Chapter 147

His gaze stayed on me for a long moment. Yikes—still in a mood? I offered him a plain condolence.

“Let’s not get upset that I checked you with Guild Master Im. I don’t really know you, Hunter Sung.”

“My personal details are already all over the internet. If anything, I’m the one who doesn’t know you.”

“Well, the bio everyone knows has no value. Secrets no one knows do.”

With that, I peeled off my glove and flicked it into the back seat. His eyes dropped to my palm.

“...The mark’s faded. It was faint to begin with.”

“I’ve learned how to control it.”

So he can clock it that fast. I figured his instincts were good, but he was sharper than I thought.

“Faster... than I expected.”

“I haven’t used it in a real fight yet.”

“Why report something like this to me?”

“Figured you’d be curious.”

Whenever I previewed his messages, he was spamming me with a ridiculous number of beast-related videos like he was praying to get caught.

I pinched my brow slightly and added,

“So stop messaging me about beasts. If you get hacked, I’m fucked.”

“Hacked?”

He tilted his head like he didn’t get it. Young as he is, how can he be this clueless about the internet?

I clicked my tongue inwardly and tossed him a rough explanation.

“The messenger you’re using to contact me runs on a private company’s servers. Even if it isn’t ‘hacked,’ people inside can view it just fine. If the data sits in-house, the state will know too.”

“Shouldn’t that obviously be forbidden? Why are they peeking at private communications? Big Brother? From the reporting system on down, what is this country... a control freak?”

“It can look that way. Ah, but don’t badmouth the Republic of Korea. I’m a citizen so I get to talk crap; you’re a foreigner, so kindly don’t.”

“......”

His face crumpled like he was flabbergasted, and I snickered low.

‘Whatever—hands aren’t the point.’

Even setting beasts aside, there was important talk left—stuff I figured he wouldn’t want said in front of Im Haekyung.

I looked him squarely and asked,

“So, what’s the reason?”

“What is?”

“The reason you keep contacting me. ‘I want to be friends’ is too ticklish to trust; I want the real reason.”

“Why don’t you trust it?”

Is that even a question? I couldn’t hide my incredulous look as I stared at him.

Feeling my gaze, he said it brazenly.

“Hunter Seo. I...”

“......”

“...don’t have any friends in Korea.”

And... what do you want me to do about it?

I took three seconds to decide what to say to his dweeb declaration.

“Then go home.”

“I don’t have many in Australia either.”

“That’s a shame. I’ve got plenty, so I can’t really relate.”

“You? You don’t look like someone with a lot of friends.”

Is there any point hearing that from someone with none? I glanced at him and snorted.

“Sure... So you messaged me because you don’t have friends?”

“Yeah.”

“Even a strict partner doesn’t send seventy texts a day. I think I get why you don’t have any.”

“......”

I offered him some generic empathy, then dragged the meandering talk back to center.

“So why did you want into Althea? First time we met, you said you wanted something ‘appraised’ and dragged me to an auction. You’re very... interested in artifacts.”

“I wanted to see if there was anything worth buying. ...If I’d known the Haeseong guild master owned the place, I wouldn’t have gone. Handing my info to him isn’t my thing either.”

Hmm. Hearing that, a feeling started to creep in.

‘Do you have a specific item you’re after?’

If so, why? I’d just found him a Nullification Ring not long ago, and now there’s another artifact he needs?

‘Then maybe he didn’t come to Korea just to hide.’

I threw out the short hypothesis I’d had and spun up a new direction. But there was so little info that guessing a good reason wasn’t easy.

‘Depending on what artifact he’s after, I could at least gauge the goal.’

I studied him and opened my mouth.

“Doesn’t look like you plan to go back to Australia.”

“Right. Not right now.”

“Since you landed, you’ve gone into a Gate exactly once. Took the reward, then started attending private auctions and won a Nullification Ring. Every sighting after that is just you wandering nothing-burger locations... Weird. And now you want into the Hunter Market too. To me, your movements are... very peculiar.”

“I dunno, I think I’m a normal tourist.”

You’re S-rank—drop the ‘normal’ title. I ignored the joke and asked,

“Is there something you’re looking for? Something you’d need my help with?”

Meaning: is there something that would justify all this circling talk—something that needs ‘appraisal’? And if there is, what the hell is it that you’re going this far?

He tested me like he was sounding me out.

“Well, if I said there is, would you help?”

I answered, noncommittal.

“Maybe... if I see wh—”

“...?”

And then—lightning-bolt realization.

‘Ah... this bastard.’

I looked him squarely and burst out laughing. Not a scoff—an honest laugh from the heart.

“Aha...”

“......”

“You’re not looking for an artifact... are you.”

Out of nowhere, a personal history beat from the arc where he shines in the original slammed into my head. I’d written it off as trivial and forgotten it.

His first awakening was in the Republic of Korea. Whether he was visiting or considering putting down roots, I don’t know, but while he was here as a “non-Awakened,” he ran straight into a dungeon break.

Awakening moments tie directly to life and death, so they’re usually dramatic. His was no exception.

There was a Hunter Association hunter who stepped in to save him while he was still unawakened... and before he awakened, that hunter died.

Up to there, it’s a common story. After awakening, he cleared the dungeon, carried the body to the Association, and reported the situation. If I remember right, the Association brushed the fallen aside.

‘What was the reason again?’

The reason he really fell out with the Association... aside from them forcing the things he hates—there was one more.

‘Did they mishandle the corpse?’

I tried to dig it out of memory for a moment and knit my brows slightly.

Whatever. The point is, after that, he made several more attempts to find something connected to that “body.” I don’t know why. To repay a debt?

‘The guy’s already a corpse. Why bother?’

By my standards, that’s pretty inefficient—but he’s not exactly a normal type.

If that’s the case, what he needs now isn’t an artifact at all... it’s information. Or a person.

I faced him with genuine enjoyment for the first time in a while.

“Seems like you’re looking for something other than artifacts. A person... no, information? Maybe both?”

“...Why assume that?”

“Dunno. For someone supposedly hunting artifacts, you don’t look to have a target. You’re not that desperate either. All the sightings are cheap... And it’s weird you’re limiting yourself to ‘Korea.’”

“......”

“So naturally, other possibilities come to mind.”

After listening, he went quiet for a beat, then twisted a smile and flipped the mood. He grabbed my wrist and yanked me over toward the passenger seat in one smooth pull.

I stared at his face up close and chuckled low. God, it’d been a while since I felt this entertained.

He pressed his thumb into my palm and started pushing mana in. I felt that distinct sensation—mana flowing in along the mark on my palm.

But it wasn’t nearly as brutal as before.

‘Aquarion’s Heart.’

Even if he pours mana in, the Dragon Heart in the back is blocking.

‘Too bad for the beast stuck in between.’

Heat flared in my palm again and again, but the mana didn’t thrash like before. He seemed to notice the difference; his brow twitched, barely.

After a while, he spoke first.

“You’re... not an empath.”

“......”

“You just ‘pretend’ with that shabby little beast you’re raising in your palm. Look, I don’t mean to make an enemy of you... but keep poking me with speculative crap like that and you’re the one who’ll be in danger.”

“That’s why we went on a three-way date with the Haeseong guild master today. In case you ever feel like killing me... I wanted you to think of Guild Master Im’s face once and reconsider.”

“You’re remarkably... talented at pissing people off. Why do you take goodwill like this?”

Get the hell outta here. If he hadn’t come in with threats, we could’ve had a perfectly fine relationship. Well—‘strangers,’ maybe.

‘Too late now.’

He let go of my palm, grabbed me by the collar, and hauled me in. I didn’t resist, but he wasn’t putting in that much power either. Maybe he was controlling his strength.

“Seo Jehyun.”

“Yes, Hunter.”

“With the thing in your palm—besides ‘appraisal’—you can do something else, can’t you?”

Ah... and you said you had no agenda, just wanted to # Nоvеlight # be friends.

‘Come on, Uijae. That stings...’

In the face of a royally pissed Sung Uijae, I kept wanting to laugh. I slowly hardened my expression and met his eyes.

As expected, he was sure I could appraise more than objects—that I could appraise people. Is that why he kept watching me like an observer?

Of course, the beast in my palm has nothing to do with appraisal—but separately, the “status window” does apply to people.

Im Haekyung, Sung Uijae... maybe it’s because their ranks are high, but even when they misstep, their ability to reach the conclusion is excellent. Maybe it’s borderline instinct.

‘What do I do...’

I pried his grip off my collar, straightened my lapel, and looked at him sidelong. Then I started, slowly.

“I didn’t say anything because it was fun watching you be mistaken...”

“......”

“...but the original role of the thing in my hand is this.”

With that, I caught his hand, twisted, and poured a skill into it. His hand froze in an instant, and I watched in real time as the skin started to die.

“......”

It had to hurt like hell, but he didn’t even blink. Would he be fine if the hand just fell off?

‘That won’t do.’

I withdrew my hand slowly, grabbed a potion from the back seat, and dumped it over his.

I watched quietly as the hand healed in real time, then tossed the empty bottle back.

“But, apart from that, I can help you.”

“...How do you do the appraisal?”

“Is that the important part? Just tell me clearly what you’re looking for and I’ll hear you out.”

Ah, finally... a fair deal.

“Then think about it on the way?”

I lobbed a positive line and started the engine again. It was about twenty-five minutes to the night market. His thinking should wrap up right around then.