It Doesn't Reach
"Here and here."
Having finished his work, Canteas stepped out of the building, pulled up a map on his phone, and held it out for Do-ha to see.
Gwangmyeong and Siheung.
Despite claiming ignorance, Hwang Man-soo had known the locations of the New Age branches in Gwangmyeong City and Siheung City.
Black magic truly came in handy at times like this. It made it possible to seize a soul rising from a corpse and wring every scrap of information from it. Even so, they had only learned the locations of the connected branches. The full network of New Age branches across Korea remained out of reach.
"The documents?"
"Right here."
Canteas produced every last paper Hwang Man-soo had extorted—building deeds, land titles, the works. He had even used soul-synchronization magic to seat Hwang Man-soo's spirit inside a skeleton and force it to write letters, in the man's own handwriting, returning everything to its rightful owners.
"I stamped every single one with that bastard's official seal."
"Perfect. Well done."
Do-ha examined the papers and nodded in satisfaction. With this, every merchant who had suffered under Hwang Man-soo would reclaim what was theirs. Building owners would get their buildings back; shopkeepers would recover their leases and operating rights.
"The body? You separated it again, right?"
Near the end they had watched the severed corpses fuse together into a golem.
"Yeah. Pulled them apart and scattered the pieces properly."
"Good. The Association can handle the rest of the cleanup."
Just then—
"Here they come."
While Do-ha was still checking the documents, a crowd of people came rushing from the distance. The curses binding Song Man-deok, Park Min-seok, Lee Dae-ho, and Kim Seok-ho had been lifted, and those four had immediately spread the news to the other merchants.
"Y-you there!"
Song Man-deok, Baek Chul's old benefactor, hurried toward Do-ha the moment he spotted him.
"A-are you all right, lad?! Or have you not gone in yet?"
"Everyone here is..."
"That's right. All of them suffered under that devil Hwang Man-soo."
"..."
A quick glance showed more than sixty people. Merchant families had come as well.
"If you haven't gone in yet, we'll fight alongside you."
"Excuse me...?"
"We simply cannot live like this any longer. You freed a few of us from the curse, so now it's our turn to repay the debt."
"Everyone except the four of you is still under the curse. It would be dangerous."
"Don't you worry about that. Better to die fighting than live like this. We can't leave you to face it alone."
"He's right. We may not be Awakened, but we can still fight."
"..."
Looking at Old Man Song and the three men whose curses he had broken, Do-ha let out a short laugh. Stubborn? Kind-hearted? Either way, walking in while still cursed would only get them controlled and make the fight harder.
But I like that heart of theirs.
He held the thick stack of documents out to Old Man Song.
"These are the properties Hwang Man-soo stole from all of you. We've recovered every last one."
"W-what did you say...?"
"Which brings me to my next question... Would any of you consider moving to a new home—safer, freer of trouble?"
Do-ha smiled as the crowd began to murmur. He wanted these people in Paju City, the place he intended to make his base. Stubborn but good-hearted folk would be a welcome addition.
"S-so... you're saying you're Baek Chul's grandson? And that you're the new Cheonwaecheon who's been shaking the whole world?"
"Yes."
Song Man-deok, Park Min-seok, Lee Dae-ho, and Kim Seok-ho—five people in total—sat together talking.
"I'd prefer you keep my face a secret."
"Oh, don't worry about that. You think we'd repay kindness with betrayal?"
Kim Seok-ho, who had nearly swollen up and burst to death, laughed heartily. Not a single person present had any intention of spreading word of Do-ha's bare face.
"Don't fret, lad. Age has been catching up with me lately—I keep forgetting faces anyway."
"Haha, is that so."
"This... I owe you a tremendous debt."
"A debt... I think it's the other way around."
"Hmm?"
"Thanks to you helping my grandfather, he didn't die a lonely death. Because of that, I was able to reunite with him the moment I returned to Earth."
"Ah, that was nothing... I received plenty of help from Baek Chul myself when we were young."
"Um... hyung-nim."
"Me?"
When Park Min-seok called out, Do-ha pointed to himself.
"I already think of you as an older brother... Is it all right if I call you that?"
"Sure... go ahead."
Do-ha chuckled. What was so difficult about a simple form of address?
"It's an honor that you'd invite us to Paju City, hyung-nim... but isn't it just empty wasteland right now?"
"It is. I've been looking for a construction company I can trust. I've checked several, but the reviews are all over the place. I still haven't decided which one to pick."
"Oh-ho."
Clap.
The moment he heard that, Old Man Song slapped his hands together.
"Well now, this works out perfectly. Looks like I can repay the debt I owe you right away."
"Pardon? What do you mean...?"
"If it's a construction company you need, I can introduce you to one. Not a big conglomerate, mind you—just a small firm—but they don't cut corners and they're trustworthy. Even better, nearly ten dwarves have joined them, so reliability has gone up another notch."
"Oh, really?"
Do-ha's expression brightened. He needed buildings raised in Paju quickly if he was going to take in merchants and establish a guild. And now the problem was about to solve itself.
"The thing is, I don't know the first thing about construction..."
"Don't you worry. I'll take full charge and get it done right."
"Take charge? Don't tell me... you're the president of that construction company?"
"Haha, that's right."
"Ah..."
No wonder. He should have realized it the moment the old man casually lent his grandfather fifty million won.
A soft hum filled the air as Do-ha reached into his subspace bag and pulled out a single mana stone. He held it out. Old Man Song's eyes went wide. The stone was large and radiant—clearly high-grade at a glance.
"An S-rank mana stone."
"Ah, is this for the construction fee?"
"Of course not. This is a gift from me."
"What??"
An S-rank mana stone was worth a billion won. And he was just giving it away?
"Think of it as ten years' interest on the fifty million my grandfather borrowed."
"What kind of nonsense is this boy spouting..."
Baek Chul himself had already repaid a hundred million—fifty for the principal and fifty for interest. Now the grandson was trying to hand over another billion.
"I can't accept this."
"Please take it. I came by it by chance anyway."
In truth it had not been by chance; he had taken it from the safe in Hwang Man-soo's office. Besides the money extorted from people, the man had possessed quite a personal fortune—mana stones, gold, and cash filling the vault.
"It's too much. I really can't take it."
"Then I'll just leave it here and walk away."
"Ah, why is this whole family so damn stubborn?!"
In the end Old Man Song's face crumpled into something close to tears.
A soft vibration. A press of a button.
"...What is it?"
In a dark room, a man answered the call on his phone.
"The Anyang branch has been annihilated."
A voice thick with rage poured from the speaker.
"The Anyang branch...?"
"Information from one of our people planted inside the Association. Last night someone hit the branch, killed every single member, and took out Hwang Man-soo as well. They cleaned out the vault completely."
"And what does that have to do with me?"
"Hah... Why the hell is someone like you even in our organization... The only branches Hwang Man-soo had contact numbers for were our Siheung branch and your Gwangmyeong branch. So yes, it has everything to do with you. We have no idea what he might have spilled before he died."
New Age kept its communication web deliberately limited—three regions linked at a time. If branch leaders knew every contact and location, a single capture could unravel the whole network. Each leader only maintained lines to the two neighboring territories under his own responsibility. Unfortunately, the branches connected to the late Hwang Man-soo were precisely Gwangmyeong and Siheung.
"I'm telling you to be careful in case someone rides Hwang Man-soo's trail straight to you."
"I never knew you cared about me so much."
"I'm not worried about you—I'm worried about the organization. Last thing we need is you getting grabbed by the Association and running your mouth."
"Kh... khkhkhk. Still full of shit, I see."
The figure seated in the chair burst out laughing at the other man's words. Him, captured by the Association? Was there even anyone in the Association capable of that?
"To catch me, they'd need Han Se-ah or Kang Ji-hwan to show up in person."
South Korea—no, the entire world—held another SS-rank Hunter whose existence remained completely unknown. That man was Kim Min-hyeok, New Age's Gwangmyeong Branch Leader.
"Keep acting arrogant with that mediocre skill of yours and..."
"You don't even have mediocre skill, do you? Ten years and you still can't climb out of A-rank."
"What?! You son of a—"
Click.
The man in the chair hung up, leaned his head back, and closed his eyes. How dare some worthless nobody who didn't know his place spout nonsense at him.
"There is no one in this entire country who can touch me."
"Is that so?"
"..."
At the voice coming from behind the chair, Kim Min-hyeok slowly opened his eyes.
"I never understand why your type always prefers places this dark."
"...So it was you. The one who wiped out the Anyang branch."
"That's right."
The figure who switched on the lights inside the room smiled as he looked at Kim Min-hyeok. It was Do-ha.
"You really do have skill. You slipped in this far without me noticing."
Kim Min-hyeok rose slowly from the chair.
"But your chance is already gone. The moment you got behind me just now—that was when you should have killed me."
How the man had found this place, how he had entered, how he had gotten past every subordinate—none of it mattered. The only thought left was to kill the enemy standing in front of him.
"Wow, that confidence is over the top. Borderline arrogant."
"Because I have the power to back it up."
"With a mere SS-rank?"
"Kh... 'Mere,' he says... Whoever you are, you have no idea how high the wall of SS-rank really—"
Do-ha casually held up a golden Hunter license. The arrogant look on Kim Min-hyeok's face shattered; his pupils trembled violently.
In all of South Korea, only one person carried a golden Hunter license—the Cheonwaecheon who had appeared like a comet not long ago, the Hunter known as A.
"So it's you. That Cheonwaecheon..."
The trembling in Kim Min-hyeok's eyes slowly gave way to a growing smile.
The moment he heard an SSS-rank had appeared, he had wanted nothing more than to meet him. If the higher-ups had only given permission, he would have stormed the Association itself just to dig up information on the Hunter called A. And now that very A had walked in of his own free will.
"Heh... heheh. I really, truly wanted to meet you."
"That look in your eyes is a little creepy..."
"I need to know just how strong I am... just how high I've climbed!!"
A tremendous surge of power exploded around Kim Min-hyeok as he suddenly roared. His body turned a dull gray and began to swell, growing larger and larger. His ability hardened his skin like steel and granted him strength enough to hurl trucks.
"I need to know if my power can reach a Cheonwaecheon! The curiosity is driving me insane!!"
In that instant—
Baek-bo Myeol-hwang Gong
Fourth Step: Extreme Thunder Fist
A flash.
A deafening crack of thunder.
"It doesn't reach."
Do-ha's fist, transformed into a single bolt of lightning, punched straight through Kim Min-hyeok's abdomen.