Chapter 64

The van headed straight for a 5-star hotel in Las Vegas. It was a natural arrangement. As soon as Cho-i got out of the van, she happily skipped into the hotel, while Taehyeok Sa and the other guild members stayed with Shire’s Guild Master Kevin to exchange greetings.

“A pickup car will come to the front of the hotel tomorrow morning. Around 9 AM.”

“That’s enough.”

“Again, thank you so much for visiting.”

“It’s fine. After all we’ve given and received, such embarrassing words are unnecessary.”

“By the way, where did Hunter Cho-i Hyeon go?”

“She went into the hotel first a moment ago.”

Thinking that far, Taehyeok Sa looked at Suui Kim.

“Now… did you leave Cho-i Hyeon alone?”

“Ah! Damn it.”

Suui Kim immediately ran into the hotel to find Cho-i. The remaining people watched Suui Kim’s retreating figure with ambiguous expressions that were neither laughter nor anything else.

“Is she a hunter who shouldn’t be left alone?”

“…She’s a child who causes a lot of trouble, so we’ll handle it well ourselves.”

“…I understand for now.”

Meanwhile, there was a celebrity in the hotel. In the USA, it was unusually easy for hunters to enter the entertainment industry. Whether they were handsome, sang well, or had other charms, if they were exceptional in any way, they could immediately appear on TV shows. Such was the power of the internet. And the person currently in the hotel was Matthew Zimmiller, who had conquered not only magazine covers but also commercials and movies, making him closer to a Hollywood celebrity than a hunter. Of course, his hunter’s license wasn’t just for show, as he did go into dungeons every few months, but his guild, Savinen, mostly had him working with broadcasters. They knew it was an easier way to make more money. Matthew didn’t have any particular complaints about it either. While risking his life to earn hundreds of billions was good, earning tens of billions by appearing on TV shows or in movies without risking his life wasn’t bad either. He was sitting on a sofa in the hotel lobby, tapping on his smartphone. As it was a long-awaited vacation, he didn’t want to see anything work-related, but he still had to check the latest updated information. Hunter King, the USA’s hunter site, was loudly discussing the SS-Rank dungeon these days. And there was a lot of talk about Shire asking for help from Korea’s Paehyeok. He knew that Paehyeok was the undisputed world’s number one guild, but there were many strange posts saying that it was literally a loss of face.

“If an SS-Rank breaks out, everyone dies, so how can you save face?”

He looked at Shire’s spiteful comments full of stubbornness and then moved on to the next post. There was a post from YouTube there.

[Has anyone not seen this yet? It’s really amazing!]

Two videos featuring Cho-i Hyeon were displayed side by side. The video of her throwing her whole body to protect her party members thrilled the viewers. And when she blew away an A-Rank boss with one strike at the end, surprise and admiration poured out together.

“That’s incredible?”

And the video with Gihyeon Park was the same. A shiver ran down his spine at the final roar. He turned off the video and took out his wireless earphones. He thought he had seen all the latest information and put his smartphone in his pocket. But then.

“Oh, that.”

The protagonist of the video was standing in the middle of the lobby in the distance. Wearing a light dress and soft-looking flat shoes, she was looking around and smiling brightly. Her face sparkled with the lobby’s light. He had thought it while watching the video, but she was noticeably beautiful. She didn’t seem to know it, but there were definitely glances coming and going from around her. Matthew stood up. And with a confident stride, he began to approach her. He didn’t even think for a moment that she wouldn’t know him.

“Excuse me…”

And as he reached out his hand to her, a hand suddenly shot out and grabbed his wrist.

“What is it?”

“What?”

A tall man with a ponytail was holding his wrist, his face wary. Just then, Cho-i Hyeon turned her head and looked at the two of them. Her wide, round eyes were lovely, wait, what’s wrong with her eyes? Black eyes without any gleam were staring at him quietly.

“What is it?”

“Who are you? She’s with me.”

Suui Kim stepped between Cho-i and Matthew and asked. Matthew raised both hands and smiled.

“I apologize. I am Matthew Zimmiller, a hunter from Savinen.”

He looked at Cho-i Hyeon instead of Suui Kim with a look that said, ‘He knows my face, right?’ Cho-i Hyeon blinked with a bright smile and said,

“What’s that? Do you know me?”

“….”

Matthew Zimmiller was speechless for a moment. Suui Kim sighed in front of him, who was momentarily stunned, and released his wrist.

“I see. My apologies. I was a bit sensitive.”

“Oh, no problem. It looks like she’s your girlfriend, so it’s understandable to be sensitive.”

“Huh?”

Suui Kim’s face turned pale. Girlfriend? What a terrifying thing to say about Cho-i Hyeon.

“Absolutely not! That’s not it at all!”

“What? Are you upset with me?”

“You say no quickly too!”

“Do you want to die?”

Cho-i Hyeon grinned and kicked Suui Kim’s calf hard from behind.

“Cho-i, that hurts….”

“I’m kicking you so it hurts.”

And just then, the rest of Paehyeok also entered the hotel. Taehyeok Sa tilted his head slightly as he observed the situation, then approached Matthew Zimmiller.

“Mr. Matthew Zimmiller of Savinen. What brings you here?”

Matthew Zimmiller recognized him instantly. Of course, he was the hottest person among hunters even in the USA. No, there wouldn’t be anyone in the entire USA who didn’t know him. The man who leads Paehyeok, the world’s number one guild. Taehyeok Sa. He opened his eyes wide, smiled broadly, and extended his hand to him.

“Ah, it’s a pleasure to meet you. It’s an honor that you know me. I just finished watching Ms. Cho-i Hyeon’s video, and I was quite surprised to see her in person. I wanted to say hello. So…”

Matthew looked at Suui Kim and spoke with a hesitant expression.

“But I apologize if your boyfriend was displeased.”

“Boyfriend…?”

Everyone looked at them with puzzled expressions, Cho-i linked arms with Suui Kim, and Suui Kim tried to pull his arm away. But how could he overcome the power of an S-Rank?

“When did you two start dating?”

“There’s no such thing.”

“Ahahahahaha.”

Cho-i just seemed to be enjoying the situation. The guild members, who had been observing the situation for a moment, simply looked at Suui Kim with regretful expressions. Cho-i said, still forcibly linked arm-in-arm with Suui Kim,

“This is my boyfriend, and that one over there is the man who got dumped by me.”

Cho-i pointed at Taehyeok Sa with a nod of her chin. Matthew let out an ambiguous exclamation of admiration.

“Oh… that’s a true Hollywood style.”

“……”

Taehyeok Sa was smiling faintly, while Yeonhan Kim and Dongju Kim clenched their teeth. It was a line that brought to mind a famous chicken restaurant in Korea. Taehyeok Sa shook his head and said,

“It’s best not to listen to those guys. More importantly, it’s good to see you here.”

“I didn’t expect to see you here either. You’ve come to clear the newly opened SS-Rank dungeon, correct?”

“That’s right. I just arrived today, so I should probably go up and rest right away. The raid is tomorrow, after all.”

“Ah, I’m sorry, I’m taking up your valuable time. It’s a shame, but I’ll have to be content with this brief meeting. And…”

Matthew rummaged through his pocket, pulled out his wallet, and handed a business card to Cho-i. Cho-i took the business card and flipped it over and over.

“I’d appreciate it if you could contact me when you have time after the raid.”

So, what was this? Flirting? People around them looked at him with expressions that suggested he was being too forward, but Cho-i didn’t seem to think much of it. And Matthew left. Taehyeok Sa watched his retreating figure disappear and then snatched Matthew’s business card from Cho-i’s hand.

“Hey, that’s mine.”

“You don’t need it.”

And with that, he tore it to shreds. Cho-i, seemingly without regret, linked her arm with Suui Kim’s and leaned her head against him.

“You’re sharing a room with me, right?”

“Please stop saying such horrible things.”

“Each of you gets your own room.”

Taehyeok Sa distributed the key cards he received from Kevin one by one and headed to the elevator. The bellboys carried their luggage one by one and pressed the elevator button for them. The group, having comfortably secured their rooms, entered their respective rooms, and Cho-i marveled at the spacious room.

“Wow. Nara Shim would have liked this too.”

Should I have just brought her along? To sightsee while we raided. She indulged in such silly thoughts, waving to the bellboy as he left her luggage, then jumped onto the bed. The bed, as expected of a top-tier suite, was so soft that her whole body felt enveloped. With a satisfied expression, she picked up her smartphone, took a selfie lying on the bed, and a picture of the city view spread out from the window, then opened Ansta. She remembered Yeonwoo Han telling her that this was when you take and upload pictures.

“What should I write?”

She pondered for a long time. Then she remembered Yeonwoo Han’s advice to just upload pictures without saying much if possible. So, what ultimately went up was:

[Photo] [Las Vegas (airplane emoji)]

“Alright, done.”

After that, she sent the same picture to Nara Shim and closed her eyes.

“Ah, I wish I could live in a place like this.”

The room’s temperature, humidity, and lighting were all perfect. And she dozed off for a moment. Even first class was still a plane, and she was feeling a bit tired from traveling to a foreign place. After about ten minutes, someone knocked on the door. Cho-i’s eyes snapped open, and she got up and opened the door. Suui Kim was standing there.

“The Guild Master is calling for you.”

“Tell him to come here.”

“…Just come this once.”

He said it quite pitifully. Cho-i pondered with a hum, then decided to go for Suui Kim’s sake. She roughly slipped on her flat shoes and headed to Taehyeok Sa’s room.