The Poison Has No Antidote
"Who's Park Seongmin? Is he from our guild?"
"He's the Vice Guild Master's closest aide..."
"What?"
"And if my sponsorship got cut off, he was next in line."
And of all people, it had to be the Vice Guild Master's own man. Even someone as not-particularly-bright as me could see the picture immediately. He was trying to redirect the sponsorship to his subordinate — a political maneuver to strengthen his own faction.
"Wow..."
"That son of a bitch Vice Guild Master—!"
Jo Youchan took off running toward the guild headquarters. As a 20th-floor Hunter, he was insanely fast.
The Vice Guild Master's office. Park Seongmin was in the middle of delivering a work report when his superior asked a question.
"About that Special Training Room for Youchan I mentioned before — what's the status?"
"..."
At the mention of Jo Youchan, Park Seongmin fell silent for a moment.
"......I've assigned him a training room belonging to another Hunter who's currently on leave, so he can start using it immediately. The setup is already complete."
"Excellent. Youchan is ready to push forward — we can't let something this trivial hold him back. Haha."
"Should we bill Jo Youchan for the repair costs?"
"It was just an accident. An accident. The guild will cover it."
Several more reports followed, and every last one of them was a measure to accelerate Jo Youchan's support. The Vice Guild Master processed them all without delay.
The flagship Hunter seat has been vacant for far too long. At last, Advance Guild's blood might start flowing again.
His expectations for Jo Youchan were enormous. After all, this was the genius rookie who had once set all of Korea buzzing. Restoring Advance to its former glory might be a stretch — but a Hunter like that could certainly pull the guild a good way forward. There was even a sliver of hope that he might become one of the nation's top ten.
If that happened...
The Vice Guild Master's dark schemes would leap forward by years. He smiled inwardly, a sly, unpleasant thing.
"Please make sure none of these matters hit any snags."
"...Yes, sir."
But something struck the Vice Guild Master as odd. He looked at Park Seongmin.
"Is something going on with you lately?"
"......I'm not sure what you mean, sir."
"You just seem a bit restless, that's all."
Park Seongmin swallowed. Had it shown that much?
I need to be more careful.
The job had succeeded. He'd confirmed with his own eyes that Jo Youchan was poisoned. But this was the first serious crime he'd ever committed in his life, and the anxiety wouldn't let him sit still. Using Hunter abilities to commit a crime carried horrific punishments.
No. They'll never find it. Trust your own skill.
He'd planned it meticulously. Subtle Poison was a compound toxin designed first and foremost for concealment. The effects wouldn't even surface for months. If the poisoning were discovered and an investigation launched, they'd catch his trail — but by the time anyone thought something was wrong, it would already be too late. By then, every trace of the toxin would have vanished from the body. Who used what poison, and when? How would anyone ever know?
I just have to stay careful. Just me. Relax. Don't let it show.
"You don't look well. Why don't you head home for the day."
"...Thank you, sir."
Park Seongmin headed home, trying to reassure himself.
And not long after, with a sound like thunder, the office door exploded.
KWA-KWA-KRAAANG—!
The Vice Guild Master, to his credit, dropped into a combat stance at once. But the moment he saw who it was, composure abandoned him.
"Youchan?"
"You son of a bitch!"
Jo Youchan charged.
"You were gonna throw me away—!"
"W-what are you talking about?!"
The fist arrived before another word could leave his mouth. Still, the Vice Guild Master was a Hunter in the 40th-floor range. He caught the punch without so much as tensing up. But the destructive force behind it stunned him.
KWA-KWA-KWAANG—!
"Ghk!"
His entire body went numb. The sheer power blew the office wall clean off.
How is a mere 20th-floor Hunter...!
This was a level of force even the Vice Guild Master himself didn't see every day.
Jo Youchan's genius was this profound?
For a fleeting instant, a brilliant future for Advance Guild unfurled in his mind. Then another incoming fist yanked him back to reality.
KWA-KWAANG!
"Kh—! What on earth do you think you're doing, barging in like this, Youchan?!"
"You had Park Seongmin poison me!"
"What?!"
The Vice Guild Master was a sharp man. His mind raced. Park Seongmin, stripped of a sponsorship that had been all but promised to him. And that strange, restless air he'd been giving off. It didn't take long to put the pieces together.
"Th-this is a misunderstanding, Youchan! I would never do something like that!"
"Die, you traitorous bastard!"
"It's really a misunderstanding!"
KWA-KWAANG—!
Moments later, combat personnel rushed in, mistaking it for an attack, and only then could Jo Youchan's rage be brought under control. Fortunately, once the mutual misunderstanding was cleared up, Park Seongmin was arrested at his home that very night.
"That's him, Master."
"Whoa..."
I looked at Park Seongmin through the special glass partition. The guy was wrapped head to toe in full-body restraints that looked like they'd walked off a movie set, with only his nose and mouth left exposed.
Can't even see his eyes.
There were a surprising number of abilities that activated through the eyes, so that was probably why.
"So that's what happens when you get arrested for a Hunter crime."
A guard unfastened Park Seongmin's gag.
"Pwahh. I'm sorry, Hunter Jo Youchan! Please, just this once, show me mercy! I'll live a good life, I swear — please have mercy!"
"Shut up."
Jo Youchan was ice-cold.
"You didn't even cough up the antidote during interrogation, and now you're saying that?"
"That's a misunderstanding! I didn't refuse to talk — there is no antidote!"
"...What?"
"I-it wasn't a poison I mixed with detoxification in mind to begin with. And it's incredibly difficult to work with besides... I swear, I'm not pretending not to know!"
"Wait, what the hell does that even—"
Jo Youchan's expression went blank. He'd already been told what the poison would do. In a few months, he'd barely be able to use mana. For a Hunter, that was as good as a death sentence.
I glanced at his profile. His eyes looked completely hollow. He looks like he's in a dangerous state.
Jo Youchan clenched his fist, and electricity began to crackle.
Oh crap!
"W-we're ending this visit!"
I hurriedly dragged him outside. His eyes were still empty.
"...What was that just now. Were you trying to kill him?"
"Yes."
"What?"
What the hell is wrong with this kid. Well — it wasn't like I couldn't understand where he was coming from.
Between the Dependency in his status window and everything else, the guy's not exactly operating at full mental health.
I couldn't see all the way into Jo Youchan's heart. But even before this, he'd always seemed pretty unstable.
"Pull yourself together. I'll figure out the detox somehow."
"......What?"
He lifted his deeply bowed head and looked at me.
"W-what do you mean by that, Master?"
"Why are you so shocked. Just because the hospital and Park Seongmin don't know how to detoxify it, you were gonna go off and die? There are way nastier poison arts in this world than that guy's, and just as many ways to cure them."
"Ah..."
"There's bound to be a way. Look into it yourself, too. Don't act like you've already lost everything."
It was the most obvious thing in the world, but Jo Youchan had been backed so far into a corner he couldn't even think that far. People's vision just... narrows sometimes.
"Th-thank you..."
"You crying?"
"No, sir! But then, when you said you'd figure something out, Master...?"
"Hmm."
Truth is, I had a hunch. I pulled up Jo Youchan's status window, and among the entries were the pieces of advice I'd read last time regarding Poisoned.
Advice 1: Poisoned by Subtle Poison...
Advice 2: Regarding the Nurturing-Style Poison Arts...
The one I zeroed in on was Advice 3. It mentioned a means of detoxification, but it was frustratingly vague. No specific method was written down. And yet my eyes kept snagging on it — the eyes of Master, the number-one ranked player in Hunter Management.
This looks like one of those. A Special Growth Event.
Unlike reality, skill acquisition in Hunter Management wasn't limited to awakening and training. Among the other paths were Special Growth Events that popped up at random.
But if this guy learns a skill from this... do I get it too?
Now I'm excited. I selected Advice 3.
Ding!
Support Team Leader Song Byeongsam grabbed a tray and sat down across from one of his staff. It was An Donghyeon, Hyeonseok's senior mentor.
"Whoops—"
"Aigoo."
"'Aigoo'? Come on now."
"I hear other bosses give their subordinates space so they don't feel uncomfortable."
"My subordinate looked lonely eating all by himself, so I came to keep him company."
Team Leader Song Byeongsam mixed his bibimbap with vigorous scrapes, chatting away.
"The grilled gopchang is pretty good. You're not having any?"
"Don't like greasy stuff. Easy Korean food sits better. So, how's our little nepotism hire doing these days?"
"He's doing well, actually. Aside from that first-day screwup, he's attentive and he works hard. Honestly, I had some prejudices going in, but he's changed my mind."
"Those words, coming out of your mouth?"
An Donghyeon popped a piece of grilled gopchang into his mouth without answering.
"That first-day mistake was pretty critical, though."
"Yeah. He poked the Mad Dog."
"Mad Dog? Not 'the brat'?"
"You haven't heard? That's the nickname he picked up after he smashed the Vice Guild Master's office to pieces last time."
"What?!"
Apparently it had been a misunderstanding — a deep enough one that even the Vice Guild Master had conceded the point. But the sheer, unrestrained impact of it had burned itself into every guild member's memory.
"Hyeonseok's in real trouble, then. Those two still aren't on good terms, right?"
"Of course not. You think the Mad Dog would forget that? I should've smoothed things over back then, but you know how it is — Master showed up the very next day."
"We were insanely busy."
The appearance of Master, an unprecedented mega-rookie. A single nepotism hire had been shoved completely to the back burner by a story that big.
"What possessed him to give backseat advice to a guy like that, tsk tsk."
"Backseat advice... wait."
An Donghyeon sensed something off.
"Come to think of it, didn't Hunter Jo Youchan break through his wall recently?"
"He did. That's a great thing."
"Wasn't that the day after the coaching incident?"
"Let me think, the dates were... wait."
"Huh?"
It really was. The two of them sat there, briefly stunned. What the hell.
"Nah, it's gotta be a coincidence. That wouldn't even make sense."
"Yeah... right?"
It didn't even matter that he was a civilian. The second you heard it, the only possible conclusion was that it was absurd.
"Anyway, we should've paid more attention to those two. We got busy and missed the golden window. Maybe we should transfer him to another team."
"It's a shame, but what can you do. We're talking about Hunter Jo Youchan's personality here. There's no fixing that."
"Ah, speak of the devil — here comes Do Hyeonseok."
"Let's call him over— wait! H-he's about to run into Jo Youchan!"
"Oh no!"
One second before a disaster. The two of them tensed, half-rising from their seats to pull them apart — and Jo Youchan bent at the waist in a deep, formal bow. Toward Hyeonseok, who was holding a tray.
"Huh?"
"Uh?"
And then, with a bright expression he hadn't shown in nearly two years, he said something and sat down at the same table. Just like that, they started eating.
Team Leader Song and An Donghyeon watched it all unfold. Their eyes met.
"What the hell am I looking at right now?"
"..."
The conversation they'd just had floated back into both their minds.
No way...
Had that coaching actually reached Jo Youchan?