Chapter 83
"Yesterday's match didn't get you to D-rank, huh?"
The next day. I was sitting at a table in front of the academy, talking with Senior Yu-jung, when I checked my status window and said that.
My stats had shot up the same way they had during the Rookie King finals, but even after taking down an opponent far beyond my level, I still hadn't ranked up. I'd always heard that once you ranked up, the status window would certify you as D-rank—but there was no such indication anywhere. Senior Yu-jung nodded and said,
"That's because you haven't hit the threshold yet. To cross into D-rank, you need to fill out the minimum stat requirements. Both you and Ichie still haven't met the minimum stats for D-rank."
"How high do the stats usually need to be?"
"To reach D-rank, the quest usually pops up around the low-to-mid twenties."
Low-to-mid twenties. My Strength was already at 20, so D-rank really was right around the corner. Just thinking about it made anxiety rise in my chest. Ichie fidgeted with her fingers, the tension plain on her face. Senior Yu-jung looked at us and said,
"You don't need to get so worked up. It's fine to climb at your own pace."
Ichie spoke up.
"But the faster we climb, the faster we get stronger."
"I mean take it easy because you won't climb as fast as you think. You need to remember that this time was a special case. There's still plenty of time left before the training camp, right?"
"Yes."
"Yes."
Ichie and I nodded at the same time. Senior Yu-jung looked at us with a pleased expression.
Thunder Sword Lee Jun-hyeok stood on a building rooftop with a cigarette between his lips. He couldn't suppress the heavy feeling in his chest. Beneath his furrowed brow, cars raced by, belching black smoke. He let out a deep sigh and looked ahead. Right in front of the building hung a promotional poster for the Urban Heavenly Demon Chronicles.
"Jun-hyeok."
The Black Dragon Chamber Master sat beside him. Lounging on the bench with his body leaned back, he looked terribly gaunt. Lee Jun-hyeok rolled his eyes around, scratched his head, then looked at the Chamber Master and said,
"That Jung Su-hyeon kid has a Fragment of the Almighty, hyung-nim. Rookie King champion, and his growth rate is insane. I'm sure of it. If you just give the word this time, I'll quietly snatch him and—"
Lee Jun-hyeok stopped talking. The Chamber Master had raised his hand. His finger pointed at a pigeon circling near the rooftop. Lee Jun-hyeok followed his hand and turned his gaze to the bird. Flapping its white wings, the pigeon perched on the rooftop railing.
"When I was young, every one of my friends envied me. There wasn't a single bastard who hit A-rank faster than I did. Nobody doubted I'd become S-rank. I don't even know how many years I spent strutting around the hunter world with my nose in the air."
Lee Jun-hyeok turned his gaze back. The Chamber Master was looking at the pigeon with a complicated expression. The bird studied the Chamber Master's face, cocking its head this way and that. The way it twisted its neck was thoroughly annoying. The Chamber Master said,
"In the end, even at this age, I never made S-rank, and the Heavenly Demon title I swore I'd claim in my own name if I ever did—it's sitting vacant. I don't even know where it all went wrong. Now… now I just feel like I'm standing at the edge of a cliff. Like if anyone so much as gives me a shove, I'll go tumbling down, and it scares me."
"Hyung-nim. All we need is the Fragment of the Almighty. Right?"
At that ominous resonance of Fragment of the Almighty, the Chamber Master flinched for a moment. He, too, had wanted the Fragment of the Almighty. The Fragment of the Almighty, whose effects differed from person to person but were always tremendous. Word had it that some people lost control of the power and went mad, while others gained immense strength and rocketed up the ranks in an instant.
With that power, maybe he really could reach S-rank. With the power Jung Su-hyeon held, maybe it really could happen.
But the Chamber Master shook his head firmly. He let out a deep sigh and looked at Lee Jun-hyeok again. Thunder Sword Lee Jun-hyeok—a loyal retainer who had refused countless scouting offers from other guilds and stood firm even when the Black Dragon Chamber was on the brink. Every time the Chamber Master looked at him, he was filled with guilt.
"Jun-hyeok. You can't do that. You can't. Haven't you heard the saying? When you get old, you should die. The guys I started hunting with—almost all of them have either retired or are in the ground. I've stayed in this seat far too long."
"Chamber Master. You can't say that. Didn't you say you'd make S-rank?"
"If I make S-rank, do you think people will look at me as the Heavenly Demon?"
Lee Jun-hyeok closed his mouth at those words. Then he looked across at the opposite rooftop. A poster fluttered on the building. Lee Hyun-woo, the protagonist of the Urban Heavenly Demon Chronicles, smiled as he gazed up at the sky. Even to Lee Jun-hyeok, who had read the Urban Heavenly Demon Chronicles countless times, that figure looked just like the protagonist from the novel.
"I've gotten too old. Too old—I've reached the age where dreams become a nuisance to everyone else."
Lee Jun-hyeok's face twisted. Destroying Heaven King Choi Soon-hong rested his head against the backrest and closed his eyes tightly. His firmly pressed lips were twisted. Lee Jun-hyeok said,
"You're not old yet, Chamber Master. You're still in your prime, aren't you? Even now, I can't lay a finger on you. Last time we sparred when you said you were just warming up, I lost, didn't I?"
Black Dragon Chamber Master Choi Soon-hong turned to look behind him again. The tagline of the Urban Heavenly Demon Chronicles caught his eye.
Who is the real Heavenly Demon?
The Chamber Master still wanted to become the Heavenly Demon. The Heavenly Demon of the Urban Heavenly Demon Chronicles. A hero people would applaud. And so he wanted to do anything—steal the Fragment of the Almighty, kill every bastard who cried out that he wasn't the Heavenly Demon, and reign over the earth.
He wanted everyone to fear him, respect him, and love him.
"Jun-hyeok. I'm scared. I'm scared."
And so the Chamber Master felt he had to step back here. If he took even one more step forward, there would be no turning back. It was so bitter and unfair, but he felt he had to endure it.
"I'm scared that I might really fall all the way to the bottom."
The truth was, he didn't want to step back. He wanted to fight to the end and claim S-rank. But he couldn't know how far that impulse would take him. That was what terrified the Chamber Master. He stood up from his seat and said,
"That Jung Su-hyeon kid. He does volunteer work—he's a good boy. Leave him be. It's all fate, isn't it? Hmm?"
The Chamber Master truly wanted the Fragment of the Almighty. He wanted to become the Heavenly Demon. Lee Jun-hyeok's face twisted. He nodded and said,
"Yes, Chamber Master."
The Chamber Master looked at Lee Jun-hyeok. The wrinkles on his face smoothed out, and a faint smile appeared. He said,
"Jun-hyeok."
"Yes."
"I hear part two of the Urban Heavenly Demon Chronicles is coming out early next year. Let's go see that."
And he patted him on the shoulder. Lee Jun-hyeok had to hold back his tears. He nodded with an awkward smile.
"Is there anyone here who was close with student Kim Choon-bae?"
A few days later, when Teacher Lee Jeong-ah suddenly tossed out that question, the students all turned their gazes. Like a relay race, the chain of glances ended on Kim Ju-sung. He looked around with a startled face, then stood up from his seat and said,
"I don't know. I haven't really heard from him since that day either."
"Is that so? Understood. Actually, after the last Rookie King tournament ended, student Kim Choon-bae never returned home. His parents thought he was at his studio apartment and went to bring him some side dishes, but the lease had already been terminated and he'd packed up all his things and left. If anyone has been in contact with student Kim Choon-bae separately, or knows anything, please contact our student affairs office."
After Teacher Lee Jeong-ah briefly covered a few other announcements and left, the students started buzzing among themselves. I frowned as well and talked with Ichie.
"Ichie, what on earth is going on?"
"I don't know. Should I ask my uncle?"
"What?"
Ichie said that and stuck out her tongue—meaning it was a joke. I clutched my startled chest and pinched her cheek. Ichie squirmed and said,
"That hurts. Oww…"
"Ichie. You can't mess with people with jokes like that."
"Okay."
Kim Ju-sung, who had been sitting with a serious face, crossed his arms and tapped his arm with a finger, then pulled out his phone and went outside. The other students sitting next to him talked among themselves when Kim Ju-sung suddenly left with such a grave expression.
"What's with him?"
"Dunno. His face went completely pale the moment he heard about Choon-bae. Were they that close?"
"Right?"
But no one managed to figure out the reason. I briefly speculated with Ichie about where Choon-bae might have gone, then forgot about the incident. Our top priority was D-rank. Even on the way out to train, Kim Ju-sung was still on the phone with a furrowed brow and a serious expression.