The Aftermath of the Misunderstanding 2
I led the survivors and the unconscious Japanese hunters up to my room on the seventh floor. I laid out the three who still hadn't come to on the desk, and stacked the passed-out Japanese hunters in the corner by the wall. Fortunately, my room still had the old sofa I'd been using, so we could sit comfortably and talk.
"I figure you already know, but I'm Kim Suho from Support Guild."
I was most curious about who these people were, so I introduced myself first to naturally draw out their own introductions. The classic approach worked like a charm, but they gave me only the bare minimum, skipping exactly the info I wanted.
"Yes, I know. I'm Zong Lichu."
Zong? Was there a Korean surname like that? I felt a flicker of curiosity, but it passed quickly. More importantly, seeing how slyly Zong Lichu dodged the question, I cut straight to the chase.
"I'm not interested in your name. What I want to know is which organization you're with, and why you came to my building to fight Japanese hunters."
Zong Lichu said nothing in response to my question. Whether he figured silence was better than a lame excuse, or he just had nothing to say, his choice was silence either way.
At this point, my suspicions were hardening into certainty. These guys had come here for the same reason as the Japanese hunters.
"You know keeping quiet like that just makes me more suspicious, right? And even if you stay silent now, there are plenty of ways I can get answers. I can hear it from those Japanese guys over there, or figure it out from the bodies on basement level three. Or better yet, you could just tell me yourselves."
Mid-sentence, I clearly felt the auras of Zong Lichu and his two companions shift. In that instant, my 99% certainty jumped to 100%.
At that point, I figured more talking was pointless. If they'd come gunning for me, just like the Japanese, I could investigate them the same way. No need to wring answers out of Zong Lichu.
So I drove the wedge home.
"Oh! I almost forgot to mention something important. In five minutes, Hunter Management Bureau agents will arrive. If you don't want to tell me, you can explain it to them."
I hadn't actually contacted Lee Musin yet, but they had no way of knowing that. Sure enough, the moment they heard me, their auras flipped completely, and their postures crumbled.
Seeing that, I leaned back a bit to give them an easier shot at attacking. And just as they started to rise from the sofa, a voice stopped them.
"Stand down. You can't handle Guild Master Kim Suho anyway."
One of the three who'd been laid out unconscious finally stirred and spoke up. Shockingly, it was the hunter who looked like a corpse—head burned, left arm severed. Even more surprising, he spoke like he knew me.
What? He knows me?
It wasn't just knowing my name; he seemed to know my capabilities for sure. I'd never shown my skills in front of others, so I was a bit thrown. And that voice—it sounded familiar, which doubled my confusion.
As I stood there stunned, Zong Lichu and his group whipped around at the voice behind them, then rushed to the awakened hunter.
"Brother, you okay?"
Zong Lichu's voice dripped with worry, and the man replied,
"We'll talk about us later."
He patted Zong Lichu's shoulder lightly and came over to sit across from me.
The man's condition was horrific. His hair was burned away, and his face was a melted mess of skin fused from burns. It was mana-inflicted damage, and after the skin necrotized from the wounds, he'd chugged healing potions without debriding it first, leaving him grotesquely disfigured.
I figured top-grade healing potions after skin grafts could fix him up, but no need for me to play Good Samaritan right now. I stayed quiet.
More than that, this guy looked exactly like someone I'd seen before. Not from his ruined face, but that gaze, that aura. Definitely familiar.
Then he spoke first.
"Sorry to meet you like this, Guild Master Kim Suho."
"So you do know me. But who the hell are you?"
I didn't ask with high hopes. It was just instinct—he knows me, but I don't know him.
But his answer genuinely shocked me.
"I'm Heo Jinhyuk."
"Heo Jinhyuk from Cheonmang Guild!"
One of my guesses had been one of the Big Five guilds. From the bodies on basement three, there were about 200 Japanese hunters, facing off against maybe 50 on the other side. A four-to-one mismatch like that? No regular hunters could hold their own.
So I'd pegged it as elites from a Big Five guild or equivalent. Hearing it was actually Cheonmang Guild left me dumbfounded.
At the same time, questions I couldn't wrap my head around surged up, along with uncontrollable rage.
"What the fuck? Because of the Lee Sehyuk incident? Or trying to rob the guild? Why the hell would you pull this idiotic stunt and get all your guildmates slaughtered, you son of a bitch?!"
What pissed me off wasn't just that they'd targeted me—though that was bad enough. It was that Heo Jinhyuk's call had gotten so many killed pointlessly.
He'd clearly led them here. Because of his decision, over 50 people got massacred, with only five survivors. Most of them had probably been dragged along against their will.
But Heo Jinhyuk's reaction was weird. You'd expect some response to my outburst, but he just stared through me like his face was paralyzed.
Even after I finished, he kept staring for a moment before finally speaking.
"I didn't come as Heo Jinhyuk of Cheonmang Guild. Today, I'm here as Heo Jinhyuk of White Night Gate."
White Night Gate? What the hell was that?
Some secret organization? As questions about White Night Gate swirled, Heo Jinhyuk spoke again, dropping a bombshell that dwarfed his name reveal.
And as his words continued, the situation veered off in a direction I hadn't expected.
"White Night Gate is one of the subunits under China's overseas operations division. Before I was Heo Jinhyuk of Cheonmang Guild, I was already Heo Jinhyuk of White Night Gate."
Thud. His confession hit like a gut punch.
The guild master of one of Korea's Big Five guilds—a Chinese spy? I hadn't even imagined it.
Did Lee Musin know? No way—with his personality, if he knew Heo Jinhyuk's true colors, he wouldn't have let it slide.
This was infiltration deep enough to fool a national Hunter Management Bureau. So why spill it to me like confession?
I was shocked, but the situation left me flustered too. Especially since my rage cooled at realizing the dead were Chinese hunters.
"A Big Five guild master, a Chinese spy? Unbelievable. The Bureau isn't that sloppy. But why? Why tell me something you hid from them? Looking for forgiveness now?"
"The only Chinese spy in Cheonmang Guild is me. Everyone else is a real Korean hunter. I didn't want them suffering needlessly because of me. That's why I'm asking you, Guild Master Kim Suho, to make sure nothing happens to them."
His words left me speechless, incredulous. In this mess, he was asking me for a favor? He looked insane.
"Hey, Heo Jinhyuk. Did you hit your head in the fight? You come after me, and now you want my help? You seriously think I'll go along?"
I let my disbelief show, mocking him outright, but he didn't flinch and pressed on.
"Yes. I think you will. The way you got angry just now, worrying about the dead? I figure you'd hear me out."
His response nearly set me off.
"Listen! Are you crazy? You think we're in a position to trade favors right now?!"
As I exploded, ready to unload on him, Heo Jinhyuk suddenly stood, dropped to his knees on the floor, and bowed his head to the ground.
"Please, just hear me out. With the abilities you showed at the Big Five summit, you could crush me easily. And right now, my mana's tangled—I'm basically just a strong civilian. So hold off on judging me and listen. I'll tell you everything honestly, including what you're curious about."
Irritation boiled over. From the moment he admitted to White Night Gate, the room's vibe and conversation had gone sideways.
What the hell is this guy playing at? For a second, I regretted saving him.
On the other hand, his story had me hooked. Irritation and curiosity clashed, leaving me conflicted.
Above all, why was he acting so desperately pathetic? The Heo Jinhyuk I'd seen before would never kneel.
At the Big Five meeting, he'd been one of the fiercest, alongside Elision's Kang Tae-hoon, with that intense gaze and aura.
Seeing him like this naturally piqued my interest, and curiosity won out.
"Sigh. Fine. Let's hear it. But if I spot even a hint of bullshit, you're done."
With my okay, Heo Jinhyuk started talking from his knees.
"Yes. First, why I came. Do you remember the incident three nights ago?"
How could I forget? It was why I'd decided to move.
"That night, White Night Gate came to kidnap you. But someone else showed up for the same reason."
"No way."
"Yes. Just as you guessed—Japan. And we misunderstood each other."
After hearing Heo Jinhyuk out, my disbelief went beyond words—I didn't know how to react.
"So this was all a misunderstanding? Japan thought I was Chinese, and China thought I was Japanese."
Heo Jinhyuk nodded wearily, head bowed, looking drained.
"No, this is insane." I was so floored I couldn't speak.
The room fell silent for a bit, then I spoke up again.
"Okay, got it. Either way, both sides targeted me. Is that all you have to say?"
Misunderstanding or not, China and Japan had come for me. Retaliation was justified. His honesty now changed nothing.
I shot him a jab, and he replied,
"Do you know anything about White Night Gate?"
First I'd heard of it. Obviously not.
"White Night Gate was formed by the Chinese government when dungeons first appeared on Earth. Back then, they were just called the 'wild dog pack.'"
Wild dogs?
"China realized dungeons' importance early and deployed White Night Gate for ops in neighboring countries to secure them. One example: they were ordered to kill every hunter in Nepal to monopolize their dungeon. Nepal's current state is the result. We recorded every order meticulously—who gave it, when, everything."
I eyed Heo Jinhyuk as he suddenly dove into White Night Gate's history, wondering what this was about. Then the ops and records hooked me hard.
To be continued in the next chapter... The Hunter Who Awakened as an NPC