Black Garden
Kim Honggyeom, a red-wanted criminal, had been captured.
It was the kind of incident that sent a real shock through the industry.
“Move Kim Honggyeom safely to Samcheong-dong before the Hunter Association and the Four Great Guilds catch wind of it.”
Under the orders of Kim Jaegyu, director of the NIS Seoul 2nd Branch, team leader Choi Junhyuk assembled his men and launched the transport operation.
Rumble.
Vehicles roared in a line from Yangjae-dong toward Samcheong-dong.
A rapid-response SUV raced ahead first, clearing the road all the way to the destination without a hitch.
Right behind it came the armored vehicle used for high-risk detainees, along with a command car packed with state-of-the-art equipment.
And then there were the military and police troop transports escorting them.
Whoooooosh!
-What the hell’s going on? The police and even the military are out in force.
-Whoa… this is the first time I’ve ever actually seen a convoy like this.
-No way there’s a Gate sign nearby, right?!
Unlike the chaos outside, the command vehicle was wrapped in silence.
Throughout the ride, Choi Junhyuk and Kim Honggyeom never once met each other’s eyes.
The heavy atmosphere dragged on and on.
At last, as though he could no longer stand the awkwardness, Honggyeom spoke up.
“Uh… what was it. Long time no see, Choi Junhyuk.”
Choi Junhyuk took off his sunglasses and tucked them into his coat pocket before answering.
“Yeah. It’s been a while.”
“I heard you’d gone in as a Hunter under the NIS, but I never thought I’d run into you like this.”
“Yeah.”
“Haha, to think I’d end up showing such a pathetic sight to you, the guy who was dead last every year in the academy. Feels like my pride’s completely shattered.”
“Pride? You’re a criminal. Did you even have any left?”
Honggyeom stared at Junhyuk for a moment.
Then he let out a short chuckle and gave a quick nod.
“Right. A criminal shouldn’t have something like pride. Especially not a red-wanted criminal like me.”
“Good that you understand that much.”
“Still, tell me something. Why did you put me in the command vehicle instead of the transport car? And why aren’t these Hunter restraint cuffs on me?”
Junhyuk tapped the cuffs fastened at his own waist and replied.
“What good would cuffs do against someone who uses alchemy? And I don’t feel like fighting some guy with no will left to resist, so sit tight until we arrive.”
“Haa, what a boring bastard. What if I try to run?”
“That’s our problem. You worry about yourself.”
“Ah, yes. Of course. I’ll do that, Your Highness, elite Hunter of the NIS. A lowlife criminal like me should keep his mouth shut.”
Silence settled again.
After a few seconds, Honggyeom seemed to sort out his thoughts and went on.
“By the way, NIS Hunter Choi Junhyuk. Would you happen to know where you’re taking me?”
“Samcheong-dong.”
“Sam… cheong-dong?”
Kim Honggyeom’s face stiffened.
The all-powerful force in South Korea that was said to hold authority second only to the president.
A special place inside the NIS that only the chosen were allowed to enter.
Samcheong-dong, NIS 2nd Branch.
Black Garden.
A place criminals called hell.
Where the seeds of truth grew, and lies withered away.
“Haha! Choi Junhyuk, you bastard… don’t tell me you were part of Black Garden?”
“That’s right.”
“I’ve heard the Hunters who go in there all come out as complete wrecks.”
“You’ll see for yourself soon enough.”
“What the hell do you mean, see for myself, idiot? Now that I know I’m heading to Black Garden, do you really think I’m going to go quietly?”
“Do whatever you want. If you want to run, open that door and get out. I won’t stop you.”
“What?”
Junhyuk jerked his chin toward the back of the vehicle.
“The person who fought you in the dungeon is waiting in the car behind us. To take you down immediately if you pull any bullshit.”
“?!”
“Go on, then. If you’re so desperate, you’ll get another chance to fight that absolute monster overflowing with kingly force.”
Of course, it was a lie meant to pressure Honggyeom psychologically.
“…Damn it.”
But it worked perfectly.
The grumbling Honggyeom fell silent.
He was staring at the floor of the vehicle now.
The way he trembled, as if terrified, made him look like a herbivore facing a predator.
“…What the hell is that guy?”
“What do you mean, what is he?”
“That bastard I fought in the dungeon. Where the hell had he been hiding all this time before he popped out?”
He hadn’t been hiding.
He had simply been living the life he wanted to live.
“America? China? Japan?”
He had stayed in Korea the whole time.
“I did start that fight at a disadvantage, but this was the first time I’ve ever been so completely crushed.”
Junhyuk smirked.
For an A+ rank Hunter to say something like that.
It was proof enough that Kang Juhyuk was monstrously strong even against humans, not just monsters.
“That’s hilarious.”
“Hilarious? What is?”
“Coming from the mouth of the guy who said an S-Class Hunter wasn’t anything special. You were always going around the academy saying, ‘There’s no one in Korea stronger than me.’”
Honggyeom looked awkward, shifting his posture for no reason as he answered.
“Haa, so! What the hell is that monster?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know? Are you joking?”
“I’m not. That’s all I can tell you for now. The rest can wait until we get to Samcheong-dong.”
Just as Choi Junhyuk was about to end the conversation, Honggyeom rushed to speak again.
“Choi Junhyuk, how about a deal?”
“A deal?”
“Yeah. I’ve got some seriously huge information. Just a little bit of it would be enough to catch your entire NIS off guard.”
“…Go on.”
“If you pay the right price for the information.”
“Let’s hear it first.”
Kim Honggyeom fell silent for a moment, thinking.
When he seemed to have finished sorting through it in his head, he stared directly at Junhyuk’s face and whispered.
“One of the Seven Calamities has broken its silence and is now trying to make contact with the Hunter Association.”
“?!”
“And I’m the connection. The place we were supposed to meet that thing was that dungeon back there.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Kim Jaegyu, director of the NIS Seoul 2nd Branch, read the newspaper delivered early that morning and smiled in satisfaction.
The headline was packed with the story of Kim Honggyeom’s arrest.
The media showered praise on the NIS for capturing Kim Honggyeom, the red-wanted criminal, while also flooding the air with curiosity about Kang Juhyuk, the man at the center of the case.
And yet.
The NIS had tightly muzzled anyone inside the military and police who knew the truth.
They had sealed off the identities of everyone involved in the incident, making sure not to let anything troublesome happen to Kang Juhyuk.
It was all to build a cooperative relationship with him however they could, and to preserve the trust they had managed to accumulate so far.
“Good work, Choi Junhyuk. The fact that there were no casualties in the dungeon alone is a relief, but to think you’d actually bring in that crazy bastard Kim Honggyeom yourself.”
Choi Junhyuk gave a light salute, then stepped to the side and bowed his head.
“I was lucky. Thanks to Kang Juhyuk handling Kim Honggyeom directly, we were able to resolve the matter easily.”
“Right. By the way, why had Kang Juhyuk visited the dungeon? He arrived before we did, didn’t he?”
“It seems he was chasing Kim Honggyeom for the bounty. He also said he was there to train his nephew.”
“His nephew?”
“Yes. He’s an aspiring Hunter. He’s currently preparing to enter Seoul Hunter Academy. He already passed the written exam and is waiting for the practical test.”
Kim Jaegyu raised a brow.
“Really? That kind of thing, we could just handle it on our side, couldn’t we? A place like Seoul Hunter Academy could be arranged with a single phone call.”
“That’s true, but…”
“Then Kang Juhyuk would be even more cooperative with us.”
“I made the suggestion too, but Juhyuk asked that nothing of the sort happen.”
“Why?”
“He said everyone should be given a fair chance. Anyone without real skill should never become a Hunter. And that one should only build their strength until they can surpass the academy’s standards on their own.”
Kim Jaegyu gave a short nod with a pleased smile.
“Skill, huh? That nephew of his.”
Choi Junhyuk snorted and shook his head.
“It looked like he still wasn’t ready to become a Hunter. He passed the written exam on the first try, so his head is probably good, but judging from the training footage, the practical test won’t be easy.”
“Really? About how much skill does he have?”
“He’s around ordinary human level. Not bad, but not good either. He hasn’t awakened yet.”
“So that’s how it is…”
As they talked, Jaegyu rested his chin on his hand and stared out the window for a long while. Then he took a badge from his bookshelf and slipped it into his pocket.
“Contact the academy director and tell him I want to meet him this evening.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Ah! And as for what that bastard Kim Honggyeom said, First Branch is handling it, so don’t worry about it.”
“…Understood.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
When Lee Minho got home, he shook his umbrella off twice, then stepped inside and let out an irritated sigh.
“Haa-!”
His T-shirt hung damp and heavy from the rain, and his jeans had faded to a deeper color.
Minho’s face was plainly full of annoyance.
Juhyuk looked at him and tilted his head.
“Why are you sighing like some little punk? You’re gonna cave the floor in, brat.”
“Seriously, I’m so flabbergasted I can’t even talk. Uncle, Yeonwu asked me out, so I went to the arcade near Gangnam Station for a bit.”
“And?”
“It had definitely stopped raining when I left home. But as soon as I got to Gangnam Station, it started pouring like crazy, and I got soaked like a rat!”
Minho stripped off his wet clothes and threw them into the laundry basket.
Thud.
“It’s driving me nuts. It didn’t rain all day, so why the hell did it start the second I stepped out?”
“We call that a sudden shower.”
“No, I know that, Uncle. I’m just pissed because it was already blazing hot, and then I got drenched on top of it.”
“What’s so annoying about rain? Once it comes, the weather cools down and gets nice. That’s a good thing.”
“I don’t know. I just hate rain.”
“Don’t say that. To you, that rain might just be an annoying nuisance, but to farmers struggling through a drought, it’s basically a blessing from the sky. Good rain. Real good rain.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Look.”
Juhyuk flopped onto the sofa and turned on the TV.
Beep.
Instantly, breaking news came up on a major channel.
As the announcer raised her voice with a tense expression, Minho slowly walked over and grabbed Juhyuk’s shoulder.
“You said it was good rain?”
“Wait a sec. Why the hell are they only showing bad news? This is the capital-area news, sure, but in the provinces, rain like this really helps farmland.”
“Really?”
“Yeah! Watch this.”
Beep.
He changed the channel.
Beep.
Juhyuk shut the TV off immediately.
“Wanna go to the bathhouse? I kinda want to soak in the tub for a while.”
Minho gave a short nod and answered while packing shampoo and lotion into an Emart bag.
“Sounds good. We can go to the sauna too while we’re at it. My calves are all knotted up from walking so much in the dungeon yesterday.”
“Okay! Then how about we hit the bathhouse and grab some pajeon at a nearby restaurant after, deal?”
“Deal!”
Just as the two of them were laughing and getting ready to head out for the bathhouse,
Crash!
A black crow perched outside the window of Juhyuk’s house flapped up into the thunder.