Senior, Allow Me to Pay My Respects!
"Thank you for making the trip out here."
"Oh, it's nothing, really."
Oh Hyeon-seong loaded the boxes of strawberries onto the truck bed.
The driver, who had rushed outside, quickly moved to help him. Everything in those boxes was headed for Hankyung Department Store.
"Wow, this shipment seems even bigger than the last one?"
"Farming's really starting to grow on me, I suppose."
He said it with a sheepish grin. What had begun as an awkward hobby, fumbled through with nothing but his phone for guidance, had somehow settled into a rather stable operation.
The strawberry farm he'd expanded so hastily was no exception. Crops touched by the spirits' hands never fell to pests or blight, and the harvests came in generous and abundant. On top of that, with nothing going to waste and the quality perfectly consistent, his yield rate was far higher than ordinary farming could ever hope for.
There were also the little tricks Hyeon-seong himself had picked up as he grew comfortable with the work.
'Though honestly, at this point they barely need me at all.'
By now the truck bed was piled high with strawberries. The driver climbed into his seat and gave a small bow of his head.
"I'll be off, then."
"Yes, drive safe."
Watching the truck pull away, Oh Hyeon-seong dusted off his hands and headed back toward the farm.
"The farm" here didn't mean the upper fields where the real crops were grown. It meant the strawberry farm located below his house.
On the side of the property not covered by the barrier, they had built a new set of greenhouses. At first he'd considered constructing a proper smart farm, both to conceal things and to do the job right, but after asking the Yoo siblings — actual experts in that field — and learning it would be no ordinary undertaking, he changed course.
Setting aside the cost, the number of things to manage would have been anything but small. So he settled for installing greenhouses hidden well enough that no one from outside could spot them, and left it at that.
Kking-kking!
The moment he stepped inside, he could see the spirits romping about in the greenhouse. They were playing happily among the strawberry rows.
Though it looked like pure play, they had already finished all their work for the day. Today's strawberries had been harvested long ago.
Oh Hyeon-seong might have gotten used to farming, but the same was true of the spirits — and they were, in fact, even better at it. These days they handled the harvest entirely on their own, no help from him needed. It was practically an automated farm.
"Brought you strawberries."
Kking-kking!
At his words, the spirits came swarming over. Hyeon-seong called in the others playing around the house and the other fields, then pulled strawberries from the crate and passed them around.
Considering the spirits' size, each strawberry was a remarkably large one — yet they devoured them with surprising efficiency.
"Haha, look at them go. They really love it."
Having handed out all the strawberries, Oh Hyeon-seong settled down in his spot and took out the ones he'd set aside — the spirits' share and his own.
Of course, what he and the spirits were eating weren't the downgraded strawberries from this place, but the genuine ones grown in the upper fields.
"Mmm..."
Hyeon-seong savored it with his eyes closed. The juice bursting in his mouth made his head spin. It was a flavor that made him understand exactly why the spirits shook their heads this way and that as they ate.
"They really are delicious."
He'd grown them himself, but he couldn't help marveling. The spirits, too, were eating with utter abandon — enjoying these far more than they had the potatoes back when they'd first tried them. Judging by their palates, strawberries seemed to win out when eaten on their own.
Ring!
"Whoa..."
A truly massive message had arrived from Park Jeong-tae.
It wasn't a frequent occurrence, but from time to time the man would send texts like this that put the recipient in an awkward position. After putting on that whole dying-man act during the contract negotiation, it seemed the strawberries had thoroughly won him over.
Except, near the end of the message, there was one sentence unlike the usual flattery.
"Hmm... he wants me to drop by the department store?"
Oh Hyeon-seong murmured the words as he popped a giant strawberry into his mouth.
He already knew perfectly well how people were reacting to the produce he supplied. All he had to do was glance at the internet to see how loud the buzz had gotten.
But his years as an agent had taught him something: no matter what media you sifted through, no matter what reports you received, some things simply never hit home until you saw them with your own eyes.
"...Maybe it's time I paid them a visit."
He'd taken his first real step into farming life, and now he'd even experienced supplying produce to market. It wouldn't hurt to see firsthand how the distribution chain worked, at least once.
An office in Hankyung Department Store's Gangnam Branch.
The warm, cheerful atmosphere that had filled the department lately, thanks to its glowing results, had vanished without a trace. A murderous tension hung in the air instead.
And it wasn't because of any internal problem.
"What exactly did I just hear?"
Ju Ji-hye let out a laugh of pure disbelief. Having finally lost a night's sleep, she had come straight to Hankyung Department Store the moment she woke up, and then sought out the manager of the natural produce section.
She hadn't thrown a fit, hadn't made any unreasonable demands for product. All the more reason she'd never imagined she'd run into trouble like this.
"So what you're saying is... you can't tell me."
"I'm very sorry. Under our guidelines, we cannot disclose information about our contracted farms, so we're unable to provide it."
"Ha. Hold on — hold on. You do know who I am, right?"
"...Yes. Of course."
"And you're still giving me that line? Do you have any idea how much I spend at this store in a single year?"
Ju Ji-hye was a特级 VIP — ranked at the very top of Hankyung Department Store's Trinity Rank Membership.
Whether in wealth or social standing, she existed on a plane entirely apart from ordinary VIP customers — a whole tier above. If she demanded the store's president be brought before her, he would have to comply without a word of protest.
And yet here she was, being stonewalled by a mere employee who refused to hand over a single phone number.
"Th-that is... the farm's owner made it a strict condition when we signed the contract..."
"Farm owner, schmarm owner. I need to see that man. That's all there is to it."
"...I'm very sorry."
Park Jeong-tae bowed his head deeply, again and again.
Under normal circumstances, he'd have handed over contact information without a second thought, but he had no choice in the matter. Of course, there was no way his visitor would ever understand that.
"You've been jerking me around since yesterday... now you're really asking for it."
A twin flame of fury lit in Ju Ji-hye's eyes as she strode forward. And she wasn't just walking toward him.
Her presence bore down on Park Jeong-tae like a blade, stabbing into him, carving him apart. The raw killing intent pouring off her sent cold sweat streaming down his forehead.
"St-please, stop this!"
"Stop? Stop what, exactly?"
The pressure alone made it hard to hold on to his sanity. For an ordinary civilian to endure it was nothing short of lethal.
"Should I bring your president out here and make him kneel in front of you?"
"Ugh...!"
Whenever Ju Ji-hye was in a bad mood, she was famous even within Aegis Entertainment as the unhinged lunatic nobody dared touch. She had held back far more than usual — and so the anger that finally erupted was that much bigger.
"Wh-what do we do about that? Shouldn't somebody stop her?"
"Are you insane? How is anyone supposed to stop that?"
A department store, by its very nature, was bound to attract its share of difficult customers. If any ordinary situation had escalated this far, security would have been called in to handle it long ago.
But the problem was that the person in question was a Grade 10 hunter.
In the world of hunters, a double-digit grade carried extraordinary weight. It marked the threshold at which the S-Rank Gates — humanity's greatest enemies — became assailable, and the point at which a hunter ceased to be comparable to ordinary hunters altogether. Double-digit hunters received special treatment everywhere they went; the nations of the world kept separate watchlists just to monitor them.
So what happened when such a being lost her mind and started rampaging?
A celebrity throwing a star-fueled tantrum could at least be swarmed and calmed down. A furious high-tier hunter was a physical catastrophe. Even if the police and military came flooding in, she would be a colossal disaster beyond suppression.
"You don't honestly think a hunter can't bury one measly person in this day and age, do you? Keep this up and you'll really die."
Ju Ji-hye seized Park Jeong-tae by the collar. The visceral certainty that he was about to die filled his head to bursting.
"The contact info, the address — tell me now. Before I pulp your entire jaw."
"N-never! I couldn't tell you if it killed me! You might as well kill me right here!"
'...What kind of lunatic is this guy?'
Even after a threat this severe, Park Jeong-tae didn't budge an inch. It was enough to make Ju Ji-hye — who had no real intention of killing him — falter for a moment.
To her, it was absurd.
But from Park Jeong-tae's perspective, the contract stipulated a crushing penalty for any leak of information, and Oh Hyeon-seong had issued a strict warning on top of that. It had only been days since they signed. If information slipped out already, the contract would be finished — and worse, the man might hold a grudge and move his supply over to Daeseong Department Store instead.
And if that happened, Park Jeong-tae's career would end along with it. He didn't want to die, not really — but right now, being physically destroyed on the spot actually felt like the less painful option.
"That's enough."
Just then, someone barged into a scene no one else had dared approach.
The man strode up without a flicker of fear, caught Ju Ji-hye by the arm, and pried her grip off Park Jeong-tae's collar.
"...?"
Ju Ji-hye's eyes narrowed at the unexpected interference. But Oh Hyeon-seong paid her no mind and spoke to Park Jeong-tae instead.
"Get your staff out of here."
"Ah... yes, sir! Right away!"
Park Jeong-tae scrambled out of the office, gasping for breath. Sensing the charged atmosphere, the other employees scattered and vanished with him.
"And who are you supposed to be?"
"Just a passerby with a stake in things."
"Are you that guy's superior or something?"
"He says company policy won't let him tell you. So why exactly are you throwing a fit? You got business with the farm owner?"
"Yes, as it happens — important business! Far more important than your precious little policies!"
Ju Ji-hye snapped irritably. Oh Hyeon-seong tilted his head.
"So all this meltdown is because you wanted a limited-edition strawberry?"
"D-don't be ridiculous! That's not it at all — what would you even know about my situation?!"
Ju Ji-hye shouted, her face flushing red. Her nerves were already shot, and ever since she'd arrived, the situation kept pouring oil on the fire. Finally, everything she'd been swallowing down burst all at once.
"...Fine. Talking to you people is useless. Then I'll show you with force. I tear half this department store down, your precious Hankyung Group chairman will come crawling out, won't he?"
Vrrrrm!
The space shook with a violent tremor.
Her Special Constitution — Telekinesis.
Every object in the office rose gently into the air, and the sharp ones among them trained themselves on Oh Hyeon-seong all at once. It was the commanding presence befitting a high-tier telekinetic of Grade 10 or above.
She had already seized total control of the space — with the flick of a finger, she could crush the entire office flat. And Oh Hyeon-seong, standing at its very center, should have died instantly.
Yet he didn't so much as flinch.
"You've never actually killed anyone, have you?"
"...What?"
"A telekinetic leaves gaps like that, people die. Even a cripple like me, with my ruined leg, could close that distance and drag you down with me."
"You insane bastard... what the hell are you muttering about?"
Disgust bloomed across Ju Ji-hye's face. Judging by his presence, he wasn't even a hunter — just a civilian. What was with the act?
She half-wondered if some raving madman who'd been loitering around the store had wandered in, department store employee or not.
Pahat!
But in that instant, her telekinesis was severed mid-thread.
The tightly coiled control scattered in a heartbeat, and every floating object came raining down.
Instinctively, Ju Ji-hye whipped her head around.
"What do you think you're doing here?"
"D-Director?"
A man with sharp features and slicked-back hair. Choi Jeong-il was glaring straight at her.
"I told you not to cause incidents. Especially not around civilians."
"Th-that's..."
Her tone softened in an instant.
The one person the so-called mad dog of the company would ever bow to. The living legend of the hunter world, the pioneer of the management industry — Aegis's own Director Choi Jeong-il.
Even so, his appearance didn't dissolve all of Ju Ji-hye's anger.
"No, listen to me first. These people have been —!"
"Choi Jeong-il. Been a while."
Oh Hyeon-seong raised a hand in casual greeting.
Ju Ji-hye, whose face had twisted at this stranger's sudden intrusion, froze at what she saw next.
'There he goes again with that worthless posturing... who's pretending to know who here?'
Choi Jeong-il led Korea's largest — and one of the world's top three — hunter management agencies. He was a titan among titans, a man courted with regular invitations not only from the Blue House but the White House itself. A war hero who had fought in the Northern Defense War. Even Ju Ji-hye, who respected no one and nothing, quietly held him in genuine esteem.
Which meant he was hardly the sort of man some random civilian could go around pretending to know.
"...?"
But Choi Jeong-il's expression, as he looked at the man, was flooded with astonishment. Then came a brief, weighted silence — enough to make Ju Ji-hye doubt her own two eyes.
Choi Jeong-il strode forward and bowed at the waist, bending as low as his back would allow.
"Squad Leader! It's been far too long, sir!"