“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.
What filled its empty place was not hope, but disappointment.
“You were included in my calculations, Mr. Jin Taekyung.”
“Of course I was. If you’re the Team Leader Choi I know.”
Team Leader Choi was a brilliant man. He had natural leadership, along with excellent insight and drive.
He had placed Peace Guild and Ares Guild on opposite sides of the same scale, and I must have been included in the weight of Peace Guild.
“The things you’ve shown us until now have always been astonishing. No, they’ve been almost miraculous.”
I already knew what words would follow his fading voice.
“But I’m still not enough?”
Team Leader Choi nodded heavily.
“Ares Guild officially has more than a hundred A-rank Hunters, even excluding Lee Jungryong, an S-rank Hunter. And there are countless mid- and low-rank Hunters.”
The fact that he put such unusual emphasis on the word officially meant that there were even more hidden forces.
And they still have more than a hundred A-rank Hunters.
I had already heard rumors about it, but hearing it directly from Team Leader Choi made Ares Guild’s military strength feel real.
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 have to count me at least several times higher.”
Team Leader Choi wasn’t the only one whose eyes widened. Butler Kim, Im Kkeokjeong, and Song Song all stared at me in shock.
Considering everything I had accomplished 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 those people frozen like statues behind me, 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 worlds. But Lee Jungryong and Ares Guild had erased that line.
If something like this had never happened, I probably would have kept those secrets to myself for the rest of my life.
Was wanting to live quietly too much to ask?
Maybe this was the fate of the power I had been given. If so, I had to accept it now. I couldn’t keep running away 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 was still looking at me with eyes that couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing.
“Mr. Jin Taekyung, you always manage to surprise me.”
“Save it. There’ll be plenty more of that from now on.”
“It will be a dangerous road.”
“I happen to specialize in thorny roads.”
“Nothing you’ve faced until now will compare to it.”
“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 at the corners of Team Leader Choi’s mouth disappeared. His gaze settled, and he pressed his lips tightly together.
I waited for him to speak. What came next was something I had to hear directly from Team Leader Choi himself.
Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait long.
“I know this is an impertinent request, but… would you continue to stay with Peace Guild?”
Yes. This was it.
I grinned and gave Team Leader Choi’s shoulder a light tap. He looked smart and cold on the outside, but he was still softhearted inside.
That was why, despite wanting us to stay, he had tried to send us away out of fear that we would get hurt.
“Let’s do this right.”
“……Thank you.”
Team Leader Choi gave a fleeting smile before turning toward the others.
Butler Kim, his devoted retainer and someone practically no different from family, spoke first.
“I believe you already know what my answer will be.”
“Thank you, Butler Kim.”
Next was Song Song. Team Leader Choi had asked her the same question he had asked me. She heaved several deep sighs before opening her mouth.
“Ares Guild? Ah, this deal doesn’t really add up.”
That was actually the most normal reaction. They were saying they intended to openly make an enemy of Ares Guild. Anyone who welcomed that idea would be strange.
“Set my annual salary at twice its current amount. And add hazard pay.”
“……”
Song Song wasn’t normal either.
When I stared at her in disbelief, she shrugged.
“What? Why?”
“No, nothing. I just thought most people would walk away in a situation like this.”
“Would you like me to?”
“Now, now. Absolutely not.”
“Do you know why I transferred from Ares Guild to Peace Guild? Why I followed Team Leader Choi, even though he was being opposed from all sides?”
“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 remaining two years, I’ll be able to live comfortably for the rest of my life.”
She said it as though it were nothing, but she was only circling around the words I want to stay with you, too. Everyone knew that thrifty Song Song had already saved herself 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.”
In any case, Song Song’s decision to stay was now confirmed. Everyone’s eyes, including mine, shifted toward the last person.
“Uncle Kkeokjeong.”
He didn’t answer when I called him. It was only after a long while that he finally parted his lips.
“Taekyung, will I be of any help?”
“More than enough.”
“Even though I’m only a D-rank Hunter?”
“People associated with D are the real protagonists, after all. Why not legally change your name while you’re at it? Im D. Kkeokjeong. How does that sound?”
Im Kkeokjeong laughed out loud and looked straight at Team Leader Choi.
“It wasn’t Team Leader Choi’s fault that I got hurt. So don’t blame yourself.”
“No. It’s all my fault, so please focus on your recovery and rehabilitation first, and think it over at your own pace. Hunter Im, you have a family, don’t you?”
“Team Leader Choi.”
“Yes?”
“When my arms were first severed, do you know what thought came to me first?”
“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 thought that came to me.”
“……”
“I love this work. I spent twenty years going in and out of Gates, not to make a living, but because of my 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 mouth.
“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 with nothing but the title, 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. They said you should strike while the iron was hot.
Having made up my mind, I opened my Skill window for the first time in a long while.
Then, in the holographic window packed with entries, 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.
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