Chapter 49
As soon as I turned into the alley, I found a crowd blocking the road.
Even cars couldn’t get any farther in.
Looks like the whole neighborhood had come out to gawk because of Kim Mu-yeon.
Then again, when else would you get a chance to see the forty-seventh-ranked hunter in Korea?
If it weren’t for something like this, maybe I’d have come out to look too... though probably not.
I had no choice but to park nearby and get out.
“What if I get a ticket?”
I scratched my head and looked around.
I spotted police officers holding back the crowd.
Anyone looking at this would think a terrorist had shown up and forced them to set up a barricade.
Pitiful. They were suffering for no good reason.
As I was feeling sorry for them, one of the officers walked toward me.
Following his gaze, the people around us looked at me too.
Some of them recognized my face and started whispering among themselves.
The officer in front of me said, “You can’t park here.”
“Ah, I came because I had something to take care of over there.”
“Something to take care of?”
“Yes, I-”
“That’s him!”
Before I could explain, the people nearby cut in.
They’d recognized me.
And they started explaining who I was to the officer.
The officer and I both listened to their explanation in mutual embarrassment.
Hearing other people talk about me like that made me feel oddly unsettled.
“It’s him! The guy Kim Mu-yeon’s looking for!”
“Baek Do-woon? Yeah, Baek Do-woon. That was the name!”
“Baek Do-hee’s older brother, Lee Tae-cheon’s friend!”
“You know Kim Mu-yeon’s here because of that video, right?”
“This guy’s the one from the video.”
The people gathered around me all talked at once.
It was convenient not having to explain everything myself, but it was also a little frightening how much they seemed to know.
It had been creepy enough when Tae-cheon’s or Do-hee’s fans showed up and started rambling about them, but this felt a little worse than that.
Maybe it was because it was about me.
The officer swallowed once, whether because he felt the same kind of fear or was simply flustered, I couldn’t tell.
Then he stepped aside as if he’d decided to let me through.
“Go on through. Looks like we need to settle this situation first.”
“Ah, yes. Though, one more thing.”
“Yes?”
Well. How should I put this?
I hesitated for a moment, and the officer looked straight at me.
He seemed to think I was about to say something important.
And in a way, it was important.
Just not important enough to warrant a grave expression.
The looks from the people waiting for me to speak were a little suffocating too.
I pointed at my car and said, “What about the car?”
At my question, the officer’s serious face turned into one of disbelief.
The crowd made the same stupid expression.
No, I’m the one who should be dumbfounded here, you people.
I came back from work. What if I get back and find a parking ticket on it?
I didn’t park here because I wanted to park here.
“Is that really the important part right now?”
“Then what is important?”
I shot back immediately at the officer’s question.
“Is there anything more important than getting ticketed right now?”
“...Don’t worry. I won’t let them ticket it.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. If you’re still worried, I can stand right here.”
“Well, I’d appreciate that.”
If he stood in front of my car, the other officers probably wouldn’t come slap a ticket on it either.
The officer nodded and then, looking drained, made a request of me.
“So please, go and resolve this issue as soon as possible. I’m begging you....”
“Haha, yes. Understood.”
The officer looked exhausted and miserable, like someone who’d been handed a job far beyond his ability.
Of course he did.
How was a single cop supposed to stop the mess caused by a hunter ranked forty-seventh in Korea?
Normally, they’d need a hunter of similar rank or the military to step in.
The reason they hadn’t was that he hadn’t used violence.
Just like Kim Ji-yeon had said, he’d probably just been shouting and spouting off like a lunatic.
By now, the association was probably tearing its hair out.
“Excuse me, could you let me... through?”
As I walked up to the gathered crowd and asked for space, people actually parted for me on their own.
That was because some of the people looking this way had recognized me.
When a few of them moved aside, the people next to them naturally got pushed back too.
Even the ones who looked ready to complain about being shoved aside recognized me and stepped away.
In an instant, a path opened up like the sea splitting in two.
...That was convenient.
“Thanks.”
Feeling awkward, I walked along that path.
There were television cameras mixed in among the stares too.
The reporters who recognized me were babbling into the cameras about something or other.
I couldn’t hear them clearly, but they were probably saying something like, “Baek Do-woon has finally arrived!”
To have his rampage broadcast nationwide...
That was a forty-seventh-ranked hunter for you.
One of the police officers blocking the crowd walked toward me.
I thought he was about to stop me and tell me not to come closer, but the officer, who looked to be in his early forties, called out my name right away.
“Good day, Mr. Baek Do-woon. I’m Inspector Kim Hong-dae.”
“Hello. Though this doesn’t feel like much of a good day.”
“Haha, yes. Quite right.”
Inspector Kim Hong-dae agreed with a short laugh.
Then he turned and looked at Kim Mu-yeon.
The bastard was sitting quietly in a chair with his arms folded.
He looked so composed that anyone seeing him might think he was some cautious, thoughtful man.
Of course, if he were really thoughtful, he wouldn’t have caused a scene like this and blown everything up.
“Thank you for coming like this. We kept trying to reach Baekwooncheon after hearing that we couldn’t get through, but after a while we gave up.”
“Well, it really wasn’t reachable.”
“Pardon? Ah, were you at a gate?”
No. I was at a special event venue.
“Yes. As soon as I found out, I came straight over.”
“Goodness, the chief said Baekwooncheon would remember this incident...”
“We can clear up any misunderstanding. Tae-cheon isn’t the sort to hold a grudge over something like this.”
“Is that so? As expected of the Knight of the Sky.”
That was right.
He wasn’t called a “knight” for nothing.
He received that respect because he was a giant among men who didn’t make a big deal out of people insulting him.
The “sky” attached to the title was something he’d apparently added himself.
When I asked him what he meant by it, he just smiled and never told me.
“I should be going now.”
Yu Jae-i was standing in front of the blacksmith shop, staring at me expressionlessly.
Kim Ji-yeon and Shim Yoon-jin were planted in front of her.
They looked at me as if to say, So this is what you were talking about with the police?
Or maybe they were telling me to hurry up and get over here.
“Ah, sorry. Please excuse me.”
“Yes, of course.”
I passed Inspector Kim Hong-dae and walked over to Yu Jae-i.
The crowd’s attention followed me as I went past him.
Most of them recognized me, though there were still a few who didn’t.
When I got closer, Kim Ji-yeon and Shim Yoon-jin both bowed their heads to greet me.
Yu Jae-i stared at me expressionlessly for a moment, then snorted.
“I told you not to come.”
“You did.”
“Then why did you come?”
“Since when do I have to obey you when you tell me not to come?”
“What?”
“I decide where I go.”
Not even Do-hee or Tae-cheon can stop me.
Yu Jae-i can’t stop my actions either.
“Honestly, does that even fit the situation?”
As she said that, Yu Jae-i let out a sigh.
Kim Ji-yeon and Shim Yoon-jin, standing beside her, shook their heads too.
Still, a faint smile had appeared on all three of their faces now.
Even if they were laughing because they were exasperated, laughing was laughing.
Earlier, they’d all looked far too displeased and gloomy.
“So you finally showed up.”
Kim Mu-yeon’s voice came from behind me.
When I turned around, he had opened the eyes he’d been keeping shut and was staring straight at me.
Even dressed casually, his body was packed with dense muscle.
He was what, a little over six feet tall?
“Good to see you, Baek Do-woon.”
“Really? You’re happy to see me? Because I’m not happy to see you at all.”
“...Fine, I admit it. This isn’t exactly a pleasant meeting for either of us.”
The calm nod he gave felt strangely out of place.
I frowned and looked at Kim Ji-yeon.
Feeling my gaze, she nodded back as if to say, Your guess is right.
So Kim Mu-yeon was putting on an act of being “calm” right now.
With all the onlookers and television cameras filming him, he couldn’t act according to his real temper.
Without the crowd or the cameras, he probably would’ve been foaming at the mouth.
“But the reason we’re meeting like this is because of you, Baek Do-woon.”
“What a load of crap. You think I’m the reason this whole mess happened? Do I look like the one who caused this?”
As I said that, I pointed around us.
Most of the people gathered here were looking at Kim Mu-yeon, not me.
Sure, I’d drawn attention because of the video, but it wasn’t anything big enough to outweigh a hunter ranked forty-seventh.
Ignoring those stares, Kim Mu-yeon went on.
“...I simply couldn’t stand seeing a precious object fall into the hands of someone unworthy of it.”
“Whether I’m worthy or not has nothing to do with you.”
“It has a great deal to do with me. Because I recognize Yu Jae-i as a blacksmith.”
As he said that, Kim Mu-yeon looked steadily at Yu Jae-i.
She frowned, clearly irritated by his gaze.
A blacksmith?
What nonsense. Anyone could see that was the face of a man looking at a woman.
It was easy enough to understand why Yu Jae-i was scowling at him.
But the people around us didn’t seem to notice.
“Wow, she must be an amazing blacksmith.”
“Probably. She’s the one who made the weapon in that video, right?”
“To have her skill recognized, that’s nice...”
That sort of thing.
They didn’t see him looking at a blacksmith at all. They just failed to notice he was looking at a woman.
What a crowd of people with holes where their eyes should be.
Kim Mu-yeon held out his thick right hand.
“Now, hand it over to me. To the one who truly has the right to it!”
“......”
“......”
“...What a load of shit.”
I’d stood there quietly because I was curious what kind of nonsense he’d spout.
He had plenty of spirit, all right, and he was spouting nothing worth hearing.
I decided to ignore him and deal with the situation first.
Just then, a holographic window appeared and stole my attention away.
C-rank Previous World Tree quest has occurred.
Quest details - Manager Baek Do-woon is currently being suspected of being unqualified to possess a World Tree item.
Show the people gathered here the dignity of the World Tree Manager so that no more nonsense will be spoken.
Success reward - leaf of the previous World Tree.
On failure, you will earn the disappointment of the World Tree Sprout.
“Huh?”
I tilted my head at the sudden quest.
I hadn’t expected anything like this to pop up over a situation like this.
Since it was a C-rank quest, the reward was a World Tree leaf I’d already obtained once before.
If I got it, I’d have to go see Hong Su-jeong.
I’d tell her to make me more healing potions.
“If you don’t want to hand it over, then prove you have the right to it!”
Since I’d stayed quiet, he must have taken that for hesitation.
Behind me, I heard Yu Jae-i let out a long sigh.
“Hoo. Let me see it for myself.”
“What?”
Those were the last words I expected out of Yu Jae-i’s mouth.
Kim Ji-yeon and Shim Yoon-jin were surprised too, their eyes widening as they turned to look at her.
She gave Kim Mu-yeon a cold look and let out a derisive snort.
“If you hold it yourself, you’ll find out who the real worthless husk is. Go on, and feel ashamed in front of everyone.”
“What are you talking about?”
I asked because I had no idea what she meant, but she waved her hand as if she didn’t want to say any more.
For now, I decided to do as she said.
Given her words about feeling ashamed in front of everyone, she must have had something in mind too.
I reached my hand forward to take Arca out of my inventory.
Using Warm Touch, I called Arca’s name.
Then,
The World Tree Sprout smiles with great confidence.
Sprout laughed.
Why was it suddenly smiling with such ominous confidence?
Then I remembered that I’d assigned the output speed in the inventory settings to Sprout.
I knew why Sprout was laughing, and what it was aiming for.
Horrified, I stared at my index finger.
“No, calm down, Sprout!”
Bang!
Contrary to my plea, a deafening roar burst from my outstretched finger.
Arca shot out from my palm with a thunderclap and flew straight toward Kim Mu-yeon.
The World Tree Sprout is proud of its own slingshot attack.
No, that’s not even a slingshot anymore....
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