Chapter 40 – We Meet Again

I entered the 8th floor of the guild to meet Im Jae-joon. Just then, I saw a group of people coming out of the president’s office.

“Well, if it isn’t Team Leader 3.”

“Hello.”

I offered a greeting, but their faces looked anything but pleased.

They were Team Leader 1 and Team Leader 2, key members of Director Bae Jeong-hoon’s faction, a rival to Im Jae-joon’s.

I’d met Team Leader 1 once before over coffee, but this was the first time I was seeing the other one in person.

“I hear you’ve been making quite a name for yourself lately.”

“Busy stirring up trouble these days, are we?”

The tones of Team Leader 1 and Team Leader 2 were markedly different. Team Leader 1 was a similar type to Kim Gi-mun. The only difference was that Kim Gi-mun had no power, while Team Leader 1 did.

Team Leader 2 had the image of a street punk.

He was infamous for tarnishing Hanul’s image by causing all sorts of trouble. For Hanul’s legal team, he was practically on a blacklist.

But he was the Hanul Guild’s top dealer.

“I couldn’t possibly compare to you.”

“What did you say, you bastard?”

“You must be causing quite a scene for the paparazzi to follow you around. You must work hard feeding all those reporters.”

It was actually true that following Team Leader 2, Kim Chang-soo, was a guaranteed way to get a story.

Seeing the face of Team Leader 2 flush red after being openly insulted was a satisfying sight.

“Hahaha, Team Leader 2. You’re the first person I’ve seen talk to Chang-soo like that. This is amusing, very amusing.”

“Do you think people avoid you because they’re scared? No, they avoid you because you’re filth. I can’t stand filth. When I see it, I feel the need to clean it up.”

“What? Filth?”

Team Leader 2, Kim Chang-soo, looked ready to strike me at any moment. I had provoked him on purpose, but I didn’t expect him to take the bait so easily.

“Aigoo, you boys. Full of youthful vigor, aren’t you? Now, now, that’s enough. Team Leader 3, I believe I told you to watch your mouth.”

“If you want respect, you have to give it, no?”

“That’s enough, both of you. Team Leader 3, Team 1 and Team 2 are heading out to clear a gate at the request of an agency. Could we perhaps take Ms. Seo Hyun-ji with us?”

“You mean Hunter Seo Hyun-ji?”

“Yes. While we’re divided into teams for efficient clearing, we’re all part of the same guild. For important events, we should be able to move between teams.”

Director Bae Jeong-hoon’s faction had been coveting Seo Hyun-ji for a while. It was only natural, given she was an S-rank.

Even if she was still inexperienced, the value of her rank was immense.

“The Wizard System just released a new forecast. They’re predicting over twenty gates will open in Seoul and the metropolitan area, so all the guilds are mobilizing their S-rank and A-rank hunters.”

“Is that so?”

“Our guild has an S-rank too, so it would look strange if she didn’t participate just because she’s on a different team. If you’re not comfortable sending Ms. Seo Hyun-ji alone, you can come along too, Team Leader 3.”

He said it as if he were being considerate. But their intentions were as clear as day.

They wanted to parade Seo Hyun-ji around in public to make an impression. Eventually, they planned to swallow her whole.

At first, I had considered sending Seo Hyun-ji to another team. But now that they wanted her so badly, I didn’t feel like letting her go.

More importantly, Seo Hyun-ji was showing more effort than I expected. In other words, she was worth training.

With the right polishing, she could become a brilliant gem. It would be a disservice to let her rot in a den of trash like this.

“Hunter Seo Hyun-ji is not yet ready for gates. How well do you expect someone who has only ever danced to fight? And.”

I would make sure they never cast their eyes on my team again.

“Worry about your own plate instead of someone else’s. And try not to end up like Kim Gi-mun.”

At my words, the smile on Team Leader 1’s face froze. Team Leader 2, Kim Chang-soo, was the first to move.

“This crazy bastard!”

He threw a punch at me. It was quite fast.

Publicly, he had the image of someone who only drank and caused trouble, but he was a top-tier B-ranker.

‘Too straightforward.’

It was obvious he hadn’t received proper training.

He was the type to rely solely on his own talent and the power he gained from his awakening.

After all, as long as you connected to the system, raised your stats, leveled up, and got some gear, you could hunt.

I took half a step to the side while simultaneously hooking his leg.

“Wh-whoa!”

That was all it took. As Team Leader 2 lost his balance and fell, I gave his back a light push with my palm.

Team Leader 2, now sprawled on the floor, was likely more shocked by the humiliation than the pain.

“You son of a bitch! Do you know who I am!”

“If you want to fight, do it in a ring, not on the royal floor. If you act like this where everyone can see, people will think we don’t get along.”

I made a phone gesture at my ear, as if telling him to call me.

With that much provocation, he’d surely come after me soon.

The combination of Team Leader 2 glaring at me as if he could eat me alive and Team Leader 1 emanating killing intent was truly a fantastic sight.

It was impossible to get along with these two anyway. If that was the case, I would draw a line and warn them about crossing it.

“You son of a bitch, you could really die for this. For real.”

Oh, is that so? My, the great B-rank Hunter is very angry.

I simply responded with a grin.

Many had claimed they would kill me before. But no one had ever succeeded.

Even the great Demon King couldn’t do it; a single thug growling at me wasn’t going to scare me.

“Are you smiling?”

This time, he wasn’t talking to me. A quick glance to the side revealed the security guards struggling to keep straight faces.

“You bastards!”

“Let’s go.”

“Hyungnim! These bastards are—!”

As Team Leader 2 was about to erupt, Team Leader 1 scowled and spoke.

“I said, let’s go.”

“……”

When Team Leader 1, a former gangster, spoke with authority, even a punk like Team Leader 2 had no choice but to comply.

“Sorry for the disturbance.”

“Not at all. It was actually quite refreshing.”

At the words of the royal floor’s security team, I heard the desk staff let out small laughs.

It seemed that people disliked troublemakers everywhere.

I was guided into the president’s office.

“Can’t you do something about those clowns?”

“Sooner or later, they’ll all be dealt with. Thanks to you, we were able to bring down Director Bae Jeong-hoon.”

Im Jae-joon sat with his legs crossed leisurely, savoring some expensive tea. He was so carefree.

Once this was over, I would have to sweep away all the eyesores, just like Kim Gi-mun. If you’re going to do something, you should start by cleaning up. Make it spotless.

“But do you really have to go after the Company Man?”

“Why not? It’s fun catching wanted criminals.”

At my words, Im Jae-joon let out a short, dry laugh and took a sip of his tea.

“The Wizard System is predicting a large-scale gate outbreak.”

“I know.”

The Wizard System.

It was a system that predicted where gates would appear and analyzed dungeon information through algorithms, quantifying the data.

Its accuracy was exceptionally high, placing our country’s prediction rate in the top three.

And that same Wizard System had just foreseen the simultaneous appearance of over twenty gates.

Moreover, three of them were said to be A-rank or higher. As a result, all of the nation’s S-rank and top-tier hunters had been summoned.

Except for Seo Hyun-ji, of course.

“Growing quickly, making a lot of money, gaining fame… this gate situation is a bit of a shame.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’d be overshadowed by the S-ranks and wouldn’t get much attention anyway. More importantly, where can I find the Company Man?”

“I’ll send you the location.”

A location share notification popped up on my phone. The Company Man’s current location was a village struck by a maelstrom of demonic energy.

When a gate appears and isn’t sealed in time, it develops into a dungeon. A powerful magnetic field of demonic energy then blankets the surroundings, turning everything into a land of death.

Since no one lived there, it was probably the perfect place for a villain to hide.

“You heard from Olivier, right?”

“Yes. And I know why you’re in such a hurry to see the Company Man.”

Im Jae-joon finished the rest of his tea.

His eyes were unreadable.

He had known all along but hadn’t told me beforehand.

“Just as you thought, the person you caught was indeed an inhabitant of another world. And that friend of yours, the Company Man, is likely from another world as well.”

“Yeah, I figured as much.”

“There are people like me who were reincarnated, and there are returnees like you and the little lady who have crossed dimensions. Of course, you’re not the only ones who can travel between worlds.”

Perhaps the gates served as entrances, allowing beings to cross into other dimensions. But there was something else that bothered me.

The Company Man. He had been trying to summon something by offering sacrifices.

“But is there really a need for you to get involved?”

He had a point.

Just as Im Jae-joon said, I wasn’t a cop or a guard, so there was no need for me to hunt down villains.

But a question had taken root in my mind, and it pricked me like a thorn in my mouth.

Most importantly, the villain had recognized me as the Hero.

That meant he was from the same world as me.

Karin and her people had come to the modern world to help me. But for them to be truly happy and return to their original lives, they had to go back to their own world.

“I’m just trying to collect another bounty.”

“You’ll certainly gain some fame. And it’s a good thing for our guild, too.”

Im Jae-joon said with a slight smile.

* * *

“What? Where did he go?”

Seo Hyun-ji had cleared her schedule for the first time in a while to visit the guild.

The man who was always a fixture in the training room was nowhere to be seen today.

“The Team Leader took a vacation day today.”

“A vacation? What’s gotten into him?”

At Kim In-ho’s words, who had been diligently training, Seo Hyun-ji’s fine brow furrowed slightly.

To think he wouldn’t be here when she finally made time to come.

“Noona, you’re always looking for the Team Leader. Hey, hey, could it be…?”

“What? Why? I came here to chew him out for some weird training he assigned me.”

“Sure, let’s go with that.”

Seo Hyun-ji scoffed at Kim Tae-yang’s playful teasing.

For once, Kim Tae-yang was running hard on the treadmill, his clothes soaked with sweat.

“Stop messing around.”

“What? Our Team Leader said he wanted to awaken as a hunter, make a lot of money, get famous, and marry a celebrity.”

“He said that?”

“Yeah, back when he was a trainer.”

Seo Hyun-ji looked surprised at Kim Tae-yang’s words.

“What does that have to do with me?”

“What do you mean? I’m just giving you a heads-up that you should lock him down now before someone else snatches him up.”

“That’s ridiculous. I’m Seo Hyun-ji. Go ask anyone on the street. Is there anyone who doesn’t know me?”

Seo Hyun-ji spoke arrogantly, but she wasn’t wrong. The drama she had just filmed was a massive hit, and she had been incredibly busy.

“Our Team Leader might not be famous now, but you never know what could happen.”

Kim In-ho said as he finished his workout and wiped away his sweat. Kim Tae-yang nodded in agreement and grinned.

“I’ll give you that. I bet he’ll make it to S-rank. Oh, but honestly, isn’t he already stronger than most S-ranks?”

There was a reason Kim In-ho and Kim Tae-yang thought so.

There was something special about Lee Hyunbin. Getting hit by a normal punch didn’t hurt this much.

Hunters had an HP system that provided some shock absorption. But getting hit by Lee Hyunbin was different.

More importantly, the fact that a hunter who had only awakened a month ago was soloing bosses was what made him an exceptional monster.

“The villain he caught, the Company Man, is rated as a potential S-rank depending on the situation,” Seo Hyun-ji murmured softly.

The reason she had chosen the Hanul Guild over others was because she had seen Lee Hyunbin’s extraordinary potential.

While the three of them were gossiping about their team leader, the man himself had arrived in a forsaken land.

The Seoul Station Dungeon.

The thing they called the first gate had descended here and swept everything away.

The place that was once a hub for all transportation, a place that once teemed with so many people, had become a land of death where not even a single blade of grass grew properly.

“I have a question.”

Hyunbin had found the person he was looking for without much difficulty.

“If I catch the same wanted criminal again, can I still get the bounty?”

At Hyunbin’s question, the man in a white-collar suit and tie showed a faint smile.

“We meet again, Hero.”

At the words of the Company Man facing him, Hyunbin leisurely put on his open-finger gloves.