Korea's Strongest, Kang Sung-gi (7)
Kang A-jin explained the situation with crystal clarity. Coming to her had definitely been the right call. Baek Seonghun and the other S-rank hunters I hadn't encountered yet were complete strangers to me. Even Kim Seol-bi didn't seem to have deep ties with the rest of the S-ranks. She wasn't the type driven by a thirst for power or money, so she kept her distance from the others.
When I asked about Baek Seonghun's tattoo, Kang A-jin shook her head.
"I'm not entirely sure about that one. My master would know more—probably a lot more. Luiza too. They've mostly operated in South America, not safe havens like Korea."
Baek Seonghun's tattoo might be linked to the South American hunter scene—who knew? I'd already heard he had connections in Southeast Asia and Japan, but South America was literally on the other side of the world. If Valentina or Luiza knew about this tattoo too, it could unravel a ton of secrets. I hoped that was the case.
"Why the hell would Hye-na do that?"
Kim Seol-bi muttered to herself.
"Can't wrap your head around it?"
I'd only met Park Hye-na today. If even Kim Seol-bi, who knew her far better, was this puzzled, there had to be something off about the whole thing.
"Yeah. I never thought she'd owe Baek Seonghun anything. She's a lot like me—stumbled into S-rank, doesn't care much about politics or money."
I turned to Kang A-jin. "Any guesses?"
"Park Hye-na..." Kang A-jin murmured thoughtfully, then continued. "Not to speak ill of her in front of you two, but she does have one bad habit."
"Bad habit?" Kim Seol-bi asked.
"She indulges in drugs. For S-rank hunters, narcotics don't strain the body much, legality aside—they're 'safe.' But that leads some to crave stronger stuff. That's how other ability users get involved in production and distribution."
Kang A-jin sighed after explaining.
"That's a big problem," Kim Seol-bi said, startled.
"Has she caused trouble because of it?"
"Yeah. She's come to me for help three times, so pretty frequently. Some drugs completely disrupt mana flow. S-ranks build resistance to most, but when one actually works, it's worse—their mana is so potent and abundant. I've untangled her messed-up flows three times. The last one was serious; she must've suffered for weeks."
Something clicked for me in that story—a potential hint.
"If Baek Seonghun's tied to a drug distribution ring, couldn't Park Hye-na owe him through that?"
"That's plausible," Kang A-jin nodded.
"Ah..." Kim Seol-bi sighed, worried for her friend.
Kang A-jin reassured her. "It's not confirmed yet. We need to dig deeper."
But Kim Seol-bi's concerns turned out to be spot on. Valentina was the one who confirmed it.
When I mentioned the snake and scorpion tattoo, Valentina grimaced. Surprisingly, even Lisa—who rarely showed emotion—frowned.
"Is this the tattoo you're talking about?"
Valentina pulled out her phone and showed a photo. It was inked on someone's skin—exact match for the one on Baek Seonghun's bald head. Subtle differences, but the core design was identical.
"He's palling around with some real headaches, huh."
"These are soul sorcerers. But they don't stick to that—they're into murder, drugs, prostitution. Every crime under the sun. They run networks across South America and are expanding lately. Makes sense they'd approach a Korean S-rank."
Soul sorcerers...
I'd felt uneasy seeing that tattoo. Nothing major—just gave off bad vibes, so I'd brushed it off. Now I got it. Same reason Lisa frowned. Some of the mana owners sealed inside her had bad history with this group. And since I'd inherited that mana, I wasn't immune either.
"They're targeting S-rank hunters too?"
Now that I thought about it, this was no small deal. Baek Seonghun was an S-rank from the opposite side of the planet—one strong enough to step up as leader after Jo Dong-geun. If they could recruit someone like that, this organization was no joke.
"I've tangled with them and had my hands full. We're in an unofficial truce now, but they're still a pain. They never quit easy."
"Hm..."
The problem was graver than I'd imagined. I'd hoped Kim Yeon-hwa claiming the top hunter spot and tackling the SS-rank dungeon would stabilize the byproducts supply. I'd figured it wouldn't be too hard. Naive.
Turned out Baek Seonghun was in bed with a seriously dangerous outfit. Maybe he saw no other way against Jo Dong-geun, but still.
"They probably offered him a branch chief role, with full backing in return."
Valentina said. "That's their MO. Smart and strong, so they start with a country's top dogs. Align the interests, and they flip easy."
"Haa..."
I couldn't help sighing. Compared to this, Jo Dong-geun was tame. This Baek Seonghun guy shook hands with dangerous criminals just to feed his power lust, then eyed the top spot—putting all of Korea at risk. The other S-ranks allied with him had to know. In short, as long as they profited, they didn't care who got hurt. Traitors, plain and simple.
"What do we do?"
Valentina rubbed her chin at my question. "Don't stress too much. They're not idiots. They won't start a war over one guy on the other side of the planet. Worst case, I'll step in—but let's hope it doesn't come to that."
Her stepping in meant dragging her shaman organization into it—could spark a global shitstorm. Even Baek Seonghun's allies wouldn't want that escalation.
"Winning the vote comes first," Kim Seol-bi said.
But that was a dead end too. All hunters who might side with us already had. The rest were Baek Seonghun's camp. Storming in and schooling them like I did Park Hyun-jun and Kim Hyun-cheol was an option, but best avoided. Breaking into another S-rank's home and causing a scene was straight-up nuclear.
Park Hyun-jun lost it seeing his crush Kim Seol-bi with another guy. Kim Hyun-cheol was young and cocky, crossed lines. Seo Na-yeon was self-centered, regardless of her nature.
Poking S-ranks who sided with Baek Seonghun for no reason could ignite a pre-vote war. Last resort only.
Won't be easy to sweet-talk them either.
They were in it for profit; no bigger incentive, no flip.
"I'll reach out," Kim Seol-bi said. "Ask Hye-na to meet. Nothing else for now."
She thought the same. She called Park Hye-na—easy to set up a meet. Dinner tomorrow night; I'd join.
"Such a pain in the ass..."
Valentina looked unusually worried—probably never imagined facing these guys again after leaving her home turf for Korea.
Seeing her this concerned made me want to avoid tangling with them at all costs. Fingers crossed things went smooth with Park Hye-na.
"Um..."
Sudden quiet from Lisa. I figured she had intel on the South American soul sorcerers with the scorpion-snake tats.
But no.
"I have a way to win the vote."