Chapter 62

"Tae Hyunjin... the sword she used?"

"Yeah. Not the one she’s using now."

"Why do you need it?"

"I’m going to process it and use it. I want to make a weapon out of it."

"You even use a sword?"

What the hell is he talking about? How would I use a sword?

When I stared at him like he was out of his mind, Joo Seowon went, "Ah," nodded, and added sheepishly,

"You mean after processing...."

"Yeah."

"When did Tae Hyunjin sell that sword? That matters."

At his question I frowned a little and walked through the timeline. The sword Tae Hyunjin currently uses is the “Hallyu Sword,” a distinctive sword with no blade.

Tae Hyunjin is the first S-rank Awakened in Korea, and the only female S-rank in the country. Of course, “only” is a bit silly when there are only three S-ranks in Korea to begin with. The other S-rank, Sung Uijae, now belongs to Australia, so you can’t really call him a Korean Awakened.

Anyway, Tae Hyunjin is a water-attribute hunter who mainly uses a sword. The Hallyu Sword she’s using now has a peculiar shape and responds to her mana, forming a keen blade of water when she casts skills. She obtained the Hallyu Sword when she cleared the “Abyssal Wave” dungeon.

'That was October 22, so exactly three weeks ago.'

Do I assume she sold the old one right after?

"It’s definitely after the 22nd. I don’t know the exact date."

"The 22nd... so three weeks ago. What exactly is the item?"

"The name is ‘Aquarion’s Heart.’ It was her reward when she cleared an A-rank dungeon three years ago."

"If it’s something Hunter Tae used, the price won’t be cheap. She’s insanely popular."

"But considering its true value, even with a premium, it’s worth buying."

"True value?"

I grinned and answered.

"There’s an actual Dragon Heart inside it."

"...What?"

The name was intuitive, but no one imagined there’d be a real Dragon Heart sleeping inside.

Naturally. Who would think someone would sell a sword that actually contains a Dragon Heart?

A dragon’s body parts alone grant absurd mana correction. Now imagine an S-rank like Tae Hyunjin wielding a sword made from a Dragon Heart—the synergy would be beyond imagination.

But she sold it. For a price ridiculously low compared to its value.

On its face, it made no sense.

'Of course there’s a reason.'

The biggest problem was that the sword she obtained was made from a water dragon’s heart. A water-attribute hunter paired with a sword made from a water dragon’s heart. It sounds like perfect alignment... which is exactly why it’s a problem.

Dragons are beings with an overwhelming amount of mana. They’re also called an immortal race. Even after death, a Dragon Heart generates mana. Not only that—the Heart grows and adapts without a master; transplant it into a weapon and it behaves like a living weapon, transplant it into a living being and it can even act like a real heart.

As if it were becoming °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° the new heart’s rightful owner.

In that process, beings with explosive mana, like dragons, sometimes overturn the hierarchy between host and heart.

Sure, the water dragon Tae Hyunjin killed was an A-rank dragon and she’s an S-rank hunter—there’s a gap. But she judged that keeping a continuously growing water dragon’s heart was a gamble, and it was cleaner to switch if a replacement item existed. No gambling.

The cross-resonance between a water dragon and a water-attribute hunter would also have accelerated the growth and response of the Dragon Heart to a dangerous degree.

So, once she obtained the Hallyu Sword—comparable to Aquarion’s Heart—she sold Aquarion’s Heart immediately.

It would still be risky even if I used it, but I was fully prepared to accept that much. I also knew how to keep it under control.

Feeling pleased with myself for dropping a big piece of intel, I watched Joo Seowon. Even after hearing the Dragon Heart explanation, he stayed quiet. Was the information too big, and it put him off?

"Why?"

When I leaned forward and asked why he wasn’t reacting, he ran a hand through his hair, wearing a complicated look.

"...I’ve been wanting to ask this for a while. Can you tell me?"

"Go on."

"What the hell is your affiliation?"

What...? Other than SH, what else would I be affiliated with? Reading my face, he rephrased the question.

"I mean, what are you really?"

"What do you mean, ‘really’?"

When I stared, not catching what kind of answer he wanted, he let out a long sigh and asked, serious now.

"...Don’t you think you’re sharing way too little with me?"

"Me?"

What is he talking about? If it were Do Yehyun, sure, but I’d never withheld from Joo Seowon. I’d bullshitted the process a bit to avoid penalties, but still.

"How do you even know this kind of thing? Does your foresight tell you weapon attributes? Or is it an appraisal skill? But then how did you appraise a sword you haven’t actually seen?"

"Hmm."

"And that’s not the only weird thing. There are plenty."

He hesitated, then rubbed his face with one hand and pinched his brow.

"I don’t even know what you’re trying to do. Seeing a distant future where the world’s on the brink of destruction—fine. A skill? Sure. I get that you can’t talk about details because of taboos or covenants. Telling me to do what you say... fine, I get that too."

"......."

"But why is that your objective? This isn’t something an individual can do. You tell the government first, and if that fails, you reach out to guilds to find a method. Is there anyone else who even knows about this ‘apocalypse’ stuff?"

Having asked all that, he immediately added, as if to clarify,

"...It’s not that I don’t trust your foresight. I’ve seen the proof. That’s why it’s weirder. Your foresight hasn’t missed once... so why aren’t you asking the government or a guild for help?"

Ah. That kind of question.

I had noticed it was weirdly quiet for a guy with his IQ. I guess we’d hit the limit of what he could pretend not to notice.

"And you’re not that altruistic... are you? Why do you care about the apocalypse?"

"If humanity dies, it affects me too."

"You know that’s not what I mean."

I stared at him in silence. Meeting my eyes, he glanced aside, then met them again.

"...Is this something you can’t say, too? Draft a Covenant. I won’t spill it anywhere."

"No, it’s not that...."

What do I even say? I ran through escape routes.

Ask the government for cooperation? Kwon Taehan tried that. For the record, it failed every time. Since he couldn’t say he’d regressed, he went with “I saw the future,” but the government didn’t treat it as a critical issue and kept trying to trade future intel here and there, so he quit after two tries.

The Hunter Association is useless until the factions shift. Guilds? Too profit-driven. That’s why Kwon Taehan built up comrades instead.

But from Joo Seowon’s point of view, saying “no” without even trying would look suspicious.

I shifted my gaze to the italicized mark on my finger. Anyway, only we can see the trace of a Covenant. I’m sure he has more than one on his body, but all I can see are the ones he has with me.

"You don’t have to tell me. Like you said, we’re employer and employee—we don’t have to share everything. Still, doing this knowing versus... ha, I don’t know either. Why am I even asking."

He muttered, and I spoke calmly.

"It’s not that I won’t tell you. I can’t."

"Why?"

Instead of answering, I ran my thumb over the mark along the side of my index finger. He seemed to get it, and looked at me with a complicated expression.

"...Even that’s bound by a Covenant? Who the hell did you make it with?"

Good question. For me, that Status Window’s penalty is no different from a Covenant. With who?

"I don’t know."

That wasn’t a lie. If I could talk, I’d say it all. But the damn thing says it’ll slap me with a penalty if I do.

'And when Kwon Taehan, who didn’t have penalties, tried telling his comrades, nobody believed him, so it’s pointless anyway.'

I added,

"I really don’t know. That’s not a lie."

"...Then at least tell me if your actions are your free will or someone’s orders."

What do I even call this one? Considering the Status Window... the latter? I folded my hands on my knees and thought seriously.

"About seventy-thirty? There’s a goal, but the approach to achieve it is up to me."

"Validity of the Covenant?"

"It’s not a term-based thing. It’s goal-based—dissolves upon completion."

That’s not entirely untrue. Somehow I kept ending up telling the truth. After mulling over my words for a while, he nodded reluctantly. He grabbed his head with both hands, then dipped and lifted it with a sigh.

"God... I’ve never met anyone like you."

"I’d imagine not."

It’s not like the gene pool overlaps.

Realizing I was off on a tangent, he sighed and muttered,

"You’re thinking something weird again...."

"I won’t deny it."

I gave a simple answer and waited for his next line. Over time I’d figured out something about him: Joo Seowon thinks a lot, but in a different way than Do Yehyun. That one worries; this one just... thinks about everything.

Honestly, I think shorter than my plans deserve, so I need a guy like Joo Seowon. I just don’t want him overcomplicating things.