The Closest Enemy
After wrapping up the chaotic press conference, I even shook hands with the fan club members who had come out to see me.
Wasn’t my job supposed to be a hunter?
These days it felt more like I was some kind of celebrity!
“If you put on a little makeup, you’d look like an actor.”
“Boss. That’s a joke.”
“As always, I am completely serious.”
The way he said it without so much as a flicker of expression made it sound so real it was terrifying.
“Hyung. I agree.”
“It does give you that vibe, Hyung-nim.”
A bunch of sycophants, the lot of them.
Sigh.
I didn’t even bother asking my two thralls.
They would just spout nonsense anyway.
Once I had mostly finished what needed doing, my eyes met those of an acquaintance nestled among the fan club.
“Ahjussiiiiii!!”
“Hwa—no. Miss Yeondo. It’s been a while.”
“Sir Knight of White Light! Nice to see you!”
“Ahem, ahem. You’re embarrassing me.”
Even with his lips twitching as he said it, the words carried zero conviction.
“Yeondo. What brings you here?”
“Of course I had to come when I heard Ahjussi was coming back to the country!”
Yeah.
I’m so moved I could cry.
“Does Madam know you’re here?”
“Of course not!”
“Come to think of it, it’s school time right now······.”
“Ahhhhhh. I can’t hear a thing.”
This brat.
She knew full well her mother, the landlady, never tolerated skipping school, yet she still showed up here?
“Whatever. It’s not like I’m the one getting scolded.”
“It’s fine. As long as Ahjussi keeps quiet, Mom will never know.”
“The press conference went out live.”
“Gack.”
Whether Madam had spotted Yeondo mixed in with the fan club or not…
Yeondo’s fate was in heaven’s hands now.
“Did you know? Who started Ahjussi’s fan club.”
“Mmmmm. Do I really need to know?”
Every time I looked at the fan club I felt my mental strength getting shaved away.
I was grateful, sure, but there was still this itchy, uncomfortable feeling.
Yeondo smacked her lips for a moment, then held out her phone.
“Tada!”
“Fan club…… president……? You???”
“Yep. People were going crazy on SNS, so I took the lead.”
Hooooh.
The enemy had been right next to me the whole time.
This won’t do.
“You’re going to get a little scolding.”
“Eekikikik!”
When I stretched Yeondo’s cheeks out, a bizarre sound popped free.
“Everyone in the fan club! Hunter Park Minho is such a violent person, mmph mmph!”
“Don’t even joke about that.”
There were way more than one or two pairs of eyes watching.
Sigh.
I never imagined the enemy would be this close.
Come to think of it.
She was with the Mir Guild. Was it really okay for her to come see me like this?
“What if the guild finds out?”
“They actually pushed me to go see you? Said since we live in the same house, aren’t we close?”
Yeondo giggled.
“Maybe they’re trying to recruit Ahjussi through me.”
“I doubt that’s it.”
When I spoke with my expression hardening a little, a question mark floated above Yeondo’s head.
The tricks Mir had pulled.
The incident during the joint raid.
Because of those two events, we could never be on good terms with the Mir Guild.
Even if I decided to let it go…
Guildmaster Yong Cheonwoo would never drop his hostility.
If the other side hates you for no reason, I was taught that it’s only polite to give them a proper reason.
Even if I didn’t openly pick a fight with the Mir Guild, if we ever clashed during hunter work I fully intended to crush them.
But they sent Yeondo and told her to stay friendly?
Mir Guild’s actions didn’t add up at all.
Hmm.
Something smelled fishy.
Probably just my imagination?
After Minho returned home, media outlets across the Republic of Korea poured out related articles nonstop.
Consecutive S-rank promotions—an unprecedented record!
That alone was astonishing, and now he had shattered the world record for the Tower of Chaos as well.
GGG’s Executive Director Sophia had set the Floor 43 record thirteen years ago.
An inviolable domain that had never been breached in thirteen years.
He didn’t stop at simply rewriting that monumental record.
He cleared Floor 50 of the Tower of Chaos—something no one had ever been known to witness, let alone complete.
Following the all-clear of the Tower of Chaos, interview videos with Gerard and Alfons also dropped.
Although the results of the exchange matches never leaked outside, the fact that two of the Twelve Heroes were now paying attention to this talent once again made headlines and thoroughly elevated national prestige.
Nam Jinwoo, chief apprentice at Hanil Blacksmith, was also thoroughly elated by the news.
“Master!”
“I saw the article.”
“Our Hunter Park did it!”
“And that’s exactly why it’s a shame.”
“Sir?”
“He has the talent to reach the peak as a blacksmith, yet he’s got far too many abilities.”
Han Yohan’s only concern was witnessing the absolute pinnacle of blacksmithing.
If they could obtain the rare metals coming out of the Cross Gate, they might gain entirely new inspiration.
To reduce the dangers of mining operations they needed to finish the Gigant Armor as soon as possible…
Yet the talent capable of solving that problem had his head full of other things.
Regret outweighed joy.
“Now that he’s back in the country, he’ll come to the smithy, won’t he?”
“Mm. He will.”
“Please pass on the secret techniques of an amazing blacksmith!”
At his disciple’s words Han Yohan clenched and unclenched his fist.
“Good idea.”
“Hunter Park has a craftsman’s temperament too, so he’ll like it.”
“Working through the night together would be even better.”
“Yes. Of course. Working alongside Master—opportunities like that don’t come easily!”
Master and disciple laughed heartily—hahaha—completely unaware that Minho would shrink back the moment he saw Meister Han Yohan emerging with his usual bloodshot eyes.
The reactions of the domestic Top Five were also mixed.
“Have we still not heard back about the meeting I requested with President Baek?”
Phoenix Guildmaster Yang Seoyeon’s eyes blazed.
“W-we’ll arrange a meeting soon.”
“I first gave that order back during the Wave of Primordials Gate incident, you know?”
The incident in which Minho had cleared a gate that the Phoenix Guild found troublesome.
Yang Seoyeon had been watching this rookie ever since.
If recruitment didn’t work out, at least stay on friendly terms.
With that thought she had been hounding the HR team, yet the results remained disappointing.
“We’ll set up a meeting within three days.”
“You don’t even need to meet Park Minho himself. Just get a bridge to President Baek first.”
“Understood.”
The Phoenix Guild desperately scrambled to get even a single foot in the door.
In contrast, the Mir Guild remained quiet.
Given the open trouble they had already had with Minho, the atmosphere in the guildmaster’s office was like a funeral parlor.
“The task I ordered?”
“We’ve confirmed that Miss Kim Yeondo made contact with Hunter Park.”
“Good. That’s enough.”
“Miss Yeondo is one of our guild’s promising newcomers.”
“Think of it as a cheap price for eliminating a future enemy of the guild.”
Yong Cheonwoo’s eyes settled into cold stillness.
Murderous intent writhed inside pupils as frigid as ice.
Minho’s ominous growth rate was making him deeply uncomfortable.
“Is the conversation with that side progressing well?”
“Yes. However……”.
“Say nothing more.”
From the joint raid onward, the Mir Guild and Minho could no longer laugh together.
Mir had been the ones to start the schemes, of course.
But as always, the powerful cared less about their own actions than about how the other side reacted.
“Then we just have to remove him.”
That was why he had sent Yeondo precisely timed with Minho’s return.
“Proceed.”
“Understood.”
Spilled water cannot be gathered up again.
So what then?
You wipe it up with a towel.
While Mir Guildmaster Yong Cheonwoo ground his teeth, the upper echelons of the Rift Bureau were in a contrasting festival mood.
Knock knock—
“I’ve arrived, Director.”
“Commissioner. Do you have a lot of free time these days?”
“Your attitude toward a superior is incorrect.”
Rift Bureau Commissioner Choi Jiung smirked and tossed over a can.
“Beer before noon?”
“One can won’t get you drunk, will it?”
“I prefer to avoid drinking during work hours.”
“Ah. Then don’t drink it. I’ll have it myself.”
“They say blessings flee when you drink alone. I suppose I have no choice.”
Jeong Seungil cracked open the can without any show of displeasure.
He could already guess the purpose of Commissioner Choi Jiung’s visit.
“I’ve been to the Blue House.”
“Because of Hunter Park, I take it.”
“The President was extremely impressed by the achievements of our first Ranger.”
Recognition from Jeong Seungil, Korea’s only SS-class hunter.
And it hadn’t stopped there.
He had conquered the Tower of Chaos—whose final stage no one had ever reached—and received love calls from both Gerard and Alfons.
Even though he wasn’t a full member of the Rift Bureau, the mere fact that such an outstanding talent now had a connection to the government was an enormous achievement.
“May I speak frankly?”
“Please, speak freely.”
“I’m not entirely pleased.”
“What could possibly displease our sen—no, our Director.”
“Apparently Gerard recommended that Hunter Park naturalize as a British citizen.”
“Ah. That pretentious gentleman bastard!”
“He was turned down, so you needn’t worry.”
“That’s a relief amid the misfortune.”
Gerard and Alfons.
Even the Twelve Heroes had recognized the existence of this shining raw gem.
From now on the conditions of the love calls aimed at Minho would only rise, never fall.
For the moment they had bound him as Ranger No. 1 through an agreement with the Rift Bureau…
But that effectiveness would not last forever.
“We may need to look after Hunter Park Minho’s convenience a little more carefully.”
“Pulling additional personnel is even harder. Instead, let’s think about how to pad his compensation.”
Choi Jiung grinned.
What kind of personality Minho possessed.
What he needed.
Among every hunter organization in the world right now, none knew those things in as much detail as the Rift Bureau.
“We’ll prepare a proposal he’ll be satisfied with.”
“I’m counting on you.”
With Minho’s return, the world’s attention focused on him even more intensely than before.