Chapter 300

The Black Wizard’s Black Forest. No, now it would be more accurate to call it the Skeleton Warlord’s Black Forest.

Either way, the gloomy forest was disgustingly vast and tangled. Without the Warlord surveying everything inside the Gate as clearly as the palm of his hand, I would have gotten lost along the way.

• I knew you were wicked, but you are stupid as well. What would you have done without me?

“Right. Which way now?”

• Turn right in one hundred paces.

“……How does this bastard even know the words ‘turn right’?”

One captured Warlord was worth ten GPS units.

Swoooosh!

Following the Warlord’s directions, I shot through the forest at dazzling speed.

Perhaps it was thanks to the half-jiazi¹ of internal energy I had gained while performing True Qi Guidance on Team Leader Choi, but even as I used my movement technique with all my strength, my internal energy continued surging up like an inexhaustible spring.

More is always better.

After I had run for a while, the sounds of people moving and talking gradually drew closer.

My unbelievably enhanced eyesight picked out familiar faces beyond the brush, hundreds of meters² away.

Team Leader Choi and Butler Kim. Uncle Kkeokjeong and Song Song too?

I could also see the new Guild members I had sent out about an hour earlier.

Forget those guys. Why were the people who should’ve been busting their asses circulating their qi all the way out here?

Then the facts I had forgotten flashed through my mind.

Oh. Right.

I had known there would be an uproar outside.

That was why I had planned to deal with the Warlord and the Skeleton army, then leave immediately. But the unexpected discovery of an EXP factory had gotten me so excited that I’d wandered away from the scene instead.

Things must have gone completely insane outside by now.

Then again, considering the supposed emergency, they had taken their sweet time getting here. At least an hour had passed since I sent the new Guild members out of the Gate.

I’ll explain what happened. It’ll be fine.

I was about to step out of the brush when someone shouted.

“The skull emblem! Y-yes, this is the armor the Named Monster was wearing!”

“We found a dagger too! This isn’t equipment used by Skeletons!”

“It’s the dagger Senior Jin Taekyung used!”

At the succession of shouts, Im Kkeokjeong burst into tears.

“Hk, nghh!”

“……?”

• ……?

“Taekyung. Taekyung… Nghh!”

No way. Was this what I thought it was?

As I stood there with my mouth hanging open, the Warlord rolled its green, glowing eyes toward me.

• It appears those humans believe you are dead.

“Uh, yeah. There seems to be a huge misunderstanding.”

• Then should you not stop hiding like a rat and go out there?

But the situation was already spiraling out of control.

Song Song and Butler Kim suddenly began shedding tears, and even the Guild members lowered their heads with red-rimmed eyes.

The path grew heavy with grief and mourning.

“…….”

No. I couldn’t possibly walk out into this atmosphere.

What would happen if I showed up now and said, “Surprise! You thought I was dead, but I’m alive!”

What do you think? They’d curse me to hell and back.

The thought of dealing with the aftermath made me break into a cold sweat. Even so, I had to clear up the misunderstanding before the mood got any worse.

But first, there was someone I needed to deal with.

“You stay inside for a while.”

• Hmm? What do you mean?

“I don’t know if this’ll work… but people might be startled, so get inside for now.”

• Inside where?

Ignoring the Warlord’s puzzled question, I immediately muttered the command in my mind.

Open Inventory. Store.

Pop.

At the same time as the command, the Warlord’s skull vanished from my hand.

The Inventory was a space that living creatures could not enter. However, since the Skeleton Warlord was an undead monster that had lost its vitality long ago, it seemed to work.

“Oh, it worked.”

• Gah! Where am I?

“What the hell? You can talk from inside?”

Was it because the Inventory and I were connected?

I had never tried putting anything alive inside before, so this was a first.

As I marveled at the situation, the Warlord’s shrill voice rang through my head.

• What have you done to me? Release me this instant!

“Yeah. That’s not happening.”

• Do you think you will escape unscathed after doing this to me?

“I think I’ll live a long and healthy life, remain safe and sound, and never grow old or die.”

• It’s so suffocating! I’m going insane in here!

“Why would you suffocate? You don’t breathe in the first place.”

• You insolent wretch!

“Ah, you’re loud. Should I just make you disappear?”

The Warlord’s voice brightened at once.

• This is a far more comfortable space than I expected.

“Good. Rest comfortably. And even if you do come out, don’t say a word in front of the people.”

• Understood. But…

“But what?”

• For a wicked human, you appear to have quite a few friends. Another considerable number of intruders have entered.

A moment later, I narrowed my eyes as hundreds of Hunters surged toward us like a cloud.

The Warlord was only half right. There were certainly a lot of them, but they weren’t my friends.

Especially the bastard leading the charge like a triumphant general.

Go Jun?

Why the hell was that bastard here?

The middle-aged man stuck to his side like his soulmate was someone I had seen several times on television and in the newspapers.

Even the Seoul Branch President came?

The Ares Guild and the Seoul Branch had both shown up.

This had become much bigger than I’d expected, which made it even harder to reveal myself.

I anxiously waited for the right moment. Then I overheard the two men talking and let out a hollow laugh.

“Would you look at these bastards.”

I had only caught fragments of their conversation, but it was enough to understand what was happening.

Lee Jungryong had sent Go Jun to eliminate the threat I posed, while the Association President wanted a connection to someone as powerful as Lee Jungryong.

Well, this was…

“Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.”

One bastard wanted to delay the rescue operation to make sure I died, and the other had eagerly accepted his proposal. They were both pieces of shit from the same cesspool.

Even if it meant getting my hands dirty, I had to clean up this shit myself. It was hard to walk around without a care when turds like these were scattered across the road.

“It’s too late for regrets. The dead don’t come back.”

I saw Go Jun laugh quietly as he mocked Team Leader Choi. Without hesitation, I pushed through the brush and walked out.

“What the fuck are you talking about, you motherfucking bastard?”

At least one of them needed to be taught a lesson.

“……!”

Shock, disbelief, bewilderment.

With every step, gazes filled with different emotions flew toward me and struck me in the face.

As I passed, I patted the shoulders of Team Leader Choi and the Guild members, who had frozen at my appearance.

Greetings could wait. I needed to clean up that lump of shit before it stank any worse.

Step. Step. Tap.

My final step brought me to a stop in front of two men.

“You were… alive?”

“J-Jin Taekyung, Hunter?”

I gazed at the two pairs of trembling eyes belonging to Go Jun and the Seoul Branch President, then looked at Go Jun.

“Why? Disappointed I’m alive?”

“……Of course not.”

“That’s strange. Your answer came half a beat late.”

“You’re imagining things.”

Go Jun continued in a steadier voice.

“We were all searching for you. Where were you?”

“Oh, I went nearby to take a piss. But by the time I got back, you’d practically finished the funeral procession and even held the forty-ninth-day memorial rite.”³

“Urinate?”

“I drank a lot of water before entering the Gate.”

“You certainly took your time.”

“It’s a symbol of virility. If you’re interested, I can show you how to make a rainbow with my piss. It’s really pretty.”

“……Judging by the nonsense you’re spouting, you seem perfectly fine.”

“I’m always perfectly fine. But…”

I smiled faintly.

“Are you sick? The way nothing but dogshit keeps pouring out of your mouth makes me think you might have rabies.”

“……!”

“I have to admit, listening to you was pretty entertaining. A commendation plaque this, a commendation plaque that—you were making a whole fucking production out of it.”

Go Jun wasn’t the only one whose face stiffened.

The Seoul Branch President, who had been silently swallowing as he listened to us, cut in with a flushed face.

“Young man, you have quite a filthy mouth.”

“Yes, my mouth’s a little filthy. But who are you?”

The Association President frowned at my curt response.

“You don’t know me?”

“Are you the President?”

“No.”

“Then you need to introduce yourself. How else would I know?”

“Good heavens. In all my years…”

Clicking his tongue, the Association President thrust out his chest, his arrogant face radiating authority.

His fat chest bulged beneath the suit jacket he had gone to the trouble of wearing into the Gate.

“I am Lee Woojoong.”

“Oh, Lee Woojoong.”

I scratched my chin with an innocent expression.

“Do you happen to know Kim Jeonghee?”

“Kim Jeonghee? Do you mean the Association elder?”

“No. She’s my mother.”

“……Hmm?”

“Lady Kim Jeonghee. My mother.”

The Association President was briefly lost for words. Then he asked incredulously,

“So what? What am I supposed to do about that?”

“That’s what I wanted to ask you. Normally, people say what organization they’re from, then give their position and name. If you leave all that out and just say ‘Lee Woojoong,’ what am I supposed to do with that? You might as well have said ‘gynecomastia.’”⁴

“What did you say?”

“So who exactly are you, Mr. Lee Woojoong?”

“I’m Lee Woojoong! The Seoul Branch President of the Hunter Association!”

“Ah. Nice to meet you.”

“Y-you…!”

“Two twos are four. Two threes are six. Two nines are fuckin’ eighteen.”

“How dare you!”

I let out a short laugh as the Association President’s face turned bright red, as though he might explode at any moment.

I knew perfectly well that the Seoul Branch President was one of the most important posts of all. Even so, I made no effort to hide my contempt because he was a human being who deserved to be despised.

A man who’s supposed to be responsible for Hunters’ safety and rights pulled something like this.

If anyone other than me had been left inside this Gate, they would have died.

The Association President had known that, yet he had delayed the rescue for an entire hour. All so he could curry favor with the Ares Guild—or rather, with Lee Jungryong.

“Jin Taekyung, what the hell kind of man are you?”

I stared coldly at the Association President as he shouted and pointed a finger at me.

“What kind of man am I? The kind who killed two Named Monsters alone while waiting an entire hour for a rescue team.”

“Th-that…”

The Association President flinched at my aura and took a step backward.

But the distance between us didn’t widen. I matched him step for step.

Step.

One step.

“President Lee Woojoong.”

“B-back away.”

Step.

Another step.

“If you’re the Association President, work for the Hunter Association. Don’t work for a Guild.”

“I-I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Would you like me to make it clear? In front of everyone?”

Step. Tap.

As I took the third and final step, a strong hand closed around my shoulder.

“That’s far enough.”

I grinned at Go Jun as he stepped between us.

“Get your hand off me. You smell like shit.”

“Do you enjoy escalating things?”

“Why? Are you scared?”

“Scared?”

Go Jun gave a dry laugh and whispered in my ear.

“You’re the ones who should be afraid. Everyone behind me is either an Ares Guild Hunter or an Association Hunter. If you want to get out of here alive, you’d better watch your mouth.”

“Oh, so if things go bad, you’ll bury everyone here and walk away? That’s a bit too big for you. Can you handle it?”

“That’s why I’m holding back. Consider yourself lucky.”

“Scary. By the way, are you all right after I beat the shit out of you last time? Drink a good potion?”

Go Jun’s eyes went flat.

“What a childish taunt.”

“Look in a mirror. Judging by your expression, it worked pretty damn well.”

“I’m telling you one last time. Back off.”

“And I’m telling you for the last last time. Take your hand off me.”

Huff.

Hot, foul breath spilled from his mouth.

Go Jun glared at me with sunken eyes, then took several steps back and muttered,

“If it hadn’t been for my Master’s special order… you would have died here.”

“Your Master? Oh, Jungryong?”

“……!”

“How’s Jungryong doing? Isn’t it about time you found him a place in a retirement community?”

That was the decisive blow.

Go Jun trembled from head to toe as though he had been electrocuted. His eyes flew wide, blazing with a light unlike anything I had seen when we fought at the hospital.

“If you think this will end the same way it did last time… I’ll make you regret it.”

“Regret?”

I beamed and spread my arms wide.

“You talk too much. Quit posturing and come at me.”

Whoooosh!