Target Report
Name: Jin Taekyung
Age: 27
Residence: Address xxx-xxx, Hope Goshiwon1. Living separately from his family.
Family: Eldest son in a family of one son and one daughter. Father died in an accident eleven years ago. Information on his mother and younger sister attached separately.
Im Chunsoo received the report three days after ordering the investigation. After reading through five densely packed pages, he spoke.
“Hey, Team 1 Leader.”
“Yes, Guild Master.”
The Team 1 Leader sitting across from him answered. Aside from Guild Master Im Chunsoo himself, he was Sangdong Guild’s only A-rank Hunter and Chunsoo’s loyal right-hand man.
“Have you read this report?”
“Not yet.”
“Why not?”
“Because of your instructions, Guild Master. You told me to pass along any new information exactly as it came in, without filtering it first.”
“Then read it now.”
The Team 1 Leader respectfully accepted the report Im Chunsoo held out. His eyes raced across the pages. About ten minutes later, he looked up and muttered,
“This is a little…”
“What do you think of the report?”
“I’ll defer to your judgment, Guild Master.”
“No. Speak frankly.”
After a brief hesitation, the Team 1 Leader answered.
“I think the information is incorrect.”
“Which part, exactly?”
“The subject of the report, Jin Taekyung, was an F-rank Hunter until just two weeks ago. However, he successfully reawakened as a C-rank Hunter. That much is rare, but not impossible.”
“Go on.”
“But according to the testimony of Team Leader Im Changsoo—no, Hunter Im Changsoo—and the others who participated in the raid, Jin Taekyung single-handedly defeated a group of B-rank Minotaurs.”
“At least five. As many as ten, if I remember correctly?”
“Yes. They even said he brought down the boss monster with a single strike.”
“Right. Some measly C-rank Hunter took down a Minotaur Warrior in one blow. Does that make any sense?”
“I don’t think it does.”
“Then what is it?”
He was not asking because he genuinely did not know. He only wanted to confirm once again whether the Team 1 Leader was thinking the same thing he was.
“There are three suspicious possibilities.”
“Let’s hear them.”
“First, the report may be wrong.”
“Who wrote this report? Hong… What was it? Definitely not Hong Gil-dong2.”
“Hong Woojin. He’s still young and relatively inexperienced, but his skills are well regarded.”
“Right, that Hong Woojin—or Hong Gil-dong2, or whatever the hell his name is. Check with that bastard again. Put some pressure on him, too. Anyway, what’s the second?”
“Second, Hunter Im Changsoo and the others may have coordinated their stories and lied.”
“Changsoo may be an idiot with his head screwed on wrong, but he’s never lied to me in his life. Continue.”
“The last possibility is that Jin Taekyung is an A-rank Hunter who has not yet been confirmed, or perhaps…”
A troubled look crossed the otherwise composed Team 1 Leader’s face. After a moment, he spoke hesitantly.
“Could he be a third-awakening Hunter?”
“Third awakening?”
“…Yes.”
“Team 1 Leader. It sounds absurd even to you, doesn’t it? A third-awakening Hunter? Does that make any sense?”
The Team 1 Leader lowered his head in lieu of an answer.
Im Chunsoo clicked his tongue at the sight and picked up the report. Extreme cold began to flow from his fingertips.
Crackle. Crash!
“Rewrite the report. Finish it by the end of this week and put it on my desk when you come in on Monday. Make it nice and clean.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And what about the others from that Peace Guild—or was it Love Guild?”
“…I was just about to report on that.”
“What? You haven’t found out anything?”
“We’ve finished identifying everyone except for three people.”
Im Chunsoo frowned.
“Three? One must be Jin Taekyung. Who are the other two?”
“The Guild Master and Team Leader of Peace Guild.”
He had heard about them from his son. The young Team Leader was an insolent brat, while the middle-aged Guild Master was a clueless man who had done nothing but chuckle throughout the entire raid.
“Why those two?”
“There was a Lock on them.”
“What?”
“Exactly as I said. Not only their personal information, but even their account details are all under security restrictions. The Audit Team is at a loss as well.”
“Did you skimp on the money?”
Running a Guild required help from government agencies. The corrupt officials who worked for them had no qualms about accepting bribes in exchange for information.
“I already gave them plenty…”
“And yet?”
“They seem very reluctant on their end as well. They said an upper agency had placed the security lock, making it difficult for them to touch.”
Im Chunsoo was dumbfounded.
The Guild had existed for less than a month. Its entire membership was too small to fill a single raid team. At that size, it would hardly be strange to call it a social club instead of a Guild.
And yet, who the hell were those bastards to have a Lock placed on them?
“Huh. Look at these bastards.”
“What should we do?”
“Don’t dig any deeper into that for now. Leave it alone. And make damn sure the people we paid this time keep their mouths shut.”
During the Great Cataclysm, Im Chunsoo had been famous for his fiery temper. But running a Guild had taught him one important lesson.
To achieve a goal—and to gain results beyond that goal—one had to remain calm and cautious.
“So aside from those three, you’ve identified everyone?”
“Yes. Completely.”
The Team 1 Leader’s meticulous nature had earned Im Chunsoo’s trust. Chunsoo nodded.
“Deal with those two locked targets as I said. For now, focus only on Jin Taekyung. Mobilize a few people from the Guild Audit Team and increase the surveillance separately.”
“Separately…?”
“Yeah. This report is no good. And when you think about it, our Guild Audit Team is no slouch either, is it?”
“That’s true, but…”
The Team 1 Leader faltered. He remembered what Hong Woojin had repeatedly stressed when he commissioned the investigation.
“The moment I accept this assignment, it becomes my job. Got it? Within a week, I’ll find out what color underwear the bastard wore that day, so leave it to me. If you start something on your end and the surveillance target catches on, you’ll ruin my job.”
Hong Woojin had little experience, but word had spread that he was good at his job. His arrogant tone aside, his professionalism had inspired confidence, and the Team 1 Leader had personally given him his word.
I should probably tell him.
But the objection he was about to raise slipped straight back down his throat at Im Chunsoo’s next words.
“Why? Something else you want to say?”
“Oh, no, sir. I’ll relay it exactly as you said.”
“Good. You can go.”
Im Chunsoo had been in a bad mood lately. It was the Team 1 Leader’s job to keep him appeased as much as possible and guide him in a favorable direction.
It’ll be fine, right? It’ll be fine.
Even after leaving the Guild Master’s office, the Team 1 Leader could not shake his unease.
Home. Vacation.
Just thinking about those two words made me happy. The reality was every bit as wonderful.
Except…
Bzzzz. Bzzzzzz.
“Ah, this is driving me crazy.”
I swatted a fly with lightning speed. Not with an ordinary palm, either, but one charged with internal energy. I tossed the fly, dead in one strike, into the trash and returned to the sofa.
“Why the hell are there so many fucking flies?”
Hayeon, who had briefly come out into the living room to get a drink of water, let out a deep sigh.
“It’s summer, you idiot, Oppa3.”
“I’m telling you, this is more than that.”
“How many could there possibly be? There was only one just now.”
“That’s the problem. They keep coming in one at a time. Every time I kill one, another shows up from somewhere.”
“How many have you killed?”
“I swear to heaven, I’ve killed at least a hundred since this morning.”
“Look at you exaggerating. This is why men are…”
“I’m serious!”
“Okay, okay.”
Wow. This was driving me insane. I tore at my hair and swatted another fly. A hundred? That was no exaggeration. What the hell was wrong with this neighborhood that one house could be overrun with so many flies?
Did someone smear honey on the windows?
At first, they had merely been annoying. Like Hayeon said, I assumed they were only around because it was summer.
But the more time passed, the more I realized that something was strange.
It was after I’d killed about thirty of them.
These damn things kept coming in without a break! I would kill one, then another would come in. I would kill that one, and a different fly would take its place.
Even after I closed every window and searched the whole house with Qi Sense, the nightmare of the fly army continued.
Bzzzzzz.
“See? Another one came in before we could even turn around. Where the hell are these things coming from?”
I carefully searched for some tiny gap I had failed to notice, but I could not figure it out. They seemed to be coming through spaces barely large enough for a single ant to pass through.
“Stop swatting them and leave them alone. Then they’ll quiet down.”
“What kind of creative bullshit is that? You think they’ll sit still just because you leave them alone? We obviously won’t be able to sleep with them buzzing all night.”
“The flies in my room stay still.”
“What?”
“There are about three in my room, too. They bothered me at first, so I thought about killing them, but when I left them alone, they stopped flying around and just sat on my desk.”
“That’s only temporary. They probably fly around like crazy when you’re not looking.”
“I think they’re just lazy flies. They haven’t moved even once.”
“Say something that makes sense.”
“I’m serious. Want to bet a hundred thousand won4?”
“You even have a hundred thousand won4? You’re supposed to be studying for exams.”
“Of course I do. It’s the money you gave me last time.”
“You’re going to bet against me with the allowance I gave you?”
“If you’re scared, you can just die.”
“…Deal.”
Shit. So this was how money went around in circles.
We went straight to Hayeon’s room. She pointed at a fly sitting quietly on her desk and grinned triumphantly.
“See? I was right, wasn’t I? Hurry up and hand over the hundred thousand won4.”
“Hand over what? We need to run an experiment first.”
I brought my palm down over the fly. I struck at an ordinary person’s speed, slow enough for the fly to dodge easily. But then…
Flinch. Scramble.
The fly jumped in alarm and scurried away as fast as its legs could carry it.
I was dumbfounded. Hayeon looked just as baffled.
“Sis.”
“Y-Yeah?”
“Are all flies these days like that?”
“M-Maybe they do? Anyway, give me the hundred thousand won4.”
“I’ll give it to you. I will. But isn’t that fly strange?”
“A fly is a fly. That one’s just a little strange.”
“What kind of fly acts like that? I’ve seen goblins and Minotaurs in my life, but I’ve never seen a fly that flies around so little.”
The instant I finished speaking—
Bzzzzzz—
“……”
“……”
Suspicious. Way too suspicious.
The timing was questionable enough, but the way its wings moved—as if it were trying hard to look ordinary—was even stranger. Even its flight was awkward and unsteady.
Never mind that. It gives me the creeps. This feeling is weirdly familiar.
Where had I felt something like this before?
Oh, right. That alley I had walked through two days ago, on my way home from viewing the house.
That strange sense of déjà vu, as though someone were watching me.
Am I really just being oversensitive?
I glared at the fly and raised my Qi Sense. Its activation range now extended to a radius of seventy meters5, spreading into every corner of the house.
And then something no one could have expected happened.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
System
Lv. 1 Housefly—Familiar
Lv. 1 Black Blow Fly—Familiar
Lv. 1 Green Bottle Fly—Familiar
“…?”
What the hell is this?
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