22. The Method of Unknown Absorbing Organizations (3)
Strange. His gaze right now is incredibly calm.
When I saw Lee Junwoo again, he looked like an ordinary, perfect student.
The gaze that had startled me hours ago.
It was as if that cool gaze had been a perfect illusion.
Hwang Yonggyun scanned the surroundings.
The area assigned to Blood Jaguar was in a state of relative calm.
The villains and monsters had been largely cleared out.
Which gave him a moment to think.
But I couldn’t have been mistaken.
Although his personality was strict, he was a formidable figure even in the underworld.
The promising successor that the boss of the underworld had cherished most.
After twenty years since the previous boss’s death, he had trained himself relentlessly to carry on that legacy.
And those who are strong recognize those who are strong.
Since he was an awakener who used mana, it was impossible to hide his power completely.
Madness. Ferocity. Chaos.
Those were the keywords Hwang Yonggyun read in Lee Junwoo’s eyes.
At that moment, he felt genuine fear.
Lee Junwoo was the boss’s subordinate.
So it was humiliating that he, a mere young cadet, had been frightened by him.
Yet Hwang Yonggyun remained composed.
After all, he was someone preparing revenge alongside Choi Hana, the former boss.
And ever since a few hours ago when he had been removing bombs, he had been keeping a close eye on Lee Junwoo.
‘He moved with a speed that didn’t suit a mere cadet at all.’
It was as if he knew exactly where every bomb was placed.
He had cleared the bombs faster than the organization members of the underworld, including himself.
‘That meant his instincts were exceptionally sharp.’
Since the bombs were planted by the villains, they weren’t simple fire-attribute ones.
There were various attributes.
And the methods specialized in assassination differed.
Yet Lee Junwoo had handled everything without the slightest hesitation.
In fact, some organization members had even needed his help.
‘Even after the gate opened in the plaza.’
Even in the current chaos that had begun after the gate opened, Lee Junwoo hadn’t shown any signs of panic.
Hwang Yonggyun evaluated him coldly.
‘He is no ordinary cadet. He is hiding something.’
There were plenty of madmen who consumed Chaotic potions in the underworld, and he had seen many of them.
But this was nothing like the madness of someone under the influence of a potion.
‘I can’t compare him to those pyramid-like figures. There is something beyond Lee Junwoo’s eyes.’
It was close to intuition, but it matched the gazes of the so-called underworld bosses and the top hunters in the hunter world.
‘Those who rule over others must possess madness.’
He had felt that pure madness clinging to his beliefs from Lee Junwoo.
But Hwang Yonggyun quickly shook his head.
***
Even now, Lee Junwoo’s gaze lingered in his mind.
Yet Hwang Yonggyun remained cold.
‘That doesn’t mean I should overestimate him too much. I’ll have to keep watching Lee Junwoo for now.’
Lee Junwoo was, after all, just a cadet at the academy.
He might have potential, but apart from that gaze earlier, he didn’t seem particularly strong as a hunter when facing monsters.
‘Of course, his swordsmanship was impeccably clean. But it lacked ferocity.’
Overestimating him too much would only hinder a cold, rational evaluation.
And more importantly than anything else, it was about the boss’s safety.
Whether Lee Junwoo was a friend or foe of the boss.
It was crucial to determine that first.
In that regard, he had investigated Lee Junwoo to a certain extent.
So even though the boss was associating with him, Hwang Yonggyun hadn’t taken any separate action.
‘The boss said he went on a date with Lee Junwoo on his day off.’
It seemed they weren’t just ordinary subordinates.
He had never heard the boss associate with a man before.
Moreover, the underworld’s specialty was information brokerage.
Using that experience, several of his subordinates had investigated Lee Junwoo’s reputation and his activities during his high school days.
The fact that he was an orphan was unusual, but there was no information linking him to any villain organization or underworld.
‘And he was active in the hero activity club. And he performed well in the recent academy training.’
Thinking coldly, it seemed he was walking the right path as a hunter rather than in the underworld.
Another surprising thing was that there was no prejudice against him in Blood Jaguar, even though he was an underworld organization.
Just coordinating with the organization members, including Jeong Noeul, was enough.
They could all be disguises, but for now, there was nothing bad to say about it.
‘To be honest, if he joins us, he would be an excellent resource.’
And the most important thing was how Lee Junwoo viewed the boss.
In that regard, Lee Junwoo had said he had been close with the boss since entering the academy.
‘And according to the female organization members, it seemed the boss had some motive for keeping him in his heart.’
Probably the motive was clearly Lee Junwoo.
It meant they had a certain level of affinity with each other.
To put it coldly, the current boss and Blood Jaguar were a low-level guild that even the villains of Crimson Teeth could ignore.
In other words, if Lee Junwoo was really a suspicious man, there was no need for the guild to go out of its way to help him.
Of course, Choi Hana was the daughter of a legendary boss.
But she had hidden that fact perfectly.
Even she herself had forgotten Choi Hana’s real name.
‘Helping our organization like this is just a waste of time.’
Instead, it would be better to cling to the children of the chaebol guilds, which would yield far more benefits.
Thinking about the conclusion, Lee Junwoo was accompanying the boss out of goodwill.
So Hwang Yonggyun thought even colder.
To achieve the boss’s revenge, he needed allies.
Considering the current scale of Blood Jaguar, he had to capture someone with potential like Lee Junwoo.
No matter what treatment he gave him, it would be better than the conditions offered by the chaebol scouts.
Of course, it was impossible with the current scale.
At the very least, the organization’s scale had to surpass that of the upper organization Mad Knife.
But if the boss had goodwill toward him, he wanted to capture him somehow.
‘If the boss truly sees Lee Junwoo as a man... I have to help him somehow...’
At that moment, the sound of organization members breathing heavily came out.
“Hah... hah...”
Rain was still pouring down.
The nearby organization members also looked quite exhausted.
‘To put it coldly, our guys... are at the level where they would get tired from this much fighting. There’s no other way.’
Still, since the assigned area had calmed down to some extent, everyone was taking a short breather.
Lee Junwoo was also seen sitting on a nearby sculpture for a moment to catch his breath.
‘He looks exhausted.’
He had moved without resting even for a moment.
Especially in this bad weather with rain falling.
It wasn’t strange that his stamina was running low.
‘Even if he has great potential, as an awakener...’
Kwakwakwakwak-bang-
But that was when it happened.
A loud explosion rang out.
“That one...?”
It was the area of the upper organization Mad Knife.
There, the holy relics of the Goddess Church were on display.
‘This! If something happens in Mad Knife’s area, it’s a problem.’
Mad Knife wasn’t a particularly likable organization, but it was convenient to use at an appropriate level.
‘They took our tribute money so dirtyly...’
But they were at the level where they could insert Blood Jaguar into the pure white festival.
So he had to help those guys.
That was the moment he was about to move.
“This place seems decent enough. We should quickly support the area over there.”
Lee Junwoo said to Choi Hana, the boss.
He had already thought he was exhausted, yet he was moving first.
And at that moment, Lee Junwoo and Hwang Yonggyun’s eyes met.
“Shall we move together?”
At those words, Hwang Yonggyun instinctively nodded his head.
***
Phase two was over.
Phase three was about to begin.
It was about the villains stealing the holy relics in Mad Knife’s area.
I was more tense than usual.
By now, swinging my sword had already consumed a considerable amount of stamina.
Underground side content originally had high difficulty.
And reality had raised the difficulty even higher.
‘Even with prior information, it’s quite tough.’
Choi Hana, who had evolved into a new weapon with a rifle, and I, who was helping the organization members ahead of time with prior information.
But only now had Blood Jaguar’s area been cleared.
It seemed there were no civilian victims.
So we could definitely score points.
But by reducing the damage that way, we had consumed a lot of stamina.
‘If I hadn’t raised my speed stat, it would have been impossible.’
But paradoxically, I was even more excited.
In the original work, the difference in rewards by difficulty was enormous.
To properly raise the character, I had to clear hard mode manually even if it meant swearing.
‘Now that the difficulty is higher, what will the reward be...’
Thinking about that, my motivation soared.
After all, I was a villain.
An Yumin near the saint was probably running around diligently to protect civilians.
But right now, I was faithful to my desires.
To rule over the top of the underworld.
For that, I had to grow even more.
And this place was a very good stage to obtain that reward.
‘A holy relic.’
In other words, a treasure of the Goddess Church.
There was one holy relic in Mad Knife’s area.
It was an item placed in the area guarded by an underworld organization.
It might have lower value than the holy relics in the central area, but unlike rare items, holy relics had something special.
‘It’s definitely a unique.’
I had seen it in President Yun Hyeona’s report from the Crime Research Club.
The holy relic placed in Mad Knife’s area was a holy chalice.
Just looking at its appearance, it was clearly something that would be judged as a mirror.
In the original work, I had to return that artifact to the association that hosted the festival.
But that wasn’t a problem for me.
‘Just once. I just need to make that holy chalice mine.’
Like the Barrier Pendant, once I owned it, even if I transferred it to someone else, the authority wouldn’t disappear.
So I had to perfectly complete the quest.
With the difficulty increased, I didn’t know what effect would be added to that unique holy relic.
Even in the original work, the maximum power of Blood Jaguar was Hwang Yonggyun.
Instead, he was an NPC that participated as a playable character.
It meant I had to place him appropriately.
‘That was the most difficult part.’
In the original work, the underworld side was played by Choi Hana.
So Hwang Yonggyun followed Choi Hana’s instructions perfectly.
But I couldn’t be sure he would follow my wishes completely.
Still, for the sake of Blood Jaguar’s reputation, I had to make those two act properly.
‘Blood Jaguar has to grow even more.’
Right after the first semester ended.
The Apostles of Valhalla and the major underworld organizations clashed.
The members of Aegis were also connected in the story.
In that episode, to gain the maximum benefit for Blood Jaguar, it couldn’t be a subordinate organization like this.
‘I also have to control Hwang Yonggyun.’
Right, I myself would directly.
Kwakwakwakwak-bang-
The signal rocket for phase three exploded.
I didn’t hesitate and said to Choi Hana.
“This place seems decent enough. We should quickly support the area over there.”
“I’ll do that!”
As expected, Choi Hana followed my words.
Since I had naturally melted into Blood Jaguar in the previous phases, she didn’t seem to doubt that my instructions were correct at all.
And I looked at Hwang Yonggyun who was nearby and said.
“Shall we move together?”
He was a strong man comparable to an A-rank hunter.
At the same time, a cold, rational man.
He would know what needed to be done immediately.
‘At least he wouldn’t oppose my opinion.’
And since Choi Hana was with me, Hwang Yonggyun had no choice but to move.
“I agree.”
He immediately nodded his head.
He quickly moved to Mad Knife’s area.
As expected, villains were gathered near the holy relic.
“I will protect the civilians!”
There were many strong villains near the holy relic.
So Hwang Yonggyun had to deal with those villains.
And Choi Hana was dealing with the monsters that appeared near the scattered civilians.
‘Good. Now’s the chance.’
Thanks to Hwang Yonggyun, the villains in this area would change their plans.
Originally they had planned to commit terrorism, but they would steal only the holy relic and flee hurriedly.
I knew all the escape routes.
‘That timing is...’
The sound of fierce fighting near the holy relic rang out.
Hwang Yonggyun had started fighting the villains.
“Be careful! This kid is Hwang Yonggyun! If we’re unlucky, we’ll get wiped out!”
The sound of the villains shouting Hwang Yonggyun’s name came out.
Blood Jaguar wasn’t anything special, but before joining the organization, his reputation had been considerable.
It seemed the villains had recognized him.
And about ten minutes passed.
Right now.
I moved while pretending to protect the civilians.
Then, I slipped out into the alley near the area.
Deep in that alley, after waiting for a moment, the figure of a villain entering came into view.
‘Wait, what’s that?’
The holy chalice he was hugging to his chest.
The appearance of that holy chalice was slightly different.
It wasn’t a metal one.
It was a mineral-shaped holy chalice that emitted a transparent, sacred light.
As I had expected, the level of the holy relic had risen.
‘Good.’
But the problem was that in the original work, the grade of the villain who stole the holy relic and fled was quite high.
It was B+ grade.
Confronting him alone would be difficult.
But I remained calm.
I followed the villain’s back deep into the alley.
‘Now!’
I hid behind an outdoor air conditioner unit nearby.
And used the skill without the villain noticing.
That skill summoned someone in front of the villain’s eyes.
“W-what? How did Hwang Yonggyun’s guy end up here?”
As expected, the villain was very startled.
I took advantage of that opening.