Chapter 321
The friend Kang Sojeong was talking about had to be Joo Seowon either way... but Joo Seowon was here?
'That could happen.'
If they belonged to a guild, attending probably would not have been difficult. Did that mean they had come under Kwon Taehan’s guild?
'They said they weren’t a guild member, though?'
Well, that was something I would find out later. I gave Kang Sojeong’s words a slight nod and answered.
“I don’t know.”
“...Really?”
“But give me your contact information. I’ll think about it and contact you.”
“What are you going to think about?”
“Whether you’ll be useful to me.”
At my words, Kang Sojeong’s expression twisted in a subtle way. A person who needed something should not be making it this obvious that their mood had soured....
“You just said you split with your friend too. A bastard who can’t even properly bring in information is going to judge me?”
“Then leave. I don’t need this.”
“You don’t care if word spreads around about what you won at that auction?”
“Trying to pick a fight when that’s the only thing you know....”
I went up the stairs and stood in front of Kang Sojeong, looking down at her for a moment.
“Don’t you have a business card? I’ll take one.”
“Want to exchange both ways?”
“Yes, well. That much is fine.”
I took out one business card and handed it to Kang Sojeong, then took Kang Sojeong’s card and checked the number. Surprisingly, she used her real name, and her affiliation was....
“You really are with Hunter Tae’s side.”
“I work inside.”
“I figured. Since you’re not a Hunter.”
“You look down on me because I’m weak, don’t you?”
What was this, stating the obvious? I stared at Kang Sojeong, then lifted the corner of my mouth.
“No?”
“Liar.”
“I’m really not. I don’t think I’d particularly care even if you were S-rank, Ms. Kang Sojeong.”
I put the business card into my wallet and glanced at the time.
“Then I’ll contact you later. I’m a little busy right now.”
“Why? The event outside is over.”
“There’s someone looking for me.”
“...I see.”
I was about to pass Kang Sojeong, then stopped in place for a moment.
“Ah, Ms. Kang Sojeong.”
“.......”
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
“Flirting? You’re not my type.”
What the hell was she talking about? For Kang Sojeong’s sake, I kindly corrected myself.
“Did you have one?”
“.......”
“Someone affiliated with the Hunter Association, maybe.”
Kang Sojeong narrowed her eyes and slowly swept her lips. Was she trying hard not to show it? Or had I just guessed wrong?
“You... picking a fight?”
'That’s right, then.'
Listening to her voice turn cold in an instant, I let out a short laugh. Whether I should pass this absurd coincidence along to Sung Uijae, or just know it and leave it buried... I would have to consider that a little more.
'Ah.... There really are so many interesting things going on'.
In a delighted mood, I opened the emergency-stairwell door and went up to the first floor.
Finding Im Haekyung was not particularly difficult. The bastard stood out so much that I could get a rough idea of the location just by grabbing anyone and asking.
“Guild Master.”
Im Haekyung, who had been talking to someone, confirmed it was me and smiled lightly. Im Haekyung made a gesture to the Hunter beside them, asking them to wait a moment, then took me somewhere with no people.
“Doesn’t talking in a place like this look really suspicious?”
Im Haekyung completely ignored my question and spoke at once.
“What in the world have you been doing? Right now, Mr. Jehyun....”
“Yes.”
“I heard you even did an interview earlier. Didn’t I clearly tell you not to?”
What interview? I thought they would grill me about the Hunter Association spy thing first. I recalled the reporter who had looked somewhat lacking, then belatedly nodded.
“I didn’t say much. I said very nice things about you, Guild Master.”
“...You talked about me?”
“They asked.”
“Wow, Mr. Jehyun....”
Im Haekyung looked at me in admiration, let out a short empty laugh, then narrowed their eyes.
“Mr. Jehyun.... Mr. Jehyun, the reason I took the risk and brought you here was because there was a reason worth doing that.”
“Risk? Is there anything here that could be called a risk?”
At that, Im Haekyung stared at me as if I were absurd and said,
“Mr. Jehyun.... You’ve really lost your mind.”
“Mm?”
“Everything you’ve done is a risk. I clearly told you not to cause trouble.... Fine, the interview is already over, so leaving that aside, the Hunter Association spy....”
Im Haekyung spoke that far, then closed their mouth for a moment before lowering their voice and asking in a tone that sounded like an interrogation.
“What the hell did you do?”
“Exactly what I said. I said I understood when the chairman’s side asked me to bring them Haeseong’s information.”
“.......”
Im Haekyung beckoned with a face more exhausted than before. It meant, enough, keep talking.
“Did you know the Hunter Association side has looked at Haeseong unfavorably for a while? When I gave them an opening this time, they were all excited to talk. As you know, Guild Master, the domestic Association is especially weak. The type that runs its mouth a lot but has no substance? They must feel wronged. They climbed all the way to this position hoping to throw their weight around a bit, but they keep getting shoved around by fucking nobodies, can’t even skim money properly, their authority is flimsy....”
“.......”
“You know the Association is rotten, right? They were completely running Hunters on the Association side into the ground. Aside from that, they skim money in the middle, take priority negotiation rights when foreign Hunters come to Korea, steal Gates unless the organization is around Haeseong’s scale.... It’s a mess, isn’t it?”
“...So?”
“They say knowing your enemy leads to victory... so I’m saying I’ll do a little work as the Association’s spy. I also got something out of it on the side. They agreed to pretend not to know if I occupy an entire Gate.”
I did not think Im Haekyung would fail to understand what I meant, but I added,
“We need to trap Hunter Kwon Taehan.”
“.......”
“And push the Association aside a bit too. Wouldn’t it be nice to clean house completely while we have the chance? They keep clashing with Haeseong too.”
The longer the conversation went on, the more the smile that had risen on Im Haekyung’s face like a scoff gradually disappeared. Once I finished speaking, Im Haekyung fell silent, as if deep in thought about something.
After a moment, Im Haekyung lifted their head, looked at me, and curved the corner of their mouth into a smile.
“First, I understand your intention, Mr. Jehyun.”
“Yes.”
“Getting rid of the Hunter Association is your biggest goal, right? I don’t know what kind of thing you’re planning, Mr. Jehyun... but it seems the Hunter Association is bothering you.”
Sharp bastard. I had only slipped it in.
“And while you were at it, you inserted Haeseong’s restraint as a reason so you could get my cooperation... and since you were doing it anyway, you also quietly got approval for the Dungeon where you’ll trap Mr. Taehan?”
“.......”
“But Mr. Jehyun, you need to think.”
Think? I was always doing that.
When I merely stared at Im Haekyung with a sour expression, the bastard began to explain while pretending to be kind.
“First, the Hunter Association is not Haeseong’s enemy.”
“Why?”
“Why, you ask? Because our direction is the same.... For now, whether it’s the Association or Haeseong, our primary goal is clearing Dungeons.”
“The Association seems to see you as an enemy, though?”
“No matter what’s inside, we have a friendly relationship. On the surface. Enough that I attend places like this and give speeches.... And if there’s something you really want, Mr. Jehyun, from now on, don’t act alone. Ask me for cooperation first.”
Im Haekyung sighed lightly, then narrowed their eyes again and slowly looked me over.
“You seem to have forgotten... but first of all, Mr. Jehyun, you are a Hunter affiliated with Haeseong, and the reason you came to a place like this was thanks to me. All of it.”
“.......”
“And I cooperate with most things you ask me to do, don’t I? But you don’t even listen to my small requests... and that puts me in a truly difficult position. I clearly told you to stay still.”
“I do listen.”
“No? You never have. Why on earth did you do the interview?”
Had the subject gone back again? But Im Haekyung shook their head as if saying it was fine and pretended to accept it.
“For now... all right.”
“Yes.”
“But what did you go downstairs to talk about with Mr. Taehan? I heard that was where this started.”
“I don’t know. He did seem to be questioning me about something, but he kept cutting his words off so I couldn’t understand what he was saying.”
Im Haekyung crossed their arms and tapped their arm with a finger. It seemed they were judging whether my words were a lie.
'Well, what would I lie about?'
In any case, I had already ended up sharing far too much with Im Haekyung. Enough that all the caution I had maintained until now was largely meaningless.
“Are you going to talk to him again later?”
“Probably?”
“Hm....”
After briefly showing signs of thought, Im Haekyung soon took off the ring on their index finger and twisted it sideways. Then one ring immediately separated into two.
“What is this?”
“Wear it. It’s a slightly modified communication device. It doesn’t allow two-way communication, only one-way listening.”
So that was why a bastard who usually could not manage accessories had been wearing a ring. It seemed it had been an artifact.
“You’re saying you’ll be listening to what I say.”
“Yes. It seems like I should.”
Well, there was nothing I could not do. I reached out to pick up the ring lying on Im Haekyung’s palm. Then Im Haekyung clenched their fist tightly and subtly pulled it back.
'What the hell?'
When I looked at them in puzzlement, Im Haekyung spoke as if soothing a child.
“Take only one.”
“What about the other one?”
“It’s mine. I need to hear what you say, Mr. Jehyun.”
“Oh....”
“Since you can hear what I say too, isn’t this much fair?”
As I took one of the rings they held out again, I let out a small empty laugh.
“Why are you laughing?”
“You came up with the idea of sharing rings with me, but you’re telling me not to do interviews?”
What the hell. Anyone would see these as couple rings, wouldn’t they? This was fine, but that was not? What a fascinating way of thinking.
Maybe Im Haekyung understood my words a beat late, because they slightly furrowed their brow and said,
“Then wear it on your index finger.”
“Have you never dated?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
Wow.... What was this, not even some virgin bastard.
“Just go all the way and wear it on your ring finger and advertise that we’re dating. Everyone seems to think we are anyway.”
Fuck, it did not fit on my index finger anyway. I pulled off the ring that had gotten stuck on the joint of my index finger.