Chapter 46

Sizzle.

The meat hit the grill. Thick, red, and marbled with white streaks like snowflakes—it was the finest Hanwoo beef.

The shape, the sound, the smell. All of it was intoxicating. The only thing I didn’t like was the price…

“Will this be enough? Let’s order more after we eat. Some special cuts, too.”

A rich C-rank Hunter was paying, so whatever.

How long had it been since I’d last had Hanwoo?

Food in Murim was spicy, salty, and bland. And even then, more days than not, I couldn’t eat properly. For thirty days, my stomach had been abused with beef jerky, fasting pills, and rice balls.

Chomp. Chomp-chomp.

The best thing about beef was how quickly you could eat it. As soon as it looked more or less done, it went straight into my mouth.

Every chew felt like walking on clouds. This piece, that piece, that one too—every last one tasted like heaven.

“Hnnngh.”

Team Leader Choi watched me with that peculiar look of his.

“Would you like some more?”

“No. I should hold back on overeating.”

“We’re on our twenty-fifth serving…”

“Twelve servings each isn’t all that much.”

“I’ve only eaten three.”

“Oh, can we order some yukhoe?¹”

“…Yes.”

“Rice, too.”

“…”

And so the storm of a meal finally came to an end. At last, Team Leader Choi spoke.

“I told them I killed both the Priest and the Great Warrior.”

“Oh. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Let’s call it a fair deal. If anything, I have something to thank you for as well.”

A fair deal.

He wasn’t wrong. I’d bought myself time to think, and he would gain a reputation. After all, he had led five low-rank Hunters and killed two mid-grade Rare Monsters.

The fact that no one had died in the process would be a huge boost to the Guild’s publicity, too.

What if Synchronization hadn’t restored my strength?

Who knew? Someone probably would have died. Maybe none of us would have made it out alive.

“You were already thinking along those lines.”

He wasn’t just some eccentric. Not with instincts that sharp.

I smiled awkwardly.

“It works out well for both of us.”

“Good for both of us. Both of us…”

Team Leader Choi muttered to himself, then abruptly asked,

“Would you like to join the Guild?”

“Pffft!”

Team Leader Choi lifted the tablecloth and blocked the water, then smoothly produced a business card with practiced elegance.

Peace Guild, Team 1 Leader Choi Minwoo

What the hell was this? For a second I was completely thrown.

“Y-you’re making me a recruitment offer? Right now?”

“That’s right. We’re always looking for talent.”

I took the card and found myself strangely moved.

It seemed like only yesterday that I’d been bowing like a shrimp at job interviews…

Live long enough and you really do see everything.

An actual recruitment offer—and he was even treating me like talent. F-rank Hunter Jin Taekyung, you’d come a long way.

“Our Guild is still new, and we don’t have many members, but we’re excellent where it counts. For example…”

Team Leader Choi elegantly swirled his wineglass. When had he even ordered that?

“Our finances are extremely solid.”

“Ooh, finances!”

“Which means our employee benefits are excellent.”

“Ooh, benefits backed by solid finances!”

“Our Guild Master is a B-rank Hunter.”

“Ooh, a high-ranking Hunter—the source of those solid finances!”

“And there’s no need to worry about restructuring.”

“Ooh, job security!”

Team Leader Choi asked with an affluent smile,

“Will you join us?”

I scratched my head.

“No. That’s a little…”

“…Pardon?”

“I have circumstances that make it difficult at the moment. I need some time.”

If I followed my heart, I’d sign the contract right away—signature, seal, thumbprint, even a kiss mark.

But what if the System disappears tomorrow?

I’d be dead broke.

Overnight, I’d go from being called talent to being called a human disaster.²

“Is it a money problem?”

Money was always a problem.

But this was more important. I couldn’t let the wad of cash dangling in front of me blind me into making a snap decision.

“It’s difficult to explain. I’m sorry, but this isn’t something I can decide right now…”

“One hundred million won.³”

“A hundred million?”

“Just the signing bonus. The rest will match the minimum terms for a C-rank Hunter.”

That was dangerous. This time, it was really dangerous.

But I resisted with superhuman patience. Hadn’t I learned long ago that life was never that easy?

That money might come back to choke me.

“I’m sorry.”

Team Leader Choi looked at me quietly, then nodded.

“I’ll wait to hear from you.”

One person left, and one remained.

Team Leader Choi—no, Choi Minwoo—silently stared at the seat Jin Taekyung had vacated, then took out his phone.

Beep. Beep. Click.

“—You bastard, are you psychic? I was just about to call you.”

“How did that thing I asked about turn out?”

“—I looked into it because you asked, but… is there something about this Jin Taekyung guy?”

“That’s what I called you to find out. So? What did you learn?”

“—It’s a dime-a-dozen case. Awakened at twenty, seven years ago, and assessed as F-rank. There’s a record of him graduating at the top of his class from the Hunter training center…”

Jin Taekyung’s past seven years spilled from the other end of the phone. Then, at one point, Choi Minwoo’s eyebrows twitched.

“What? The Sangdong Station Mutated Gate?”

“—Yeah. You know about that incident, right?”

How could he not? It had happened only two years ago, so Choi Minwoo remembered it clearly.

“—He was the only survivor. I checked that part myself, and it surprised me, too.”

Choi Minwoo tipped his glass of water. Thinking he’d grabbed a lead on how an F-rank Hunter had killed a mid-grade Rare Monster alone made his throat burn.

“And?”

“—He took six months off. The Hunter Administration kept sending investigators, and I guess he spent the time trying to pull himself together. You know how serious the incident was.”

“And then?”

“—That’s it. He went back to his Guild, ran Gates his ass off for a year and a half, then got fired. That was exactly three days ago.”

“Why was he fired?”

“—Technically, restructuring, but what kind of restructuring does a tiny little Guild like that need? The incident probably had a lot to do with it. They kept looking over their shoulders at the Administration, then finally pushed him out. He must’ve been uncomfortable for them to keep around.”

“That’s all?”

“—As far as I can tell. Want me to send you the file separately?”

“Send it now. I’m hanging up.”

“—Hey, hey!”

Click.

Choi Minwoo tapped his long fingers against the table.

Jin Taekyung. F-rank Hunter. The sole survivor of the Sangdong Station Mutated Gate.

And…

At least a C-rank Hunter.

That was the absolute minimum. The image of Taekyung driving a C-rank Rare Monster into a corner alone, with overwhelming strength and skill, kept flickering before his eyes.

And yet he’s F-rank.

There were only two possibilities. Either he had been hiding his strength, or he had recently reawakened.

Choi Minwoo suspected the latter, but even that defied common sense.

Countless Hunters retired without ever rising a single rank.

A reawakening that took someone from F-rank to C-rank was, without question, extraordinarily rare.

This isn’t some game. What the hell is he?

Choi Minwoo shook his head. He felt as if he’d been bewitched by a ghost.

I’ll have to look into him some more.

As he rose from his seat, the restaurant owner approached and held out the bill.

“That will be 1,937,000 won.⁴”

“…”

Now he really felt as if he’d been bewitched by a ghost.

“Fuck. I’m screwed.”

I dropped to the ground in the filthy recycling area. The one thing that should have been there was nowhere in sight.

“It’s gone. It’s gone. My capsule is gone.”

I’d been anxious ever since parting ways with Team Leader Choi. But I hadn’t expected someone to take it in less than half a day. I shouted into the empty air.

“Who the fuck took it?!”

And an answer came back.

“Me, you son of a bitch.”

Jinho was smoking on the roof of the goshiwon⁵ building, in the same spot where I’d seen him that morning. He exhaled a wistful stream of smoke and continued.

“I spent ten years crying, regretting it, and making vows…”

“You want me to make you cry and regret it for real?”

“You’re no fun. You haven’t seen this movie, have you?”

“Quit joking around. This is serious.”

“What, did you come up empty today?”

“No.”

My voice drained of strength as I went on.

“The capsule.”

“…Huh?”

“Some bastard took my capsule.”

“Cough! Cough-cough!”

Maybe he’d inhaled the cigarette smoke wrong. Jinho hyung⁶ coughed like a maniac before he finally managed to speak.

“D-didn’t you throw it away because you didn’t need it?”

“I did.”

Until the System came back.

I hadn’t expected the situation to change this much in just a few hours.

I should’ve kept it for one more day.

Where was I even supposed to start looking? I let out a deep sigh.

“Hyung,⁶ you didn’t happen to see who took it, did you?”

“Uh… well.”

Jinho scratched his head.

“If I saw it, then I saw it. If I didn’t, then I didn’t.”

Was that supposed to be an answer, or was it just crap?

When I glared at him, he smiled sheepishly.

“Look, it’s not like I’m hoping for a finder’s fee or anything…”

It definitely sounded like he wanted a finder’s fee.

Anyway, that wasn’t the point. I shot to my feet and asked,

“You saw them? You’re sure?”

“If I had to choose, I’d say I did.”

“Who? Where did they go?”

“I’m not asking for a finder’s fee, but roughly how much were you thinking?”

“…One hundred thousand won?⁷”

“Oh, dear. Maybe I’m getting old. My memory’s a little hazy.”

“For fuck’s sake.”

“Right, then. Good luck in this heat.”

“The finder’s fee is one hundred and eighty thousand won.⁸”

Apparently satisfied with the amount, Jinho beamed.

“Your capsule. I picked it up.”

“…?”

It took me exactly three seconds to understand.

What a goddamn daylight robber.

I was speechless. He’d really stabbed me in the back like this?

“But there wasn’t anywhere suitable to put it. My room’s too small, you know.”

“So?”

“I put it back in your room. I did good, right?”

How could I hit this man so thoroughly that word would spread about what a fine job I’d done?

My fists trembled.

“It really is here.”

The capsule occupied half the studio as if nothing had happened. All I could do was let out a hollow laugh.

Should I call this lucky?

Of all the people who could have taken it, it had been Jinho.

I opened the lid, picked up the user manual that had been tossed onto the worn seat, and flipped to the last page.

Main Features

• A customized capsule for one person! Once a user is registered, the capsule becomes permanently bound to that user and remains so until their death.

…Come on. No way.

It has to be a simple coincidence.

But I couldn’t shake the unease. I glared at the capsule, the source of everything that had happened.

What the hell is this thing?

The reason I’d thrown the capsule into the recycling area that morning was so I could forget everything. My life was already dry enough; I wanted to write it off as one nightmare and keep living my life as I was.

But things were different now.

Because I have the System.

The System…

Then something occurred to me. I placed my hand on the capsule’s surface and murmured,

“Item check.”

Ding.

Just as I thought. The corners of my mouth had just begun to rise when—

System

This Item cannot be read.

“…It can’t be read?”

That had never happened before.

Is it because I’m not in Murim?

Flustered, I started checking random objects around the room. The television, a ballpoint pen, even my pillow. Every time, the System displayed accurate information.

There was only one exception.

It couldn’t read the capsule.

“Wow. This is driving me nuts.”

Just in case, I picked up the user manual. The result was the same.

Ding.

System

This Item cannot be read.

I flopped onto the bed. I stared blankly at the old, yellow-stained ceiling and thought.

What’s going on?

None of this made sense yet. But one thing was certain.

I’ve become stronger. Incomparably stronger.

Power had soaked into every fiber of my body. Internal energy writhed in my dantian.

Synchronization had given me strength. Strength far beyond that of an F-rank Hunter. Strength enough to defeat a C-rank Rare Monster alone.

Would you like to join the Guild?

It was the first recruitment offer I’d ever received. But I refused. When someone recognized me, fear had come before joy.

Can’t blame me.

I’d endured seven years with the label of F-rank Hunter. I was a caterpillar that had spent its whole life crawling through the dirt, only to suddenly sprout wings called the System.

Of course I was afraid.

But what if I can keep using this power? What if I can keep using the System?

My heart pounded at the mere thought.

At the same time, the past seven years flashed through my mind. The name F-rank, stamped on me like a brand despite all the insane effort I’d put in. Even the memories from two years ago, when I’d trembled at other people’s contempt, at the guilt and the helplessness.

“Fuck…”

I couldn’t take it anymore. I shot to my feet, raced out of the goshiwon⁵, and flagged down a passing taxi.

“Where would you like to go?”

I already knew my destination.

“Take me to the Bucheon Branch of the Hunter Association.”

A Hunter rank reassessment.

F-rank Hunter. I’d start by breaking the loathsome shackle that had tormented me for so long.

Let’s give it a shot.

As I clenched my fist, the taxi driver said,

“This is a Seoul taxi.”

“Oh.”