After returning home, Ji-hoon planted his hands on his hips.
“Haah….”
He sighed as he stared at the house in shambles.
“Choco.”
[Big Brother, this is so unfair.]
“I haven’t even said anything yet.”
Choco awkwardly rubbed his little bear paws together.
[I really did hit them gently.]
“Your idea of ‘gently’ isn’t exactly gentle… Forget it.”
His body might have been that of a small bear cub, but an S-rank boss monster dwelled within it.
The Giant Bear’s strength and mana remained unchanged even when he shrank his body.
“So, to sum it up, an Orpheus Guild member tried to come in through the window, and Choco sent him flying?”
[That’s right.]
“And then you got angry and fired spine missiles at them?”
[I grew my spines and fired them. Those humans aren’t worth associating with. How dare they set their sights on Big Brother’s home?]
The truth was, Orpheus had been after my parents.
“And after that, it became a siege defense?”
“It wasn’t much of a siege defense. Choco attacked, and the Guild members were too busy dodging.”
“Then the Management Bureau came to clean up the situation?”
“Yeah.”
Once Ji-hoon understood what had happened, he pressed a hand to his forehead.
The window and the entire section of wall beside it had been blown away.
What am I supposed to tell my parents about this?
“Woo-jae, you should’ve at least tried to stop him.”
“But, Big Brother… how am I supposed to stop Choco…?”
Woo-jae muttered as he needlessly fiddled with his broken shield.
Ah… Right. Choco broke that.
“…Sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. More importantly, are you really okay? You were kidnapped.”
“I don’t have a single scratch. If anything, it was comfortable.”
[Big Brother, Choco meant no harm. In his own way, he was thinking of you….]
Poppy was right.
This was not a situation where he could scold Choco.
So Ji-hoon stroked Choco’s head.
“You did well, Choco. Thanks to you, it ended with only this much damage.”
[D-Did I really do well?]
“Yeah. I’ll make you some jerky as a reward.”
Choco rose onto his hind legs in delight.
[Big Brother praised me. Praised me!]
[Well done, Choco. Your contribution to defending the house was great!]
Woo-jae quietly watched the Griffin and the Giant Bear rejoice over a single word of praise from Ji-hoon, then whispered to him.
“Big Brother, a Management Bureau employee told us to prepare for a move. Do you have somewhere to go?”
“The Management Bureau said they’d find me a house.”
“Huh? Why?”
“They want to keep an eye on me as a person of interest or something.”
No one had actually said that, but it seemed likely.
Jin Seo-yoon had kidnapped him, and he had also Tamed S-rank boss monsters.
From the Management Bureau’s perspective, they were bound to worry that I might suddenly have other ideas.
“By the way, what about my parents?”
“They’re at my place.”
“Were they angry?”
“They were angry because you wouldn’t answer their calls.”
BUZZ– BUZZ–
The phone lying on the distant desk vibrated.
“See?”
It was a call from his mother.
He nearly answered without thinking.
CLICK–
“Huh? You’re not answering!?”
“I’ll answer later.”
Answering now will only give me a headache.
Please forgive my unfilial behavior.
I’ll move you into a top-of-the-line apartment soon.
Ji-hoon prayed silently, though his parents could not hear him.
“Anyway, let’s think this through.”
As he spoke, Ji-hoon set the food out on the dining table.
It was the room-service food he had brought from the L Tower Hotel.
“Let’s talk while we eat.”
Even Mount Geumgang is best enjoyed after a meal.
You have to fill your stomach, or you will put strange things in your shopping cart.
I wasn’t just saying that to Jin Seo-yoon for no reason.
“Here. Poppy and Choco, this is for you.”
[Gasp! Hotel chicken!]
[Even its sheen is different!]
The two of them happily ate the chicken while Ji-hoon and Woo-jae ate steak, salad, and the other dishes.
“Mmm~ What an atmosphere.”
A late dinner with the gaping hole in the wall and window as a backdrop.
The romance level had reached the lethal-dose threshold.
“Big Brother, aren’t you taking this danger a little too lightly?”
“Taking what lightly? I’ve thought everything through.”
The situation was strange in many ways.
It was both dangerous and bizarre.
The most important question was the motive of Jin Seo-yoon and the Orpheus Guild, who had deliberately resorted to kidnapping.
‘They could have subdued me by force if they really wanted to.’
Was it truly to persuade me?
To bring me into the Guild and profit from me?
The risk seemed too great for that.
“Hmm….”
Ji-hoon chewed on the steak he had packed up from the hotel.
Woo-jae watched him for a moment before asking.
“Big Brother, have you ever thought about joining a Guild?”
“Not really…? I don’t think I need one.”
“I see. You really are strong, Big Brother.”
Ji-hoon tilted his head at Woo-jae’s words.
“How can you call an F-rank Hunter strong?”
“You’re an F-rank, but your kids are S-rank.”
Woo-jae pointed to Choco and Poppy.
“I’ve fought Choco myself, so I know. No one but an S-rank Tanker could ever stop him. And Big Brother Poppy, the Griffin, is….”
His gaze toward Poppy held envy, jealousy, and admiration.
“Honestly, I want to make him my role model.”
“Why would you make Poppy your role model?”
[Big Brother! I may not look like much, but I am the King of Griffins! The King of Griffins!]
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Big Brother, that’s because you don’t know—Agh! That hurts, Big Brother Poppy! I take it back! Big Brother Ji-hoon knows what he’s talking about!”
Woo-jae caught his breath after suffering an indiscriminate barrage of attacks from Poppy’s beak.
“His mana is so cleanly ordered that it’s hard to fathom its depth.”
Those were the words of an A-rank Tanker, one who was even considered the next-generation ace.
Ji-hoon briefly wondered whether Poppy was really that impressive, then remembered.
‘Jin Seo-yoon did get blown away in one hit.’
Even if it had been a surprise attack.
It was Poppy who had left Jin Seo-yoon, the Republic of Korea’s second-ranked Hunter, nearly unable to fight.
“So that’s why they’re trying to recruit me?”
“Yeah. Orpheus’s approach is practically gentlemanly by comparison. In other countries, people sometimes kidnap or even try to murder an entire family to secure a high-rank Hunter.”
“Haah….”
Ji-hoon asked why they would go that far.
Woo-jae explained that it was because of Gate clearing and management.
“Management is the most important part. The higher the Grade of a Cleared Gate, the better the byproducts you can extract from it.”
“Like Mana Crystals and monster items?”
“Yeah. If you’re really lucky, forget one billion won. You can make as much as ten billion won in a single day.”
It was not simply a question of making ten billion won.
During the 100 years Ji-hoon had suffered in Hell, ten years had passed on Earth, and money now operated on an entirely different scale.
“That’s why everyone’s frantic to recruit you. They think you contributed to clearing an S-rank Gate. Hunter Baek Kang-hyeon is a civil servant, so recruiting him is impossible.”
“Then there’s you. There weren’t many A-ranks in there.”
Woo-jae pulled several pieces of paper from his pocket.
“Of course I received offers. I was on my way back from meeting with the White Lotus Guild about one today.”
“Where did they make the offer?”
“We had a normal meeting at a café. Why?”
Damn it.
Why was I the one who got kidnapped?
Whether he knew Ji-hoon was seething or not, Woo-jae spread the business cards out in a row.
“Anyway, I received five business cards today alone.”
Two of them were from the Five Great Guilds.
They belonged to the number-one Guild, the White Lotus Guild, and the Eden Guild, the pinnacle of Gate and Mana Crystal research.
“You… really are in demand….”
“Orpheus made you an offer too, Big Brother.”
“That wasn’t an offer. It was a threat.”
Even so, this alone was still difficult to accept.
Recruiting an F-rank Hunter should not have been difficult.
If they offered me enough compensation, I would obviously be tempted.
Yet they had gone out of their way. Truly gone out of their way!
The reason they had tried to persuade me was….
“Wait….”
An F-rank.
Poppy, who could overwhelm an S-rank Hunter.
Choco, an S-rank boss.
And a Hundred-Year Returnee.
–There have been many Returnees recently, but none possessed any special abilities.
On top of that, the Commissioner had said that the number of Returnees had recently been increasing.
If so, this was what they were focusing on.
‘Do they think I’m someone capable of detecting or causing S-rank Dungeons?’
It was not simply a matter of clearing an S-rank Dungeon.
Merely generating a Gate, or ‘triggering’ its generation, was valuable in itself.
That was why his body and mind could not be damaged.
They had not yet determined the conditions for generating or triggering a Gate.
But come on. No way.
“There are countless impressive people besides me.”
[Big Brother, humility is your weakness. You need more of this! More confidence!]
[That’s right. Big Brother, at this rate you’ll pine away in a one-sided love and get rejected without ever confessing. Would you like 0 confessions and 1 rejection?]
“You bastards…!”
I’m worried to death over here!
Ji-hoon raised his fists, ready to punch Poppy and Choco for each taking a jab at him.
DING–
A text from Baek Kang-hyeon arrived.
“Whew… I’ll let it slide because of this.”
–Your residence is ready. You can move in immediately. What would you like to do?
It seemed the Management Bureau had even worked overtime to find him a house.
It has fire insurance too, right?
Ji-hoon was about to reply that he would leave immediately and sleep there.
“Yaaawn….”
It was already nearly dawn.
Woo-jae could not hide his exhaustion, while Poppy and Choco had devoured the chicken in an instant and were now searching for the snacks Ji-hoon had made.
“Let’s go tomorrow.”
He decided to rest for the day and move tomorrow.
Well, one night under the stars should be fine, right?
It feels like a rooftop room. Nice.
“Let’s sleep under the stars.”
Ji-hoon told them they would move tomorrow and contacted his parents as well.
–You unfilial brat! Even the chicken shop is too good for a worthless bastard like you!
–Put me on speakerphone, honey! Lee Ji-hoon!!!!! Did your mother raise you like that!!!!
Ji-hoon received a thorough barrage of abuse, but the moment he sent them the address and photographs of the apartment, their attitudes reversed completely.
–Oh dear, our son even falls for Management Bureau phishing scams. Oh dear, oh dear.
–You fool! Those are all scams! Have you forgotten that your father was scammed?
–Why are you bringing that up now? Anyway, don’t fall for things like that, son!
Who would ever look after an F-rank Hunter? It was obviously a scam. He should stop talking nonsense and find a repair company instead.
Ji-hoon decided to clear up his parents’ misunderstanding tomorrow.
After ending the call, Ji-hoon roughly cleared a spot beside the relatively intact living room, brought over some blankets, and lay down.
“Isn’t it romantic? You can see the stars.”
“Uh… Hmm….”
It had been worth forcing Woo-jae to stay when he had wanted to go home.
Ji-hoon had just begun to think Woo-jae seemed quite satisfied too.
[Big Brother, is it raining?]
“…It’s just like my heart.”
So much for the stars.
Ji-hoon stared blankly as raindrops fell from the night sky and slowly soaked the room.
Then he quietly let loose a string of four-letter words.
Of course, they slept at a nearby motel that night.
He only learned that it had been the right choice just before the move the next day.
***
The Eden Guild, one of the Republic of Korea’s Five Great Guilds.
Guild Master Yoon Do-ha was meeting with Jin Seo-yoon after she had finished receiving treatment.
“So you lost him?”
“I did, and I also made a promise with Baek Kang-hyeon.”
Jin Seo-yoon sighed and muttered to herself that she must have been crazy.
Yoon Do-ha listened to her muttering with interest, then asked.
“But you observed his Mana Wave, at least, correct?”
“I did. Hunter Lee Ji-hoon’s Mana Wave. It was F-rank through and through.”
Jin Seo-yoon said there had been nothing remarkable about it.
However.
Yoon Do-ha’s eyebrow twitched at what she said next.
“But here’s the thing. An F-rank Hunter could handle S-rank equipment. What do you think?”
“An F-rank Hunter handling S-rank equipment…?”
Yoon Do-ha fell into thought for a moment before slowly speaking.
“It is impossible. Even if he managed it, his body would be damaged.”
“Then this alone should be enough to explain it.”
The King of Griffin's Necklace, made from the feather of an S-rank boss Griffin, had been around his neck.
She had deliberately broken it, yet Lee Ji-hoon had shown no change whatsoever.
“Either he is highly resistant to Mana Waves, or he has at least one Resistance Skill at A-rank or higher. Or….”
Yoon Do-ha began listing all manner of possibilities, then stopped and looked out the window.
“Haah, I truly want to bring him here as soon as possible.”
Fine blood vessels slowly crept across Yoon Do-ha’s eyes.
“The thought of discovering just how unusual his mana might be already has me excited.”