The Fallen Legend's Wish

Hyeonseok was delighted by Jo Youchan's achievement. The world, however, had its eyes on something else entirely.

Do Hyeoncheol could only shake his head.

These reporters just keep getting faster.

The announcement had only just gone out.

Do Hyeoncheol had a keen interest in Master. South Korea was in crisis, after all.

We need a Hunter who can reach the top floor.

The Tower is not a place to mine Mana Stones. Fail to conquer the highest floor once every eight months, and that nation's Tower collapses. Tower Collapse is a catastrophe. Several countries, North Korea among them, have already fallen to it and vanished from the map.

South Korea was in a precarious position as well. They had scraped through last season somehow, but this season's assault on the top floor was still up in the air. The reason Advance Guild's Guild Master was absent was that very campaign. Advance should have been focusing on its internal affairs — but there had been no choice.

It's my fault.

Do Hyeoncheol had once been South Korea's top-floor Hunter, paired with Advance's Guild Master as a duo. Ever since his retirement, though, the country had been barely scraping through every season. The weight of that responsibility sat heavy on him, and he took a deep interest in raising the next generation. That was why he cheered Master's every move.

I never thought he'd clear the 10th floor right off the bat.

He still remembered it. In his younger days, that first battle against the Martial Skeleton. No matter how he attacked, the thing had turned everything aside with that bizarre martial art. In terms of pure technique, it was not an opponent a 10th-floor Hunter had any business facing.

Its strength and speed, however, were weak for a Guardian. But overcoming great force with small force — that is the way of martial arts. No matter how strong you were, punching through the Martial Skeleton's guard with raw power alone was next to impossible.

And yet he reached a level that could snag a Master Clear against that thing… on just the 10th floor.

Whoever had raised Master, Do Hyeoncheol couldn't help but envy them.

If only I had a successor that reliable.

For a moment, his son — the one who had become a Hunter — flashed through his mind. He had entertained the thought, once. What if he raised Hyeonseok properly? If it were him, of all people, couldn't he teach the boy well?

That's insane.

He shook the lingering attachment off at once. He couldn't do something that cruel to his son. Projecting his own unfulfilled desires onto the boy — that kind of forced expectation was nothing but a curse to someone without talent. He would be no different from those people who abused their children in the name of getting them into a good university.

His abilities weren't even hereditary to begin with.

Which meant the odds of his son being born with anything close to his own caliber were vanishingly slim. He'd have better luck buying a lottery ticket.

Master… I'd love to raise that one myself. It's a shame he just cleared the 10th floor and moved on.

If Hyeoncheol had been the mentor, he would have told him to challenge it again and again. The Martial Skeleton made an excellent sparring partner. But a 10th-floor greenhorn wouldn't have the eye to catch that. Do Hyeoncheol himself had just cleared it and walked away, back then.

That Jo Paldeok. Lucky bastard.

He'd gotten himself an excellent successor in Jo Youchan. Apparently the kid had finally broken through his wall this time. Maybe someday, he would even climb the Tower alongside his old man. That was a dream forever out of Do Hyeoncheol's reach.

…That's enough. Stop it.

Even as he told himself that, the pointless attachment lingered. He found himself idly scrolling through more articles about Master. Then a notification at the top of his phone caught his eye. An unread message.

Jo Youchan?

What did that kid want? Maybe something had gone wrong again. As Jo Paldeok's son — and a next-generation prospect, no less — Do Hyeoncheol had often given him advice and counsel.

Let's see.

He opened the photos that had been sent along.

Do Hyeoncheol slammed the Vice Guild Master's office door open hard enough to nearly tear it off its hinges.

"Yoo Sangyeon, you bastard—!"

"…This door never seems to catch a break."

"Keep your hands off Jo Youchan, you scheming snake!"

"Youchan must have a loose tongue, I see."

All the better. The more naive the boy was, the easier he was to use.

"You serpent."

Do Hyeoncheol was not about to let this slide. Luring a kid with a brilliant future into what was, in all but name, a slave contract?

"The circumstances are rather exceptional, aren't they? Advance is hardly a charity."

"This isn't just about money."

Do Hyeoncheol had known for a long time. The Vice Guild Master was trying to swallow his friend Jo Paldeok's guild whole — and he was doing it while the Guild Master was too busy to notice.

"Kicking me out wasn't enough for you?"

"This is only the beginning."

The thorn in his side, Do Hyeoncheol, had already been removed. Now, if he could just pull Jo Youchan — newly minted ace Hunter — onto his own side? He could run the guild as he pleased, at least until the Guild Master returned.

And when the Guild Master did return? A quick score had been the point all along. He would sell the guild off to foreign interests, and by then he would already be gone from Korea.

"You're not getting your way."

"I rather think I will."

Jo Youchan's heart was his weakness. The gnawing fear that he might stall out again at any moment. The uncertainty of a Unique Skill only fed that anxiety. Unique Skills were difficult to receive a teacher's help with — so if you lacked the capacity to develop the technique yourself, hitting a wall meant there was simply no answer.

He only has the one skill. That'll make him even more desperate.

Jo Youchan would be well aware of that himself. Without a backer, without the guild's support, he couldn't make it. A ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠young man whose spirit broke so easily. Become the stake that snapped tree leans on — and then swing it however you please.

"As long as the poison is in his body, Jo Youchan has no choice but to sign. He wouldn't want his meridians ruined and a forced retirement, after all."

"I'll take care of it."

"Can you take responsibility for those words?"

"…"

Do Hyeoncheol had spoken without thinking, and had no answer for the retort.

"Masters of poison arts are exceedingly rare. Your connections all dried up when you fell from grace, and I imagine you poured every last coin into rehabilitation."

Do Hyeoncheol could only glare at the Vice Guild Master.

"What, do you think I'm going to devour the boy? He's the Guild Master's son. I'd burst. I'll just keep him penned in for, oh, three years or so."

Youchan's growth had never been part of the original plan. He intended to use the boy's newfound influence to accelerate the scheme he already had in motion. Do that, and Advance would fall into the Vice Guild Master's hands in the blink of an eye.

"I'll handle it myself. That contract is not happening — either way."

"I see no further value in this conversation. Why don't you run along and prepare for retirement."

"…"

Do Hyeoncheol left the Vice Guild Master's office to find another way.

The Support Team had returned to the office.

"It's all thanks to you, Master! Thank you!"

"There you go."

Jo Youchan bowed at the waist. The rest of the team could only stare, still too stunned to speak. Team Leader Song was no exception.

He actually created a skill?

He honestly couldn't believe it. A moment later, Ahn came over with a printout.

"Team Leader. The research team sent over their analysis. It's a skill, all right — an Awakened Skill."

"A skill, of all things…"

In a Hunter's world, where technique was everything, the creation of a skill carried enormous weight. It was no exaggeration to call it evolution to the next stage.

An Awakened Skill, no less.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Ordinary skills could be picked up here and there well enough. Awakened Skills were another matter. Ones in the supernatural category were especially difficult to develop — and he had gone and done it anyway. Team Leader Song knew the value of that. So did the rest of the Support Team. That was their job.

"At the time I thought, what the hell is he doing?"

"Same here."

"Was he really reading all that data?"

Calculating all of it in real time and applying it on the spot? Did the man have a computer in his head?

"How is something like that even possible?"

"Well, we do something similar ourselves. Supporting, analyzing data, giving advice."

"That's like comparing heaven and earth, though."

"Every now and then you get geniuses who are practically freaks of nature. That's the kind of world this is."

Just look at monsters like Do Hyeoncheol and the Guild Master. Had they — or their families — ever seen it coming? That those two would rise to the very top of Korea's Hunters? That was what a genius ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was. A realm no one could predict, and no one could comprehend.

"But it could have been a coincidence…"

"A coincidence? You're saying that after watching it with your own eyes?"

It wasn't as if he had tossed out a single remark. He had directed the skill's creation from start to finish. There was no way that entire unbroken sequence was a coincidence. It was too true. Ahn closed his mouth.

"The question isn't whether to doubt what we just saw. We should be realizing we had Hyeonseok all wrong from day one."

Not some insane new hire who'd started dishing out unsolicited advice to a Hunter out of nowhere. He had genuinely possessed the eye for it — and had genuinely stepped in out of pity and generosity.

"So even a civilian can do something like that…"

At Ahn's words, Team Leader Song found himself thinking back to his first meeting with Hyeonseok.

He asked me to hide that he was a Hunter, didn't he.

That was when it had hit him like a bolt. The legend himself, Do Hyeoncheol, was planning 'something special.' Of course, after seeing how ordinary and kind-hearted the kid was afterward, he'd figured he'd been way off the mark.

I knew my gut was right!

He hadn't watched countless Hunters for nothing. He was a Support Team Leader, after all. He was probably the only one who knew the truth. At Ahn's puzzled question, his shoulders rose of their own accord.

But seeing him put it all out in the open like this… does that mean he's going active now?

Was something special about to happen? For now, he'd better cover for him, as requested.

"Ahem. Ahem. Don't go digging too deep."

"Huh? Do you know something?"

"Sometimes ignorance is bliss."

"What is it, though?"

If anything, it only whetted their curiosity — a cover-up worse than saying nothing at all. Still, Team Leader Song's mouth was itching something fierce. For a man like him, just not running around blabbing it was already a job well done.

I asked Jo Youchan a question.

"The poison's gone now. What are you going to do?"

"Climb the Tower, of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠course."

Jo Youchan grinned. He really did love that new skill.

Supreme Heavenly Movement is pretty cool, I'll give him that.

I'd been hoping I might get that skill too. Looks like I only share one. Shame.

"The timing is perfect. I've got a contract renewal in a week, so I need to jack up my market value."

"Oh, yeah? So you need to hit a higher floor?"

"But in a week, seven floors is about the most I can manage, so I want to pull a good Clear Rank."

Even an A-Rank Clear would get him valued as if he'd cleared ten floors higher than his current one. A 20th-floor Hunter, priced like a 30th-floor one.

"Can I mention you when I report this, Master?"

"Hell no. Keep your mouth shut. Just credit the Support Team. Say it's the result of two years of their help. That's fine, right, Team Leader?"

"Y-yes, of course!"

The Team Leader's face lit up at the sound of a performance bonus going up. I'd probably get one too.

"You're over-specced for it right now, so an A-Rank is a lock."

"You think so?"

The prediction, however, missed the mark. The very day Jo Youchan entered the Tower—

A chime rang in my ear.

The whole country went into an uproar.

My disciple's market value had gone through the roof.