The Sage’s Measure
[I’m Baek Do-woon, an unaffiliated A-class hunter.]
“Puhuuuuup!”
Kim Jae-sik spewed out the ice water he’d been drinking.
The spray that had burst from his mouth gradually weakened. Beads of water ran down from his chin, dripping onto his shirt. Because of that, the short-sleeved T-shirt he had just changed into was soaked through. Even the living room floor was left puddled as if rain had leaked in.
Jae-sik’s mother, who had been watching TV, jumped up in alarm. “Goodness, what are you doing, Jae-sik?”
“C-cough! W-who…?”
Drip, drip.
Jae-sik didn’t even think to answer his mother. He just stared at the television screen. He couldn’t even bring himself to wipe the water from his chin or mop up the floor.
Seeing him like that, his mother only tilted her head in confusion. She wondered why on earth her son had suddenly acted like that, then quickly looked back at the TV, deciding that whatever the reason was, it must be there.
“Oh my.”
At the name Baek Do-woon Hunter, Jae-sik’s mother let out a soft exclamation. And then she understood why her son had spat out his water.
It was because the brother he praised to the heavens every day was on TV. And not just that brother, either — he was the very subject of the conversation a moment ago.
Now that she understood why her son had been so flustered, she spoke in a gentle, indulgent voice. “Jae-sik, wipe up the floor.”
“Y-yes.”
Jae-sik gave the puddle a cursory wipe with a towel. Because he was still staring at the TV, the floor didn’t get completely clean, but his mother didn’t press him. There was no point saying anything now; it was obvious nothing would get through to him. His ears were full of the news anchors’ voices anyway.
On the screen, Li Lianzhe extended his right hand. The owner of the hand that met his wasn’t shown. The camera was focused almost entirely on Li Lianzhe alone.
But Jae-sik wanted to see the person shaking Li Lianzhe’s hand. Baek Do-woon. He wanted to confirm whether that man really was the person he knew. No, he wanted to be certain.
Even after hearing the anchors explain it, he still needed to see it for himself.
And then, at that very moment,
“…Hah.”
A face that was familiar if you knew it appeared on the screen.
A man with his hair tied back as usual.
Do-woon.
Do-woon was talking with Li Lianzhe of China. Seeing that, Jae-sik muttered in disbelief.
“Hyung, you’re going to a place like that and you didn’t even tell me!”
Jae-sik felt a tiny stab of betrayal toward Do-woon.
“If you were going somewhere like that, you should’ve said something first!”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Who’s talking about me?
My ears were suddenly itching.
I fought the urge to scratch them and looked ahead.
No matter how much of a guy I was who lived by my own impulses, I couldn’t exactly be picking at my ears at a moment like this.
Li Lianzhe, who had gotten off the plane, was slowly walking over with his research team in tow.
He was with the person I had expected to be his prized disciple, the one he supposedly said he wanted to fight Lee Tae-cheon.
“Huu...”
I heard a sigh from the front.
It was Minister of Foreign Affairs Han Min-hyun.
He looked tense, letting out one long sigh after another.
“Li Lianzhe... The real Li Lianzhe...!”
He muttered that while clenching and unclenching his fists.
He looked like a high school kid meeting the idol he’d always admired, and that almost made me laugh.
Jo Joo-hyun of the Main Guild, standing beside him, seemed to think the same thing. With a faint smile, he asked in a low voice, “You’re a fan, I take it?”
“Of course! It’s Li Lianzhe!”
Then he turned to look at me and Jo Joo-hyun. But we just stared at Minister Han blankly.
Li Lianzhe might be an S-class hunter, but...
He was Chinese, wasn’t he?
He wasn’t even from the same country. There was no reason for us to be fans.
“Heh heh... I’m feeling that generation gap again. In my day, Li Lianzhe was a hero. You kids can’t even imagine how many ministers volunteered for this position because they wanted to be here.”
“Is that so?”
“Of course it is. Li Lianzhe was the strongest person in the world... or rather, he used to be.”
Used to be.
In other words, not anymore.
That was because new S-class hunters had appeared.
Edidat Gwicin and Aladin Miller from the United States.
Maksim Smirnov from Russia.
Their arrival had knocked Li Lianzhe down from the title of “the strongest human in the world” to merely “one of the strongest humans in the world.”
“Hmm... I think Han Jin-hwan senior will win, though.”
“Hah, hahahaha...!”
Minister Han let out a laugh as if I’d just said something absurd. He shook his head.
“Seeing young people like you talk like that makes me feel like all the effort I spent hyping up Han Jin-hwan was worth it.”
“Huh? Hype up Han Jin-hwan?”
“No matter how strong Han Jin-hwan is, he’s A+ class. A+ class. There’s an absolute gap between that and S-class.”
“An absolute gap...? If he were just A-class, maybe. But A+ class feels like a difference of a single sheet of paper, doesn’t it?”
“Exactly. It is a difference of a single sheet of paper. The problem is that it’s the thickest sheet of paper in the world.”
“But—”
“Enough.”
I cut off Jo Joo-hyun, who was gearing up to argue.
He shot me a sideways glance, clearly displeased.
Saessak felt a disgusting gaze again.
“...”
I said nothing and jerked my chin toward the front.
Only then did Jo Joo-hyun slowly turn his head forward.
He realized this wasn’t the time for the two of us to be chatting among ourselves.
Li Lianzhe was standing less than three meters away.
Jo Joo-hyun...
For some reason, thanks to the message that had just popped into my head, I had a bad feeling about him.
Saessak’s first impression had never been wrong, not even once so far.
“...”
I let my eyes drift toward Jo Joo-hyun.
He was looking ahead with a smile on his lips.
A friendly-looking smile, sure...
But I couldn’t bring myself to think the person behind it was all that friendly.
Saessak felt a disgusting gaze.
That was because of the message Saessak had sent me.
And it wasn’t the first time I’d gotten a message like that. I’d gotten one yesterday evening when I first saw him, and another when we met at the airport today. This was the second time Saessak had used a word so harsh that it suggested real disgust the instant it laid eyes on someone.
The first had been Kim Jeong-cheol, who had been one of the Followers of the Demon Race.
After that, whenever it encountered Crowd, it had consistently described them as “disgusting.”
When I saw the word “disgusting,” for a second I wondered if this might be Crowd...
But if he’d been one of the Followers of the Demon Race, Saessak would have used the word repulsive.
Then I wondered if maybe he was some other kind of being entirely, but Saessak didn’t give any explanation. Even when I kept asking, it stayed silent.
Maybe Saessak didn’t know why it was feeling disgust in the first place.
For now, I’d just keep an eye on him.
He hadn’t done anything yet.
“Welcome! Welcome, Li Lianzhe!” Minister Han called out to Li Lianzhe, who had stopped right in front of us.
It was the sort of greeting you’d expect from a man who was such a fan he’d used the word hero without hesitation.
Maybe he liked the welcome?
Li Lianzhe smiled faintly and extended his right hand to Minister Han.
“I am Li Lianzhe.”
“I’m Han Min-hyun.”
Minister Han grinned and took his hand respectfully.
For a man who held the rank of minister, I wasn’t sure whether he remembered that the whole exchange was being broadcast to the entire world.
“Hmm.”
Li Lianzhe stroked his long beard and looked at me and Jo Joo-hyun. His brows, grown so long they drooped over his eyes, twitched faintly. He looked dissatisfied.
And the reason was obvious.
Taechon wasn’t here.
That was what he didn’t like.
“...”
But perhaps not wanting to show it, he extended his hand to me instead. He was asking for a handshake.
He understood that there was no helping it.
He had seen Smirnov single out Taechon and say, “Come greet me.”
Back then, Li Lianzhe had put on a dignified expression and said, “Anyone is acceptable.”
He was the one who had said anyone was fine.
If he truly wanted it that badly, he shouldn’t have tried so hard to act dignified.
After all, the thirsty are the ones who dig the well.
Thinking that to myself, I took the hand he’d offered.
Saessak is impressed by the owner of pure and complete mana.
Pure and complete...?
Saessak had said it felt pure mana from Do-hee and Han Jin-hwan as well.
But it hadn’t called it complete.
Pure and complete mana... So that was what an S-class hunter was.
“...It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Baek Do-woon.”
“Mm. You’re Lee Tae-cheon’s close friend, yes?”
“Yes. He’s my lifelong enemy.”
“Keuhahaha! Yes, that’s what a friend is!”
Li Lianzhe gave a small nod and then looked over at Jo Joo-hyun.
He withdrew his hand from mine and extended it toward Jo Joo-hyun instead.
Jo Joo-hyun shook it as politely as Minister Han had.
“It’s an honor to meet you. I am—”
“I know. Jo Joo-hyun.”
“...You know me?”
“Of course. How could I not know the ace of the Main Guild?”
So the Main Guild really was famous worldwide.
Considering that Li Lianzhe had added “the” in front of it.
Come to think of it, the Main Guild was currently known as Korea’s undisputed top hunter guild. It was one of the first names that always came up whenever people talked about the strongest guilds in Korean history.
Unlike Baekwooncheon, Daeil, and Aigaion, it was a guild that had built up its tradition over a long span of time.
Jo Joo-hyun, as the ace of such a guild, was more fitting to stand here than I was.
“My skill is lacking, but the Master put me forward anyway.”
Jo Joo-hyun answered modestly and respectfully.
It wouldn’t have been strange for him to be confident, but the person standing before him was Li Lianzhe, an S-class hunter. A man like Han Jin-hwan would even have to step down a notch in front of him. Trying to boast of strength in front of an S-class hunter would just look like arrogance.
“Ah, and this is my disciple, Liu Yiho.”
Li Lianzhe introduced his disciple.
Liu Yiho bowed to us with an expressionless face. He didn’t say anything else. Judging from the clumsy Korean he used in greeting, unlike Li Lianzhe, he probably wasn’t very good at the language.
“Please follow me. I’ll guide you.”
The minister cut in at once.
Li Lianzhe nodded, signaling that he would follow.
As a result, Minister Han and Li Lianzhe walked in front, while Jo Joo-hyun, Li Lianzhe’s prized disciple, and I followed behind.
The research team was right after us.
There was something pitiable about them.
Probably because they were a hastily assembled team meant to serve as pieces in a battle of egos.
They must not even know why they were here.
“You, Lee Tae-cheon’s friend?”
Liu Yiho, walking beside me, spoke in awkward Korean.
He must have caught what his master had just said to me. The fact that he was interested in me meant he really was the disciple who had supposedly said he wanted to fight Taechon.
Was he going to ask me to introduce them?
“But...”
“That’s a lie.”
“...?”
“Lee Tae-cheon strong. Friend, why not strong?”
What the hell is this guy picking a fight for...?
Saessak says he doesn’t like the human in front of us.
Yeah, same here, Saessak.