Chapter 79
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Surveillance
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Left alone, Junhyeok sat on the bleachers, quietly gazing down at the field below.
Over the sports field, now a mess overgrown with weeds sprouting sporadically here and there, the images of his friends joyfully running and playing overlapped in his mind.
Among them was even his own figure, shouting some ridiculous ultimate technique name while taking a shot.
It had started as a joke, but before he knew it, it had turned into a trend, leading to one brain-melting moment after another.
In the end, the bizarre nickname "Lightning Dragon" had been etched onto the back of his half-T shirt.
"...Haa."
Junhyeok let out a rare sigh.
Around his younger self mimicking Ronaldo's celebration was the figure of a friend who had vanished like a ghost right after their first year of high school ended.
Coincidentally, he shared the same name as that little kid who had waddled across the field earlier...
"Have I gone weird from dealing only with those tanuki bastards?"
It was true that he had dug into Su-hyeon's background.
There just seemed to be a strong connection with White Space.
But with absolutely no leads, all he had were suspicions and no real gains.
Then one day, she suddenly showed up at a PC bang with an agent in tow.
'As expected...'
He thought it was a summons for him.
So he went inside, only to find the helmet girl next to her, glaring at him like she wanted to kill him.
Only then did he realize something was off.
He tried talking to her just in case, but the more they conversed, the more she just seemed like a clueless kid who knew nothing.
'No way, so she really just came to play games? Looking like that?'
He felt wronged.
Circumstantially, whatever Lee Ga-eun was trying to hide was probably related to that kid, too.
"Ehew..."
Junhyeok sighed again.
The more he learned, the more suspicious things kept piling up, yet she claimed to know absolutely nothing?
Did that even make sense?
White Space.
A combat unit shrouded in utmost secrecy, even among the organizations under the CIA.
True to their near-mythical reputation, there were even jokes that if they went guerrilla against the US military, they'd hold the advantage for a short while.
Having clashed with them once before, Junhyeok didn't think it was all that far-fetched.
That is, if the helmet girl was average among them.
But what Junhyeok wanted wasn't their combat prowess—it was information.
"Already 15 years ago..."
He had received the youngest-ever S-rank certification at 18 and left for America at 19.
There were concerns about a brain drain, but Korea's facilities couldn't perform precise measurements, so there was no choice.
The government sent him off after attaching various treaties and conditions.
Upon arriving in America, Junhyeok completed numerous experiments and requests, then demanded a meeting with an S-rank hunter fortune teller as his reward.
His goal was information about his parents, who had gone missing the previous winter.
The fortune teller was said to be able to find anyone as long as she was given proper clues, but contrary to his expectations, her response was disappointing.
"...You can't tell me?"
"It involves matters beyond my authority. Sorry, but I can't go into details."
The woman, who looked like she'd stepped out of a fantasy movie, quietly sorted her cards.
It wasn't just her outfit—everything in the room had that fantastical vibe.
"That's not quite keeping your promise."
"No helping it. What I can see and what I can say are two different things."
"Planning to stab me in the back like this?"
"Boy, watch your mouth. I said details. I'm not saying I'm breaking my promise."
Hah.
Sparks flew in the eyes of Junhyeok, who still had a boyish look about him.
"An American hunter—an S-rank at that—bound by authority? At least make your lies convincing."
He deliberately spoke harshly to provoke her, but it didn't faze her one bit.
"Full of youthful vigor, right at that age... But even S-ranks aren't above the law. I'm just one person. After work, I go home, feed my cat, take a half-body bath."
Having finished sorting the cards, the woman demurely clasped her hands on the table.
"Unfortunately, your parents were indeed killed."
"......"
Silence fell over the dim room as the fortune teller expressed her regret.
But Junhyeok's eyes sharpened at her next words.
"However, they didn't die in Korea."
"Then where? China?"
"...Beyond my authority. Can't tell you."
Junhyeok frowned at her teasing, half-revealing attitude.
"You messing with me right now? Fine, then who was it?"
"Sorry, can't tell you that either."
Crackle—
The room filled with light in an instant.
As the flash subsided, a glass-like barrier cracked in the air.
The woman slightly opened her previously closed eyes.
Completely unfazed, even with lightning sparking right in front of her face.
"......Talk straight."
Even after the light faded, residual electricity danced along the barrier, mirroring his rage for a good while.
The barrier vanished once the electricity dissipated.
"Threats don't work on me, boy. I told you."
She had seen it coming the moment he entered the room.
"Ah~."
Junhyeok slumped back into his chair, his expression relaxing as if conceding defeat.
No one would believe this was the same person who had been glaring murderously moments ago.
Like an actor stepping out of character after a play, Junhyeok raised his voice in protest.
"Come on, not even a hint? What's the big deal?"
"I can only share up to Level 2 classified info. Anything beyond that is beyond my authority—and yours too, young Korean hunter. If you changed citizenship and became 'Mr. Go,' maybe... but."
"Tell me first, then I'll think about it."
In his mind, his current value was at its lowest.
He couldn't sell his future for uncertain information.
"Negotiate with the authorities for that, not me. I was just asked to come here. But I'll answer one more question."
"Oh, really?"
That was fine...
He wasn't the type to throw a tantrum if told no.
Junhyeok carefully considered his next question.
"...I'd like you to find someone else who went missing around the same time."
The question he chose was to locate the friend who had vanished around the same winter his parents disappeared.
"You know the drill by now. Recite from birthdate onward."
Junhyeok recited Su-hyeon's features and personal details once more.
Age, name, birthday, height, gender, school attended, and the time of disappearance.
With this much, pinpointing Su-hyeon should be easy for her.
But the fortune teller's reaction was different this time.
"......Huh."
Unlike her previous disinterested demeanor, she frowned and prodded.
"You sure you got this right? Not feeding me wrong info on purpose?"
"If my memory's correct. Why?"
Her groaning response was enough to fluster Junhyeok.
"No such person."
As he insisted she hear more—from photos to various other details—Junhyeok laid it all out.
But the info he could gather in just a year was limited.
"Person... male? This was at 17? Hmm......"
The fortune teller, peering at the photo with interest, seemed to notice something and double-checked the details.
"You went to the same school? Really? How?"
"How what? We just ate together and walked to school. Middle school was the same too."
"You're sure?"
"......?"
"Boy, how old did you say you are this year?"
**
"...No way that's possible."
Snapping out of his reverie, Junhyeok muttered to himself.
A few leaves from a pagoda tree lay scattered at his feet.
Following the fortune teller's advice that an intel agency under the government might know more, he requested another negotiation.
But as she predicted, the government official demanded naturalization as a condition.
Bound by all sorts of restrictions, the talks naturally fell through.
He was curious about his friend's info, but not enough to mortgage his life for it.
He was satisfied with confirming that something was there.
Plus, the fortune teller's final advice.
'You'll probably fail the negotiations. If so, just head back to Korea quietly. If you don't get swept up like now, you'll reach the clues someday. Korea's a small country... Or maybe start a guild.'
Following that, the guild he established had grown to one of the top in the world.
"Wasn't it telling me to gather power and uncover it myself?"
He had interpreted it as: someday you'll solve it alone, so don't rely on others.
Thinking back, maybe he'd misunderstood?
Still, with the human trafficking ring's true nature recently coming to light, things were starting to make sense.
And he'd roughly figured out who was backing them.
By now, time had long faded his sense of purpose.
A clue had just appeared before him, reigniting his drive—that was all.
"Maybe I should call it a day and rest..."
He was on leave and didn't want to strain his brain.
Ah, not leave—gate subjugation, right?
Crunch—
As the man disappeared, two leaves poked out slightly from the bushes outside the school gate.
Next to them was something like a black watermelon.
"Phew, he's finally gone."
"Yes, he's definitely gone."
"But he didn't do anything?"
"...No way."
Brüel muttered in disbelief.
Having confirmed Su-hyeon was alone, she was certain the man would follow.
Despite her strong insistence leaving Su-hyeon skeptical, she hid in the bushes with Brüel—but contrary to expectations, the man just moped around alone before trudging away.
"See? He's just weird in personality, but not a bad guy."
"Lady Su-hyeon, it's hard to explain in detail, but that man possesses tremendous power. If he acts unpredictably, even we might struggle to stop him."
"Pfft, not everyone strong is dangerous. By that logic, every Awakener in the world is a threat. In my current state, what's not dangerous to me?"
Her body felt threatened even by a passing car.
Forget Ga-eun—even if Chan-seong messed up his strength control, she could get seriously hurt.
"I could handle that much."
"Then what about him? If you can't stop him, does that mean he's S-rank?"
"......Yes."
"......For real?"
After much deliberation, Brüel gave a reluctant answer.
She thought revealing his identity would be more persuasive.
But Su-hyeon's opinion didn't change much.
"Fine, say he is S-rank. Why would someone like that be interested in me?"
"......"
Come to think of it, yeah.
Objectively speaking, Su-hyeon was just a pretty girl with a unique look—nothing more in terms of identity.
The context didn't quite support someone digging into her past either.
But as her bodyguard, one must always assume the worst.
"...A pedophile or something?"
"Hey!"
Brüel smacked her helmet down at the chilling guess.
"If he wanted to harm you, he'd have done it already. You said even all of you together couldn't stop him, right?"
A valid point. But it also scraped at the elves' pride.
"I said it would be... hard, not impossible..."
"Isn't that the same thing?"
"......We're characterized by consistently superior combat ability rather than standout individuals, so we might lose one-on-one, but as a group, we absolutely wouldn't be outmatched..."
She sure talks a lot.
Leaving Brüel behind as she muttered about not knowing until they actually fought, Su-hyeon started climbing out of the bushes.
"Enough, let's go. Grandma said she'd teach me more, so we gotta get there before dark."
"...Yes, but Lady Su-hyeon, we're really not weak. Even against an S-rank, the difference in level is stark, so this is just a bad matchup for us. From the start, those guarding something and those who aren't differ in mindset and burden..."
"Ah, no, I get it! I get it, so stop!"
Does she always talk this much?
I'd forgotten since she'd been quiet for a while.
Su-hyeon tried hurrying away, but with every step Brüel took, the distance closed.
Argh, seriously! So annoying!