“Void?”
Kang Ha-min told Baek Cheon-myeong about the Void, but Baek Cheon-myeong’s response was ambiguous.
It was plainly the reaction of someone hearing about the Void for the first time.
“Was there a god like that?”
Even Baek Cheon-myeong did not know?
That was even scarier.
“It was probably just some god playing a prank.”
Baek Cheon-myeong spoke as though it were nothing.
But Kang Ha-min thought differently.
He could feel absolute malice from that bastard.
A vicious malice that wanted to torment people.
He should not have anything to do with something like that.
“Is there no way to block only a specific god?”
“If you become a demigod through Tower Ascension, it would not be impossible. Before then, however, this body does not know.”
Grrrgh.
In the end, it meant that he had to climb the Tower to solve this.
His head throbbed, but there was no other choice.
They were gods.
He was just a frail man.
Their very existence was different.
“I truly hope I never have to see it again.”
More importantly, there was the problem of the house.
His home had been destroyed overnight.
And he had personally destroyed it with his own hands.
There was no one he could complain to.
Kang Ha-min dragged himself to a real estate agency.
Fortunately, his lease was about to expire anyway.
After contacting the landlord, things were resolved smoothly: Kang Ha-min would cover the repair costs, while the landlord would cover his moving expenses.
What could he do when his home was gone?
He had to find a new one.
As he opened the real estate agency’s door to meet an agent, a phone suddenly rang from within the shadows.
It was not his phone.
Baek Cheon-myeong’s phone was ringing.
Startled, Kang Ha-min moved to an empty corner.
Baek Cheon-myeong then slowly emerged from the shadows.
Baek Cheon-myeong could remain within the shadows that formed the boundary between Grave Mountain and reality.
Thus, he normally protected Kang Ha-min from within those shadows.
The name displayed on Baek Cheon-myeong’s phone was Shin No-seop.
The man who had very deliberately left his number, telling him to contact it if anything happened, was calling.
‘Ah, I cleared Floor 2.’
He had completely forgotten because he had personally turned his home into ruins.
Kang Ha-min sent a text message first.
A reply came immediately.
[ Shin No-seop: Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong, this is Shin No-seop, Director of the Hunter General Administration Headquarters! Have you been well? ]
It had only been a day since they had met, yet he was incredibly cheerful.
Kang Ha-min replied that he had been well.
[ Shin No-seop: Haha, that is a relief! First, I contacted you to offer my greetings. It seems you immediately challenged Floor 2 and cleared it with a new record. ]
By this point, Kang Ha-min was beginning to understand.
‘Hunter achievements must be a bigger deal than I thought.’
Shin No-seop’s voice sounded as though he were in the middle of a festival.
[ Shin No-seop: Wow, as expected of Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong! Thanks to you, Korea’s national prestige continues to rise! ]
Without realizing it, he had raised Korea’s national prestige.
It seemed a little excessive, but Shin No-seop’s tone was sincere.
[ Shin No-seop: So, you see. It has been weighing on my mind that I sent Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong away without being able to do anything for you that day. ]
Kang Ha-min replied in alarm.
They had reduced his taxes and taken care of various other things. What more could they possibly do?
[ Shin No-seop: No. What we have provided is nowhere near what we provide for others.
If it becomes known that we only did this much, we will be cursed every way imaginable. ]
I-Is that so?
Since Shin No-seop said so, there was nothing for Kang Ha-min to argue about.
[ Shin No-seop: So, you see. We always provide one housing benefit to Hunters who work hard. ]
……A housing benefit?
His ears perked up, especially since his home had just been destroyed.
[ Shin No-seop: Korean society has such serious housing problems, does it not?
Hunters should be able to focus entirely on the Tower. They should not be troubled by housing issues, so we ought to provide benefits. ]
Hmm. It was a good policy.
Right. This harsh modern society needed one or two things like that.
This was how people’s livelihoods were protected.
[ Shin No-seop: So I contacted you to ask whether we might explain the benefit to Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong as well. ]
He had just needed to move, so this worked out well.
[ Baek Cheon-myeong: Please explain. ]
Kang Ha-min replied while imitating Baek Cheon-myeong’s manner of speaking as closely as possible.
Speaking informally to an important person was difficult.
[ Shin No-seop: Then may I give you the address and ask you to come there? ]
Shin No-seop promptly sent the address.
It was not very far.
After finishing the exchange, Kang Ha-min entered the address and called a taxi.
“Ah, I cannot go.”
Kang Ha-min hurried into Baek Cheon-myeong’s shadow.
They swapped places at once.
“Hmm. A carriage that moves without being spoken to.”
It was once again time for Baek Cheon-myeong to experience modern civilization.
After staring at the taxi with gleaming eyes for quite a while, Baek Cheon-myeong got out.
He looked as though he wanted to ride it longer, but at Kang Ha-min’s urging, he reluctantly left the taxi.
Within the shadows, Kang Ha-min’s eyes shook wildly.
Huh? This was Gangnam.
‘S-Sareunoel?’
Was that not the place rumored to be the most expensive apartment complex in the country?
“Ah, Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong, you have arrived!”
At that moment, Shin No-seop rushed over eagerly from far away.
With a bright business smile on his face, he immediately led the way.
“This way, please.”
“Very well.”
Wait. Could this possibly be the benefit?
While Kang Ha-min stood there in confusion, Shin No-seop continued leading them onward.
Even using Sareunoel’s elevator required a dedicated card.
The elevator went up.
And it kept going up without end.
The higher it rose, the stiffer Kang Ha-min’s expression became.
Ding—
After quite some time, the elevator stopped.
Shin No-seop opened the only front door on the floor with a card key and a passcode.
Then a palace unfolded before them.
It was a space Kang Ha-min had never entered even once in his life.
It had to be at least 3,500 square feet.
Moreover, every piece of furniture and every electronic appliance had already been provided within that enormous space.
“The furniture and electronic appliances inside will all be registered under Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong’s name, so please use them comfortably.
“Of course, you may bring in anyone who will be living here as well!
“Everything has been prepared to the highest standards, but if any problem arises, please contact us and we will replace it immediately.”
“I see.”
“Here are the card key and the passcode. After I leave, please feel free to change the passcode.”
Without giving them a chance to say anything, Shin No-seop handed over the card key.
Baek Cheon-myeong accepted it calmly.
Meanwhile, Kang Ha-min could only stand within the shadows with a blank expression.
“The home itself has also been placed under Mr. Baek Cheon-myeong’s name, so please do not worry and live comfortably! Ah, and naturally, the rent is tax-exempt.”
Shin No-seop hurried away.
Overnight, Kang Ha-min had acquired an apartment in Sareunoel.
***
[Kang Ha-min]
Level: 18
Class: Gravekeeper of a Ruined World
Grade: Mythic
■ Unique Skills: Enter Grave Mountain / Rise of the Dead / Protection of the Dead / Grave King’s Aura / NEW! Legion of Ashes
■ Lineage: Corpse Reconstruction / Soul Binding
Wow, eighteen!
Level 18!
After clearing Floor 2, he had risen another eight levels this time.
Was it really all right for leveling up to be this easy?
On top of that, he had gained another skill.
【 Legion of Ashes 】
— Raises beings that have died on the battlefield with the energy of death for a set period of time.
— Destroyed soldiers return to ashes and can regenerate.
He had not even had many chances to properly use his previous skills yet.
And he had gained another skill. Ha ha.
Kang Ha-min raised his head with complicated feelings.
The bed he lay in was so large that it would not even fit inside his old studio apartment.
What was more, his body sank deep into it. It was soft enough to be astonishing.
So this kind of softness existed in the world.
Whenever he lay down, he kept getting sleepy.
But regardless of how comfortable his body felt, his heart was heavy.
‘This is too much.’
By now, he had a rough understanding of his situation.
The treatment he was receiving was fitting for an S Grade Hunter.
Or perhaps even greater treatment than that.
He searched online, but nowhere could he find a Hunter who had received this level of treatment.
Being treated well was nice!
Who in the world would dislike being treated well?!
Moreover, S Grade Hunters were important national weapons and treasures.
Kang Ha-min had worked in the Hunter Affairs Division, so he knew the value of S Grade Hunters well.
‘But even so, this is too much! It is really too much!’
Yes, he understood all of it.
Even so, simply giving him an apartment in Sareunoel was excessive.
Was modern society not a world driven solely by money?
In an era when money was power, they were giving him money this easily.
The burden suddenly washed over him and began to make his stomach hurt.
Somehow, it felt as though his stomach hurt more after leaving the civil service.
‘If I had gathered and sold the materials myself, I do not think I would feel this way.’
They had started giving him things so freely that it made his head spin.
‘……Right. This is practically a responsibility.’
There were no free lunches in this world.
It was something Kang Ha-min had learned throughout his life.
Public officials, of all people, could never accept anything for free because of the law.
‘Though I am no longer a public official.’
In any case, anything received for free would eventually come back like a boomerang.
It meant that the day would surely come when he had to repay its value.
Whatever task the country would demand in return for something worth this much.
He did not know what it would be, but his liver, no bigger than a bean, was already screaming.
What if his identity was discovered later?
There was no telling how serious things would become.
They might even ask him for help in something like a war.
When he imagined a battlefield where bullets rained down, the backs of his knees went numb.
‘I said I would protect the world!’
Though Baek Cheon-myeong would actually be the one doing all of it!
Even so, he had never intended to go that far for the country.
He liked his country.
It was the land where he had to live, so what would be the point of hating it?
But that was merely the small amount of patriotism he had because he happened to be born there.
He did not want to risk war for his country.
‘Even if that makes me selfish, I matter more.’
Kang Ha-min was an ordinary citizen.
As a timid man with a tiny liver, he could not possibly handle this situation.
Honestly, lying here was even more stressful.
“This really is not right.”
Kang Ha-min finally got out of bed.
There had never been a bed this comfortable, but he decided to bid it farewell.
“Mr. Baek Cheon-myeong. I think……”
When he stepped outside the room, Baek Cheon-myeong was watching a TV that filled an entire wall.
Was this some kind of movie theater?
And why was the image quality so good?
Kang Ha-min wondered what Baek Cheon-myeong was watching, only to see that it was the news.
Baek Cheon-myeong adapted to modern society remarkably quickly.
[ This is the 9 o’clock news. A Dimensional Break has occurred near Donghwa Hospital. ]
[ Patients are currently evacuating urgently, but the number of Hunters who have arrived……. ]
“Huh?”
Donghwa Hospital?
Kang Ha-min’s eyes slowly widened.
“Master, is that not the hospital where your father is?”
That was right.
It was the hospital where his father was.