“Who did the Special Division just arrest?”
Baek Hyeong-gyu asked, radiating a ferocious aura.
He was a survivor of the Aeso Gate, a place known as hell.
In that place, where people had been forced to hunt one another, Baek Hyeong-gyu was estimated to have killed more than five hundred people.
That didn’t mean he was treated as some criminal Hunter who committed murder as casually as eating a meal.
The Gate had been an unavoidable disaster, and Baek Hyeong-gyu had emerged from it as an S-rank Hunter—a strategic asset to the nation.
But regardless of the circumstances, it remained an undeniable fact that he had killed hundreds of people.
“Urgh…! G-Guild Master…! Please calm your anger….”
The Killing Intent he emitted was the real thing, on an entirely different level from that of an ordinary Hunter.
FWOOSH!
When Baek Hyeong-gyu withdrew his Killing Intent, the Vice Guild Master who had been reporting to him collapsed to the floor.
“Huff. Huff.”
No matter how many times he experienced that insane Killing Intent, he could never get used to it.
Even he, the Vice Guild Master, was an A-rank Hunter.
Yet that Killing Intent had been enough to constrict even his breathing.
“Th-The one taken by the Special Division was someone named Choi Yoon-seo.”
“Choi Yoon-seo? Did I ask for their name?”
“W-Well…….”
The Vice Guild Master went pale.
“…The people they arrested were the party we handed the Mana Stone Mine Gate Clearing Rights over to. Their Party Leader used to belong to our guild, but we expelled them because they had no ability and far too much pride.”
“…….”
Baek Hyeong-gyu silently stared at the Vice Guild Master.
For a moment, the Vice Guild Master touched his own neck as though checking whether his head had already been severed.
“Apparently, the Gate turned into an Anomalous Gate! That’s why the Special Division intervened!”
Terrified that Baek Hyeong-gyu might unleash his Killing Intent again, he began blurting out information he hadn’t even been asked for.
Baek Hyeong-gyu finally spoke.
“…Fine. Get out.”
“Pardon?”
“I said get out.”
“Yes, sir!”
The instant Baek Hyeong-gyu gave him permission, the Vice Guild Master hurried outside.
“…An Anomalous Gate.”
Baek Hyeong-gyu muttered as he sank into thought.
He couldn’t remember who this Choi Yoon-seo was, but he did remember the Gate he had sold off.
‘The Special Division, huh. This is going to be a pain.’
Those lunatics weren’t exactly easy people to reason with.
“What an irritating bunch to get involved.”
Transferring Gate Clearing Rights was already bordering on illegal, and now an Anomalous Gate had occurred there on top of that.
There was no chance Choi Yoon-seo, who had supposedly been arrested, had kept Baeksu’s name out of it.
Baek Hyeong-gyu couldn’t even remember them, but if they had possessed the nerve to stand their ground in front of the Special Division Hunters, Baeksu would never have expelled them in the first place.
“Looks like… I’ll be getting visitors for the first time in a while.”
Baek Hyeong-gyu’s eyes changed, resembling those of a predator preparing for a hunt.
* * *
Meanwhile.
Special Division Team Leader Choi Ji-woong was staring at Kim Si-hyeon with his thumb raised.
“I-It looks great on you!”
There wasn’t a trace of insincerity in his words.
Kim Si-hyeon stood in front of a mirror.
He looked different from usual.
Ever since coming to this world, Kim Si-hyeon had mostly worn short-sleeved shirts and long pants because they were easy to move around in.
With his tall stature and exceptionally well-built body, even those had looked quite good on him.
But now, it wouldn’t have been an exaggeration to call his appearance a complete transformation.
“…Does it?”
“I-I mean it! It looks incredibly good on you!”
After Kim Si-hyeon’s recent disappearance, the Association had come up with a plan of its own.
Even with Yuseong’s enormous sponsorship, Kim Si-hyeon might still feel that what he received was insufficient.
So they had decided to give him a stronger sense of belonging.
-At this point, why don’t we just have him actually work as a Special Division Hunter?
-We can get him proper clothes and equipment. Make him really feel like a Special Division Hunter.
-If he develops a sense of belonging, wouldn’t that make him less likely to cause a major incident or leave?
Truthfully, Choi Ji-woong had been skeptical.
Putting a lion in a cage and painting stripes on it didn’t turn it into a zebra.
Still, they had decided to try whatever they could, even going so far as to create Special Division uniforms, something they had never had before.
Without Yuseong’s sponsorship, they could never have afforded them.
They were item-grade combat suits that cost well over one billion won per set to produce.
‘If we’re doing this, we’re doing it properly. Make it look impressive!’
Kim Si-hyeon standing before him now was the result.
Kim Si-hyeon looked like a completely different person in a suit.
His distinctive sharpness and untamed air remained, but they now seemed refined, making his overall appearance far cleaner.
“This is interesting. It’s easy to move in.”
“It should be!”
The suit had been made from special Monster materials and woven using thread produced from Mana Stones.
More importantly—
‘They said Hunter Kim Si-hyeon’s was the special one, right?’
A normal Special Division Hunter’s suit cost around one billion won.
Kim Si-hyeon’s, however, was different.
‘A Yuseong prototype.’
It was the pride and joy of Yuseong Octacore, the division responsible for manufacturing items.
Apparently, it wasn’t intended for sale at all, but was a concept item incorporating every piece of technology they possessed.
Hadn’t they said the production cost alone was somewhere in the hundreds of billions of won?
“…It suits you.”
Someone appeared and spoke.
It was none other than the person who had brought Kim Si-hyeon’s suit.
“Thanks.”
Yoo So-ha.
The elder of the Yuseong twins.
It was her.
“…If you don’t mind… may I explain its functions?”
Yoo So-ha seemed genuinely surprised by Kim Si-hyeon’s transformed appearance as she spoke with admiration.
“The clothing is made from special materials, so I’m confident in its durability. Even if an ordinary person wore it, it could withstand one or two attacks from a B-rank Monster.”
“I-Is that really true?”
Unlike the unfazed Kim Si-hyeon, Choi Ji-woong asked in astonishment.
“Yes. If Mana is infused into it, its durability becomes even greater.”
Flinch.
Kim Si-hyeon flinched at the word Mana.
“It also has a self-repair function, so you shouldn’t have to worry much about maintenance. And the belt can hold Potions….”
Her lengthy explanation continued.
The tie had one ability, one of the buttons had another.
Several different items had been integrated into a single outfit, while the thread woven from Mana Stones served as a circuit, and so on.
To Kim Si-hyeon, it all sounded like an alien language.
“This coat has a Subspace function.”
“Subspace?”
Even Kim Si-hyeon found Subspace Items quite appealing.
He had actually used one inside the Mana Stone Mine Gate, so he knew firsthand how useful they were.
It had looked large enough to hold perhaps thirty water bottles, yet in reality it could store dozens of times that volume.
“This is the newest model. It even has a weight-adjustment function.”
“……!”
Yoo So-ha carefully approached Kim Si-hyeon and draped the coat over his shoulders.
“Would you put your hand inside the coat?”
Kim Si-hyeon did as Yoo So-ha instructed and reached inside.
Sure enough, he felt as though his hand had suddenly been sucked inward.
“If you use Mana, you should be able to sense the weapons stored inside.”
“…….”
“You don’t have to take them out right now.”
What a relief.
Even if he had wanted to, he couldn’t sense anything inside.
“I put several Unique-grade Items inside as gifts. You can use them whenever you need them. And I think your hair would look better swept back like this…. Yes, definitely.”
“Sniff! As expected of Yuseong! Thang you!”
Choi Ji-woong covered his mouth, apparently overcome with emotion.
“…Thank you.”
Kim Si-hyeon also expressed his gratitude without saying much else.
He had been studying Hunters, Gates, and Items, but his knowledge was still far from complete.
He had no idea how valuable these gifts actually were.
And since he couldn’t use Mana in the first place, he had no intention of pretending to understand things he didn’t.
“I’ll be going now.”
As though her business was finished, Yoo So-ha politely bowed her head.
Just before leaving the Safe House, she quietly turned back.
“…I’ll see you again soon.”
Her murmur didn’t reach Kim Si-hyeon.
Without any lingering hesitation, Yoo So-ha left the Safe House.
* * *
“Wow.”
The Special Division Hunters could barely contain their excitement.
Even those who weren’t particularly materialistic tended to have a weakness for good equipment if they were Hunters.
“Damn… God-tier Yuseong!”
And thanks to Yuseong, they had received combat uniforms said to be worn by executives of major guilds.
Money wasn’t even the main issue.
They incorporated cutting-edge technology that had yet to be commercialized, meaning the equipment itself was nearly impossible to purchase.
Yuseong had promised to supply such equipment to the Association eventually, but that was still far in the future.
This time, however, Yuseong had made a massive sponsorship contribution to the Association and donated several prototypes to the Special Division.
“It’s not Yuseong.”
“Huh?”
“Isn’t this all because Hunter Kim Si-hyeon saved the twins?!”
“Damn right!”
And the combat uniforms weren’t all they had received.
A newly allocated Special Division budget and Items supplied by Yuseong Octacore were piled up in one corner.
If their value were properly calculated, it would undoubtedly rival the annual budget of a respectable major guild.
“God Si-hyeon! God Si-hyeon!”
They were still afraid of Kim Si-hyeon and treated him cautiously.
But for this moment alone, they forgot all of that and praised him wholeheartedly.
That was when—
“…Whoa.”
“What the—whoa.”
“Woooow.”
Every Special Division Hunter stared with their mouths hanging open.
Kim Si-hyeon had entered the Special Division building alongside Choi Ji-woong, fully dressed in his combat suit.
His hair was neatly swept back.
The suit fit him perfectly.
And over it, he wore the coat.
It almost seemed as though he were bathed in radiance.
Yet his sharp, dangerous atmosphere remained unchanged, giving the strange impression that the light illuminating him was being swallowed up just as quickly.
“…Hunter Kim Si-hyeon?”
That was really Kim Si-hyeon?
Looking slightly uncomfortable, Kim Si-hyeon adjusted his clothes.
“…Everyone.”
He spoke cautiously.
“They suit you all well.”
After saying that, Kim Si-hyeon quietly sat down to one side and adjusted his tie.
The entire Special Division remained speechless for quite some time.
BOOM!
The one who shattered the silence was Park Min-ho.
He threw the door open hard enough to nearly break it, swept his gaze over the Special Division Hunters, and spoke.
“Oh, not bad! They suit all of you pretty well!”
Park Min-ho looked just as excited as the rest.
“Not that any of you can compete with me.”
It wasn’t as though Park Min-ho lacked an interest in equipment.
He was someone who always went around wearing shabby clothes and completely worn-out gear.
But perhaps because he had received a new combat uniform today, he had not only washed himself properly for once, but had even swept back his hair and thrown on a coat that hadn’t been part of the issued uniform.
Of course, that didn’t mean any of it actually suited him.
“Well?!”
His burly, heavily muscled frame was barely contained by the combat suit, which bulged as though it might burst at any moment.
Then he even struck a pose.
It was quite a sight.
But there was an even bigger problem.
Slide. Slide.
As though they had rehearsed it beforehand, the Special Division Hunters all shifted their gazes.
First toward Park Min-ho.
Then toward Kim Si-hyeon.
“…Uh….”
Park Min-ho noticed Kim Si-hyeon as well.
And what he did next was—
“H-Ha… Good morning, Hunter Kim Si-hyeon. It suits you very well.”
He mussed up the hair he had carefully swept back and quietly took off the coat he had draped over himself.