The Warnings and the Bribes
It was true.
Hwang Geumgang, the master of the White Tiger Guild, had gone out of his way to pursue Kang Juhyuk.
But Choi Junhyuk of the National Intelligence Service, who had made an offer first, wasn’t about to sit back and watch.
“We approached Kang Juhyuk before you did. Wait until he responds to our offer.”
When the NIS hunters stepped in to block the way, one of the White Tiger Guild hunters, who had been trailing Juhyuk, looked visibly annoyed.
“How dare some government dog try to stand in our way!”
Junhyuk, however, did not budge.
Even in a world that often felt like a complete madhouse, there were still rules.
There was a proper order to things, a sequence meant to avoid needless conflict.
Geumgang knew that too, which was why he didn’t push the matter any further. He simply dragged the chains bound around both ankles and strolled forward, flashing Junhyuk a smooth, almost teasing smile.
Clink, clink, chrrrr.
“I’m not here to get in your way. I just wanted to see what the guy looks like.”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
“Believe it or don’t. That’s your business.”
“You must’ve heard we’re in the middle of negotiating with him.”
“I know. That’s why I moved quietly.”
“This isn’t about quiet or noisy. It’s about rules, not courtesy.”
“……”
“Hwang Geumgang, this is your first and last warning. Don’t step into someone else’s territory without permission from now on. The rest of us aren’t just standing around like scarecrows.”
Geumgang stared at Junhyuk’s face for a long moment.
Then, with his eyes squeezed shut, he gave a reluctant nod.
“Fine. I’ll apologize for this time.”
The White Tiger master took one step back.
That left no room for a fight to break out.
Of course, everyone knew his answer wasn’t sincere. He was only putting on an act to avoid an unnecessary clash.
Come to think of it.
For the guild master himself to personally show up like this…
That alone proved Kang Juhyuk was the real deal.
Junhyuk still disliked Geumgang’s behavior, but in the end he wrapped the conversation up on amicable terms, with the condition that Juhyuk would not be met for a week.
“Choi Junhyuk, the deadline you gave us is one week. After that, it’s our turn, so make sure none of the others cut in.”
* * *
Kang Juhyuk, the first person in South Korea to be transferred to another world.
In the end, he told Minho the story of his journey there.
“After I got the title of ‘Hero’ in the Sacred Temple of Dior, I came back here. It’s a shame there was still one bastard I really wanted to kill, but whatever. It was a pretty decent trip.”
Kang Juhyuk was such an absurdly capable man that even the National Intelligence Service wanted him. On top of that, he was strong enough to take on an A-Class monster by himself.
To explain all of that, there was no avoiding the other-world story.
“So when you said you were going to the supermarket the other day, you were actually going to another world? And you got stronger there through experience?”
“That’s right.”
Of course, he couldn’t tell Minho everything that had happened there.
Trying to explain ten years’ worth of events would have taken far too long.
But the big highlights were more than enough for Minho to understand.
Just as Juhyuk was bragging, Minho pulled out the earbud from one ear and handed him a bag of recyclables.
“That’s amazing. Uncle, could you take just one trash bag out by the utility pole? I still haven’t finished the dishes.”
“That’s easy enough. Want me to tell you about the time I dated a succubus when I get back? There was this incident where I almost died because I couldn’t tell dream from reality.”
“That sounds fun.”
“Right?”
“Yeah, tell me over pizza tonight. I still haven’t finished studying this morning.”
“Okay!”
Kang Juhyuk grinned and carried the recyclables to the utility pole in front of the house.
As he spotted a cat hiding among the pile of trash, his mouth twitched faintly, as if someone had come to mind.
That bastard met me in a place like this too.
Then he pulled a cigarette from his pocket, tucked it between his lips, and looked up at the clear blue sky.
“Nice weather.”
Click. Click. Click.
But the lighter wouldn’t spark.
“Damn it, why won’t this work? I just bought it yesterday.”
Right at that moment, Choi Junhyuk, an NIS hunter, arrived in front of his house.
He pulled a lighter from his pocket, lit Juhyuk’s cigarette for him, and asked, “Have you thought about our offer, Kang Juhyuk?”
Juhyuk gave a small nod and leaned in to catch the flame.
“Haaah. I was going to answer by text today. Didn’t expect you to come all the way here in person.”
“I wanted your answer quickly. That way we can make you an even better offer.”
“Sorry, but I’m going to have to refuse.”
Junhyuk gave a faint snort of amusement.
“I see. So that’s how it is.”
“No matter what you offer, I’m refusing for now. I told you, didn’t I? I’ll only move when I need to.”
“...Understood. Then we won’t bother you any further. However, if I may be so impolite—may I ask just one question?”
“Go ahead.”
“Is the reason you’re refusing our offer because you intend to work with others instead?”
Juhyuk answered instantly, without the slightest hesitation.
“No. Absolutely not.”
“Then you truly do need rest.”
“Yeah, so don’t come looking for me until I contact you first. I really don’t feel like working for a while.”
To the current Juhyuk, the NIS offer was absurdly burdensome.
After running nonstop for more than ten years just to survive, both his body and mind were completely exhausted. And he had barely even been out of work for a week, yet now someone wanted him tied to an organization again.
“If I feel like becoming a hunter, I’ll call you. Though I have no idea if that’ll ever happen.”
“We’ll be grateful for it. If you join us, we’ll make sure to offer you better conditions than anyone else. In every respect.”
“Got it. Oh, and you’re not planning to retaliate over this, right?”
“Retaliate?”
“Yeah, like pressuring the association so I can’t collect any bounty rewards. If you do something like that, I won’t just sit around either.”
Junhyuk shook his head, his expression unreadable.
“That will never happen.”
Why would they make an enemy of a monster who could face an A-Class beast alone?
“As for monster-related matters, if anything, we’re the ones who should be asking for Mr. Juhyuk’s help. We’ve still got more than a few things we haven’t dealt with.”
“Really? Then can I ask you for a favor too?”
“A favor?”
“I’d like some wanted posters. Preferably the ones with the highest rewards.”
“?!”
“I checked with the association, and they said I can’t get any unless I have a hunter license. A guy like you should be able to get them, though.”
For Junhyuk, it was nothing difficult.
He’d only have to copy the wanted posters sitting around in the office. The only problem was that the posters themselves counted as third-class classified documents, so permission would be required.
“I’ll have them sent to you by the end of the day. Red, blue, and yellow— which would you like?”
“All of them.”
“Understood.”
After wrapping up the conversation, Junhyuk left with a meaningful smile.
Watching his back disappear, Juhyuk arched a brow.
Perfect.
There had been no gate news on the feed, so he’d paused his game cash spending for the moment. But if he could get wanted posters, he could pick only the jobs he needed.
“Now that’s a sweet deal.”
* * *
A-Class monster, Giant Turtle.
The blue mana stone embedded in its forehead sparkled like a sapphire.
Kang Juhyuk gave it a light wipe with a towel and asked, “You really want to be a hunter that badly?”
His nephew, Lee Minho, was listening to hunter lectures on a tablet as he replied, “I do. I already passed the written exam this time. I think if I can just handle the practical, I’ll be fine. They said all I had to do was hunt a small monster, so I’m planning to go to a nearby dungeon when I have time.”
“There’s a practical and a written test?”
“Yeah. Uncle, don’t you remember when you were training to become a hunter? You must’ve learned all that in the training camp before entering the academy.”
He didn’t know.
That was only natural.
By the time Juhyuk had wanted to become a hunter, the association’s system still hadn’t been properly established.
Back then, they gathered the awakened, checked their abilities, and selected the ones they needed.
After that, the ones who passed were guided down the path the association had chosen for them.
A written test? A practical?
Back then, once you awakened, you just became a hunter.
It was like getting drafted into the military when you came of age.
Of course.
As a democratic society, South Korea did have the right to refuse.
And Kang Juhyuk had been one of the very few who actually did refuse.
He knew full well that, with the trash-tier ability he had been given, he wouldn’t survive hunter life. So he’d faced reality early and poured everything he had into raising Minho instead.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?!”
“Yeah, not in my time. If you awakened, you could just become a hunter.”
“Ah….”
“That doesn’t mean every awakened person became a hunter, though. Like you said, everyone has different dreams.”
“That’s true. Then what was your dream, Uncle? Why didn’t you become a hunter after awakening?”
A dream.
I did have one back then, I guess.
Now I just want to rest like my life depends on it.
Juhyuk thought about it for a moment, then set down the mana stone he’d been wiping and gave an awkward little smile.
“Want to do practical training together? I think I can help with that.”
* * *
Back at the office, Junhyuk immediately sorted through the wanted posters in his possession.
Yellow wanted posters were for E- and D-rank monsters, the sort that beginner and intermediate hunters could hunt without much difficulty.
Blue wanted posters were for C- and B-rank monsters, the kind experienced hunters hunted in organized groups, capable of fulfilling defined roles.
And red wanted posters were for A-rank monsters and up—the sort that only a small group of elite veterans, hunters deemed top-tier and above, could barely take on together, along with the disasters rated even higher than that, the S-rank level.
He had never imagined Juhyuk would ask him for wanted posters.
And not just yellow and blue, but red as well.
Could Kang Juhyuk really be strong enough to take on an S-rank monster alone?
Junhyuk lifted the thick stack of posters—thick enough to rival an encyclopedia—and handed them to a man with bowl-cut hair and glasses.
“Kim Dojun. Deliver these to Kang Juhyuk. There’s nothing else to tell him. Just say I sent them.”
Dojun accepted the stack with a bright smile.
“Understood. But this is restricted information—did you get authorization? There was a huge mess over an information leak from the lower division last time.”
“Yeah. And keep an eye out for White Tiger on the way.”
“White Tiger?”
“They’re keeping tabs on us. They found out I was after Kang Juhyuk and put people on him.”
“?!”
“Looks like they want to get him before we do. Maybe not everyone else, but White Tiger needs to be stopped.”
Caw, caw, caw!
A crow flew up outside the window.
Junhyuk’s mouth twitched as he drew the pistol from his waist and aimed at the crow.
“They’re noisy both inside and out.”
Bang!
With the gunshot, the crow outside the window exploded.
Crash!
Dojun swallowed hard and gave a short nod.
“If we pass along this information to Kang Juhyuk, like you said, wouldn’t that create friction with White Tiger? Is that really all right?”
“It doesn’t matter. After all, Kang Juhyuk is……”
He’d be too strong for them to stop.
Junhyuk left the sentence unfinished and simply stood there.
Kim Dojun bowed deeply.
“Understood. I’ll deliver it.”