I Have No Idea How Great an EX-Rank Ability User Is (3)
Who could it be?
It wasn't a delivery, at least. I hadn't ordered anything yet. Black-market people? No. There was no door-to-door purchase service either.
Just in case, I held my breath and peered through the peephole.
A woman in a black semi-formal suit. A beauty, standing there facing the door with a smile on her face.
She looked vaguely familiar… or did she?
Either way, it was the kind of smile that made any man feel pure innocence just by looking at it—the kind that seemed ready to melt every last bit of tension away.
But I knew better. That kind of smile was sweet poison. Approach with a face like that, loosen the other person's guard, then extract whatever information you wanted.
"Excuse me. Is this Kang Geonwoo's residence? I'm from the Hunter Association."
A soft, clear voice full of warmth. Calling it a siren's voice wouldn't have been an overstatement.
They might already know I was home. If I pretended not to be here and refused to open the door, I'd only look more suspicious. I didn't particularly want to get close to them, but I didn't want to make enemies of them either.
Play dumb for now. That seems like the best move.
Until I fully understood their intentions, I had to keep my own cards close to my chest. After weighing several options, I carefully opened the door.
"Hello~ Sorry for dropping by out of the blue like this."
She bowed with a smile tailor-made for customer service.
"Kang Geonwoo, correct? The Hunter Association has something rather important to discuss with you."
She pulled an ID from her jacket first. Hunter Association identification—the kind that would get you arrested on the spot and locked up for decades at minimum if forged. She might only be staff rather than a hunter, but that alone placed her firmly among society's upper ranks.
"If it wouldn't be an imposition, could we speak privately?"
Still wearing that likable smile that would win over any man, she tucked the ID away. Then she held out an antique paper bag she had briefly set on the floor.
She had come with every outward show of courtesy, but there was no telling what she might say. Still, even if I denied everything, a meeting like this was bound to happen someday. Feigning surprise, I invited her inside.
"Pardon the intrusion."
She followed me in and closed the door behind her. Her black semi-formal suit almost certainly had a mic and camera sewn into it. Even if it didn't, some special ability user was probably using a communication skill.
I roughly set places at the dining table and sat across from her.
"Youngest son of the guild master of Cheonwoo Guild. Kang Geonwoo. Please forgive me for coming unannounced like this."
She bowed her head in apology once more.
"But these days… you know, right? The world is in an uproar over the appearance of an EX-rank ability user. For better or worse, it's a huge relief that they appeared in our country."
"Yeah, it is."
I gave her a half-hearted agreement while focusing every ounce of my attention on reading her intentions.
"Isn't it incredible? Being EX-rank and all, they've been clearing troublesome dungeons one after another!"
"EX-rank Ultimate Creator? Creating S-rank and A-rank creations… the balance of power is going to shift completely!"
"Going forward, the Hunter Association intends to move toward cooperating with the EX-rank ability user."
She launched straight into praise of the EX-rank ability user. No—worship was closer to the truth. That only made my thoughts more complicated. I couldn't tell whether she was doing this knowing I was the EX-rank ability user or not.
"So I'm curious why you came looking for me. I have nothing to do with Cheonwoo Group or Cheonwoo Guild anymore. I was disowned, after all."
The woman who had been speaking of the EX-rank ability user's exploits with sparkling eyes and high expectations suddenly looked flustered and gave an awkward smile.
"Haha… these days it's a huge topic among people who can see the Hunter Gallery or status windows, you know?"
She smiled brightly and leaned toward me.
"Do you know anything about the EX-rank ability user?"
"No? I just pick up bits and pieces while browsing the Hunter Gallery. Well… I do know they told everyone not to bother them."
I had to look like an ordinary person. Ordinary people didn't have status windows. I thoroughly played the civilian and answered her flatly.
She asked a few more questions, then nodded.
"Anyway, thanks to the EX-rank ability user, our country might become the first safe zone free of dungeons. So we have to do our absolute best!"
The praise for the EX-rank ability user ended there. As she spoke, she brought up a translucent window in the air.
"Right now the Hunter Association is on fire after seeing the EX-rank ability user's exploits! We're recruiting heavily because of it."
Her proposal was for a mid-level executive position at the Hunter Association.
"As I understand it, Kang Geonwoo, you did an excellent job managing one of Cheonwoo Guild's key branch guilds, correct?"
She had researched thoroughly—countless documents floated up in the air.
"While you were guild master: top-tier guild satisfaction, top-tier guild trust, top-tier guild organization, and even the civilian stability around the guild? Top-tier!"
She let out an impressed "Waaah!" and clapped her hands.
"In a chaotic, terrifying world like this, someone who can give people hope the way you can, Kang Geonwoo? People like that are truly rare."
Come to think of it, I had never heard recognition like that from my father, my brothers, or my sisters. The irony that the Hunter Association was the one acknowledging my abilities was almost funny.
"The Hunter Association highly values those abilities of yours! We would like to invite you as team leader of the department that manages hunters and handles their welfare!"
The Hunter Association was a global organization. Regardless of country, it received treatment on the level of a major corporation or large guild wherever it went. If I really were an ordinary person with no EX-rank ability, this would be an incredible offer. At the same time, it would be a chance to prove to those people I called father and sister that I hadn't been wrong.
If she knows I'm the EX-rank ability user and is still doing this? Then she's a master of psychological warfare.
If I refused here, she would probably push harder. Keep me close, put me to work, and watch the suspect from the side—that might be the real goal.
Or am I overthinking it? No. For the Hunter Association, this would be more than enough.
Either way, I had to answer her proposal.
"Mm… I'm sorry, but I don't want to do anything related to hunters anymore. I just want to rest."
I put on an uncertain face mixed with pure indifference and apologized politely.
"Thank you for thinking so highly of me. But no matter how I look at it, I just want to rest. I want to live an ordinary life."
Her expression didn't change at my refusal. That same unwavering smile—yet for a split second I felt her eyes flash.
"Really? I was hoping you would stand tall and pursue your ambitions again… especially since I'd love to see it. The sight of you rising back up with your head held high."
With that, she took a handkerchief from her jacket. It was a mess of a handkerchief, but you could tell it had been carefully washed and preserved. And somehow it looked familiar.
"Do you… remember this?"
At her question, the past tangled up with that handkerchief rose to the surface. Like an artifact being pulled up from a deep lake… the fragments of memory slowly surfaced and became one.
It had been more than ten years ago. News had spread that a dungeon rampage had turned an entire area into hell. The Hunter Association had quickly dispatched people, and Cheonwoo Guild had also sent hunters and supplies.
Back then I was a little kid who knew nothing of the world. Yet under my father's strict orders, I had been told to witness the horror of the scene with my own eyes. So I saw the site of the incident for myself.
There I happened to meet a girl. A pitiful girl who had lost her parents and was crying wretchedly. Feeling sorry for her, I approached, held out my hand, and offered her my handkerchief to wipe her tears.
In the chaos of the rapidly secured disaster site, I had been given the job of distributing supplies. The girl followed me around, so we spent a lot of time together. Child that I was, I wanted to take her home, but that wasn't allowed. Children who lost their parents to monsters or dungeons were sent to orphanages managed by the Hunter Association. That was the girl's fate.
Knowing that, I treated her like a childhood friend until the day we parted, hoping the pain of losing her parents would heal even a little.
"Ah… I remember. On the day I was going back, you tried to return the handkerchief, but I wouldn't take it…"
"After that, this handkerchief became my personal good-luck charm. Thanks to it, I've held on all this time. Hehe~"
The smile she showed me then wasn't a service smile. It was genuine—full of pure delight at seeing me again.
"I studied hard and managed to join the Hunter Association. I don't have any abilities, but I've been promoted pretty well and I'm doing alright for myself, you know? Pretty impressive, right?"
She looked like she was waiting for praise, so I nodded. But inside…
She's with the Hunter Association, so I still can't let my guard down.
I was still full of suspicion.
"Honestly, I was hoping you would become the center of Cheonwoo Guild, but… since things turned out this way, I thought maybe you'd come to the Hunter Association instead. I recommended you and they approved it right away!"
She smiled like a flower in full bloom. I had just resolved not to drop my guard, yet that pure smile nearly wiped away my suspicions all over again.
"It's proof that the Hunter Association also thinks highly of your humanity and management skills! So even if you'd be a team leader under me for now, you could definitely get promoted later…"
A faint blush colored her cheeks.
"So… how about starting fresh as new senior and junior? I know it's presumptuous of me, but…"
She squirmed a little, expressing her embarrassment.
"I can take good care of you now… hehe…♡"
She had tried to headhunt Kang Geonwoo into the Hunter Association. But his heart was already firmly closed. In the end she had no choice but to leave without getting a clear answer from him.
Hiss—
The moment she turned the corner after being seen off by Kang Geonwoo, static crackled from the tiny device in her ear.
"We've confirmed you've left Kang Geonwoo's residence. What's the result?"
At the heavy, low male voice, she let out a sigh and shook her head.
"I examined him thoroughly with my ability. He's an ordinary person."
"Is that so? Son of a major corporation chairman and an S-rank ability user… he was our strongest candidate."
"I thought the same. Unfortunately, it wasn't him."
"Understood. Agent, you are cleared to return."
The brief exchange of information ended. Once the communication cut off, the agents' gazes fixed on Kang Geonwoo's house withdrew.
Having sensed and confirmed all of it, she slowly curled the corners of her lips upward.
No. He may look like an ordinary person, but there's something there. In my judgment, Kang Geonwoo… you are definitely the EX-rank ability user.
She was certain, yet she did not immediately report the truth to the Hunter Association. If she did, she could rack up enormous achievements and climb the ranks again and again.
Someone that incredible belonging to the Hunter Association? No. You need to become the center of the world.
She thought back to the behavior and personality Kang Geonwoo had shown her. Warm and kind. Even when he held power and authority, he used it not for himself but so that others could live well. He had shown the same thing even after rising to the position of guild master. A person like that would surely become the center that could lead this world well.
You… from now on, I'll help you. By any means necessary…!
She placed her hand over the handkerchief in her jacket—the one she had forgotten to return—and smiled.
