#45
[The wrong world will disappear into a whirlpool and end.]
The memo captured in the photo. Ha-seong realized what it meant a little later. When he had heard all about the incident from 10 years ago from Do-hyeok last time, there was an internet post uploaded by someone presumed to be the culprit. It was very similar to that post.
“How is it?”
“Is it him?”
Do-hyeok’s voice suddenly dropped significantly. A voice filled with a chilling aura. Perhaps because they were so close, Ha-seong could feel that his atmosphere had changed completely in an instant. Ha-seong looked to the side with a slightly surprised face.
Do-hyeok’s eyes looking at the photo had sunk lower than any abyss. Though he hadn’t known that bastard for very long, this was the first time he’d seen such an expression.
“Well. Nothing else has been revealed yet besides this, but it’s too similar to the post that was uploaded back then.”
Ha-seong withdrew his gaze from Do-hyeok and stared at the photo again.
A wrong world. What on earth was the culprit thinking? Though he didn’t know for sure, he could tell that they harbored tremendous malice toward this world. Ha-seong opened his mouth as if suddenly curious.
“But something’s strange. If this culprit is the same person as the one behind the artificial gates, why are they doing such things? Not only tampering with dungeons but even murdering hunters…”
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t guess the perpetrator’s motives or goals. If he could at least figure that out, he’d have some direction, but even following the culprit’s thought process felt overwhelming.
“Well. I’m looking into whether similar incidents happened 10 years ago just in case, but nothing has come up yet.”
In other words, this kind of situation was occurring for the first time. It was like a new incident breaking out when they hadn’t uncovered anything yet.
“Is this all the case material? What about the victim’s personal information?”
Then Woo-bin said “Ah” and pulled out a sheet of paper from the file to hand over.
“His name is Kang Seong-hyeon. He’s not a ranker, but he consistently stays within the top 200. That means he’s a hunter with skills.”
Ha-seong poked his head out to scan the paper Do-hyeok was holding together. Then Do-hyeok tilted the document so Ha-seong could see it better too.
“Looking at how he’s estimated to be B-rank to A-rank, he’s not without skills. If such a hunter was killed in one blow, the culprit is likely someone with even greater abilities.”
“Are there no peculiarities about the victim?”
Since the murderer of this killing and the culprit of the current gate manipulation case could be the same person, information about this case was also necessary.
“Hmm, I haven’t found any yet. Like I said, I just received the information this morning. I called you two right after seeing the text written in this memo. …Ah.”
Then Woo-bin hummed low as if something had occurred to him.
“I don’t know if it’s a peculiarity, but there’s one thing…”
Woo-bin tilted his head as if troubled or perplexed.
“What is it?”
“The victim hunter apparently belonged to Myeongwol Guild. It seems he hadn’t joined long ago though.”
“……”
Then Do-hyeok fell quiet as if choosing his words for a moment. Soon he let out a deep sigh and put down the paper he was holding with a thud.
“Baek Han-bit is going to be in an uproar.”
Myeongwol? Baek Han-bit? These were completely unfamiliar topics to Ha-seong. Perhaps reading that atmosphere, Do-hyeok tapped Ha-seong’s hand under the desk a couple of times.
“I’ll explain later.”
He whispered quietly enough that Yoon Woo-bin couldn’t hear. Whatever Myeongwol was, it was certainly quite famous in this world. But Ha-seong didn’t know much about this world or about hunters. To be precise, he wasn’t interested. Even when he said he didn’t know about the incident from 10 years ago, Do-hyeok hadn’t asked how he could not know. This was probably a similar case.
But if he said he didn’t know, Yoon Woo-bin would surely find it strange, so it seemed best to stay quiet for now.
“Anyway, this case is definitely worth investigating. I’ll send it to Nameless too once all the case materials come through completely.”
“I’ll also investigate under the premise that this case might be the same culprit we’re currently investigating. There would be risks if you two dig too deeply.”
They had learned that the culprit was someone with considerable skills and execution ability. If Woo-bin or Do-hyeok showed signs of trying to learn about the gate manipulation case through this incident, the other side might notice, or there was a risk of it becoming known to the public.
Ten years ago, if there was a possibility that incident could be recreated, if that fact became known to the world, it would surely cause great chaos.
“Please.”
It was about time for the discussion to wrap up. The internal phone in the meeting room rang loudly. Woo-bin didn’t answer right away but squinted and glared at the phone. You know how it is, don’t you? That kind of phone call where you can tell it’s going to be ominous content without even answering.
Woo-bin sighed deeply and picked up the receiver.
“Yes. This is Yoon Woo-bin from Central Management Department Team 1.”
When Woo-bin answered the phone in a businesslike tone, a somewhat urgent voice came through the receiver. Though the content wasn’t clearly audible, seeing Woo-bin’s expression gradually darken gave the premonition that it wouldn’t be good news.
“Hey.”
Taking advantage of this gap, Ha-seong called Do-hyeok in a small voice. Then he bent his waist low.
“Myeongwol Guild? Is it a famous guild?”
“Yes. To be precise, it’s ranked 3rd in guild rankings.”
That meant it was the guild that came after Nameless. There was no way Ha-seong, who didn’t even know Cha Do-hyeok’s face well and didn’t know much about Nameless Guild, would know about the 3rd-ranked guild.
“Then who is this person called Baek Han-bit?”
“Myeongwol Guild Leader.”
Ah, Ha-seong hummed low. But earlier, when Do-hyeok said “Baek Han-bit is going to be in an uproar,” his expression was, how to put it, like he was sick and tired of it. Ha-seong became a bit curious. What kind of hunter was that person?
“What kind of hunter is he?”
“……”
Do-hyeok maintained silence for a moment at that question. Rather than not wanting to tell him, he seemed to be pondering exactly how to explain.
“So? You’re saying they came to the Management Bureau now?”
It was before hearing Do-hyeok’s answer. Woo-bin’s voice, soaked with bewilderment, could be heard from the front. It was when Ha-seong was looking at Woo-bin.
Bang—
Someone started pounding on Woo-bin’s office door as if to break it.
“…Yes. It seems they’ve already come up.”
Woo-bin sighed deeply and rubbed his forehead.
“No. It’s fine. I’ll handle it myself, so don’t worry about it and do your work.”
Even while Woo-bin gently hung up the phone, the pounding sound from outside continued without stopping. It was so strong and loud that Ha-seong thought if they knocked a few more times like that, there might even be a hole in the door. Ha-seong reflexively clenched his fists at the threatening behavior from whoever it was.
“What is it?”
Do-hyeok asked irritably as he stood up from his seat.
“What do you think it is?”
Woo-bin opened the meeting room door and snickered as if incredulous.
“In this situation, who would pound on my door so rudely?”
Shit, Do-hyeok cursed under his breath. What the hell was going on? Only Ha-seong sat there blankly with a face that knew nothing. Meanwhile, Woo-bin, who had left the meeting room, threw the door wide open before a hole could form in it.
“Noona, do you know how expensive door repair costs are these days?”
Before long, Ha-seong couldn’t overcome his curiosity and came out of the meeting room. Do-hyeok was the same. However, instead of a curious expression, he had a face that said this was noisy and troublesome.
“Then open the door quickly. Why make people wait? Team Leader Yoon Woo-bin?”
It was a sharp, high voice, but somehow gave an elegant feeling. Before Ha-seong could fully crane his neck, she strode inside.
Long black hair reaching her waist. A white, small face. She felt strangely familiar, as if he’d seen her somewhere before. It was when Ha-seong was examining her.
“What? Why is that bastard here?”
Han-bit pointed at Do-hyeok with a surprised face. But Do-hyeok still didn’t even make eye contact with her and stared at distant mountains.
“Hey, I’m talking to you! Why are you here?”
Han-bit strode toward Do-hyeok, who wouldn’t even meet her gaze. Though he’d only seen this person for less than 5 minutes, he could vaguely tell. She was the complete opposite of Do-hyeok. In other words, the type Cha Do-hyeok disliked.
“I came because I have business. Unlike someone who barged in out of nowhere.”
“That someone wouldn’t happen to be referring to me, would it?”
Han-bit pointed to herself with an incredulous expression and laughed. Her expressions changed moment by moment, making it feel like watching an actor rather than a hunter.
“Noona, I called Do-hyeok because I had guild matters to discuss.”
“Ah, forget it. Hey, Mr. Bastard.”
Han-bit strode toward Do-hyeok again. Though Han-bit was quite tall compared to the average woman, standing in front of Do-hyeok, that wasn’t really noticeable. But she didn’t care about such things and lifted her head to glare at Do-hyeok.
“When are you going to use honorifics with me? Huh? Making you say ‘noona’ like Woo-bin is my lifelong wish.”
“What to do. It looks like your lifelong wish will never come true in your lifetime.”
“This bastard…”
Perhaps heated up, Han-bit playfully grabbed Do-hyeok’s collar. By the way, Do-hyeok felt like he was constantly being criticized for the same thing by other hunters. Well, Ha-seong had never seen that bastard use honorifics with anyone either.
“Let go. If you don’t let go, I’ll burn all that hair.”
“Oh? I can’t let go, you bastard. Try burning it if you can. I’ll pick you up with my fingers and throw you out the window.”
It truly couldn’t be anything but a childish spectacle. Woo-bin on the side just nagged like a mother, saying that if that happened, his entire office would be blown away and asking if they knew how much money it would cost to fix, without making any particular restraint. He probably had the conviction that if he got involved in this situation, he’d get caught up in it too.
What was this? People who were old enough and skilled as hunters now looked like nothing but kindergarteners. And Ha-seong, the only normal person in that crowd, sighed deeply and approached Han-bit.
“Excuse me. You should probably let go of that first.”
No matter how much of a bastard Cha Do-hyeok was, grabbing his collar out of nowhere was a bit much. Perhaps some affection had developed, Ha-seong found that sight a little, just a little uncomfortable to watch. But Han-bit didn’t even pretend to listen to Ha-seong’s words. To be precise, it seemed like she couldn’t hear them. She probably regarded Ha-seong as passerby #1 or something.
Ugh, it’s not like I’m a kindergarten teacher breaking up kids’ fights. Ha-seong sighed deeply and firmly grabbed the hand of the amazon kindergartener who had grabbed the collar of the rude kindergartener.
And easily pried it off.
“……”
Then Han-bit stared at Ha-seong, who had pried off her hand, with slightly surprised eyes.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
