#163
The Gate Management Office had prevented even A-class hunters like Park Jung-hoon from moving for a long time using injury aftereffects as an excuse. It was suspicious that they were persistently urging Lee Ha-min, a novice C-class hunter, to return.
There was another problem. Lee Ha-min wasn’t just any hunter, but a family member of the MOAS CEO. Wouldn’t such suspicious activities carry too much risk?
Perhaps Yoon Pa-ran’s thoughts showed on his face, as Lee Ha-jin answered with a gentle smile.
“That’s right. And despite knowing that I care about Ha-min’s well-being, they kept recommending it persistently.”
“Hmm.”
“Finding that somewhat suspicious, I investigated further myself. Focusing on the employee who made the recommendation and the gates they were urging Ha-min to enter. I even suspected it might be a competitor’s scheme.”
Lee Ha-jin casually laid out some quite significant statements.
Yoon Pa-ran tried to let these dangerous-sounding words go in one ear and out the other.
“And yesterday, while reviewing collection statistics, I discovered something. All the gates they recommended to Ha-min had one thing in common—their by-products had dropped below 50%.”
Yoon Pa-ran looked puzzled at the strange correlation revealed. The more he heard, the more he felt compelled to understand the situation more accurately.
And strangely, an ominous sensation gradually crept up from his toes. As if the [■■■ Fragment] were right before his eyes.
“What exactly does it mean that the by-products have decreased?”
“Well… Simply put, the monster corpses are decaying too severely. And this is happening even in gates that haven’t reached their breaking point yet. That’s why the by-product collection amounts have been consistently lower than expected.”
“…”
“Since the number of monsters has increased in line with the gates, the Gate Management Office, which only tallies that, doesn’t seem to have noticed exactly what abnormality has occurred. They’ve probably also been busy investigating the unusually high hunter mortality rate at these gates first.”
At the mention of severe decay, the ominous feeling creeping from Yoon Pa-ran’s ankle intensified.
Normally, the more decayed monsters were, the more vicious they were to deal with. Not only did they become stronger, but the unique energy emanating from monsters also intensified. That’s probably why the hunter mortality rate was particularly high.
Was it because he was reminded of the energy of the [■■■ Fragment] that seemed to grab at his ankle? Yoon Pa-ran suddenly thought of his fight with Park Jung-hoon. While facing him, Yoon Pa-ran had clearly realized in an instant that the ominous energy Park Jung-hoon exuded was very similar to that of monsters.
The [■■■ Fragment] energy that kept catching his attention recently and the strengthened monsters. Could this really be a coincidence?
“Here are the addresses of the gates they recommended to Ha-min. Besides all having the characteristic of collection rates dropping by more than half, they’re also, coincidentally, located in similar positions.”
Lee Ha-jin held out his phone to Yoon Pa-ran, displaying several addresses. As Yoon Pa-ran slowly directed his gaze toward the screen, his heart pounded strangely.
As if the ominous premonition at his feet had finally crawled up his body.
“What’s particularly problematic is the information I just received. I need to go deal with this incident, but I wanted to inform you first.”
Yoon Pa-ran’s eyes soon widened in shock at seeing the addresses.
“The latest gate is reportedly at a state where by-products can hardly be collected. The hunter mortality rate is too high, and everything is so decayed that there’s nothing salvageable.”
The list of gates Lee Ha-jin provided had dates and locations listed in order of occurrence. This clearly showed the trend of how these gates were moving. Especially to Yoon Pa-ran’s eyes.
The gates where strange phenomena were occurring were approaching the land where Yoon Pa-ran’s orphanage was located, day by day.
❖ ❖ ❖
Around the same time, Dan Joo-hyuk met with Kim Sin-cheol.
Kim Sin-cheol was now thoroughly searching the area where Lee Tae-jung had been active. The Hanul Guild members still didn’t know what had happened to Heo Sang-yeon and Lee Tae-jung. For now, even the wounded Heo Sang-yeon was hidden away due to potential social repercussions.
So Kim Sin-cheol was discreetly investigating whether Lee Tae-jung had hidden any materials or had accomplices. In such a situation, he couldn’t waste time when Dan Joo-hyuk was looking for him.
Dan Joo-hyuk quickly entered the small building that Kim Sin-cheol was using as an investigation headquarters. He soon became puzzled.
There was only a civilian in front of Kim Sin-cheol.
“His name is Noh Won-min. He worked in Congressman Kim Tae-jun’s secretariat. I observed him because he was suspiciously wandering around this area, and when I asked around, people said he’d been like this for days.”
“M-must, go, hee, heek.”
This Noh Won-min was clearly not in his right mind. Cold sweat continuously flowed from his entire body, and he looked like a homeless person, as if he’d been wandering the streets for days.
He appeared particularly mentally unstable. Seeing his appearance as if he’d been tortured, Dan Joo-hyuk looked at Kim Sin-cheol.
“I didn’t do it! He was already in this state when I found him.”
Kim Sin-cheol exclaimed and denied in response to Dan Joo-hyuk’s questioning gaze.
Despite Kim Sin-cheol’s immediate explanation, Dan Joo-hyuk raised an eyebrow crookedly. After all, it still didn’t explain why he had been urgently called.
Sensing this silent pressure, Kim Sin-cheol heaved a deep sigh. Then, looking at Noh Won-min who was curled up on a makeshift mattress in a small room of the investigation headquarters, he said:
“Potions don’t work on him.”
“If the injury is too severe…”
“No, I mean literally ‘don’t work.’ He absolutely can’t swallow them and spits everything out. Yet he gulped down water just fine.”
“…”
“I tried to force-feed him, but it seemed like something in his body was rejecting it.”
It was clearly abnormal. Potions gave some hope even to patients on the brink of death. There was a reason they were called a medical revolution.
The same applied to severely injured hunters. Even if the healing effect couldn’t keep up with the injuries and they eventually died, potions always showed some effect.
But the inability to swallow potions, like oil mixed in water, was unheard of anywhere.
“But thinking about it, it feels somehow similar to the Lee Tae-jung case. And the fact that this guy happened to drift here from Kim Tae-jun’s office is suspicious too.”
From Kim Sin-cheol’s subsequent conjecture, Dan Joo-hyuk understood why he had to come personally. He also understood why there was no sign of anyone else in this investigation building.
“I think we need that power.”
“Ah.”
He meant there was a need to use the Sacred Energy skill. That’s why he had removed everyone from the area.
Dan Joo-hyuk had told Kim Sin-cheol that the white light was his own skill. It wasn’t intentional, but the power that completely overwhelmed Lee Tae-jung, who had even gone berserk, was excessive even for someone like Dan Joo-hyuk.
He had roughly explained that he had acquired a power that was the natural enemy of those plotting these terrible conspiracies. It was also better for him to be the public target since he was concerned about Yoon Pa-ran’s existence being exposed.
“What do you think?”
Kim Sin-cheol asked Dan Joo-hyuk with an expectant look. Being close to Kim Tae-jun, he seemed to hope for some useful information.
However, Dan Joo-hyuk looked down at Noh Won-min without much expectation. He seemed to faintly sense that terrible energy.
“Not sure.”
If Yoon Pa-ran were here, he might have been able to tell more definitely. Even when they first confirmed the anomaly with the safety zone statue, Yoon Pa-ran’s intuition was often sharper than his own.
In any case, Dan Joo-hyuk concentrated the skill in his grip and held Noh Won-min’s head in one hand. According to what Yoon Pa-ran had told him, sometimes purification required an attack, but for now, he intended to try as he had with Heo Sang-yeon.
“Ah, uuh…!”
Noh Won-min surprisingly made no particular resistance and continued to make unintelligible sounds. Just as Dan Joo-hyuk was smoothly pouring Yoon Pa-ran’s power into his head.
Suddenly, Noh Won-min’s body jerked, and his eyes rolled back, showing only the whites. His bluish lips moved slowly.
“‘We’ did it.”
“…”
Though nothing had been felt just moments before, a chilling energy suddenly exploded from Noh Won-min.
It was undoubtedly the energy of the [■■■ Fragment].
“Uh, uuh… Is this person okay?”
“…”
Noh Won-min continued to tremble all over as if possessed by a ghost. Dan Joo-hyuk felt Yoon Pa-ran’s power that he had stored inside him being sucked away again, just like with Lee Tae-jung.
“Buried it, there.”
“Where?”
At that moment, an unmissable statement came from Noh Won-min’s mouth. Without even knowing what he was referring to, Dan Joo-hyuk narrowed his eyes and asked back.
His heart pounded fiercely, just as it did when Yoon Pa-ran was beside him.
“Tell me where.”
“Kek…!”
He urged Noh Won-min out of impatience, but it was useless. At some point, the power that was escaping from his grip suddenly cut off, and Noh Won-min’s head fell back.
It looked exactly as if a thread that had been hanging had suddenly snapped.
“…”
“Ha…”
Noh Won-min’s stiffened body collapsed to the side. Black blood was flowing from his eyes like tears.
Seeing this, Kim Sin-cheol let out a sigh beside him.
“He’s not… dead, is he?”
Dan Joo-hyuk slowly shook his head. Although his appearance was no exaggeration to call a corpse, Noh Won-min’s breathing was actually more stable than before.
When he regains consciousness, he might return to his senses. Then they could interrogate him more stably.
However, Dan Joo-hyuk was momentarily overwhelmed by the enormous tension that was gradually rising from his toes.
It was completely incomprehensible. Where did this intangible sense of crisis come from?
At that moment, Dan Joo-hyuk’s phone rang, cutting through the silence. Though it was just vibration, it sounded like thunder to the ears of the two high-level hunters.
Reflexively checking the screen, Dan Joo-hyuk saw Yoon Pa-ran’s name. Without time to think further, he accepted the call.
—We’re in big trouble.
As Yoon Pa-ran’s voice rang out immediately after answering the call, Dan Joo-hyuk’s heart plummeted to the floor.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
