Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Worry
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My condition upon arriving at the Hunter Association must have been a real mess, because I was immediately ordered to take a rest.
I was too exhausted to even speak, so I just nodded and headed back.
With the back-to-back battles finally over and the tension released, the fatigue hit me like a truck.
After getting some solid rest for a few days, I received a call and returned to the association.
And the Kang Jiwon I met there...
"...".
She just stared straight through me in silence, her eyes heavy with reproach.
What could I even say?
I'd been the one worrying her about how dangerous the mission was, and here I was, volunteering to make it even riskier.
It wouldn't have been strange if she'd torn into me right then.
Haa, in the end, Kang Jiwon let out a sigh and lightened the mood.
"It didn't go exactly as planned... but in the end, we secured evidence of Red Potion's crimes and arrested their crew. That's an outstanding result, if I do say so myself."
"You've worked hard," she said, bowing her head.
Fortunately, the atmosphere wasn't one of holding my rash actions against me.
If anything, it felt like praise for my efforts. I breathed a quiet sigh of relief inside.
"So, have you figured out who's behind them or what their goal was? That was no small operation."
Even setting aside everything else, the number of Awakeners involved was huge.
Most of them were mercenaries they'd hired, so the costs must have been staggering.
It was a scale that couldn't be sustained normally.
Kang Jiwon pondered briefly before nodding.
She must have decided I had the right to know.
"From what we've uncovered so far, there are at least two backers."
She pulled two sheets of paper from her pocket and slid them toward me.
Profiles of specific individuals.
Faces I recognized from both.
She pointed to the one on the left first.
A photo of an elderly man with white hair.
It was that alchemist.
"He held a high position in the Alchemists' Guild until a few months ago. Then one day, he quit without any real reason... Probably to prepare for this."
Alchemists' Guild. The name made me grimace a bit.
They were the ones who'd tried to rip me off when I went there to sell materials.
"Even after quitting, he's been in constant contact with the guild, we've confirmed."
Follow-up interrogations and circumstantial evidence.
One clear conclusion emerging from it all.
"We'll need more investigation for the details, but it's certain the Alchemists' Guild is involved somehow."
Not exactly a surprise, given I had no good memories of them.
What I was more curious about was why they'd go this far.
What on earth were they trying to make, killing all those people in the process?
To my question, Kang Jiwon offered a cautious guess.
"Most likely... they were trying to create an elixir."
I was speechless at her answer.
An elixir that permanently boosted your stats just by consuming it.
A legendary-grade item, the highest tier in the game.
Naturally, it demanded incredibly rare materials to match.
They probably couldn't get those, so they tried substituting with blood...
Anyone with even a basic knowledge of alchemy wouldn't dream of it.
The blood requirement skyrocketed exponentially with the amplification level.
To match an elixir's effects with blood? Exaggeration or not, it'd take a whole city and still fall short.
"Were they all on drugs as a group? No... alchemists aren't idiots; they had to know this wouldn't work..."
"That's where this guy seems to come in."
Kang Jiwon pointed to the paper on the right.
A blond man with a sleazy look.
The guy who'd nearly killed me.
"From the records, the alchemists were just lending a hand. There's another mastermind leading this. But even interrogating the crew, no one knows who. He probably does, though..."
Kang Jiwon sighed.
"He won't say a word. Truth serum doesn't work on A-rankers, so we're stuck."
She asked if I could help somehow, but I shook my head.
He'd already withstood my ability multiple times.
No point in trying again.
"Guess we wait for him to talk on his own."
Kang Jiwon nodded and collected the papers from in front of me.
Seemed like we were done with that topic.
As I watched quietly, something occurred to me.
A question I'd been harboring since escaping that place.
"Why the hell did an S-rank hunter come to rescue me, anyway?"
Kang Jiwon froze, hemming and hawing.
It wasn't hard to read the situation from her unfamiliar demeanor.
Nam Sowol's involvement hadn't been part of the plan.
She'd probably acted on her own.
Kang Jiwon let out a long sigh.
"...I have nothing to say. Normally, a standby agent would have gone, but they didn't pick up, so Hunter Nam Sowol stepped in."
"Something happen to that agent?"
It was a casual question, but apparently one I shouldn't have asked.
Kang Jiwon's eyes squeezed shut, and with a tone of resignation...
"......They were asleep."
"...".
I thought about it for a moment.
Someone on standby for a mission falls asleep.
An emergency hits, they call, but no answer.
So an S-rank hunter fills in.
Like the quick-response team dozing off, missing the radio call, and the battalion commander deploying instead.
I couldn't bear to imagine it further.
Kang Jiwon clearly didn't want to dwell on it either, so we moved on naturally.
"We need to discuss your reward for this."
My original mission was just to gather info and come back.
I'd gone rogue, but in the end, I'd solved the whole problem.
Brushing it off with just the promised reward wouldn't be right, she said.
"After review, we've decided to give you treatment equivalent to an exclusive contract."
The reward was so unexpected my mind went blank.
The contract I'd misunderstood when she first brought it up.
I'd hoped for it but given up soon after. Exclusive contracts required at least B-rank.
And now, suddenly, I was getting one?
I could barely keep my voice from shaking.
"Th-then, the exclusive hunter perks too?"
"All of them."
Ah, a gasp escaped me involuntarily.
Thinking I was curious about the details, Kang Jiwon listed them off.
Fee reductions on magic stone settlements, priority on workshop commissions through the association, and a bunch of other minor benefits.
None of that mattered.
There was only one perk I'd wanted from an exclusive contract.
To grow my abilities in the game, I had to raid gates and kill monsters.
I took association missions to build influence, but that was secondary.
Gates were priority for getting stronger.
So why was I doing jobs that didn't help my growth directly?
Simple: I couldn't access gates.
Two big reasons.
First, I couldn't form a party.
Regardless of my ability's actual utility, publicly I was a D-rank non-combat type.
Who'd party with me?
Solo raids were forced.
And the second reason that came from it.
No more gates I could clear alone.
My biggest strength only worked on intelligent beings.
Useless against low-IQ beasts or inanimate monsters.
Even a perfect gate for me was ruined by one mob immune to my power.
The Resting Place of the Dead was a special case.
Only one forced fight, against foes weak to mental attacks.
No other gate suited me that well anymore.
But exclusive contracts solved that.
Kang Jiwon reached the key benefit in her list.
"—You'll get info on unpublished gates and priority raid rights."
Unpublished gates.
Ones too new, too weird compared to others, failed raids deeming them dangerous, etc.
Gates the association held back from public release for various reasons.
Exclusive hunters got the list and could attempt them.
As far as I knew, no solos left for me.
But unpublished gates? Game changer.
A way out of my rut at last.
Kang Jiwon smiled faintly.
"Glad you like it. The higher-ups saw your initiative—finishing the mission then pushing further—positively."
That's why this perk, impossible otherwise.
My rash, emotion-driven charge suddenly felt like a badge of pride.
"You really worked hard this time. I look forward to your enthusiasm in future missions too."
Super hyped, I nodded vigorously.
As I opened my mouth to affirm, she reached out to stop me.
Kang Jiwon's expression shifted in an instant.
The cold, businesslike face from my first mission.
"—That was the opinion of Kang Jiwon, Management Department Team Leader."
Her face changed again. Twisting.
The emotionless mask cracked, revealing what I'd seen once in the hospital.
Worry.
"You just got out of a hospital bed... Why push yourself like this? Do you even realize how close you came to dying?!"
And sadness.
My excitement vanished in a flash.
I couldn't bring myself to speak.
"......A personal plea from human Kang Jiwon. Please... don't ever push yourself like this again."
In that, I realized something.
Now, there was someone who'd mourn my death and shed tears for me.
My life was no longer light enough to bear alone.