Chapter 72

“I can hand it over, but there’s a condition.”

Cho-i asked.

“What is it?”

Hyori Hyeon leaned his upper body towards the table with a serious expression. Cho-i raised an eyebrow, looking at him with a ‘So what?’ expression, and Hyori gestured to Cho-i as if to tell her to lean in.

“The place I’m currently commissioned by is the Black Society in China.”

“Black Society? You’ve read too many novels.”

“Oh, for goodness sake. Just listen.”

“For goodness sake?”

“I apologize. Please just listen.”

“Alright, go on and spill it.”

Hyori Hyeon still couldn’t adapt to Cho-i Hyeon’s changed appearance. Nevertheless, after trying to stay calm, he finally managed to start talking. Cho-i began listening to his story, arms crossed in front of her.

“I’ve been commissioned by one of the illegal guilds operated by the China Black Society. Since it’s directly affiliated with the Black Society, money isn’t an issue.”

“Really?”

“It’s also connected to Korean illegal guilds. Everyone knows that Korean gangsters were dying out, but then dungeons appeared, and they put people into them, making a comeback.”

“Really?”

Cho-i knew nothing about that, so it was the first time she had ever heard such a story.

“But one of the illegal dungeons operated by a Korean illegal guild got upgraded to S-Rank.”

“It got upgraded to S-Rank?”

“These days, many dungeons worldwide are increasing in rank. Isn’t Korea the same?”

“…I guess so.”

Cho-i thought about it carefully. She knew of only one dungeon that had been upgraded. Besides that, there was only one instance of a dungeon in the USA being upgraded that she had heard about. In total, only about two.

“Originally, dungeon rank-ups were a rare phenomenon. But a phenomenon that used to happen once in over ten years is now becoming more frequent.”

“So?”

“First, the Black Society dispatched one S-Rank to Korea, but they’re still short on numbers. Korean illegal guilds don’t have S-Ranks.”

“Ah, I see. So you’re gathering high-rank items?”

“Yeah, but after the dungeons appeared, in the process of forming illegal guilds and preempting dungeons, relations with gangsters and mafias worsened.”

“It’s complicated.”

“Exactly. That’s why Nara is using a broker to participate in the American auction.”

“How much are you getting paid?”

“You don’t need to know that.”

“You little rascal, you must be getting paid quite well, huh?”

“I’m selling it off appropriately, so don’t worry too much.”

“Why would I worry about you? The rascal who left home saying he’d take care of himself and live well.”

“…Alright, I’m slowly getting used to this now.”

“So, what do you want to say?”

“They have another request.”

“What is it?”

Hyori Hyeon lowered his voice even further with a serious expression.

“To find one more S-Rank hunter.”

“Ah, I see~”

Cho-i Hyeon nodded, as if she understood.

“So, you’ll hand over the sword in exchange for me going there?”

“I’ll give you a discount.”

“A discount my ass. You’re going to take a commission for introducing me, aren’t you?”

“You know about the Entity too.”

“Do I look like a pushover, you son of a bitch?”

“Ah, seriously, I’m only getting twelve million dollars. Can’t we make it work?”

Cho-i considered the offer. He was tempted by the three million dollar discount. But then he remembered that the money for his weapon would come from Taehyeok Sa, and he changed his mind.

“No thanks. I can find other items like that at different auctions.”

“No, you can’t. It’s so hard to find A-Rank or higher items these days.”

“Why?”

“Because every guild is hoarding them and only using them among themselves. Korea’s Paehyeok is a special case. They sell items in conjunction with department stores, right? It’s really strange.”

“Hmm, now that you mention it, why is that? I’ll ask Taehyeok Sa when I have time.”

“How would you ask the Paehyeok Guild Master… Oh, wait, no way?”

“Did you just figure it out? You’re really effing stupid.”

“Uh, uh-huh. Are you part of Paehyeok?”

“Then where else would I be? I’m Korean and S-Rank.”

“You should have told me that earlier!”

“Don’t raise your voice, or you’ll regret it.”

Hyori lowered his voice.

“You should have told me earlier. You scared me.”

“Alright, but you didn’t ask.”

“No, but something that important…”

“Enough. Now, give me another two million dollar discount.”

Hyori Hyeon immediately became serious.

“You want a five million dollar discount? Are you crazy?”

“You know how much it costs for an S-Rank to make an appearance, right?”

“Ugh… That’s true, but even I have my limits when it comes to covering it up discreetly.”

“Then give me a two and a half million dollar discount.”

“You just seem to get more and more shameless.”

“People usually fall for that charm.”

“And your face seems to have gotten thicker too.”

Cho-i hit Hyori Hyeon one more time. He covered his head, groaned, scratched his head, and then looked up.

“Alright, I’ll give you a two and a half million dollar discount.”

“Ugh, you cheapskate.”

“Are you going to keep doing that? Instead, I’ll give it to you on the day of the Black Raid. If I send it to you in advance, you can come and get it, then we’ll go into the dungeon raid together.”

“So, where is it?”

“Korea, Chungcheongnam-do.”

He said.

“There’s a dungeon entrance below the West Sea.”

Cho-i blinked. There was an illegal dungeon of that size so close to Seoul?

***

Cho-i finished his conversation with Hyori Hyeon and returned to his companions. Dongju, Yeonhan, and Suui, who had been sitting at another table in the cafe, sipping coffee, asked when Cho-i returned,

“Who was that?”

“My younger brother.”

“I could tell by his face.”

“They look quite alike, don’t they?”

“Well, now he’s practically a stranger.”

“More importantly, what did you talk about?”

Yeonhan asked. Cho-i smiled lightly and tilted his head.

“Just a normal greeting.”

“You beat him up like that for a normal greeting?”

Oh, crap, they must have seen everything. Cho-i just laughed heartily and replied,

“He said something that deserved a beating the moment he opened his mouth.”

Then Yeonhan Kim agreed.

“Younger brothers are often like that.”

“……”

Yeonhan Kim’s younger brother, Dongju Kim, looked at Yeonhan Kim with a cold face, and she looked back at Dongju Kim with a ‘what do you want’ expression. Every time this happened, Dongju Kim saw Cho-i Hyeon and his sister overlapping.

“So, did you say hello properly?”

Suui Kim asked. Cho-i thought about it for a moment and then nodded.

“Roughly.”

“More importantly, what are you going to do if you can’t get a sword? Nothing decent has come out since then.”

“I’ll try to find one when I go to Korea. There’s Yuhan Department Store and auction houses in Korea.”

“Or, you can just use an item stored in the guild for now and return it later.”

“That’s stingy, you’re not just giving it to me, I have to return it later?”

“Haha, it just happened that way.”

Yeonhan scratched her head as she spoke, and Cho-i didn’t care anyway. A sword would appear soon enough.

‘So, he said two months from now?’

The period was more than enough. It seemed like he could just take a short vacation and go down. There were no urgent dungeons among those managed by Paehyeok. Ring-ring- At that moment, Yeonhan’s smartphone began to ring.

“Yes, this is Yeonhan Kim.”

While Yeonhan Kim was on the phone, Dongju Kim came over to Cho-i and leaned in slightly, asking,

“Hey, are you sure you only asked how they were doing?”

“Then what else would I do?”

Dongju Kim narrowed his eyes.

“I’m getting a strange smell…”

Cho-i thought quietly. This guy had animalistic instincts. But on the surface, he smiled brightly.

“Aargh!”

He poked his two eyes. This was the best when he had nothing to say. Suui Kim, who was watching the scene pitifully from the side, quickly covered her eyes when she met Cho-i’s gaze. Why? You’re not going to poke me. Cho-i scratched her head. And soon, Yeonhan Kim hung up the phone and returned.

“The Guild Master and Hunter Gihyeon Park have both finished their treatment.”

“Ah, so we can go back to the hospital then?”

“It seems so.”

So the group returned to the hospital. When they returned to the hospital, Taehyeok Sa and Gihyeon Park were standing there, bandages removed and perfectly fine. As soon as Taehyeok Sa spotted the group, he said,

“I’ve finished talking with the Shire Guild Master. They’ve agreed to keep it a secret, and fortunately, it seems they’re willing to overlook me attacking them because I defeated the boss monster.”

“Wow, that guy’s a good person.”

Gihyeon Park said in an ambiguous tone, making it unclear whether he was being sarcastic or not, and Cho-i raised two fingers, debating whether to poke those eyes. Dongju Kim folded his fingers for him from the side.

“We’re going straight back to Korea. It ended faster than expected, and we’ve received information that there have been many abnormal phenomena recently, with dungeon grades rising. So, it would be Scythe for us to stay in Korea for a while.”

Cho-i Hyeon, who had been listening quietly, spoke.

“Wow, you really don’t trust any other guilds, do you?”

“How can I trust them? They’re so weak.”

“You son of a bitch.”

Gihyeon Park, who was listening nearby, cursed. Taehyeok Sa, however, just let the insults go in one ear and out the other as he put on his coat.

“I asked for the fastest flight, so we can go straight to the airport. I’ve already received the item distribution, so later…”

Just then, Cho-i Hyeon’s eyes flashed.

“The magic stone?”

“…”

“The Red Magic Stone?”

“…I got it.”

“Then give it to me.”

“As I said before, this belongs to the guild, not to you…”

“Give it to me.”

Cho-i Hyeon’s eyes were about to roll back. As the whites of her eyes became half visible, unspoken pressure began to emanate from those around her.

‘Please, just give her one before she goes wild.’ ‘If she flips out, the Guild Master will be responsible.’ ‘I don’t know.’

The three of them looked away in unison, and Gihyeon Park also looked at the ground for a moment. Taehyeok Sa chuckled as he watched the people around him turn away. Ever since Cho-i Hyeon arrived, it felt like there was no one left he could trust.

“I’ll distribute one.”

“Two.”

“One.”

“Two!”

“Why two?”

“I’m going to feed both of them to Nara Shim.”

At that, Taehyeok Sa pondered for a moment. It wasn’t going to be used anywhere else anyway, and there was no loss in using it to raise the rank of a Paehyeok Guild member. Furthermore, Nara Shim herself had quite high loyalty to Paehyeok.

‘And if I raise her rank, I can always keep her next to Cho-i Hyeon.’

After finishing his thoughts, Taehyeok Sa nodded.

“I’ll distribute two. But that’s all.”

“I don’t care. Yay!”

Anyway, Cho-i Hyeon seemed to be in a good mood. Everyone sighed without her knowing. They had worried she might flip out without a sword, so it was a relief that she was satisfied with the magic stone. Cho-i turned on her smartphone to text Nara Shim. But then, an unknown message popped up.

[You are invited to the Mihwa University small alumni gathering!]