The Four Heavenly Kings
The woman sneered as she spoke. “Calling even me in? Must be pretty damn serious, huh?”
A massive round table. Among those seated around it, one woman—Kim Kang-seo, the branch’s sole S-rank Hunter—let out a deep sigh. Her face looked utterly exhausted at first glance, with dark circles under her eyes. She adjusted her horn-rimmed glasses and said,
“The branch is on the verge of total collapse. The Korean S-ranks suffered no losses, but the foreign S-ranks are all dead now… and they’re demanding we pay an astronomical price for the damage.”
“So that’s why you called me?”
Ariel, the unregistered Korean Hunter, older sister of Aren, and an S-rank herself, tilted her head. Her eyes seemed to ask, So what do you want me to do about it?
Kim Kang-seo frowned, letting out a low groan. Both the older and younger sister are complete disasters. The younger one was tied up with Black Cloud, Korea’s largest criminal organization, and one of its so-called Four Heavenly Kings. The older one was one of the rare information-type Hunters, an S-rank who remained unregistered.
Well, if an S-rank information Hunter went public, that would cause its own set of problems.
Thud.
Ariel stretched her legs out lazily and propped them up on the round table, completely ignoring the sharp glares from everyone around her. She yawned openly.
“Haaawn~ So what exactly do you want me to find out? I already gave you everything, didn’t I? I even dug up the locations and personal details of all the unregistered Hunters for my little sister. Why are you calling me in again?”
“Please show some respect.”
Kang Ha-rin, an A-rank Hunter who had finally reached her limit, shot her a freezing glare. Ariel let out a hollow laugh, as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“You people are the ones who suddenly called in an unregistered Hunter, and on top of that, I handed over almost all the information for free. I believe in a clear distinction between the strong and the weak, you worthless bastards.”
Kang Ha-rin shot up from her chair in a rage.
Clatter!
The moment the chair toppled over,
Clap, clap.
Absolute Zero
A bone-chilling cold instantly filled the room, as if everything around them had frozen solid.
“…Kang Ha-rin, calm yourself. And Ariel, aren’t you currently living as a Korean citizen with your identity protected in exchange for providing information?”
“Tsk. I should just leave this damn country. Aren has a decent head on her shoulders, but her heart is way too soft.”
Ariel clicked her tongue and shrugged. Her arrogant attitude was irritating, but she was an incredible talent who had reached S-rank through information-gathering ability alone.
The younger sister was impressive too.
Kim Kang-seo had once fought Arren. Back in Black Cloud’s early days, the branch had tried to crush them by force. The reasoning had been that once a Hunter started rampaging, there would be no stopping them. But capturing Arren had failed.
Despite her ability Black Smoke being measured at A-rank…
I… lost.
The one who had fallen was Kim Kang-seo herself. Of course, Black Cloud had lured her into an enclosed space, and there had been attacks from their executives in between, but still—Arren had been strong.
These sisters are dangerous, but their utility is more than enough.
That was precisely why Black Cloud existed. In fact, by suppressing the Hunters operating in the underworld, Black Cloud was actually helping maintain order in Korea.
“We will bow our heads, Ariel. This is an urgent matter. Please provide as much information on the Four Heavenly Kings as possible.”
Kim Kang-seo lowered her head. The others looked shocked. The strongest force in the branch lowering her head carried that much weight.
Ariel looked momentarily flustered, eyes widening with a surprised “Eh?” But she quickly cleared her throat and returned to her haughty tone.
“Ahem. If you’re asking that nicely, then fine. But you know the terms, right?”
“Yes. We will pay you generously. And we will arrange a private meeting with Yoo So-rang.”
“Nice. That’s how a proper deal is done. Hehe.”
Ariel rubbed her hands together with a sly smile. It was a rather shady gesture, but her face was so beautiful that it somehow looked forgivable.
The Four Heavenly Kings… we cannot face them with force.
Kim Kang-seo had seen it. She had witnessed the overwhelming power of those two. If they were called the Four Heavenly Kings, there were likely two more powerhouses of that caliber. Perhaps even a boss existed above them. In that case, no matter what…
We must negotiate.
From the circumstances, she had heard that the boss of the Four Heavenly Kings was a “small girl.” Yoo So-rang and Mu-yeon had seen her during their reconnaissance. If they suddenly cut ties with their Korean citizenship and tried to wipe them out entirely… the Four Heavenly Kings would move, and it could lead to an unprecedented situation where they turned against the nation itself.
Therefore… we must at least maintain a friendly relationship.
Kim Kang-seo swallowed dryly.
Ariel closed her eyes.
Mimir's Spring
Shhhk…
Letters began floating around Ariel. Countless pieces of information were being drawn in. Information always demanded a price. One of Ariel’s eyes was torn out, blood streaming down her face. It could be healed, but because it was a “price,” the recovery would take a long time.
A heavy silence fell.
The moment all the information had flowed in, Ariel opened her eyes, gasping for breath. Her face had gone deathly pale, as if she had seen something terrifying.
“F-fuck!”
“What happened?!”
Kim Kang-seo looked at Ariel’s trembling shoulders in alarm. This had never happened before. Ariel had sometimes tried to squeeze out more money after obtaining information, but never like this.
“Insane! This is insane! I’m washing my hands of this!”
Ariel covered her bleeding eye and tried to leave her seat. Kang Ha-rin blocked her path.
“What exactly happened?”
“Huge… enormous… no, terrifying. I don’t know, fuck! It’s better not to get involved. Y-yeah. That’s it.”
Ariel spoke in a shaking voice. Kim Kang-seo tried to organize her thoughts. Damn it, what the hell is going on?
Ariel looked at Kim Kang-seo with trembling eyes. The emotion dwelling in her pupils was pure fear.
“I-I can’t explain it. It seems the information is being blocked. Something that completely overwhelms even Mimir’s Spring…”
“…”
Kim Kang-seo swallowed dryly. Ariel took a deep breath to calm her excitement before continuing.
“I don’t know the true identities of the Four Heavenly Kings. To be precise, something is completely blocking that information from somewhere. Instead, there are a few people who have approached the Four Heavenly Kings.”
“Who are they?”
“My little sister Arren, and from America…”
Kim Kang-seo roughly guessed who it was and gritted her teeth. That crazy battle maniac!
Ariel continued in a trembling voice.
“The six Seraphim.”
When you read web novels, there’s always that cliché.
I’m trying to live an ordinary life, but the world keeps paying attention to me—boom, bang!
The funny thing about those stories is that the protagonists never actually lived ordinary lives. But I’m different. After awakening, I truly, honestly, never once left my house. Sure, I became a hot topic after breaking through to Transcendence… but that wasn’t even my intention.
The important thing is that I genuinely wanted to live a normal life.
The community is a total mess.
Separate from that, bizarre theories about my still-unrevealed identity were popping up everywhere.
Sorry, I only posted this to show you guys. (Roughly the 3rd floor Transcendence clear record)
Unregistered Hunters are seriously amazing, right? My heart feels so grand…
I frowned. What the hell was this guy’s deal? He had been a regular in this community for a while, but lately he’d been spamming posts praising unregistered Hunters.
Why the hell is he licking my feet…
Hmm. Come to think of it, a beautiful girl’s feet might actually be worth that. That damn Han Yu-seon’s narcissism was starting to infect me. Was the rotten onion theory actually true?
Theory that the unregistered Hunter is the strongest, theory that the unregistered Hunter is all hype, theory that the unregistered Hunter is a farming lolita…
Wait, how did they get the last one right?
Anyway, the community was filled with endless debates trying to deduce my identity. Hilariously, there was almost no real information about me, so they were all just guessing wildly.
But sometimes they actually get it right and it shocks me…
The whole world was painting me as some mysterious figure. But I’m just a shut-in hikikomori loser, you know? I wish I could be someone amazing too.
Sigh…
I let out a mental sigh and turned off the computer.
“Is something bothering you?”
“Eek!”
When Han Yu-seon suddenly popped out from beside me, I reflexively screamed and turned to look at her. She giggled. Apparently my startled reaction was that funny.
“What do you want?”
I asked grumpily. Han Yu-seon shrugged as if it were no big deal.
“Haven’t you forgotten something?”
“What? The points? I already invested them.”
“…Not that.”
Han Yu-seon puffed out her cheeks, looking disappointed.
“What is it then?”
“I thought you would know what day it is today.”
“You have to tell me if you want me to know or not.”
“You really don’t know…”
Han Yu-seon pouted, but I genuinely had no idea.
Is there something special today?
No. No matter how much I thought about it, there wasn’t.
Han Yu-seon grumbled.
“I’m disappointed that you don’t remember such an important day. How many days has it been since we met?”
“…Ten days?”
She gave me a look that said she couldn’t believe it.
“Are you seriously making a fuss over ten days?”
“I think ten days is important for humans. You remember multiples of ten like 100 days or 300 days, but you don’t even celebrate the tenth day.”
“U-uhhh? Yu-seon unnie, what kind of nonsense is that…”
Seol-yeon asked back, not understanding, but Han Yu-seon shot her a sharp glare.
“It’s important!”
“…R-right, I guess.”
“Anyway, I’ve prepared a 10-day event for today!”
What kind of crazy stunt had she pulled this time? I let out a hollow laugh.