Cram School of the Immortals
Looks like they're prepping me for the college entrance exam.
"Eh?"
I'd meant to say Pardon? — but the wrong word tumbled out. I checked again, certain I must have misread.
The chat was cascading down like a waterfall.
Why is everyone so worked up?!
Ugh... the chat is on fire!
No, wait. If I actually think about it, I'm the one being crushed by a disaster I brought down on my own head. I'm the one who went to the senior center and played Go. I'm the newbie who wagged my tail at them. And now these grandpas and grandmas who actually know their stuff are all fired up!
Wait. This is that thing!
That's... not how you're supposed to do that...
They're all veterans who got hyped watching a newbie brawl and came running in!
And even if I tell them I just want to go up one floor, they won't listen. If I get caught, I'll be stuck making more elixirs again. Judging by the mood, I'm not moving an inch from here.
No! I have to try negotiating somehow. I can't just back down like this!
"Um... couldn't I take it a little slower? The people who were harassing me are gone now..."
Listening to them, it sounded like this hunter named Baek Shin-hoo was in for a world of trouble.
Is that guy going to be okay?
No! I should be worrying about myself, not him! The vibe right now is full-on Spartan college-prep!
"Ugh... can't I take it slow?"
I could ignore them, I suppose. But it's hard to brush off people who are saying this because they're worried about me.
They're all locked in, bursting with the urge to teach me!
Wait. This is that thing!
It's that thing where you hit four different cram schools after regular school lets out!
Baek Shin-hoo lay in bed, glaring at the ceiling.
There was no one around him. No wreaths or fruit baskets from visitors. No trace that anyone had come to see him at all. He simply lay there alone in the silence.
Then the hospital room door opened, and his attending physician walked in. The doctor, face stiff, didn't even make eye contact as he scanned the chart.
"How is your condition?"
A perfunctory question. The kind that asked only what was strictly necessary. The reason the doctor was acting this way? That would be Baek Shin-hoo's attitude. He'd been a nightmare patient who launched into curses without warning.
"Shut the fuck up! Why the hell did my abilities disappear?!"
"Matters related to a hunter's abilities are beyond what this hospital can determine."
"What?"
"We've conducted an EEG, an MRI, blood work, even a cerebrospinal fluid analysis. There is nothing wrong with your body."
"Say something I can actually understand, damn it!"
"In short, there is nothing physically wrong with you, Mr. Baek."
"Then why the fuck won't my abilities work?!"
"At present, we suspect conversion disorder brought on by acute stress."
"Fuck! Did you not hear me say explain it so I can understand?!"
"I believe it is due to trauma."
"Ha—fuck! You quack piece of shit! You don't know a goddamn thing!"
At Baek Shin-hoo's relentless stream of abuse, the doctor's brow furrowed. He snapped the chart shut with a pointed roughness, making sure it was heard, and tossed a remark at the nurse.
"He seems healthy enough. Discharge him."
"Fuck! I'm not fixed yet!"
Even as Baek Shin-hoo bellowed and raised hell behind him, the doctor paid no mind, making a swift exit from the room. The remaining nurse regarded him with equally cold eyes and delivered the news in a purely bureaucratic tone.
"For ability-related issues, please inquire with the Awakening Management Bureau. There's nothing this hospital can do."
"FUCK!!! This piece-of-shit hospital!!!"
And so Baek Shin-hoo was all but thrown out of the hospital.
"The second my abilities come back, I'm tearing this hospital to the ground!"
He headed straight for the Awakening Management Bureau. Even on the way, rage kept simmering up, bit by bit.
How much tax money have they sucked down all this time? A hunter's in crisis — aren't they supposed to fix it? And not just anyone — an S-rank hunter lost his abilities? How many S-ranks does Korea even have?
"The guild bastards too. The second I get my power back, they're done. Fuck."
The guild was no different.
"The second I'm out of the picture, those bottom-feeders who were flailing around beneath me just go and cut me loose?"
He methodically added names to his kill list. Then he tried moving the arm that had nearly been torn off.
His body was his fortune, so he hadn't skimped on money. He'd downed every potion he could get his hands on and rushed to the best hospital there was. Thanks to that, his flesh was intact, but...
The way his muscles moved didn't feel off. There didn't seem to be anything wrong...
So why couldn't he feel any mana?
Swallowing the frustration, he stepped out through the hospital's front gate to catch a taxi.
That was when someone blocked his path.
"You fucking bastard... should've just died..."
A face he remembered. The fifth floor, was it? The hunter whose shin he'd kicked. Judging by the look in his eyes, this was no get-well visit.
"You little shit... you came here looking to die?"
"I worked up the nerve to come, yeah."
The man clenched his fists.
"If that rumor going around the Gallery is bullshit, then I guess I die by your hand today."
"What? The fuck?"
"But if you really can't use your abilities..."
Baek Shin-hoo's eyes wavered. He swallowed a dry lump in his throat.
"Get ready to die today. Nah — I don't want to become a criminal, so I won't kill you."
The man strode forward.
The members of Nebula Guild were lined up in neat ranks, undergoing a gear inspection. The one overseeing it all was, of course, Vice Guild Leader Shin Eun-woo. A veteran of this process.
Shin Eun-woo was checking the guild members' equipment when something seemed to occur to him, and he approached Yoo Se-ah.
"Se-ah."
Yoo Se-ah leaned in and whispered against his ear.
"Call me Guild Master when we're outside."
"Ah, right. Guild Master. I've got a question."
"What?"
"How did you know that NPC was going to trade Bait?"
"I didn't."
"Then?"
"We were out of options, so I took a shot in the dark."
"But you gave that NPC two hundred million won in cash on the fifth floor."
"I did."
"How did you know the NPC would take money, and prepare it in advance?"
Yoo Se-ah spoke with casual indifference, as if it were nothing.
"I didn't know that either."
"Huh? Then... what did you... prepare it for?"
"I originally prepped it for a different purpose."
"A different purpose?"
"To lure male hunters."
Shin Eun-woo stared at her, blank-faced.
"What are you talking about?"
"There were plenty of hunters getting Bait on the fifth floor."
"Yeah?"
"The plan was to stand next to that NPC, then approach the male hunters coming out after trading for Bait and buy it off them. Cash in hand."
"Ah..."
"The guild's got plenty of pretty female hunters. I figured we'd make it work somehow."
"You were willing to go that far?"
"I told you. There's nothing to gain by dragging this out."
Shin Eun-woo nodded, then looked at her again with a puzzled expression.
"Okay, I get that. But why did you give two hundred million won? And to the NPC, of all people?"
Yoo Se-ah gave Shin Eun-woo a couple of pats on the chest. She'd wanted to rap him on the head, but she wasn't tall enough to reach. Shin Eun-woo just gazed at her with that same deadpan, innocent face. Yoo Se-ah sighed at the sight.
"Eun... no. Vice Guild Leader."
"Hm? What?"
"In all the time we've been running the Tower, have you ever seen an NPC that only sells one item?"
"Well, there are some.... Wait—!"
Shin Eun-woo's eyes went wide.
"Right. At first I thought it was just an event NPC for bartering."
"And then?"
"The fact that it brought up a transaction means it's a vendor-type NPC."
"True."
"Most vendor NPCs sell more than one thing."
"So that NPC might too?"
"No idea. Other NPCs demand items, but that one asked for cash, didn't it?"
"Yeah, that's true."
"If this raid succeeds, we need to look into that kid."
"You're saying they could be a hunter?"
"Who knows. And even if they are an NPC, if we can raise affinity with cash, there's no cheaper method than that, is there?"
"That's true. But what if it's a bust?"
"It's not an amount that'll strain the guild. Investing that much with an eye on the future isn't a bad play."
Shin Eun-woo nodded, as if everything had finally clicked.
"This is why I can follow you without worrying."
"Enough with the fluff. Is the gear inspection done?"
"Yeah. Everyone's ready."
"Did you test the Bait?"
"Yeah. The Bait we bought off people lasted a day. The Bait we got from the NPC lasted three days... well past that, actually."
"Better than expected, then."
"Right. Shall we get started?"
"Yeah. Form up and let's go into the briefing."
"Got it!"
After confirming that every member was ready, they proceeded to the briefing. The raid party numbered fifteen in total.
Nebula Guild's raid party began to move.