Chapter 29
Episode 4: Fate Rides the Wind (4)
Tick-tock, tick-tock.
Only the meaningless ticking of the clock’s second hand echoed rhythmically in the meeting room at the main office of the Hunter Association
The surroundings were silent.
Despite five adults sitting at the table.
The first to break the silence was the man sitting in the middle of the three men, SS-rank Hunter Kang Cheol-man.
“There’s a lot of people outside. Congratulations, Hunter Han Sang-woo, mercenary of the Ice Fortress. You’ve become quite famous.”
“I don’t know if it’s something to be congratulated for. It just feels awkward.”
I replied with a blank face to his words, accompanied by a faint laugh.
I couldn’t tell if he was trying to lighten the mood or if he was genuinely speaking, but personally, this situation was not pleasing at all.
On the other hand, Kang Cheol-man responded with a continuous smile on his face as if he found something amusing.
“Now that you’re famous, you should get used to it. Hunters, especially those more outstanding than others, receive immense public attention wherever they go. Personal information also becomes public property, spreading everywhere. Just like those outside knowing your name, Hunter Han Sang-woo.”
Although it might sound like a kind explanation, from my perspective, it was somewhat pretentious.
The situation escalated because the Ashin Guild made the incident public and their informants trailed me, leading to them being caught by another guild.
‘I never thought the rumors of him being self-centered and shameless would be true.’
There are opinions about Kang Cheol-man being straightforward and hearty, but on the contrary, there are also talks about him being self-centered and shameless.
Such evaluations can vary based on perspective, but to me, Kang Cheol-man left a strong negative impression.
Even though the incident at the Ice Fortress was caused by Luminous’s actions, they belonged to the Ashin Guild, and Kang Cheol-man is the guild master of the Ashin Guild.
He’s also someone I have to surpass in Haier.
And this mindset of mine was clearly reflected in my attitude towards Kang Cheol-man.
I crossed my arms, leaning my body against the backrest of the chair as I participated in the remaining conversation.
“I’ve listened to your advice. So, what’s the reason you sought me out?”
“What? Didn’t you personally ask to meet…!”
The two secretaries sitting next to Kang Cheol-man were startled by my posture and attitude.
One was at a loss for words, while the other protested in a tone of disbelief.
Shin Dae-hoon, who was sitting next to me under the pretense of assisting, also whispered “Hunter?” expressing his concern, but I didn’t change my posture.
What would Kang Cheol-man’s reaction be?
Tick-tock, tick-tock-
As the sound of the clock’s second hand resumed, I silently observed Kang Cheol-man.
Then.
Creeeak…
Kang Cheol-man stood up and bowed to me.
Not just a simple nod, but a full 90-degree bow.
“……!”
The secretaries were wide-eyed in shock, and Shin Dae-hoon’s mouth fell open.
The only ones who remained unperturbed were Kang Cheol-man and I.
“I’m here to apologize. It was our oversight that we failed to detect Luminous within our guild. Naturally, the resulting damage is also our responsibility. As the guild master of the Ashin Guild, I formally apologize. And thank you for subduing Luminous and saving the hunters.”
“G-guild master, that’s too much…”
The secretaries, in an awkward stance, tried to stop Kang Cheol-man, but it was futile.
“I’ve also brought a list of compensations. For the others, we’ve decided to cover hospital bills, compensate for losses incurred during hospitalization, and provide additional settlement money. Since Hunter Han Sang-woo wasn’t hospitalized, I thought it would be best to offer something else as compensation. I’ve brought guidelines to avoid confusion.”
As Kang Cheol-man finished speaking, the secretaries pulled out document files from their bags and handed them to me and Shin Dae-hoon.
“We will review these briefly.”
Shin Dae-hoon flipped through the documents handed to him by the secretaries and then shared his analysis with me.
“The base compensation is 1 billion won. Additionally, there are separate payments for operational losses, settlement money, and so on. Alternatives are possible, but this is quite a substantial compensation compared to the typical cases involving hunter incidents. These are good terms.”
“Hm… I see. What are the alternatives to money?”
“Items.”
Looking at the documents Shin Dae-hoon showed me, several items owned by the Ashin Guild were listed.
From rare to legendary grades.
These were certainly valuable as compensation.
However.
I remained silent.
“Is there nothing that interests you?”
“Can the money or items be substituted for something else?”
“Something else…?”
“An unresolved dungeon bid right.”
Not only did the Ashin Guild staff look puzzled, but so did Shin Dae-hoon. They seemed quite surprised by my sudden proposal, but Kang Cheol-man took it in stride.
“An unresolved dungeon, you say. What rank?”
“The rank doesn’t matter. As long as it’s a B-rank or lower unresolved dungeon, even F-rank is fine.”
“G-guild master, may I have a word? Just for a moment…”
The secretaries hurriedly stood up and whispered in Kang Cheol-man’s ear.
“If it’s a low-rank dungeon, our guild actually benefits. F-rank unresolved dungeon bid rights don’t even go for 300 million won.”
I can hear you, you know.
In financial terms, as they said, entering an unresolved dungeon might be a loss compared to choosing the compensation.
No matter how unresolved the dungeon is, if the rank is low, the drop items won’t be of high value.
But what mattered to me now was clearing an achievement that could bring greater rewards than money or items.
Money could always be earned, but an unresolved dungeon had to be monitored until a new one appeared, and bids had to be conducted, which was quite troublesome.
Fortunately, Kang Cheol-man nodded.
However.
“Alright. I accept your proposal, but…”
There was a bit of a troublesome condition.
“Let’s go together, to the unresolved dungeon.”
“Is this… the profile of the guy who took down Lee Gyu-jin and Kang Doo-sik?”
“Yes, branch manager. We secretly obtained it through an informant planted in the Hunter Association .”
A grand mansion in Seongbuk-dong.
The branch manager of Luminous frowned as he looked at the documents handed to him by his secretary.
Name: Han Sang-woo, age: 30, hunter rank: B-rank.
Stats are about C-rank level, but possesses skills of an A-rank hunter.
A notable detail is that he was classified as F-rank not long ago but was upgraded to B-rank in a recent re-evaluation.
If a typical guild master saw this, they’d be intrigued and consider recruiting him.
“Is this all?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Nothing special. Handle it as you see fit.”
“Understood, branch manager.”
The Korean branch manager of Luminous put the documents down on the table and stood up.
He had expected a higher rank since Han Sang-woo took down B-rank hunter Lee Gyu-jin, but the profile didn’t meet his expectations.
The first operations team leader and the first support team leader, who were also seated at the table, felt the same disappointment.
“Ugh, boring. This won’t be fun.”
“I thought some extraordinary genius had appeared.”
They skimmed through the profile with uninterested expressions.
The secretary admonished them.
“Don’t forget that the mission’s goal is to retrieve the key fragment, not entertainment.”
“Heh, that’s a given.”
The operations team leader responded with a laugh. The support team leader didn’t seem tense at all.
“Operations team leader, how should we handle this? Kidnapping, assassination, breaking into his residence, posing as a companion and then betraying him… There are many methods. You choose, and I’ll support you.”
“What’s the best option? The least noisy way would be to take him out in a dungeon, but he might be on guard after what happened with Lee Gyu-jin… According to the dungeon entry records, he prefers to go solo. That’s unusual. He’s rarely teamed up with anyone.”
The operations team leader, with a greatsword strapped to his back, briefed everyone on Han Sang-woo’s characteristics in a gruff voice.
It was definitely unusual.
Usually, as the dungeon rank increases, the number of variables also increases, leading more hunters to form parties. However, Han Sang-woo had been hunting solo almost all the time from his F-rank days up until now.
It was a bit suspicious, but the secretary and the support team leader didn’t take it too seriously.
“It’s rare, but not entirely unheard of.”
“Right. Sometimes, hunters from wealthy families are decked out in tons of items and prefer to hunt alone to hog all the experience points.”
“But those solo hunters are usually much stronger than average hunters. Do you think we can easily snatch the key fragment from him?”
The operations team leader raised the question again.
It was surprising prudence for someone of his massive build, to which the secretary responded with a laugh.
“You all are stronger than the two who failed the mission earlier, aren’t you? Plus, you can bring subordinates, making it much easier.”
“The secretary is right. Lee Gyu-jin and Kang Doo-sik were at best B-rank and C-rank, but we’re A-rank, and we have our team members too. The difference in both quantity and quality is worlds apart.”
“Wait, you’re not including me in that ‘we’, right?”
“Haha, of course, secretary! There’s no questioning your skills, especially since you’re favored by the branch manager!”
The rank of the branch manager’s secretary was S-rank.
Although she had retired from frontline duties, her skills were beyond doubt.
There’s a saying that if a conversation goes on too long, it veers off course.
Seeing the two women chatting, the operations team leader scratched the back of his head and brought the topic back to the main point.
“Alright, then let’s raid his house immediately. He seems to live alone, so if we take him out while he’s asleep, it’ll be a quick resolution!”
Boom!
The operations team leader slammed his greatsword into the floor and stood up.
However, he didn’t get the reaction he was hoping for from the secretary and the support team leader.
“Oh no… that’s a very high-risk operation. If we mess up, troublesome guys like Divine Shield might catch the scent.”
“Exactly. As the secretary said, handling this openly is dangerous. Security must be tight because of Lee Gyu-jin and Kang Doo-sik, and there might be others watching.”
“Then what do we do?”
The operations team leader grumbled, furrowing his brow at their objections.
Then.
“He frequents dungeons in the outskirts. So, how about we tail him first, then…”
The support team leader looked at Han Sang-woo’s photo attached to the profile and grinned.
“Let’s throw him a surprise party.”
