The deliberation didn't last long. Jin-Woo spoke.
"Understood." "If that's what you've decided, Mr. Sung, then I won't stand in the way." "Where should I meet you tomorrow?" "Huh?"
At the unexpected answer, Team Leader Bae's eyes went wide.
*'Did I say something wrong?'*
He'd clearly told him that tomorrow would be more dangerous than today. He'd even noticed Mr. Sung's expression turning sour, and had been ready to let it go gracefully. But this was a welcome surprise. Thanks to Mr. Sung, he might be spared the trouble of recruiting a replacement for tomorrow.
*'And that's not all.'*
Mr. Sung was the kind of worker who knocked out four or five people's worth of labor on his own. On his very first day, no less. The shock of witnessing the work speed that had left the mining team's ace, Mok Jin-Su, speechless was still fresh in his memory. The moment Jin-Woo said he'd come, Team Leader Bae felt as bolstered as if he'd received an entire cavalry.
"Mr. Sung, good thinking!"
Team Leader Bae grinned, his mustache twitching. Then, fearing Jin-Woo might change his mind overnight, he offered an unusual incentive.
"I'll discuss it with my supervisor and ask for double your daily wage for tomorrow." "Are you sure that's okay?" "Of course. You think I can't even do that much for you?"
Team Leader Bae thumped his chest proudly.
"Don't you worry, Mr. Sung—just show up tomorrow."
Of course. For a worker who did the job of four or five people, double the daily pay was nothing. If he'd been the boss, he wouldn't have stopped at double—he'd have offered triple, or even more, thinking of the long term.
*'Guess it's a shame I'm not the boss of Hunters.'*
Team Leader Bae stifled a laugh inside. Just then, Jin-Woo asked:
"Oh, I have an appointment tomorrow evening—will the timing work out?"
That morning, he'd received a call from Yoo Jin-Ho.
-Hyung-nim, would it be all right if I came to see you?
A weary voice.
*'This kid—he was so cheerful just yesterday, saying things were going well...'*
Jin-Woo was somewhat taken aback. But it was right after he'd signed up for the miner recruitment, so he had no choice but to postpone the meeting to tomorrow. Team Leader Bae chuckled.
"I hear tomorrow's Dungeon is smaller in scale than today's. Six o'clock should be plenty of time."
Work hadn't finished until five today, had it? Tomorrow, if anything, it would end sooner rather than later. Jin-Woo nodded. That would be enough.
"Then I'll see you tomorrow." "Right. Get home safe."
Watching Jin-Woo walk away, Team Leader Bae wore a warm smile.
*'If I'd gotten married, I could've had a son that age.'*
Even his back looked dependable. If only there were more newcomers like Mr. Sung in the world. The smile never left Team Leader Bae's face. But he wasn't the only one smiling. As Jin-Woo headed toward the bus stop, a faint smile crept to his lips.
*'I'm not hoping the strike team screws up tomorrow or anything...'*
But if something did go wrong, his presence could be a tremendous help to the strike team or the mining team. It wasn't a change of heart, exactly. Ironically, A-rank Gates actually had a higher clear rate than lower-ranked Gates.
*'For one, the Association doesn't just hand out permits to just any guild.'*
And the guilds that did get the opportunity threw everything they had at it. But.
*'Hunters Guild isn't going all-out on tomorrow's raid.'*
Splitting a single elite strike team to tackle two A-rank Gates at once. That was the confidence of the industry's top guild. But it was also an incredibly reckless move.
*'Either way, I've got nothing to lose.'*
If the raid went smoothly, that would be the best outcome. If trouble erupted, he'd help Hunters and claim the higher-grade magical beasts for himself.
*'Good.'*
Jin-Woo boarded the bus with a smile still on his face.
***
Late at night. Cha Hae-In tossed and turned in bed.
*'Why is he the only one different?'*
The man she'd met in the boss room was keeping her from falling asleep. Since awakening her ability, she'd met countless Hunters over the past two years, and there had never once been an exception. When she got close to Hunters—more precisely, to awakened individuals—an unpleasant smell assaulted her nostrils. At first, she'd thought it was a medical condition and visited many doctors. But nothing improved. One doctor she'd consulted had cautiously offered his theory:
-Might I ask, Hunter Cha, whether you're perceiving mana through your sense of smell?
It was a convincing guess. The higher a Hunter's rank, the worse the stench; the lower the rank, the milder it was. Ordinary people, naturally, gave off no smell at all. But.
*'...He was the first person who smelled good.'*
Thinking back on today's events, her heart suddenly started racing. Wondering who he was, she'd gone straight to the Association's website the moment the raid ended and looked up his information. E-rank. Sung Jin-Woo. Everything matched what she'd seen on his Hunter license.
*'There's no contact information listed...'*
What had she even planned to do if she'd found his number? Realizing there was nothing more to learn on the Association's site, she found herself dialing the number of Jo Myeong-Gi, head of the recruitment department, almost without thinking.
-Hello? Hunter Cha, what's going on at this hour?
It was already one in the morning. Had the caller been anyone other than South Korea's sole female S-rank Hunter and the vice president of her own Hunters Guild, he would never have picked up. Hearing the sleep-groggy voice of Jo Myeong-Gi, she felt a twinge of regret—but only for a moment. Cha Hae-In forced herself to speak.
"Could you look into a Hunter named Sung Jin-Woo for me?" -Excuse me? You mean the E-rank Hunter who used to be with the Association?
Cha Hae-In was startled. Jo Myeong-Gi was the recruitment director of the nation's top guild. How did he know the name of an E-rank Hunter?
"You know him?" -Ah, well... The thing is, CEO Choi made the same request yesterday. To look into information on that man. -CEO Choi? -Yes. -Do you know why? -I'm afraid that's as far as I know... -"...So what happened?"
A sigh mixed with a voice came through the receiver.
-I tried my best to dig up information, but the Association has a lock on it. I've never seen them block access to an ordinary Hunter's data before, let alone someone who isn't even a top-tier Hunter. -Ah... -But Hunter Cha, what is your reason for looking for him? Is there anything I can help with? -No, it's nothing. Sorry for calling so late.
Click. That conversation had been three hours ago. She'd mustered the courage because she wanted to know who he was, and now she only had more questions. An E-rank Hunter whose identity the CEO of Hunters wanted to know, and the Association was trying to hide.
*'There's definitely something going on.'*
No—she desperately hoped there was something going on. Because this man might hold the clue to unlocking the secret of her peculiar condition, the one that had plagued her ever since she'd awakened her ability at the age of twenty-one, two years ago.
*'Will I get to meet him again?'*
What if she never saw him again? A vague anxiety washed over her. But fortunately, just then, Cha Hae-In remembered Sung Jin-Woo's hard hat. The mark of the Hunters Guild had been stamped on both his hard hat and his work clothes.
*'Come to think of it, he was on the mining team.'*
Unlike her own A-rank strike team, the mining team had work today too. If Sung Jin-Woo hadn't left the mining team yet, she might be able to see him again.
*'I'll go check.'*
As the guild's vice president, there was nothing unusual about visiting a raid site.
*'I'll just go, naturally, and see if he's there or not.'*
Somehow, the thought that she might get to see that mysterious Hunter again made her feel much more at ease.
*'But I should get some sleep first.'*
For tomorrow's schedule, Cha Hae-In forced her heavy eyelids shut.
***
Before dawn. Jin-Woo set out for the meeting point at daybreak. This was different from yesterday, when he'd joined mid-raid and had time to spare.
*'Was I worrying too much?'*
He'd been concerned about coming too early, but a large number of Hunters had already gathered in front of the Gate.
"Hey! Mr. Sung! Mr. Sung!"
Team Leader Bae Yoon-Seok was the first to spot him.
"Mr. Sung's here." "Yo, Mr. Sung!"
The other Hunters nodded or raised their hands in greeting, welcoming him more warmly than the day before. Since every pair of hands mattered on a job like this, a skilled colleague was always welcome. The mining team's Hunters made their gladness plain.
*'This is... kind of awkward.'*
Ever since becoming an E-rank Hunter, he'd been given nothing but the cold shoulder. Being welcomed like this for the first time left him a little dazed. Still, their genuine reactions weren't unpleasant.
"..."
Jin-Woo responded with a silent bow.
"One, two, three..."
Team Leader Bae counted the team members and scribbled a number on his notepad.
"Eighteen, nineteen. Almost everyone's here."
That was enough. For a day like today, one or two absences wouldn't matter.
*'We've got two aces.'*
Team Leader Bae's eyes met with Mok Jin-Su, and he beamed a grin. Mok Jin-Su looked away. Jin-Woo tilted his head in puzzlement. Just then—
"Excuse me, Team Leader Bae." "Ack! You scared me!"
The voice that suddenly came from his side made Team Leader Bae flinch. To move without making a sound was proof of considerable skill. And sure enough, the person drawing Team Leader Bae's reproachful stare was Son Gi-Hoon, the leader of this strike team.
"Good lord—you almost gave me a heart attack, Hunter Son." "I'm sorry. I picked up a habit of moving like that in Dungeons."
Son Gi-Hoon smiled sheepishly. From behind him, the head of the recovery team popped out.
"Old man, you really shouldn't—" "Huh? You too? What brings you here to the mining team?" "What do you mean, what brings me? I had business."
Team Leader Bae regarded Son Gi-Hoon with a puzzled look. Son Gi-Hoon surveyed the mining team's Hunters and spoke.
"We're short on porters for our equipment. I'll need to borrow one of your people." "Huh?"
Team Leader Bae's eyes went wide.
"We've got a strong, efficient recovery team—why would you take someone from us?"
The recovery team head flared up as if he'd been waiting for that.
"Our boys worked three hours of overtime yesterday without dinner to finally wrap up the job. And now you want to take a porter from us too?"
The reason the recovery team had been forced to skip dinner and work overtime yesterday was simple. The mining team's work had finished too quickly.
*'Well, I suppose the job that would normally take until seven we wrapped up just after five, thanks to Mr. Sung...'*
With the recovery team head glaring with bloodshot eyes, Team Leader Bae was at a loss for words. Seeming to decide he'd explained enough, Son Gi-Hoon addressed the mining team's Hunters.
"Is anyone willing to go along with the strike team? Hazard pay will be added immediately after the raid concludes." "..."
Son Gi-Hoon cast his pleading gaze this way and that, but nobody stepped forward. Everyone averted their eyes—staring at their feet or up at the sky. And understandably so.
*'Risk my life for a few extra bucks?' 'Not a chance in hell...'*
The mining team's highest rank was C-rank. Most were D-rank. Some were even E-rank. And where Son Gi-Hoon wanted to take them was an A-rank Dungeon, classified as top-tier. They'd think twice about a B-rank Dungeon, and this was an A-rank? One brush and you were dead. No—one misstep and you'd lose your life. It was no place for low-rank Hunters. Porter work, at the end of the day, was just carrying the strike team's luggage, but compared to mining, the danger was on a different level.
"Nobody... will step forward?"
Son Gi-Hoon's expression grew increasingly troubled. There was no telling how long it would take to find another porter. If he wasn't careful, half a day, even a full day—or worse, an entire day—could go to waste.
*'This is bad.'*
That was when his eyes met a certain Hunter's.
*'Huh?'*
Unlike the others around him, this man was staring straight at him. It was Jin-Woo.
*'Hmm...'*
While Son Gi-Hoon held his gaze, Jin-Woo studied the leader's features in turn.
*'Sharp-looking for a tank.'*
It was generally accepted that the tank took the role of team leader. Son Gi-Hoon had a leaner build than most ranked Hunters. He was tall, with a frame that looked less like a Hunter and more like a basketball player.
"..."
Jin-Woo's eyes, fixed on Son Gi-Hoon, drifted elsewhere.
"Whew—"
Only then did Son Gi-Hoon release the breath he'd been holding. Why? His body had been so tense that he'd forgotten to breathe. He couldn't explain it.
*'Is it because this is my first raid as leader? I'm too nervous.'*
He'd always participated as the off-tank. That was what made today's opportunity all the more special. He couldn't afford to mess this up. Son Gi-Hoon pushed himself up from the ground, where he'd been face-down and gasping. A murmur arose around him—whether from his embarrassing display, he couldn't tell. But he quickly realized the commotion wasn't about him at all. Turning toward the mining team, he saw a hand raised high in the air. The eager volunteer he'd been waiting for. Son Gi-Hoon's face brightened. When Jin-Woo took a single step forward, every eye turned to him.
"I'll do it."