– The Chinese player, Zhuhan, uses his signature skill, Hidden Dragon Palm. As a result, the American Hunter collapses. The technique was executed at a speed almost impossible to follow with the naked eye, but if you look at the footage captured by the high-speed camera...
The television had been left on, playing a rerun of some program. The guild master of the Magic Tower Guild listened with half an ear as she focused on her paperwork.
Click, click.
Her mule-style shoes, perched loosely on her swaying feet, looked ready to slip off at any moment. Then came the rhythmic sound of approaching footsteps from outside the room.
Click. Click. Click.
How much time had passed as she idly followed the sound with her ears?
Before long, someone who seemed somewhat out of place arrived at the secluded pinnacle of the Magic Tower.
Unlike the S-rank Hunter who favored clothes in all sorts of colors, this B-rank awakener wore a black suit for professional reasons. Her posture was neat, and a faint scent of green tea lingered around her, perhaps because she used leftover tea leaves as a deodorizer.
"Excuse me, Hunter Seo Esther. I came because I have something to deliver regarding the chairman's inauguration ceremony..."
Seonwoo Yeon opened the door and stepped inside.
As though the serious expression from moments before had never existed, Esther greeted her visitor with a bright smile.
"Oh my! Welcome, Yeon-ssi!"
An awakened person's magic power could fluctuate even with positive emotional changes, and Seonwoo Yeon suddenly found herself confronted by the overwhelming presence of the monster known as an S-rank.
"So, the branch permit we received last time will remain valid without any issues, right?"
"Yes. The Association President said that as soon as the inauguration ceremony is over, they'll prepare the contract and finalize the arrangements."
"Okay. Thank you for your hard work."
A little while later, after a lengthy conversation, the woman in the suit soothed her dry throat with some iced coffee.
Seonwoo Yeon's reason for attending today's meeting was to relay several Association matters to the head of a major guild. Conversely, she was also responsible for conveying Esther's opinions back to the organization.
"The new Association President."
In the meantime, the Korea Hunter Association had appointed a new president, and, as expected, the change had caused quite a stir.
Esther, however, wasn't particularly worried about the incoming figure.
After gathering information in advance, she had learned that the new president was a middle-aged politician well known for having an awakened son.
His personality, put positively, was steady.
Put negatively, he lacked strong opinions.
Rather than boldly pushing through new policies, he tended to maintain and refine the course established by his predecessor.
For the time being, he would probably be too busy dealing with the handover to stir up any trouble, so things were likely to remain quiet.
"Hmm, to be honest, I didn't want to use my abilities to interfere in administrative matters, but..."
Esther thought to herself as she toyed with the tips of her neatly trimmed fingernails.
"This time, it was that man's request, so I couldn't exactly refuse."
A satisfactory conclusion.
From now on, all she could do was hope that the new Association President wouldn't clash with the Hunters and would simply carry out his duties diligently.
Esther crossed her legs the other way and smiled.
Now that the serious topic was over, she thought she might toss a playful remark at the watchdog the Association had sent her.
"By the way, Yeon-ssi, you've really been working hard."
"Yes?"
"Since most of the Association's employees are non-awakened, whenever they need to communicate something verbally to an S-rank like me, they usually send you."
"Ah."
"Our Yeonnie-ssi is a B-rank, right? Anyway, I know you're one of the most capable people in the organization."
"My abilities aren't really that..."
"Come to think of it, the former Association President once walked out of a meeting halfway through because his heart couldn't handle being around awakened people. And can you believe a petty little man like that thought it was a good idea to send someone on errands just because she was his cousin? Hahaha. It only came to light recently, and now even his own relatives are cursing him out!"
Esther continued speaking as she raised her coffee cup.
"Anyway, Seonwoo Yeon-ssi, you're usually assigned as a coordinator whenever a high-level dungeon break occurs, right?"
"Yes. More or less..."
"Well, thanks to that, I get to see our lovely Yeonnie-ssi more often, so I'm not complaining."
"Yes?"
Seonwoo Yeon had been responding to her superior's remarks with neutral answers, but she flinched at the Head of the Magic Tower's joking comment.
"I'm worried that constantly meeting Hunters of different awakening levels might be bad for your health."
Esther's lips curved into a gentle smile.
"So make sure you contact me in advance next time. The imported magic-suppression accessories should have arrived by then."
For a monster like her to willingly accept restraints for the sake of someone weaker...
Her tone was so light that it was difficult to tell how serious she was, but even so, Esther's words were unquestionably an expression of goodwill.
The two awakened individuals in the office had crossed paths several times in the field for work-related reasons.
And through those encounters, Esther had come to trust the Association employee's character.
"Okay? Make sure you contact me beforehand."
"Yes."
Besides, just thinking about what had happened in the Labyrinth of the 13th Month...
Esther spent a moment reflecting on an event from the distant past as though it had happened only yesterday, rubbing her head thoughtfully.
At the same time, Seonwoo Yeon noticed the change in Esther's demeanor and began cautiously watching her, wondering whether the S-rank Hunter might be in a bad mood.
"Hmm."
But the awkward silence lasted only briefly.
"This isn't the time for that. Please wait a moment. I'll look over the documents you just brought and give them back to you right away."
Esther turned her attention to the table and began reviewing the materials the Association employee had brought.
Srrk, srrk.
For a while, the sound of pages turning filled the room.
Seonwoo Yeon passed the time by sipping the high-quality coffee provided by the Korean Magic Tower.
However kindly Esther spoke, and no matter how quietly Seonwoo Yeon sat there, the instinctive pressure of being near a top-tier awakened individual made her body uneasy.
The instinct urging her to flee from a dangerous monster and hide somewhere safe kept gnawing at the back of her mind, as though demanding that she escape at once.
If that's the case, could that Hunter also give off this kind of chilling pressure if he stopped concealing his magic power?
"That guy is already scary enough as it is."
A man's face surfaced in her mind.
While Esther was looking through the documents, she suddenly spoke, as though something had just occurred to her.
"But, you know."
"Ah, yes."
"Since Yeonnie-ssi is here, there's something I've been curious about."
She was referring to the records concerning a certain Hunter.
Esther raised her head and carefully chose her words.
Then came a few questions.
"Yeonnie-ssi, you once raided a new EX-rank gate called the Fairy Kingdom, right?"
"Yes."
"Then this might be a rude question, but when you wrote the report about that gate... is there any chance you left something out?"
"Yes?"
"More specifically, I'm asking about Hunter Kim Giryeo."
Seonwoo Yeon calmly listened before answering.
"When it comes to reports, the staff members who participate in an expedition are generally instructed to describe everything they experienced in as much detail as possible as soon as they return from the dungeon."
"I see."
"So I don't think there would have been any major omissions... But why are you suddenly asking about Hunter Kim Giryeo?"
"I was just personally curious about how he handled the new dungeon."
Was that not allowed?
When Esther blinked her thick eyelashes and gave her a pleading look, the Association employee hesitated briefly before answering.
After all, there was nothing particularly secret about the previous expedition.
"Hunter Kim Giryeo's experience wasn't much different from ours..."
An S-rank Hunter getting caught up in the incident.
The fairies forcing everyone to participate in their festival.
Games like tag, and so on.
Seonwoo Yeon recounted what had happened inside the dungeon, focusing as much as possible on Kim Giryeo's actions.
However, Esther reacted in an unexpected way.
"Hmm. I see."
She raised one eyebrow, looking displeased.
"So there really wasn't any major incident inside the new EX-rank gate..."
It was a guess that had come very close, only to miss the mark.
In fact, Esther had recently acquired a new source of concern.
After becoming stranded in a low-level dungeon, she had accidentally discovered a secret concerning one of her colleagues in the industry.
It was a health problem.
And the more she thought about the secret that had been revealed, the more puzzling it seemed.
"How did Kim Giryeo end up with such severe aftereffects?"
At first, she had assumed his injury had probably come from the S-rank gate in Japan.
But after reviewing the Kagoshima raid completion reports, she discovered that Kim Giryeo had emerged only a few minutes after the exit was created.
That meant the Black Dragon couldn't have been the cause.
If his injuries had been severe enough to leave lasting aftereffects, there was no way Kim Giryeo could have recovered from them in such a short period of time.
So Esther had wondered whether Giryeo had been affected by some mechanism of the new EX-rank gate.
But the Association employee sitting in front of her had just confirmed that wasn't the case either.
Then when had Kim Giryeo's condition begun to deteriorate?
What kind of enemy had he encountered to leave him in such a state?
"The best thing would be to hear the explanation directly from him, but..."
What exactly had happened inside the flesh at Gampo Port?
Or, as the rumors claimed, had that man really been secretly clearing dungeons in the Beast's Territory until he got himself injured?
"I've been thinking about it by myself for so long that now I'm coming up with a million different possibilities."
It bothered her.
Seo Esther had already asked the person himself about it.
Yet the fourth S-rank, upon receiving her message, had strangely avoided discussing the injury and quickly changed the subject.
Because of that, Esther still had no idea what was causing Kim Giryeo to cough up blood.
Come to think of it, few things in this world were more frightening or frustrating than not knowing something.
"Why won't you tell me anything?"
But in the end, if the person involved refused to speak, there was nothing an outsider could do.
Esther remained lost in thought for a while before eventually returning her attention to the conversation at hand.
"Anyway, I understand."
Sssrk.
The guild master of the Magic Tower signed the document requested by the Association with a fountain pen and handed it back to Seonwoo Yeon.
"Then please tell the new Association President that I look forward to working with him in the future..."
It was then.
Knock knock.
The sudden knock interrupted the calm conversation inside the office.
At the sound, Esther immediately raised her head and tried to identify the visitor.
"Who is it at this hour?"
"Guild Master. It's me. The imported potions you mentioned this morning have arrived."
"Oh my!"
"If you're not busy, may I bring them in now?"
"Of course. Come in right away."
A certain Hunter appeared to be trying to hide an injury.
This wasn't about digging into someone's secrets.
It was merely a little concern for the health of a fellow Hunter in the same line of work.
Surely there was nothing wrong with that, was there?
"Ah, Seonwoo Yeon-ssi, make sure you get back safely!"
Delighted by the news that the potion had arrived, Esther sprang from her seat.
The way she checked herself in the mirror and straightened her clothes made it look as though she were preparing to go out.
***
[Giryeo-ssi: -u -u]
[Yes.]
[Oh, quick reply! It's nothing important, but I was wondering if you had any plans to raid a dungeon today.]
[No, I don't.]
[Really? Then what are you doing now?]
[Resting at home.]
A few minutes later.
"Let's see, this should be the right address..."
An awakened woman with long, curly hair held a cardboard box close to her chest as she looked around.
She was inside a building in Mapo District, the residence of Korea's fourth S-rank Hunter.
Esther knew Kim Giryeo's exact address because she had sent him a package once before.
'Room 304.'
Upon reaching the room, the young curse sorcerer paused in front of the door to adjust her hair.
Incidentally, the potion she was carrying was European-made 1st Grade Holy Water.
It was highly effective at removing curse-related status effects.
Of course, if his condition had nothing to do with anything of that sort, it was already too late for an apology to matter.
Still, it was a perfectly respectable gift in its own right.
On top of that, it could apparently function as a short-term fatigue reliever, much like taurine.
– Ding dong, ding dong.
"Excuse me- Are you inside?"
Besides, the potion was expensive enough that delivering it in person rather than entrusting it to a courier seemed only natural...
"I hope I'm not being a nuisance."
Esther thought this with the word 'surprise' already waiting on the tip of her tongue.
She had made sure the other person's schedule was clear, yet a trace of worry remained.
From what she had learned while figuring out how to apologize for the appraisal incident, that Hunter tended to remain busy even on his days off, caught up in studying or other responsibilities.
Would he dislike her showing up like this?
Especially if he realized that the gift was really just an excuse for her to see his face?
Thud!
Just as those doubts began to surface, a sudden noise broke the silence inside Room 304.
A minute later, the gray door in front of her swung open.
Kim Giryeo appeared.
"Hunter Esther?"
But this was unexpected.
It seemed the very thing she had been worried about had actually happened.
The man who opened the door looked completely different from his usual impeccably groomed self.
Wet blond hair lay flat against his head.
There was also the faint scent of tap water.
Those two details alone were enough for Esther to realize that he had just been in the bathroom.
Now she ought to apologize for interrupting his shower.
But the moment their eyes met, and she noticed the loungewear he was wearing, an entirely different set of words slipped out of her mouth.
"That damn freebie is still—"
Heuk!
Esther, who had shouted without thinking, froze with her pupils constricted.
Then she hurriedly composed herself.
"- Hello, Giryeo. Have you eaten? The weather is really nice today."
"You don't have to force yourself to pretend like nothing happened."
Unfortunately, it was already far too late.