Chapter 55
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: The Hider's Confession
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“Hey, Professor, come on. Let's grab a quiet spot and chat.”
“I'm reporting you.”
“Oh yeah?”
Kim Tae-woong shot a sly wink at Ham Dae-hee, and the two of them grabbed Park Joo-hyung by both arms before dragging him to the car.
To any outsider, it looked exactly like the pair were kidnapping Park Joo-hyung.
“Help!”
“Aw, come on, Park. Just coffee, that's all. You're bein' too cool about it! Keya, Dae-hee! How's that drip line? Ha, I'm just too smooth for my own good.”
“Hyung, shut it. Professor Park, we just wanna talk. For real.”
“Then talk! Why the kidnapping?”
“Kidnapping? Where do you see kidnapping here?”
“If this isn't kidnapping, what is it?!”
As the three bickered, Choi Si-jin, who was driving, pulled up in front of a building.
“Gentlemen, take your time here. The director sent me on an errand, so I'll wrap it up and come back to pick you up.”
The trio entered the building, which looked pretty tall even at a glance.
They took the elevator to the 20th floor. Ham Dae-hee led the way.
He stopped in front of room 2007.
Park Joo-hyung, tense as could be, followed Ham Dae-hee inside.
The room was sleek and modern. Ham Dae-hee pulled a bottle of water from the fridge and handed it to Park Joo-hyung.
Park Joo-hyung took the water with a utterly bewildered look on his face, standing there awkwardly.
“Have a seat over there.”
As Park Joo-hyung sat where Ham Dae-hee pointed, Kim Tae-woong asked,
“Park, why'd you hide it?”
“Hide what?”
Kim Tae-woong grabbed Park Joo-hyung's hand in a flash.
Unlike the strong gust that had whipped up when he'd grabbed Lee Ru-ri's hand before, a cool breeze now whispered gently through the room.
“Ha, would you look at that?”
“See? Told ya, hyung.”
“Where'd this lucky charm roll in from?”
Park Joo-hyung eyed Kim Tae-woong warily and asked,
“You're an Awakener?”
“Oho, you got it right off!”
“And you're a Taster?”
“You know it. So you're a Hider, right, Professor Park?”
Park Joo-hyung's expression darkened, and he answered weakly.
“Ha... Yeah.”
“My gut was screamin' it! Park, even Chairman Han doesn't know your partner's a Hider, does he?”
“H-How did you...”
“If he knew, he wouldn't stick you to us just to spy.”
“Professor Park, let's be straight with each other. Why're you working under Chairman Han?”
“Actually...”
Park Joo-hyung hesitated for a moment.
Ham Dae-hee and Kim Tae-woong waited quietly for him to speak.
“Actually, I've been gathering info on Baek Yi-an.”
“How do you know Yi-an, Professor Park?”
“He's... my mentor.”
“Well, I'll be. A Hider trained under Yi-an?”
“I awakened as a hunter around middle school graduation and trained as a Hider under Professor Baek.”
“But info on what, exactly? What are you really after, Professor?”
“Professor Baek was murdered. I'm looking for proof.”
“Murdered...”
“Chairman Han ordered me to monitor Lee Ru-ri and gave me info linking Professor Yoo, Professor Baek, and Ru-ri.”
“You figured that much out already?”
“But... why approach me?”
“'Cause you're headin' the same way we are.”
“How can I trust you two?”
“What? You answered every question, spilled it all, and now you're gettin' cautious? What a joker.”
Park Joo-hyung chugged the water in his hand.
Ham Dae-hee watched him for a beat before saying,
“Join our side.”
“You trust me?”
“You've been hiding your rank, your Hider status, investigating Yi-an... Even if everything you've said is a ploy to fool us, we have no choice but to believe you. Those three who died that day—they were family to us.”
At Ham Dae-hee's words, Park Joo-hyung went quiet, staring blankly out the window.
For a good while, the three sat in silence, lost in their thoughts.
Park Joo-hyung broke the quiet first.
“Chairman Han's goal was just to kill Professor Yoo.”
“Huh?”
The info Park Joo-hyung had uncovered was shocking.
Han Ho wanted all three special positions under his thumb.
Awakener Han Ho, Taster Ham Dae-hee, Hider Baek Yi-an.
Even if the nation had handed him full authority, key decisions still needed the president's approval.
But if he could control those three special positions at his whim, the National Hunter Association would be entirely his own.
Han Ho had reawakened himself—the first Awakener—as a Tanker, used Taster Dae-hee to weed out hunters with special abilities, and had Hider Yi-an disguise the abilities of the special positions he wanted under his control.
Position: Hider.
Another name for Hider: Disguiser.
A Hider could disguise a hunter's abilities for a set time, making their judgment come out as a completely different position name from their true one.
Back when hunters were awakening like mad and chaos reigned, Hiders' abilities had helped establish simple position classifications.
Ham Dae-hee asked as Park Joo-hyung explained,
“Why kill Il-won hyung, then?”
“Professor Baek used his Hider ability to hide Professor Yoo's position. Chairman Han found out. Professor Yoo's position was something Han Ho couldn't touch.”
“Ha... So it was all because of me...”
Ham Dae-hee slumped, blaming himself.
Kim Tae-woong let out a deep sigh as he watched.
“Conqueror—a hunter who commands monsters. That was Professor Yoo's position. As you know, he and Chairman Han were always at odds. When Han realized the ordinary-looking Professor Yoo was a special position—and that Professor Baek had hidden it...”
“Wait, hold up! But Han Yoo, Yu Il-won, Baek Yi-an—they were top-tier hunters. How'd they end up dying in a gate?”
“Chairman Han rigged the whole raid. The gate they entered wasn't a normal S-rank pattern—it was an S-rank with impossible numbers. Even an all-S-rank team wouldn't guarantee success. And with Chairman Han, the S-rank Tanker, not defending at all...”
“That son of a...”
“His original plan seems to have been escaping with Han Yoo and Professor Baek. But as the only S-rank, he was too busy saving his own skin. He abandoned his son to get out.”
The three fell silent again.
After a moment's thought, Kim Tae-woong asked,
“You're the only Hider left now?”
“Far as I know. Oh, but I heard a Taster and Hider are coming from the U.S. dispatch this time.”
“So it's about time your Hider status leaks.”
“Yeah, that's what worries me.”
“What if we say you got pissed at Chairman Han for assigning you spy duty without backup and got punished anyway, so you switched to our side?”
“You really trust me?”
“Three people are dead. And that's just the ones we know. There'll be more. Chairman Han tried to kill me too. It's your call, Professor, but you ain't any different.”
“Give me some time to think.”
Ham Dae-hee and Kim Tae-woong left Park Joo-hyung in the room and headed to the first floor.
“Chairman Han's watching Ru-ri. If he thinks Il-won hyung, Yi-an, and Ru-ri are connected, there must be something between those three.”
“We just gotta dig more.”
Right on cue, Choi Si-jin pulled up to pick them up.
The night before Kim Tae-woong, Ham Dae-hee, and Park Joo-hyung met.
“What's the fun thing you learned in New York?”
Lee Ru-ri's eyes sparkled as she asked Han Seung-woo.
“I met someone who can talk to monsters, like you, Ru-ri.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah. They're coming with the dispatch, so I'll introduce you.”
“Can't wait!”
Han Seung-woo smiled warmly at her excited face.
“But why'd you go to New York this time?”
“My mother's critically ill.”
“Oh...”
“Doesn't seem like much time left, so I went to say goodbye.”
“Why...”
“She gave birth to me, but there was no bond between parent and child. You don't have to look like that.”
Han Seung-woo's expression seemed somehow lonely.
“Um, but...”
“Yes?”
“How long do I have to rest?”
“No raids until re-inspection's done.”
“Haa... Even though I didn't get hurt?”
“Of course. You broke the promise, Ru-ri. Forgot already?”
“W-Well, yeah, but...”
Han Seung-woo chuckled at her suddenly crestfallen face.
She'd clearly tried to shift the mood out of worry for him, but it hadn't worked.
He glanced at the clock—it was past 3 a.m.
“Sleep now, help with the re-inspection schedule quietly tomorrow morning, and I'll let you raid in the afternoon.”
“Whoa! For real?”
“Yes. If you keep the promise, that is.”
“Okay, I'll sleep, so go quick.”
Lee Ru-ri pushed Han Seung-woo's back.
He gave her a helpless look, bowed, and left.
'Time for a good long sleep!'
She lay on the fluffy bed but couldn't drift off easily.
Bolting up, she chugged some water and sprawled on the sofa.
'Contracted with Zannyerko, but the title stayed the same? To upgrade... more contracts? And someone else who can talk to monsters—do they make monsters like me too? Wanna meet 'em soon.'
Scattered thoughts flooded in.
'Tomorrow, finish combos with low skills... Mid ones for changes.'
As she sorted her jumbled thoughts one by one, she slipped into sleep without realizing.
She was out so deep, she wouldn't notice if someone carried her off—then violent knocking erupted from outside.
“Huh... Who at this hour? Who is it?”
Lee Ru-ri cautiously opened the door.
“Ru-ri!”
An unfamiliar woman threw her arms around Lee Ru-ri.
“Wha? Huh? Wh-Who?”
Yang Jeong-hyun came running from a distance.
“Whew! Out of breath!”
Seeing Lee Ru-ri's confusion, Yang Jeong-hyun pried her away from the stranger.
“Ru-ri. Whew.”
“Yes.”
“Ru-ri, you're alive! It's really you! Lord, thank you.”
The stranger burst into tears.
“Let's go inside first.”
“Okay.”
They entered Lee Ru-ri's room, sat the woman on the sofa, and fetched water from the fridge.
“Ru-ri, remember her?”
“Not at all. She knows me, though... Who is she?”
“You really don't?”
“No. Feels like first time...”
“After all I've been through searching for you...”
Lee Ru-ri glanced puzzled at Yang Jeong-hyun.
“Her name's Baek Eun-an. Baek Yi-an's little sister.”
“Ah, the one married to Yu Il-won...”
“Ru-ri, really no memory? You're my brother-in-law and sister's daughter! My niece!”
The woman wailed.
“Y-You mean...? D-Daughter? Whose? Mine?”
Lee Ru-ri was flustered.
Lee Ru-ri and Yang Jeong-hyun waited for Baek Eun-an to calm.
Baek Eun-an sobbed for a long while after.
Once somewhat composed, Baek Eun-an gripped Lee Ru-ri's hand tight and spoke.