Chapter 79

Hyunmoo Guild, Second Management Section.

“Hmm. Where have I seen him? I know I've seen him somewhere...”

Lee Youngho, a section chief at Hyunmoo Guild, had been deep in thought for some time as he watched drone footage of the recent disaster.

The paused footage showed three hunters soaring toward the hive with black wings spread wide. Two were the famous Lim Taegyu and Baek Miho, so there was no mistaking them. The problem was the remaining hunter.

Nothing was known about this third hunter's identity yet.

“It certainly looks like Baekho Guild and Reaper Guild are keeping a lid on the information.”

“Yes. Apparently, they're refusing to answer any questions, even from reporters.”

“Which means...”

“Exactly.”

Lee Youngho and his subordinate exchanged confident looks and nodded.

“They haven't managed to recruit this hunter yet either.”

“That's what I think too. If he already belonged to them, they'd have no reason to hide him. They'd be publicizing him to promote their guild instead.”

“Of course. Wing buffs are rare.”

As far as anyone knew, neither Lim Taegyu nor Baek Miho possessed a skill that gave them wings.

That left only one conclusion: the third hunter had buffed them. A hunter who could grant others the ability to fly had tremendous strategic value, regardless of rank.

No, the lower his rank, the better. The lower his asking price, the more value they'd get for their money.

“We have to recruit someone this useful before another guild snatches him up, whatever it takes. We absolutely cannot lose him to Baekho Guild.”

Baekho Guild was famous for recruiting only hunters with the Beast Transformation skill, but it made exceptions for healers and buff specialists.

And since this hunter's ability involved wings, there was a good chance it was an application of Beast Transformation.

For any number of reasons, Baekho Guild was bound to want him.

“For now, get a contract drawn up. In the meantime, I'll find out who he is somehow.”

“What about his compensation?”

“Come on, you know how this works. Leave the signing bonus blank for now. If he's a rookie who only recently awakened, we should lowball him as much as possible.”

“Heh heh. Understood. But how are you going to find out who he is?”

“With my brain.”

His eyes gleaming, Lee Youngho pressed two fingers firmly against his forehead as though using psychic powers.

“Did you know? Before the Cataclysm, I was a hairdresser. And I remembered the face and name of every customer who ever sat in my chair.”

“... Here we go again.”

Having heard the same routine countless times, his subordinate shook his head and returned to his desk.

But Lee Youngho trusted his eye for faces.

“I've definitely seen him. That face is in my memory somewhere. What am I missing...?”

Countless hunters' faces began unfolding through his mind like a panorama.

'He's not someone I've met in person. I'd have remembered him ages ago if he were. Then did I see him on Hunter Net or in the news? ... Ah!'

At last, he did it.

“I-I remember!”

Lee Youngho suddenly shot out of his chair, his eyes bloodshot.

“It's that guy from before! The E-rank summoner who had the nerve to turn us down!”

“What? An E-rank hunter?”

His subordinate, who was printing out the contract nearby, tilted his head at Lee Youngho's words.

“That's right, you idiot! Hahaha! That's more like me! It hasn't even been a month. As if I'd forget!”

Despite his section chief's confidence, the employee still looked bewildered.

“Are you sure, sir? If he's really E-rank, never mind having the skill—how could he make three people fly? He'd run out of mana in no time and fall straight out of the sky.”

“That's what you're going to find out. Use whatever means necessary and dig up everything there is to know about him! The other guilds must be hunting for him too, so make it quick!”

“Overtime again today, then.”

* * *

Meanwhile, Baekho Guild was having its own share of trouble because of Suho.

“Vice President, the other guilds keep demanding to know who ‘that hunter’ is. What should we do?”

“Insist that we don't know. No exceptions.”

“That's a little... difficult. His face is already everywhere... It seems they're tracking down each of the C-rank hunters from the Seoul area we called in this time and asking whether they've seen him.”

“... Hold them off somehow. Just until we recruit him first.”

Baek Miho had been clutching her phone anxiously for some time.

But no matter how many times she called Suho, he simply wouldn't answer.

-Are you asleep, by any chance? As soon as you see this message...

She had already tried texting him too, but however long she waited, no reply came.

“Surely he didn't give me the wrong number?”

No, if he had, someone else would have answered.

“Or could he have... blocked me?”

No, impossible!

That made even less sense.

“Right. He has no reason to block me, does he? We fought together as comrades... I even carried him on my back! Oh, wait! Don't tell me President Lim Taegyu already took him?”

Her gaze wavered at the thought of Lim Taegyu.

He had fought alongside Suho too.

Reaper Guild had already suffered a devastating fall because of this incident. Financially, it would hardly be an exaggeration to call it completely ruined.

The cost of handling the aftermath and compensating the casualties alone must have been astronomical.

'But it won't actually go under. President Lim Taegyu himself is an S-rank hunter.'

A hunter's true power came not from money, but from strength.

Even if every hunter left Reaper Guild, it could rise again as long as it had an S-rank hunter like Lim Taegyu. He could rebuild the guild or establish an entirely new one.

Under these circumstances, he would never want to let a talent as exceptional as Sung Suho slip away.

“... Vice President?”

Baekho Guild's personnel section chief was unaccustomed to seeing Baek Miho mutter to herself with such an anxious expression.

“Is this hunter, Sung Suho, really that remarkable? A wing buff may be rare, but isn't he only C-rank?”

“He's not ‘only C-rank.’”

Baek Miho spoke firmly.

“His rank and his wing buff don't matter. Hunter Sung Suho is...”

The other guilds knew nothing.

Their interest in Suho was probably based on nothing more than his wing buff. Or perhaps it was because he was the only one of the three hunters who had ended this disaster whom they could recruit.

They couldn't recruit Lim Taegyu or her, so they wanted to take the remaining hunter and milk him for publicity.

But Baek Miho was different.

She had watched Suho fight from closer than anyone else, right in the midst of that fierce, blood-stirring battle.

“He's... someone we can't afford to lose to anyone.”

* * *

[13 Missed Calls]

“Why are there so many?”

After finishing his grueling daily quest and barely making it out of the Shadow Dungeon, Suho finally checked his phone and looked puzzled.

Half the calls were from Baek Miho and Lim Taegyu, whose business cards he'd received, and the rest were from numbers he didn't recognize.

“Kehehe! Truly magnificent! Your popularity shakes heaven and earth, Young Monarch!”

“Calm down. It's not that big a deal.”

While the doting Beru spun in circles, cackling with joy, Quay deftly turned on the computer and showed Suho the online news.

“My liege, would you take a look at this? It seems your face has spread across various media outlets.”

“Hmm. So it has.”

The internet was ablaze over the disaster Lee Minsung had caused.

Of course, Suho had appeared in the news plenty of times before, but in most cases, he had been wearing the Crow Mask and was known as Beast King Crow.

This time, however, things were very different.

Because the famous Baek Miho and Lim Taegyu had happened to be right beside him, his face had been widely publicized along with theirs.

Watching Suho's reaction, Quay quickly prostrated himself and begged forgiveness.

“I have committed an unforgivable sin! It seems dealing with the trouble I caused has put you in a difficult position!”

“Kieeeek! Raise your head, sinner! And die!”

CHOP.

Seizing the opportunity, Beru severed Quay's head, but it promptly reattached itself, draining Suho's mana.

Quay ignored Beru entirely and continued watching Suho for a reaction.

“Forgive me for asking... were you keeping your identity hidden?”

“No, not particularly.”

“Ahem. The Young Monarch is quietly building his strength at present. There may be apostles of the outer universe operating in secret here on Earth.”

Beru spoke up beside them, his eyes flashing meaningfully.

“Even as we speak, our king is fighting a fierce war against the Outer Gods far out in space. They are also responsible for opening Gates on Earth, in an attempt to strike at our rear.”

Beru gave the newcomer, Quay, a lengthy lecture on the truth unfolding behind the scenes of their world.

Quay nodded seriously as his senior brought him up to speed.

Having already undergone the queen bee's grotesque modifications, he had instinctively grasped some of the truth about the Monarchs, so he was quick to understand.

“... I see. Then could the pests wandering around nearby be apostles of the outer universe too?”

“No, those are just pests.”

“I see.”

In fact, ever since they had left the Shadow Dungeon, certain presences had been grating on Beru's and Quay's senses.

Today, unfamiliar people could be sensed near Suho's home.

“Young Monarch, some pests are loitering outside your home.”

“Hmm.”

Suho cracked open the window and surveyed the situation outside.

People giving off mana were watching his home from various spots in the alley.

A cold glint crossed his eyes.

“Hunters.”

“Judging by how they're subtly keeping one another in check, they seem to have come from different places.”

“Master, I recognize a few faces among them. I believe they're guild scouts who have come to recruit you.”

“They dug up my personal information this quickly?”

Suho was a little surprised.

Only a day had passed since the incident had been resolved, yet they had already found out where he lived and come to see him.

“That is their job. Now that your face is known, they probably spent all night scouring Hunter Net and the Association's records.”

WHIRR.

Just then, a rushing sound came from outside the window.

When Suho failed to emerge no matter how long they waited, someone had launched a camera-equipped drone.

Not to be outdone, the others hurried to bring out drones of their own. They seemed to be trying to peer through the window to check whether Suho was home.

“Seriously? Even drones?”

Suho frowned.

“Do hunters have no right to privacy at all?”

“Since the Cataclysm, people have tended to disregard minor laws on the pretext that the entire world is in a state of emergency.”

“Kieeek! I shall deal with them at once!”

“Don't.”

Suho caught Beru by the antennae and tugged him back as he tried to rush outside without another word.

Dangling from Suho's hand, Beru complained.

“If you draw too much public attention, Young Monarch, you risk exposing your existence to any apostles of the Outer Gods who may be here.”

“If there really are apostles of the Outer Gods here, I think they've already seen everything. Besides, isn't it enough as long as they don't find out I'm the Shadow Monarch's son?”

“That is true, of course, but...”

Of course, Suho had no intention of leaving them alone either.

'Ruler's Authority.'

As he reached out, an invisible hand crushed every drone flying toward him in midair.

CRUNCH!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

“Wh-what the hell!”

“What just—!”

As their drones exploded one after another, startled cries erupted from the scouts hiding in the alley.

“Those pests won't back off so easily. Perhaps you should teach them a lesson.”

Just then—

BZZZ.