Mana (4)
"Hello!"
"Hello, Secretary Chen Mei!"
The Black Society's guild office occupied an entire twelve-story building. When Chen Mei returned to China after a long absence and arrived for work, countless guild staff and hunters bowed deeply in greeting.
"Mm."
She kept her haughty expression, offered a curt reply, and continued walking with sharp clicks of her high heels.
"Wow... she's seriously sexy."
"Look at that ass. I want to pound it so bad."
"A cold beauty like her is only good once she's crying in bed."
The male staff and hunters stared at her with sticky, sexual gazes.
Hmph. Idiots.
Of course Chen Mei knew all of it. Not just the stares, but every filthy comment they muttered behind her back. She simply found it tiresome and left them alone. After all, they were fools who could never do anything to an A-rank hunter like her, and they lacked the courage anyway.
My body belongs to Zhu-ren now.
What used to be simple indifference had changed slightly after her trip to Korea. The men's heated stares made her remember the scorching nights she had spent with Park Jihun.
She felt her lower lips growing wet just from picturing it.
Yes. For his sake, I will destroy the Black Society.
Chen Mei had devoted years to the organization and played a major role in building it to its current size. Yet now, because of a single man, she was prepared to tear down everything she had once staked her life on.
"So you've returned."
The most extravagant room in the guild occupied the entire twelfth floor. It belonged to the guild master, Lung Xiao.
Even though he was a man, he wore his long black hair in a braid down his back. His hands were covered in countless sharp ornaments. His slitted eyes and protruding mouth reminded one of a rat. His thin, agile frame could be called nimble in a generous light, but it gave off a sly, cunning impression in a harsher one. Even at the best of times, he did not have a pleasant face.
Nevertheless, the intense aura of an S-rank hunter radiated from him. Today he seemed to be in a particularly foul mood; his face was twisted into a scowl and he was emitting even more oppressive pressure than usual.
"......"
Chen Mei, standing before him, felt her nerves tighten so badly that she briefly considered abandoning the plan entirely.
...No. This is for Zhu-ren.
She steeled her resolve and stood confidently in front of Lung Xiao. She knew exactly why he was so furious. He had learned the moment she landed that she had returned from Korea without bringing anyone with her. There had also been no reports of the tamer Park Jihun's death.
In other words, Chen Mei had failed her mission. That was why Lung Xiao was enraged.
"You should have at least killed him before coming back."
Lung Xiao rose slowly from his seat and approached her.
"...Are you prepared to pay the price of failure?"
His eyes gleamed with murderous intent. It did not look like this would end peacefully.
Yet Chen Mei showed not the slightest tremor. She shook her head and spoke clearly.
"I did not fail."
"...What?"
Lung Xiao looked utterly dumbfounded by her declaration.
"What exactly makes you think you didn't fail?"
His expression said he was ready to slit her throat if she uttered even one piece of nonsense.
Chen Mei maintained her calm as best she could and continued.
"Park Jihun has already come over to our side. Furthermore..."
She explained that Park Jihun had switched allegiance to the Black Society and, after a few days of preparation, would come to China of his own accord.
"I judged it to be the cleanest method and gave him the order accordingly."
She carefully phrased everything as her issuing commands to an inferior race rather than asking for help, making sure not to offend Lung Xiao's sensibilities.
"......"
Her excuse seemed to have worked; the oppressive aura around Lung Xiao had lessened considerably compared to moments before.
But then he narrowed his eyes sharply once more.
"Very well. I will believe you. However, if this turns out to be a lie..."
He issued his warning.
"The crime of daring to lie to me will not be settled with ordinary punishment."
"...Understood."
After leaving the guild master's office, Chen Mei rode the elevator down toward the secretary's room.
...I've bought myself a few days, at least.
She immediately began plotting how best to use that time and how to ultimately bring Lung Xiao down.
After several days of rest, Park Jihun and his familiars had returned to perfect condition. In the Another Guild office, Shin Jiyeon was currently briefing them on their next gate.
Serina still could not be revealed to the public, so she remained inside the subspace. Jihun would relay the details to her later.
At any rate, this gate was D-rank. Its name was Grey Troll's Forest. The monsters that appeared were, as the name suggested, Grey Trolls. They were two-meter-tall creatures with gray skin and belonged to the lowest tier among troll species despite their incredible regenerative abilities.
Even so, their blood held significant research value. In fact, it had greatly advanced medicine and pharmacology. While its quality was lower than that of higher-ranking trolls, troll blood still sold for a considerable price.
"Trolls, huh."
After listening to the briefing, Park Jihun quietly pictured a troll in his mind. Dull gray skin, lumpy from constant regeneration. A wrinkled face dripping with saliva. It was not an attractive image by any stretch.
But if he added his own special imagination?
Smooth skin like Briana's, only a pale gray color... and since the original form is so bulky, she'd have an incredibly voluptuous figure. A masochistic character who loves getting hit over and over thanks to her insane regeneration.
By the time he finished fantasizing, another female monster had taken shape inside his head.
"Mm. Possible."
As if she had somehow read his exact thoughts, Shin Jiyeon nodded vigorously and exclaimed, "Totally possible!"
"Ah, but it probably won't show up this time either."
Since Serina had already appeared as a Lizardman last time, Jihun was not getting his hopes up too high. Briana and Kar had come in succession, but beautiful female-type monster gates were not exactly common. There was always the chance it would simply be a regular monster, or that any humanoid evolution would turn out male. The fact that he had already encountered them three times was itself extraordinary.
Is this also the effect of Alpha Male...?
It was probably just good luck, but he somehow felt the Alpha Male skill might include that kind of hidden benefit as well.
"Anyway, let's head out. Even if it's not a girl, there are still plenty of preparations needed for trolls."
Indeed. The greatest loot available in D-rank gates and below was troll blood. To collect it, they needed tools for drawing blood and containers to store it safely.
"A single Grey Troll yields about 50 milliliters of pure, toxin-free blood. So let's prepare for roughly sixty of them... and these bottles..."
Shin Jiyeon, true to her veteran hunter status, rummaged through the warehouse and began gathering supplies. She asked staff to replenish anything missing and decided to buy the immediately necessary items on the way to the gate.
"You're on top of everything."
"Hehe, I didn't become guild master just for show."
Shin Jiyeon beamed with pride at Jihun's praise, then a sudden thought made her ask.
"Sunbae. By any chance... do you want to join a major guild? Like the number one guild in the country, the Yongwang Guild or something..."
She had turned down Lee Jeonghyeon with a firm refusal, but perhaps Jihun actually wanted to enter a large guild. The conditions offered by the Association were still on the table. If he joined a major guild, they would have the power to protect him from all the hands reaching for him. He would no longer need to live in constant anxiety and secrecy, and he could fully display his abilities.
Well, the process of making familiars... we could just keep it as hidden as possible.
If he truly wanted to join a major guild, she was confident she could shamelessly go back and request a merger despite her earlier refusal. After all, Shin Jiyeon was now Jihun's familiar, and his happiness was her entire world.
But.
"Nah? Why would I?"
Jihun was exactly the free-spirited person she had imagined.
"If I did that, there'd be all kinds of restrictions on fucking female monsters and increasing my familiars. Why the hell would I go to a big guild?"
Especially when it came to sex with other races.
"Hehet, that's right. Let's stay together forever."
"A lifetime contract?"
"Yes. And contract cancellation is not permitted."
After saying that and finishing preparations, Shin Jiyeon headed to the reserved gate in Seoul's Gwanak District together with Jihun and the familiars.
"Hey, this time it's real, right?"
"I told you it's real. It's information leaked from the Association."
"But... last time it was also information leaked from the Association."
"Agh, that was just an employee making a clerical error! This time is different, okay?"
Reporters from various media outlets were buzzing with excitement. They had gathered at the entrance of a D-rank gate in Incheon's Gyeyang District, trusting the leaked information that Park Jihun's party would appear here this time.
Of course, the crowd was not as large as before. Having been burned once by the whole "Association leak" story, some reporters were still waiting in front of the Another Guild office. They probably planned to follow once the group moved.
The reporters who had come to Gyeyang in advance remained half skeptical.
"They said since it's a D-rank gate, he'll be coming with other Another Guild members this time."
"Oho..."
The various pieces of information had combined to create a fair amount of credibility, but they would not know for sure until he actually appeared.
And then.
"...Fuck, I knew he wasn't coming!!"
When the appointed time arrived, an unfamiliar D-rank party emerged. The moment the reporters confirmed it was not Park Jihun and his group, they exploded with angry curses. They swore they would never trust Association leaks again.
Meanwhile, the reporters waiting at the Another Guild office building to follow Jihun's party fared no better.
"W-what the hell?! Why are so many cars leaving?!"
Suddenly a flood of vehicles poured out of the building. To make matters worse, every car belonged to the brand that had recently sponsored the Another Guild, making it impossible to tell whose vehicle was whose.
The confused reporters could not decide which car Park Jihun's party was riding in. In the end, none of them managed to follow, and they lost track of Jihun's group once again.