Humans Are More Terrifying Than Beasts
Inside the professor's office.
Scratch, scratch, scrape!
Kang Hyun's brush moved without hesitation. He was examining the secret manuals in the Martial Arts Library and filling in what was lacking.
Baek Yu-yeon is one thing, but…
He also had to think of the other disciples he would take on later. The Chilyojin—the Seven Star Array—they needed to complete was not a martial art one could master simply by being tossed a single manual. It shared the same essence as the Cheonsingyeong. Only when the vast, foundational knowledge of martial arts had been thoroughly filled could one finally turn the first page. That was why he had inspected the library—to fill what was empty.
"Wow…"
Lee Se-ah, watching from the side, let out a breath of admiration.
Did he practice calligraphy too?
Kang Hyun's handwriting was lofty yet made the viewer's chest swell. True ancient script, the kind one only ever saw in the most expensive secret manuals! Lee Se-ah swallowed dryly. These days, the hottest skill in the hunter world was precisely this ability to decipher ancient language. It was an era where a guild's combat power rose or fell on how accurately a single manual was translated.
But this isn't just knowing it. He's practically a native speaker.
Scrape! Snap.
Kang Hyun's flowing brushwork stopped right then.
"Chick."
"Yes?"
"Stop staring and do your own work. It's distracting."
"Ah—yes…!"
Pouting, she headed for the liquor cabinet. That was right. Lee Se-ah's current duty was restocking Kang Hyun's life water—whiskey.
Clink, clatter.
The sound of new bottles settling into the display filled the quiet office. At that noise, Kang Hyun paused his brush and turned his head. Something felt off.
"But last time, didn't they say the government wouldn't cover the liquor?"
"Ah, about that."
Lee Se-ah rolled her eyes, then smiled brightly.
"So, Mr. Kang Hyun. How about providing a little national support this time? Just one thing?"
Kang Hyun furrowed his brow. He stared straight into her eyes for a moment.
"Don't tell me you're filling those with your own money."
Twitch!
Lee Se-ah's shoulders jumped.
"Haa."
Kang Hyun let out a deep sigh. What was she doing? How much did an agent even make, stocking those expensive bottles? He had felt it since last time—he needed to start earning money soon. Facing Asura would require capital, and raising seven disciples to the level of the old monsters would demand an enormous supply of spirit pills. Moreover, before Asura appeared, plenty of others would throw the world into chaos. It would not be Asura alone; the demon had his forces as well. Dealing with them would require information networks too.
"That's right, I did spend some of my own money. So I'll milk it a little more. Actually, that brush, the ink, and even the paper—I bought them all myself. So please help me out."
"Help with what?"
"Help me get ahead. If you just solve one thing on that tablet over there, my evaluation will shoot through the roof."
Of course she was not entirely sincere. Simply marking Black already guaranteed her the highest evaluation. This was just a tantrum—she knew that if this absolute powerhouse with overwhelming force stepped in even once, the country would become far stronger and safer. And Kang Hyun was not so dense as to miss that.
"From now on, don't use your own money."
"What?"
"Bring me that tablet."
Lee Se-ah's eyes went round as lanterns.
"R-really?!"
"Just this once."
"Yes!"
Just as she cheered and was about to slap the tablet onto the desk like lightning—
Knock knock.
Someone knocked carefully.
"Come in."
The door opened, and a dignified man stepped inside.
"I apologize for interrupting your work. Are you Professor Kang Hyun?"
"Yes, and you are?"
"A pleasure to meet you. I am Yoon Tae-jung, representative of Taejung Mulsan."
Yoon Tae-jung bowed with perfect courtesy.
Taejung Mulsan?
Kang Hyun tilted his head.
"I am also the father of Cadet Yoon Hyun-jong."
"Ah. So you're his father."
Only then did Kang Hyun rise.
"If my sudden visit startled you, I offer my apologies. I simply felt I had to come in person to pay my respects, so I came shamelessly."
"If this is about saving your son, I already received the fine liquor last time."
"That was merely my son repaying his own debt. As a father, I nearly lost my child. You spared me from tragedy—how could I bury my gratitude inside my son's greeting? I was taught that one bows one's head directly to a benefactor."
Finishing, Yoon Tae-jung drew a carefully wrapped paulownia box from his coat and set it on the table.
"It is a Four Treasures of the Study set produced by Taejung Mulsan."
Swoosh.
When Kang Hyun opened the box, a deep ink fragrance rose, and an inkstone glowing with luminous light and a brush meticulously crafted from animal hair revealed themselves. Even at a glance, it was a masterpiece a skilled artisan had poured heart and soul into carving and refining.
Behind him, Lee Se-ah quietly swallowed tears.
Haaa… so that family really does have something.
A few days ago, the moment Kwak Do-jin bought whiskey, Yoon Hyun-jong had appeared at the perfect timing and pulled out expensive famous liquor. And now the brush and ink she had bought with her hard-earned savings looked instantly shabby?
Kang Hyun wordlessly lifted the brush and stroked the tip. The texture against his fingertips and the spring of the hair were excellent. Even in Murim, this would have ranked as top-grade.
"I'll use it well."
When Kang Hyun accepted without fuss, a faint smile touched Yoon Tae-jung's lips. He seemed to like the bold, unpretentious manner of acceptance. Kang Hyun felt the same.
A man of proper character.
In Murim, many received favors and sent wealth. But having a subordinate simply deliver goods versus the head of a group personally walking over, meeting eyes, and offering proper courtesy—that was a world of difference. Such men understood righteousness and trust. They did not take the weight of a formed bond lightly.
And those eyes.
Kang Hyun's gaze rested on Yoon Tae-jung's. A discerning eye that sharply pierced the value of things and the flow of situations. He had seen eyes like that a few times in Murim.
Eyes overflowing with commercial talent.
The eyes of the great merchants who held and shook the logistics of the world had looked exactly like that.
Yoon Hyun-jong—that boy's steadfastness must have come from his father.
As Kang Hyun smiled inwardly, something else caught his eye.
Hmm?
The qi and blood were off. Dark-red energy clung around the heart meridians—symptoms of long-term exposure to poison. Lightly stroking the box, Kang Hyun asked as if tossing the words away.
"Lately, even after sleeping you don't feel refreshed, and the area around your chest feels heavy, doesn't it?"
"Pardon? Ah, well… running a business, I do have some chronic fatigue."
"Let me see your wrist a moment."
"My wrist?"
Yoon Tae-jung looked puzzled for a beat, then recalled his son's words.
Is he trying to check if something's wrong?
Yoon Tae-jung rolled up his sleeve slightly and held out his wrist. Kang Hyun lightly set three fingers upon it. He could see the movement of qi with his eyes, but to identify the poison he needed to send true qi inside.
How much time passed?
As expected.
Sticky foreign matter clogged the blood vessels throughout, blocking the circulation of qi and blood.
A trace of Seven-Spot Snake venom diluted into Dansahyang.
A combination often used in secret struggles. For the first few months it actually gave the illusion of a lighter body, then gradually hardened the vessels of the heart—a vicious hidden poison that could be disguised as sudden death.
At this level, he's been taking it steadily for about two years.
Kang Hyun withdrew his hand and spoke casually.
"Is there something you've been taking regularly of late?"
"Pardon?"
Yoon Tae-jung blinked.
"Nutritional supplements or medicine—something of that sort?"
"Tea, or a fatigue tonic. Something you take without fail every single day."
"There is a tea that arrives every morning…"
"Hmm."
Kang Hyun clicked his tongue inwardly. Whatever the circumstances, the man had brought an expensive gift—he could at least offer a hint.
"From tomorrow, do not drink that tea."
"Pardon?"
"Instead, thoroughly decoct white lotus root, licorice, and Smilax glabra in a three-to-one-to-one ratio and take it steadily. And when you decoct it, you must do it yourself."
Yoon Tae-jung's eyes wavered ever so slightly. He possessed a discerning eye. He was not so dull as to miss the bone inside the short words Kang Hyun had thrown.
Is he saying someone is doing something terrible to my body?
"Originally, people are more terrifying than beasts. Even if someone close to you decocts something saying it's good for you, do not trust it too absolutely. You might just drop dead."
"…"
"I'll use the precious brush well."
After class, Yoon Hyun-jong came running and greeted Yoon Tae-jung with open delight.
"Father, what brings you all the way to the Academy? If you were coming, you should have called ahead."
"I came to see the face of that professor you keep praising until your mouth dries out."
The reply was curt, yet Yoon Hyun-jong could not miss the true intent. His father was always a cold man who calculated profit and loss with iron precision, but behind that lay a firm philosophy.
Trust only sprouts when you personally run with your feet and meet eyes.
In the end, he had come all this way to bow his head in person to the benefactor who had saved his son's life.
"So—how was he when you saw him?"
Yoon Hyun-jong asked, unable to hide a thread of expectation.
"As you said, he does not seem like an ordinary man."
"Right? This is just my feeling, but I think he's stronger than any of the professors here."
"It was not only the strength I saw."
"Then what?"
"The aura that comes off a person. If I were to put my own feeling into words… it was as if he had crossed countless lives and deaths."
"…What?"
"Learn well from him. Being able to learn something from such a person may be an opportunity you could not buy even with ten million gold."
Yoon Hyun-jong was startled. He had hoped for good words, but he had not expected so high an evaluation.
"Then I'll be going. Work is busy."
"Ah—yes!"
"Make many friends."
The reason Yoon Tae-jung had sent his son to the Academy was not because he hoped the boy would become a strong hunter. Rather, it was for the bonds he would form with strong people. Sometimes those bonds would prove greater power than strength alone.
After pushing his son's back and sending him off, Yoon Tae-jung climbed into the rear seat of the sedan. The moment the door shut, his expression hardened into something frightening.
Kang Hyun's advice lingered in his ears. Yoon Tae-jung clenched the area around his chest. The shortness of breath and the tightening of his heart that had grown worse of late—
I thought it was simple overwork. It wasn't?
The instant he reached the company, he called the secretary's office.
"Let me ask just one thing. The tea that arrives every morning."
"The fragrant tea, sir?"
"Yes. Who gave the order to start serving it?"
Clack, clack-clack!
Keyboard sounds came through the receiver for a moment.
"Looking at the records, it was two years ago. Executive Director Park Dong-cheol instructed it."
"…I see. Understood."
Click.
Yoon Tae-jung slowly set the receiver down.
So it was you?
The man who had rolled with him from the bottom days before Taejung Mulsan grew large, watching each other's backs. Now the only close friend who shared the company's shares.
"Ha… hahahat!"
He laughed aloud. Of course he did not confirm it at once. Whether Park Dong-cheol was truly the traitor was something he would have to verify from this moment on.