Chapter 11
"Welcome, Hunter Seong Dohyeon."
I ripped off the brooch Baek Eunseong had given me the moment I entered. Come to think of it, the dress code was gold, so why would I need anything else when my eyes are already golden?
Did I not know the dress code? Was he worried I'd embarrass myself and tried to help?
Who was it that truly embarrassed 'Seong Dohyeon'?
Fuming, I was about to throw the brooch away but instead stuffed it into my pocket. It's not the gold's fault.
Then, suppressing my anger, I scanned the floral arrangements and decorations along the corridor for anything suspicious. Since there was nothing questionable on this side yet, I moved on and joined the hunters from the Association.
"Have you decided on a password?"
"Password? Just call my name if you see anything strange."
I had refused the in-ear piece offered by the Association hunters before the mission started, and found a spot with a clear view of the banquet hall. Asil immediately pointed to one side of the second floor. I'd need to move there once the party started in earnest.
Surrounded by Association hunters, I sat in a chair and closed my eyes. Then I could clearly feel the unique waves of the hunters. It felt like playing a VR game, which excited me, but having nearly died from fooling around like this before, I focused on calmly distinguishing between the waves of hunters and artifacts.
Clusters were hunters, dots were artifacts. And things glowing strangely were relics from dungeons.
Artifacts were a problem, but I especially needed to check for relics.
Artifacts made from byproducts of dungeons were dangerous, but even ordinary people who weren't hunters could control them. However, relics—dungeon rewards—were difficult for even normal hunters to handle. Ever since a hunter brought an uncontrollably large relic to show off and got consumed by it, using relics in crowded places had been prohibited.
But there are always attention-seekers everywhere.
I was following a few people I needed to keep an eye on when I turned my head at the sound of someone calling me.
"What."
"Guild Master Baekwoo has come to see you."
Feeling sensitive from the crowd, I frowned and looked up at Baek Jiseong who had approached me at some point. Had he heard about the refund? His flow was churning roughly. He tried to dress me up like a peacock to mock me but couldn't, so he's disappointed?
"You're wearing... different clothes. I was looking forward to it suiting you well."
"Compared to this place, the clothes are shabby."
I was pondering how to more eloquently say 'your taste is truly terrible' when I heard a hearty laugh.
"What clothes did you pick that someone would call Hunter Baek Jiseong's taste shabby?"
I reflexively raised my fist at the sudden approach. Then I saw the face of an old man chuckling and relaxed my body.
"I've told you multiple times that if you approach me like that, you might get hit."
The old man, stroking his white beard braided in two strands and smiling gently—I glared at him while shaking my hand lightly to release the tension.
True to his title as Center Director, Kang Youngchan, despite being over 70, possessed a stronger aura than the young hunters gathered here. And unlike me, he could control his flow at will, making him skilled at hiding his presence to the point where I'd only notice when he was right in front of me.
"You've never hit me once all this time."
"I'll hit you next time."
Kang Youngchan paid no mind to my irritable attitude and grabbed one of my arms, using me like a cane. Meanwhile, his white eyes staring at me narrowed.
"I heard you were badly injured. Seems like you've changed as a person?"
Old man, sharp as ever.
Ignoring Kang Youngchan's words as usual, I frowned at the sight of Baek Eunseong approaching. Baek Eunseong briefly glanced at my bare chest—where the brooch had been—then smiled like cotton candy.
Seriously, can't humans just smile innocently? Does he always have to smile like he's hiding something?
"Everyone is gathered here."
Baek Eunseong was holding a child's hand. I looked thinking it was Baek Hamin, but it was a different child.
"Hello, I'm Baek Gyeongmin!"
As if noticing my watching gaze, Baek Jiseong's son greeted me clearly and started eating the canapés Baek Eunseong had given him, seemingly unbothered by his perfectly fitted suit. Hmm. Other than the brown hair, he doesn't look much like Baek Hamin.
Watching the child eating diligently made me hungry too. I grabbed a passing staff member and asked for more food, and soon a mountain of canapés arrived. Before I could even touch a cheese canapé, Kang Youngchan picked up a tuna canapé and took a bite.
"Haha. If I stay next to Hunter Seong Dohyeon, I won't starve to death."
"That's mine. If you want to eat, ask properly."
While bickering meaninglessly with Kang Youngchan, Baek Eunseong approached with his usual scheming smile.
"It's good to see you eating well. Hamin said to tell you thanks to you, he ate well too."
At Baek Eunseong's repeated thanks, the word that I had not only rescued Baek Hamin—who was being kidnapped—but also protected him began spreading like waves around us. And at the end of it, the question followed: what was Baekwoo Guild doing?
Even amid the fierce voices trying to belittle and tarnish Baekwoo Guild, Baek Eunseong merely sipped champagne with an impassive face.
This was one of the reasons Seong Dohyeon hated Baek Eunseong. The recognition that Seong Dohyeon so desperately wanted and the large guild that would firmly support him—yet Baek Eunseong treated all of his own background as trash.
How could anyone look kindly on a bastard who makes light of what they desire?
Anyway, why was Baek Eunseong allowing Baekwoo Guild to be tarnished? I fell into thought over the cascading questions. Could the rumor that that bastard was trying to eliminate his brother and become Guild Master be true?
...I don't know. In the original work, 'Seong Dohyeon' died before he could do anything.
"Guild Master Baekwoo must have been busy after coming back from the dungeon too."
When someone put up a shield of blood, public opinion shifted with murmurs of agreement—"Right, right"—and voices sympathizing with that statement emerged.
Baek Jiseong smiled with the magnanimous face of someone who couldn't care less about rumors. It seemed like an attempt to make Baek Eunseong a scapegoat, but the image from Baek Eunseong's kind face was too strong, making it difficult.
I ate my canapés and scoffed at Baek Jiseong. Then I heard someone muttering beside me.
"Whenever I see them, the brothers look so good together."
Hmm. I wonder. Someone might think Baek Jiseong is such a good older brother, but having read the original work, I couldn't feel that way.
In the original work, Baek Jiseong killed his older brother and sister-in-law—Baek Hamin's parents—to become Guild Master, and placed a curse on Baek Eunseong. He was the kind of person who pretended not to know even when the aftermath spread to Baek Hamin.
When Baek Eunseong showed no signs of weakening from the powerful curse and Baek Hamin grew up, threatening his son Baek Gyeongmin's position, Baek Jiseong committed the atrocity of poisoning Baek Eunseong. And yet, he told Baek Hamin to open P's Box, claiming they needed an elixir to save his uncle.
By the time he desperately obtained the elixir, Baek Eunseong had long been dead. And the Baek Jiseong he trusted pointed fingers at Baek Hamin from the front row, claiming that bastard had brought destruction to the world.
Consumed by guilt and not knowing what to do, he went to help Do Yudam seal the dungeon, only to discover in the process that Baek Jiseong had killed his parents and uncle.
That was the content of the original work—properly darkened and turned into a villain. I recalled the novel's contents and stared at Baek Jiseong.
Even if this wasn't the point in the novel where Baek Hamin's power grew, would Baek Jiseong poison Baek Eunseong if Baek Gyeongmin's position seemed threatened? If Baek Eunseong's status rose, would he open a dungeon to check him and send Baek Hamin?
'So young?'
The thought of whether Baek Jiseong could be such a shameless bastard crossed my mind, and simultaneously, a thought flashed through my head. My heart started pounding.
Worst case, I break even.
If things go well, I might be able to return to my original world 10 years earlier.
"That... Hunter Baek Eunseong too..."
I started to speak but clamped my mouth shut, and not only Kang Youngchan right next to me but all the hunters surrounding me turned to look.
I needed to praise Baek Eunseong for Baek Jiseong to feel a sense of crisis, but I couldn't bring myself to say it. Seong Dohyeon's body was rebelling, and I didn't want to do it either. I don't have a single good memory with him, so how can I praise him?
It would be faster to squeeze water from a dry rag. I'll just not praise him and wait 10 years.
Clicking my tongue inwardly, I glared at Baek Eunseong taking care of Baek Gyeongmin. That brat Baek Hamin cried so much about not wanting to be separated from me, but not a single call?
Recalling the small warmth that had nestled in my arms, I pressed my forehead. How could I enter the dungeon instead of Baek Hamin and open P's Box?
No matter how I thought about it, M's Key seemed to be the item Baek Hamin used when he freely opened and closed dungeon seals and toyed with Do Yudam. It seemed like something you could only obtain by opening P's Box...
If Baek Hamin continued to follow me well until then, I could sweet-talk him and take it, or I'd have to open P's Box myself instead of Baek Hamin.
"Thank you for attending despite your busy schedules."
With the Meteor Guild Master's welcoming speech, the party began, and my senses moved agilely to prepare for any potential accidents.
We had announced in advance that artifacts should be left behind and conducted simple body searches before entering the party venue. However, most hunters would likely hide artifacts using inventory or deliberately disguise them as other items with disguise skills, so I couldn't let my guard down.
Even if they had to pay a fine, showing off once to raise their value was supposedly more profitable.
"Hunter Kim Junho's bracelet—it's an artifact."
At my instruction, the hunters on standby rushed over and escorted him away. After repeating this process three or four times, the hunters who initially insisted it wasn't true started glancing around nervously.
Some looked at me watching from afar and paid the fine obediently, while others quietly took out their artifacts before getting caught... but Baek Eunseong was staring at me with an artifact proudly hanging around his neck.
I had been avoiding even pronouncing Baek Eunseong's name, but suddenly I felt a strange yet familiar sensation from Baek Jiseong.
How should I put it—like oil spreading in a clear, clean sea? A viscous, sticky energy that was filthy to even explain. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, so I frowned involuntarily.
The destination that energy was heading toward was none other than Baek Eunseong.