Bewitched by a Fox (2)
Choi Yeon emerged from the long cave.
When he climbed up onto the cliff, the people of Frost Raven were waiting for him.
The man standing in the middle of the three offered a greeting.
"...Good to meet you. I'm Han Seojun of Frost Raven."
His black hair was cut short, exposing a forehead beneath which his eyes glinted coldly. A faint smile lingered at the corners of his mouth despite his sharp jawline, so his overall impression was not purely stern but rather soft. Over his broad shoulders, a strip of blue fabric extending from a neck warmer rested like a crow's wings. He looked to be in his mid-to-late thirties, making him roughly the same generation as Song Jong-in.
"Choi Yeon."
"I don't believe we've met. Did you come down from Daedeok-gu up north?"
"No. I came from Jung-gu."
"Jung-gu? You've come quite a ways."
Though Choi Yeon had given his name, Han Seojun showed no sign of recognizing him. It was a perfectly normal reaction, so Choi Yeon nodded once to himself. Recognizing a hunter from a distant Dongdae would have been the abnormal thing.
Han Seojun asked,
"By the way, you don't seem particularly surprised?"
"I already knew."
"You already knew? Already knew, huh..."
Tap, tap.
Han Seojun lightly drummed his crossed right arm with his index finger.
"And yet you came up anyway... I'm quite curious. Whether you're a fool, or just that confident in your own skills."
"Neither. I simply trusted you."
"Trusted us? Trusted us for what?"
"Frost Raven. That you would be wise."
Perhaps it was the cold region, but Choi Yeon's voice was dry and flat. Hearing those monotone words only left Han Seojun more confused. Had he really climbed up trusting them to be wise?
Was he a romantic who didn't know the ways of the world? Or else...
"Why? Does that sound stupid?"
A voice cut into his thoughts like a blade. The odds that a guy who read others' minds and threw pointed remarks was simply a fool were vanishingly low. And he was hardly likely to be one of those rare romantics you almost never saw these days, so it was right to conclude he was confident in his skills. Even then, to Han Seojun's eyes, it still seemed romantic. Even if you were confident in your skills, most people would still avoid it. That was the wise thing to do, after all.
"Shall I be honest?"
"Please do."
"I think it's rather romantic."
"Thanks for seeing it that way."
As Han Seojun spoke with a smile, Choi Yeon smiled back. Contrary to the word romantic, the reality was nothing of the sort. If he were merely the human Choi Yeon, he would have turned back without climbing all the way up. But as a Dongdae Hunter, he had to confirm—whether Frost Raven was full of idiots or not. Even if it was a different district, a different neighborhood.
"The reason we waited for you here is to make a proposal."
"A proposal...?"
"That's right."
"I'm listening."
"Would you refrain from coming in and out of this Kkotsan Dungeon? Since you've already entered, we'll look the other way for today—but from now on."
So controlling the dungeon was indeed Frost Raven's goal. However...
Before answering, Choi Yeon looked down at the scenery spread out below the cliff. In the valley that stretched endlessly like a giant snake coiling, snow flurries danced. Only the frozen trees here and there quietly exhaled white breaths.
"Why Kkotsan Dungeon of all places?"
"Hmm?"
"Just curious. It's a dungeon whose exploration isn't even finished yet... Why go this far already?"
"Ah. Honestly, there's no particular reason."
Han Seojun extended his right hand forward. Mana gathered over his empty palm, and soon ice crystals formed.
"You're an ice skill user."
"It's our pride."
"Ours?"
"These friends here, and the ones hunting frost bears at that frozen waterfall over there—they're all ice attribute holders."
"Huh..."
Choi Yeon let out a murmur of interest. Guilds that operated under a particular concept were common enough. But every single guild member being an attribute holder was by no means common. Attribute holders were rare in any neighborhood, and even in Seonhwa-dong, Choi Yeon could remember every face.
"And right in front of people like us, a Kkotsan Dungeon of this terrain appeared. So... it's funny, but we felt destiny."
"Ah."
"...What, does that sound stupid?"
The same question he had thrown came back at him. Could you call someone who considered the other person's feelings a fool? Well, the odds of that were low. And if it wasn't a lie, then there was only one answer to give Han Seojun.
"Shall I be honest?"
"I'd like that."
"I think it's quite romantic."
"...Is that so."
It was the same answer he had given. It would be right to see it as a lie just to match words, but... why was it? Han Seojun felt as though Choi Yeon was speaking the truth. It was only a feeling he had, so the fact that he couldn't be certain was regrettable.
"...I'd like to hear your answer now."
"I refuse."
Choi Yeon answered immediately. At the reply that came without even taking a breath, the colleagues standing on either side of Han Seojun took a step forward. The one who stopped them was Han Seojun, who asked with curiosity.
"Why? You're a hunter active in Jung-gu. There's no need for you to come all the way to Dong-gu just to hunt."
"That's true."
"Right, you harvested a lot of Eunseolcho. If it's because of that, I promise to sell it to you cheaper than market price."
Han Seojun proposed again. It wasn't that he was after Kkotsan Dungeon to obtain something. Choi Yeon felt the earnest wish in Han Seojun's words for that sincerity to get across.
"Sounds good."
"Then—"
"But coming in and out of the dungeon is solely my freedom and right."
"......"
It was such a perfectly reasonable statement that he was left speechless. It was a right granted by the Dong-gu Office. Controlling that was nothing more than an act of infringing on someone else's freedom and rights. And to completely usurp it...
"......"
Han Seojun's right hand moved downward—toward the left side of his waist.
"...Are you going to draw?"
A regretful voice held his right hand in place. Han Seojun, whose breath for gripping the sword had been cut short and frozen mid-motion, quietly faced Choi Yeon. The conversation they had just exchanged briefly for the sake of sounding each other out echoed in his mind—the words that he had trusted them to be wise, and that he thought it was romantic. They should have been mere words... yet for some reason they kept catching in his heart, and he couldn't readily draw his sword. Was it because he was looking him straight on? Or because the voice was so flat and ordinary?
Clench...
Han Seojun clenched a fist in empty air. From between the gaps, the cold he had ultimately failed to grasp leaked out.
"It's just like being possessed by a ghost... no. Like being bewitched by a fox..."
"For someone who says that, you're smiling."
"That's what's strange, isn't it? That it doesn't feel particularly bad..."
Han Seojun trailed off. His eyes were like someone looking at something inside his head. Choi Yeon knew what that phenomenon meant. Right before coming out of the cave, Choi Yeon had been the same.
"...Your skill ranked up?"
"Yeah. It did."
At Han Seojun's answer, the other two guild members' eyes went wide. They were surprised at the mention of a rank-up, but he himself was just as bewildered.
"I really have no idea what's going on. A skill that had been stuck for years just suddenly jumps to B-class like this?"
"Congratulations."
"Just asking out of curiosity."
"Yes."
"Choi Yeon, you're not a fox monster that transformed, are you?"
"Haha. That's an amusing joke."
Han Seojun stared blankly at the briefly laughing Choi Yeon, as if it weren't a joke at all. Only after making a dumbfounded face did he burst out with a snort of laughter. Even to himself, it was funny. A transformed fox monster suddenly appearing and helping with a skill rank-up? That was the kind of story you only heard in folktales.
Click.
Han Seojun took off his neck warmer. A crow with blue wings spread wide flew into Choi Yeon's hands with a soft whoosh.
"...What's this all of a sudden?"
"Oh. Seeing you pick up an object, you're definitely not a ghost."
"......"
"Just kidding. It's a neck warmer our guild ordered together—"
"A cold-weather item?"
"No. A cooling item."
"What?"
"There's nothing better for raising cold resistance."
"......"
Choi Yeon looked at them with an incredulous face. They had come into this freezing place wearing neck warmers that lowered the temperature? Certainly, that would make resistance skills rise faster, but normally that kind of thing stayed as just a thought. The fact that they were actually trying it was truly mind-boggling.
"That's how we use them. But for you, you could just wear it when it's hot, right?"
"Yes. That's true. I'll put it to good use."
Choi Yeon took the neck warmer. He briefly considered putting it around his neck, but left it at just a thought. Just because there were more people who weren't normal didn't mean he had to go that far too. It was still extremely cold.
"Which dungeon in Jung-gu do you operate in?"
"...I don't stick to just one place."
"A relay type, then."
"......"
Choi Yeon remained silent. As he said, he did go around various dungeons here and there, but it absolutely wasn't because of any type. If he could, Choi Yeon would have buried himself in one place.
"No big deal—I just thought I'd look you up if I ever end up in Jung-gu."
"If fate allows, we'll meet."
"That works too."
Han Seojun nodded up and down, then shifted his body backward. Having changed his mind, there was no need to stay longer. As he turned, Choi Yeon's voice held him back.
"...May I offer one piece of advice? No, it'd be more accurate to call it information."
"I'm all ears."
"Try going to city hall, the district office, or a bank."
"Out of nowhere?"
"If you look into it, there should be something called a dungeon operation loan system."
"...?"
"It's a system that provides necessary funds to guilds that want dungeon exclusivity."
"...Huh?"
"The interest rates are lower than regular loans, so it should be quite a big help."
Of course, it wasn't a system that supported just anyone. They only gave it to guilds that could pay the money back... Frost Raven had been active for years, and Guild Master Han Seojun had ranked his skill up to B-class. In Choi Yeon's estimation, whether it was city hall or a bank, getting a loan shouldn't be too difficult.
"There's a system like that...?"
"Yes."
"...I've been a hunter for over a decade and this is the first I've heard of it."
"Well, you probably never thought about monopolizing a dungeon until now."
"That's true, but..."
"Ah. And there's also a dungeon operating rights installment payment system."
"Installment payment? Don't tell me—instead of paying all at once, you pay in installments... something like that?"
"That's right. If you prepay twenty percent of the total amount, you can slowly pay off the remaining balance over twenty-four months."
"......"
Han Seojun wore a blank, dumbfounded expression. And so did the guild members standing beside him. Not only had they not known such systems existed, they hadn't even imagined they would.
"Wait, then what the hell were we..."
Han Seojun's muttering didn't make it to the end. Realizing they had only wasted time on pointless effort, the words wouldn't come out smoothly. Simply,
"...Choi Yeon. We should be going now."
He was nothing but urgent. This was no time to be standing around here. They had to hurry to city hall or a bank.
"Next—next time!"
With a hurried farewell, Frost Raven left. Watching their retreating backs, Choi Yeon smiled faintly.
"Well then... shall I go harvest the rest of the Eunseolcho?"
He went back into the cave. He still needed eighty-two more stalks to reach two hundred.
Frost Raven quickly exited Kkotsan Dungeon. With the precious information Choi Yeon had given them, they intended to hurry to city hall or a bank. Along the way, Han Seojun's eyes met those of a manager who had been watching out of curiosity, wondering what was going on.
"...Perfect timing. Choi Minho. You're well-informed about various news, aren't you?"
"Uh, I guess so?"
"Do you happen to know Choi Yeon as well?"
"I do know him..."
"What kind of guy is he?"
"......"
Choi Minho closed his mouth. He couldn't gauge whether he should say or not. What if they were looking for him because something bad had happened in the dungeon?
"Don't misunderstand. I'm asking because I took a liking to the fellow."
"Really...?"
"Really. I received a debt of gratitude from him that I need to repay."
"Even a debt of gratitude?"
Han Seojun's face was bright, so it didn't seem like he was lying. The other guild members' faces weren't much different either. It definitely wasn't because of something bad. Also...
"Well, even if it is a lie, it'd be better to tell you."
"Hmm?"
"Choi Yeon is a Seonhwa Dongdae Hunter."
"Seonhwa Dongdae? That guy is a Dongdae Hunter?"
"Yes."
At Choi Minho's answer, Han Seojun was considerably surprised. Choi Yeon had only said he was active in Seonhwa-dong, not that he was a Dongdae Hunter. The reason was clear.
"...It was a test."
If they had messed with a Dongdae Hunter, monopoly or whatever, their guild would have been shut down.
"Ha, hahaha...!"
Han Seojun burst into delayed laughter. Even after realizing he had been completely taken in from start to finish, he didn't feel bad. Rather, it was even pleasant, making him wonder if being bewitched by a fox felt just like this.