#13
South Korea’s #1 ranking. Currently the only S-rank Hunter. In addition to that, the Hunter who has held 1st place in appearance rankings for 32 consecutive weeks and shines as the #1 Hunter people want to encounter on the street – Cha Do-hyeok. His fans know him as someone with so few sightings that seeing him even once while passing by would be their wish, so why on earth has Ha-seong been running into only that guy for the past few days?
At this rate, he might even develop some internal sense of intimacy. Really.
“I’m not a stalker.”
“Then why do you keep appearing in my vicinity?”
“I think there’s a misunderstanding, but I purely came to look at items today?”
That guy keeps casually dropping his speech level. Ha-seong was about to say something more when he recalled a figure who had gotten caught between himself and Cha Do-hyeok. Sure enough, Boss Kim was pointing alternately at Ha-seong and Do-hyeok with his finger, his mouth just opening and closing. In other words, he was asking, ‘How do you two know each other……?’
“Well, there are some circumstances. I’m sorry, Boss. Could you excuse us for a moment?”
This time the boss pointed his finger in a circle at himself and tilted his head. This time he was asking, ‘This is my shop, but you’re asking me to step aside?’
“Just for a moment.”
“Alright then.”
The boss went inside as if it was no big deal.
“Do Ha-seong-ssi is……”
“Don’t call my name. We’re not close enough for that, are we?”
“Then what should I call you?”
Do-hyeok asked crookedly like last time. Thinking about what happened last time, even though his tone was so rude, it seemed like he really wanted to know what he should call him.
“I don’t know either. Anyway, don’t call my name.”
“Then…… I’ll call you hyung, I guess.”
Ha-seong pointed at Do-hyeok with his finger like he’d been possessed by Boss Kim a moment ago, like someone who had heard something he shouldn’t have heard. It meant, why are you calling me hyung?
“You told me not to call your name. But you also told me to speak formally.”
Do-hyeok shrugged his shoulders. Unlike Ha-seong’s expression, Do-hyeok was serious right now. There was no intention to mock his opponent at all. He had simply chosen ‘hyung’ after seriously contemplating and searching for something to call him. Isn’t the way to address someone older than yourself already established? Besides, since he said not to call his name, there was only one answer.
Having no way of knowing that thought, Ha-seong still fiercely contorted his expression. Even though there were more than one or two parts to pick at in those words, he couldn’t get a sense of where and how to pick at them. Was it because the words made sense when taken at face value? Strangely, it wasn’t logical but it was logical.
“……I don’t know either. Do whatever you want……”
Ha-seong pressed his forehead. He felt like he had encountered a stronger enemy than any monster.
“Hyung, you’re not a middleman, are you?”
Getting straight to the point like this? How many counter punches was he going to take from a guy five years younger? He felt like grabbing his neck and collapsing.
“What is.”
He responded while composing his expression as inconspicuously as possible.
“That boss said hyung is a middleman who delivers rare items, but I don’t think so.”
“How do you know whether I’m a middleman or not?”
Ha-seong asked Do-hyeok back without showing any sign of surprise. Although there was no change in his expression, Ha-seong was inwardly shouting ‘I’m fucked’ repeatedly.
It was too sharp a point. What on earth was that guy’s purpose for doing this? Of course, there had been something fishy about their first meeting, but there was no reason anywhere for him to be this persistent with Ha-seong.
“I looked into you a bit. About hyung.”
He looked into me? What? Am I really going to get caught being a Hunter? Right now in Ha-seong’s mind, forget about the life of a rich unemployed person, an image of himself being caught for violating the Awakened Registration Act and eventually being investigated, and on top of that being caught as someone who fell from a parallel world and adding the crime of unlawfully invading another world, ending up in jail, was slowly being drawn.
“But.”
Then Do-hyeok pointed at Ha-seong with his finger.
“Fraudulent Purifier.”
Huh. Ha-seong’s face instantly contorted. What is he saying right now? Why suddenly frame an innocent person as a criminal?
“I roughly asked Kang Hyun-jun from Sewon Guild how hyung works? But he frustratingly said he couldn’t tell me because there’s a confidentiality clause in the contract conditions.”
Well, who made those contract conditions? Ha-seong felt proud of his past self for no reason. If they were guys who liked to run their mouths everywhere, they might talk about Ha-seong’s purification work methods, so the ‘confidentiality clause’ was essential. Of course, if suspected by a Hunter, he could cover it up by saying ‘it was the pitiful struggle of a mere Purifier who wanted to become a Hunter but couldn’t achieve his dream,’ but if rumors spread widely, it would be hard to handle.
Moreover, Kang Hyun-jun was someone who valued following principles, in some ways a bit inflexible person. Also, since he had favorable feelings toward Ha-seong, it was perhaps natural that he didn’t tell Do-hyeok everything.
“So I asked other guild members from Sewon. Then they spilled right away?”
Ah shit, Ha-seong cursed quietly. Right. It was all useless. What good does it do if the Guild Leader protects it to death? Those who won’t keep it won’t keep it anyway.
“They said you go into the dungeon before doing purification work.”
“Yeah. That’s right, so what. I don’t have what it takes to be a Hunter, so I wanted to try playing Hunter a bit. Do you want to stab at people’s painful parts like that?”
Then Do-hyeok smiled meaningfully. That guy is smirking while I’m talking. Usually when I say things like this, stupid Hunters or Hunters overflowing with a sense of mission all fall for it, but I guess the #1 ranking is different after all.
“Then what about the items hyung brings here? If hyung is a middleman, tell me. Which Hunter are you running errands for?”
Of course I can’t say that. Because that Hunter is Ha-seong himself.
“There is one. Some excellent Hunter who lives somewhere over there. I don’t have to tell you that much.”
“Well, that’s true. But when I connect the two things you just said, a nice picture emerges. Going into completed dungeons to farm items and then selling them to shops. How about it?”
Very Sherlock Holmes of you. However, Ha-seong felt a bit surprised at Do-hyeok who had accurately deduced with just those two things, and glanced inside. From the various sounds, fortunately the boss seemed to be working.
“Let’s say I did as you said. But that’s not illegal. Originally, the only ones who can’t enter dungeons are non-awakened civilians. Purifiers are also people who have awakened some degree of ability, though not as much as Hunters.”
Ha-seong finally pulled out his last card. If someone found out about Ha-seong’s business and pestered him like Cha Do-hyeok, let’s exploit the loopholes in the law.
Purifiers existed ambiguously between the awakened and non-awakened in this great Hunter era. That meant they were in a legal blind spot, so while there were many rights not guaranteed by the country, it could be used differently. Like Ha-seong now.
“Mm, that’s right.”
Do-hyeok slowly nodded his head.
“Then why don’t you share that good method with other Purifiers?”
“What?”
“If you want, our guild could spread the information.”
Is that guy calling that talk? If that happened, everyone would try to purify like Ha-seong. The number of Purifiers was already increasing day by day, and the atmosphere was one of fierce competition for survival. But the number of Purifiers who could sign long-term contracts with guilds was limited, and naturally the rest had to work as freelancers like Ha-seong. But even that was hard to survive without excellent skills.
If this method became known in such a situation, the landscape would surely change dramatically. Hunters would never look kindly on Purifiers happily farming remaining items from completed dungeons, and if it got worse, the two groups that should work symbiotically could collapse. That guy was casually saying something that could turn this industry upside down.
“Cha Do-hyeok.”
“You’re finally calling my name.”
Do-hyeok languidly curved up the corners of his mouth.
People were completely wrong in their thinking. That guy wasn’t someone who should get 1st place in appearance rankings, but someone who should be 1st in scheming rankings. Originally, there would be only one thing that guy wanted from Ha-seong.
The talk about coming to look at items, the talk about sharing Ha-seong’s business with other Purifiers – it was all to extract one word from Ha-seong’s mouth.
“What do you want from me?”
Ha-seong knew too. What the other party wanted. But he had no intention of throwing bait even if he died. He had absolutely no intention of being led around acting as that guy wanted, but there was no choice. In times like this, he had to step back and find out what the other party really wanted.
“So now you’re finally in the mood to hear my business?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
