Chapter 79: Cheonmyeonggyo

After we arrived in Busan and grabbed a quick pizza for lunch, we reached the Hunter Association’s Busan branch building.

The reason we ended up at the Association’s Busan branch went like this.

“A B-rank Gate opened in Busan not long ago. Our hunters and the Association’s hunters were clearing it, but they struggled because they ran short on backup, and hunters who happened to be nearby jumped in to help.”

“Yes.”

“But those hunters... were foreign, so there was a bit of a dispute. About the dungeon byproducts.”

“Ah...”

“Normally, if it were just byproducts, they would’ve split it for cash, but this time a beast was involved. And what our Hunter Seo needs to appraise is the magic stone that beast puked up.”

It was a relatively simple appraisal job even if foreign hunters were entangled in it, which made it curious that Song Hwayoung came along at all.

Anyway, when the Association and a guild are mixed in, this turns into splitting the money too. Awkward in several ways.

“Of course I’m just doing the appraisal, so it’s not really my problem.”

And so we arrived at the Association’s Busan branch building.

From the outside it was a clean glass building, tall to boot, with a neat garden and structures on the first floor. And the moment we got there, we ran into something we really didn’t need to see.

“Catch that hornet bastard! Don’t kill it!”

“How are we supposed to catch it without killing— ugh, I hate this!”

Hwayoung had her phone in hand to announce our arrival, but she started edging backward from the glass door, staring at a giant hornet the size of an adult woman’s torso.

I also stared at the massive hornet that kept thumping against the glass door with a hollow thunk, thunk, and asked,

“So you’re telling me they’re fighting over who gets that bug?”

“Mm... that’s right.”

When did the world go this insane? It was nothing but pitiful.

Thud! Thud!

—bzzzz—

What the hell was so pretty about this hornet bastard that they were doing this? I wasn’t afraid of bugs, but a hornet this big was a fucking problem.

Phantom Hornet (B)

A lifeform that attacks with powerful mandibles and a venomous stinger.

On poisoning, shows various hallucinations.

Because the beast’s ownership claim was still in dispute, they couldn’t injure it, so it looked like the Association staff were having trouble capturing it.

Then, from behind, one Association employee stretched out his arm and neatly looped a line around the hornet’s waist.

Restraint (B) is activated.

—Kieeek!

When the employee yanked the restrained hornet toward him, the hornet that had been head-butting the glass door fluttered wildly and barely peeled off the door. Clicking her tongue once, Hwayoung opened the door and walked right in.

“Alright, everyone step back. I’ll grab it. Yeah.”

After a quick glance at the struggling employee, Hwayoung pulled an artifact out of her pocket and pressed a button. It was her custom weapon I’d seen in the dungeon before—the kind that shifts shape freely.

In an instant, the rod slid out with a shoop, and Hwayoung gave it a light, whirling spin before stabbing the hornet’s shadow with the tip.

Shadow Step (A) is activated.

—grrrrrk! Kkieeek!

“Guild Master Song! You can’t injure it!”

“Yeah, yeah, it won’t get hurt. Just its shadow’s gonna say ow a little.”

Once Hwayoung pinned its shadow, the hornet froze in place and beat its wings hard in resistance. The wings’ frantic fluttering was clearly audible even outside the glass.

Hwayoung slid the rod and slashed hard across the center of the shadow.

—Kkieeeek—!

“Net it now!”

“Yes!”

When an employee threw an item at the hornet twisting its body, thump— a net burst open and instantly wrapped around the hornet. Even after it hit the floor it kept thrashing aggressively; the employee barely hoisted it up and shoved the beast into a cage.

Only after the cage door was fully locked did the beast finally settle down.

Wiping cold sweat after packing up the beast, the employee bowed to Hwayoung.

“Thank you so much for the help, Guild Master Song.”

“Not at all. This here is our appraiser... Where’d he go?”

And I had been watching all of this from outside the glass door. I mean, come on—does it make any sense for me, an F-rank, to go in when a B-rank beast is rampaging?

After things wrapped up, we stepped into the building, and the employee spotted me and smiled.

“Hello. I’m Kim Suan with the Association.”

“Ah, I’m Seo Jehyun, working as an appraiser with SH.”

With brief greetings done, the employee carrying the cage led us to a conference room.

“The SH hunter already headed up this morning.”

“Ah, I got the update. I’ll handle the rest from here.”

“And Hunter So from the Association is out at the moment for an interview... So we should proceed by doing the appraisal first and then coordinate afterward.”

“So Hunter Seo’s job is just to appraise the magic stone that came out of the beast, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

While Hwayoung and the employee chatted, I looked around the Association building, taking it all in. Hell of a nice building they put up.

In the conference room, the employee set the caged beast on the table and spoke carefully.

“By the way, did you hear about the hunter who helped this time?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Right... it was Hunter Seong Uijae.”

Hwayoung nodded and flicked her eyes toward me. I paused for a beat at the unexpected name.

“Seong Uijae?”

At this point in time, was Seong Uijae free to enter Korea? Well, there’s nowhere that can stop an S-rank, I guess. The Association employee acted like he was testing the waters.

Seong Uijae. In the original, he was a fairly significant figure, and the further into the latter half you go, the bigger his presence gets. He’s playful and upbeat, but he also has a way of talking that gets under your skin, so he drew both popularity and resentment in equal measure.

Distinct enough to remember easily, but...

“Not exactly the type I want to run into.”

The fact that he was an S-rank alone knocked a lot of points off. He wasn’t as ominous as Im Haekyung, but maybe it’s an S-rank thing—Seong Uijae also liked to act all meaningful, so having him nearby was a great way to get tired fast.

Well, today’s a business visit, so it’ll end at just seeing his face.

Right then, the door burst open and a man I’d seen in media clips stepped into the conference room.

Name: Seong Uijae

Age: 32

Rank: S

Title: —

Primary Skill: Gravity Control (S)

Growth Limit: S

A big man with slightly bluish black hair, swept back carelessly.

He was about Ryu Taeyoung’s size, maybe the low 190s... no, mid-190s, even.

I gauged his height and frame at a glance. Beyond the tall, handsome face, there was another memorable descriptor.

That single, standalone skill: “Gravity Control.”

Most people have multiple skills as a rule, but there are humans for whom one is enough. Seong Uijae is exactly that type.

He was good-looking, but not with a neat impression—if anything, the opposite. He slowly looked us over, then smirked with his mouth crooked to one side.

“Hello.”

“Ah, hello.”

After the Association employee greeted him, Seong Uijae introduced himself a beat late.

“I’m Seong Uijae. I know everyone here except one.”

He tilted his chin at me as he said it. Then, naturally, he held out his hand. I took it and gave a short shake.

“I’m Seo Jehyun, appraiser with SH.”

“Yeah, I’m Seong Uijae.”

He held my hand firmly and lifted his eyebrows a touch. It looked a little like surprise.

“An appraiser?”

“Yeah. I have an appraisal skill.”

“Doesn’t seem like your mana’s that high... Guess appraisal skills really do operate separate from hunter rank.”

Dropping honorifics in a so-called Confucian country in the blink of an eye—suited him perfectly.

“Is rudeness a buy-one-get-one now...?”

He flashed a breezy grin and even threw me a wink. What the hell was that supposed to be?

With a sour look, I let go and went back to my seat. Sensing the odd air, the employee redirected everyone’s attention.

“Shall we take a look at the item for appraisal?”

“Sure.”

At that, the Association employee set the item to be appraised on the table. Wearing the Association-issued armored gloves, I picked up something that looked like an ominously neon-green, glinting mineral.

“Status window.”

Geocron (A)

A mineral detected in chosen land.

Raises both defense and offense.

Working as an appraiser, I hadn’t relied only on the status window’s power. Studying magi-engineering with Sung {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Eunha on the side, I’d memorized dungeon-origin materials out in the world, so on top of what the status window gave me, a lot of info popped up the moment I saw it.

Geocron. A fluorescent mineral found inside dungeons. It pairs especially well with electric-attribute hunters. The dual buff to defense and offense is a solid perk, too. Considering the size, the price started at a minimum of three billion won.

“Geocron, huh... And at current market rates it’s probably higher than three billion.”

The appraisal was already done, but I pretended to scrutinize the mineral to buy time. And while I did, Seong Uijae’s gaze never once left me.

It was the kind of look that seemed to be measuring something.