An Outrageous Reward

With a dramatic sweep of his hand, Maeng Seong-yong declared, “I’d actually recommend you join the White Knight Guild as planned. However, you’ll continue contacting us in secret. The condition is that you share every piece of information you obtain. And if the opportunity arises, I’m thinking we should hold regular meetings as well.”

“So it’s a secret organization that moves from the shadows,” Yeonhee observed.

“Exactly… We operate hidden behind the veil. If you accept those terms, we’ll keep providing the services we’ve been giving you so far.”

“…Services?”

Yeonhee asked as if she had no idea what he meant. Maeng Seong-yong’s lips curled into a satisfied smile.

It had been quite some time since Jo Giman placed tails on us. But at some point, the ones following us began falling into a dazed, foggy state and often lost track of our movements. We already knew this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠change started right after the last promotion exam.

“Did you really not know someone was tailing you?”

“What?! Then… we’ve been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠under surveillance this whole time?”

Yeonhee’s acting has improved a lot.

I had told her multiple times that we needed to hide our true abilities, especially my detection skills.

We can’t show our full hand too easily.

“That’s right. After we met last time, I put in a little work on that tail. By now, he’s probably reporting to his client that you two are just grinding dungeons day in and day out. Gahaha!”

That was actually a huge help. But it also means the Association has been tracking us since the test…

Of course, they probably didn’t have malicious intentions, but we still couldn’t blindly trust the Association.

“Wow… I had no idea. Thank you so much.”

Yeonhee’s eyes sparkled as if she truly hadn’t known. Maeng Seong-yong looked thoroughly pleased.

“There’s no need for you to know who ordered the surveillance. In fact, you shouldn’t know. If you hear too much about the person behind it, you might act suspicious when you actually meet them. The most important thing is to behave naturally.”

I agreed completely, which was why I hadn’t told Yeonhee who was behind the tails. She gave a small nod. The corner of her mouth twitched ever so slightly, thinking her acting had worked perfectly, but Maeng Seong-yong didn’t notice.

“Still, that’s something we could have handled on our own eventually. Are there no other benefits? I’m not sure what we’d actually gain by joining you.”

“Hoo— You’re quite different from what the reports suggested. People really do need to be met in person. Kha ha ha—!”

When Yeonhee logically zeroed in on the core issue, Maeng Seong-yong burst into laughter and fell into deep thought.

“I’ll give you a share of the Great Calamity’s byproducts.”

“…?! R-really?! How much?!”

Is he insane?! He said it under oath, so it can’t be a lie. Offering Great Calamity byproducts to mid-rank hunters like us…

We didn’t know how much we’d actually contribute during the subjugation, but our share of the credit would be negligible compared to the others. Yet we were being guaranteed a portion of such priceless materials.

We have to do this. No question.

Even byproducts from regular monsters weaker than a Great Calamity were used to craft S-rank ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hunter equipment. I couldn’t even imagine what kind of gear could be made from a Great Calamity’s materials.

At the very least, it should be on par with the equipment Hyeon Jung-gil uses…

The sword Hyeon Jung-gil had used recently to slice the monster ‘Thorn Hippo’ in a single strike. I knew that blade had been forged from a ‘Great Calamity’s Claw’ he received as a reward for his contributions in a previous Great Calamity subjugation. Its value was beyond words.

“I’ll make sure you get enough to craft at least one orb or staff and a full set of defensive gear.”

One weapon and one armor set each… That’s an absolutely outrageous offer. But I should push a little more while we have the chance.

I conveyed my thoughts to Yeonhee through Ran, who was perched on my shoulder. She nodded and spoke again.

“Contribution.”

“Hm?”

“We want a larger share based on our contribution.”

“…… Puhahahahahat——!! Now this is what I call guts! Good! That’s exactly the kind of confidence I like to see!”

With our current strength, it was impossible to say for certain that we’d earn any meaningful contribution. But who knew what might happen by then?

He clutched his belly and laughed for a long time, clearly amused by Yeonhee’s words, before his expression turned serious again.

“But nothing comes without a price. How about this? I’ll accept the proposal you just made. However, if your contribution falls below the minimum threshold, you will lose the right to any byproduct distribution I offered at the start. How does that sound?”

“……That’s too harsh.”

“Not at all. If anything, it’s you who’s being greedy—receiving a guaranteed share among the early awakeners and the highest-ranking hunters.”

You’re the one who offered it in the first place…

Either way, Yeonhee now stood at a crossroads: take the guaranteed lottery prize, or gamble for an even bigger jackpot.

After stroking her chin for a moment, she nodded and accepted Maeng Seong-yong’s proposal.

“Good! Yes! Excellent!”

I wasn’t sure what exactly he kept finding so good, but Maeng Seong-yong seemed to have taken quite a liking to Yeonhee.

He has a good eye for people.

It probably wasn’t just because she was a Unique Class. Perhaps it was precisely this kind of insight that allowed him to hold such an important position despite his relatively low rank. Maybe his influence was also why hunters like us—low rank but full of potential—were being brought into the fold.

“I’ll arrange a secure means of contact soon. And I trust you already understand the role you’ll be playing.”

“Yes. Containing and suppressing the spread of the young ones… That’s what you want, right?”

“Correct. By then, your summons should be several times stronger than they are now. Of course, I’m also looking forward to your friend’s performance. The biggest reason we decided to recruit you was actually thanks to the skeleton standing beside you.”

Because of me? Did Kang Yeonsu’s opinion play a part? Hmm… I appreciate the words, but it feels a bit burdensome…

Maeng Seong-yong flashed a toothy grin in my direction. After that, we exchanged some light, unimportant small talk before taking our leave.

The small talk mostly went like this:

“Do you have anyone you’re seeing?”

“…Pardon?”

“Well, I have a decent nephew—”

“Not interested. Absolutely not.”

“…….”

That kind of conversation. Utterly worthless and not worth remembering.

After politely saying goodbye to Maeng Seong-yong, we reviewed our conversation on the way home to make sure we hadn’t missed anything.

“I feel like we could have squeezed out a bit more… I wasn’t very good at negotiating, ugh…”

While practicing pulling out and reshaping my bones, I encouraged Yeonhee, who was clearly disappointed in herself. In my opinion, the negotiation had gone perfectly, but she kept saying she had been too nervous and promised to do better next time.

Once we got home, Yeonhee caught up on the sleep she had missed. She didn’t wake up until late in the afternoon. During that time, I focused on sword training and bone-manipulation practice. When she finally stirred, I told her there was somewhere we needed to go.

“You mean… that back alley from last time?”

I nodded. It was the place where we had shared that intense, intimate moment a few days ago. The memory of the sinister group I had detected there had been lingering in my mind.

“I’m coming too! I’m much stronger now!”

Having gained enlightenment and taken another step forward today, she showed a confidence she hadn’t possessed before.

Hmm…

Thanks to the earring artifact, I readily agreed. She jumped up and down with joy.

After getting ready, I carried her and flew straight to the location where those people had been. We landed on top of an officetel building, and I activated Mimicry.

The moment I transformed into human form, Yeonhee gently stroked my face before burying herself in my arms.

“Ah… This feels nice.”

I hugged the woman who had worked so hard these past few days, kissed her forehead, and then checked the minimap.

However, the nearest group of sinister presences was now marked 20 kilometers away, and the surrounding area had been completely cleaned out.

……Where did they go?

The time of day was different, but this was the exact spot where nearly a hundred of them had set up camp. It was strange that not a single one remained—it didn’t look like they had simply stepped away for a moment.

We entered the building they had occupied. Only a spotlessly clean office space greeted us.

“There isn’t even a speck of dust. It looks like they left only a few days ago.”

“Yeah.”

Was the organization that had been here the Blue Eye, or was it connected to the DOH group?

I narrowed my senses to only cover the building and scanned the surroundings.

“Hmm— ‘Inbam’ and ‘Evolution Water’…”

“You can sense that?”

“Yeah… I think I understand it now. The scent is still faintly lingering.”

It seemed the ones who had been here were members of the DOH organization.

“The scent… it continues. It looks like they moved while leaking small amounts of the drug ingredients.”

“Really? Can you follow it?”

“Yes.”

Since they hadn’t been gone long, we were lucky enough to track the lingering traces and follow them. The place we arrived at was exactly where the sinister group had been marked on the minimap.

As expected. They didn’t go far.

However, their numbers had drastically decreased, and there wasn’t much of the Evolution Water-related product left.

They might have stored most of it in a sub-space and only left out what they needed.

Yeonhee whispered the question. Normally I would have immediately begun killing them one by one, but with her here, I found myself hesitating without realizing it.

Noticing my reaction, she made a slightly discontented face and whispered again.

I nodded. The place where they were hiding was a large container-style building disguised as an auto repair shop, with five separate exits.

Ran, grant the possibility of Rock Barrier.

Ran immediately awakened the potential of the rock-attribute magic within me, then stretched out lazily and vanished as the summoning was canceled.

I nodded. The possibility would last thirty minutes. Although my stats had taken a massive hit from Mimicry, with Yeonhee’s summons at my side, suppressing E-rank or lower hunters wouldn’t be difficult at all. The only reason for all this preparation was to do it quietly.

Rumble—

They realized they were under attack, but with all the exits now blocked by massive boulders, they panicked. Then, when they saw the glowing magic circles forming around them and the hulking Lizardman and Orc being summoned, they screamed in terror and began spamming skills.

But—

Clang clang clang—!

The Orc looked at them with an expression that seemed to ask if that was really the best they could do, and in the blink of an eye, the DOH members were subdued.

“Kyaaaaaaaagh!! W-we didn’t do anything! Really! We swear—!”

The moment they were captured, one of them started begging pathetically, clearly guilty of something.

No need to even ask questions.

Having experienced this multiple times already, I knew interrogation would be pointless.

Swoosh—!

The man who had desperately claimed his innocence lost his head to the sky, dropping a single fragment of the Elixir of Life.

“If you’re going to lie… you should have washed off the Evolution Water scent first.”

I shook my head and began slicing off the heads of the men bound tightly by my summons, one after another.

Swoosh—! Slash—!

Consider it a mercy that I’m killing you with a single strike.

In the end, not a single one was spared. Every last one of them was killed.

All their phones are brand new. The leader’s orders?

It was possible that the leader of DOH sustaining injuries while trying to reverse my skill had led to this result.