218. Aren't You Curious?
Go Eul-ji had immediately clocked that this bizarre hunter's rank was far below her own. So she figured she'd give him a light spanking.
'Just pinning him in place should freak him out completely, right?'
Irresistible restraint. When an invisible force shackled their freedom, humans plunged into terror.
That was why so many of the skills Go Eul-ji had mastered or picked up in gates were restraint-based.
She extended her hand, leaving just enough slack to hold an egg without crushing it, and clenched her fist lightly.
The moment the intangible force began to squeeze him, Thomas confirmed his suspicions about her ability.
'A telekinesist, as expected.'
It was a truly troublesome power to face.
A force that could produce destructive effects akin to magic through sheer training, yet with zero cast time or cooldown between activations.
A hunter with this trait, if they flexed their imagination properly, could fill nearly any role imaginable.
"So, how should I roast you?"
Go Eul-ji put on her most menacing face for the threat, modeling it after Kang Moo-hyuk. To anyone else, though, she just looked blank.
If the guy had been your average hunter, the synergy of her power and intimidation would've worked like a charm. Unfortunately for her, he was Thomas.
A mana addiction patient whose capacity for fear had dulled to nothing.
He regarded her with an inscrutable expression and asked, "Are you Korean, by any chance?"
"What're you on about? Why do you wanna know?"
"Guess you are, then."
"Nope."
"There aren't any publicly known high-rank telekinesists like you in Korea. Judging by your apparent age, you're still a student. Even a rising star wouldn't climb that high without drawing attention unless someone deliberately raised you in secret."
"What? You tryna background-check me? This ain't the time for that. You're in the tiger's mouth now. I'm telling you, you're gonna get beat to death."
Go Eul-ji laid into him with threats, but Thomas just kept saying his piece.
"Korea's fiscal year ends December 31st. October's prime time for obsessing over year-end sales. For a high-rank like you to ditch work for a concert? Not a major guild, that's for sure—they wouldn't let you off in off-season, let alone now."
"You're seriously pissing me off. No spark of life even when you're right in front of me. What the hell are you?"
"The only place in Korea raising a minor high-rank telekinesist in secret, aside from a major guild? Hunter Association, right?"
Go Eul-ji's face, which had been set for some casual hazing moments ago, turned icy—then outright murderous.
"What? Japanese spy after all? I thought the guild master scared you off, but you slimy bastard chased us all the way to America?"
"Guild master... The only one in Japan with enough clout to drop interest in a Korean prospect is Korea's one and only. Joo Se-ah. You're with Iron Will Guild. Makes sense—Joo Se-ah's mentor Jang Deok-gu is a disciple of Hunter Association Chairman Han Byung-gu."
Go Eul-ji dropped her intent to punish him. The killing intent vanished too. In its place? Utter bafflement.
'I didn't say jack!'
Yet her cover was blown.
She'd slipped a clue letting him deduce Joo Se-ah, sure—but nothing in that process had revealed her own identity.
Still holding him fast, she locked eyes and glared daggers.
After a solid staring contest, she finally realized why he creeped her out.
'He feels just like the Captain...?'
That realization alone was shocking enough.
'Another guy like that exists?'
Her mind reeled.
'Nah, no way there's two of them. Brothers? No, Captain's an only child. Spy or assassin targeting me specifically? Yeah, that must be it—how else would he know so much?'
As wild thoughts scrambled her brain,
"Excuse me?"
The voice right under her nose made Go Eul-ji jolt back in shock.
"Y-you... How'd you break free? Wait, did I let you go?"
Thomas, who'd been firmly pinned by her power moments ago, now stood casually at her feet like nothing happened.
"You bound me weakly on purpose, didn't you? Enough slack that I could work free with time. Thanks for going easy on me."
"No, it's not about grip strength—our ranks are worlds apart! Hold up—even before that, you didn't brute-force it. You slipped out on your own? That's possible?"
"Trade secret, so I can't spill everything. But yes. Possible."
Go Eul-ji was more stunned by this than by him outing her affiliation—or even the existence of another Kang Moo-hyuk type.
'Mana spread through the environment can't interfere with mana bound to a caster—that's basic theory, right?'
It was entry-level mana physics, covered in the newbie curriculum for fresh awakeners.
Put simply: once cast, a skill couldn't be interrupted midway or altered by outsiders unless the caster was compromised.
If that was possible,
'Any hunter who could do that would be invincible in PvP.'
Thank god he was only C-rank, she thought, exhaling in unconscious relief.
If their ranks had been close, she would've been the one in danger—she felt it instinctively.
In her shock at this mind-blowing feat, Go Eul-ji overlooked one crucial point.
A low-rank pulling off something that spooked even a high-rank like her? That was a secret no one should ever reveal.
But Thomas had shown it openly—power he'd never even flashed to his own guild.
'The recipient of my email to Korea was Kang Chang-su. His family: one son, Kang Moo-hyuk. Iron Will captain. This high-rank girl's in America, so maybe Kang Moo-hyuk is too? Could be Kang Chang-su who sent her.'
Just as Kang Chang-su had dug into Thomas, Thomas had returned the favor.
He didn't know about Kang Moo-hyuk's mana addiction, but if the son of the man holding clues to that disease was here now, it had to involve him.
This was Thomas pitching himself before even meeting Kang Moo-hyuk.
To the still-wide-eyed Go Eul-ji, he said carefully, "I can do even more impressive stuff. Aren't you curious what it is?"
"Why'd you have me prep for a quiet retreat if you weren't gonna throw down?"
No Song-rin grumbled about leaving the casino without lifting a finger, his stress-relief hopes dashed.
He couldn't make heads or tails of Kang Moo-hyuk's actions today.
Sure, tripling the seed money was great—but Kang Moo-hyuk wasn't the type to waste his genius on pocket change gambling.
"Cut me in, Captain. Don't just signal each other."
"I explained on the plane."
"When?"
"While you were sleeping, No Song-rin Hunter."
"How am I supposed to hear it if you chat while I'm out?"
"You called my talk boring and crashed first."
"Fine, whatever. What's the plan? I gotta know to play along."
Prompted by No Song-rin, Kang Moo-hyuk spoke up.
"Nothing much. Just sold some Rider Wolves."
"Selling wolves? When? I thought we hadn't shipped any yet. Diverting the ones earmarked for Slayer first? That's gonna be big trouble later, Captain."
"Not selling the wolves themselves. Selling the name."
Jang Deok-gu tsked with a pitying look.
"Oh, that? Thought it was something else. Hold on—did we really need the casino to leverage Rider Wolves?"
"Good question. You're getting sharper. Nailed the core. You can probably guess the rest without me spelling it out."
"Haha, blame school during evacuation. I was called smart as a kid... Hey, don't deflect. Why the casino?"
A flicker of fatigue crossed Kang Moo-hyuk's face, gone in an instant.
Not annoyance at No Song-rin. To wrap his plan in a month's deadline, there'd be no rest.
Recapping the exhausting scheme in his head, he said, "LA's power blocs split the area three ways: guilds, freelance hunters, gambling cartels. Vegas ties all three together."
Especially the cartels—crime syndicates dominating gambling.
Organizations bound by gambling interests were still hunters at heart, and Kang Moo-hyuk's ace, the Rider Wolf, was the supercar every hunter craved.
"Luring 'em with Rider Wolves, right? Reform the crime syndicates, flip 'em to our side, expand influence. Then dominate the underworld..."
"Making a movie? And villains don't reform just 'cause you say so. You reformed? Talk sense."
Jang Deok-gu's jab shut No Song-rin up.
Kang Moo-hyuk defended him: "Still, you nailed the Rider Wolf lure. Progress."
"Mockery or praise...?"
"Praise, obviously. But underworld takeover via crime syndicates? Way off. I've got something else in mind."
"What?"
"Why the casino first? Not just the cartels. My targets are the freelancers."
"Freelancers? What can those scrubs do?"
"America's freelance market differs from Korea's. Individuals get no respect, like here—but the sector as a whole? Even majors can't ignore 'em."
"Why? They form a group or something?"
"Sharpening up. Spot on. US freelancers band into clans. Like personal raid parties in Korea."
No Song-rin pressed, even more confused: "How strong can a few ragtag parties be?"
"One or two? Negligible. But hundreds, thousands? That's power in numbers. And when that many small groups coalesce, advocates emerge for their interests. That's my target: the organization representing those clans."
"What's it called?"
"Oort Cloud. Or O.C. for short."