Someone's Diary 1

Thanks to Choi Taesu, I'd barely managed to steady my shaken mind, and now I distributed the prepared items to the raid team members.

The raiders, who had been so worried about me moments ago, were instantly distracted by the leather armor I handed out, as if they'd forgotten all about it.

Some of the more impatient hunters stripped off their clothes right there on the spot and donned the leather armor. Following Choi Taesu's lead, a few others joined in, and before long, the auditorium had turned into a makeshift changing room.

There were women among the raid team, but no one seemed to mind. Probably because, in the life of a hunter, armor often shattered during private dungeon runs, leading to accidental exposure—so they weren't particularly fussy about such things.

Once everyone had received their supplies, the raid team set off toward the dungeon.

Was it because they'd already tasted the potions before, or thanks to the new leather armor and the magic patterns engraved on it? Their faces brimmed with anticipation and confidence.

Watching them, my own expectations swelled for the results they'd deliver. We hadn't even properly synced up yet, but with the leather armor and potions I'd prepared, I figured it was worth betting on.

So far in Korea, the guilds furthest along in conquering SS-rank dungeons were Elision Guild and Emperor Guild, both at around 70% cleared.

I believed Support Raid Team could hit that 70% mark on their very first dungeon run. Hell, they might even surpass it.

With the best talent out there plus my armor and potions, it was entirely possible—that was my judgment.

Naturally, since I thought SS-rank conquests weren't far off, I'd already planned the next steps for tackling SSS-rank dungeons.

Starting tomorrow. Today, I'm resting—no matter what! No one's talking me out of it. Resting, period!

The desperation for rest bubbled up like madness.

The mental torment I'd endured over the past month was beyond words. Even just to patch up my frayed nerves, I needed this break.

With that ironclad resolve to rest, I finally dragged myself back to my room and collapsed onto the sofa.

But what kind of curse was on me? The world wouldn't let me be.

It was a text from Heo Jinhyuk.

Only then did I remember I'd completely forgotten about Heo Jinhyuk over the past month.

I'd been so obsessed with engraving magic patterns, but even more so, every time I checked, the feed was pitch black, so I'd gradually stopped bothering—and it just slipped my mind.

Plus, once I learned exactly who Ga Gyeonglim was, I'd pegged Heo Jinhyuk's odds of success as pretty damn low.

I'd only heard he was the head of overseas operations for the Chinese Hunter Management Bureau—didn't realize how high up that was.

At first, I'd figured it was just some mid-level admin job in the bureau, and Heo Jinhyuk could handle it fine.

But no, overseas operations chief was no small fry. Third in the Hunter Management Bureau hierarchy, and Ga ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Gyeonglim was a heavyweight in the Communist Party's top 100.

No matter how skilled Heo Jinhyuk was, taking him down with just five White Night Sect disciples wasn't happening.

Besides, Heo Jinhyuk was the guy who'd shown up to kidnap me in the first place. No way was I sweating his well-being.

Honestly, even now, looking back, I still didn't fully get why I'd let him go. Impulse was the only explanation.

So when word came from him in that situation, I was floored.

He actually took out Ga Gyeonglim? How the hell? Six guys killing the third-in-command of China's Hunter Management Bureau?

I was dying to know how he'd pulled it off. But even more, why was he back?

Why return? Because of the eyes? Just close them forever and call it a day?

I couldn't wrap my head around Heo Jinhyuk coming back, period.

I could spy on his daily life through the eyes, sure, but if he kept them shut, I had zero clue where he was or what he was doing.

In a spot where he couldn't predict what I'd do when he returned, if it were me, I'd never come back even after revenge—successful or not.

Given the choice between eyes and life, obviously life.

Yet here Heo Jinhyuk was, back for real.

What the hell am I supposed to do with him now?

I hadn't even thought about how to handle him, and now I was stumped.

As I mulled over Heo Jinhyuk, a call came in from a Hunter Management Bureau agent.

I clocked it was Heo Jinhyuk and bolted straight for the front gate.

Sure enough, the collapsed figure was him. I hauled Heo Jinhyuk back to my room and laid him ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠down.

He was a total wreck, just like the first time I'd seen him on sublevel 3.

I dosed him with potions, but they must've run low—several wounds still looked nasty.

Cough. Blood backed up as he lay there, so I quickly bought an upper-grade healing potion.

I stripped off the mask, fed him the potion, and poured more on the wounds.

Thanks to the upper-grade healing potion's effects, color started returning to his ashen face.

What the hell happened? Where's everyone else?

Pushing aside the flood of questions, I waited for him to come to. Soon enough, he did.

"Feeling more with it now?"

The moment Heo Jinhyuk regained consciousness, he slid off the sofa and bowed his head.

"Thank you again for saving my life."

"Where are the others?"

At my question about the rest, Heo Jinhyuk cracked a smile—or what passed for one. With burn scars still riddling half his face, it came off grotesque.

But he didn't seem to care a bit.

"As expected of the guild master—you're a good man. Thankfully, they're all safe. We had to split up, so they'll enter Korea one by one with time gaps."

I showed zero reaction to his story and cut straight to it.

"Revenge complete?"

For a split second, raw killing intent flickered in Heo Jinhyuk's eyes—then vanished.

"Yes. Revenge is fully settled."

"So, what's your plan now?"

Before deciding his fate, I wanted to know what was in his head.

"I promised to offer you my neck. Plus, your help was huge this time. You kept Japan in the spotlight, throwing Ga Gyeonglim off-balance and exposing an opening—that let us take him down. Now it's time for me to keep my word."

It might sound noble to some, but to me, it rang totally different.

Why should I be responsible for your lives too? And how the hell do I even trust you guys?

It just sounded like jobless guys begging me to take responsibility. No way sweet words were coming from me.

"You don't have to keep that promise. Go your separate ways—. I'll grant you and the rest of the White Night Sect freedom, so head somewhere China's eyes don't reach and live easy."

I'd concluded letting Heo Jinhyuk live was an impulse, and now it was time to cut him loose.

I'd briefly considered taking him on, but the cons outweighed the pros big time.

For starters, I'd have to hide their existence—no using them openly.

And ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if China found out, I'd be on the hook for protection.

Better to distance them before any attachment formed.

That's why I told Heo Jinhyuk to fend for themselves.

But he reacted way off-script.

"I'll be your eyes and ears, your hands and feet. Please take us in."

I'd figured freedom would send him packing gratefully. What was this?

He was on his knees, forehead to the floor, begging.

I stared in disbelief.

"I'm telling you, just go. I'll even give back the eyes. No accountability for what went down, no pursuit. Just leave."

I spoke firmly to the clinging Heo Jinhyuk.

But he doubled down like his life depended on it.

"We've lived our whole lives taking orders from someone. If you don't take us, we'll drift elsewhere, doing dirty work under another boss. Please give us a chance to live like humans."

Was this begging or a threat? I couldn't tell.

"How you live is none of my business—just go. Whatever mess follows is on you."

I stood to leave, washing my hands of it, but Heo Jinhyuk shouted at my back with unyielding resolve.

"With your abilities, something like this is bound to happen again. You felt it this time—Hunter Management Bureau has limits. You need your own private force for when that hits. I'll wait for your call. And this is everything from Ga Gyeonglim's secret vault. I'll be waiting."

Once Heo Jinhyuk was gone and I was alone again, a sigh escaped me.

If there'd been even a whiff of scheming or lies in his demeanor, I wouldn't be agonizing like this.

But my NPC instincts—the ones that'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠given me 99.99% certainty so far—said he was dead serious.

That made it even harder.

"Damn it. What the hell do you want from me?"

My mental fatigue hadn't lifted, head throbbing, and now this piled on—my brain was about to explode.

To pause the brooding even briefly, I needed a distraction. My eyes drifted to the bag Heo Jinhyuk had left.

Right. Let's check that out.

The spatial expansion backpack's lock was undone, so I could pull stuff out.

I unpacked it methodically.

"Dollars, yuan… what's this currency? All money, huh."

I kept pulling out bills I couldn't even ID by country.

The cash finally tapered off, and new items spilled out.

"Money, then mana stones?"

Mana stones were why nations obsessed over dungeons—the things that turned hunters into heroes.

As the name implied, they were stones infused with mana. You got them randomly from monster kills or treasure chests.

Back when dungeons first appeared, no one knew what to do with them.

We knew they held mana, but not how to use it—so labs ran wild experiments, causing massive casualties.

Mana poisoning killed addicts, explosions wiped out facilities, but research pressed on.

Eventually, a U.S. hunter cracked converting mana stones' power to electricity.

He went public, and the world lost its mind.

Dungeons had been around 20 years by then. Old power plants vanished; now nearly all were mana-powered.

Thanks to that, mana stones were universal currency anywhere.

But their mana emission meant ordinary folks needed special gear to handle them.

After mana stones came more anonymous bonds and cash equivalents.

"Anything besides useless money?"

Others might drool over cash, but to me, it was the least useful thing in the bag.

If I wanted money, I could make it anytime. Selling healing potions alone could net billions easy.

Money, once precious, now felt too trivial.

I had zero greed for it anymore.

I was on the verge of disappointment when a book tumbled into my hand.

"What's this?"

It looked like a magic pattern tome, but different. Cover material, parchment—thicker all around.

I flipped it open. Pages crammed with unfamiliar script.

"A Dungeon Book? What the hell does it say?"

The rare finds from dungeon treasure chests. Dungeon Books lumped together any books from dungeons.

But the script was undecipherable—no one knew the contents.

Under the World Hunter Association, top linguists, cryptographers, archaeologists slaved away, but zero progress.

All it proved: other dimensions or aliens had civilizations besides us.

Cults sprang up, old religions wobbled, society shook—but I was too busy surviving to care much.

I skimmed the incomprehensible Dungeon Book, still clueless.

Just puzzled why Ga Gyeonglim stashed it in his secret vault.

Then the alert chimed, forcing me to admit I was still underestimating my NPC powers.

To be continued in the next chapter...

The Hunter Who Awakened as an NPC