8. Why'd You Have to Inherit <em>That</em> of All Things?
The position of strategic team leader inevitably created a lot of enemies. It was ironic that those enemies weren't monsters, but fellow hunters.
Kang Moo-hyuk wasn't a hunter himself, which made him vulnerable to violence as a means of attack.
That was why he'd always maintained a flexible stance in his work.
He prioritized allies over enemies, win-win outcomes over total victory, and neutrality at minimum if they weren't allies.
In that regard, Titan Guild's rapid growth had faced little pushback from rivals, largely thanks to his efforts.
Growing together with other guilds.
That catchphrase had even won over the competition.
Of course, he didn't have zero enemies. Clashes with so-called villains—criminal hunters—or guilds engaging in illegal activities were unavoidable.
He'd dealt with them decisively, thoroughly dismantling them.
So he'd always been prepared to face retaliation from enemies at any moment.
'But this? Come on.'
He'd been too complacent. Not careless, exactly—just assuming a baseline sense of camaraderie among industry peers.
And now.
That minimal faith had been shattered.
'Ma Tae-sik... Was getting kicked out that humiliating for you? You dumb bastard!'
Ma Tae-sik bristled at Kang Moo-hyuk's contemptuous expression.
"What? What's with that look?"
Ma Tae-sik reared back to slap the convulsing Kang Moo-hyuk across the face.
But a unfamiliar voice stopped him from behind.
"What the hell's going on here?"
"Who the fuck are you? Get lost!"
"Oh my! A gangster? I'm calling the cops."
"Ha? Fuck off. Talk about bad luck—everything's going wrong. Go ahead, call 'em. Makes me wanna smash that pretty little face of yours."
"Heh... heh heh... kekeke..."
Kang Moo-hyuk writhed on the floor, mocking him with bitter laughter at Ma Tae-sik's threats.
"Why the fuck is this asshole laughing now? He's about to die!"
"Ma Tae-sik... hack! Y-you must've... drunk a ton. Or maybe your eyes are fucked."
"What bullshit is that?"
"I wonder whose face... will get smashed first?"
"What?"
"Mr. Kang Moo-hyuk, you look like you're gonna die if I leave you like this, so let me handle this quick."
Ma Tae-sik belatedly realized the woman knew Kang Moo-hyuk.
"You two know each other? You a hunter?!"
"How do you not recognize such a pretty face? Your eyesight really must be shit."
In an instant, Ma Tae-sik felt an overwhelming pressure from the woman approaching him, her knuckles cracking. Even drunk, human instinct kicked in—resistance to fear. He thrust out his hand reflexively.
"S-stay back! Mana Bomb!"
A burst of light shot from his hand.
The explosion shattered the elevator booth's glass walls entirely. Concrete dust billowed from the fractured floor. Water sprayed from the sprinkler pipes crossing the ceiling. Sparks flew from severed electrical wires, smoke billowing and triggering the sprinklers fully.
"Fuck fuck fuck! Th-this mess... it's all that bastard Kang Moo-hyuk's fault. Not my problem!"
Ma Tae-sik's frantic cries echoed emptily through the parking lot as he tore at his hair.
"Is that all the resolve you had for killing someone?"
The woman emerged from the thick smoke.
"What a piece of trash."
"Wh-what the hell are you? How are you fine?!"
Such an obvious question. He knew the answer but demanded it anyway.
The response was simple.
"Because I'm stronger than you."
She brushed the water and dust from her soaked coat and closed in on Ma Tae-sik.
"Assaulting a civilian as a hunter is murder. Attacking another hunter is assault. Minimum thirty years. No mercy for you—I'll just let you rot in prison."
Like a judge delivering a verdict, she lunged in a blur, slamming her fist into Ma Tae-sik's gut.
His coat flared then settled as he crumpled face-first to the ground.
For a hunter-on-hunter fight, it was an anticlimactic end.
A clear mismatch in levels.
Kang Moo-hyuk gazed up at the woman through his blurring vision, lips moving faintly.
"Joo... Se-ah... Hun... ter. Th-thanks to you... I... lived..."
"Hey! Mr. Kang Moo-hyuk! Team Leader Kang! Snap out of it! If you're gonna die, at least wait till after your Iron Will Guild interview!"
* * *
Beep—! Beep—! Beep—!
In the hospital room filled only with the steady beeps of vital monitors, Kang Moo-hyuk slowly regained consciousness.
"Ugh..."
"Awake, huh?"
The familiar voice hit him the moment his eyes opened.
Kang Moo-hyuk bolted upright, only to collapse back from the surge of pain.
"Ack...!"
"Don't push it. We pumped you full of expensive potions, but your ribs aren't fully healed yet. What kind of balls does a non-hunter have, picking a fight with one?"
"Mr. Kang Chang-su, why are you here...?"
"That's no way to talk to your father. Tsk! Got a call saying you needed family consent for surgery. Had to put my research on hold for this."
It was absurd.
Research came first, even after years apart. Should he be grateful his dad showed up before he kicked the bucket? He hadn't expected anything, but seeing the same obsession shook his head in disbelief.
"Thanks so much for pausing your groundbreaking research to come. Now that I'm awake, feel free to head back."
"I'd love to, but I should stick around till the doctor's checked you."
"I've lived like a stranger for over ten years—why act like family now?"
"Stranger or not, you're still on the family registry. Legally your dad, so I gotta play guardian. Wait here. You woke up after three days—I'll fetch the doc. Need to know your condition."
While his father called the doctor, Kang Moo-hyuk groped for his smartphone. Three days gone? Guild work worried him.
Luckily, it was nearby—someone must've brought it while he was out.
Fully charged, he checked the call log immediately.
Familiar guild numbers and Lee Cheol-jung's. Not missed calls, but answered icons—probably his father had picked up.
Texts overflowed with well-wishes.
One from "Vice Guild Master."
-Sorry about this. Call when you're up.
'Must be about his brother.'
Thinking of Ma Tae-sik naturally brought Joo Se-ah to mind.
He had no idea why she'd been there then, but she'd saved his life.
The bed blanket logo read "Taeseong Hospital"—affiliated with Taeseong Guild. A top-tier hospital from a major conglomerate.
A private room, no less.
She wasn't just his savior; he owed her big time in multiple ways.
'Gotta find her contact. Least I can do is thank her properly. But first, call the guild master...'
As he thumbed the call button, the door opened.
His father entered with the doctor.
"Mr. Kang Moo-hyuk, glad you're awake. You came in critical—multiple organ ruptures."
"Organs? Feels fine for that. Gut and side are stiff—ngh!—but nothing major. Doc's got skills."
"Lucky the mana therapy we developed at Taeseong Medical Center worked well. Combined with potions."
"Isn't mana therapy risky for non-hunters?"
"You know your stuff from guild work. We dilute it for civilians—can't expect hunter-level resilience."
"Hmm, must've cost a fortune."
"Don't worry about the bill. Billed to Taeseong Guild."
Taeseong Guild?
Meaning Joo Se-ah covered it.
Kang Moo-hyuk questioned why she'd go this far.
'Really just for scouting me?'
He had no intention of refusing, but debts of the heart existed.
As a top hunter from a Tier 1 guild, she'd expect fair compensation anyway.
He planned to reciprocate her demands, reasonably.
"Good news so far, but as your doctor, I have bad news now."
The doctor adopted a grave expression.
"Bad news?"
Seeing the doctor glance at his father made him uneasy.
"We did a full scan during surgery and treatment. Found something."
"Fatal?"
Kang Moo-hyuk asked calmly.
"Can't say. Extremely rare—few cases."
"What happened to those few?"
The doctor hesitated; his father spoke up.
"They all died."
Silence fell. Kang Moo-hyuk pressed.
"All of them? What is it?"
"Mana addiction."
"Mana... what?"
"A genetic disease with no known cure."
"Genetic?"
"Yes. Your mother had it."
* * *
The Gate Era.
Humanity's encounter with a new world brought gates offering resources and artifacts.
Like two sides of a coin.
As much light as they brought to civilization, so too came shadow.
The brightest gift was mana.
It birthed hunters and a clean new energy source.
The darkest curse was also mana.
It spawned attacking monsters; world-destroying power stemmed from it.
Mana addiction.
This rare disease embodied mana's duality perfectly.
Blessing and curse intertwined.
As Kang Moo-hyuk reeled, the doctor continued.
"Strikes non-hunters exposed to mana at very low odds. If symptomatic during pregnancy, it passes genetically. Long incubation before onset—details unclear."
"No way. Must be a misdiagnosis. Mom never had that."
The doctor looked to his father, then met Kang Moo-hyuk's eyes.
"It has distinct traits."
"Like?"
"You've heard 'genius' or 'prodigy' since childhood. Superior memory, insight seeing what others miss, crystal-clear comprehension. Variations exist, but your learning ability stunned even you."
"So?"
"Mana affects the brain. Shortens life but hyper-activates intellect. Symptoms fade post-onset, but brilliance is a hallmark."
His prized mind a symptom? The insight and instincts landing him as team leader from this damned disease?
Impossible to accept.
"Being a bit smarter than average doesn't mean mana addiction."
"Outwardly, no. Hard to detect. Symptoms vary—no fixed pattern. Sudden seizures kill some; senses numb like blindness or deafness in others. Permanent loss possible. Unpredictable progression."
Suddenly, a memory surfaced. He was just learning to walk.
Was that sharp recall from the disease?
Mom had seized once as a kid. He'd thought epilepsy later, but now...
He turned to his father.
"Mom really had mana addiction?"
"Yes. Wouldn't have been odd if she'd dropped dead any day. Her hearing loss was a side effect."
"Why hide it?"
"What mother tells her child she's dying?"
"..."
To Kang Moo-hyuk's silence, his father sighed and added,
"Why'd you have to inherit that of all things when there's nothing else to resemble?"
The first emotion from his stoic father in fifteen years.
* * *
Leaving Kang Moo-hyuk to process in stunned silence, Kang Chang-su left the hospital.
He stared blankly at the sky for a long moment, eyes gleaming with resolve as he dialed.
"Yeah, brother-in-law, it's mana addiction. Incubating till now, but the mana therapy must've triggered full onset. ...What can I do? He was dying. Had to save his life first, risks be damned. Approved the therapy. ...All that's left is twenty years of research. Can't wait for uncertain completion. Unpredictable flare-ups. Even unfinished, it's our only shot... Side effects? Can't promise. Might turn him into an idiot. But better than rolling in shit and still kicking? ...Yeah, prep as fast as you can. Too late fifteen years ago—this time, we won't be."