13. Early Graduation from the Intern Program (2)
The person who approached was, of course, Arin.
Today on the van, Minsu and Arin sat in the very back. Dong-hyuk drove, and Father Stefano occupied the passenger seat. Behind them sat Team Leader Seo and Soso.
That meant if the two of them did anything, the rest of the guild members would never know.
Arin gently stroked my hand as she answered, her voice a touch different from her usual tone—serious, slightly subdued.
Her expression was nothing like her usual kindness. It was cold.
Yet the moment I asked, she smiled the same bashful smile she always did.
“Why are you so tense? Did I do something wrong?”
“No. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“Hmm. Guys often make mistakes like that. They do something to their girlfriend and don’t even know what they did.”
It was said lightly, but the words carried a sting.
Even though it had only been to bring me home drunk, she had stopped by my place and left.
‘Did Arin see that?’
Arin had always worried about me. If she had spotted Yuri heading up to my place with me, she might have come looking.
But nothing had happened that day. I didn’t remember the drinking, but when I woke halfway, Yuri was already gone.
‘And if there really was something between Yuri and me…’
Arin wasn’t my girlfriend. Still, if that had happened, I would have felt guilty toward her.
For the past two years she had stood by my side. She was precious to me too. And only recently I had almost fallen for her temptation.
Because of that, I had been unable to give her my heart—the Arin who had lost Si-woo and Min-ah.
I could not give her the same wound again.
‘So I should push her away more…’
The two of them now were far too close for mere senior and junior, even if they weren’t dating.
If I distanced myself further here, I would have to be cruel to her.
Yet when I had lost consciousness, in the deep swamp of the unconscious, I remembered the warmth and the bright light that had always felt so comforting.
And when I regained awareness, I knew who had shared that warmth with me. It was Arin.
I paused, recalling the remaining time I had.
‘Five years. Or maybe even less.’
A terminal illness. And I had already died once, so this world was no different from the one I had left.
When I had decided to die and deliberately destroyed my mana heart, released Hongok’s power, and finally caught Doubtful Monster, I had experienced death.
The system had lied to me. After death there was nothing.
The author who had reincarnated me as Aca Hunter, or the sages of another realm, had never appeared.
So the fear that I would die without knowing anything about this world or Red Lake was the scariest thing of all.
Even I, who had faced death, was not unafraid of it.
‘If it weren’t for Arin…’
She was the one who had held my sanity together and given me the warmth to forget the terror that made my flesh tremble.
She had become a nun of the White Cross Society late, yet gained astonishing divine power. She was the only one who could replace Min-ah from the original story.
Whether rational, emotional, or selfish, Arin had been necessary for me. And for her.
To hide the complicated feelings, I answered with a playful tone.
“Again? Again? Joking around. I’m not your girlfriend.”
“Ei. But you’re a candidate, right?”
“What kind of candidate is that?”
“There is.”
Arin stroked my hand more firmly, pressing her soft body even closer. The familiar scent of her skin filled my senses.
“Yes. As the senior said, I’m not your girlfriend. I shouldn’t be. A girlfriend is a light thing that can be discarded anytime.”
Her voice had grown stickier than usual, as if the words themselves were weighted.
“But senior, you’d better lock the door properly. A thief cat might come into your place. A thief cat that would hurt the senior.”
Without ever letting go, she tightened her grip on my hand and whispered into my ear.
“The two people who hurt the senior, I will never forgive. And I want them to pay for that sin. No matter what it takes.”
“Arin…”
The two people were, of course, Yuri and Soso.
“But if the senior joined Flame like this, it means those two are necessary for you, isn’t it? Right?”
Arin’s words were correct. I had no answer.
Arin lightly bit my earlobe with her lips.
“Uh… Then I won’t touch them. But…”
Breath warm against my ear, she whispered again.
“If I hurt the senior again, I will never leave those two alone. No matter what method I use.”
A chill raced down my spine. Arin spoke in a cold tone I had never heard from her before. Fierce hostility and cold fury radiated from her toward Yuri and Soso.
“Don’t joke.”
I brushed her nun’s habit aside with my palm, trying to lighten the heavy mood.
“Hehe. Okay, senior.”
As if she had read my mind, Arin smiled bashfully. But her eyes held no warmth at all.
***
The group finally reached the destination.
It was the old North Korean territory, the Geumgang Mountain area. North Korea had collapsed thirty years ago when the gates appeared.
Yet Korea had maintained its system thanks to the hunter guild Light—the foundation of the current Hunter Association—and the efforts of the current association president.
‘Jeon Taehyeon. The current association president and one of the Five Heavenly Stars.’
He had stepped back from the front lines to focus on politics, but the old North Korean territory still existed in stark contrast.
Some areas heavily contaminated by gates and dungeons had become ghost cities, like Kaesong near Paju that would soon need to be conquered.
Others had survived and become special economic and political zones under the Two-Nation Alliance, enjoying the highest prosperity in Korean history.
‘Old North Korea sits between Slavia Kingdom and Korea.’
The Geumgang Mountain area had therefore become a well-developed tourist destination.
It had been open as a resort even in the old North Korea era, but now Korean conglomerates had taken the lead in development, turning it into a world-famous vacation spot.
“But unfortunately, we didn’t come here to play. This area is one where the Manseong conglomerate has been leading development. It has quite a strong Manseong influence.”
Team Leader Seo addressed the group. Dong-hyuk answered.
“It’s especially unfortunate that our interns have to perform well right now… We ended up on a trip to a somewhat dubious place. What a coincidence.”
“No. It’s not coincidence. It’s inevitable. It seems the Manseong side has taken some pride damage. They lost three times to Flame in the three trips.”
Saying that, Team Leader Seo glanced at me.
As he had said, this place was not like the Southeastern Contaminated Zone where dungeons appeared on a fixed schedule.
“This place is said to have an A-rank dungeon discovered. It’s lower than A+ or AA, so it’s not extremely dangerous, but it’s demanding enough for interns to conquer.”
Not only that. Manseong led security in the area, so an A-rank high-level dungeon discovered here would naturally favor Manseong hunters in the conquest.
Dong-hyuk continued.
“Then you’re openly throwing Manseong’s interns at us, aren’t you?”
“Not just Manseong. Our Flame interns’ scores are overwhelming. The other major guild interns are also falling behind because of us, so they probably want to make up for it this way.”
“In short, several companies conspired and lobbied the Association. That’s what you mean.”
“Yes. Dong-hyuk. Of course, the intern program manual explains it as a program to gain practical experience in conquering high-level dungeons…”
Team Leader Seo and Dong-hyuk’s expressions grew serious.
This trip was important for the interns. It was a test to see if they qualified for the S-rank dungeon conquest cooperation with Flame.
‘If I don’t get an evaluation score that allows early graduation, it will be impossible.’
This month’s intern trip was the final one.
The next program was at the end of March, but the S-rank dungeon at Paaju A was scheduled for the end of this month, February. I had to prove myself before then.
‘I must achieve the highest score.’
The conditions seemed unfavorable in several ways. When we arrived at the guild’s gathering point, the vans were bustling.
It meant even major guild companies were mobilizing substantial personnel for this intern mission. If they had already coordinated with Association officials to secure a good dungeon like last time, it would complicate things.
‘No. The opposite might actually be true.’
And that would be more rational. If they knew the dungeon in advance, they might deliberately assign Flame a difficult main dungeon.
‘If we fail badly, their pride would be saved.’
Since it was an A-rank dungeon like before, not B-rank, Team Leader Seo seemed to think the same.
“If a main dungeon is assigned to us, it would be troublesome. The current raid party of interns has no main dealer.”
The gray-haired priest who had been smoking a cigarette nearby answered.
“But our Flame interns have achieved overwhelming scores three times without that dealer. We hope our interns can do it.”
The group turned to him. A tall man in his late 180s, wearing priestly robes—a Latin middle-aged man.
Core member of the Flame raid party. Father Stefano.
He looked like a 40s middle-aged man, similar in age to Team Leader Seo, but the atmosphere was quite different from the ordinary salaryman vibe of Team Leader Seo.
Tall, black priestly robes, and the stern expression behind horn-rimmed glasses.
‘Black priestly robes.’
White Cross Society clergy wore all white to match the name. But there were exceptions.
Black priestly robes were the mark of exorcists—exorcists.
Only those who had sworn before their deity in the sacred ordination ceremony to exterminate monsters and villains could receive the special qualification of an exorcist.
White Cross Society clergy could thus manifest divine power when they had special beliefs and hopes.
Arin, who had become a nun of the White Cross Society late, had not yet told me the content of that vow.
‘It was probably different from Min-ah’s vow.’
Min-ah’s vow, like Si-woo’s, had been an aspiration for world peace.
At that moment Father Stefano took out a cigarette and placed it in his mouth. I summoned a tiny Blue Flame and lit it for him.
“Hmm. This is a blue flame…”
Father Stefano said, as if surprised anew, and greeted me lightly.
“Thank you, Brother Lee Minsu.”
I was not a White Cross Society believer, yet Father Stefano addressed all members of Flame as ‘brother’ with deep respect.
Meanwhile, Team Leader Seo quietly approached me and whispered.
“Father Stefano opposed the interns’ participation in S-rank missions, but his expectations for them were enormous. He said three skilled brothers who can exterminate monsters together have joined.”
“I see.”
“You don’t want to lose good new colleagues, right. Father has been in this industry for a long time.”
I nodded at Team Leader Seo’s words.
Father Stefano looked calm now, but he turned terrifying in the presence of monsters and villains.
Like the guild members of Flame with their many stories, he was the same.
‘It’s not for nothing that I joined Flame.’
In the original story he had not been Si-woo’s guild member, yet he appeared as a very skilled hunter.
He would not have opposed the interns’ S-rank mission participation emotionally. And creating definite trust in the interns was my role.
The wait grew longer. Arin and I decided to buy drinks for the guild members at the nearby convenience store.
“I’ll be back in a moment.”
While choosing drinks inside the fairly large convenience store, several familiar hunters blocked Arin and me.
“Kuk. Coming all the way here for dating? Flame interns are pathetic.”
The tone was clearly provocative.