Chapter 727

Should I tear it up or not?

Looking at Jin Taekyung, whose thoughts were written plainly across his face, Choi Minwoo let out a faint, incredulous laugh inwardly.

I really can’t figure him out.

Most of the time, his words, actions, and thoughts were as simple as could be. But every so often, Jin Taekyung showed a side of himself that went beyond surprising.

You’d think I’d be used to it by now. But this…

Choi Minwoo looked down at the table.

[The Smiling Mana Cultivation Method]

The crooked handwriting looked like a child’s, and the title was ridiculous. But there was nothing ridiculous about what filled those ten or so sheets of A4 paper.

He created an entirely new Mana Cultivation Method.

There was a reason Choi Minwoo had gone so far as to criticize Jin Taekyung’s handwriting earlier. It was a small act of revenge for suddenly handing over something this absurd without saying a word.

The shock he had felt a few hours ago had been that great.

How is this possible?

He had never seen explanations or instructions so simple and clear. The method was exceptionally stable, with a firm grounding in the fundamentals.

Choi Minwoo had grown skilled enough to hold his own against a Peak Master of Murim. He had recognized the value of this new method immediately. He had also understood what the recent events that had drawn the world’s attention meant to Jin Taekyung.

“The Week of Judgment.”

Choi Minwoo broke the brief silence and looked at Jin Taekyung.

“Just as God created heaven and earth over the course of a week, terrorists around the world endured a Week of Judgment. President Doramp Jr. said that at a White House press conference a few days ago.”

The President of the United States had said it in public. Naturally, his provocative remarks had spread around the world in less than an hour. By now, everyone in Korea had heard about them.

Everyone but one person, perhaps.

“He said that?”

Jin Taekyung had been holed up in the training room the whole time. Choi Minwoo nodded.

“It was a fairly aggressive thing for any president to say, especially the American president. Some people criticized him for deliberately provoking the terrorists.”

“Hm. Why bring up something as grand as creating heaven and earth? What about retaliatory terrorism?”

“None. Not a single one.”

“Not one?”

“Yes. If anything, they’ve even been keeping their mouths shut.”

The sullen look on Jin Taekyung’s face eased a little.

“Guess beating the crap out of them paid off.”

It was at that exact moment that Choi Minwoo, who had been gazing pensively at Jin Taekyung, suddenly spoke.

“So that was why.”

“Why what?”

“I thought about two things. Why you suddenly suppressed the terrorists. And what it meant that you gave me this new Mana Cultivation Method.”

Now he had his answer.

[The Smiling Mana Cultivation Method]

Choi Minwoo lifted the papers, held together with a single careless staple.

“You’re planning to make this Mana Cultivation Method available to everyone.”

Jin Taekyung grinned.

“Our Team Leader Choi really is sharp.”

The look Team Leader Choi gave me was hard to read. Part of it seemed like admiration. The rest looked like he had a lot to think about.

“Why? Is there a problem?”

“Well…”

He ran a hand through his disheveled hair.

“There are so many problems, I don’t know where to start.”

“There’s nothing wrong with the Mana Cultivation Method itself, so you mean practical problems.”

“…Yes. Unfortunately.”

“What’s the biggest one?”

He thought for a moment.

“For starters, making the method public is a problem in its own right.”

“Go on.”

“You know that only a tiny fraction of high-ranking Hunters possess Mana Cultivation Methods. They’re closely guarded knowledge—secret arts, essentially. You also know how closed-off those Hunters are, and how different their world is from the one other Hunters live in.”

“I know. I’ve been in this business for years. Though back when I was an F-rank Hunter, I’d never even heard of a Mana Cultivation Method.”

No profession divided its members more sharply than the Hunter business.

Ordinary people judged one another by education, family background, and looks. Hunters were sorted into high and low by Grade alone.

How much mana you’d been granted. How agile you were. How strong. Those crude measures determined your place, and you were graded like cattle headed for slaughter.

There’s a reason they call F-rank Hunters slaves.

High-ranking Hunters, meanwhile, practically lived above the clouds. They earned more from a single raid than most Hunters could make in a lifetime and spent their days under spotlights and envious stares.

Maybe that was why they’d built walls around themselves, like nobles of old living inside their castles. No one but another high-ranking Hunter could cross those walls. Even if someone was lucky enough to receive a high Grade, the gate opened only with their permission.

Those high-ranking Hunters were connected by invisible ties across the world, each protected by the giant Guild they belonged to.

“This isn’t limited to Korea,” Team Leader Choi said. “If you make this method public, the backlash will be greater than you expect.”

“Because they’ll think releasing a Mana Cultivation Method makes what they have less valuable?”

“That’s part of it. There’s another reason.”

“What?”

“The problem is that it’s us.”

“…!”

It was a short answer, but I immediately understood what he meant.

Have we stood out too much?

I suddenly remembered my conversation with Jeok Cheongang just before I logged out. Whether I had wanted it or not, he’d said, I had already drawn far more attention than necessary.

The spotlight was bright. But everything around it was dark.

I’d read that line in a novel I liked back in school. It was true. The brighter I became, the deeper the darkness around me grew.

In Murim and in the modern world.

“Team Leader Choi, by any chance…?”

He understood the question and shook his head.

“There’s been no major problem yet, but we’re facing pressure behind the scenes. We’ve put plans for more overseas branches on hold for now.”

“It’s that serious?”

“Every major Guild in the world is watching us. They don’t need to make a show of force to cause us trouble. If they decide to act, things won’t be easy for us.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

He gave me a flat look.

“Did you give me a chance?”

“…Fair.”

Still, this place was a complete mess too.

People with plenty to lose didn’t like the world changing. The handful of Hunters with Mana Cultivation Methods of their own were no exception.

At this point, calling them power brokers would be more accurate than calling them Hunters.

Some of them might have enough influence to bend an entire country to their will. With their wealth, fame, and overwhelming strength, they could turn common sense on its head. They didn’t want change, and they certainly didn’t want anyone new rising to their level.

Anyone like me or Team Leader Choi.

Even so, these bastards might be worse than Murim sects.

Leak a sect’s unique martial arts in Murim, and they’d hunt you down with murder in their eyes and smash your skull. But at least they wouldn’t throw a fit over a merchant selling the Three Calamities Sword Technique at a market.

These guys already had more than enough, and they were ready to raise hell because we wanted to share one little Mana Cultivation Method?

Huh. Now I’m pissed.

“If we release it, they’ll go nuts, right?”

“Yes. And we’ll have a mess on our hands.”

“What if I go after them?”

“What?”

“Now that I think about it, this is fucking ridiculous. We release the method without overthinking it, then I go after whichever assholes start trouble. That ought to shut them—”

“No! Don’t! Absolutely not!”

For Team Leader Choi’s normally low, composed voice to reach that volume, he might as well have said, Over my dead body, you lunatic.

This time, though, I couldn’t just give in.

“I know what you’re saying, Team Leader Choi, but we have to make it public. I didn’t create it to keep it to myself like a diary.”

Magical power had already increased throughout the world. No—it was still increasing, even now. Mutated Gates were appearing one after another, and Monster Waves had begun.

“Monsters are growing stronger as magical power increases. You know that too, Team Leader. But if people learn about this Mana Cultivation Method under the current circumstances…”

“Hunters’ abilities will improve across the board. It’s stable enough for even the lowest-ranked Hunters to learn without difficulty.”

Team Leader Choi’s expression hardened.

“I understand what you’re thinking, Mr. Jin. Wasn’t that why you suppressed the various rebel groups and terrorists in the first place—to reduce the possibility of the Mana Cultivation Method being misused as much as possible?”

“Yes. Before I worried about how sharp the weapon I’d made was, I had to think about whose hands it might end up in.”

About two weeks ago in modern-world time, an incident in Texas had driven that point home: an attempted terrorist attack using a Magic Gem.

Fortunately, the terrorist’s attempt had ended in failure, and there had been no casualties. But that incident had made me realize something for certain.

“When I said I wanted to share it with everyone, that included every kind of criminal and lunatic.”

Afterward, I followed Magic Johnson to the Pentagon and obtained information about them with the tacit approval of the President of the United States. Alongside the people who had come with me, I dyed the desert red with blood and cut away every element that might become a threat.

Rebel groups that trained kidnapped children to shoot. Fanatical terrorists willing to carry out suicide attacks…

I killed anyone who stood in the way, and the dead were bound to the Skeleton King’s undead army, which chased after those who fled.

For the ones farther away, we used captured leaders to send false orders: rebel groups were told to attack terrorist organizations, and terrorist organizations were told to attack rebel groups.

It was a war between bastards and motherfuckers. Tricked into launching all-out attacks on one another, both sides suffered massive losses.

“As you know, we couldn’t wipe them out completely, and we won’t be able to in the future. But we’ve achieved what we needed to for now. Even if those bastards learn this method, they won’t be as dangerous as they were before.”

They wouldn’t be the only ones growing stronger from it. Hunters everywhere would improve enough to fight monsters strengthened by the rise in magical power. That should help keep the balance.

And if things get much worse…

Then I’d release the Jin Family’s Cultivation Technique, too. So far, I’d taught it to only a handful of people, including Team Leader Choi.

The low-ranking Hunters who knew absolutely nothing about Mana Cultivation Methods would not be able to apply the Jin Family’s Cultivation Technique even if I handed it to them right now. But once they had learned the method, they would be able to cultivate it on their own.

I met Team Leader Choi’s eyes.

“We have to make it public. One way or another.”

“…”

“Luckily, it isn’t too late. The public still thinks pretty highly of both of us.”

“Pretty highly” was an understatement. People were going wild over us.

I was being hailed as a young hero of a new age. After Butler Kim’s death, Team Leader Choi had become Guild Master of the Peace Guild—and before the paint on his new nameplate had dried, he’d taken over the Ares Guild too.

Then there was the glow of his family name. His maternal grandfather was Cheon Taemin, the savior who had saved humanity from the Demon King Asmodeus. Team Leader Choi was his only blood relative and heir.

I grabbed his hand.

“Team Leader Choi.”

I gripped it tight. When he met my fervent gaze, he flinched as though he’d been burned.

“W-Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

He looked as though he’d run into Magic Johnson in a dark alley at night. I held on and pressed ahead.

“If you’re that worried, let’s try another way. Hm?”

“What way…?”

“Put your maternal grandfather’s name to work for us just this once.”

“What?”

“Come on. Let’s cash in on the savior’s name.”

“…!”