Chapter 13

Silence filled inside the Emergency Headquarters of the Hunter Management Agency.

The scene captured by the Emergency Cam of Hunter Yoo Mira inside the Rift was already replayed countless times.

“…Play it again.”

The video was played again from the moment the recording started.

Jung Yeong-cheol beckoned.

“Fast forward it to the time when the Ogres first appeared.”

Whirr.

The video was then played at 3x speed.

It wasn’t until the scene where dozens of Dark Ogres were walking, led by the Ogre Leader, that the video went back to its normal speed.

– They’re here! Everybody get it together!

– There… the Ogre Leader?

– Be careful not to get hit!

“From hereon, play it in slow-motion.”

This time, the video was played at 0.5x speed.

Then Jung Yeong-cheol leaned forward, focusing on the video.

A Hunter wearing a white mask picked up a tree branch and drew a circle around the Hunters from the Magi Guild.

Woong!

A translucent blue membrane wrapped around them.

– Don’t get out of there.

The Masked Hunter then took out a sword from his jacket.

No, could it even be called a sword?

It was already broken with less than 20 centimeters left of its length.

The only thing that was intact on that dull sword was only its handle.

Crackle!

Light flashed,

And a pitch-black sword formed from the handle.

Rumble!

The Rift went berserk.

A strong shock could be felt beyond the screen.

Hunters from the Magi Guild immediately lost balance and began to grab their heads, feeling nauseated.

Crack! Crack! Shatter!

And that was the end.

Jung Yeong-cheol leaned back on his chair with an astonished expression.

He closed his eyes and played the scene again in his head.

“What did you say was his name again?”

The assistant instantly replied.

“It’s Kim Hyun-woo, sir.”

“Any info about him?”

“Umm…”

“Stop beating around the bush and tell me quickly.”

The assistant scratched his head in distress.

He gulped down his saliva and finally started to speak.

“There’s nothing, sir.”

“What?”

“All information about him such as his resident registration number and address were all fake. His date of registration as a Hunter was even 99/99/9999.”

A crease formed on Jung Yeong-cheol’s forehead.

“Any witnesses? He must’ve already come out of the Rift. Did anyone say that they saw a guy in a hoodie, jeans, and a mask? Didn’t you send Kang Min-hyuk and Han Min-ji there? They might have seen him along the way.”

“…No one saw him come out, sir.”

The assistant replied in cold sweat.

Surely, he would then be yelled at by Jung Yeong-cheol to find him no matter what.

Or so he thought.

“Tsk. Okay, fine.”

“Eh?”

Although the video was cut midway, anyone could have guessed who killed the Ogre Leader which was the Boss Monster of that A-class Great Rift. The problem was his identity.

‘Obviously, he wore a mask to hide his identity.’

Point taken.

The real question is why on earth is he hiding his identity.

‘Not to mention his skills…  he’s beyond S-class.’

Performing Shik (imbuing Mana into a weapon) exceptionally.

Plus, he even erected a barrier that protected the Hunters from Magi Guild with great technique.

However, there wasn’t a single S-class Hunter capable of such skills amongst the ones he already knew, given these two pieces of information.

Swoosh.

Jung Yeong-cheol got up from his seat.

“In any case, if he’s that good, he’s likely to resurface sooner or later. Let’s just wait until then.”

“Understood. For now, I’ll continue to look into him.”

“Oh, and submit the list of the new S-class Hunters from the Hunter Rating Assessment.”

“Yes, sir.”

＊ ＊ ＊

Upon returning home, Do-jun immediately changed his clothes and put the hoodie and jeans in the laundry net. Seol Yoon-hee had not noticed that he’d been out for a while. After putting the mask inside the drawer, he pulled out the Mana Stone he collected from the Ogre Leader and placed it on his desk.

Woong.

The enormous Mana condensed in the palm-sized Mana Stone could be felt.

In terms of inner qi, it’s estimated to be about 10 years of training and accumulation of qi.

So Do-jun divided the Mana Stone into 10 pieces.

If he sold it to the Daehan Workshop as it is, he would be suspected since he was just a ‘government employee’.

Whoosh.

Additionally, Do-jun worried about the Hunter ID card on his palm.

‘Should I just destroy it?’

Thinking about the future, it’d be best to destroy it now and not leave a tail behind.

However, Do-jun shook his head and put the Hunter ID card inside the drawer.

‘Then, I’d have nothing to use in the future for instances like this.’

Just in case, he might need it again.

Because if he destroyed this card now, he would have to use his own official ID card to enter a Rift.

Since ‘Kim Hyun-woo’ was a fake identity that he created, the Hunter Management Agency would definitely find out about him if they really pursued this matter, but that was something to think about later.

Tak.

After closing the door and leaving the room, Do-jun pulled out an envelope hidden between the small bookshelves next to the mattress where Seol Yoon-hee was sleeping.

He alternately looked at the admission guide and the urgent notice.

‘50 million won.’

Do-jun took a piece of Mana Stone out of the ten fragments he divided earlier.

He wasn’t sure how much he could sell it for, but considering the average price of a Mana Stone from an A-class monster was 200 million won, he thought he could at least get tens of millions of won from it.

＊ ＊ ＊

After arriving at Daehan Workshop by subway, Do-jun immediately proceeded to Zone 1 where Hunters could buy and sell potions and other miscellaneous goods that they could sell or use. The general merchandise store also purchases monster carcasses and Mana Stone that the Hunters looted inside a Rift.

– Customer No. 48, please proceed to Window 3.

Even though it was a Saturday, the place was still crowded with people trying to sell monster carcasses or Mana Stones that they procured from a Rift.

Most of them were guild managers in-charge of selling the items that the Hunters collected.

In Do-jun’s case, he had no choice but to sell it himself since he was not part of a guild.

“Welcome. It seems that you want to sell a Mana Stone. Please fill in this appraisal request with the time and date that you want it to be appraised and the rough grade of the Mana Stone based on the rank of the monster it was collected.”

“…Can’t I sell it right now? I’m in a hurry.”

“That would be a quick sale. If you do so, it would be difficult to make an accurate appraisal of the Mana Stone, and you have to pay 10% of its sales amount as a commission. Will that be alright with you?”

Nod.

“Is the Mana Stone with you right now?”

“Yes, here it is.”

The employee accepted the Mana Stone given by Do-jun.

The employee sighed inward, looking at the small Mana Stone with the size of a finger.

Usually, those who came alone to sell a Mana Stone are F-class Hunters who had just started hunting in Rifts.

‘And its size is that of a typical F-class Mana Stone.’

In the case of F-class Mana Stones, its amount usually ranges from 40,000 won to 60,000 won and would only differ depending on the concentration of Mana in the stone.

Assuming that it amounts to 50,000 won, after the commission is removed, the hunter’s share would now only be 45,000 won.

The employee placed the Mana Stone on top of a machine that measures the Mana concentration of Mana Stones.

The figure displayed on the machine gradually increased.

Over time, the employee’s mouth widened in shock.

The amount of Mana contained in that Mana Stone, which was first considered as insignificant, was now comparable to that of an A-class.

No, it’s greater than an average A-class Mana Stone.

“I-I’ll measure it again. I’m sorry.”

“Is there a problem?”

“It’s not like that, sir… the machine must have had an error.”

And so it was measured again,

However, the results were the same no matter how many times it was measured.

The employee even tried the measuring instrument at the next window, but the results were still the same.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

After calculating, the employee showed the calculator to Do-jun.

27,850,000.

“Is it only 27 million won?”

Do-jun regretted bringing only one piece of it when he should’ve brought two.

But the employee’s next remark came as a shock to Do-jun.

“What I showed you is just the fee that you have to pay. Excluding the fee, the total amount you will receive is 250,650,000 won.”

＊ ＊ ＊

Tap. Tap.

– Mr. Lee Do-jun.

– Your current balance is 251,400,190 won.

After looking at the balance projected by the bank application on his phone, Do-jun glanced at the other nine pieces of Mana Stone rolling in his desk drawer. He could get his hands on more than two billion won if he sold all of these. But he had no intention of doing so.

Creak.

Suddenly, the front door opened.

Do-jun immediately closed the desk drawer and left his room.

At the front door was Seol Yoon-hee, who just came back after shopping at the mart. She was putting down the shopping bags in the doorway.

“Oh, you’re already here, Father. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Thank you. It must have been heavy.”

“Hehe, not really.”

Do-jun picked up an envelope and put it on the table.

“Thank you.”

At that moment, Seol Yoon-hee’s eyes focused on the envelope neatly placed on the table.

Then she looked at Do-jun in surprise.

Do-jun sighed at her reaction.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“…Did you read it?”

Seol Yoon-hee’s face darkened.

A father-daughter relationship sounded great.

But it was just a contract.

He was just a perfect stranger, without any blood relation.

One could never easily ask someone to lend you 50 million won or even just ask for it.

“…I thought you’d hate me. I’m already so grateful to you for letting me live here.”

“I’d hate you?”

“W-well… 50 million won all of a sudden? I didn’t want to be any more of a burden to you…”

“Right. 50 million won is definitely a lot for me. Paying for your tuition isn’t even included in our contract.”

At Do-jun’s words,

Seol Yoon-hee bit her lips tightly and nodded her head.

Do-jun’s reaction was natural. This was a contractual relationship anyway.

“We’ll just have to add it, then.”

“What?”

Do-jun took out the contract and put it on the table.

Seol Yoon-hee was staring at Do-jun with her eyes stiff.

8. A shall pay all expenses for B’s studies.

Do-jun signed on top of the additional clause in the contract.

Then he handed it to Seol Yoon-hee.

“You sign, too.”

“…Eh?”

Seol Yoon-hee looked alternately at the contract and Do-jun.

“But… this…”

“I’m going to wait until you sign it. I’m getting hungry, so please do it fast.”

Do-jun said and smiled.

Tears flowed out of Seol Yoon-hee’s eyes without her realizing it.

“Your dad is already hungry, so sign it quickly.”

Ever since she was a child, she had always wished for a reliable father.

When she was young, she envied the children whose father was coming to fetch them at the kindergarten.

Her mother used to yell at her, saying that it was her fault that his father left them.

And Do-jun’s brother, who she had brought as her boyfriend, would beat her and Seol Yoon-hee every day under the influence of alcohol.

“You’re such a handful daughter.”

Do-jun put his hand on her hand forcing her to write the three characters of her name.

“Dad… Dad…”

Seol Yeon-hee burst into tears as she hugged Do-jun.

The pent-up sorrow she had felt all this time exploded all at once.

Do-jun patted Seol Yoon-hee’s back and stroked her head.

A minute had already passed by, and so Do-jun tried to break away from Seol Yoon-hee. However, she clung onto him even more.

“…Please let me stay like this for a while.”

Do-jun smiled.

“Sure.”