For a full hour.
It was less an argument than a sorting-out of rank.
In the end, it came down to who could throw the better tantrum.
[Hahahahaha! Bow your head to your big brother!]
[Why am I the friend? It’s so unfair.]
Poppy and Choco huffed through their noses, showing a stark difference in enthusiasm.
In truth, Ji-hoon had also asked them to take it easy and treat it like play.
‘I can’t say for certain who’d win if they fought for real, though.’
An S-rank boss and an S-rank Hunter.
Unless the Hunter had a favorable matchup, conventional wisdom held that it was difficult for a lone S-rank Hunter to hunt an S-rank boss.
“Still, you each gained a little brother and a friend. Isn’t that nice?”
[Yes, Big Brother! He is my first brother outside the Hell Farm family!]
[It’s a shame, but it’s fine. A friend’s still something.]
Baek Kang-hyeon watched the two chatter away with growls and roars, then spoke.
“The Management Bureau will make an official announcement tonight.”
The clearing of an S-rank Gate.
The brilliant performance of Management Bureau Branch Director Baek Kang-hyeon.
And the discovery that Contracts with monsters were possible even without a Taming Skill.
Attempts were currently underway to form Contracts primarily with boss monsters from S-rank Gates.
Gates could soon be subdued without fighting.
Those were the matters they planned to announce.
“How long can you keep that story going?”
Ji-hoon was uneasy inside.
Judging by the pattern so far, S-rank Gates contain children from Hell Farm.
Does that mean he has to be with Baek Kang-hyeon every time he rescues one of them?
What if, even once or twice, he happened to discover one and enter alone?
“That is….”
Just as Baek Kang-hyeon began to speak, the door opened.
CLICK.
“We’ll say that Hunter Lee Ji-hoon beside you is a Monster Breeder.”
A low voice.
Ji-hoon raised his head.
A middle-aged man.
There was nothing remarkable about his gait.
Nor did he radiate any exaggerated presence.
And yet, strangely, Ji-hoon felt a measured pressure accompanied by a sense of gentleness.
“Commissioner, weren’t you away on a business trip?”
The Commissioner?
“No one said the Commissioner was coming, did they?”
[Who is that, Big Brother?]
“The highest-ranking person in this country… Well, not quite, but he’s still very high-ranking.”
[Gasp! Is he about three levels below Lord Abel?]
“Is that about right…? Probably?”
Poppy and Choco immediately tensed up and began to growl.
The Commissioner regarded them with interest.
“So these are the fellows.”
An S-rank boss monster.
Tamed.
After murmuring those words to himself, the Commissioner continued.
“The fellows who will leave their mark on the history of Gates in our Republic of Korea.”
“Uh….”
“And Hunter Lee Ji-hoon.”
SNAP.
The Commissioner abruptly stood at attention and bowed his head.
“You have my heartfelt gratitude.”
“No, Commissioner, what are you…?”
“Because of you, we were able to stop two S-rank Gates without a single casualty.”
S-rank Gates.
Ordinarily, they were battlefields where casualties were taken for granted.
That was precisely why S-rank Gates demanded such thorough preparation.
The sacrifice of A- and B-rank Hunters. Attacks from S-ranks that left them coughing up blood. Coordination.
They had to gather the scattered Guild Masters of all Five Great Guilds and devise a strategy.
There had been no end of things to consider.
‘But the entire board has been overturned.’
Taming a boss monster?
What Hunter had ever managed that?
There had not even been a single death in the process.
“There have been many Returnees recently, but none possessed any special abilities.”
The Commissioner gazed steadily at Lee Ji-hoon, Poppy, and Choco.
“Hunter Ji-hoon, you have effectively saved the country.”
That was why the Commissioner could not help but bow his head.
“Well, I… Hmm….”
[Choco, did you see that?! That’s our Big Brother! Even someone three levels below Lord Abel is no match for him!]
[Big Brother’s the best. How high are you planning to rise?]
Ji-hoon found the situation somewhat bewildering.
But this was an opportunity.
“Ahem. Then the reward for clearing this S-rank Gate….”
“Of course, we will ensure you are amply rewarded!”
***
A short while later.
Ji-hoon emerged from the conference room beaming, with Poppy and Choco cradled in his arms.
‘Hehehe. Just how much is all this?’
The one billion won for the transfer rights was a given.
On top of that, he received the right to call on the Management Bureau for help at any time.
This time, it even included the right to search the cleared Gate’s Dungeon.
‘Then there might be items from Hell that the other Demonic Creatures dropped.’
The money was valuable, but those items could also provide clues that would help him uncover what Hell and Abel were plotting.
And there was something else he had yet to check.
“Should I finally take a look?”
He had depleted his mana and stamina immediately after the clear, and there had been so much to do, including negotiating with the Management Bureau. As a result, there was still something he had not checked.
“Status Window.”
At once, a translucent window appeared over his field of vision.
When he pressed the reward section on the window, the reward he had earned for clearing the S-rank Gate while rescuing Choco appeared.
[You have successfully tamed the S-rank boss monster (Giant Bear)!
The Unstable Gate (S-rank) has been cleared.]
[Personal reward delivered to Inventory.
Perennial Snow Crystal (S) x20]
Perennial Snow Crystal (S).
He would find a use for it somewhere.
[Griffin (S) Proficiency increases!
Special Skill 'Feather Communion' activated.
Feather Communion: Your potential increases from the moment you earn this monster’s recognition and climb onto its feathers.]
Proficiency?
And potential on top of that?
Does this mean I can make better use of Poppy’s feathers?
It was just as he began wondering whether he should pluck a few more and attach them to the King of Griffins Necklace.
“Big Brother!”
Woo-jae waved as he waited up ahead.
“Did the discussion go well?”
“Yeah. What about you?”
While Ji-hoon was in the conference room, Seon Woo-jae had been giving interviews to reporters.
A rising ace A-rank Hunter appears!
Or something like that.
“Yeah, it went well. By the way, the Management Bureau has some incredible equipment. Look at this.”
Woo-jae said his arm had already healed completely and swung it vigorously back and forth.
He had said the bone was cracked while blocking Choco’s pillar-of-thorns attack.
“It’s thanks to you, Big Brother. Seriously, thank you.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“That’s not true. You’re close to Hunter Baek Kang-hyeon.”
Am I close to Baek Kang-hyeon…?
In any case, Ji-hoon was relieved that Woo-jae had recovered completely.
If he hadn’t, how could I face Woo-jae’s parents?
“Then let’s head home. You’re tired, right?”
“Yeah, but….”
Woo-jae’s gaze shifted to Poppy and Choco.
“Are you really raising…?”
“Shh.”
Ji-hoon had explained the situation to Woo-jae on the way here as well.
So Woo-jae knew that Poppy was a Griffin and Choco was a Giant Bear.
Even knowing that, however, it was only natural that he could not comprehend it.
“My common sense as a Hunter is being destroyed….”
“I understand.”
“Don’t lie. You barely knew anything to begin with, Big Brother.”
“You’re right, but that still rubs me the wrong way.”
[You wretch! How dare you call Big Brother a liar! Choco! Kick that bastard in the butt!]
[I’m hungry. When are you feeding me?]
Shouldn’t they also sort out their brotherly ranks with Woo-jae?
As we talked about that, we returned home.
***
“Big Brother, call me if anything happens.”
“Don’t worry. You call me too if anything comes up.”
Ji-hoon parted ways with Woo-jae like that.
As soon as he returned home, he began looking up all kinds of information.
Perhaps because the Management Bureau had kept such tight control over the matter, hardly anything about Ji-hoon had appeared in the media or online.
Occasionally, someone posted about Ji-hoon in a Hunter community.
Even then, everyone assumed he was little more than a porter hired by Baek Kang-hyeon.
“A porter….”
[Munch, munch. Big Brother, what is this? It’s really delicious.]
[That’s called chicken, Choco. It’s a wondrous food from Big Brother’s Earth!]
Ji-hoon quietly watched the two tear into, chew, and savor the chicken.
“I’m bored. Should I browse the Hell Market?”
The Perennial Snow Crystal lay in his hand.
No information was available beyond the fact that it was a crafting material of some kind.
[Big Brother, Perennial Snow Crystals are items Ice Mages go mad for. Make sure you charge a high price.]
[Even Choco knows that much. Bluey used to covet that.]
Bluey, as in the Blue Dragon?
Contrary to its species name, it had not been as blue as expected, so Ji-hoon had named it Bluey.
“If even a Dragon coveted it, it must be good….”
What do you do when you don’t know the market price?
Put it up for auction.
[Auction] One Perennial Snow Crystal. Accepting offers
He deliberately listed only one.
He needed to see the going rate before deciding whether to sell the rest or use them himself.
Then, in an instant.
[Hell Market – Live Auction in Progress!]
Lot: [Perennial Snow Crystal (S)] x1
[Chat] Frost_Lich offers 5,000 Dephor!
[Chat] Demon_Realm_Chef offers 6,500 Dephor!
[Chat] Flame_Demon offers 8,000 Dephor!
“Oh, that’s fast.”
[It is fast, but the price is still low. Unlike my feathers, these cannot be generated endlessly.]
“Then are they more expensive than Poppy’s feathers?”
[Probably. Their rarity is on a different level.]
True, there was bound to be a difference in value between an item that could be generated endlessly and one that could not.
At that moment, Poppy remembered something. He restored one wing to its full size and unfurled it with a great FWISH.
[Big Brother! Pluck away! Your little brother is ready!]
“I was going to pluck one, but when you show me your wing while saying it like that, it feels perverted.”
[I do not mind being a pervert in front of you, Big Brother!]
“Don’t lie. Last time, you got teary and told me not to pluck one.”
[A-Ahem.]
[What’s this? Big Brother Poppy, you cried over one feather? Hehehehe! You’re not a fucking child. How pathetic.]
[Be quiet, you bastard of a little brother!]
Poppy jabbed Choco’s belly again and again with his beak.
While Ji-hoon plucked one of Poppy’s feathers as painlessly as he could.
[Chat] Frost_Lich raises the offer to 10,000 Dephor!
[Chat] Cold_City_Demon offers 15,000 Dephor!
“Huh? It suddenly shot up.”
Then came the finishing touch—the dot to the dragon’s eye.
[Chat] Anonymous_Demon_King’s_Army_Officer offers 30,000 Dephor!
“Thirty thousand Dephor…?”
Nice.
For the next five minutes, no one else took the bait.
Ji-hoon could not tell whether this was the average price or whether it was still cheap and everyone was merely eyeing one another.
Still, he decided to consider one crystal well spent as a test.
Ji-hoon immediately pressed the ‘Accept Bid’ button.
At once, thirty thousand Dephor entered his account.
“It’d be nice if I could convert it straight into cash.”
As he thought that, he lightly tapped the hologram floating before him.
BLINK–BLINK
What was that?
Didn’t it just flash red?
Before he knew it, Ji-hoon reached out.
TAP–
The red light flashed again.
A voice thick with static rattled inside Ji-hoon’s head.
–KRRRZZT–BZZZT–
“Ugh, what is this?”
–KRRZT–, I… have… to…
“…What are you saying?”
–…go… have to.
CLICK.
“Jeez, what is this? A horror movie or something?”
[Big Brother, are you all right?]
[Choco heard it too. That was a strange sound.]
What in the world was that?
Did everyone’s Status Window do this?
Then the far-right edge of the Status Window flashed red once more.
BLINKBLINK,
BLINK BLBLBLBLBLBLBL INK!
CLICK–
The light jittered wildly before vanishing as though the power had been cut.
And Ji-hoon.
“…No way.”
He murmured as he watched that familiar pattern of light.
“Abel…?”