#33
Park Dal-pyeong. Among the item creators currently existing in South Korea, he was the one with the longest career, and his ability to create items was the best in South Korea—incomparable to anyone else.
However, he was what you’d call “an ability user known only to those in the know among hunters.” Park Dal-pyeong’s name wasn’t on any item creation ranking lists. This was partly because he wanted it that way, and partly due to his free-spirited nature.
Rather than making item creation his profession, he would only engage in creation when he wanted something or when some brilliant material came to mind. Otherwise, he mainly traveled or did volunteer work. His life had followed that pattern since his youth.
The frequency of his item creation or development was countable like annual events, but every time he made something, he produced a masterpiece. One of those was Nameless Guild’s measuring device, Founding.
The interior was made of high-purity grade-1 minerals, and the operational results were precise with almost no margin of error. Dal-pyeong himself counted that measuring device among the top five best items he’d ever made.
“But you’re saying that got broken?”
Dal-pyeong’s face was dumbfounded with disbelief, but Do-hyeok had a calm expression that contrasted sharply with him. The sturdiest thing he’d made in his decades as an item creator was that very device.
It was made by processing minerals that hadn’t yet appeared in South Korea. The materials were hard to obtain, and it was a work he’d put that much effort into creating, yet it was broken.
No, this still didn’t make sense.
“You little punk, coming to visit after so long just to mess with an old man?”
Dal-pyeong swung his back scratcher again. This time Do-hyeok lightly dodged it.
“What would I gain from messing with some old man? I’m busy as hell—would I come all the way here just to say useless things?”
“……”
Right, that made sense too. It had been a long time since he’d seen that punk’s face, and it definitely didn’t seem like he’d come all this way just to crack jokes. Then there was only one answer.
“Hmm, who broke it? You?”
“No.”
At Do-hyeok’s words, Dal-pyeong’s brow furrowed deeply. Since he said it was broken, Dal-pyeong had naturally assumed that punk was the culprit. That made sense because the main material of the measuring device was one that boasted the highest hardness among minerals. Of course it would be. If it was a measuring device that measured hunters’ strength, it would be nonsensical if its durability was weak.
So naturally, he’d thought the only person who could break it would be Cha Do-hyeok. Since he was the only S-rank hunter.
“Then who? Are you saying there’s someone else besides you who could break that thing?”
“Grandfather.”
Then Do-hyeok called Dal-pyeong with noticeably different eyes.
“I found them. The person who might be able to end my revenge.”
“……”
Do-hyeok’s words were very vague, but Dal-pyeong wasn’t unaware of what they meant.
“You still haven’t given up on that.”
Do-hyeok chuckled at his words. His attitude seemed to ask why he was asking something so obvious. Dal-pyeong sighed deeply and shook his head.
“You’re really persistent. I told you to let yourself be at ease.”
“So please make the measuring device again.”
“What does that have to do with the measuring device?”
Dal-pyeong asked while scratching his back vigorously with the back scratcher. Revenge was revenge, and the measuring device was the measuring device—even searching with washed eyes, there was no connection between the two.
“I want to try winning that person’s favor.”
Somehow, he felt like he knew without asking. The person who broke that measuring device and the one who might help with that punk’s revenge were surely the same person. Then it made a bit of sense. Why Do-hyeok had decided on that person as someone who might end his revenge. If they broke that measuring device, they must be an ability user.
Of course, Dal-pyeong wasn’t interested in worldly affairs, so he didn’t seem very interested in someone who broke something that even an S-rank couldn’t break.
“Well, well, you trying to win someone’s favor? Who would’ve thought you could do such a thing?”
Dal-pyeong raised the corner of his mouth mockingly. Cha Do-hyeok was someone who had absolutely no interest in others. But he wanted to win someone’s favor? Then it was one of two things.
Either that person was incredibly strong so he really needed to get on their good side, or… there were other emotions involved.
“Will you do it or not?”
“Wait for now. I need materials to make it. It might work out, it might not. I’ll contact you later, so wait.”
Even at the coaxing words, Do-hyeok made a sullen expression, looking displeased.
“If you’re going to keep being like that, at least help this old man with his business.”
Dal-pyeong got up from his seat and hobbled toward the entrance. Then he flipped the “closed” sign to “open.”
“Please contact me as soon as possible. Otherwise, hyung might stop breathing.”
“That person is older than you, I see?”
“I’m leaving.”
Do-hyeok left the shop without answering.
“Do-hyeok.”
Dal-pyeong stood at the open door and called Do-hyeok to a stop.
“Smile more when you go around. You have a decent build, so why do you always go around frowning?”
“…There’s nothing to smile about.”
Saying that, Do-hyeok went down the mountain path again. Dal-pyeong stood at the door and took a few steps forward to watch Do-hyeok’s retreating figure disappearing in the distance. Watching him go down the mountain path without hesitation with his long legs and neck stretched out, Dal-pyeong recalled that day.
The day he met young Do-hyeok, who had eyes that had lost everything after everything collapsed.
That day, Dal-pyeong felt for the first time what dead eyes looked like through the face of a child who seemed barely over ten years old.
“…Anyway. Poor kid.”
Only after Do-hyeok’s figure completely disappeared did Dal-pyeong go back into the shop.
* * *
Do-hyeok came straight down the mountain path. He wondered why that damn old man had to build his shop right in the middle of a mountain—he’d wasted quite a bit of time going up and down. Though he’d come here under the pretext of a business trip, as Guild Leader he couldn’t be away from his position for too long.
Do-hyeok immediately got into the car he’d parked at the foot of the mountain. Then his phone rang right away.
[Caller: Yoon Woo-bin]
Do-hyeok answered the phone without hesitation.
“Yeah. What.”
– What do you mean what? You send a text like that and then don’t contact me once until now, and you say that?
“Text?”
When Do-hyeok asked back as if he didn’t know, Woo-bin’s sigh came through the phone. It was a sigh full of the nuance of “I figured as much.”
– So. When are you going to let me meet that rich unemployed informant?
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, after Ha-seong accepted his proposal, he’d explained it to Woo-bin exactly like that. Rich unemployed informant. He’d been arbitrarily putting off having the two meet right away because it seemed like Ha-seong wouldn’t be too keen on it.
“Wait a bit longer.”
Though he wasn’t sure, Ha-seong seemed to be somewhat reluctant to face strangers he didn’t know well. Especially if they were hunters.
– So until when? No, more than that, why do I have to wait?
When Woo-bin spoke as if frustrated, Do-hyeok fell into thought. What excuse would be easiest to get past for now?
“That person is quite shy.”
Ridiculous words flowed smoothly from Do-hyeok’s mouth. Do Ha-seong was someone who was very far from shyness—extremely far.
– What? Ha… Fine. Got it for now. Anyway, there haven’t been any grade manipulation incidents since then.
Whether Woo-bin was going along with the absurd excuse or had decided to accommodate him, he didn’t pursue the matter further. As he said, since meeting Woo-bin at the management bureau, there hadn’t been any incidents suspected of being grade-manipulated gates. Was that guy also being careful?
“Right. Then I’ll contact you later.”
So they agreed to contact each other again when there were new clues or discoveries, and ended the call. Just as he was about to start the engine and leave, his phone rang loudly again. Why was his usually quiet phone making such a fuss right now? Do-hyeok let go of the steering wheel he’d grabbed and picked up his phone again.
[Caller: Han Shin-woo]
Anyway, the people who would contact Do-hyeok’s personal number could be counted on one hand. Yoon Woo-bin, Kang Won-hyeok, Han Shin-woo. Very occasionally, Nameless’s team leaders. That was it.
“What. I’m about to leave now.”
– Guild Leader, why haven’t you been answering your phone?
Then Shin-woo’s somewhat urgent voice came through.
“Phone?”
– I’ve been calling you continuously…
Do-hyeok briefly took the phone away from his ear and pressed the phone-shaped icon. Then, as Shin-woo said, there were quite a few missed calls.
Do-hyeok was a bit different from modern people who treasured their phones like their lives and tried not to drop them. When he went to meet Dal-pyeong too, he’d left it behind without much thought, and he only realized that fact after getting back in the car. So there was no way he could have answered Shin-woo’s calls.
– That’s not what’s important right now—we have a big problem.
“Then explain quickly.”
Sensing that Shin-woo’s voice was unusual, Do-hyeok stepped on the accelerator while quickly turning the steering wheel with one hand.
– It’s about the gate that was scheduled to open in area A-45 today.
That gate was expected to be a somewhat easy difficulty dungeon that would be B-rank at most if you were generous. There shouldn’t be any problems, but if Shin-woo was calling like this…
“Did the gate rank go up?”
– Uh… Yes. That’s right. How did you know? Ah, but what’s more important is…
When Do-hyeok guessed exactly right, Shin-woo seemed a bit surprised and drew out his words. Less than five minutes after talking with Woo-bin about how nothing had happened since then, an incident occurred.
– But it rose to S-rank of all things… The signal from Team 5 that went to attack has been cut off for a while now.
If it was S-rank, Do-hyeok had to go. If even the team members’ communication was cut off, Shin-woo’s urgency was even more understandable. Just as he was about to hang up after instructing to send support teams since he’d get there as quickly as possible…
– Guild Leader! Actually, there’s one more big problem…
“What is it?”
Do-hyeok pressed the accelerator even harder.
– It seems Do Ha-seong-ssi got caught up in that gate.
Screech—
At the unexpected words, Do-hyeok ended up stepping on the brakes. The car that had been running well made a loud noise and came to an abrupt stop.
“…What?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
