Fate's Trick (9)
Lee Yu-seol, inside the elevator, was seized by a bizarre sensation.
...That man?
The Dio Guild’s rookie entrance test had just ended.
Out of more than a hundred candidates, only about ten remained.
And among them was one man who stood out from the rest.
A man who had willingly thrown himself into the chaos to save his comrades, even attacking an S-class hunter in order to pass the test.
Was he bold? Or was he insane?
That wasn’t what mattered.
Lee Yu-seol, who possessed the Sense talent, was thrown into confusion.
All five senses—and even her sixth.
She had experienced this situation before.
The so-called deja vu.
But this was the first time Dio Guild had ever added such a picky rookie selection process.
And it was also the first time she had ever watched a ridiculous, childish game of musical chairs.
Even so—
I’ve seen him somewhere before.
The man had an ordinary build, slitted eyes, and a sharp, severe face.
His face was unfamiliar, but the instant their eyes met, Lee Yu-seol had no choice but to hold her breath.
It’s the Purple Devil!
A mask like that wasn’t going to fool her.
This isn’t just a sense of déjà vu. I’m sure of it.
There was no doubt.
That was the bastard who had worn a purple mask and turned Dio Guild into a wreck.
The hair on her body stood on end, and a chill crawled up her spine until her back felt icy.
Gooseflesh prickled along one cheek.
What is he doing here? No, why is he even in a place like this...?
Questions piled on top of questions.
Her mind had become so tangled that she even forgot to press the open button.
Just as the door was about to close—
Thunk.
Go Pil-hun, standing beside her, caught the door with his hand.
Only then did Lee Yu-seol snap back to her senses.
“...I’m sorry, Representative.”
“Hey. Team Leader.”
Go Pil-hun’s gaze as he called to her was fixed on one place.
On the man sitting in a chair, just like Lee Yu-seol herself.
“Who’s that bastard? Do you know him?”
“...”
Lee Yu-seol hesitated.
That man was the one who had killed Go Ju-hun.
The enemy was right in front of her, and yet—
Would it be better to tell him right now?
At that moment, the memory of what had happened on the rooftop flashed through her mind.
That night, when the rain had been coming down in sheets.
The Purple Devil had thrown Go Ju-hun’s corpse down.
Lee Yu-seol had fallen apart at the sight of the man she had respected plunging from the sky.
Go Ju-hun’s final moments replayed endlessly in her mind.
Maybe the reason he had come back was simpler than she thought.
...To bring down the entire Dio Guild?
Lee Yu-seol swallowed hard.
Am I overthinking this?
It wasn’t an unreasonable guess at all.
The Purple Devil had charged into enemy territory alone, murdered Go Ju-hun, and then walked away as if nothing had happened.
Lee Yu-seol was only sensitive to outside stimuli; she couldn’t predict the future.
How was she supposed to interpret this unpredictable situation?
Then, a faint surge of mana spread from the man seated in the chair.
Energy wrapped around his entire body like a thin protective membrane.
W-What the hell?
Others didn’t notice, but Lee Yu-seol was horrified.
That wasn’t the level of skill an F-class hunter could use.
It could easily block an S-class attack.
When the man clenched his fist, Lee Yu-seol swallowed again.
Even the way he had hit the judge had been him holding back.
If he decides to really use his strength...
The man turned his head and stared straight at her.
She shrank back like prey before a predator.
The furious Purple Devil had swung a fist that crushed Seo Gwang-pal’s skull like tofu.
Lee Yu-seol understood his intent.
He’s warning me. He’s telling me not to run my mouth carelessly.
Consumed by overwhelming fear, Lee Yu-seol trembled.
I can’t provoke that man.
Just as the heads of Dio Guild operatives had dropped one by one to the floor after they stormed the Ilsan Hunter Center...
She had to make sure nothing like that happened here.
“Team Leader?”
When she stayed silent, Go Pil-hun prodded her again.
Lee Yu-seol made her decision.
Go Ju-hun was already dead; she couldn’t bring him back.
She resolved to be cautious instead of acting rashly.
Stay calm. If I’m careless, I could get everyone killed.
Therefore—
I’ll postpone revenge.
Lee Yu-seol wanted the kingdom Go Ju-hun had built to remain intact.
And she desperately wanted to survive herself.
“I don’t know much about the applicant, either.”
“...”
Lee Yu-seol chose to lie.
Go Pil-hun gave her a suspicious look, then eventually looked away.
“Hmm. Fine.”
Go Pil-hun swept his hair back with one hand.
“He’s got skill, and he’s got guts. More importantly, he looks like a bad guy, and I like that. That’s the perfect trio for Dio Guild.”
Go Pil-hun stepped out of the elevator.
“He’s exactly the kind of talent I was looking for.”
To think he was showing interest in the man who had killed his brother.
She couldn’t know where this choice would lead their fate.
“Let’s go meet him in person.”
“Yes, Representative.”
Lee Yu-seol simply followed behind him in silence.
* * *
I sat in the chair and let out a rough breath.
Thanks to the mana running I’d done by using the marathon skill, my stamina had improved a lot.
My pounding heart gradually calmed.
I wiped the blood from the corner of my eye.
Then I moved my wrist to check the state of my body.
Nothing broken.
Aside from my ear being torn, I wasn’t badly hurt.
“Hoo.”
Bang Su-hwan, who had passed out, finally came to.
“Huh? Hyung?”
Apparently he didn’t even know the test was over; he sprang to his feet and looked around in a daze.
The test was over.
If you looked only at the chair-snatching game, the result was positive.
As the tension left me, my strength drained away.
That was close.
I’d taken a gamble so Bang Su-hwan and I could pass together.
Good thing the judge came down from the podium.
If he hadn’t, one of us would’ve been eliminated.
Bang Su-hwan saw me sitting in the chair and raised both hands.
“Wow! Does that mean we passed?”
He bounced his massive body around and came charging toward me.
That was when—
“Tch. Well, look at this.”
A voice came from far away.
The judge stood up, dusting off his ass.
“No matter how blind you are to the idea of passing, attacking a judge? Are you out of your mind?”
The bastard strode straight toward me.
He was smiling, but a vicious surge of mana was boiling off his whole body.
“H-Hyung!”
Bang Su-hwan sensed the judge’s killing intent.
“Hold on just a sec.”
I tried to block his path, but it was useless.
“Let’s just talk this out—urgk!”
The judge kicked Bang Su-hwan in the stomach.
Crash!!!
The giant body flew like a scarecrow and slammed into the banquet hall wall.
Bang Su-hwan was embedded in it.
...
Before I knew it, the judge was standing in front of me.
I looked up at him from my chair.
“Get up.”
I didn’t budge.
“If you won’t.”
In the blink of an eye, the bastard grabbed my throat and yanked me to my feet.
My breathing cut off, and I was forcibly hauled upright.
“Listen, you little shit. You think just because I’m doing this job it makes me easy to push around?”
The judge finally showed his true colors.
“You filthy bastard. You had the nerve to hit me? Then you’d better have no complaints if I hit you back the same way.”
The atmosphere froze in an instant.
The rookie hunters watching us, the Dio Guild operatives—
None of them dared move.
A bead of sweat slid down my forehead.
So this is how it is.
When an S-class hunter deliberately spilled his killing intent, a lower-ranked hunter couldn’t even twitch.
Feeling blood rush to my face, I clenched my teeth.
What do I do?
I had deliberately shown my abilities to Lee Yu-seol in order to stop her from exposing my identity beforehand.
I’d activated God’s Aura, and I’d made it look like I could use Judgment of the Superhuman whenever I wanted.
As expected, Lee Yu-seol had turned into a mute.
But the judge was different.
Bluffing wouldn’t work on him.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Scared? You knew what you were getting into, didn’t you?”
One look in the bastard’s eyes told me everything.
This wasn’t an empty threat.
He was seriously going to kill me.
If I couldn’t avoid it—
I’d better prepare for the worst.
If a fight broke out, I’d have to pull out my hidden cards.
If I threw everything I had into my hero abilities without caring about method or means—
Wouldn’t I have a chance?
Maybe that was arrogance.
Beating Go Ju-hun had only been possible because fortune had been on my side.
Still, that’s fine.
Even if I couldn’t win decisively, even if I looked like I might lose—
I could use Speeder’s Infinite Acceleration.
I gauged the banquet hall door’s position.
At the very least, I can get away.
The judge delivered his final ultimatum.
“Enough. Wrap up your little will and grit your teeth. I’m going to blow your jaw clean off.”
I prepared myself.
First, though—Plan B.
In truth, I wasn’t acting like a man who had gone all-in and decided to hell with the consequences.
I had a thoroughly calculated plan.
Please let the timing work.
The man I’d seen in the elevator who looked like Go Ju-hun.
The moment I saw him, I knew.
The figure who had made the headlines in a flurry of articles for a while—the new head of Dio Guild.
Go Pil-hun, Go Ju-hun’s half-brother.
I’d been the one to provoke Go Pil-hun first, so—
He’ll respond from that side.
I sensed Go Pil-hun approaching behind the judge who was gripping my throat.
The judge grinned.
“Oh? So you’re not scared after all.”
Amused, he tightened his hand around my throat.
“You really want to try me, huh?”
The judge raised his fist with a devilish smile.
“Stop.”
At the shout, his fist barely halted in front of my eyes.
“Hunter Na. That’s enough.”
“...Representative Go.”
The judge frowned.
Go Pil-hun patted his shoulder as if to calm him down.
The judge clearly didn’t like it, but he did back off a little.
“Our new recruit seems to have made a mistake because he doesn’t yet know Hunter Na’s reputation. Let’s be generous and let this slide.”
“A mistake? Anyone can see that—!”
“Hunter Na Sang-min.”
Go Pil-hun’s expression hardened as he cut him off.
“I assigned you to this evaluation as your first mission. I didn’t pay you a high salary to come here and beat rookie hunters to death.”
“...”
Na Sang-min let go of my throat.
“Tch. Damn it!”
Then he turned away, grumbling.
I rubbed my throat and sucked in ragged breaths.
Thank god.
Having spent nearly thirty years doing labor at the bottom of society, I knew exactly how this world worked.
Awakeners might seem like they ran on raw power, but that wasn’t really the case.
In the end, hunters are ruled by the logic of capitalism too.
Go Pil-hun patted my back.
“Are you all right? I apologize for the rudeness. Hunter Na’s personality is terribly fiery. If you’re offended, I’ll apologize on his behalf.”
As he said that, Go Pil-hun flashed his gold teeth in a crooked smile.
The more I looked at him, the more he resembled Go Ju-hun.
Only, if Go Ju-hun was ruthlessly self-centered—
This guy was the type who concealed himself ruthlessly.
I straightened the name tag hanging by a thread from my torn T-shirt.
“Is my acceptance certain?”
Since things had come to this, I needed to drive the point home.
“Of course. Let’s see... Your name was... Choi Yongki, was it? Hmm? Your expected rank is F-class?”
Go Pil-hun tilted his head in confusion.
“You’re not fighting like an F-class. What kind of trick did you use?”
“Do I have to tell you?”
“No, not necessarily.”
Hunters weren’t obligated to disclose their talents, even to the guild they belonged to.
“You’re a man of many secrets. The first test is a pass, yes. However—”
Go Pil-hun smiled faintly.
“As you know, Dio Guild is going to go through a major overhaul this time. Skill is important, of course. But we’ll also be looking at the kind of person he is.”
A trash heap like this talking about character.
No matter how you looked at it, it was a hollow lie.
“Let me ask just one thing. Was attacking Hunter Na planned? Or was it spontaneous? Motive matters in crime, after all.”
I rested a hand on the edge of the chair.
“Isn’t that the whole point of chair-snatching? I just did my best to take away what the other side had.”
When Go Pil-hun heard that, he burst out laughing.
“Puhaha! Exactly! That’s right!”
I felt a gaze from somewhere.
It was from Lee Yu-seol, standing beside Go Pil-hun.
Had she figured out my identity?
Probably.
Lee Yu-seol wasn’t keeping quiet for my sake.
It was because my silent threat had worked.
Go Pil-hun raised his voice.
“All right then. Congratulations to our rookie hunters for slipping through the needle’s eye! Hurry on to the second test!”
Na Sang-min pouted and lazily waved a hand.
“The twelve of you here. Follow me.”
Bang Su-hwan hobbled over to me.
“Hyung. Are you okay?”
“Are you okay?”
“Me? I’m sturdy as hell.”
He scratched the back of his head.
“Hyung, that was seriously awesome. How should I put it? You looked like a strong man!”
Bang Su-hwan brought up his favorite character.
“I’m not a strong man.”
“Huh? Then what were you?”
“More like Zin Shark.”
Thinking of my favorite hero, I walked on ahead.
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