White Burn (4)
While Jang Lee-hyun was locked in a tense standoff with Team Leader Jung in Z-Team, Lim Won-young was nursing a headache of an entirely different kind.
“Ohohoho! So the thing my wicked granddaughter—who never so much as shows her nose to this old woman unless she has some personal scheme—was trying so hard to force through was that ‘Z’ business, was it?”
“When did I ever force anything? You gave your permission, Grandmother.”
“Only because I had a mountain of things to discuss with that old KAL coot and you kept pestering me, so I told you to handle it yourself.”
“In any case, you must never breathe a word of this to anyone. I only told you because you kept pressing me, but he is my person.”
“Hoo, so now you even make demands of your grandmother?”
“Grandmother!”
“I know, I know. My poor eardrums are about to fall off. Do you really think this old woman would interfere with what her own granddaughter is trying to do? I’ll keep my mouth shut, so stop worrying.”
Lim Won-young knew that arguing any further would only scrape her own nerves raw, so she simply closed her lips.
As always… that cackling laugh. Thirty years of hearing it and it still gets under my skin. Ugh.
The same went for her shameless habit of twisting every word her granddaughter said to suit her own tastes.
That was probably how she had become one of the mere nine Top Rankers in the entire world.
Lim Won-young pressed hard on her temples with her index finger and stared grumpily at her grandmother seated in the place of honor.
Hair as white as if finely milled silver had been scattered across it, loosely tied up and secured with a phoenix hairpin.
A hanbok sewn from fine silk, modified for everyday comfort.
Skin still firm and free of wrinkles despite having long passed eighty, and profound eyes that seemed capable of piercing through anything.
The corners of her mouth curled in mischievous amusement, yet remained seductively alluring.
And the long pipe that trailed down, steadily releasing white smoke that only heightened her air of mystery.
She looked so elegant that one might imagine a mountain goddess stepping straight out of legend would appear exactly like this.
She was the living symbol of Korea’s hunter world today—an absolute being who carried every myth of the tiger within her single body.
Mo Jeong-gyeon, the Mountain God. One of the Nine Heavens.
“But you stuck that boy in Z-Team? The leader there is Executive Director Jung’s son. Are you sure that’s wise?”
“Of course it isn’t. But what can I do? He’s the one who wanted it.”
Lim Won-young stood with her arms crossed, expression openly dissatisfied.
Mo Jeong-gyeon’s eyes narrowed in a faint smile. A look that seemed to understand everything and nothing at once.
“It’s not that you have some other scheme in mind?”
“What scheme?”
“That’s something only you would know, isn’t it?”
She was referring to the political infighting currently spreading in every direction throughout the guild. In other words, she saw Lee-hyun’s recruitment as a move to expand her territory.
“Do you think I’m like you, Grandmother?”
If Lim Won-young had one complaint about Mo Jeong-gyeon, it was this: the woman’s judgment of benefit when using people was ruthlessly precise.
If something proved useful, she would embrace it without hesitation.
Like a vast, deep mountain.
Even if that thing happened to be a venomous snake hiding its own motives.
Just like Executive Director Jung.
But the moment something ceased to be useful, she cast it aside without mercy.
Even if it was a loyal dog that had given her its entire life.
Just like Mother and Father.
That was why so many people had left the guild. It was also why White Burn had become something close to a lawless zone in practice.
Mo Jeong-gyeon turned a blind eye to everything unless someone pointed a blade at her or threatened the guild itself. That was the perspective of a being who had become a living god.
Perhaps that was why.
Mo Jeong-gyeon seemed to assume that Lim Won-young had hired Lee-hyun as a ‘hunting dog’ in exactly the same way she would have.
I’m not like that.
Mo Jeong-gyeon always said it was the proper attitude for a mountain lord—the king of beasts who ruled the mountain.
But Lim Won-young knew all too well where that path ended.
I won’t end up like my parents.
Yet whenever she showed this side of herself, Mo Jeong-gyeon would simply smile in a way that made her thoughts impossible to read.
As if to say she would understand once she grew a little more.
“More importantly, it seems there’s been a change in your realm?”
Mo Jeong-gyeon smoothly changed the subject and brought the long pipe to her lips.
Lim Won-young understood her grandmother’s intent but pretended not to notice and followed the new topic. After all, this was the real reason she had come today.
“I gained an insight while leaving the Monkey’s Den. It concerns the Tiger Chasing Three Disasters from the Mountain Lord legend. If a window ghost can swallow disaster attributes like that, it should be usable in all sorts of ways.”
Even in the middle of that chaotic situation, Jang Lee-hyun’s eyes had remained unshakably firm. The inspiration had come from him.
“Oh? A window ghost that devours disasters? Indeed, nothing is more reliable than a tiger’s calamity. Go on, show me.”
The Legacy, The Days When Tigers Smoked, is beginning to reveal a new form!
Mo Jeong-gyeon’s eyes sparkled as she watched her granddaughter slowly become enveloped in white mist.
For the first time in years, her granddaughter—who had been stuck in place—was attempting to cross a ‘wall.’
Which was why—
Z, was it? I wonder what sort of fellow he is.
Mo Jeong-gyeon became intensely curious about the hunting dog who had given her granddaughter such a positive influence.
…What the hell is going on?
Kim Min-jung’s eyes widened as she watched Jang Lee-hyun not only refuse to yield to Team Leader Jung but actually press him harder.
It was exactly like the old days.
The man who had always stepped forward first when it came to protecting his comrades.
On the other side, one of Team Leader Jung’s eyebrows twitched violently.
What kind of monstrous strength…!
No matter how he tried to shake off Lee-hyun’s hand, it refused to budge.
For a brief moment he considered activating a skill and throwing the insolent bastard aside.
He didn’t want to look weak in front of Kim Min-jung, whom he had been eyeing.
But—
Just what the hell has this guy been doing? They definitely told me he was a crippled bastard who couldn’t even use his legs…?
The moment Team Leader Jung met Lee-hyun’s dry, emotionless eyes, he abandoned the idea. This was not an opponent he could handle lightly.
Just then he noticed the other team members beginning to rise after hearing the commotion.
In the end he forced out a laugh.
“Haha! Our new team member is quite bold and impressive. Good, good. You pass.”
He laughed heartily and finally stepped away from Kim Min-jung.
Only then did Lee-hyun release his grip.
“Whew, what a grip. Why are your hands so rough? Did you come from some kind of manual labor?”
Lee-hyun ignored him and turned to Kim Min-jung.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No. I’m fine.”
Kim Min-jung finally regained her composure and glared at Team Leader Jung.
“Team Leader Jung, I will be filing a separate report to upper management about everything that happened here. The company dinner, your reckless display of magical power, and your latest attempt to harass me.”
“Assistant Manager Kim, we’re not exactly strangers. And harassment? I was only—”
“You can save your excuses for the HR department.”
“Sigh, this is so unfair.”
Team Leader Jung let out a sigh as if genuinely wronged, but Kim Min-jung didn’t even pretend to listen.
It looked like he would have to bury this through his father, the executive director. He clicked his tongue inwardly.
Fortunately there were no security cameras nearby. With the right pressure on HR, he could probably smooth it over.
However—
“Oh, and unlike before, this report won’t end with a simple demotion or pay cut. This time it’s not coming from an outsider but from a fellow team member’s official affiliation.”
“…Fellow team member?”
This was the first he was hearing of it. Team Leader Jung’s eyes widened slightly with an inexplicable sense of unease.
Kim Min-jung held out an official personnel appointment document.
“Following the Vice Director’s orders, we will begin receiving official support from Team A starting today.”
“…!”
For the first time, Team Leader Jung’s forced smile froze solid.
“So, what’s your first impression of the place?”
Kim Min-jung asked as she handed Jang Lee-hyun a canned coffee.
He gave a bitter smile.
“Worst possible.”
“Would you like to change your mind even now?”
“A man doesn’t take back words once spoken. How could I swallow them again?”
“That guy does it all the time.”
Lee-hyun’s laugh was louder than the sound of him opening the can.
“How is someone like that still here?”
“His skills are genuinely useful. Plus he has connections on the board of directors.”
“Same story everywhere, huh.”
“Exactly. People without connections have it rough no matter where they go. Is it because this is a private company? In some ways it’s actually worse.”
Kim Min-jung clicked her tongue lightly, then bowed her head to Lee-hyun.
“Thank you for what you did earlier.”
“It was nothing. By the way, how did you end up in this team…?”
“The team leader’s orders. He also serves as vice director. He told me that the moment you changed your mind, I should reel you in immediately.”
Lee-hyun let out a hollow laugh.
“I’ll have to watch my back, then.”
“He figured out your personality pretty quickly, senior.”
“What about my personality?”
“You’re really asking?”
It seemed they had sent Kim Min-jung as a supporter to help him adapt to company life. A welcome consideration.
On the other hand, the earlier incident appeared to have narrowed the distance between them considerably.
She was smiling at him now, after all.
Which is exactly why I can’t leave her here.
Lee-hyun could not forget the snake-like gaze Team Leader Jung had fixed on Kim Min-jung the entire time.
It had been pure lust.
The kind that would one day cause a major incident.
As long as Kim Min-jung stayed with him in Z-Team, he could not allow that man anywhere near her.
In fact, it would be best to drive him out as quickly as possible.
For her sake, and for his own, since he intended to use this team as his foundation.
“Z-Team isn’t made up entirely of people like him, right?”
“Not all of them. But with a rotten head at the top, how can the rest of the body be clean?”
Right after Lee-hyun’s confrontation with Team Leader Jung, the other team members began subtly avoiding him.
The worst possible atmosphere compared to Team A.
Yet Lee-hyun paid it no mind.
A rolling stone had its own way of surviving once it arrived.
“There are a few people here who could be called the non-mainstream. Die-hard types, I suppose. Their skills are decent, but they simply can’t get along with those guys.”
“Then I should start by gathering them on my side.”
“You’re already playing politics?”
Lee-hyun laughed without answering and drank his coffee.
His eyes sank deep and dark.
The face of someone thinking many thoughts at once.
Suddenly a small wrinkle formed between Kim Min-jung’s brows.
“Don’t do it.”
“Do what? I haven’t said anything.”
“You’re clearly preparing to cause trouble. Your expression gives it away.”
“I really haven’t said a word.”
The wrinkle between Kim Min-jung’s brows grew deeper.
There had been similar incidents back in Cheongroe.
There had been a high-ranking officer with connections in the Defense Security Command who treated the unit members like servants. When his poor judgment caused casualties during an operation, instead of apologizing he tried to shift all the blame onto the victims.
Unable to endure it, Lee-hyun had stepped forward, beaten the man half to death, and hung him up like a trophy.
Then he had turned himself in to the military police.
The incident had dramatically increased the unit members’ support for Lee-hyun, but it had also given the higher-ups an excuse to brand him as a ‘hardhead.’
And afterward, with the experience he had accumulated, he had exquisitely driven out every single one of the tormenting officers…
Lee-hyun had not become leader of the Cheongroe unit at such a young age through skill alone.
He was also quite adept at political warfare.
But…
That look in his eyes right now is exactly the same as back then!
Just what was he planning?
It looked like team life was about to become extremely eventful.
“Do you know the easiest way for a rolling stone to become a rooted one?”
“What are you—!”
“Just forcibly yank out all the other rooted stones.”
“!?”
Lee-hyun tossed the empty can into the recycling bin with a bright smile.
“How about it? Forcibly yanking them out.”
The words “you mustn’t” had risen all the way to Kim Min-jung’s throat, but for some reason she couldn’t bring herself to say them.
The instinct that it would be fun had already overtaken her reason.
Memories of their reckless Cheongroe days kept surfacing, forcing helpless laughter out of her.
That’s right.
In fact, when Lee-hyun had hung that high-ranking officer, she had been standing right beside him.
In the end—
“What exactly do I need to do?”
To Kim Min-jung’s sighing question, Lee-hyun grinned.
The document storage room on the eighth floor.
“What are you trying to do by coming all the way here?”
Kim Min-jung followed Lee-hyun and checked the ‘Managed Dungeon Documents’ file that Z-Team kept.
All of them were classified as long-term unsolved dungeons now under Z-Team’s management.
“To clear a dungeon.”
“…?”
“Just the two of us.”
“…Have you lost your mind!?”
Kim Min-jung unconsciously raised her voice, then hurriedly covered her mouth when she felt the other employees’ glares.
She continued in a hushed, urgent whisper.
“How on earth do you plan to clear a long-term unsolved dungeon with just the two of us!?”
“Skillfully.”
“…!!”
Kim Min-jung barely suppressed the urge to grab Lee-hyun by the collar as he answered so shamelessly.
There was only one reason long-term unsolved dungeons remained unsolved.
Because they’re difficult.
Impregnable.
That was how people usually described them.
Of course, difficulty came in many forms.
Difficult quests, maze-type layouts where securing a route was nearly impossible, bosses whose identities were hard to determine, or monsters whose attack patterns were exceptionally tricky.
But they all shared one common trait: extremely high difficulty. Multiple full raid parties had already failed.
And he wanted to challenge such a place with only two people.
However—
Lee-hyun, still flipping through the documents, did not look like he was joking in the slightest.
So the fact that he stood evenly with Team Leader Jung… was real…?
While Kim Min-jung’s thoughts spun, Lee-hyun pulled something out.
“Found it.”
“…What is that?”
“The place we’re going.”
Lee-hyun’s eyes were shining brightly with the Hwaan Geumjeong.
Found a clue related to the myth of ■■■■.
The title of the document read as follows.
The Pied Piper
“This… is a dungeon that hasn’t been cleared in over ten years, isn’t it?”
She no longer even had the strength to get angry.
It was a dungeon Kim Min-jung knew all too well.
During her Cheongroe days they had received multiple requests for advice and cooperation. It was an extremely dangerous place.
Yet as Lee-hyun scanned the report, he was smiling.