Chapter 732

Civilization sure is convenient.

You can store enormous amounts of data on a smartphone smaller than your palm, then share whatever you want with everyone else by moving a finger a few times.

Granted, all that technology had restricted what I could do until now. This time, though, it worked in my favor.

Mr. Jin Taekyung. Do you have the file with you?

Remembering the Sound Transmission Team Leader Choi had sent me just a few minutes ago, I let out a quiet laugh.

I waved my smartphone at Huginn, who stood frozen like a statue.

“See this?”

The screen’s light flickered in Huginn’s golden eyes.

At Team Leader Choi’s request, I had uploaded the file to a personal social media account I’d created months ago and never used. The words Post published were displayed on the screen.

“Guess that’s what you get in the Vice Guild Master’s office. Even the Wi-Fi’s on another level. The file’s pretty big, too, though it might not look like much.”

“…Mr. Jin.”

His voice sounded ready to boil over. I blinked my deer-like eyes at him.

“Hm? What?”

“What, exactly, have you done?”

“A good deed.”

Huginn’s skin flushed dark red. He took a deep breath before speaking again, his voice controlled.

“Delete it now. It is not too late.”

I put on a serious face.

“Should I? Honestly, I’m a little scared too.”

“A poor decision can still be corrected.”

“Easier said than done. You know how scary the world is these days. It’s probably spreading everywhere already.”

Buzz. Buzz. Bzzzz.

Before I’d finished speaking, my phone began vibrating nonstop.

Huginn realized the vibrations were notifications that people were sharing the post, and anxiety settled over his face.

“It has only been a few dozen seconds. We can still contain this.”

“Oh? Really?”

“You have my word.”

“But people are going to curse me out. They’ll say I baited everyone and then deleted the post and ran. I already scattered so much bait everywhere that this won’t end with just a moderate amount of abuse.”

“For now, you could announce that the Mana Cultivation Method needs further improvement… No. Rather than waste time discussing it, why not delete the post immediately?”

At Huginn’s urging, I let out a soft sigh.

“I’d like to, but there’s one thing I can’t stop thinking about.”

“Tell me. I will take care of it.”

“What should I have for dinner tonight?”

“…?”

“Dinner. What could I eat that would make people say I’d had a great meal? What do you think, Team Leader Choi?”

Beside the motionless Huginn, Team Leader Choi answered thoughtfully.

“Kimchi stew.”¹

“Kimchi stew?”

“Yes. Kimchi stew boiled with plenty of pork. And white rice.”

“Oh, you know your food.”

The moment I exclaimed in admiration—

Crack.

Bones shifted inside someone’s tightly clenched fist. Huginn trembled for several seconds, then spoke in a low voice.

“So you insist… on making a foolish choice.”

I shrugged.

“Why? Not a fan of Korean food?”

“I promise you, you will regret this.”

“If you feel that strongly, I guess I have no choice. We’ll have soybean paste stew instead of kimchi stew tonight. What do you think, Team Leader Choi?”

Team Leader Choi nodded.

“Either is fine with me. I’m hungry, as it happens.”

“That’s because we’ve been listening to bullshit since early evening. A dog barking once or twice can be cute, but it gets tiring when it won’t stop.”

I looked at Huginn and added, “Especially when it isn’t my dog, but a mutt raised in the neighborhood next door.”

“…!”

“Don’t know who owns it, but what’s the world coming to? Who lets a dog run loose without a leash or a muzzle these days?”

Muttering as if to myself, I glanced at my phone.

Five in the afternoon.

Dinner wouldn’t be too early, but oddly enough, I wasn’t hungry today.

The reason was probably…

Buzz. Buzz. Bzzzz.

The share notifications still coming in without a break.

“Team Leader Choi, how many followers did my account have? I made it and hardly ever checked.”

“More than five hundred million, as far as I know.”

“Five hundred million? That many?”

“It’s a popular social media platform worldwide, across countries and races. Of course, nearly half your followers are Chinese.”

“Wow. I should thank the Arch Lich.”

Huginn had been listening to us. Now he spoke coldly.

“I once heard a Korean proverb. ‘After losing the cow, repair the pasture.’”

“Guess you didn’t hear it from a Korean. It’s a barn, not a pasture.”

“Pasture, stable—what does it matter? What matters is that the two of you have made the worst possible choice today.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“I assure you, before long you will lose everything. And then you will have nothing left to repair.”

At Huginn’s vicious words, I snorted quietly.

“The longer I look at you, the harder it is to tell whether you’re a crow or a bastard dog.”

“…Mr. Jin.”

“You’re a servant sent to deliver a message. You talk too much. If you’ve got more to say, bring your master here. Tell him to stop acting so important, like he really is a god.”

The moment I finished speaking, wind gusted from somewhere.

The vast mana pouring from Huginn’s body writhed. His aura was easily powerful enough for an S-rank Hunter—everything I’d expected, and more.

But the power that seemed ready to overflow in every direction stopped dead at Team Leader Choi’s quiet words.

“I cannot take responsibility for what happens next.”

“…”

“If you are prepared for that, do as you wish, Mr. Huginn.”

A brief silence passed.

The surging mana slowly subsided. The icy chill faded from Huginn’s golden eyes, and the hand that had twitched toward something inside his clothes returned to its place.

Pat. Pat.

He straightened his clothes, which had briefly fallen out of order, and spoke with a stiff expression.

“I have been discourteous. I apologize.”

I clicked my tongue at how readily he admitted it.

Too bad I wouldn’t get to smash that neat monocle. But it couldn’t be helped. The trouble we’d stirred up here today was enough for now.

No need to provoke him any further.

Odin Guild was undeniably a giant, and it cast a shadow to match.

Huginn himself was unknown to the outside world. There was no telling how many other S-rank Hunters Odin Guild had hidden away.

And the other major Guilds will probably side with Odin.

Half-crushing Huginn’s face now would cost us more than we’d gain. Team Leader Choi knew it, and so did Huginn, despite his momentary loss of composure.

“I should be going. I expect we will meet again soon.”

Still playing the gentleman, Huginn headed for the door with that pointed farewell. Team Leader Choi made sure to give him one last reply.

Or rather, one last bluff.

“I will remember Odin Guild’s intentions. So will Mr. Jin Taekyung. And so will my maternal grandfather.”

“…I understand.”

Something appeared in Huginn’s eyes as he answered—surprise, perhaps, or doubt. Then he was gone.

Click.

Team Leader Choi stared silently at the firmly closed door and muttered:

“So it begins.”

“Well, we knew they’d try to stop us. With the release announced for tomorrow, they had no reason to hold back.”

“They were more blatant than I expected. And…”

His voice trailed off. Team Leader Choi glanced briefly at the empty space Huginn had left behind before continuing.

“I doubt they sent a messenger only because of the Mana Cultivation Method.”

“You mean?”

“I had the feeling he came to confirm someone’s absence. Someone as important to them as the Mana Cultivation Method the world will see tomorrow. Perhaps more important.”

I closed my mouth and quietly repeated one person’s name.

Cheon Taemin.

The living savior. A Hunter unlike any who had come before, or would ever come again.

The whole world revered him, and his strength was said to be beyond anyone’s reach. If the enemies hiding in the shadows learned he could not step forward, they would not hesitate to attack.

“But his condition is our most closely guarded secret.”

Only six people knew that Cheon Taemin was in a vegetative state.

Team Leader Choi and me. Song Song and Im Kkeokjeong. The Skeleton King and Magic Johnson.

Everyone who had known the truth before them was already dead.

Lee Jungryong. Song Cheonwoo. And finally, Go Jun.

In the past and even now, the truth about Cheon Taemin was something that could never be revealed to the outside world. And Magic Johnson, whom we had been forced to ask for help, was someone Team Leader Choi had more than enough reason to trust.

He was the one who had moved Cheon Taemin out of the secret area and cast several protective spells over him.

Wait. Magic?

My expression stiffened as a thought struck me. Team Leader Choi nodded.

“Do you remember what Mr. Johnson said in Ares Guild’s Area A?”

“…A mage.”

“Yes. Lee Jungryong had help. Mr. Johnson said Area A had been constructed by a mage on the level of a Grand Mage.”

“Then, could it be…”

“The secret could have been leaked from the very beginning.”

“…!”

“And if they already know…”

Team Leader Choi took a breath.

“This could be a difficult fight. Far more difficult than we expected.”

So why did he look so calm? Despite the gravity of his words, both his voice and his expression were composed.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked.

I scratched my chin. “Maybe it’s just me, but you seem pretty relaxed for someone saying all that.”

“Pardon?”

“No, it feels like your words and actions don’t match. You’ve always been the kind of person who put safety first, but just now, you didn’t even blink before using your grandfather’s name to make a bluff.”

Team Leader Choi blinked, then gave a quiet laugh.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“What is?”

“You’re here, Mr. Jin Taekyung.”

“…Huh?”

“No matter how powerful a card our enemies play, I have a Joker card named Jin Taekyung. Naturally, that makes me bolder.”

For a moment, I couldn’t think of a reply. I stood there stammering like Mute Samryong,² and Team Leader Choi’s smile deepened.

“Oh, and…”

“And? What else?”

“I’m hungry. Let’s have kimchi stew tonight, as we first decided.”

Pat, pat.

Team Leader Choi tapped me on the shoulder, picked up his coat, and left the office. I stood there dazed for a moment, watching his back with an incredulous expression.

Team Leader Choi had changed. He hadn’t used to be like this.

But, well…

I don’t mind it.

I muttered inwardly and followed him.

Even now, the smartphone in my pocket continued to buzz without end.