Chapter 025
[Chapter 025]
< Internal Energy × Axe >
A high-end Japanese restaurant in Gangnam.
“I was surprised that you both asked to see me together.”
Before me sat Hunter Lee Seok-ju and Manager Kim Min-jun of MK Sphere.
“So, have you decided to transfer?”
“Right, once the Bureau matter is settled, only the job of stamping the contract remains.”
Lee Seok-ju spoke with a much more relaxed expression.
“Since Manager Kim here supported me with such exceptional conditions.”
“Not at all, Hunter.”
Kim Min-jun was all smiles and sat closely next to Hunter Lee Seok-ju as if he were an older brother.
“Come to think of it, I realized Kang-hyun was the connection that linked us two. I had visited with the intention of finding out the secret of his recovery.”
“Hey, Manager! It wasn't like that! Since he's a person with such a deep affection for the Bureau, we didn't even dare to invite him and were just admiring him.”
Hunter Lee Seok-ju tapped Kim Min-jun’s back saying it was a joke.
It seemed they had become a very close and comfortable relationship in a short time, regardless of rank.
“Anyway, Kang-hyun, that potato soup you gave then. It was truly great. My chronic fatigue has vanished since that day.”
“The garden energy there is a bit good.”
I just passed it over with a laugh.
Still, no one thought it was strange.
Anyway, Kim Min-jun had only eaten it that one day.
While a very harmonious atmosphere continued, Lee Seok-ju asked with a worried face.
“But Kang-hyun, have you heard from Old Man No?”
“No. Did something happen?”
“Once I leave the Bureau, he's the one who weighs on my mind most. It seems he's suffering quite a bit under Park Jin-soo.”
His expression hardened seriously.
“The recent faulty potion incident, it was Park Jin-soo who changed the supplier on his own for cost reduction. But once things broke out, he made Old Man No write a disciplinary statement and even issued a pay cut, saying the final inspection responsibility lies with the equipment team.”
It was an expected thing.
Someone had to take responsibility, and every time, the easy shield was the Old Man No.
Even this time, Park Jin-soo seemed to have caused the accident himself and left the aftermath to someone else.
“...Old Man No must be accepting all of that because he's such a good person.”
“He's more than good, he's a great person. Among those bastards in the Bureau, there's no one who hasn't received Old Man No’s help.”
Suddenly, there was something I was curious about.
“Manager Kim Min-jun. Can a guild like MK also scout someone like Old Man No? I know you don't take non-Awakeners....”
“Old Man No’s case is a special case. Actually, we're continuing to check references for a few significant individuals, and the only person who received a top-grade evaluation was Old Man No.”
Lee Seok-ju also added from the side.
“It's only natural. That man is someone who takes care of others more than himself.”
“He survived 20 years in the most dangerous fields in South Korea with a non-Awakener body. This is immense just by survival ability alone. Adding to that his equipment know-how, field data... it has a value that cannot be converted into money.”
Kim Min-jun added with a serious face.
“Honestly speaking, there won't be a single guild among the top guilds in South Korea that doesn't want Old Man No right now. Simply because of the label of non-Awakener, everyone is just drooling and watching each other's reactions.”
Kim Min-jun’s words were not empty.
Not to mention the survival ability he maintained for 20 years, even the powerful human network encompassing retired hunters and equipment crafting masters.
Since he was like the progenitor of the hunter industry.
“Furthermore, isn't there a decisive reason to covet Old Man No?”
Kim Min-jun showed a meaningful smile.
“Uh, this is nothing else.”
Then he politely held out a high-end box sealed with mana toward me.
“It's a gift from MK. I owe you from last time, and also our executive wanted to meet you very much, but in case it's burdensome, she first just showed her sincerity.”
“Executive?”
“Yes. It's a weapon prototype our guild's artifact team is currently developing. Seeing your house last time, I thought there might be many wild beasts around. If you're not using anything else, please use it even for self-defense.”
Opening the box, it contained a sleekly designed combat hand axe.
[Item: Return-to-Hand Tomahawk]
[Rank: A]
[Description: A prototype from MK Sphere’s artifact team. If thrown, it has a special function to track the user's mana and surely return to the hand. (Caution: It might occasionally fly to an unintended place.)]
“Pardon? An artifact?”
An artifact directly crafted by a guild means that guild's technology and competitiveness.
A strategic material occupying the most important part in the power struggle between guilds.
So most guilds only distribute artifacts they crafted to their own hunters, never circulating them outside or leaking the technology.
So, the item currently in my hand meant it was a kind of item that couldn't be obtained even with money.
“It looks quite expensive.”
I held the hand axe up to the light.
The blade part was crafted with mithril.
The handle seemed to be made by carving the core wood of an ancient Treant, as life force was felt just by holding it.
It looked well over 1 billion won by estimation.
“Estimated market price is meaningless. I’d be thankful if you just accept it happily.”
Probably she wanted not to give burden.
That heart was felt thankfully.
Of course, I know painfully well from 6 years of social life that there's no such thing as a free lunch.
Still, since it's a profit if given first, is there a reason to refuse?
If it were the old me, I would have been restless feeling a debt of heart at such an excessive favor, but now it was different.
They must also be investing after seeing my utility value.
If so, it was natural for me to receive treatment matching that value.
“Then I’ll truly accept it without burden.”
Kim Min-jun smiled brightly as if that's what he wanted.
* * *
National Hunter Management Bureau, Operations Headquarters Conference Room.
“So, you mean the identity of Gorani Man is still in the dark?”
At the Division Chief's question, Kang Dong-cheol nodded with a heavy face.
“Yes. There are no clues other than the witness's testimony.”
“A monster who clears a B-Rank Rift in 5 minutes....”
Since the Bureau's foundation, it was an unprecedented case never reported once.
Just then, Park Jin-soo spoke with a snort.
“Monster my foot. A truck driver must have seen a Rift naturally closing and reported nonsense to the media. Reporters these days, isn't it common for them to go crazy over something provocative?”
“But Team Leader Park, the traces left at the scene....”
“Those kinds of traces can be manipulated as much as one wants. Right now the important thing is not chasing such a ghost.”
Park Jin-soo stood up and shouted confidently.
“Then what does Team Leader Park think is important? Don't you know Hunter Lee Seok-ju is also preparing to move elsewhere right now?”
“No, no need to be discouraged because Hunter Lee Seok-ju is leaving.”
“What?”
“I have directly settled the matter this time with Kim Tae-seong, an A-Rank attacker.”
“Kim Tae-seong? That guy famous for being a lone wolf?”
Kim Tae-seong.
His skill was the real deal, but he was a lone wolf ranker who couldn't settle in any guild due to his greedy and self-centered personality.
“But didn't that person fail every time because he proposed money we couldn't give?”
“Yes. But this time, I decided to invest all the budget left after clearing the Rifts in Seoul and Gyeonggi area to propose the best conditions. It's treatment equivalent to a very small number of A-Rank Hunters with high potential.”
“A tiny number of A-Ranks? Isn't that too much overinvestment? With that budget, we could build several Rift response tower facilities and shelters in Seoul... and just spending a tiny fraction of that money could catch Hunter Lee Seok-ju, couldn't it?”
Several team leaders expressed concern, but Park Jin-soo didn't even listen.
“Lee Seok-ju? Why catch that traitor with money again? He's a human who betrays right away after having some luck climbing the Tower. And Hunter Kim Tae-seong also said he would positively review it. Isn't it a much bigger profit to newly recruit one A-Rank than having one Lee Seok-ju leave?”
“Well, listening to you, Team Leader Park Jin-soo’s words also make sense.”
“Right. With A-Rank Kim Tae-seong, it's a different story.”
Several executives nodded in agreement with his words.
But Kang Dong-cheol expressed concern.
“But Team Leader Park, Hunter Kim Tae-seong has zero experience in Rift response. Tower raid and Rift response are completely different fields. Furthermore, his surrounding reputation is not good, so there's much talk about his personality part too.”
The Tower is a climb toward a fixed goal, but a Rift was a disaster scene where any variable could break out anytime anywhere.
Cooperation with team members, civilian protection, and sudden situation handling ability.
Kim Tae-seong lacked all of that.
“So? It's enough if he's strong, does personality feed you? What's important to our Bureau now is to break through the blocked 40s floors and quickly strike up to 50s and 60s floors! How long are we going to just chase other guilds' tails!”
“...Hmm.”
Park Jin-soo’s words were definitely the most urgent thing for the higher-ups hungry for immediate results.
Rift was Rift, but right now the important thing for the Bureau was to break through the Tower quickly.
* * *
After finishing my business in Seoul and returning to the country house, it was a mess starting from the front gate.
“Kkiyot!”
-Hmyoot!
“Pwa-aeng!”
The Gorani circled around me while turning its tail like a propeller, Muryong climbed onto my shoulder by riding my pant leg, and Hasuo walked over with its short root legs and rubbed against my leg.
“Here, I bought presents.”
[Mana Concentrated Honey Jelly]
It was a jelly where sweetness and mana were condensed, said to be made with the royal jelly of honeybee monsters.
-Hmyoooooo-o-o-t!!!
As soon as Muryong saw the jelly, its eyes sparkled and it snatched the largest strawberry-flavored jelly to hide in its cheek.
The Gorani put the jelly whole into its mouth and munched.
“Do you want to eat too?”
Hasuo tasted the grape-flavored jelly once.
“!!!”
It then bit the jelly it was eating preciously and began to dig the soil as if trying to plant it.
“No, nothing comes out even if you plant that.”
While watching that sight, I suddenly realized Hasuo’s appearance had changed a bit.
“Wait? You’ve grown a bit?”
Holding its armpits and lifting it, Hasuo’s height had grown as much as a finger joint in just the one day I hadn't seen it.
“Pwa-aeng?”
It was definitely a body without any hardness, but I felt a bit more power was loaded into its thin roots.
“Since it's a Primordial Fleeceflower, I thought its growth would be slow, but it suddenly grew.”
Checking the status window, the name [Childhood Stage] had appeared.
Just as I was about to read the description.
Pat-pat-pat!
“?”
Turning my head toward the sound, Muryong had climbed onto the gift box I set aside and was scratching the wrapping paper with its small front paws.
“Muryong, it's dangerous. Something sharp is inside.”
I stopped it, but Muryong rather obsessed more with the box.
As if it knew the item inside was unusual.
‘Does it know it's an item holding mana?’
Eventually, I opened the box and showed the hand axe.
-Hmyoot?
Muryong, who was sniffing as if inspecting it here and there, sniffed with a nose full of curiosity.
“Shall we go and try using it once?”
Since a new weapon was created, its performance had to be tested.
During the last B-Rank Rift, I used the 1st Goblin's sword I snatched.
I succeeded in cutting the core, but it wasn't a sword that could hold all my Internal Energy (Naegong).
The fact was that I couldn't properly gauge just how much my power was yet.
‘Would this axe withstand my power?’
I stood before a giant old dead tree in a corner of the yard that I thought about using for firewood.
And then I lightly threw the hand axe using wrist snap.
Whoosh-
The hand axe flew while drawing a trajectory.
And.
....
No sound was heard.
As if it were an illusion, it just passed through the giant old tree as it was.
Grab!
Soon it returned smoothly to my hand like a boomerang.
“Once more.”
This time, with Internal Energy (Naegong) loaded.
I connected the Internal Energy (Naegong) inside my body like a spool of thread to the hand axe handle.
And I threw it very lightly.
Whish-sh-sh-!
I stared at the old tree the hand axe flew toward.
Outwardly, there was no change.
Grab!
In that moment it returned to my hand again.
Slid-slid-slid-
The giant old tree lost its form like a mirage and scattered soundlessly as fine sawdust.
The Internal Energy (Naegong) contained in the hand axe had decomposed the tree starting from the atomic unit.
“I obtained something mysterious.”
The combination of Internal Energy (Naegong) and this artifact.
Perhaps, it's more than what I think?
< Internal Energy × Axe > END