Chapter 31 – Apostle of Justice

“Where do you deliver them?”

“Wh-what are you talking about….”

I drew the No. 1 sword, the longsword, from my inventory.

As my mana flowed into it, the longsword’s blade became coated in the bluish light of ether.

“P-please, spare me! L-like I said before, I have a daughter who’s about to get married…!”

“Where do you deliver them? If you lie… Ah, I hear finger diets are all the rage these days. I’ll let you experience it firsthand.”

At my threat, Kim Gi-mun’s eyes widened. Did he think I was joking?

I no longer saw Kim Gi-mun as a person. How could I see someone who traded in human lives as human?

“…The Winners Guild.”

The Winners Guild. A guild located in the same district as Hanul.

It had a bad reputation for mass-producing hunters out of clueless novices.

“Is that all?”

“I’ll tell you everything, so please…!”

All traces of composure and dignity had vanished from Kim Gi-mun’s face. He even fell to his knees, looking at me with a desperate expression.

Quite a few guilds were named by Kim Gi-mun. Among them were the names of Hanul and Hwarang.

“However.”

I crouched down to meet Kim Gi-mun’s gaze.

“I don’t think you’re being entirely honest yet.”

“I-I’ve told you everything.”

He’d been selling people like merchandise. Multiple guilds were involved.

Did he plan something this big all by himself? Unbelievable.

I took a tactical knife from my coat. It was a gift from Katrinne when I first awakened as a hunter.

Seeing me casually draw the knife, Kim Gi-mun’s pupils dilated. I grabbed his wrist as he tried to pull his hand away and pinned it to the ground.

“W-wait a minute…! Right now, AAAAAAGH!”

“Oh dear, you should have spoken up a little sooner. What a waste of a pinky. I wonder if it’ll reattach if you press it on? No, you should probably get to a hospital quickly, right?”

“Guh, ghhhhh. Y-you crazy bastard!”

I spoke to Kim Gi-mun kindly.

“I don’t want to waste time, and you, Kim Gi-mun, probably don’t want to waste fingers. Right?”

I wiped the knife with a cloth. I could see Kim Gi-mun’s body trembling violently.

A man who was numb to the pain of others was extremely sensitive to his own. Thanks to that, the rest of the conversation flowed quite smoothly.

“Director Bae Jeong-hoon introduced me to the Winners Guild, and he introduced me to the mercenary guild. I really don’t know much. I was just following orders from above.”

Kim Gi-mun confessed to what he had done and how he had managed the distribution.

I’ve seen many people like him over the years.

The way they spoke, the look in their eyes as they told lies, told the truth, and schemed for something—it was all too familiar.

Right now, Kim Gi-mun was only playing the cards he could afford to show. And he was trying to stall for as much time as possible.

Mixing truth with lies.

But it didn’t matter. He was already giving me the information I wanted.

He knew that once the gate closed and we were outside, there would be soldiers and civilians. Therefore, I wouldn’t be able to harm him recklessly.

Furthermore, he believed that as long as he survived, there would always be other ways.

A smile crept onto my lips. Did he really think I wouldn’t see through such a vile and crude plan? As time passed, a faint sense of relief appeared in Kim Gi-mun’s eyes.

-The gate is closing.

Finally, time was up.

Kim Gi-mun smiled. Then, he showed me the stump where his pinky used to be and said.

“You’ll pay dearly for my finger.”

“Considering everything you’ve done, wouldn’t that be too cheap a price?”

“I admit it. For a porter, you’re quite strong. But that only means you’re stronger than me, not stronger than ‘us’.”

Behind Kim Gi-mun was a larger organization than I had expected.

I thought there might be Villains involved, but this was unexpected. No, perhaps it was to be expected.

What one always thought of as justice wasn’t always just.

After all, people only choose that side because it’s profitable to advocate for justice from their own standpoint.

Soon, everything around us vanished.

The hilly landscape began to shatter like shards of glass. And before I knew it, we were surrounded by a concrete jungle standing on an asphalt road, revealed along with dazzling signs.

“Your only chance is over.”

Kim Gi-mun said with a smile.

The soldiers guarding the gate were controlling the civilians.

The surviving members of the mercenary guild were letting out screams of agony. Some had their wrists severed, while others gasped for breath from sword wounds.

And the only one without a single scratch was me.

“How sloppy. It would have been better to just kill them. I’m grateful, though.”

Kim Gi-mun bared his yellowed teeth in a grin.

Seeing the hunters emerge from the raid covered in wounds, several people screamed. Even the soldiers gasped.

Kim Gi-mun also suddenly started screaming.

“H-help me! Call an a-ambulance…!”

Kim Gi-mun started acting like he was dying. It looked like he was about to burst into tears. No, were those actual tears welling up in his eyes?

He crawled on the ground and muttered to me under his breath.

“You’re lucky. To think there are police here.”

Indeed, just as he said, there were police officers. The men in plainclothes with them were clearly detectives.

“Th-this man suddenly went crazy! Help me!”

Kim Gi-mun fully committed to his act of a helpless middle-aged man. He was acting with enough passion to aim for a best actor award.

I quietly raised the corners of my mouth.

“Olivier.”

At my call, someone’s voice suddenly began to be heard.

-Director Bae Jeong-hoon introduced me to the Winners Guild and connected me with the mercenary guild. I really don’t know much. I was just following orders from above.

Kim Gi-mun stared at me, his face dumbfounded.

-The Winners Guild is leading the illegal activities. A subcontractor. So, they’re essentially a partner guild for the major guilds.

-We called it the ‘seafood market’—hunting down hunters who unknowingly walked into our net and turning them into products. I was really just being blackmailed, I had no choice but to be involved…!

Kim Gi-mun’s face twitched.

“N-no way. E-electronic devices don’t work inside a gate, it couldn’t have been recorded…!”

Kim Gi-mun shouted urgently.

Electronic devices don’t work in gates or dungeons. Naturally, recording is impossible too. But I have Olivier’s ability to support me.

She can share my vision. And, of course, my hearing is shared as well.

All of Kim Gi-mun’s testimony had been recorded.

“Go ahead and ask.”

I whispered to the mentally shattered Kim Gi-mun with a smile.

“Though you’ll have more to answer than to ask.”

Kim Gi-mun didn’t understand what I was saying. He only had to recall his own words to realize he had made an even bigger enemy.

He had spoken honestly just to survive, thinking it couldn’t be recorded inside the gate. But if ‘they’ found out about this, he would surely be killed.

“Mr. Kim Gi-mun?”

To make matters worse, a detective seemed to have business with Kim Gi-mun.

“We’re placing you under emergency arrest as a suspect in the murder of Mr. Ahn Sang-jin.”

“Wh-what?”

“You have the right to an attorney, and any unfavorable statements….”

“Wait a minute! Why are you doing this to me!”

Kim Gi-mun looked at me, refusing to listen to his Miranda rights.

There was no need to kindly explain it to that man.

I just shrugged.

***

-This is Im Jae-joon, the new guild master of the Hanul Guild. I apologize for having to greet you under such unfortunate circumstances. An unthinkable event has occurred within our Hanul Guild.

-We have no intention of hiding the rotten flesh within our organization. We will punish all individuals involved, actively cooperate with the authorities in their investigation, and ensure they receive the punishment they deserve.

-As a member of the Republic of Korea and as a fellow hunter, I cannot forgive a hunter organization—which should protect the powerless precisely because it wields power—for committing such a heinous act that angers both heaven and man.

-We at Hanul will fight. We will cut out the rot ourselves and stand against all organizations involved in this.

Hanul’s shocking internal exposé.

With that as the starting point, the investigation began swiftly. All the evidence had already been secured, and there was a list of the masterminds involved.

Director Bae Jeong-hoon, a central figure in the former guild master’s faction and Im Jae-ho’s right-hand man, was placed under emergency arrest.

The media ran emergency reports, publishing articles about the human trafficking involving hunters.

People hurled all sorts of insults at the news reports that criminals existed within the Hanul Guild.

Since there were already many hunters in Hanul with prior records of drunkenly assaulting civilians, the guild’s image was at an all-time low.

On the other hand, a supportive sentiment grew for the new guild master, Im Jae-joon.

Because he had courageously exposed the corruption that anyone else might have quietly covered up.

Despite not having committed the crime himself, Im Jae-joon’s willingness to take responsibility for his organization’s grave misdeeds made him seem like a champion of justice.

Of course, his handsome appearance also played a part.

The incident caused by Hanul’s Director Bae Jeong-hoon and Kim Gi-mun was quickly buried. The reason was simple.

They were merely the tail of the lizard, and the crimes of the truly corrupt guild, which had committed all sorts of vicious acts, were exposed.

The Winners Guild found themselves in hot water. All the evil deeds they had committed began to be exposed relentlessly.

***

I headed to the Hanul Guild.

As I casually walked through the guild town, I saw the woman with the picket sign protesting alone in front of the Winners Guild.

The picket sign, still not taken down.

A mother who wanted an apology. A mother who wanted to know why her child never returned.

How long had she been standing here?

The woman, whose tears had long since dried up, stood in place of her son, staring at the Winners Guild’s lobby.

Now, the mother’s fight was over.

Cars began to stop on the main road. Reporters armed with cameras started moving in. The woman, flustered by the sudden situation, looked around in confusion. Before long, reporters started swarming her as well.

“You’re Mr. Ahn Sang-jin’s mother, correct?”

“We’re from the Hunters News Bureau. What kind of response have you received from the Winners Guild until now?”

Spotting an executive leaving the Winners Guild’s lobby, the reporters began to flock toward him. The executive, realizing he was screwed, quickly turned back, but the reporters pursued him relentlessly.

I passed the Winners Guild and arrived at the Hanul Guild.

Reporters were swarming Hanul as well.

When I went up to the royal floor, Im Jae-joon was sprawled out on the sofa.

“Damn vultures.”

“The apostle of justice shouldn’t talk like that.”

“Apostle of justice? Me, the former Demon King?”

Im Jae-joon muttered as if it were absurd.

It truly was a comedy.

“The easy path is nice, but sometimes you have to take the hard one.”

“It’s all fine, but I’m getting tired just thinking about the nagging I’ll get from the old geezers.”

“Nothing to worry about.”

I replied with a smile to Im Jae-joon’s whining.

“If anything, this will work out well for Hanul.”

Sometimes, it’s better to take the first blow. The guilds connected to this affair weren’t just Hanul and Hwarang.

The guild at the center of all this will soon make its move. To erase their own dirty tracks.

A few days later.

Kim Gi-mun was now a man who would never leave prison. The people connected to him were also arrested one after another.

Public opinion began to boil over, showing no signs of calming down.

In tandem with this, major incidents and scandals kept breaking out in the entertainment industry.

An actor with a diligent image was caught with drugs, a celebrity couple famous for being lovebirds was exposed for having an affair—all sorts of gossip emerged.

It was as if they were trying to erase the hunter incident with all kinds of sensational articles.

“What are you looking at?”

“I wasn’t looking.”

I was having a relaxed strength training session in the team training room for the first time in a while when Seo Hyun-ji started picking a fight.

I mean, come on, I’m the team leader. She’s a team member. Her tone is so disrespectful.

Maybe I should go berserk.

“Don’t worry. I’m not the type to get involved in scandals.”

Seo Hyun-ji scoffed, saying something I hadn’t even asked.

Seriously, this woman should just focus on her training.

How many dumbbell reps has she done? Like, five? Why does she have such a proud look on her face, as if she just saved the country?

I guess I’ll have to whip her into shape.

Just as I stood up, intending to train Seo Hyun-ji properly, someone entered the training room.

A well-built man with arrogant-looking blond hair.

“Hello, I’m Kim Tae-yang, and I’ll be joining Hanul’s Team 3 starting today.”

Kim Tae-yang smiled at me as he introduced himself.

Perhaps because he’d grown fond of me after training under me before, he seemed very happy to see me.

If you knew the hardship that awaits you, you wouldn’t be smiling now.

I had prepared to whip him into shape as soon as he returned. It seemed like he’d slacked off a bit while he was away from me.

“Hello.”

Another person entered behind Kim Tae-yang.

He had a diligent-looking image. His face always seemed expressionless, but today, I thought I saw a faint smile playing on his lips.

“I’m Kim In-ho, and I’ll be joining Hanul’s Team 3 starting today.”