Chapter 21
It seemed he had already heard the footsteps, as the man was already looking this way.
"Yoon Seo, it's been a while."
"It's been a while, sir."
The middle-aged man with a mustache and a stout build, whom Yoon Seo always called "Mustache" was none other than Tae Jaesik, an A-rank Hunter and the executive director of Seokyoung Guild. He used to be slim, but every time Yoon Seo saw him, he seemed to have gained more weight, and now he had become round-bellied.
"Come in and have a seat."
Tae Jaesik lowered the blinds on the windows. Despite being on the 87th floor, where no one could peek in, his actions were cautious.
"This office is spacious and nice. Did you even get an orchid plant?"
"An orchid is a must-have for an executive director's office."
"You must have seen that somewhere."
"You're still as cheeky as ever. And by the way, that's a fake plant."
"I could tell it's fake. This is exactly the kind of pretentious executive director's office decor I'd expect."
"Did you come here to pick a fight?"
"No. I came because you called me."
"Ugh, whatever."
Tae Jaesik clicked his tongue.
"Congrats on making it into the temporary team."
"Is that something worth congratulating?"
"You've probably heard, but if you make it to the elite team, your salary will skyrocket. The benefits are at a level where our guild would practically give you items and potions for free. Now that you've joined a world top-tier guild, don't forget to treat me, my wife, and my daughter to something nice."
Despite his boastful tone, Tae Jaesik's eyes betrayed unease. Understanding the true situation behind this roundabout conversation, Yoon Seo pulled an item out of his inventory.
[The 'Old Carpet' Item has been used.]
[Two eavesdropping devices detected. Would you like to neutralize them?]
Yoon Seo accepted the neutralization.
[The area has been cleared. Remaining time: 09:59.]
"You can speak now. You've got ten minutes."
"There really were bugs? How many?"
"Two."
"Ugh, I just cleared them all out yesterday, and already…."
Tae Jaesik, rubbing his face with a weary expression, finally greeted him properly.
"It's been a while, kiddo. How have you been?"
"I'm doing fine. How about you, sir?"
"Me? Well, as you can see."
Until twelve years ago, Tae Jaesik and Yoon Seo were strangers.
On the morning of the Great Cataclysm, Yoon Seo, who was just an ordinary high school student, was on his way to an amusement park with his friends, while Tae Jaesik, a regular 30-year-old office worker, was heading to work. Suddenly, a loud explosion shook the subway violently, followed by eerie howls and piercing screams that filled the air. At first, they thought it was a subway accident, but when they saw monsters tearing through the steel structures, they realized it wasn't.
On that morning, at Sindorim Station during rush hour, only three people survived the fully packed subway car: Tae Jaesik, Yoon Seo, and one of Yoon Seo's friends.
It was also Tae Jaesik who advised Yoon Seo to hide his name and face while working as an awakened one. Thanks to him, Yoon Seo, despite being one of the earliest hunters of the initial apocalypse era, managed to keep his personal information unknown.
"You look better than the last time I saw you."
"So do you, sir. You've gained some weight."
"My wife and daughter keep feeding me every time they see me. My wife says fattening me up is her joy in life. I've probably gained 10 kilograms since we last met."
The last time they had seen each other was at Tae Jaesik's daughter's first birthday party. Since many high-ranking executives of Seokyoung, as well as government and Hunter Association members, were present, Yoon Seo left after greeting everyone. Many of the executives at Seokyoung had been active during Seo Chaeyoon's time. Although no one knew Yoon Seo's bare face, he was wary of the possibility and avoided unnecessary encounters.
"Let's talk over coffee. You still like it with less water, right?"
"Yeah."
Despite saying this, Yoon Seo didn't get up and instead leaned back deeply against the chair. Instead, he used a skill. With the invisible power of
People often speculated with certainty that Kwon Jihan must have
General skills could be possessed by multiple people, but special skills granted by guardian gods could only belong to one individual. For instance, Yoon Seo's skill
As the hot water gently poured in under his precise control, Tae Jaesik began discussing something he couldn't say over the phone.
"I didn't tell you because I didn't want to stress you out, but the Seokyoung Guild and the association have been looking for Seo Chaeyoon for the past two years."
Yoon Seo's seemingly carefree expression stiffened.
"They've been pressuring both me and Hunter La Bijina, trying to coax or threaten us into revealing Seo Chaeyoon's whereabouts. I can't say anything because of the 'contract,' so they've even formed a separate Seo Chaeyoon tracking team and are working hard on it."
Ten years ago, four Revengers had survived the Great Dungeon, but two had died, leaving only two: La Bijina from Europe and Seo Chaeyoon from Korea. La Bijina suffered permanent physical disabilities that couldn't be healed even by a healer's restoration, and her mental state was unstable, making proper conversation nearly impossible.
'Seo Chaeyoon. I speak Korean. Call me noona.'
Twelve years ago, as Korea led the world, a Korean language craze had swept the globe. La Bijina had been one of those caught in the craze. She often said things like that in her broken Korean.
'I'm Noona. La noona.'
'You're not noona, you're more like an aunt. Be reasonable….'
'What is aunt? Call me noona.'
'There's a 16-year age gap between us. Stop saying absurd things.'
'Korean is difficult. I don't understand. Call me noona.'
While Yoon Seo's friend eventually gave in and started calling her noona due to her relentless nagging, Yoon Seo only occasionally called her Noona, deliberately teasing her.
"You must've had a hard time because of me. I feel a bit sorry."
"Oh, you realize that, huh? Contract or not, if I could, I would've spilled everything and saved myself the trouble!"
"I wasn't talking about you, sir. I meant Hunter La Bijina."
"This little brat, seriously."
Tae Jaesik frowned deeply, but knowing that even if he hit Yoon Seo on the head, it wouldn't faze him, he gave up.
"Anyway, the temporary team you're in right now, although it's supposedly to form the strongest elite team in the world, is actually just a means to find Seo Chaeyoon. The seven members of the temporary team, including you, are candidates identified by Seokyoung's Seo Chaeyoon search team. They even planted spies for a year to monitor candidates one-on-one. Did you notice anyone suspicious around you?"
"I think I know who it is."
It's undoubtedly Park Soobin, who joined The Guild of Leaves a year ago while hiding his rank.
Since Yoon Seo never trusted him in the first place, there wasn't any sense of betrayal.
Yoon Seo, having no appetite, made two coffees and placed them in front of Tae Jaesik. Tae Jaesik gulped down the hot coffee and emptied a mug in an instant. He tousled his hair.
"I don't know why they're suddenly looking for Seo Chaeyoon. They didn't move a muscle when others were frantically searching elsewhere until now."
"Didn't you ask why?"
"I asked the Guild Master, but he wouldn't tell me. He said he couldn't trust me. He even joked that if only he and I were left alive in the world, he still wouldn't tell me. Said he thinks I'd revive the dead just to go around blabbing about it. Does that even make sense? How light does he think my mouth is?"
"...."
Yoon Seo's trust in Seokyoung's Guild Master's judgment silently increased.
"Since two years ago, the Guild Master, Vice Guild Master, and Kwon Jihan have been whispering amongst themselves. It's clear they're scheming something, but I have no idea what it is."
"Even if you haven't heard anything, you can still guess, right? What do you think it might be? Could it possibly be some event threatening the Earth…."
Yoon Seo's expression turned grave. He was wondering if there was a looming catastrophe that only a group like Seokyoung, which held sway over the world, was aware of. Something like the Great Dungeon in the past….
If that were the case, revealing himself would be the right thing to do. Not because he was righteous.
Yoon Seo was, in fact, far from being righteous. If he were truly a hero of justice, no matter the penalty, he wouldn't have stayed out of battle for ten years.
However, if the world was in peril, he had to reveal himself. The reason was simple.
If the peace he had finally found was thrown into chaos again, fulfilling their wills would become even harder.
There were still too many wills left unfulfilled.
That was the only reason.
"I think it's because of Kwon Jihan. To fight him."
"…What?"
Yoon Seo, who had been deep in thought, widened his eyes.
"You've probably heard the rumors too, Kwon Jihan's a fight maniac. This is guild confidential, so you can't tell anyone. I'm only telling you because it's you, so keep it a secret. Actually, the reason our guild has five S-ranks is all because of Kwon Jihan."
Tae Jaesik's mouth was as light as his mustache, which had always been notorious.
"Kwon Jihan challenged S-ranks to duels with a wager: 'If I lose, I'll join your guild or serve under you, but if I win, you join Seokyoung.'"
"Do S-ranks actually accept such ridiculous bets?"
"They did… think about it. S-ranks are an arrogant bunch, aren't they? A cocky, green kid comes along, attaching such conditions and picking a fight, they probably wanted to teach him a lesson. Oh, of course, you're a kind S-rank. Anyway, after gathering foreign S-ranks like that, there was no one left willing to fight Kwon Jihan. Seeing the losers dragged into Seokyoung probably made them realize the stakes."
"So, now that Kwon Jihan has no opponents left, he wants to fight Seo Chaeyoon?"
"Yeah, Seo Chaeyoon is still called the strongest hunter in the world. If he fights him and recruits him into Seokyoung, it's killing two birds with one stone."