The Mysterious Incident (2)
“Ah, Mr. Hunter Choi Yeon. If you have no more items to appraise, may I head back now?”
Swish.
The appraiser asked his question, and Choi Yeon swept his arm.
He had done so to erase the voice that had suddenly popped into his head, but the timing was perfectly timed.
The appraiser interpreted the arm-sweeping as a signal to stop talking nonsense and sit down. He moved his lips silently, muttering under his breath.
“…Could it be that your mother forgot something?”
Choi Yeon asked this question without looking at the appraiser’s busy mouth.
Lee Seong-jun, who had surveyed the items on the desk, replied.
“…No. Everything is here.”
“….”
Choi Yeon felt a seed of suspicion sprout.
Could this Seong-jun guy be tricking him and secretly collecting magic items?
Sssuk.
He plucked out the sprout that had grown in his head.
Even thinking about it now, it was an absurd leap.
From Lee Seong-jun, there hadn’t been the slightest hint of lying or acting.
“Hmm….”
Choi Yeon, lost in a fog, exhaled.
He thought for a few seconds about what to do, then pulled out his smartphone from his pocket. First, he had to report the current situation to Kim Jaesang, the Dongdae chief.
“I’ll call the Dongdae chief.”
“Ah, yes. Go ahead.”
Lee Seong-jun answered right away.
Then he scratched the area between his shoulder and chest. The tattoo had only been done recently, and it itched.
Or perhaps he was scratching at the uneasy feeling stirred up by the bizarre situation.
And right then.
“Eep?”
A gasp slipped from Choi Yeon’s lips. The question that followed carried a stunned voice.
“What… How did you do that?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“The thing you just did. You infused mana into the tattoo.”
“…What? You think I did that?”
Lee Seong-jun blinked in confusion.
He touched the tattoo as if trying to figure out what kind of nonsense was being spoken.
“…When did you get that tattoo done?”
“This one? Uh, that day. I got the tattoo and then went shopping.”
“….”
“Does that mean you think the tattoo is the reason for using the skill?”
“Yes.”
“Aigoo, how can you use skills with just a tattoo?”
“Better check first. I don’t mind.”
The appraiser waved his hand as if there was no way, but Choi Yeon turned to face him.
The appraiser frowned at Choi Yeon, as if sharing the same thought.
“Are you serious? You really think the skill was activated because of that tattoo?”
“Yes.”
“…Hunter Choi. I was watching too, but I didn’t sense any strange mana flow from him. Not now, either.”
“Please. Appraiser Park.”
You couldn’t make something that didn’t exist just because you didn’t sense it.
Instead of being honest, Choi Yeon bowed his head in request.
The appraiser working for the city wasn’t one to report for only a single day.
Just the number of times he had appraised items face-to-face like this already exceeded both hands. It would be mean to do that.
Moreover, he was working overtime on a Friday evening with colleagues.
“Huu, understood.”
The appraiser seemed to think the same, exhaled, and nodded.
He grumbled under his breath, “It just looks like a tattoo,” but still agreed to Choi Yeon’s request anyway.
“Seong-jun, come here and stand properly, would you?”
“Ah, yes…!”
When the appraiser gestured, Lee Seong-jun immediately stood in front of him. He took off his shirt, exposing a flame-shaped tattoo.
Even as he did so, the appraiser continued to mutter.
“This isn’t the United States… Tattooing that kind of thing is something only an extremely rare Indian shaman could do…”
“…?”
“….”
The appraiser’s muttering mouth dropped open. His eyes popped wide, and the irises trembled.
A startled emotion seeped from his wide-open mouth.
“…What? It’s real?”
“Real? You can actually use skills because of a real tattoo?”
“Yes. The tattoo has a grade D awakening skill. The activation method is to infuse mana into it, but… It says the skill activates at random times?”
“Yes.”
“It seems you infused mana without realizing it.”
“Ah.”
“Huh…”
With a start, the appraiser turned to Choi Yeon.
Choi Yeon’s furrowed brows showed confusion. Even the one who had the item appraised thought it impossible, so he was just as surprised.
“Hunter Choi, how did you see this minute mana flow?”
I only realized after I carefully observed it myself.
The appraiser had swallowed his pride, and Choi Yeon had observed without missing a thing.
He didn’t mention it further. He just shrugged once and said.
“You were closer than Appraiser Park.”
“That’s…”
Isn’t it a problem?
Instead of arguing, he decided to let it go.
When it came to this prickly, arrogant appraiser, what good would arguing do?
Better to be gracious and grateful.
“Seong-jun, where did you get the tattoo?”
Choi Yeon asked as if he knew nothing. Lee Seong-jun, who had been putting his shirt back on, slowly replied.
“At Tuyoung Studio. There’s an alley that goes from Jungang-ro Station to the Mokcheok Livestock Market. There’s a tattoo artist who looks super tired.”
“Oh, I remember seeing it while patrolling.”
“Wow. You remember every little shop in the neighborhood?”
“No way. I only remember the sign. I thought it was weird that there was a tattoo studio near the livestock market.”
“Ah, me too…! I remembered the same way and went there!”
Lee Seong-jun’s face brightened.
It seemed he was delighted to share the same experience.
In contrast, Choi Yeon felt burdened. Was that about right?
The appraiser’s feelings were the same. He spoke in a neutral tone.
“The two of you, finding a common point and rejoicing.”
He had called them “the two of you,” but the appraiser’s gaze was fixed solely on Choi Yeon.
“Anyway, if it’s settled, may I go home now?”
“Ah.”
“No more incidents, right? I’m heading out.”
“Hmm….”
Choi Yeon didn’t answer right away.
His gaze toward the appraiser seemed distant, as if lost in thought, and the seriousness he hadn’t seen before was there.
Naturally, the appraiser’s face hardened.
After a few more seconds, Choi Yeon slowly began to speak.
“Appraiser Park.”
“Yes, Hunter Choi.”
“This… We shouldn’t just let it go and pretend it never happened, should we?”
“…Is that possible?”
The appraiser’s face twisted in surprise.
What was he saying? Then…
Thinking he had been serious for nothing, a sigh escaped his lips.
“This isn’t something we can just gloss over. It’s an issue serious enough that the upper levels will issue instructions immediately.”
“That makes sense.”
“So, don’t mess around. Hunter Choi.”
“It’s a joke, a joke. I was just saying it. If I really thought so, I wouldn’t have asked about the tattoo studio.”
“….”
Even after Choi Yeon’s words, the appraiser didn’t remove his suspicious gaze.
No matter what was said, he wouldn’t believe it.
With a strong-willed stare behind him, Choi Yeon left with Lee Seong-jun.
Click.
As soon as the appraiser’s door closed, Lee Seong-jun spoke.
“You’re going to the studio, right? I’ll guide you!”
“Do I have to? I’ll just accept the guidance.”
“…You’re really determined to refuse.”
“It’s not because going together would be uncomfortable.”
It was uncomfortable.
Choi Yeon heard the inner thought and continued to Lee Seong-jun, who was drooping his shoulders.
“From now on, Seong-jun, you need to train at the city training ground.”
“Training?”
“Right now, you can’t control your mana, so the skill activates at random times, right?”
“Yes.”
“In other words, if you just learn to control it, it’ll naturally be fine.”
“Ah….”
Lee Seong-jun sighed and touched the tattoo.
Thinking about it, the appraiser had said the same thing.
Without realizing, without realizing…
The appraiser’s voice echoed in his head.
Even now, he wasn’t feeling any mana, so could he really control it?
Anxious and uneasy, he tensed up.
“Mana control… Sounds hard just to listen to…”
“It’s not easy. It’s even a subject on the hunter license test.”
“Ugh….”
“In other words, since everyone does it, there’s no need to worry too much.”
“Ah.”
“It’s just that knowing how and doing it well are two different things.”
“Ah…?”
“Well, Seong-jun doesn’t need to do it well, so it’s fine.”
“…?”
Lee Seong-jun was confused.
Whether Choi Yeon’s actions were meant to encourage him or to kill his spirit, he couldn’t tell.
At that moment, Choi Yeon’s smiling face entered his view.
“…Are you teasing me now?”
“No. I was explaining seriously.”
The face of the one who said that was still the same.
Lee Seong-jun, realizing he had been teased, pouted his lips. He was already worried about whether he could do it, and now he was being teased too, which was too much.
He didn’t notice that the body, which had stiffened from his anxious heart, was now fine.
“Come with me. I’ll guide you to the training ground.”
“…Yes, thank you.”
“Ah, by the way.”
Choi Yeon turned to Lee Seong-jun.
His face was no longer smiling; it was infinitely serious.
Somehow, the face from the appraiser’s room flashed before his eyes, and Lee Seong-jun thought he would say something strange again.
However,
“While training, carefully think about the tattoo.”
Contrary to his expectations, a serious piece of advice flew at him.
“Contact your mother and explain the current situation as well.”
“…Yes. I will.”
Lee Seong-jun nodded.
He was too startled that his teasing had turned into seriousness immediately.
＊＊＊
Choi Yeon killed the scooter’s ignition.
Tuyoung Studio.
The three-story building in front had lights on only on the second floor.
While sitting on the scooter and quietly observing the building, he said.
“…For now, there’s no sign of anyone in the building.”
- Alone?
“Yes.”
-Hmm…. Is it an organization?
“It seems like it from the current situation. Let’s go in.”
Choi Yeon got off the scooter and headed for the building.
While walking, his attention was focused on the lit second floor. There was no movement. He hadn’t noticed that someone had come outside the building.
Was he pretending not to know? Or was he really not knowing?
As Choi Yeon was guessing, the voice of Kim Jaesang, the Dongdae chief, rang in his ears.
- Support? Will you be okay alone?
“Hmm, isn’t it okay?”
- …That’s right, then.
“Yes.”
Click.
Choi Yeon tapped the earphone plugged in his ear to end the call.
He turned the OPEN sign on the glass entrance and climbed the building stairs.
Soon standing in front of the door of the Tuyoung Studio on the second floor, he didn’t immediately enter but briefly read the internal signs.
No significant signs were felt, so he opened the door and went in.
“…Welcome.”
Only after the door fully opened did the voice come.
If he had known someone was coming, the late response would have been impossible.
The tattoo artist smiled at Choi Yeon.
“Is this our first time here?”
She was exactly as Lee Seong-jun had described.
Her pale white face had black flowers blooming under her eyes from long fatigue.
Choi Yeon easily guessed that she had companions in sleeplessness for a long time.
“…Customer?”
“What a pity.”
“Huh?”
“I’m not a customer. I’m Choi Yeon from the Seonhwa Dongdae Hunter Office.”
“Kek….”
The tattoo artist let out a stifled sound and frowned.
Seeing the expression full of reluctance, Choi Yeon chuckled.
Who exactly was this annoying person now…
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