Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Infiltration (5)
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Hunter Association headquarters.
Management Department Head Jeong Suheok was receiving an important guest.
A man and a woman conversed across the table between them.
Then, without warning, the door burst open, and the middle-aged man's face hardened.
Storming in without notice or even a knock?
On any other day, he might have just reprimanded a subordinate, but right now he had a guest.
Jeong Suheok turned to vent his anger at the rude intruder, then swallowed it back down.
The visitor was Kang Jiwon. An exceptional talent who had risen to team leader at a relatively young age.
She wasn't the type to commit such rudeness without reason.
If Kang Jiwon had ignored protocol, there had to be a good cause—and it was plain as day from her appearance alone.
Sweat beaded thick on her forehead from how hastily she'd rushed over. Her breathing came in ragged gasps, her hair disheveled,
and her eyes trembled with urgency.
Jeong Suheok excused himself to the woman and asked Kang Jiwon what was wrong.
"...An emergency call came in from Hunter Han Yujin. We need to send support right away."
Before replying, Jeong Suheok shot a glance at the woman seated across from him.
The same impassive expression as always. But having known her for quite some time, he could tell she was intrigued.
Their current discussion involved the Association's secret operations.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't something to discuss in front of an outsider.
Yet at the same time, there was nothing here worth hiding from her.
So Jeong Suheok spoke up.
"Mobilize the team we've assembled. Any word from Ms. Yudain?"
"No response. She might be asleep."
The pre-assigned agents were unavailable for immediate deployment.
That must be why Kang Jiwon had come running. Jeong Suheok nodded.
"I'll contact the other agents myself, so for now, send out the assembled team—"
"I'll go."
The interruption came from their quietly attentive guest.
The woman gave off an impression as cold as her signature color.
And no one was better suited to resolve this mess.
Even so, neither man could bring himself to speak up right away.
Jeong Suheok wiped his brow and finally managed to respond.
"How could we possibly deploy an S-rank hunter for something like this? Even without Hunter Nam Somwol, we should have enough..."
"You old raccoon geezer."
Jeong Suheok shriveled up at the words.
The woman watched him with a chilling smirk in her eyes.
"I won't count this toward my quota. Sounds like a newbie agent... Too early for him to die, no?"
Her tone was matter-of-fact, and she didn't wait for a retort.
She rose from the sofa and slipped on her coat.
"Get a helicopter ready. I'm heading out now."
Overpowered by her presence, neither could muster a word.
As she moved for the door, Kang Jiwon suddenly called out.
"Hunter Nam Somwol! You didn't even bring any weapons!"
She glanced back briefly, then murmured softly.
In that fleeting moment, Kang Jiwon caught the faint smile on her face.
"I won't need any."
With that, the woman walked away.
*
In the game, S-rank hunters were something special.
One in each of the Four Great Guilds, plus two exclusive to the Association—for a starting total of six S-ranks.
They were more like event characters tied to major story beats.
Characters you'd encounter as enemies, doomed allies, or helpers during events.
As a result, these from-the-start S-ranks couldn't be recruited to the player's party.
Way back when I was still a total noob, I'd griped about that fact.
Why grind weak characters when you could just snag strong ones from the get-go?
Especially when they'd locked out the pinnacle S-ranks. From my newbie perspective, it made no sense.
The whining of someone who'd never even cleared the late game.
But as I got the hang of the game, those complaints vanished entirely.
Progress through the story, meet S-ranks in events, and it hits you naturally.
There was a reason they'd made them unrecruitable.
S-ranks were balance-breakers by their very existence.
Jin Seohyeon alone carried teams to clear rates that outstripped everyone else, simply because she was guaranteed an S-rank slot.
Without those limits, endgame parties wouldn't be carefully optimized—they'd just be crammed full of S-ranks as the meta.
Jin Seohyeon, once she hit S-rank, could fill every role except healer.
The ultimate utility character: DPS, tank, support, she handled it all flawlessly.
S-rank mage Joo Harang was the apex of all mages.
She wielded every existing spell and mocked the laws of magic by inventing impossible ones—a grand archmage.
And the S-rank dealer, the supreme swordmaster...
Whup-whup-whup!
A woman stood precariously at the edge of the open helicopter door.
Blue eyes and hair matching her ability's hue.
The one and only hunter who could slice an A-rank's aura from this distance.
Sword Ghost, Goblin, Specter—many nicknames dogged her.
But the one criminals universally whispered was different.
Every wanted man or crook she'd faced had called her the same thing.
"...The Reaper."
Inevitable death.
The helicopter had descended low enough now. Everyone in the factory could see her, and they all uttered her name in dread.
The murmurs carried waves of fear.
"You... what the hell are you? Who are you to bring her..."
I turned toward the blond man's voice.
He recognized her too—his face had gone deathly pale.
The smug leisure he'd menaced me with was gone.
I was just as stunned.
My mind blanked as I scrambled for answers, then an unfamiliar voice pierced my ear.
"You Han Yujin?"
A cool, refined woman's voice.
It came from right beside me, so I whipped my head around—but no one was there.
Then I looked up at the helicopter interior. Our eyes locked perfectly.
The moving woman's lips.
Impossible distance for sound to carry, yet it leaped space to embed in my ear.
"Nod big if yes."
I bobbed my head vigorously, and she vanished from the chopper.
Thud. A hand touched my shoulder.
The woman who'd been airborne moments ago had crossed space without warning.
Now I could see her up close.
Dual wielder of aura and spatial distortion.
Nam Somwol, the Association's exclusive S-rank hunter.
She spoke to me.
"Tell me everything you've learned."
I tamped down my tension and relayed it all.
The doping agents, the alchemist, the so-called Phase 2 potions, and the countless lives lost to make them.
It wasn't a short tale, but she listened quietly.
When I finished, she turned her head.
"Him?"
She meant the blond man who'd threatened me earlier.
He couldn't even twitch, frozen stiff. His eyes brimmed with one emotion alone.
Terror.
"...A-rank aura user. Exceptionally strong—likely an executive or higher-up here."
Nam Somwol nodded and replied calmly.
Her words were chillingly straightforward.
"Then we can't kill him."
Hearing murder discussed right in front of him snapped the man out of it.
He surged his aura and righted his stance.
"Bullshit! Who the hell's killing who—"
Blue light flowed over his body.
But the aura that had repelled bullets meant nothing to her gesture.
"Gaaahhh!!!"
Her hand sliced briefly through the air, and the man's ankle flew off pathetically.
Same aura ability, just one rank apart.
"Hrrk, haa, uwaaaaa..."
The guy who'd cornered me writhed on the floor like a bug.
"Good work. We're here—head up now."
She gestured toward where the helicopter had already touched down.
Agents who looked like special forces were disembarking one by one.
I started toward it, then glanced back.
She'd been watching to make sure I got in safely. Our eyes met.
Despite the bewilderment and exhaustion, there was something I had to say.
"...Thank you for saving me."
She didn't reply. A slight uptick of her lips spoke for her.
A soft smile warmed her otherwise icy features.
The helicopter carrying me lifted slowly into the sky.
I'd thought that once before.
The feats I'd pulled off as a mere D-rank clearly transcended my grade.
So if I just hit A-rank—no, even B-rank—couldn't I match S-rank performance?
I gazed out the window at the scene below.
Nam Somwol raised a finger, slashed horizontally,
and boom! The buildings in the trajectory sheared off like blocks of tofu.
A sight that didn't even draw a hollow laugh.
It was hard to hold onto that thought after seeing it.