After enjoying a rare, pleasant lunch, a staff member at the guild building’s reception called out to Han Jaeyeong.
“Guildmaster, Hunter Yu Hanul is here to see you in the guildmaster’s office.”
The moment they heard that, Han Jaeyeong’s shoulders sagged. Beside them, Shin Jieum, who had been loudly slurping on a taro bubble tea, burst into laughter. “Having to see an uncomfortable face right after lunch. That’s going to give you indigestion, Guildmaster.”
“You should’ve kicked him out…”
“Oh? Then should I call security right now…?”
“Forget it…”
“Well, at least it’ll be easy on the eyes. Yu Hanul’s handsome, after all.”
“If you like him that much, want to come along, Hunter Shin Jieum?”
“If
I
get indigestion, it lasts forever. If that happens to you though, come find me. I’ll bleed you.”
(T/N: There’s this folk remedy that indigestion can be cured by pricking the thumb using a needle in Korea)
“Ugh.”
Honestly, not a single one of them was helpful. With a sigh, Han Jaeyeong stepped into the elevator heading to the top floor. Maybe because it was a high-speed elevator, the ride felt unusually short. And when they arrived at the familiar office…
"Hello."
"Hunter Yu Hanul..."
Just as the receptionist had said, a familiar face was already seated there, a man with white-streaked hair and features so perfectly sculpted they seemed unreal. Hunter Yu Hanul, praised almost unanimously by the entire nation of South Korea.
“Aren’t we seeing each other way too often lately?”
Sure, among S-rank Hunters, Han Jaeyeong did have more overlap with Yu Hanul than most, but that didn’t mean they
wanted
to see him this frequently.
And the reason was obvious enough.
“Hunter Han Jaeyeong. That Central Management Office official I mentioned before, the one who approached me, apparently went missing. By any chance…”
Han Jaeyeong immediately clapped their hands over their ears, face twisted in irritation. “That Gi-something or Gu-something guy? Didn’t they say he fled overseas? Didn’t you hear the police report? Why are you asking
me
? Go ask the police. The
police
.”
And Yu Hanul found that reaction just as absurd. He’d only come to gather some information; he hadn’t expected them to swat at him like a fly. It wasn’t like their relationship was fragile enough for him to be offended, but this was still excessive.
“I thought you might know something. The timing is just too—”
“Laa laa laa, can’t hear you, I know nothing, I heard
nothing
at all.”
It was a pitiful display. Even Yu Hanul, who rarely so much as twitched an eyebrow, felt like covering his eyes.
“Han Jaeyeong, what are you? A child?”
“You let Jeong Daon off the hook, so I thought you went easy on kids.”
“Daon
is
actually young. You, on the other hand, are—”
“I really don’t know anything. But people keep coming to probe me. Do you have any idea how many people are trying to poke at me right now?”
Han Jaeyeong was at their wit’s end. All they’d done was go into a dungeon to look for items and to observe an intriguing person named Jeong Daon, only to end up caught in a mess.
It just so happened that the dungeon was a hotbed of corruption. Who could’ve predicted that a high-ranking Central Management Office official would be taking bribes and covering for an organized crime group running an illegal cyber gambling ring? And who could’ve guessed that the moment an investigation started, based on Han Jaeyeong’s report, the man would vanish? Naturally, people suspected Han Jaeyeong of being involved in the disappearance.
“They keep asking me if I got angry and killed him.”
Of course, only about half of them truly suspected that. The other half were just excitedly digging around, wondering if
that
Han Jaeyeong had finally shown weakness.
“I don’t get why everyone’s making such a fuss. Central Management Office officials, by nature, are people who know nothing about the field.”
Compared to the past, they did hire more Hunters into practical roles now, but those who made policy were still more focused on desk-bound administration and dodging responsibility than understanding reality.
“And the Central Management Office is swimming in money.”
Dungeons were both a crisis and a new mine appearing before resource-depleted humanity. Hunters were the ones extracting the gold, but it was the administrative officials who created systems to distribute and manage the sudden influx of resources. Between money overflowing uncontrollably and laws that couldn’t keep up with a rapidly changing world, it was rarer to
not
be tempted.
“So taking bribes isn’t strange at all. Neither is stuffing your pockets and then laundering your identity and running off to Southeast Asia or China. Why does everyone think I’m involved?”
“Still, the timing lines up too perfectly. Right after I told you about that person…”
“So what? Are you seriously saying I killed the guy?”
“Killing him is one thing. But the cleanup afterward was just
too
clean.”
“What, so now you’re saying I even used magic to kill him?”
“It’s not impossible.”
“
Wow
. You’re unbelievable,” Han Jaeyeong snapped irritably, but this was no ordinary incident. If it were just a few gangsters who had gone missing, that might be one thing. But a high-ranking official from the Central Management Office disappearing like this was not something that could be quietly buried. Even if he’d run off with a pile of cash, it would be normal for
some
kind of trail to be found. Yet it was being handled as an internal investigation under the excuse of a “disgraceful disappearance.” Anyone could see the intent to quietly cover it up.
And to try to hush up something of this scale…
“So what, they’re saying the government is keeping quiet because an S-rank Hunter like me killed him in a fit of rage?”
“That is a possibility,” Yu Hanul replied.
Including Jeong Daon, there were currently eleven Hunters officially ranked as S-class in South Korea, less than half of them were still active in the field. Considering the sheer value of an S-rank Hunter’s combat power, Han Jaeyeong was someone the Korean government could never afford to lose, even if they committed murder.
Han Jaeyeong let out a short, incredulous laugh. “Hey, the more I hear this, the funnier it gets. So what if I
did
kill him? What then?”
“Turn yourself in and find the light.”
“Yeah, right.”
“…Anyway, jokes aside.”
“That was a joke?!
That
was a joke?!”
Han Jaeyeong glared, dumbfounded, but Yu Hanul didn’t even flinch. In truth, there was something else he wanted to say.
“When I say cleanup, I don’t mean the murder scene itself. The fact that an incident of this magnitude is being closed as an internal investigation suggests an intent to keep the Yeongjongdo dungeon from becoming public knowledge. Deliberately tying it to you, Han Jaeyeong, looks the same.”
To any outsider, it looked like the government was trying to bury the case because Han Jaeyeong was involved in the disappearance of a high-ranking official. But if Han Jaeyeong had nothing to do with the death, then the ones leaking that implication were likely the very people trying to suppress public discussion.
At Yu Hanul’s words, Han Jaeyeong’s expression, tense with irritation, turned serious. “So what you’re saying is… I’m just a smokescreen, and the people moving to cover up this disappearance are the ones actually connected to that dungeon?”
“Yes. That’s my assumption.”
“Huh… That does make sense.”
Han Jaeyeong fell into thought. They had been on edge after being suspected of murder so absurdly, but they had already recognized how dangerous that dungeon was. No, more precisely, the danger of the monster discovered in the Yeongjongdo dungeon, the S-rank monster found for the first time in the world: the lifeless idol. Compared to every monster they had faced before, the lifeless idol represented an entirely different kind of threat. Just by existing, it siphoned off human souls and increased a dungeon’s synchronization rate. That was the very reason for its existence.
“Yu Hanul. I’m saying this because you believe me, but the way this is all playing out feels wrong. This is still just my speculation, but…” Han Jaeyeong lowered their voice to a whisper, “No matter how I look at it, that S-rank monster we found this time feels
artificially created
.”
The way its body, stitched together like patchwork, had fallen apart piece by piece under the aura of Han Jaeyeong’s fairy form. No matter how they thought about it, it felt like the result of some mad mage’s experiment.
“Now that I’ve said it out loud, even I think it sounds insane… so why aren’t you surprised?”
Han Jaeyeong had braced themself before speaking, but Yu Hanul showed no sign of shock at all.
“I was surprised,” Yu Hanul said calmly.
“Oh, please. Do you think I’ve known you for only a year or two? You’re reacting like you already knew.”
“…”
“Come to think of it, yeah. If you’d thought it was just a normal S-rank monster, there’d be no talk of public exposure at all. You clear it, and that’s the end of it.” Han Jaeyeong’s eyes narrowed. “Seriously, where have you been getting this kind of information since last time?”
Yu Hanul closed his mouth and chose silence. He knew all too well how sharp Han Jaeyeong was. Lying wasn’t an option.
But neither could he tell the truth.
The quest “SAVE THE WORLD” is currently in progress.
Would you like to check information regarding “Lifeless Idol”?
It was all information provided by the system. From the moment he accepted that quest, the system had been pouring information onto him without restraint.
What Yu Hanul currently knew was this: Enemy of Humanity posed a massive threat to humankind, and one manifestation of that threat was the lifeless idol. If lifeless idols were created indiscriminately inside dungeons, the world would soon be unable to handle the explosion of Dungeon Breaks erupting everywhere.
At least one saving grace is that it doesn’t seem like they can mass-produce them.
The system is searching for traces of soul cores.
The number of soul cores discovered so far is three.
That was why Yu Hanul had been extremely busy lately, going around to destroy the soul cores the system had located. However, separate from dealing with the soul cores already created, it was just as important to uncover who—or what—the Enemy of Humanity actually was.
“I think we should look into whoever pressured the authorities to close this case as an internal investigation.”
Someone capable of secretly creating a monster of that scale would undoubtedly possess immense power and wealth. At the very least, enough influence to have ties with both Lee Manbok, the leader of the Truelight Sect, and a high-ranking official in the Central Management Office.
“…If I didn’t know what kind of person you are, I’d seriously think you were suspicious.” After staring at Yu Hanul for a long moment, Han Jaeyeong let out a sigh and raised both hands in surrender. “Since I know what kind of person you are, I’ll help. All I need to do is find out where the pressure to close the investigation came from, right?”
"Yes. I’d appreciate that.”
“If I have to deal with those stiff Central Management Office bureaucrats, I’ll need to grease a few palms. You might end up being necessary too.”
“That’s fine.”
“And are you curious whether that corrupt official is actually dead or just missing? Want me to look into that as well?”
Yu Hanul hesitated at those words. He knew it didn’t make sense for both the bribed official and the group of fraudsters handling various illegal dealings to simply vanish like this. Calling it a “getaway” was easy, but in reality, escaping an investigation wasn’t that simple, especially without leaving behind a single trace. In truth, the likelihood that they had been murdered was much higher.
And if that were the case, then no matter how much of a con artist or criminal the victim was, the one who committed murder should still be punished. Wasn’t that only natural?
“…If possible.”
“All right. I’ll contact you if I find the culprit… Yu Hanul, are you okay?” Han Jaeyeong looked at Yu Hanul in surprise. “Are you hurt somewhere?”
Yu Hanul had suddenly frowned deeply, pressing his fingers to his brow. “I’m fine. Just a migraine… I think.”
“You
think
? Get a thorough checkup. You didn’t hit your head wrong while fighting monsters, did you?”
“I don’t make mistakes like that.”
“That’s what
you
think. I got checked last time too, and they found cerebrospinal fluid leaking—”
Han Jaeyeong continued to nag, but Yu Hanul didn’t bother listening closely. He already knew the cause of this migraine.
“Was this truly the right thing to do?”
Ever since he accepted that strange quest to save the world, scenes he had never experienced before kept flashing before his eyes, like waves that soaked his feet the moment he let his guard down. He didn’t even know what triggered them, but a grief-filled voice kept echoing in his ears.
“I never wanted to become a demon…”
It was a fragile voice that didn’t suit the grand title Enemy of Humanity at all. That voice lingered for a long time, tormenting his mind.