Secret Deal (4)
I walked into Dio Guild with Lee Ji-jun.
As usual, we were heading for the elevator when someone came walking toward us from the other side.
Lee Ji-jun, who was beside me, lit up and stepped forward.
"Oh? Representative."
I recognized the face.
It was Go Pil-hun, the man who currently held the reins of Dio Guild.
Beside him stood Lee Yu-seol, accompanied by an attendant.
Lee Yu-seol.
I deliberately kept my eyes from lingering on her.
We couldn't let our alliance show on the surface.
Lee Ji-jun raised his voice.
"Good morning! Representative!"
Go Pil-hun lifted one hand with an easy smile.
"Good morning. Hmm... was your name Lee Ji-jun Hunter?"
"Wow. You remembered my name? I'm honored!"
Lee Ji-jun, unlike his usual self, acted all flustered and overeager.
Unexpected.
Was he groveling because he was the type to get kicked out after causing trouble at another guild?
Go Pil-hun's gaze locked onto me.
"Oh. And who do we have here? The hero of Gangnam! Hunter Choi Yongki, the man who made Dio Guild shine!"
He clapped his hands and spread his arms wide in an exaggerated display.
"What was that saying again? A tree that's going to grow tall shows its leaves first? I knew it the moment we met—you were something special. I look forward to working with you, Hunter Choi."
I took the hand he offered and replied, "Likewise, Representative."
Go Pil-hun grinned and kept going.
"By the way, it would have been even better if you'd agreed to the photo shoot and interview. Hunter Choi's popularity is through the roof, and with a face that handsome, shouldn't you show it off to the public? For your fans, at least..."
"I've done my part. Hunters are hunters, nothing more. I'm not an entertainer."
The corner of Go Pil-hun's mouth twitched.
He was still smiling, and I wasn't.
The air between our crossed gazes tightened until it felt ready to snap.
"Your part, huh. You mean those Hunter regulations in Korea? First, hunters protect civilians from monsters. Second, they don't turn their power into authority."
Go Pil-hun continued, "I know that as well as anyone, since I'm a hunter too. But not turning power into authority? That's an unrealistic clause. Why?"
He leaned in close.
"Because it goes against human nature. How can you have power and not use it? I’m no different. Even if someone’s a hero, if they don’t know their place and go charging around like a maniac, shouldn’t you push them down by any means necessary—even by abusing power if that’s what it takes?"
A hero, but a maniac running wild.
He was talking about me.
So this is a warning. Fall in line, or I’ll get rid of you.
In other words, he was telling me to become his obedient dog.
"So you think human nature is inherently evil, Representative."
"Don't you, Hunter Choi?"
To a point, I agreed.
Gangsters, villains, contract killers, hunters like Seo Gwang-pal—the current world was overrun with every kind of rot you could name.
Setting aside whether people were born good or bad, human nature wasn't something you could trust blindly.
And yet.
"I dream of a world where good people can live without looking over their shoulders. Building that kind of society is exactly what the people in power are supposed to do."
"...."
Go Pil-hun shut his mouth tightly.
"Representative. You're late. You should go."
Lee Yu-seol, standing nearby, cut into the conversation.
"Was there anything else you wanted to say, Hunter Choi Yongki?"
"I want Cheonyangji held accountable."
Nike, the instructor who'd fallen into that cult, had killed one of the intern hunters.
I couldn't just let this be buried. The deaths of the victims felt too unfair for that.
And I can't let Cheonyangji keep gnawing away at innocent people, either.
I figured that if Dio Guild's authority were brought to bear, we could wipe Cheonyangji out.
"Denied."
Unexpectedly, Go Pil-hun rejected my proposal in a single stroke.
"You said it yourself, Hunter Choi. Hunters protect civilians from monsters. That's enough. Don't go doing useless things."
It was frustrating, but this time I had to agree with him completely.
Hunters weren't agents of justice.
And guilds weren't law-enforcement agencies—they were organizations that chased profit.
Go Pil-hun let go of my hand.
"That was a short but pleasant conversation. See you again next time."
He drifted farther and farther away.
Lee Yu-seol glanced back at me once, then followed after him.
Lee Ji-jun let out a sigh.
"Hah. Choi Yongki, you..."
"What."
"Don't you know what flexibility is? If you latch onto the right representative's line, you'll rocket through the ranks. You know that."
I had been recognized for my role in the Multi-Gate incident and promoted from F-class to D-class.
According to the articles, my achievements had been on the level of an S-class hunter.
But promotions were only allowed to jump two ranks at a time, so I had been stopped at D-class.
Lee Ji-jun had gotten extra points in the evaluation, too.
"Yongki, I’m going to keep my head down, follow the organization and the system, collect my paycheck on time, and live comfortably. Isn't that easier on the nerves?"
That was Lee Ji-jun's survival method in its own way.
Even if he didn't truly want to, he chose the strategy of bowing his head first and worrying about pride later.
"Listen to me. If you try to fight the system, only you end up exhausted."
Lee Ji-jun had once assaulted a building owner who blocked the road to save a child, and he'd been demoted for it.
Maybe that had become a trauma, because after that he'd kept his head down more and more.
The elevator arrived and the doors opened.
The system.
As I stepped inside, I muttered, "What’s stopping me from making one myself?"
At dusk, light leaked from across the street.
I approached it and looked up. A shiny new sign had been installed recently.
Yongki's Sundae Soup
It was my grandmother's newly opened shop.
She'd boldly started doing business under my name.
My face went hot, but since it was her taste, I decided to let it slide.
What mattered more was this.
I frowned and stared straight ahead with a serious expression.
I had opened a gukbap restaurant to help my grandmother recover her energy.
Whether business was bad, or she went under after only attracting flies, it didn't really matter.
The goal was simply to give her something to do.
But.
Something's wrong.
No, to be precise, something entirely unexpected had happened.
The place was packed wall to wall.
The line stretching out front was over thirty meters long.
Why is this doing so well?
I could hear voices drifting out from the shop.
"Grandma! How much longer do we have to wait?"
"You little bastard! If there's a line, you wait your turn. Think you're going to cut?"
"I even brought a friend from way across town today."
"Well I'll be. That friend of yours looks like he doesn't even have a soul. So when are you getting married? You lousy brat, you don't even have a woman you’re seeing, do you?"
"Ugh. Grandma, that one hurt. At least introduce me to someone, will you?"
"Shut it! You damn little bastard! I’ll give you extra service, so wait your turn."
"Yes!"
As always, my grandmother treated strangers like they'd known her for years.
So what had made the shop blow up like this?
Opening buzz?
I shook my head.
It was too successful to be explained by opening buzz alone.
"Grandma, what kind of place is this, anyway? You're doing so well. I'll wait in line too."
"Are you blind, you little fool? It's a soup place!"
"Then what's on the menu?"
Basic Sundae Soup: 5,000 won
Special: +1,000 won
"Are you deaf, you idiot! We sell sundae soup! You damn brat!"
Then...
Is it because of the grumpy grandma concept?
That was too common.
What kind of age was this?
Monsters were bursting out of Gates, and people were dying every other day.
With prices soaring, you couldn't even casually afford a decent meal anymore.
It made no sense for a place to do well just because it was "different."
Still puzzled, I walked up to my grandmother.
"Grandma."
"You finally showed up? You eaten yet?"
"Not yet."
"You little brat. What the hell were you doing without even eating? Hurry up and get inside!"
My grandmother grabbed me and dragged me toward the back.
The people waiting in line protested.
"Hey, hey! Why does he get a free pass?"
"Yeah, what is this, favoritism?"
"Quiet, you punks! You should've been born as my grandchildren too! And besides..."
My grandmother suddenly turned serious.
"This one's the landlord."
The people waiting gave me a nod.
"Oh, if he's the landlord, that's fair."
"We always appreciate you."
"Please take care of us from now on too. Go on in."
They greeted me with surprising politeness.
Take care of you... in what way?
Inside, the place looked like a battlefield.
"Ma'am! One soju here!"
"Can I get more kkakdugi?"
"Can you refill the broth?"
Amid the tightly packed crowd, someone suddenly raised a hand.
"Well, I'll be! Our boss is here!"
"We got here first, though!"
"Yongki, over here. Sit down."
They were the laborers from Factory 4.
After work, they came to my grandmother's shop every single day to hang out.
At last, the mystery seemed to be clearing up.
The reason business was doing so well...
Is it my connections?
My grandmother patted my back.
"I'll give you the special. Eat up."
"Yeah, Grandma."
I sat down beside the crew leader and waited quietly.
I didn't think my grandmother's cooking was especially good.
She always used to make me nothing but broth with no meat in it, and honestly, even the seasoning was off half the time.
Well, she isn't the one actually cooking.
I turned my eyes toward the kitchen.
The chefs were moving briskly, making the soup.
When I handed the shop over to my grandmother, I had set one condition.
"Don't overdo it. Have the staff handle the hard work."
My grandmother had spent her whole life picking up scrap paper and struggling to raise me and my younger brother.
I didn't want her being worked to the bone by some brutal labor in a restaurant.
So she agreed to handle only the management, the register, and the customers.
"Special's ready. Eat up, you little bastard."
My grandmother set a bubbling stone bowl down on the table.
I, who no longer got surprised by most monsters, gaped with my mouth open.
The amount of meat piled on top of the sundae soup was practically mountainous.
There was so much blood sausage that some of it wasn't even soaked through.
When I stirred it with my spoon, the precariously stacked meat slid and fell in clumps.
Ah. Now I get it.
The secret behind my grandmother becoming a master of business wasn't opening buzz, or networking, or even the grumpy-grandma gimmick.
I checked the menu board on the wall.
Basic Sundae Soup: 5,000 won
Special: +1,000 won
The menu had only one item.
At a price this low, they were stuffing in enough lean meat to feed two people and still have leftovers.
Was she even making a profit?
She was.
This wasn't just a simple high-volume, low-margin strategy.
This place was my building.
I hadn't charged my grandmother any rent.
There were no fixed monthly overheads.
And because she'd kept her profit margin low, she could put real care into the ingredients.
Then I remembered something my grandmother had once said.
"When I see somebody shoveling rice into hot broth and eating with that happy look on their face, I feel full too. Just like you and Sungmin used to. Ain't that how it'll be for other folks too?"
I sprang to my feet.
"All right, listen up!"
Every head turned toward me at once.
"I'm the grandson of the woman who runs this place. I'm also a hunter with Dio Guild across the street."
Someone pointed at me.
"Huh? Isn't that Choi Yongki?"
"It is. It's the hero of Gangnam, right?!"
"Whoa... Yongki's Gukbap was really run by Choi Yongki all along."
I raised my voice toward them.
"I'm picking up the tab. Eat whatever you want. Grandma, throw in colas as service too."
A cheer went up all at once.
Handing the card to a staff member, I told him, "Charge as much as you can. Without telling Grandma."
"Ah, yes. Understood."
At this rate, today's sales were guaranteed.
Just then, Karki came out of the bathroom after washing his hands, saw me, and ran over.
"Boss!"
He flashed a bright white grin.
He must have already been drinking, because his face was flushed red.
"Boss! This soup is insane. I eat and eat, but the meat never goes down. It's so fucking tasty!"
My grandmother patted Karki on the head.
"Well I'll be. How does this kid speak Korean so well? I'll give you more meat, so eat up."
"Yessir! Grand-mom!"
Karki snickered and poured soju into the glass in front of me.
I clinked glasses with him and threw the drink back in one shot.
"Karki. The thing I asked you to do?"
He glanced around and lowered his voice.
"I checked it all out."
I had given Karki a mission.
It had to be handled in secret, so he was the only one I could trust with it.
"Cheonyangji? Those bastards are total pieces of shit."
I set down my spoon.
Now that my grandmother's shop was stable...
it was time for me to do my part.
That meant a hero's sortie.
I pointed upward.
"Let's move."