Chapter 39

The commotion went on for some time. Dr. Min Byunggu had suddenly fainted, then awakened as a hunter upon regaining consciousness.

As a result, he had to measure his own mana with everyone watching.

And the eagerly awaited result was...

[C-rank]

"Oh! C-rank!"

"That's amazing!"

"Congratulations on your awakening, Dr. Min!"

Congratulations poured in from the Association staff.

"And you're a healer, too!"

Being a healer was an excellent profession, offering the safest way to earn a fortune without personally engaging in combat.

But Min Byunggu himself didn't care about any of that. He was already over sixty, an age for seeking stability rather than thrilling new challenges. He had absolutely no intention of venturing into dungeons to grapple with magic beasts just because he had awakened.

He would leave the dungeons to the younger generation and devote himself more fully to his own work.

'Excellent. Now that I can manipulate mana myself, I can push my Stardust research even further.'

Min Byunggu smiled in satisfaction as he moved his mana this way and that with his hands.

* * *

"... So that's what happened."

Meanwhile, outside, Suho nodded as Beru explained the full story. Then a question occurred to him.

"But how exactly did you awaken the doctor? Did you give back the power you swallowed?"

[No. Returning that power is impossible. I have already digested it completely.]

"Then how?"

[You might say I bestowed a 'blessing' upon him.]

A blessing.

In the end, Beru had awakened Min Byunggu by copying exactly how the Monarch of Fangs had bestowed his blessing upon Suho.

[Normally, the conditions for such a thing are extremely demanding. One must be 'worthy' of accepting the power, just as with the Monarch of Fangs recently.]

But Min Byunggu was more than worthy. After all, the blessing Beru had bestowed upon him had originally been his own.

Having heard the full explanation, Suho smacked his lips regretfully.

"Hmm. That's a shame."

[What is, my lord?]

"I was wondering if you could give me a healer skill, too. But if that's how it works, I guess I don't qualify."

[Kieeek?!]

Beru leaped into the air and promptly prostrated himself, appalled by what he considered utterly sacrilegious words.

[How could a lowly creature such as I dare bestow a blessing upon you, Young Monarch? The very thought is sacrilege. Oh dear, oh dear.]

A blessing was generally a form of grace bestowed by an immensely superior being upon an inferior one. But Suho and Beru's positions were the other way around. Worthiness hadn't even been the issue to begin with.

In any case, now that his curiosity was satisfied...

"Shall we head back?"

Suho looked back toward the reassessment room where Min Byunggu was.

The uproar over the doctor's sudden awakening had forced Suho to step outside midway through his own reassessment. In particular, they had stopped partway through registering the most important part—his skill information—in the Association database.

'I haven't even mentioned skills like Storm Slash or Toughness yet...'

At this rate, summoning would be the only skill listed in his Association records. Then he would be stuck with the summoner label for good.

Even at C-rank, summoners were still unpopular choices for dungeon parties, so he needed to register more of his skills.

Of course, some hunters did conceal their skill information from the Association, but most of them were criminals engaged in shady business.

But while Suho had been outside, an unwelcome visitor had come to see Min Byunggu.

"I refuse."

'Hmm?'

Perhaps it was thanks to his increased Perception stat. Suho paused as his superhuman hearing picked up the conversation inside the reassessment room.

"Let me be perfectly clear, Secretary Kim. I will not reconsider your proposal."

The normally good-natured Min Byunggu was firmly rejecting his unwelcome visitor's offer.

"Oh, Dr. Min. Must you be so categorical? If you would just give it another favorable look..."

"My Stardust research is solely for the public good. I have absolutely no reason to collaborate with a large guild pursuing private profit."

[Young Monarch, something about this seems str—]

"Shh."

Suho clamped a hand over Beru's mouth.

"You shouldn't interrupt the grown-ups when they're talking."

[I see. My apolog—]

"You have to eavesdrop quietly."

[Ah!]

Beru's eyes widened. He covered his own mouth with both hands, leaving only his antennae twitching attentively.

Listening further, Suho gathered that the man Min Byunggu called Secretary Kim was a hunter from the Reaper Guild.

"Dr. Min, I'm well aware that Stardust is illegal now. How could I not be? But if you continue your research with us, surely we could eventually develop a legal version of Stardust?"

"I simply cannot understand why you're so determined to develop it."

"To protect world peace, of course. The stronger hunters become, the more soundly ordinary citizens can sleep at night."

'The Reaper Guild wants Stardust?'

Suho's eyes narrowed.

"Beru."

[According to Broki's memories, the Reaper Guild was one of the Hyena Guild's major customers.]

Beru immediately understood what Suho was about to ask and answered at once. However, to keep Secretary Kim from overhearing, he sent his voice directly into Suho's mind.

[And it appears that this very human, Secretary Kim, was their primary liaison with the Hyena Guild.]

"You're a very handy explanation bug."

[I am indeed a bug, of course.]

Suho nodded and extended his senses to gauge Secretary Kim's strength.

'Would this put him at B-rank?'

That meant he had at least twice as much mana as Suho, a C-rank.

Of course, mana alone wasn't enough to measure someone's strength. In Suho's case in particular, his Strength stat was actually higher than his mana stat.

As Suho sized the man up, Beru noticed what he was doing and tried to stop him.

[Young Monarch, you mustn't. He belongs to a major guild. With your current forces, making an enemy of such a guild would cause you considerable trouble.]

Beru was right.

He had gone to the trouble of raising his rank so he could level up more. If he needlessly clashed with a major guild like the Reaper Guild, his future work as a hunter could become quite a nuisance.

Just then, Min Byunggu told Secretary Kim to leave.

"We have nothing further to discuss, Secretary Kim. I'm still at work, so would you please leave now?"

Apparently unwilling to return empty-handed, Secretary Kim finally resorted to a drastic gambit.

"Crow, the Beast King."

'Hmm?'

[Huh?]

Suho and Beru looked at each other. Secretary Kim had suddenly said something neither had remotely expected.

"I'm sure you've seen the news about Crow, the Beast King, Dr. Min?"

Min Byunggu furrowed his brow, wondering what he was talking about now.

"Well, yes, I've seen the news..."

"Crow is a demon."

"What?"

'What?'

[Huh?]

At Secretary Kim's abrupt declaration, question marks appeared in the eyes of two humans and one ant simultaneously.

With an utterly earnest look, Secretary Kim launched into an impassioned explanation.

"According to intelligence obtained by our Reaper Guild, Crow's signature Crow Mask belongs to the demons. Apparently, all the demons at the factory wear those masks."

It was all true.

Except for the part about Crow being a demon.

"And what does that mean? It means the power of the 'Beast King' fell into demon hands at Magok Field. That power will have made the demons even stronger. To stand against them, we humans must grow stronger by any means necessary."

'Uh... How did the story end up like that?'

Suho's expression grew awkward. Somehow, it sounded vaguely right while being completely wrong.

"So, Dr. Min! Join our cause! The Reaper Guild needs you. As for money, we can offer as much as—"

"I refuse."

Min Byunggu had continued researching Stardust for the public good, never for money. His current income might not make him wealthy, but it was enough for him and his wife to live on. That was all he needed.

No amount of money would sway him.

Faced with yet another firm refusal, Secretary Kim sighed.

When he spoke again, his voice was so cold that it was hard to believe he was the same man who had been fawning over the doctor all this time.

"Your wife teaches at a middle school, I understand."

"...!"

Min Byunggu couldn't believe his ears. When he looked at Secretary Kim again, the man was wearing a sinister smile.

The doctor's expression froze.

"You... What are you talking about...?"

"I hear she didn't come to work today. Were you aware of that?"

"...!"

Min Byunggu's face drained of color.

"Y-you didn't...?"

"Must I repeat myself?"

Secretary Kim's sinister smile only deepened.

Smiling, Secretary Kim held up his phone.

In the photo... a middle-aged woman was tied up.

"We will use any means necessary to achieve our objectives."

The woman was none other than Min Byunggu's wife.

*'Wh-what is this...?'

* * *

Min Byunggu felt as though his nightmare had begun again. His head buzzed, and his sense of reality was slipping away.

What on earth was this man saying?

Kidnapping?

However powerful the Reaper Guild might be, were they really this lawless?

"Are you beginning to understand how serious we are? You should have cooperated while we were still asking nic—"

It happened then.

A chill ran through Secretary Kim. Sensing something behind him, he hurriedly twisted around.

But he was too late.

CRASH!

"...?!"

A massive fist burst like a cannonball through the reassessment room door behind Secretary Kim.

The skill Smite.

Suho's fist, wreathed in condensed black energy, slammed into Secretary Kim like a truck.

CRASH, THUD, THUD!

"Gah?!"

Sent sprawling across the floor as though he'd been hit by a truck, Secretary Kim scrambled up and bellowed,

"Wh-who's there?!"

He staggered. The impact must have been severe, for his legs buckled beneath him again.

"You took that and stayed standing? B-ranks really are different."

A low voice came from behind the door pierced by the black fist.

CRUNCH! CRACK!

Ripping the door straight out of the wall, Suho slowly entered the reassessment room.

But the sight of him...

"Wh-what?!"

Thoroughly taken aback, Secretary Kim's eyes went wide.

"What's a demon doing here?!"

A Crow Mask.

A man stood there, his face hidden behind a Crow Mask.