Chance Encounter
Seong Yu-mi's plan was simple.
Hold a press conference.
Reveal there that I was the hot-topic Black Dragon.
Then field some questions, and at the end, have Seong Yu-mi announce that she'd scouted me as an Awakening Association hunter in recognition of the Black Dragon's feats.
That was it.
Which was why I'd stepped forward to take questions.
"……."
No one raised their hand.
What the hell.
Were they ostracizing me or something?
Before that thought could fully form, someone tapped my shoulder.
"Master."
"Yeah?"
"Looks like those folks can't even handle mana. They're just regular people, right?"
"Pretty much."
Haa.
Elpinire, who had snuck up without me noticing, made a pained expression and whispered softly in my ear.
"That's normal, then."
"What do you mean?"
"You might not realize it, Master, but a bit of that black mist energy you're using is leaking out from you."
I widened my eyes at this news I'd never heard before.
Even to me, Smoke felt like a violent force.
And it had been leaking out this whole time?
"I didn't notice before either, but after awakening to Mother's blessing, I could sense it."
"……If even you didn't notice, isn't it fine?"
"You think they'd be acting like that if it was?"
True enough.
Thoroughly rebutted, I closed my eyes and focused every nerve.
Faintly leaking mana.
I had to seal it completely.
……Thanks to the World Tree fruit, maybe.
With my eyes shut in concentration, I could really feel the mana trickling out.
The amount was tiny, but that explained their reaction.
I took a deep breath and began blocking the leak entirely.
Normally, this would've drained my mental energy to the point of a throbbing headache, but thanks to the World Tree fruit, manipulating mana was several times easier now.
Having successfully sealed the mana I'd been unwittingly leaking, I slowly opened my eyes.
Only then did the frozen reporters gasp raggedly for air, looking up at me with eyes full of fear.
Tch.
Not on purpose, but sorry anyway.
Judging by the mood, a proper Q&A seemed impossible…….
"M-MTV's Shin Joo-oh here!"
Huh.
Guess not.
I'd underestimated reporters' tenacity.
I nodded toward the brown-haired reporter who raised a trembling hand, eyes brimming with terror.
"Go ahead."
"I-Is it true you two cleared a Sudden Gate by yourselves?"
"Jeong Chan-woo the hunter showed up toward the end, but yes, it's true we rescued all the civilians and took out 90% of the monsters inside before that."
"Was that all the Black Dragon alone? Who was the other hunter who went in with you?"
"Me."
Bzzz—
The voice echoed through the mic.
Elpinire fixed the reporter with the same chilling, icy gaze she'd given me at our first meeting.
"I owe a great debt to Han Mir here, and I'm nothing more than a midday healing hunter. Anyone who hears the testimonies will know I only did healing."
She called me by name.
This master was a little touched.
Wiping away an imaginary tear inside, I turned to the next reporter raising their hand.
"You there, black hair."
"Yes! YBS's Han Sun-jae! Black Dragon, you suddenly appeared, took down an Orc Lord, and essentially solo-cleared a Sudden Gate—what an achievement! Is that correct?"
"Correct."
"Then what's your hunter rank? We're also curious about your Tutorial Tower clear record."
"Hunter rank was F-grade until last month."
"-!"
The reporters buzzed.
I paused from the mic until they calmed.
"S-So that means now……?"
"C-grade now. The Association kindly bumped me straight up to C. Thanks for that, by the way."
Seong Yu-mi gave a small thumbs-up from behind.
"And the Tutorial Tower clear time…… just check it yourselves."
Saying it out loud felt embarrassing.
I snapped my fingers lightly and shared my 'Tutorial Tower clear time' with the reporters.
They all checked it simultaneously and let out cries of shock.
"4444.4 hours!?"
"What the fuck is that!?"
"Intentional? Has to be!"
"Even if intentional, how—."
The room erupted in murmurs.
Everyone here was stunned speechless.
The only calm ones were Elpinire, who didn't know what a Tutorial Tower was, and Seong Yu-mi and Jeong Chan-woo, who'd been briefed beforehand.
"Black Dragon. That's enough."
"Feels like I didn't do much."
"……Just revealing your Tutorial Tower record is a big deal."
Seong Yu-mi signaled me with her eyes.
I nodded and, as planned, reached toward the corner.
"Finally, you there—blonde woman?"
"Hunter Daily's Jeong Yun-ah!"
"Your question?"
"I'm curious about Black Dragon hunter's future path. Any plans to join a guild or group?"
"I'll handle that."
Swish.
Seong Yu-mi took the mic from me with a bright smile.
"Black Dragon—Han Mir hunter's achievements are tremendous. As a greedy hunter myself, I didn't want to hand him over to anyone else."
Smirk.
Seong Yu-mi grinned like she was enjoying this.
"So, I've decided to scout Black Dragon—Han Mir hunter as an Association-affiliated hunter."
"……!"
Click-click-click-click!
The reporters went dead silent and unleashed a barrage of flashes like it was the scoop of the century.
Seong Yu-mi endured the flash storm with practiced ease.
"From now on, Black Dragon—Han Mir hunter will work in my department as an Association hunter."
With that, she turned and walked off with heavy steps, then bowed elegantly like an actor closing a show.
"That concludes the press conference on the Jangwon-dong Sudden Gate and the hot-topic Black Dragon. Thank you all."
Snap!
Seong Yu-mi snapped her fingers.
All the lights in the area winked out instantly.
Hoo.
Some were still holding down their camera shutters, but no light came.
Magic.
The magic of Seong Yu-mi, the Magic King, had descended here.
I used the blackout to slip away with Elpinire.
By the time the lights flickered back on…….
"Where'd they go?"
"I had one more question!"
The conference room was empty.
* * *
The press conference had been in the Association's basement level 1.
So we just took the elevator up to escape.
I yanked off my stuffy tie, sank deep into the sofa, and stared blankly at the ceiling.
"Ah, I'm starving."
Come to think of it, all I'd had today was soda and cookies.
This was overwork.
As I grumbled, the door opened and Seong Yu-mi appeared with jjajangmyeon and sweet-and-sour pork in both hands.
"You haven't eaten since lunch, right? Black Dragon, Elpinire. Eat up."
"Oh."
My eyes lit up as I grabbed the jjajangmyeon she'd set down and shook it wildly.
Elpinire watched me, then started shaking hers the same way.
Feeling like it was mixed enough, I tore open the plastic and said,
"Want a fork?"
"I can use chopsticks fine."
Elpinire dove in with expert chopstick work.
How was this elf from Elcid, who only used forks there, so good with chopsticks?
Her perked ears and sparkling eyes said she liked it too.
I scooped up a big bite of jjajangmyeon and shoved it in.
"Oh. Black Dragon, you're #1 on real-time search right now."
"Hm?"
I looked at Seong Yu-mi while chewing.
She grinned happily, scrolling through articles one by one.
"You were already a hot potato, but now it's scorching."
Chew chew.
I chewed jjajangmyeon and turned on my phone.
Then my eyes went wide.
"Ack, cough."
What the—.
Why so many texts?
My phone had been on silent.
The moment it powered on, it greeted me with '999+' texts and…….
"Whoa, shit……."
Endless incoming calls.
I frantically switched to airplane mode and slowly checked the texts and calls.
Tch.
None worth replying to.
Not a single one connected to hyung.
No need to contact these people.
I turned off the phone and flipped it over.
"Black Dragon. No replies?"
"Mostly people I cut off ages ago. No point."
Kids from the orphanage who used to scold me.
Thugs at school who badmouthed the orphan kid behind my back.
No need to respond to trash like that.
"Media's scary, huh."
"Yeah. Even I get enough hate to last another decade if I slip up once."
Seong Yu-mi nodded in satisfaction at the reactions, then stretched languidly.
"Way better response than expected—like a hundred times better. You did great, Black Dragon."
"What'd I even do."
"Plenty. You seized control from the reporters perfectly. Most hunters get all nervous and fidgety in spots like that."
Seong Yu-mi plopped some sweet-and-sour pork on Elpinire's jjajangmyeon bowl.
"This'll tide you over for now. Once the lingering reporters clear out, let's hit a beef place. My treat."
Beef.
Should sound good.
……Why does it feel so off?
Beef in Gangnam had to be pricey.
Even offered on her dime, I'd never felt this reluctant.
The jjajangmyeon right now seemed way tastier than any beef.
What the hell…….
"Why the look?"
Ah.
From eating nothing but meat in Evergreen Tower.
I swallowed tears inside and bit into the sweet-and-sour pork.
A zing I'd never tasted in the tower.
* * *
The reporters cleared out of Gangnam faster than expected.
They figured writing articles beat camping here.
Less than an hour later, I headed to Seong Yu-mi's favorite grill spot.
"Newbie on the team either way, so eat up!"
Mounds of meat piled high.
Jeong Chan-woo poured water into glasses like it was routine.
"Chopsticks, water."
Everything was set before I could lift a finger.
He seemed ingrained with the habit, which felt kinda pitiful.
Wonder if we can eat all that.
Stomach still full of jjajangmyeon.
I smiled awkwardly at the sizzling beef on the grill.
Of course, Jeong Chan-woo was grilling too.
"Chan-woo. You know."
"I'll grill to medium-rare, tasty."
"Even the staff here can't beat your grilling. Please."
Whoa.
Now it was blatantly pitiful.
What was he if not a slave?
I looked at Jeong Chan-woo grilling away with pitying eyes.
How routine must this be for him to do it all without a word?
I shook my head sympathetically and stood.
"Where to, Mir?"
"Bathroom."
"I'll come."
"Stay."
Why follow to the bathroom?
I shot back curtly at Elpinire.
For the record, I hadn't told Jeong Chan-woo Elpinire was a summon.
Seong Yu-mi said, "Revealing that too might be overkill……?"
I didn't get what was overkill, but so Elpinire finally agreed to call me by name outside.
Even just us two, it'd be nice if she used my name.
I wasn't thrilled about being someone's master…….
I opened the room door and headed to the bathroom.
Life's unpredictable. Never thought I'd end up in a place like this.
S-rank haunt, so pricey was expected.
But it was even more upscale than I'd imagined.
All private rooms.
No noise in the hallway.
All rooms, soundproofed with magistone like the Association basement.
Who even came to places like this?
I used the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and washed my face lightly.
Hoo…….
What a day.
Summoned Elpinire to Earth, cleared a Sudden Gate.
Got dragged to the Association, heard everyone from hyung to banjangnim was dead or missing, ended up as Association Black Dragon hunter.
Unlike towers, Earth brought real fatigue, and all this crammed into one day was exhausting.
Gotta crash at home soon.
Belly full anyway—beef wouldn't go down.
Pretend to eat, then home to sprawl out.
I shut off the water, grabbed tissue to dry my damp face, and turned.
Didn't want to leave Elpinire alone long—that worried me too—so I spun quickly and…….
"……."
Creeeak.
A door opening with a hated screech.
The man who entered met my eyes, and I froze.
"……Ah. Fancy running into you here. Long time no see, sunbae."
I lowered my gaze at the man with long red hair tied back.
The guy who'd cleared Tutorial Tower in two weeks.
S-rank hunter of Korea's Seolhwa Guild, titled 'Sun'.
And.
"……Yeah. Taesung-ah."
My first-job junior who'd blocked me after that last message: 'Our worlds are different now. Don't text anymore.'
Kim Taesung smiled at me.