A Hunters' World
"Fuck..."
A woman, hastily throwing on her clothes, rushed out of the chairman's office with her face covered.
About five minutes passed before Park Tae-hyun opened the door and stepped out, spitting out a mouthful of curses.
"Why the fuck did this asshole show up out of nowhere..."
Must be embarrassing.
I didn't say much and just shrugged.
"Hey, Number Six."
"Yes, Chairman."
"What the hell were you doing? Why didn't you stop him?"
"My loyalty lies only with you, Chairman."
"What the..."
Since she basically implied she did it out of consideration for him, Park Tae-hyun didn't press any further.
"Tsk. So, fuck, what is it?"
"To buy you lunch."
"What the fuck..."
"Didn't I say I'd buy you a meal?"
"And I told you I wasn't eating, you crazy bastard."
"I'm offering to buy, so stop whining. Let's go grab a bite. If you've already eaten, well, too bad."
"Sigh..."
Letting out a deep sigh, Park Tae-hyun jerked his chin.
"Fine, fuck it. Everything's shit today anyway, might as well fill my stomach. Hey, Number Six, you come too."
"Yes, Chairman."
At Park Tae-hyun's command, Lee Ji-seon followed behind him.
She kept a distance of exactly three paces.
"Chief Lee, cancel my schedule. I'm going to have lunch with this bastard."
"Understood, Chairman. Have a good meal."
"Tsk..."
I left the Seongjin Guild headquarters with Park Tae-hyun, who kept clicking his tongue as if nothing in the world pleased him.
"Fix your face. The weather is so nice today."
"My mood would've been great if some crazy bastard hadn't barged in out of nowhere."
"Sucks to be you, having a friend like that."
"Who the fuck is your friend?"
"We're eating together, so we're friends. You like raw fish, right?"
"Yeah."
"That's why I reserved a table at a beef place."
"You motherfucker...?"
"It's beef."
"..."
Mention beef, and he shuts his mouth right up.
Yeah, nothing beats beef.
I led the two of them into the restaurant I had reserved. It was a quiet establishment that operated strictly on a reservation-only basis.
"Look at this bastard... What are you trying to rip me off for this time, bringing me to a place like this?"
"Now you're treating me like a robber."
"So, what is it?"
As we sat down at the pre-set table, a server brought out the meat.
The white marbling woven through the rich red meat looked mouthwatering even before it was cooked.
"I will grill it."
At Lee Ji-seon's words, the server quietly stepped back, and she picked up the tongs.
Sizzle...
As the meat began to cook on the grill, I spoke first.
"About the Gate that's appearing this time."
"What about it?"
"Is it a demon Gate?"
"..."
"Looks like I'm right."
"Where did you hear that?"
"Just, you know, here and there."
It was information obtained when Do Yun-ah was guarding the US Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. The timing lined up roughly, but I hadn't been able to confirm it...
But seeing Park Tae-hyun's reaction, it was definitely confirmed.
"But how did you know?"
No one from Seongjin had been drafted for this security mission.
Seongjin probably had moles planted in the Hunter Association, but considering Yuseong Guild hadn't received any related information yet, the Association must be treating it as top secret.
He had obtained a source of information that even I didn't know about.
Honestly, it was puzzling. Seongjin's information network wasn't that good.
"Why the hell would I tell you?"
"It's ours anyway, man. Once we clear it, you guys will go in. We're both benefiting here, so why be like this?"
"Like you'd tell me if the roles were reversed."
"That's why I'm buying you beef. This is expensive stuff. Black whatever-it's-called."
"Sigh..."
Sighing, Park Tae-hyun pulled out a cigarette.
"Hey, don't you know smoking is banned indoors?"
"Ah, fuck."
Quietly slipping the cigarette back into his inner pocket, Park Tae-hyun scratched the back of his head and asked Lee Ji-seon.
"Do you think it's better to tell him?"
"If I may offer my opinion... I believe it would be fine."
"Yeah?"
"Yes. After all, the basis for it is quite vague, is it not?"
Sizzle.
Speaking politely, Lee Ji-seon stole a quick glance at him before flipping the meat.
"Fine, whatever. It's not a big deal anyway..."
"What is it then?"
"A fortune teller."
"...What?"
"A fortune teller told me. They said that Gate is a goldmine, so I absolutely have to enter. They mentioned something pitch-black coming out of it, so I figured it was probably a demon."
"You're a chairman, and you bid on a Gate based on a fortune teller's words?"
"It is ready, Chairman. Please, eat first."
Cutting the meat into bite-sized pieces, Lee Ji-seon carefully transferred them to Park Tae-hyun's plate.
She placed some in front of me too, but somehow, Park Tae-hyun got a much larger share.
"Eat while you work."
"Yes. I am doing so."
"Yeah, well, I don't have much of an appetite anyway. Besides, you don't know how things work. Conglomerate tycoons always keep a fortune teller by their side. Putting up a building, expanding a business, acquiring a company—they do all of that based on what their fortune teller says."
"Are you a tycoon?"
"I've got as much money as one. I was skeptical too, so I brought in a famous fortune teller to ask. They were an Awakened, too."
"You threw two hundred billion won on a fortune teller's word?"
"So what, fucker? In the end, the fortune teller was right. If it weren't for those dumbasses who messed with your kid, I would've made double that..."
Muttering in frustration, Park Tae-hyun irritably stuffed a piece of meat into his mouth.
Chomp, chomp. Chewing and swallowing the meat like a savage, Park Tae-hyun asked,
"Did you kill that bastard?"
"Kill him? We don't kill people."
"Bullshit. If you're going to kill him, make sure to send him to me. I need to personally deal with him."
He still hadn't cooled down. Looking at Park Tae-hyun, I said,
"Hey, let me give you a piece of advice."
"What."
"It's fine to manage your subordinates, but don't beat them into submission. It's not a good look."
"Then what, should I coddle those criminal bastards?"
"You're an ex-con too."
"Hey, my case is different."
"True. A guy who got fined for uploading porn to a web folder is definitely different from someone who went to prison for murder."
"You motherfucker. I told you not to bring that up."
Park Tae-hyun glared at me.
"Anyway, those motherfuckers never listen. You have to beat them periodically."
"..."
"I'm the one who brought them in, so I can't just kick them out. Better to beat them beforehand so they don't cause trouble, rather than leaving them alone and letting them mess up."
Right. He was the guild master, so he'd handle his guild's affairs well enough.
There was no way he didn't know what his subordinates were thinking, especially since even I knew.
After eating a few pieces of meat, I changed the subject.
"So, who is this fortune teller?"
"Why?"
"I'm curious how accurate they are to predict a demon Gate. If I say I was referred by you, will they read my fortune too?"
"They're obsessed with money, so they'll read anyone's fortune as long as you hand over some cash. There's a shabby little shop over in Yeouido. That's the place."
"Really? Good to know."
Yeouido, a shabby fortune-telling shop.
I engraved that information into my mind.
"By the way."
As the grill was turned off and only a few pieces of meat remained on the plate, Park Tae-hyun asked,
"Are you guys going into that Gate?"
"For now, yes."
"You're going to throw yourselves headfirst into an S-rank demon Gate? Let's split it, man. We go in as the vanguard, you guys as the rearguard. We split the loot exactly fifty-fifty. What do you say?"
"I'll have to discuss that with our guild master."
"Bullshit. Since when does that crazy bitch make the decisions? She only listens to you."
"Uh-huh. Want me to call her here? It's a quiet place, perfect for a meeting between guild masters. Should I set it up?"
"Let's not."
Digging his finger into his ear as if trying to erase what he just heard, Park Tae-hyun stood up.
For someone who claimed to have no appetite, he had scraped even the side dishes completely clean.
"You're paying, right?"
"I already paid. Why are you so untrustworthy?"
"Like you haven't screwed me over a dozen times. Anyway, thanks for the meal."
Park Tae-hyun pulled a cigarette from his inner pocket, popped it into his mouth, and walked out first.
I stood up and asked Lee Ji-seon, who was rising a beat slower than me.
"Aren't you hungry?"
"Yes, I am fine. My body does not strictly require sustenance to begin with."
She hadn't let go of the tongs throughout the entire meal. The chopsticks at her place setting remained exactly where they had been laid out.
"You know what I meant by what I said, right?"
"Yes. I understand completely."
"Then that's enough."
If Lee Ji-seon knew, then Park Tae-hyun probably had a rough idea too.
Thinking there was no need for further explanation, I was about to head out when Lee Ji-seon spoke.
"Hunter Yoo Sung. By any chance... have you heard anything regarding the Hunter Association?"
"The Hunter Association? Why?"
"Lately, they seem to be plotting something. It is purely my intuition, but... what do you think?"
"...Well."
It had already been a week since I heard the information Do Yun-ah brought back from the conference.
Yet, the Hunter Association still hadn't said a word. Was there any reason for them to hide it from us? It wasn't like they were the ones who would be fighting the demons.
They must have some sort of scheme. I had a bad feeling about this.
"It certainly seems that way."
"As I thought. Please be careful. If Yuseong falls into danger, we will not be safe either. Should you require assistance, the Chairman will gladly lend his strength."
"Yeah. Thanks."
After replying, I walked outside to find Park Tae-hyun puffing away furiously on his cigarette.
"Want one?"
"I quit."
"You? Quit smoking?"
"Yeah."
"Well, wonders never cease."
Park Tae-hyun, who had been about to pull out his pack of cigarettes, put it back and stared at me in disbelief.
I could quit whenever I wanted, but it had been a habit of mine to keep one in my mouth...
Even if I could cleanse the toxins with mana, thinking of Shin Ji-hye left me with no choice but to quit.
Even so, that's a bit too much...
She didn't say it out loud, but deep down, she secretly fantasized about me using her mouth as an ashtray and searing her tongue with fire.
To prevent her from even entertaining such thoughts, I threw the cigarettes far away.
"Next time, call before you visit, you bastard."
"Isn't the guy who was fucking in the chairman's office the one in the wrong?"
"This motherfucker, seriously."
"Anyway, I'm off."
"Piss off, asshole."
Waving his hand dismissively, Park Tae-hyun turned on his heel.
Lee Ji-seon followed him, maintaining a distance of exactly three paces.
"Yeouido."
I pulled out my phone to check the time. It wasn't even two o'clock yet.
If I take the subway there and back... I should be back by around five.
I began walking slowly toward the nearest subway station.
—This stop is Yeouido, Yeouido. The doors are on your...
There are so many people.
Maybe because it was a weekday afternoon, the subway was packed shoulder-to-shoulder, with barely any room to stand.
I stepped off the train, feeling as if I were being swept along by the crowd rather than walking on my own.
"Fortune teller..."
I opened a map app and searched for "Saju" and "Tarot."
Three places popped up. After looking at the photos in the reviews, I headed toward the shabbiest one.
"...?"
But when I arrived, the door was closed.
The sign was off, and the lights inside the shop, visible through the gaps in the blinds, were also extinguished.
"The app said it was open..."
Is this not the place?
Just as I began rubbing the back of my neck and searching for the location of the other shops,
"Welcome...!"
The door opened with the chiming of wind bells.
Vibrant hair color. Unusual attire. A unique accent. A foreigner. Probably Russian?
Judging by the mana I felt, she was an Awakened. But if she was telling fortunes...
Was she one of those rare foresight ability users from the magic class?
"Are you open for business?"
"Not today...!"
"...?"
Didn't she just say welcome?
"I was referred by Chairman Park of the Seongjin Guild..."
"Please save me...!"
Our words overlapped.
"Ch-Chairman Park...?"
"Yes. But what do you mean, 'save me'?"
Did she mistake me for an assassin sent by Park Tae-hyun?
No, that couldn't be it. She had begged for her life before I even mentioned Park Tae-hyun.
While I was lost in thought, the fortune teller grabbed the hem of my clothes and dragged me inside the shop.
What incredible strength...
I couldn't say for sure, but she definitely wasn't D-rank. Probably C-rank? Maybe even B-rank.
"I..."
The woman who had pulled me inside closed the door.
Pouring water into a paper cup with trembling hands, she looked up at me and continued.
Her eyes were blue.
But they weren't ordinary pupils. They were star-shaped. It was a physical mutation caused by the continuous leakage of mana flowing through her body.
She wasn't B-rank either. At least A-rank.
A Russian, A-rank foresight user. A certain person flashed through my mind.
However, that person was dead. Moreover, that person was a man, and this was a woman. Could they have changed their gender? Even if they had, Park Tae-hyun would have noticed if they met.
It wasn't him. It was likely a mere coincidence.
"Excuse me..."
"Ah, sorry. Go ahead."
"I read faces, you see...?"
"Yes."
Saju, Tarot, Physiognomy, Astrology.
Those were the words written on her sign.
Once the Gates opened and Awakened appeared, most ordinary fortune-telling shops went out of business. Since real foresight ability users could actually see the future, there was no reason to consult non-Awakened charlatans.
Seeing that she still ran a shop in Yeouido, where land prices were among the highest in Seoul, she was clearly a highly skilled foresight user.
That was probably why Park Tae-hyun trusted her words enough to coolly drop two hundred billion won on a Gate.
"I-I can't read my own face, but I'm really good at reading others...?"
"Yes."
"That person..."
Her trembling fingertip pointed out the window.
A man in a suit walking by while talking on the phone.
"And that person."
A woman in a restaurant uniform sweeping the storefront.
Starting with them, her finger pointed to the people walking along the street.
"Every single person walking out there."
"..."
"They're going to die today."
Her trembling finger now pointed to herself.
"Could you... please save me...?"