Volume 1, Episode 16
016
Yun Hyeon-gi looked at I Seo-jun with a deathly pale face.
What had happened over the past few days.
It had been something hard to endure for Yun Hyeon-gi, born with a silver spoon in his mouth as Tyrion’s youngest son.
Chatter. Chatter.
The fear of death.
And.
Thud.
The pressure of his life being bound.
—All of it.
I Seo-jun, who had hunted the monster, the hobgoblin, had grasped his face in his hands.
The fear and despair he had felt then.
It felt as though it had been carved deep into his bones.
“What do I have to do now?”
Yun Hyeon-gi, the memories of that time surfacing anew, asked with fear-filled eyes.
—You’ll be able to handle what happened here on your own, right?
I Seo-jun, who had said “all of it.”
The first thing he had meant among those was to resolve the matter in the tutorial.
So Yun Hyeon-gi had cleaned up the tutorial matter exactly as I Seo-jun said.
Under Tyrion’s name, he had made himself stand out even more than I Seo-jun.
“I did as you wanted.”
A voice directed at I Seo-jun.
Slump.
At that, I Seo-jun smirked and reclined on the sofa.
“Ultimately, this is a good thing for you, isn’t it?”
And he opened his mouth toward Yun Hyeon-gi, who was looking at him with trembling pupils.
“.........!”
Yun Hyeon-gi’s face flinched at I Seo-jun’s voice.
“No matter how many sacrifices there were, the achievement of surviving the special Gate and defeating its boss became yours.”
I Seo-jun’s eyes looking at Yun Hyeon-gi.
“Because of that, the way people look at you has changed, and your father’s expectations must have grown.”
Yun Hyeon-gi waved his hand as if admitting defeat and stood before I Seo-jun.
“You.”
Yun Hyeon-gi said.
‘I Seo-jun....’
He wasn’t simply strong.
He knew how to use his head, and he was looking at something far greater.
“Are you wishing for me to become the Guild Master of Tyrion?”
Yun Hyeon-gi, speaking his honest mind.
“.........”
But no answer came from I Seo-jun.
He was merely sending his gaze toward him.
Clench.
But Yun Hyeon-gi instead gained certainty from I Seo-jun’s silent demeanor.
“It’s true.”
I Seo-jun wished for him to become Tyrion’s Guild Master.
“The card you’ve taken in hand is one that wishes to become Guild Master.”
“Why, do you hate it?”
At I Seo-jun’s question, Yun Hyeon-gi squeezed his eyes shut.
Events in the tutorial flashed by like a passing film.
—It’s similar to the poison used to kill the boss. As long as you don’t do anything unnecessary, it won’t harm your body. You understand what I’m saying, right?
He was already in I Seo-jun’s grasp.
—The choice is yours. It’ll be hard to detoxify the poison, but if you do, the achievement of defeating the special Gate will no longer be yours. But if you don’t detoxify it….
Then, a smile had bloomed on I Seo-jun’s face.
—Everything you desire will become yours. And in doing so, you will become mine.
That was a contract.
And….
“What do I need to do?”
Yun Hyeon-gi intended to accept that contract.
Yun Hyeon-gi’s face, deathly pale.
‘Just as you use me, I will use you.’
But his eyes alone burned like fire.
* * *
“Boss!”
As soon as he arrived at the Samil Resolution Office, Gim Ju-won rushed up and spoke.
“Are you alright?”
Gim Ju-won asked him with worried eyes.
—A major anomaly occurred for the first time in the history of Korean Hunters during a tutorial. But fortunately….
At the same time, a voice was flowing out from the pocket of his clothes.
Rustle.
It was the sound coming from Gim Ju-won’s phone.
The Republic of Korea was in an uproar over the incident at this tutorial Gate.
Above all.
—Tyrion Guild Master’s youngest son, Hunter Yun Hyeon-gi, has conquered the special Gate.
Tyrion was pouring an enormous amount of money into promoting Yun Hyeon-gi.
For Tyrion, which sought to become the greatest as one of the three major guilds, Yun Hyeon-gi’s affair was excellent publicity.
“Was it really a special Gate?”
Gim Ju-won asked with a surprised face.
“Were you really together with that Yun Hyeon-gi?”
I Seo-jun pushed aside the face of Gim Ju-won, who was chattering noisily, and entered the office.
“You’re noisy.”
I Seo-jun spoke as if annoyed.
“I apologize.”
Despite I Seo-jun’s frosty voice, Gim Ju-won stood watching his retreating figure with apparent worry.
It was then.
“You’re here?”
The hacker I Hyeon-u, whom he had saved before, came out with a face steeped in exhaustion and spoke.
Unlike Gim Ju-won, who had been fussing noisily, I Hyeon-u stood in his spot without a word.
“What about what I asked you to look into?”
I Seo-jun shifted his gaze to I Hyeon-u and asked.
Swish.
I Hyeon-u, a hacker of tremendous skill.
He was the one who had even breached the firewall of the Association, which had the tightest security in the Republic of Korea.
“It’s hard to find.”
Yet from the mouth of such a guy came words saying it was hard to find.
“That means….”
“Yes.”
I Hyeon-u’s gaze changed.
“It does exist.”
I Seo-jun’s gaze changed.
“Someone has merely hidden its existence.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
It exists.
Just by finding this out, I Hyeon-u could be said to have fulfilled his role.
Whish!
I Seo-jun took something from inside his clothes and threw it onto the desk.
It was a card with a black hue.
“Take it.”
I Seo-jun spat out the words in a bland tone.
Swish.
At that, the two men in the room directed their gazes toward the card I Seo-jun had thrown.
“This is…?”
I Hyeon-u, who usually didn’t show his emotions.
“Huuurk!”
Gim Ju-won, more honest with his emotions than anyone.
Both jumped in surprise and stared at the card with trembling pupils.
Clatter. Clatter.
The identity of the black card I Seo-jun had thrown.
It was none other than.
“Wh-where did you get this?”
A card said to be given only to the top 0.001 percent in the Republic of Korea.
A card whose existence could only be confirmed through broadcast media.
“Huh?”
“How do you have this card, Boss?”
The two men asked I Seo-jun in voices that suggested disbelief.
Their gazes were mixed with surprise and fear.
“B-Boss. I don’t know who you took this card from, but… you have to return it right now. The moment you use it, they’ll track you!”
Gim Ju-won, recalling past events, thought I Seo-jun must have taken the card from someone.
‘This is ridiculous. How in the world does he have this?’
I Hyeon-u, who knew the card’s value in detail, couldn’t believe this fact.
“That’s not the case, so stop babbling and use it as you see fit.”
Even under the gazes of the two, I Seo-jun spoke nonchalantly.
“Huh?”
“R-really? Boss.”
Then the two spoke to I Seo-jun with startled rabbit eyes.
Nod.
I Seo-jun nodded his head slightly as if too lazy to even answer.
“Are you saying this is really not stolen but a card that can be used normally?”
But Gim Ju-won still couldn’t set aside his doubts.
“Ask me one more time and I’ll take it back.”
“Ah, no! Boss! I’m sorry!”
Gim Ju-won hastily bowed toward I Seo-jun and spoke.
‘It’s real.’
He didn’t know how the Boss obtained this card.
But that wasn’t important now.
Now that he knew this was a card that could be used normally….
Gulp.
As if a delicious meal were before their eyes, Gim Ju-won and I Hyeon-u looked at the card and swallowed their saliva.
“Wow….”
“Who would have thought the day would come when I’d not only see the card I’ve only heard of in stories, but touch it.”
And the two began to examine the card with sparkling eyes, enraptured.
In the meantime, I Seo-jun.
“.........”
Was thinking over I Hyeon-u’s words with an expressionless face.
—It does exist.
Even in a world where much had changed over twenty years, those bastards still existed.
This was enough.
“Silla Research Institute….”
From now on, it was a matter of finding those bastards for certain.
* * *
Before a Gate near Nowon-gu.
A guild flag hung in that place, which was controlled by the Association.
This meant the guild was planning to raid the Gate.
Occasionally there were those who thought of fooling around upon seeing a guild mark, but before that flag now, everyone would pass by holding their breath.
‘Golden Lion.’
A flag depicting a golden lion, called the greatest of beasts, roaring.
That was none other than the emblem of Tyrion, one of the three major guilds of the Republic of Korea.
“.......”
Ten Hunters were gathered before the Gate where Tyrion’s flag hung.
They were all guild members of Tyrion, wearing armor with Tyrion’s emblem on their chests.
Swish.
And the man standing before them, receiving all their attention.
“Let me introduce them.”
Tyrion Guild Master’s youngest son, Yun Hyeon-gi, began to speak.
“This is Gim Sang-uk. A B-Rank Hunter with considerable skill. I once studied swordsmanship under him.”
Neatly groomed pomade-styled hair.
He was a man wearing angular white-framed glasses with sharp eyes.
“And this is I Seung-heon. A C-Rank Hunter who has been with me for a long time.”
Hair styled in a fifty-fifty parted perm.
He was a somewhat plain-looking man with a friendly smile.
“And this is….”
Yun Hyeon-gi introduced them one by one.
“This is Hunter I Seo-jun, a temporary guild member.”
And he introduced I Seo-jun last.
“Everyone gathered here are people I can trust.”
Disapproving gazes directed at such an I Seo-jun.
“.......”
I Seo-jun received those gazes with an expressionless face.
“The others know each other, except you.”
Seeing this scene, Yun Hyeon-gi spoke as if explaining to I Seo-jun.
Swish.
But to I Seo-jun, they were unfamiliar faces.
Therefore, their gazes were mixed with goodwill, wariness, and curiosity.
“Is there any need to care about that?”
At I Seo-jun’s words, Yun Hyeon-gi spoke carefully.
“They are people you’ll have to work with, so it wouldn’t be bad if you showed some consideration.”
“Well.”
I Seo-jun nodded roughly as if it were annoying.
Ziiing.
And just as he was moving his footsteps toward the blue Gate flickering before his eyes.
“Ah, are you using the card well? I don’t mean anything else; I’m just asking in case you aren’t using it.”
Yun Hyeon-gi spoke to I Seo-jun’s back.
“Your tastes are… unique.”
But I Seo-jun walked on his way without even acknowledging he heard.
Without adding further words, Yun Hyeon-gi thought.
‘One hundred soft peach-flavored jellies, a macaron table set infused with freshness and cuteness, three eye-fatigue-relieving massagers, meltingly soft chocolates….’
Talk about unique tastes.
They were things that didn’t match the image he had shown so far at all.
So a strange sense of dissonance was felt, but.
‘I should carry some jellies with me later.’
One must respect personal preferences.
Trudge.
So Yun Hyeon-gi watched the back of I Seo-jun, who was walking away.
And from somewhere….
“Why am I getting chills….”
Gim Ju-won was shivering.
The greatest villain of all time had returned.