What was the meaning of that mocking laughter?
"Hahaha! Ah, ha. So that's why our Giryeo-ssi had to go through all that trouble."
"H-Hunter Esther?"
"My goodness. I had no idea the story was this absurd."
Esther laughed so hard that tears welled in her eyes. It took her a full thirty seconds before she was finally able to continue.
But the words that came out of her mouth next struck like a thunderbolt.
"Anyway, to get straight to the point, there's a zero-percent chance that Giryeo-ssi isn't S-rank!"
"What did you say?"
"Have you already gone deaf? Hunter Kim Giryeo is the genuine article—a top-tier talent vouched for by another high-ranking Awakened!"
How could anyone mistake someone like that?
Esther still couldn't stop laughing, apparently finding what he had said earlier utterly ridiculous. But as the conversation continued, the Association President's face only grew darker.
Tension. Anxiety. A steadily deepening sense of dread clouded the middle-aged man's expression.
"Wh-What makes you so sure it's zero percent? I-I heard this from a reliable source. All the way from the United States—"
"The United States?"
Esther shifted in her seat, her usual high-pitched voice carrying a hint of interest.
"Hmm. Then, in the interest of fairness, I'll tell you this. My source happens to be from Japan."
She crossed her legs and settled more comfortably into the sofa.
"I once attended the anniversary celebration of a guild called Gate Star, you see. And while I was there, I met a certain Hunter..."
Incidentally, the person who had attended the party in the United States without ever once speaking to Giryeo was none other than this individual.
"That person was Yamasaka Iori."
The foreigner who had exchanged contact information with her was a Japanese S-rank Hunter with wind attributes.
"Now, I happen to be quite fond of anime. And Hunter Iori happens to be quite fond of Korean idols."
"Yes?"
"Since we were both interested in each other's cultures, we became friendly rather quickly after exchanging only a few emails."
"W-What's your point?"
"Was my introduction too long? The point is, once we'd gotten that close, I was able to hear about the Dragon Subjugation directly from Iori not long ago..."
Esther tilted her head slightly and finally gave him the answer he had been so desperate to hear.
"What I'm saying is this—if you knew what actually happened inside Japan's S-rank Gate, there is no way you could call that man a fraud."
An incident inside Kagoshima's S-rank Gate?
The Association President froze at Esther's words.
After all, the circumstances surrounding the Kagoshima raid were precisely what had made him deeply suspicious of Giryeo in the first place.
Of course, the greatest factor behind his belief that Giryeo was a fraud had been the pressure from Spectrum.
"Wasn't that Kim Giryeo fellow only there as a support member...?"
Looking back on it now, even the fact that the man had volunteered for a support role seemed suspicious. If one assumed that he was a fake S-rank, it was easy to interpret that decision as an attempt to conceal his lack of ability.
"Hmm. I wonder how much of this I'm actually allowed to tell you."
Mumble.
And yet, even now, the Awakened with the curse attribute continued in an utterly calm voice.
"First, I'll let you in on a little secret. Giryeo fell straight into the venomous dragon's poison pit inside its nest—and came out completely unharmed."
"What are you..."
"Of course, that's not necessarily an extraordinary feat in itself. Some of Japan's other S-rank Hunters were able to withstand that poison to a certain extent as well."
At those words, the Association President fell silent for a moment.
"But I'm not sure whether you'll still be able to cling to that misunderstanding after hearing this. Hunter Kim Giryeo killed a dragon in that dungeon single-handedly, without suffering so much as a scratch."
"What?"
"Even ordinary dragons in that place were so powerful that the Japanese Hunters had to work together to bring them down."
That Hunter had explicitly said that he would only support the Japanese team from the rear.
So how could he possibly have slain a dragon with his own hands?
And what Esther revealed next chilled the Association President to the bone.
The skill the cold-eyed Hunter had used to kill the dragon was neither rare nor mysterious.
It was one of the most common and widely known skills of all.
"The most important part of the story is that Hunter Kim Giryeo used [Binding] to hunt it."
Binding.
It was a magical skill commonly obtained through skill stones.
Because of its unusual characteristics, whether someone could acquire it depended heavily on their innate aptitude. More precisely, anyone without talent for telekinesis would fail to master the technique even after using the skill stone.
But for those fortunate enough to learn it, [Binding] was an extremely useful ability.
Unlike many C-rank or D-rank skill stones, whose power was more or less fixed, [Binding] scaled directly with the capabilities of the Awakened who used it.
"Surely the Association President knows this? The output of [Binding] rises in proportion to the user's awakening stats."
Esther repeated the same words that the blond man had once spoken.
The Association President hurried to object, but—
"E-Even if that's how the skill works, couldn't he have manipulated its power through some other means? With an item, for example?"
This time, the woman cut him off with a hearty laugh.
"You know one thing and miss another, President. The person who told me everything you've just heard was none other than Japan's Hunter Iori."
"Yes?"
"He possesses the [Appraisal] skill!"
The President of the Hunter Association.
His position was, after all, one deeply involved with the extraordinary. There was no possibility that Go Byeongdo could be entirely ignorant of the characteristics of Awakened individuals.
"Wait. Then don't tell me..."
Go Byeongdo quickly understood what she was implying.
Appraisers were among those most familiar with dungeon artifacts. Naturally, people with analysis-type abilities were often more sensitive than ordinary Hunters to the power emitted by equipment.
"Yes. Exactly what you're thinking. I asked him just to make sure, and apparently Hunter Kim Giryeo wasn't even using a 'weapon' during the raid."
According to the assessment of the Japanese appraiser, Hunter Kim Giryeo had worn no equipment capable of enhancing the power of his skills inside Kagoshima's S-rank Gate.
In fact, it wasn't merely that he lacked power-enhancing equipment.
Aside from a dagger with a special ability and a small bag he carried with him, he had practically cleared the raid barehanded.
"The kind of elaborate item manipulation you're imagining simply never existed."
...Of course, contrary to her claim, something of the sort actually had existed.
Giryeo had amplified the power of his skills using a perpetual-motion core. But that was a method beyond the comprehension of Earthlings, which was precisely why no one had been able to uncover the truth behind the incident.
"So how could Giryeo-ssi possibly be a fake? There's already more than enough evidence proving otherwise."
"..."
"I can't even understand how you managed to misjudge someone this trustworthy in the first place, President. You were the one who leaked his home address first, and then, just because you had to pay a measly three billion in compensation, you got all worked up over having been 'deceived' and started sharpening your knife? That's even more disappointing."
And if Kim Giryeo truly was an S-rank, then someone in this room had already committed an irreparable mistake.
"K-Kim Giryeo personally killed a dragon inside an S-rank Gate? Then... what those Japanese Hunters said in the interviews wasn't just empty praise?"
Cold sweat trickled down the Association President's forehead.
Unlike Go Byeongdo, whose expression was growing increasingly anxious, Esther merely thought to herself,
'Well, that confirms the President was the one who called Ally in. I can cancel the Justitia rental now. Saved myself some money.'
"Then could it really be... Hunter Kim Giryeo is the genuine article...?"
But his misfortune did not end there.
The spark ignited by the Association President's actions had yet to fully catch fire.
"Anyway, this whole affair has really made me see Giryeo-ssi in a new light. He looks so cold-hearted, yet he's still letting the Association President live after you leaked such valuable information."
"Yes?"
"Not to mention, when the Association kept whining that it couldn't trust someone whose rank had been concealed, he even went so far as to draw up that contract himself just to put your minds at ease."
"...Ugh."
"He seems unexpectedly generous when it comes to ordinary people."
Esther murmured the words and rested her chin on one hand as she slowly surveyed the room.
More precisely, her gaze settled on the Association President's bodyguards.
"But what am I supposed to do about this? Sorry, but I can't overlook it anymore. Whatever misunderstandings may have existed, I have absolutely no intention of working with someone who so casually draws a blade against an Awakened simply because he doesn't like them."
"Listen. What are you talking about..."
"And just so we're clear, if you're planning to make more excuses, spare me. I missed my chance to say this earlier, but I absolutely despise criminals who drag other people into their mess."
Tak.
"We've already given you more than enough chances. And you still crossed the line."
Esther uncrossed her legs and tapped the floor irritably with the tip of her shoe.
"So from this point on, I think I'll deliver Giryeo-ssi's punishment on his behalf."
"Ha!"
"We can talk about Ally after you've stepped down as Association President. There's an order to these things, after all. Understood?"
The S-rank Hunter on the sofa spoke as though she had said everything she needed to say, then began to rise.
Bang!
At that moment, the man sitting across from her slammed his hand down on the table.
"Hey! I've been holding myself back, but you insolent little brat have been disrespecting me from the very beginning!"
"What a surprise."
"I sat here and tolerated all your ignorant nonsense, and now what? You want me to give up my position?"
Association President Go Byeongdo bared his teeth at the S-rank Hunter before him, openly hurling abuse at her.
"Let's see whether you still think it'll be that easy, Guild Leader of the Korean Magic Tower!"
"Hmm."
"Looks like you've already forgotten, but I was right there when you struck your secret deal with the government!"
"Ah."
"I know perfectly well that you've been murdering people under the pretext of 'executions'!"
But what was this?
He had just exposed a secret that would undoubtedly prove fatal if it ever became public.
And yet, the longer the Association President spoke, the wider Esther's eyes became.
Then, strangely enough, the corners of her lips began to curl upward.
"So?"
To put it simply, the Association President's threat had failed completely.
"W-What...?"
"Look, President. These days, thanks to people in power running rampant just like you, we live in an age when distrust of the justice system is practically everywhere. So what exactly do you think exposing that would accomplish?"
Retribution.
Violence.
Vigilante justice.
People these days had a tendency to revel in sensational events of that sort.
The execution of a criminal who had harmed innocent people could easily be interpreted in an entirely different light by certain members of the public.
"Go ahead. Make what I've done public if you want."
"..."
"But do you really think the younger generation will do nothing but condemn me? More importantly, with politicians and journalists firmly on my side, do you honestly believe that story would even spread the way you want it to?"
For the record, the issue of executing high-ranking criminals was something Esther had long been wary of.
Quite apart from the exhaustive preliminary investigations carried out to prevent wrongful accusations, there was always the possibility that the government might someday use those executions as leverage to tighten its grip around her neck.
Just as the Association President was attempting to do now.
However, after giving the matter some thought, Esther had already devised a solution to that risk.
"Oh, by the way, President. Has your headache gotten any better?"
Headache.
The moment she mentioned the word, Go Byeongdo's face twisted visibly.
"If you're feeling better, then that's a relief. But if our dear Association President happens to cause any more °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° trouble in the future..."
"Ha!"
"I'm a little worried the heavens might take offense and make your condition worse again..."
As she spoke, Esther stared at the man across from her without blinking.
Just like the blond Hunter who had once asked her for a favor, she wore a fierce, intimidating expression, her pressure never wavering for even an instant.
And at that moment, Association President Go Byeongdo realized something.
The Guild Leader of Korea's Magic Tower had used her ability on a human being.
His eyes darted away for the briefest instant.
Toward the recording device hidden beneath the chair.
"Where are you looking?"
The languid-looking woman lifted the corners of her lips.
"Could it be that there's a recording device under that chair?"
"..."
"Oh, I forgot to mention something. I happened to bring several first-class magic stones into this room today."
At the same time, the secretary standing behind her opened the briefcase in her hands and revealed its contents.
Dungeon resources gleamed within, shining so brilliantly that they were almost painful to look at.
Yet their beauty was every bit as perilous as the yellow-green glow of uranium oxide.
"So if you happened to have any recording equipment running, the audio might have become a little... distorted."
Interference that reproduced the characteristics of a Gate.
As the Association President's eyes began to tremble, Earth's curse sorcerer smiled brightly at him.
"If you've listened this far, I'm sure you understand by now."
Her smile deepened.
"Look forward to it. Now it's your turn to be on the receiving end."
"Listen, Hunter Esther!"
"By the way, I happen to believe that a person's true feelings reveal themselves through pain. So the price for messing with a perfectly good Hunter..."
Esther looked at him with a smile.
"Let's make sure we discuss it very thoroughly afterward."
The prelude to destruction had begun.