Chapter 47
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: A Tale of Strangers (3)
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After showering, Park Si-woo headed straight for Yoo Se-yeon's office.
“What’s the schedule for today?”
“What's on it?”
“At eleven, there's a meeting for the raid task force. At three, a meeting with the Hunter Association, and then a preliminary meeting with a representative from the Raon Guild about a team-up. Should we cancel the Association meeting and postpone the task force meeting?”
“Tell them to start the meeting without me. I'll join as soon as I can.”
“Understood.”
When the elevator doors opened, Park Si-woo stepped out first.
He raised a hand to the secretary following him, gesturing that they didn't need to come along.
Park Si-woo opened the door to Yoo Se-yeon's office.
“You said you'd be right over, and you really were.”
“Sorry to interrupt. I'll make this quick.”
Park Si-woo sat on the sofa in the middle of the room.
With her short hair, sculpted features, elegant appearance, and slender figure, Yoo Se-yeon was quite popular among Hunters, even aside from her position as a guild leader.
Before becoming an Awakened One, Yoo Se-yeon had been an idol trainee at one of South Korea's top entertainment agencies.
She had fans even as a trainee and Awakened just before her debut was confirmed.
Sitting across from him, Yoo Se-yeon poured some black tea she had prepared into a cup.
“Kang Han-gyeol, was it? Yes, that was me. I didn't mean any harm. I'll apologize for that part.”
Yoo Se-yeon raised her hands, taking a step back.
Although she'd gone as far as to use a key broker, she never intended to harm Han-gyeol or Eun-young.
If murder had been the goal, she wouldn't have handled things so clumsily.
“Why did you do it?”
If she was curious about Kang Han-gyeol and Song Eun-young, she could have just read the reports that came in later.
As co-leader, Yoo Se-yeon had every right to do so.
Se-yeon popped a handmade chocolate into her mouth.
“The Ant Nest Dungeon, you got a personal report from Kang Han-gyeol, didn't you? And you've been contacting Choi Soo-hyun a lot recently.”
“I'm just keeping in touch with Choi Soo-hyun because we're personally close.”
“High school, or was it middle school, classmates? Doesn't that sound like a convenient excuse? If I knew it'd be like this, I would have made some better friends in middle school.”
It was common knowledge in this line of work that Choi Soo-hyun and Park Si-woo had a long-standing connection from their younger days.
But Choi Soo-hyun didn't trust Park Si-woo simply because they were former classmates.
By that logic, every Hunter who Awakened after graduating from the same school as Choi Soo-hyun should be best friends with him.
Se-yeon would bet her entire career that Choi Soo-hyun didn't even know who the other Hunters from his school were.
The two were friends, but at the same time, they weren't the type to just casually check in.
They both knew the other was doing fine without needing to keep in touch, so there was no reason to call.
Unless there was a specific reason, that is.
The calls between Park Si-woo and Choi Soo-hyun had started becoming more frequent after Kang Han-gyeol appeared.
He was the kid who'd brazenly told the contract manager he was best friends with Park Si-woo and lowballed them with ridiculous terms.
When she first reviewed the contract, Se-yeon couldn't believe her eyes. What on earth was Park Si-woo thinking, approving this?
There was no way this kid was actually Park Si-woo's best friend.
That incident prompted her to start digging into Kang Han-gyeol's background, and she learned it had taken him less than a year to go from a D-rank to a C-rank Hunter.
It wasn't impossible, but it was certainly an abnormally fast pace.
And the Gangnam Station video was the final trigger.
“Does it make any sense for a C-rank Hunter to one-shot a Mothman?”
It wasn't just a simple one-shot.
Considering he also shattered the barrier the Raon Guild Hunter had used to trap the Mothman, the actual power was much greater.
“I was a little surprised when I saw it too.”
“What's with that tone? You didn't know?”
Instead of answering, Park Si-woo drank the black tea Yoo Se-yeon had poured for him.
He neither confirmed nor denied it.
“You know that strange things have been happening between our guild and the Raon Guild lately, right?”
“I'm looking into it.”
“I know you are. But you're not sharing any information.”
This was both a strength and a weakness of the Aria Guild.
It might seem like an unreasonable structure, but there was nothing to be done when the first button had been mismatched from the start.
The moment they started doubting each other, their trust would shatter.
Se-yeon's meaning came across clearly. The problem was…
“You just weren't included in the scope of my suspicion.”
“Is that a compliment? Or an insult?”
“Well, both.”
Yoo Se-yeon scoffed at Park Si-woo's calm, unfiltered words.
“That Hunter you brought in, Song Eun-young, was it? I heard she was unaffiliated for a long time and then was suddenly chosen by some god named Soter or something.”
“Yes.”
“Honestly, I don't care about that. Her parents were Hunters who died during the Great Cataclysm. Pretty famous ones, too. Do you have no conscience?”
“Let's stop with the pointless chatter. I have a meeting after this.”
Park Si-woo cut Yoo Se-yeon off, using his schedule as an excuse.
Se-yeon drained the rest of her tea and roughly set the cup down.
“Fine. I suspected you.”
She knew that Kang Han-gyeol had reported some things directly to Park Si-woo.
Take this recent incident, for example. Nowhere in Han-gyeol's report was there any mention of the intruding Hunter.
On top of that, Kang Han-gyeol also had ties to Choi Soo-hyun. It was unclear who he was closer to, but one thing was certain.
Within the Aria Guild, Kang Han-gyeol was undoubtedly Park Si-woo's man.
“It's not me.”
“You said I wasn't even in your scope of suspicion, right? What's your basis for that?”
“The guilds that stand to lose the most from this are ours and Raon. If the culprit is from our guild, their motive would have to be a grudge against the Raon Guild, not us. In that case, there's only one suspect, isn't there?”
“So you've suspected that bastard from the start, which means I'm excluded.”
“I was going to tell you when the time was right. It's a bit annoying that you struck first, but if you show some sincerity, I'll let it slide.”
Yoo Se-yeon's eyebrow twitched at the word “sincerity.”
Park Si-woo wasn't petty enough to get sulky over something like this.
Se-yeon wore a look of confusion.
“Why are you holding on to a card you can't even control?”
“I promised to provide him with an item for the upcoming joint expedition.”
“Ah, so you want me to cough up something from my collection as an apology?”
“Any complaints?”
Park Si-woo was unapologetic.
His side was the one that had been wronged, so he was entitled to make such a demand.
The girl Kang Han-gyeol had brought, Song Eun-young, was also extraordinary.
Her lack of practical experience was a flaw, but that was something time could easily fix.
Talent, however, couldn't be earned with time. Kang Han-gyeol's report had described Song Eun-young in great detail.
If Han-gyeol really managed to bring Choi Soo-hyun over as well, the ripple effect would be substantial.
‘Even for a hidden boss, it shouldn't have been an easy opponent.’
The Red-Horned Bicorn is quite tricky. When that monster appears, a team usually ends up with one or two members seriously injured.
With the favor Han-gyeol had asked, Park Si-woo planned to use this opportunity to latch onto him.
Yoo Se-yeon pressed her lips together.
It wasn't just Kang Han-gyeol. Strange rumors had been circulating about Choi Soo-hyun recently.
Stories about him quitting the Hunter Association or making a contract with a new god.
Such rumors had always followed Choi Soo-hyun since he became unaffiliated, but this time, the nature and atmosphere of the talk were subtly different.
The god contacting Choi Soo-hyun was one thing, but if that god wasn't a big name, there was only one place he could go.
If Choi Soo-hyun were to join the Aria Guild, it was clear what kind of treatment he would have to be given.
“Damn it. Fine.”
She was the one in the wrong, so there was no point in dragging it out.
“Let's share information.”
Glancing at his watch, Park Si-woo summarized as best he could.
He explained that the targeted Hunters were mainly those who had fallen into a slump.
Yoo Se-yeon crossed her legs and leaned back on the sofa, listening to everything Park Si-woo had to say.
“I never would have thought of that.”
“What did you find?”
“Four years ago.”
“Four years ago?”
While Park Si-woo had investigated people who had been in failed dungeons, Se-yeon had focused on the dungeon failure rates based on the database and on baseless rumors.
Four years ago was not long after the three guilds had merged.
“You know about the 'boss-less dungeons,' right?”
It was a strange phenomenon that had been occurring somewhat recently, where the boss wouldn't appear in a failed dungeon.
He was well aware of it, as a few cases were reported each year.
Se-yeon's connecting the boss-less dungeons to the current incidents was pure coincidence.
Boss-less dungeons were a peculiar phenomenon that only occurred in Korea. That right there didn't make sense.
“If this were happening randomly, it wouldn't make sense for it to be reported only in Korea.”
Yoo Se-yeon added that she would send him the detailed data.
“Where did the bosses go?”
“I don't know either. In any case, it's all circumstantial, with no hard evidence. Which brings me to a question. Do you know anything about Seo Ji-hoon's god?”
Seo Ji-hoon was the man who had once served the god Lux.
He only knew that Seo Ji-hoon had a falling out with the Raon Guild for some reason, split off, and founded the Black Holdings Guild.
“Not really.”
The Aria Guild was home to Hunters who served a wide variety of gods. Seo Ji-hoon was no exception.
“I think this incident is related to the god Seo Ji-hoon serves.”
“It could also be the work of those bastards from the Raon Guild.”
“A moment ago you were openly suspecting him, and now you're changing your tune?”
“I'm speaking of possibilities. Anyway, stop digging into my affairs. If you provoke me one more time, I'll consider it a declaration of war.”
“Looks like you're planning to start a civil war within the guild.”
“If necessary.”
“I have no intention of fighting you.”
“I'll be going first.”
Park Si-woo stood up. As he walked away, Yoo Se-yeon added a comment.
“Your tie. Blue suits you better than red, you know? How many times have I told you?”
“Shut up.”
Park Si-woo irritably closed the door and left the office.
He had gone a little over time, but not enough to disrupt his schedule.
The secretary, who had been waiting outside, approached him.
Park Si-woo's reflection appeared in the elevator mirror as he stepped inside.
“Did something happen, sir?”
“No… My tie.”
“Your tie?”
“Does red really look that bad?”
“No, sir. I think it looks perfectly fine…”
Park Si-woo fiddled with his red tie. The secretary blinked, not understanding.
The elevator doors opened.
As soon as he entered the conference room, he loosened the tie he was wearing.
* * *
A few days later, a message came from Park Si-woo, apologizing for the delay.
Along with the apology, two files were attached.
It was the list of items from his collection that he had promised last time.
‘Why are there two files?’
Did he split it because it was too large?
Just as he was about to reply, another message came from Park Si-woo.
「Representative Yoo said she's giving you this as an apology.」
Oh. Bonus?