“Then, please excuse me.”
Jeong Yerin bowed her head slightly and stepped inside the front door.
The guild members who had accompanied her waited outside.
It was awkward.
It was the first time he’d had a visitor at his house since returning to Earth.
And not just any ordinary guest, but a guild member of the Phoenix Guild at that.
‘What’s her angle?’
At first, he thought she might have come regarding the disappeared dungeon.
But looking at Jeong Yerin’s behavior and expression, it didn’t seem to be the case.
Pushing aside unnecessary thoughts, he watched Jeong Yerin removing her shoes.
A connection made when they ran into each other at a cafe some time ago.
No. Could this even be called a connection?
Come to think of it, hadn’t she approached him out of nowhere, handed him a business card, and disappeared?
It was still an incomprehensible action.
She was a truly strange woman.
But that didn’t mean he could kick her out.
Considering the Phoenix Guild she belonged to, he couldn’t afford to treat her carelessly.
On the contrary, it was also an opportunity to satisfy his curiosity.
Figuring out why she had come to find him went without saying. Furthermore, he needed to know whether the reason for her visit was her own action or something at the guild level.
“Um….”
When I remained silent, Jeong Yerin cautiously opened her mouth.
“Ah, I’m sorry about this.”
Whatever her purpose, she was a guest who had come to my house.
It was rude to let a guest keep standing.
I quickly guided her to the living room.
A seat somewhere appropriate in the living room….
Ah, I had left the gargoyle in the living room, hadn’t I?
Though a monster, the gargoyle maintained a hardened, statue-like state normally, so I had placed it there.
Sure enough, Jeong Yerin couldn’t take her eyes off the gargoyle.
He didn’t want any unnecessary misunderstandings arising here.
“That’s… just a statue. How should I put it. Just a hobby of mine?”
“Ah… I-I see.”
He spat it out like an excuse, yet inwardly let out a sigh.
The gargoyle was about the size of a human torso, and its appearance resembled an evil spirit.
Would anyone keep such a statue in their living room?
Seeing Jeong Yerin’s flustered expression, she clearly thought he was strange.
“Your legs will hurt if you keep standing, so please sit here.”
Pretending to be nonchalant, he moved the gargoyle and offered her a seat.
Though the gargoyle was heavy, Koko came out and helped move it.
“Oh….”
At that sight, Jeong Yerin nodded as if she understood something.
“Mr. I Ganghyeon, you use your Necromancer abilities quite well?”
And through her remark just now, he knew for certain.
‘She really investigated me properly.’
He had never introduced himself as a Necromancer.
And Jeong Yerin wasn’t surprised at the sight of Koko. She looked at him merely as if it were natural, as if she had known beforehand.
But it didn’t matter.
From the start, he was registered as a Necromancer at the Awakener Center.
For an organization like the Phoenix Guild, finding out through the Awakener Center would be easy.
Of course, since his actual ability wasn’t that, there was no need to bother correcting her misunderstanding.
And under current law, as long as it didn’t harm others, there was no problem keeping summons around, so having skeletons in the house was a natural sight.
After roughly moving the gargoyle, they sat facing each other at the table in the living room.
Now was the time to get to the main point.
“So, I’m curious why you’ve come to find me.”
“You must have been quite surprised by my sudden visit. First, I’d like to offer my apologies.”
As she bowed her head with an apology—
*Tap—*
Maru placed a cup filled with tea on the table.
Well, a guest had come; it would have been rude not to offer anything.
Maru had definitely done well here.
“Huh?”
But when another skeleton appeared this time, Jeong Yerin made a surprised expression once more.
“Th-that’s amazing? I’ve never seen someone handle Necromancer abilities so freely!”
I smiled slightly at her words and offered the tea.
“Please have some for now. Let me know if you need more.”
She hesitated briefly, then soon began drinking the tea.
“…….”
After taking a sip, she made a surprised expression again this time.
What the hell.
Could the taste be strange?
The tea Maru had brought out wasn’t ordinary tea.
It was tea that Ceria had offered as tribute after a special mission ended.
‘Was the name Breath of the Moonlight…?’
Seeing Jeong Yerin speechless, I too took a sip.
“!”
And I was surprised too.
This was a taste that couldn’t help but surprise.
Wow, it produces such a deep flavor?
It even completely relieved fatigue.
I had to admit it.
‘A taste like this would sell for quite a lot….’
I should ask Ceria if I could get more sometime.
But I snapped out of my idle thoughts.
Because I hadn’t sat facing her just to drink tea with her alone right now.
“I’m curious why someone who knows of me has come to visit.”
“I actually….”
Whether because she still couldn’t get over the taste of the tea or because she was organizing what to say in her head, Jeong Yerin stammered briefly.
And just as she was finally about to say something—
“The truth is, Mr. I Ganghyeon, I—”
*Tap—*
Maru brought out ramen.
Come to think of it, I had asked for food earlier, hadn’t I?
“…….”
Once again, the flow was cut off and silence fell.
But it wasn’t an atmosphere to talk with food placed in front of them.
“If you don’t mind, let’s eat the ramen first….”
Since I was hungry too, I offered the ramen for now.
And the moment I put a chopstickful of ramen in my mouth—
‘Hm?’
What is this taste?
The ramen tasted strange.
Not bad, but strangely too delicious.
‘What?’
A rich broth spread throughout my mouth.
It was clean yet profound, a flavor that wrapped around my tongue.
The meat and vegetables added to the perfection of the taste.
Really, what is this?
This taste went far beyond even the ramen enhanced by Maru’s cooking skills.
I mindlessly slurped the noodles, then suddenly came to my senses.
‘This is absolutely not Earth’s flavor!’
A strong warning blared in my head.
“Excuse me just a moment….”
I asked Jeong Yerin for understanding and got up.
The place I headed to was the kitchen.
Siel and Maru were in the kitchen.
“What did you put in the ramen?”
I asked Maru in the smallest voice possible.
“Clack clack clack.”
Huh? Siel had cooked it, not Maru?
At Maru’s words, I turned my gaze to Siel.
“Ah… u-um, that’s….”
Siel stuttered, speaking one word at a time.
“In the ice place… there was meat….”
In short, there was meat in the freezer, so she had put it in.
But there was meat?
Strange. I didn’t remember putting meat in the freezer….
When I showed doubt, Maru opened his mouth.
“Clack clack!”
Ah, Ceria had given meat before?
By the way, what meat was it?
“Clack.”
Hand? Like a pig’s front leg?
“Clack!”
Gnoll…?
“…….”
Hearing Maru’s fragmented words, I finally realized.
A monster gnoll’s hand.
Ceria had offered it as tribute sometime ago, but I had forgotten.
Back then, Ceria had offered Paladins as tribute too, so I must have fainted, hadn’t I?
In short, while I was unconscious, Maru had frozen the gnoll hands.
“Damn it!”
I quickly went out to the living room.
There, I saw Jeong Yerin, who had finished eating the ramen.
“Wow, this is really delicious?”
“Ah…”
I’m doomed.
* * *
A few hours before visiting I Ganghyeon’s house.
Jeong Yerin had finally found information on I Ganghyeon.
Truthfully, she could have found him easily by simply requesting the Awakener Center or the Hunter Association.
No matter how strict the Personal Information Protection Act was, using the Phoenix Guild’s background would have made it trivial.
But Jeong Yerin hadn’t chosen that method.
‘Jeong Taeyeong…’
Because if she had, Jeong Taeyeong, her eldest brother and Vice Guild Master, would obviously catch on.
If that happened, he would suspect why she was looking into a hunter named I Ganghyeon, and might even make contact himself.
‘That absolutely must not happen.’
Jeong Yerin gritted her teeth.
Fine, she had a different mother.
But Jeong Taeyeong was a vicious bastard who had even discarded his younger brother Jeong Woojin, born from the same mother.
He had ruthlessly abandoned Jeong Woojin, who had suffered greatly in the Incubus Dungeon, and when the dungeon disappeared due to the Monster Wave incident, he had forced him to shoulder all the responsibility.
So Jeong Yerin had spent time and money gathering information in secret.
Right now, she needed a force that could move independently within the guild more than she needed the Phoenix Guild itself. And she was certain that I Ganghyeon was precisely the card to overturn the power structure within the guild.
‘He knew the Goblin Lord raid strategy.’
Thanks to that information not yet known to the world, Jeong Yerin had been able to safely clear the Goblin Lord’s dungeon.
“I absolutely have to recruit him….”
He was a man who already knew the Goblin Lord raid strategy.
She didn’t doubt that he knew about various other monsters as well.
That alone made his value soar.
‘I’m the only one who knows his true worth right now.’
Jeong Yerin decided to recruit I Ganghyeon into the Phoenix Guild.
More precisely, as a consultant for the team she led.
Fortunately, I Ganghyeon was not currently affiliated with any guild, and his rank was only F-Rank on the surface.
It might seem strange, but it was highly likely he was a hidden expert who had ceased his activities.
“Let’s depart quickly.”
Jeong Yerin quietly departed with a few team members.
Though it would have been proper to contact him beforehand out of courtesy, somehow feeling rushed, she went straight to I Ganghyeon’s house.
* * *
Jeong Yerin was surprised the moment she entered I Ganghyeon’s house.
She had thought it was an ordinary house, but a gargoyle-shaped statue stood in the middle of the living room.
‘Surely it isn’t a real gargoyle?’
Gargoyles were known as monsters that normally guarded dungeons.
They exhibited the trait of staying still like statues normally and attacking when hunters appeared.
Jeong Yerin looked at the statue with curious eyes.
The details were so elaborate that one could mistake it for a real gargoyle.
The only difference was that it wasn’t a real gargoyle?
‘Well, it can’t be a real monster.’
Perhaps because she stared at the statue too intently, I Ganghyeon spoke first.
“That’s… just a statue. How should I put it. Just a hobby of mine?”
It was certainly a unique taste, but she decided not to wonder any further.
But the sight that unfolded soon after made her surprised again.
A skeleton popped out from somewhere and moved the gargoyle statue.
Not only that.
Another skeleton brought out tea on a tray.
“…….”
She was too surprised to speak.
And she had no choice but to acknowledge it.
‘Mr. I Ganghyeon is definitely a Necromancer.’
Watching him freely control the skeletons, Jeong Yerin couldn’t hide her admiration.
This must mean he possessed the mana to continuously maintain summoned skeletons.
‘Just how high are his stats?’
And the surprises didn’t end here.
She took a sip of the tea the skeleton brought out and was startled.
‘Could this be Breath of the Moonlight…?’
This rare tea was an authentic product hard to find even on the Eldorad Continent.
Although Jeong Yerin herself had never been to the Eldorad Continent, she had tasted it once at the Holy Guild.
And that had been only a small soju glass’s worth.
Thanks to that, she could recognize that the tea she was drinking now was Breath of the Moonlight.
‘They said even that Gim Suho savored this tea….’
Only an extremely small number of hunters were randomly summoned to the Eldorad Continent.
And Gim Suho of the Holy Guild had also been there. The story of him being active as a Paladin of the White Order on the Eldorad Continent was extremely famous.
How active must he have been to receive various items including a standard-issue holy sword as gifts before returning to Earth?
And this Breath of the Moonlight was also one of the items Gim Suho had brought back.
At that time, Gim Suho had appeared on a broadcast and praised Breath of the Moonlight.
A tea that even an ace like Gim Suho drank sparingly from a soju glass—I Ganghyeon had poured it generously into a cup and served it.
More than anything, the words “Let me know if you need more” were shocking.
She grew increasingly curious about his identity.
If there was one thing she learned from this incident.
‘As expected, he has been to the Eldorad Continent.’
She had expected that a hunter of this level must have been there.
But now she was certain.
‘He must possess abilities rivaling Gim Suho?’
Perhaps he might be even greater.
‘Just what is his true identity?’
At this level, he must have enjoyed tremendous renown on the Eldorad Continent.
Why would such a great being live in seclusion?
Jeong Yerin fell into a swamp of thoughts.
Soon, ramen came out.
After one bite, Jeong Yerin couldn’t hold back her admiration again.
‘I’ve never tasted anything like this…!’
It was a deep taste on a different dimension from ordinary ramen. The broth, of course, and the meat in the ramen were truly a delicacy.
‘Could this also be something brought from the Eldorad Continent?’
It was an amazing taste to that extent.
“Wow, this is really delicious?”
Jeong Yerin, who had already scraped up every last drop of the broth, spared no praise.
Her greed grew stronger and stronger.
How good would it be if such an amazing person became her ally?
Perhaps she was being too hasty with just these things.
But she had already seen I Ganghyeon’s true worth.
I Ganghyeon knew information about the Goblin Lord and was a hunter who had already been to the Eldorad Continent.
There must be more abilities he hadn’t shown.
But conversely, she also felt regret.
He had amazing abilities, but doubt arose as to whether she could truly win him over.
Why would a person like this want to join a guild?
Even the position of consultant would be the same.
These types couldn’t be lured by money or items.
He lacked nothing right now; why would he want to get tied down to a place like a guild?
Jeong Yerin’s expression turned slightly sulky.
When she finished the ramen and sat still, I Ganghyeon spoke to her first.
“Now that you’ve finished, let’s get to the main point. What is the reason you came to find me?”
Jeong Yerin worried.
Was this really the right thing?
At first, she had been overflowing with confidence that she could win him over.
She had thought the Phoenix Guild was enough.
But reality was different.
‘At this level, even the Holy Guild would barely be able to recruit him….’
After a brief thought, Jeong Yerin soon made up her mind.
Life was all or nothing anyway.
Jeong Yerin took a deep breath.
“It may sound strange… but I would like to invite you, Mr. I Ganghyeon, to serve as a consultant for the Phoenix Guild!”
And she took the plunge.