Doing Good Deeds Will Bring Blessings¿

Han Jaeyeong looked extremely displeased. Come to think of it, even when Yu Hanul and Estella had come up earlier, they hadn’t seemed to have a very favorable impression. Maybe that was why, from the moment they opened the car door and stepped out, Han Jaeyeong’s presence was already overwhelming. I didn’t think they’d even had this much momentum when they revealed their fairy form and took down an S-rank lifeless idol.

Lee Pyeonghwa and I ended up getting out of the car as well, almost without realizing it.

In contrast, Estella didn’t seem to care about Han Jaeyeong in the slightest.

“Jaeyeong, is that you? Hi. You came at just the right time.”

A smiling expression lingered on her lips as the mechanical voice of a translator flowed out. Now that I thought about it, the translator she’d used last time had automatically spoken in honorifics.

Perhaps noticing my confusion, Estella winked at me. That didn’t exactly improve my mood.

“Last time, it seems I brought a translator with rather poor performance, so I switched to a more refined version.”

For now, Han Jaeyeong returned the smile on the surface. “At just the right time? You were already waiting for us with Hunter Yu Hanul anyway, weren’t you?”

“Pardon me for asking, but what do Gen Z think about the etiquette of greeting people properly when you meet them?”

“I didn’t expect someone who openly tries to scout another guild’s member to lecture me about etiquette.”

“Haha, was that what this was about? Scouting isn’t a bad thing, why be so stiff? Let’s take it easy. I’ll pay properly.”

“If the translator’s that bad, why not replace it with a better one? Buy one made by our guild.”

“Elegant criticism is precisely the final hurdle our translator must overcome. Humor, after all, is shaped by the society one grows up in. It doesn’t seem to translate very well across cultures.”

Neither of them looked willing to back down even an inch.

Lee Pyeonghwa whispered to me quietly, “It seems like those two don’t get along…”

“Yeah.”

But thinking about it, there wasn’t really any reason they would get along.

Online, Yu Hanul was so famous that people loved pointless debates about who would win if Yu Hanul and Estella fought. But in reality, it was only natural for Han Jaeyeong, another mage, to feel more of a competitive rivalry. On top of that, the HP Guild used items they manufactured themselves instead of buying those produced and distributed by the Hunter Association. Given that, rivalry in item production was inevitable.

This is more interesting than I expected.

To me, it looked like two nine-tailed foxes with their claws hidden, circling each other.

Yu Hanul, perhaps used to this kind of scene, didn’t intervene in their exchange at all.

“So what brings you all the way to the Korean Embassy in person? Don’t tell me you’re trying to steal our prospective guild member right in front of me again.”

“Oh dear. Well, that could be the case, but… I’m joking, so don’t glare at me like that. No need to be so guarded. I just happened to stop by since it was along my route while running.”

As she said that, Estella raised both arms, showing herself off. Now that I looked closely, she really was dressed casually, as if she’d been out for a run.

Han Jaeyeong snorted. “You’re saying you go running in the middle of downtown like this? At least make the concept believable.”

It was strange. Even if she was powerful, it was odd for someone of the International Hunter Association president’s stature to be jogging through the city without any escort, dressed so casually.

Estella burst out laughing in response. “Hahaha, it may be contrived, but this kind of casual image sells surprisingly well. I’ve got paparazzi on standby, too. An interview should be hitting the papers soon.”

“What kind of interview are you planning to publish?”

“I can’t very well hurt a newspaper’s sales. Check the newsstands tomorrow. Well then, I should be going.”

“…You’re leaving? Just like that?”

“I told you I was just stopping by during a run. And I’ve already said everything I needed to say. Until next time.”

With that, Estella really did jog off down the street, her steps light.

When I subconsciously glanced to the side, Lee Pyeonghwa’s eyes were so wide they looked like they might pop out.

“So that person is Association President Estella… That’s kind of unexpected.”

On that point, I had to agree with Lee Pyeonghwa. Given that she stood at the very top of the International Hunter Association, I’d expected someone extraordinary, but she somehow managed to miss my expectations by just a hair in a very specific way.

“But was she always that young? In interviews and news footage, she looked older.”

Perhaps hearing Lee Pyeonghwa’s curiosity, Yu Hanul answered, “Once someone reaches a certain level, the rate of aging slows dramatically or they may even regain their physical youth. She didn’t look like that the last time I met her, so it seems the Association President Estella has crossed another threshold.”

“Wow… like rejuvenation? This really feels like something out of a novel.”

No matter how much this was an era where Hunters, supernatural beings, could split sky and earth with a single sword and set the sea ablaze with magic… Reversing one’s physical age was still far from common.

“That may be true, but Estella edits the videos and photos that go out to the media to make herself look older. She’s extremely skilled at manipulating the press,” Han Jaeyeong said sharply.

“You seem to really dislike her. Did something happen between you two?”

“This isn’t the place to talk about it, and I’ll tell you another time if I get the chance.” Smiling in a way that made it obvious they had no intention of ever explaining, Han Jaeyeong turned their gaze to Yu Hanul instead. “So why did the Association President come all the way to the Korean Embassy? Did she have something to say to you?”

“Yes.” Yu Hanul nodded. “As I mentioned last time, I held Association President Estella responsible for the leak of that smoke-based item.”

Right, now that I thought about it. The reason Yu Hanul had entered New York, Manhattan from the stranded dimension back then was to meet Estella and demand accountability of the anti–supernatural ability item used during the Gwanghwamun Dungeon Break.

It really was a dangerous item.

No matter how vigilant a Hunter might be, they don’t regulate their breathing during everyday life. Maybe for a day or two, but it’s impossible to constantly be mindful of every breath you take. It was an item perfectly optimized to subdue supernatural ability users.

“She said the investigation results were in and came to inform me of the outcome.”

“And she just told you who the culprit was?”

“Yes. It wasn’t something that could be quietly buried.”

The truth Yu Hanul explained was, in some ways, anticlimactic.

The investigation revealed that one of the top executives of the Hunter Association had accepted bribes and secretly passed the item, including prototypes, to a U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense.

“She said it would likely turn into a major scandal, given the government’s involvement.”

“One of the executives? How are we supposed to know who that is. Who was it?”

“It's Leila.”

“Leila Lopez?! That’s impossible.”

Han Jaeyeong looked genuinely shocked when they heard the name. Was she someone well-known?

“Who’s that?”

“She’s a Hunter with a very unusual unique skill. She can scan other people’s inventories.”

“…That’s even possible?”

Wasn’t that basically cheating?

Just like the status window provided by the system, an item inventory is something only the user themselves can see. That’s why, among Hunters, using the inventory is practically above the law, no one can tell what items someone is hiding.

A unique skill that could scan that private inventory…

Now that I thought about it, the name Leila sounded vaguely familiar. I seemed to recall Han Jaeyeong mentioning that with how easy item smuggling had become, it would be nice if someone like that existed.

But to think that she was the one who leaked the items.

“Well… if Leila hadn’t turned a blind eye, it would’ve been impossible to remove items from the Association headquarters. The item development division can’t be entered without Leila’s scan.”

“So the security guard was the one smuggling things out.”

“Yes. It’s quite a problem. We were in the middle of developing a magical device that could scan inventories by analyzing Leila’s unique skill… So was she arrested?”

“That’s the thing; apparently not.” Yu Hanul spoke with a grave expression. “Leila Lopez is currently on the run somewhere within New York City.”

***

Even if Leila Lopez was on the run, it wasn’t really our problem. Once she was captured and properly investigated, the plan was to relay the full account through the Korean Hunter Association branch and issue a formal apology. After all, the Gwanghwamun Dungeon Break had resulted in casualties. There was no denying negligence in management.

And the smoke item isn’t the only issue.

Sitting alone in the waiting room, I sank into thought.

They said each person needed to complete paperwork and interviews for the repatriation process, so I was waiting for my turn. Lee Pyeonghwa and Han Jaeyeong were already being processed, and Yu Hanul had stepped out, saying he had something to discuss with a staff member.

He’s probably avoiding me, but honestly, that works out just fine.

As for Yu Hanul, I decided to stop thinking about him altogether. Unless he suddenly shouted something like “I’ll avenge my past life!” and came at me with a sword, I planned to just leave him alone. Whatever it was, things between us were clearly badly tangled. But since he wasn’t making the first move, honestly, that wasn’t so bad. From my current position, maintaining a relationship of neither closeness nor distance with the hero was the most ideal outcome anyway.

Still, getting the chance to observe the Hunter Association President’s soul was a gain… but it’s not enough.

I still couldn’t get a hold of Orbis’ trail.

For the first time in a while, I took out the bracelet engraved with a snake, the one I had taken from Lee Manbok, and turned it over in my hand. An item once owned by Lee Manbok, the leader of the Truelight Sect, who had smuggled smoke-based items produced by the World Hunter Association and caused the Gwanghwamun Dungeon Break.

When I interrogated him back then, he left behind the words “Central Management Office” before triggering a geas and suffering complete mental death. After that, the Central Management Office moved to conceal and downplay every related incident, which made them highly suspicious, but…

That phrase could’ve been planted deliberately to create confusion.

There was no doubt that the creator of this item, and the one who placed the geas on Lee Manbok, was Orbis. It was made on the same principle as a lifeless idol, and it even bore the snake motif Orbis favored. And if it was Orbis, they might have anticipated that I would interrogate Lee Manbok and placed the geas in advance. They were that cunning, leaving no openings.

Lee Manbok said the Gwanghwamun incident wasn’t aimed at me, but Orbis could’ve manipulated things that way. I can’t be certain of anything…

Compared to my opponent, I was at an overwhelming disadvantage. No power, no wealth; just a barely-twenty-year-old tied down by military service. Even when suspicious points came up, I couldn’t move freely to verify them, and incidents kept piling up one after another. There was nothing I could do.

Of course, that’s probably Orbis’s intention too.

Pressuring me while I was unable to act.

Orbis was the type who would go wild just to seize initiative over a single chess piece, so it wasn’t surprising.

At least basic military training was over, and once I was reassigned as a public service worker, I’d gain some degree of freedom. Then I could track down my emergency stash from my previous life, strengthen my body, and once that was done…

Knock, knock. Someone knocked on the waiting room door. Probably an embassy staff member. It seemed like it was finally my turn.

“Yes, I’m coming.”

I said that and started to stand—

Creeeak! The waiting room door opened, and a staff member slipped inside.

“I was just about to go—”

Click. The person who entered locked the door. Then they slowly turned toward me and spoke in a pleading voice.

Even through the mechanical tone of a translator, the desperation came through clearly.

“Please… be quiet.”

The person who entered was not an embassy staff member. She was wearing a cleaner’s uniform, but her messy black hair and haggard face told a different story.

Anyone could tell this was the face of someone driven into a corner.

And more importantly, in one hand she was holding—

A bomb?

I quickly inspected the item. The condensed shape of magical energy made it obvious.

If that bomb detonated, the entire building would be blown apart.

Noticing my gaze fall on the bomb, the woman nodded. “H-Hunters might survive. But the civilians in this building won’t.”

What does that have to do with me?

I wanted to say it outright, but—

The quest "Doing Good Deeds Will Bring Blessings¿" is in progress.

When the user engages in behavior that meets social standards, the user’s ability restrictions will be lifted in stages.

Damn this quest.

Fidgeting with the bracelet in my hand, I asked her, “What do you want from me, Leila Lopez?”

Honestly, my curiosity had been piqued. Why Leila Lopez, currently on the run, had come looking for me with a bomb in her hand.