Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Initiation Rite (1)
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Thud, thud, whoosh—
The sound of rain filled the car waiting at the traffic light.
Choi Jinseung had a small habit of turning on the wipers and glancing in the rearview mirror.
And thanks to that habit, his eyes met Kim Gunja's.
"How's the job treating you?"
Kim Gunja asked, flicking an artifact ring into the air.
"Yes, thanks to your consideration, it's been quite comfortable."
"You're saying the strangest things. I don't recall going out of my way for you."
"......"
"Comfortable, huh. That's interesting. I'm feeling pretty uncomfortable myself. Does that mean you see being assigned to me as just part of the job? Nothing more?"
"...I'm trying not to let personal feelings get involved."
Kim Gunja stared at the rain streaking down the window as Choi Jinseung answered, then parted his lips.
"So that day was just 'work' for you too? No emotions involved at all. Is that really true?"
He was asking.
About the moment Choi Jinseung had smirked slyly while stamping the agreement with Gunja's friends.
About whether he had truly enjoyed wielding that power.
".........."
When Choi Jinseung didn't respond, Kim Gunja spoke instead.
"Hard to answer?"
"......"
"Or maybe you think of it like this: When it's work, you follow orders mechanically, without a second thought—a perfectly loyal machine of a man. Is that you, Mr. Choi Jinseung?"
Choi Jinseung let out a frustrated breath and slowly opened his mouth.
"...If I'm making you that uncomfortable, perhaps assign someone else..."
"Then that moment would be the day I leave the Hero Guild. Breach of contract. You know that, right? If that upsets the guild master, that's entirely on you to handle."
".........."
Handle White Flame's wrath?
Absurd.
As Choi Jinseung's expression hardened, Kim Gunja drove the nail in.
"Oh, is this blackmail? Yes, it is. Got a problem with that?"
The moment he heard Kim Gunja's words,
Choi Jinseung couldn't help recalling his own words from the past.
— Oh, blackmail? Yes, it is. Got a problem?
The words he'd mocked Gunja and his friends with in the hospital.
'Self-inflicted karma, huh...'
It was the moment Choi Jinseung realized he could never escape Kim Gunja's grasp.
To the tightly silent Choi Jinseung, Kim Gunja issued his verdict once more.
"You'll stay by my side."
Until the day he dragged Kang Inhyeok down.
And until he could sincerely apologize to his friends.
Staring into Choi Jinseung's eyes via the rearview mirror, Kim Gunja continued calmly.
"So think about how you're going to answer my question. Unless you want things to get even more uncomfortable. We're in this together—might as well enjoy it, right?"
"...Understood."
Kim Gunja watched Choi Jinseung's response for a moment before turning his gaze back to the window.
The rain was pouring harder now.
As if a massive typhoon was on the way.
Park Chunduk Academy Director's Office.
"Oh, you're here? How was your first hunt..."
Park Chunduk trailed off.
As Kim Gunja entered the office, a faint scent lingered—one that hadn't fully dissipated.
It was unmistakably the smell of blood.
Having been a hunter himself once, Park Chunduk knew well that a scent like that lingered only in unpleasant cases.
And that it wasn't a pleasant experience for a first hunt.
"...Good work."
"Yeah."
Kim Gunja gave a small smile in response to Park Chunduk's sincere encouragement.
"Why'd you come straight here? Didn't you say you were heading to the market?"
No matter how dominant the Hero Guild was as the top domestic group, they couldn't monopolize every gate. Likewise, the newly joined Kim Gunja couldn't claim all of their gates.
Thus, there were gaps between hunting schedules.
A typical hunter would rest a week after a hunt, but Kim Gunja found every day precious and planned to fill those gaps at the market.
"No contact yet, and I had something to check. Bro, where's my stuff?"
"Over there."
Park Chunduk pointed to the corner with his thumb.
A box of moderate size sat there.
Kim Gunja approached and rummaged through it immediately.
Park Chunduk tilted his head at the sight.
"What're you looking for?"
"A ring."
He'd sold off big items like TVs and fridges, leaving mostly clothes and accessories.
"Ring?"
"Ah, here it is."
While digging through a small box of accessories, Kim Gunja picked up the ring the sparrow had brought him.
"What's that? You never had a girlfriend."
Park Chunduk quietly stabbed him in the heart.
"...Hits hard when it comes out of nowhere like that."
Kim Gunja chuckled, then pulled out the ring from this hunt in front of the laughing Park Chunduk.
Park Chunduk recognized it instantly.
"Whoa? An artifact on your first hunt? Damn, newbie, how'd you snag that?"
"I'm pretty great."
"Sure you are. Hasn't been appraised yet, huh? The color's faded."
"Yeah."
Artifacts had no abilities until appraised.
Only then did their sealed powers unlock, and only Awakeners could perform the appraisal.
Specifically, those with mana levels equal to or higher than the artifact's grade.
Park Chunduk looked at Kim Gunja with eager eyes.
Kim Gunja nodded and slowly infused mana into the new ring.
It didn't require much mana.
Just enough to verify the Awakener's mana level.
And then,
Whoosh—
Blue smoke billowed from the ring in response to the mana.
The ring, enveloped in smoke, gradually regained its true color from the faded hue.
Ding!
An alert window popped up, signaling the appraisal's completion.
"Oh."
It came with conditions, but for someone whose mana consumption varied by situation, it wasn't a bad effect.
"What is it?"
Kim Gunja handed the Ring of Immobility to the curious Park Chunduk.
Park Chunduk's eyes widened as he took it.
"Ra-Rare? That's B-grade, right? A B-grade artifact from a C-grade gate?"
Myth, Legend, Hero, Rare, Superior.
Artifacts were classified into five grades.
For convenience, they were labeled SS to C, and it was common knowledge that gates didn't drop artifacts higher than their own grade.
Yet a B-grade from a C-grade gate—that's why Park Chunduk was shocked.
"Even for a low-rank gate, this is..."
"It was an Elite Gate."
"What?!"
That made sense.
But it was shocking in its own way.
"Your first hunt was an Elite Gate? My god..."
It was infamous that Elite Gates had dramatically lower clear rates than normal ones.
Of course, that hardship had yielded a B-grade artifact, so
'Should I congratulate him on his luck or console him on the bad draw...'
Park Chunduk pressed his temples, unsure what to say.
But Kim Gunja remained utterly nonchalant.
Seeing that expression, Park Chunduk shook his head.
He could no longer gauge just how massive this guy's guts had grown.
Park Chunduk's gaze shifted to the other ring.
"So why were you looking for that one? Don't tell me it's an artifact too? Doesn't look like it..."
It was a plain silver ring, faded with no special features.
"Who knows..."
Even Kim Gunja wasn't sure.
He just wanted to test a suspicion sparked by what the Monjiro had said.
After a brief ponder, Kim Gunja spoke up.
"Bro."
"Yeah?"
"What do you think of my Unique Trait?"
"What do I think? It's broken as hell. Makes my stomach hurt."
"...Isn't that a bit too casual?"
"What then? King of kings, awesome, solid? You called me a boomer who doesn't know trends, and now this..."
Park Chunduk subtly threw back the teasing Kim Gunja had dished out before.
Kim Gunja smirked and replied.
"The phrasing's off, but yeah, I think the same. It's ridiculous. But that got me wondering. Have you ever heard of any similar Unique Traits?"
He was asking if he knew of anything like it.
Park Chunduk scratched his chin, thinking it over, then shook his head.
"Nope. Not even a speck."
He seemed utterly certain.
And Kim Gunja agreed.
"Right? What about artifacts that change or create Unique Traits?"
"What? That's even more absurd."
"Even Myth-grade?"
"...No idea. Myth-grade artifacts might not even exist for real—it's all rumors. But even if they did, I doubt it'd be possible."
An artifact meddling with Unique Traits? Park Chunduk looked skeptical.
"Yeah... probably not."
Pondering briefly at Park Chunduk's words,
Kim Gunja began infusing mana into the silver ring.
It was the surest way to check.
Vmmm—
It glowed faintly blue and vibrated slightly from the mana, but no alert or phenomenon appeared.
If it were a real artifact, there'd at least be a message about insufficient level.
'As expected... not?'
Park Chunduk eyed Kim Gunja curiously.
"What're you doing? Who said it's a Myth-grade artifact?"
Kim Gunja scratched his head at the teasing remark.
"Nah, just testing. You know, just in case."
Judging from the Monjiro's attitude, info on the Master Ring wasn't worth knowing, so he kept it brief.
"Lame."
Kim Gunja slid the Ring of Immobility onto his left middle finger—it resized perfectly.
He hesitated over the silver ring,
"......"
Then slipped it onto his ring finger, like that day.
To never forget that nightmare of a day.
And to never grow weak.
Just as he wore the two rings side by side on his left hand,
Bzzz—
His phone buzzed.
It was Hong Sua.
After a quick greeting, they discussed the market.
Ending with thanks, he hung up. Park Chunduk asked,
"Hong Sua? What'd she say?"
"She'll email a recommendation list of gates she handpicked from the latest market listings."
Park Chunduk looked baffled.
"Couldn't you just have Choi Jinseung do that?"
"Yeah."
There might be slight differences, but nothing major.
"So you asked some near-stranger instead? Why? And what's in it for her?"
Park Chunduk couldn't fathom either side's reasoning.
Kim Gunja grinned.
"My grandpa once told me something."
"What?"
"The best way to build rapport is a 'light favor.'"
"Huh...?"
To the puzzled Park Chunduk, Kim Gunja showed his phone.
There was the data from Hong Sua, plus a short note below.
— Glad it helped. Contact me anytime if you need anything else. Dinner works too.
Perhaps because it created a subtle sense of debt on her end.
Hong Sua, the one who'd granted the favor, was showing goodwill toward Kim Gunja.
Unable to grasp this interplay of favors in their world of deals, Park Chunduk stared blankly.
Kim Gunja just smiled at him.
Hero Guild Large Training Room.
Bam! Bam!
Defenders clashed shields fiercely.
Clang! Clang!
Strikers wielding swords and spears targeted vitals in between.
Watching them was a man with a large X-shaped scar on his face, bellowing,
"Hwang Daeyoung! Your guard's low!"
"Yes sir!"
The defender Hwang Daeyoung corrected his stance at the man's callout.
"Bae Hyungseok! You gonna attack with your lower body exposed?!"
"I'll fix it!"
Likewise, striker Bae Hyungseok sharpened his assault in response.
As the scarred man, A-rank hunter Gil Jiho, oversaw his team's coordination,
A lean man approached.
"Hey, he just left."
"...Yeah?"
"Yeah. Finished the hunt and bounced right away."
"Busy newbie."
"Arrogant one too."
"Not gonna bother."
"You might not care, but the other guild members do. He cherry-picks the good stuff and doesn't even say hi."
"Orders from above—no choice."
"That's why we're not touching his schedule. But we gotta establish some discipline before diving into gates together, right? Guild master won't meddle in that."
He meant giving the newbie a proper hazing.
"Not really feeling it."
"Why? Scared of a re-Awakener from some noble family?"
Gil Jiho's lips curled into a long smirk.
"You're hilarious. An A-rank fearing a fresh B-grade punk? That'd make him less hunter, more giant coward. Just too lazy to stir trouble."
"We'll handle it. You can just watch if it's a hassle."
Gil Jiho paused, then spat,
"Do what you want."
"Got it. Then at the briefing the day after tomorrow—a grand initiation rite for our hotshot newbie?"
"Sure."
As the man whistled away, Gil Jiho refocused on training.
Hoping the new recruit had some spine.