Secret Exposed. A Proposal Made.
Kang Yul's dream had always been to become a hunter.
It was a dream he had carried since his days at the orphanage, back when the teachers still beat him for the smallest things. If his life was a dead end — no parents, no family, no friends — then the only way to live like a real human being was to stake even this wretched life of his on something that mattered.
So when he worked part-time jobs, he sought out the highest-paying gigs connected to supernatural phenomena. He even signed a lease on a one-room apartment near an erosion zone, figuring that living close to where the supernatural happened might naturally trigger a hunter awakening.
To everyone around him, of course, he was nothing more and nothing less than a "crazy young man" itching to die. But Kang Yul's desire to become a hunter had been genuine. And even now that he was a hunter, that desire hadn't changed…
…or so he told himself.
I just want to wrap this up and get back to mining… Oh, should I pick up some nutrient soil for the worm on the way home?
Whether it was because he finally had some breathing room, or because he now had a pet bug that wasn't human but still kept him company, he couldn't say. Either way, the Kang Yul of today had lost a considerable amount of the venom that once defined his "crazy young man" days.
Put generously, he was a self-made success story who had achieved his dream at a young age. Put less generously, he had gotten comfortable the moment he became a hunter and let his guard slip.
But today, even a relaxed Kang Yul had no choice but to break into a cold sweat.
"A pleasure to meet you. I am Team Leader Myo, the representative hunter of Nowon-gu. I will be escorting Hunter Kang Yul for this operation."
"Ah — r-right, nice to meet you too, Team Leader Myo. Um, I do have one question, though…"
"Speak."
"Is it just the two of us? No other hunters…?"
"Correct. Is there a problem?"
"…No. None."
His mouth said one thing. His brain said another. From the moment he shook hands with the woman who called herself Team Leader Myo, Kang Yul's head had been redlining.
And for good reason.
Why would a hunter this high-caliber come for me…?
Why did a representative become a representative? Because they were the most capable, the most senior hunter in their district. And veterans of that caliber almost always possessed some kind of formidable edge of their own.
Which meant the hunter currently staring at him in silence with those bright yellow pupils — Team Leader Myo — was almost certainly one of those people.
Why would someone like her go out of her way for me…?
The more he thought about it, the less sense it made. But nothing in this world happened without a reason, so Kang Yul racked his brain for why a representative hunter would personally escort him.
Then it hit him.
Wait. Is it that?
A plausible explanation surfaced, and he quietly checked his phone.
There's no other reason.
Kang Yul was certain. The representative of Nowon-gu had come for him personally because of a transaction record — a trade in supernatural byproducts that had landed in the account of a brand-new hunter with zero gate entry history.
Having pieced together the full picture, Kang Yul sat in Team Leader Myo's car and tried to figure out how to wriggle free of this mess. How was a rookie hunter with no gate entry history supposed to explain where he'd gotten unregistered supernatural byproducts — and make it sound even remotely convincing?
He half-listened to the briefing and poured the rest of his attention into the problem.
"I'll give a brief rundown while we travel. The Suraksan Gate — officially designated the Erosion Quarantine Zone - Suraksan. A supernatural organism known as a Spore Colony has taken root inside. Its original threat rating was Class C. Continuous Association management has since reduced the current danger level to Class E."
Should I say I cooperated with an unregistered gate exploration…?
…No. Definitely not.
That would just get him interrogated for the illegal gate's location. A half-baked lie that invited more suspicion was the worst move he could make.
"It is a supernatural life-form that forms massive colonies of mushrooms resembling human eyeballs, continuously releasing spores. Exposure causes mushrooms to germinate and proliferate inside the body, so Association-issued masks must be worn at all times until the mission is complete."
Besides, they had almost certainly already confirmed his transaction history with Favorable Merchant. For all he knew, the Association had even identified the gate byproducts he'd sold through those trades. Any supernatural entity that had been living among humans for years wouldn't have escaped the Hunter Association's notice.
"If, after entering the erosion zone, you experience mental fog, or an inexplicable surge of happiness and calm, report it immediately."
The silver lining was that nothing he'd sold so far was particularly damning. At most, soil and coal saturated with mana. Stuff even a freshly awakened hunter could gather without much trouble — nothing that should raise serious red flags. Still, the way she kept glancing at him with that assessing look… she was probably weighing whether to subdue him for interrogation or wait for a voluntary confession.
"We have arrived at the quarantine zone. From here, we proceed on foot to the gate entry point. If you have any questions, or if you do not wish to enter, speak now."
…After a moment of deliberation, Kang Yul made his decision. Better a bad option than the worst one. If he couldn't hide it, he'd act his way through it.
He would play the part of an unregistered hunter operating in the shadows. Honestly, he had no other choice. Whether they beat a confession out of him or he turned himself in, revealing a gate's location meant summoning it to show them — and the moment he did that, he'd be neatly folded in half and shipped to an Association research lab with a note that read Fresh specimen delivered.
That, above all else, has to be avoided…!
So: frontal assault. To keep suspicion at bay, he was already prepared to reveal at least one of the cards — skills — he'd been holding close to his chest. The Hunter Association was chronically short-staffed. Prove yourself useful enough, and they'd cheerfully overlook a little underground activity. That was the calculation.
Having settled on his approach, Kang Yul turned to Team Leader Myo walking beside him.
"I have a question."
"What is it?"
He picked something out of the briefing he'd half-heard earlier.
"I was told continuous Association management has reduced the Spore Colony's threat level to Class E. Is there a reason the source of the erosion hasn't been dealt with separately?"
It was a deliberately provocative question. From Team Leader Myo's perspective, it probably sounded like: You people are completely incompetent. What have you been doing all this time?
And sure enough—
"…"
Team Leader Myo stopped walking and fixed those bright yellow eyes on him, as if trying to parse the intent behind the question.
…She's not going to attack me out of nowhere, right?
He trembled inwardly at the thought of getting punched and dragged straight to the Association. After a long, silent stare, Team Leader Myo blinked a few times and answered.
"Because we have not found the source of the erosion. The Suraksan Spore Colony has only had its proliferation ability weakened. Its confusion ability — the one that erodes the surrounding ecosystem into a hallucinatory forest — remains fully intact. For that reason, the Association has been searching for a hunter capable of exploring while ignoring the confusion effect."
"I take it even you can't manage it, Team Leader."
"Correct. In adapting to this environment, the Suraksan Spore Colony weakened its proliferation ability and strengthened its confusion ability — making it an anomalous specimen. Containment of the erosion range has been possible. Eradication has not."
When the answer ended, Team Leader Myo simply looked at him — a gaze that seemed to ask whether that was sufficient, while simultaneously trying to read what he was after.
Kang Yul didn't look away. He was supposed to be playing a capable underground hunter, and a capable underground hunter did not flinch under pressure like a coward.
But—
She's terrifying…! She's pretty, but she's terrifying…!
Not every human could act and think exactly as they intended. Kang Yul was certainly not one of those perfect specimens. In the end, his soft heart ran completely counter to his outward composure, and he silently cursed the situation.
Because Team Leader Myo was, by any standard that didn't require blindness, a strikingly beautiful woman. Just look at her.
A high-bridged nose, cherry-red lips, a delicate frame that somehow housed a figure that was anything but delicate. And then there were the cat ears and tail — almost certainly grown under the influence of a skill — that stirred every base male instinct. Even without being a hunter, she would have had no trouble making a living. Team Leader Myo was a genuine alpha female of the modern age.
Which makes her even scarier…!
And that fact only deepened Kang Yul's dread. Being alone with a woman who looked like she belonged at the top of a global beauty ranking was already enough pressure for an utterly ordinary guy like him. Add those catlike yellow eyes boring into him without blinking, and how was he supposed to not be terrified?
So, desperate to end this awkward standoff even one second sooner, he opened his mouth.
"I'll find the source of the erosion for you. In exchange, I'd like the secrets between us to stay buried."
Kang Yul was confident. With the skill he'd recently acquired — Gate Book — finding the source of the erosion should be possible. So he made the offer: he'd locate the source, and in return, she would bury his illegal transaction history.
She wouldn't turn me down… right?
It might have looked like a reckless blurt, but there was calculation behind it. From the Association's perspective, this was an erosion zone they were managing with even rookie hunters. They clearly wanted it gone, and they'd already said they were searching for the right hunter.
So even if the offer came from a hunter of unknown identity, the odds of them taking the deal were decent. Especially with a battle-hardened representative hunter along for the ride — she could handle any unexpected developments. They'd at least try.
And as if to prove the point—
"…"
Her expression barely shifted, but Kang Yul saw it: her eyelids widened a fraction, and her pupils narrowed the way a cat's do when it focuses. It lasted only a moment before her eyes returned to normal, but it was a reaction — and a reaction, good or bad, was better than nothing.
"…"
After that, Team Leader Myo simply stared at him. Without a word. Without blinking. Just staring, and staring, and staring.
One minute passed.
Yeah, yeah. She's got a lot to think about.
Five minutes.
Ugh… she's thinking way too hard. Was the offer that bad…?
Ten minutes in—
Ah… I think this is a bust…? Should I just open a gate, call the worm, and start a riot…?
He was desperately calculating how to avoid becoming a "specimen" at all costs — even considering the tactical nuke option (the worm) for a worst-case scenario — when Team Leader Myo finally spoke.
"I accept Hunter Kang Yul's proposal. I will also transfer command authority for this operation to you. Should you require my assistance at any point, request it freely."
The decision was made. From this moment on, Kang Yul held the authority to command a district's representative hunter.