Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: A Splendid Debut (3)
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A cafe in Gangnam.
A woman in a miniskirt that fully revealed her long, shapely legs was crossing them while dangling her high heel.
Blissfully unaware of the men around her stealing glances.
Such was the woman from Infinite Guild, Hong Sua. A man approached her.
"Team leader. Here's the data on the market you requested."
"Oh... right. Thanks."
Im Taehyeon, the deputy team leader of the scouting team, handed the documents to Hong Sua.
Then, holding his iced coffee, he smoothly took a seat diagonally across from her.
Blocking the line of sight from the other men.
"But why the sudden interest in market data?"
"Yeah, exactly. Why do I even need this?"
"...Pardon?"
Hong Sua's face grew foggy again as she turned the question back on herself.
It was the expression she wore when deep in thought.
Seeing it brought a small smile to Im Taehyeon's lips.
A brief moment passed, and Hong Sua's lips parted.
"Something feels off."
"What does?"
"The market's usually where hunters who couldn't land a spot in a proper guild end up."
"Well, yeah. If you're just trying to make ends meet, you can't be picky about cold rice or hot."
The market.
It was slang for the marketplace where deals were made for gates that didn't promise big payouts.
Excluding disaster-class gates, the mid-to-large guilds put off hunting low-efficiency gates, leaving them to the association run by the state.
But even the association offloaded gates that were low-risk or low-priority to the hunter market, where independents or small guilds took them on.
In short, the market was the very bottom rung of gate subcontracting.
"Right. So why would someone who joined Hero Guild need the market?"
"Hero Guild? Wait, don't tell me... Did that Kim Gunja guy you put so much effort into finally reach out?"
"Yeah."
Im Taehyeon looked utterly baffled at Hong Sua's response.
No way... It actually worked?
"What's with that 'no way' face?"
Im Taehyeon flinched at Hong Sua's icy retort and quickly flashed double thumbs-up.
"Haha... What are you talking about? I've always said you're the top scout in the country! Snagging Diamond Han Juyeong and Berserker Cha Gangju wasn't enough—you even stole a hunter White Flame had his eye on! Awesome! I knew it'd work from the start! Don't forget I scouted those actors we sent in, okay?"
Hong Sua chuckled at Im Taehyeon's shameless pivot.
The guy was S-rank at flattery, as always.
"Fine. They were pretty good. Like wooden puppets."
"Right? If you hadn't approved, but I do have an eye for talent! Anyway... Why would someone already in Hero Guild contact you?"
Sweat beading on his brow, Im Taehyeon swiftly changed the subject.
"Beats me..."
Hong Sua recalled her conversation with Kim Gunja.
—I've heard you're someone who always puts hunters' rights first, no matter the situation.
'Flattering nonsense...'
She'd used that marketing ploy herself, but hearing it directly was embarrassing.
The call itself had been straightforward.
Kim Gunja wanted to build a connection with her for the future and, if possible, buy and hunt a gate from a market she recommended. A favor, not quite a favor.
That was when Hong Sua got a strong hunch.
That Kim Gunja didn't think much of Hero Guild.
'Then why join them? Personal reasons? How does he plan to get out? White Flame doesn't let go of what he grabs.'
Her spiraling thoughts were cut short by Im Taehyeon's question.
"He's not joining our guild, so why bother with the favor?"
Why go out of your way for another guild's hunter?
It was a request she could easily ignore.
"True. But..."
"...?"
"I have this strong feeling he's someone we can't let slip away. It's not a big deal anyway. Sorry for saying this when I should be the most objective one here."
Normally, he'd gripe about wasting manpower on a hunch, but Im Taehyeon nodded right away.
"Then we should go for it. Good call."
"...You're agreeing too easily."
"It's been ten years. Ten. Since you were my mentor. And in my memory, your instincts have never been wrong. So this time too, right?"
Hong Sua averted her eyes from Im Taehyeon's gaze of utter trust, feeling awkward.
"You're too good at this flattery stuff."
Then she stood up.
"I'll go wrap up the contract with Cha Gangju. Send the team home when it's time."
"Yes, ma'am."
Im Taehyeon called out as Hong Sua rose.
"Yeah?"
"Here."
He handed her a small shopping bag containing a tiny potted cactus and a single rose.
"What's this?"
"You forgot it's your birthday today?"
"Oh? Right... I'm not a kid. You don't need to bother."
"If no one bothers, you'll end up sulking big time."
"Pfft, you even know that. Thanks. You're the only subordinate who looks out for me."
Her mood lifted, Hong Sua took the gift and patted Im Taehyeon's shoulder.
"I'm off. You head home at a reasonable time too."
"Got it."
Im Taehyeon watched Hong Sua leave the cafe, letting out a soft sigh.
"What's the point of good instincts..."
If they didn't work at all on other fronts.
With a wry smile, he stood to pay and get back to work.
"Can I get this in a to-go cup?"
He was Infinite Guild too, after all.
Thrifty in every way.
With the necromancer dead, the summoned undead crumbled back to dust.
Kim Gunja's gaze turned to the necromancer's remains.
There swirled not ordinary mana, but a sticky, tar-like mana.
Black mana.
Kim Gunja's left foot stepped toward the remains.
One way to increase black mana.
Defeating special monsters and absorbing it from their corpses.
Even as an elite boss, the amount was minuscule, so absorption was quick.
That alone spoke to how rare black mana was, and Kim Gunja was satisfied.
'Nearly doubled.'
His starting amount had been rock bottom, so this was a boon.
Shadow Walker, limited to twice a day before, could now be used four times.
'Elite gate gave an unexpected harvest.'
Not bad.
As Kim Gunja turned with a smile,
"Hahaha! Nice one!"
"Kim Gunja! That was incredible!"
"Private? More like private first star!"
The team members rushed over, beaming.
He was about to brush it off when a window popped up before his eyes.
Ding!
[Slayer Appears!]
📍 Difficulty: C
⏰ Objective: Crush the Slayer!
🎁 Success: 500 Points
⏰ Failure: Master's pudgy nose... but you might die first?
'...Emergency quest?'
The doubt was fleeting.
Kim Gunja's face twisted as he bellowed,
"Get down—!"
Behind the rushing team members.
Choi Jiyeon stood with mana guns in both hands, aiming at them.
Boom—brrrboom!
As the mana guns spat bullets,
Yoo Gahye, right in front of the muzzle, couldn't react.
Splat! Crunch!
Her head exploded, heart pierced; her body tumbled across the ground.
Bae Yongdu, reacting late, took fatal wounds to shoulder and gut, collapsing.
Only Jang Mangil, farthest away, rolled aside to dodge.
Springing up, his face twisted in demonic rage.
"Choi Jiyeon! Have you lost your—!"
His erupting shout halted.
Purple veins spiderwebbed around Choi Jiyeon's eyes.
"Mana rampage?!"
Forced rampage—not accidental—could massively amplify power in that instant.
But it always ended in death, so unless desperate, no one did it.
Unless they were system zealots, hunter-hunting cultists.
"Slayer—!"
Ignoring Jang Mangil's cry, Choi Jiyeon glared murderously at Kim Gunja.
Yeongjongdo dungeonization.
That was the oracle granted to Slayer Choi Jiyeon.
Dungeonization only happened on failed elite gate clears, requiring long suffering.
And finally.
The moment she entered, instinct told her.
This was an elite gate!
Chosen as system's apostle was infinite blessing for Choi Jiyeon.
That's why.
She'd covered the underwater door device in mud.
Sowed discord to split the group.
Sabotaged belts on purpose.
She wanted these system-defying hunters to taste despair and helplessness before assimilating with the gate.
But one ruined it all.
Aaaah, aaaaaah!
Such blasphemy!
How to atone for this sacrilege!
...Atonement.
By dragging these heretics along as companions!
Boom, brrrboom!
Devoured by rampaging mana, Choi Jiyeon closed in, firing wildly.
Her innate trait [Rapid Fire] plus rampage turned the barrage into an artillery strike.
Kaboom! Kaaaaboom!
Kim Gunja leaped repeatedly, but escaping the mana bullets and blasts fully was impossible.
'This is bad...'
Minimizing flying debris, he thought so.
80%.
Mana used to fell the necromancer.
To drop rampaging Choi Jiyeon, he'd need to close in for a one-shot kill.
But the mana stone lantern on the opposite side fixed shadows oppositely.
No approach path.
'...Take the hit.'
As he resolved to dive into the barrage,
Jang Mangil charged Choi Jiyeon, mana flooding his shield.
"Choi Jiiiyeooon!"
"Hmph!"
Choi Jiyeon sidestepped leisurely, firing mana bullets.
Jang Mangil endured the volley bullheadedly but finally vomited blood and flew back.
Grab!
"Wh-what?!"
Bae Yongdu, purple veins bulging around his eyes like hers.
Jang Mangil had read his dying gaze and lured her over while downed.
Sacrificing himself.
Bae Yongdu hugged Choi Jiyeon from behind and roared at Kim Gunja.
"Throw it!"
It was a famous video.
Kim Gunja's hunter exam feat.
So he understood.
But it meant killing Bae Yongdu himself, so he hesitated.
"Grr! Can't... hold...!"
Crunch—
His shoulder wound gave way to her rampage-fueled strength; arms spreading slowly.
"Throoow it! You bastard!"
Bae Yongdu's blood-choked scream,
'Damn it!'
Biting his lip, Kim Gunja's right arm slowly drew back over his shoulder.
And,
Thwump—!
The mana-charged sword pierced the air, instantly skewering both.
Splurch—!
"...No... way... this..."
Chest holed, Choi Jiyeon pitched forward.
Bae Yongdu's hazy gaze, chest similarly pierced, fixed on Kim Gunja.
His trembling lips moved.
"Heh... Debt... paid. Junior... bro."
Jang Mangil caught the falling Bae Yongdu.
Kim Gunja rushed too, but his breath was gone.
Kim Gunja's shaking hand gently closed Bae Yongdu's staring eyes.
"......"
Jang Mangil patted his shoulder.
"Gut shot was fatal from the start. He wasn't lasting."
Kim Gunja nodded silently.
'Slayer...'
A hunt thought over brought a death.
From one Slayer.
Where did that incomprehensible madness come from?
"...Hoo."
His first comrade's death.
As Kim Gunja exhaled deeply, a cheerful alert rang.
As if mocking him.
Ding!
Thus ended Kim Gunja's first hunt.
The gate shuddered violently beneath the reptile's now-green eyes.
"They're out!"
With the soldier's shout, the gate spewed something out like foreign matter, to both sides.
Kim Gunja and Jang Mangil emerged with grim faces, followed by three corpses reeking of blood.
"Casualties!"
Soldiers rushed to recover the bodies.
Beside them fell a heap of mana stones and a ring-like artifact.
"Whoa!"
"That's a ton of mana stones!"
"Handle with care!"
Guild managers and accountants began sorting the mana stones by grade.
Waiting Choi Jinseung joined them.
"Choi Jiyeon was a Slayer?!"
The association official gaped.
"Yes."
Jang Mangil explained the gate events while getting treated.
Kim Gunja answered questions briefly.
"Whew, first hunt and you get an elite gate plus a Slayer. Quite the splendid debut. Good work."
Splendid, huh.
Kim Gunja smiled bitterly.
Three dead, but to the seasoned official, it wasn't a big deal.
Jang Mangil showed no great emotion either.
'A world hunters are used to...'
Death was closer than thought.
Witnessing the brutality hidden in splendor, Kim Gunja steeled himself.
Once checks were done, the official nodded.
"All confirmed. Anything else unusual?"
Glancing at Kim Gunja, Jang Mangil replied firmly,
"No, that's everything."
As if declaring he wasn't scum enough to sell out the comrade who'd saved him thrice.
He handed artifact ownership to Kim Gunja too.
"You sure I should take it?"
"Who else?"
"...Then gratefully."
Kim Gunja accepted.
After parting with Jang Mangil and boarding with the ring,
It was pure coincidence.
While inspecting the artifact ring, he recalled what Mongjiro said.
'Master Ring. What kind of ring... ring...?'
And remembered the sparrow-delivered ring he'd forgotten.
'No way... Wait. Unlikely. But...'
Impossible, but he had to check.
"...Choi Jinseung."
"Yes."
"Where are my disposed items and remaining belongings now?"
"As you said, at Park Chunduk Academy director's office."
"Go there. Fast as possible."
"Understood."
Vroooom!
Choi Jinseung floored it, the sedan engine roaring.