Chapter 19

Chapter 19

A shadow happened to pass over my head.

I glanced upward and saw a fairly familiar face.

A famous Hunter I'd mostly seen through the news and internet.

"Yes, yes. Taepyeong Guild is here. Citizens, please evacuate as quickly as possible. A Taepyeong Guild relief station will be set up at the end of the road."

His expression looked bored, but his powerful voice carried across the entire area.

All around us, people let out breaths of relief they couldn't hold back.

The Hunter calling out to the civilians frowned.

Apparently, he was frustrated by the people who were filming him on their phones instead of evacuating.

"Thankfully, the guild responsible for this district responded quickly."

One of my guards whispered while wiping sweat from his forehead.

Several Taepyeong Guild members glanced in our direction as they passed, then continued onward.

They seemed to recognize my guards.

Once we'd moved quickly toward the rear, I asked,

"Do you know them?"

"When you belong to one of the major guilds, you tend to recognize people from other major guilds after crossing paths a few times. We'll wait here for a while, then return to the car after the fighting is over."

"I'm glad the car looks like it'll survive."

"Right. Although it'll probably take a while to get it out..."

"Can't be helped. I know we're lucky to be this safe in the middle of a disaster."

We moved toward the side of the road and watched what was happening ahead.

Not long afterward, more Taepyeong Guild members arrived.

They moved busily, pulling tents and rescue supplies from bracelets that looked like inventory items.

This must have been the Taepyeong Guild relief station we'd heard about earlier.

"Well, if it isn't Crafter Do Hwa-in."

Someone broke away from the busy Taepyeong Guild members and approached me.

This guy looks familiar too...

For some reason, it felt like every famous person in Taepyeong Guild had gathered here today.

Fortunately, before things became awkward, one of my guards quietly told me who he was.

"That's Guild Master Kim Gi-hun of Taepyeong Guild."

What?

The Taepyeong Guild master who gave Chaeri those mana stones?

Apparently certain I'd recognized him, Kim Gi-hun stepped closer.

"Did you receive the present I entrusted to that little chirper?"

Her name is Chaeri.

I could feel Chaeri wriggling beneath my clothes, apparently dissatisfied that he'd gotten her name wrong.

I patted the outside of my shirt to comfort her.

At the same time, I examined Kim Gi-hun.

I feel a little bad thinking this, but he really looks like the kind of guy who's familiar with bribery.

You shouldn't judge people by their faces.

But out of every Hunter I'd met so far, Kim Gi-hun looked the most intimidating.

He looked like someone had drawn the stereotypical gangster and brought him to life.

A huge, muscular body that seemed physically incapable of standing at attention.

A shirt, despite the fact that he'd been dispatched to an active incident.

Scars across his rugged face, forearms, neck, and near one eye.

And he fights monsters with his bare hands.

Although he sometimes used weapons, he was famous for mostly grappling with monsters using nothing but his fists.

He looked like he belonged in a gangster movie.

I swallowed the thought and answered him instead.

"Ah, so you're the one who gave Chaeri those gifts. It's nice to meet you. I'm sculptor Do Hwa-in."

I put the mana stones you gave me to excellent use when buying my dream house.

At the word gift, Kim Gi-hun opened his mouth wide and laughed.

Something about it felt deeply suspicious.

"Haha! Glad to hear it. Since meeting like this must be fate, how about joining me for a meal?"

His white teeth gleamed in the sunlight like a predator that had spotted prey.

He was clearly suppressing his mana, yet his presence was still overwhelming.

Is he going to commission something?

The reason he'd given me mana stones in advance had probably been so he could comfortably approach me later when he wanted an item.

There was nothing strange about that day turning out to be today.

Even the way he addressed me gave it away.

Not Artist Do.

Crafter Do.

He had come looking for an item maker.

I probably would've ended up meeting him eventually anyway.

Judging by the preparations he'd already made to establish a connection with me, he didn't seem like the type to simply forget about it and leave things alone.

Besides, no matter how much I prioritized sculpture, the world already knew I possessed an S-Class production skill.

Meeting South Korea's high-ranking Hunters was probably unavoidable.

Even if I didn't seek them out, they would come looking for me.

I knew that from the moment the news started screaming about the appearance of an S-Class production-type.

If anything, things had been surprisingly peaceful so far, probably thanks to Yeonwoo Guild.

There was no way the environment that allowed me to focus entirely on <Pilgrim> had happened by coincidence.

Before the silence could become awkward, I quickly agreed.

"Sure."

"Looks like they'll finish cleaning things up ahead pretty soon. Would you mind waiting a bit?"

"That's fine. Contact me after you're done."

The moment I finished speaking, the guard beside me stepped forward and offered his own business card.

The message was obvious.

We're not giving you his personal contact information that easily.

Kim Gi-hun's lips curled crookedly.

He gave the guard a once-over.

"I heard Crafter Do wasn't actually affiliated with Yeonwoo Guild. Looks like Guild Master Shin Ha-gyeon was messing with me."

"Yeonwoo Guild is responsible for my security. We can exchange personal contact information once we've built some trust."

"Oh dear. Looks like I'll have to work for it."

He was an A-Class Hunter.

Before my guard ended up in an uncomfortable position, I stepped in and wrapped things up.

The highest-ranked Yeonwoo Guild guards with me today were B-Class.

Considering that Hunter license ranks were based on an overall evaluation, even one rank could represent a significant gap.

There was no reason to let the mood turn hostile.

After exchanging greetings with Guild Master Kim Gi-hun, I looked for somewhere nearby to pass the time.

Taepyeong Guild Master Kim Gi-hun watched Do Hwa-in walk away.

Hmm...

The artist Shin Ha-gyeon kept bragging about was different in person from the flustered young man he'd seen surrounded by reporters on the news.

He looked fairly composed.

His appearance was gentle, and his slightly sulky expression made him look exactly like a young man his age.

Yet even when a high-ranking Hunter suddenly approached him, he didn't show any obvious nervousness.

Has he already gotten arrogant?

Kim Gi-hun clicked his tongue inwardly.

He didn't regret sending Do Hwa-in that gift.

It had been the price of establishing a connection from the start.

And today, that gift had already paid for itself by naturally creating a dinner invitation.

Whatever Do Hwa-in's true thoughts were, he probably couldn't simply reject a Taepyeong Guild commission after remembering the earlier gift.

What irritated Kim Gi-hun more was why it had taken him so long to actually meet the crafter after going that far.

Do Hwa-in's artistic activities.

What's a Hunter doing running around making art...? Tsk.

After Yeonwoo Guild openly bragged about Do Hwa-in, there hadn't been much news for a while.

Kim Gi-hun had assumed he was quietly making items for Yeonwoo Guild.

Instead, what eventually appeared wasn't an item at all.

It was a sculpture.

Worse, it had been created from rare Gate material and unveiled not by Yeonwoo Guild, but by Badger Guild.

Kim Gi-hun had never particularly thought about making an item from Sacred Wood.

Yet the moment he saw the sculpture, the wastefulness of it made his blood pressure rise.

It was already annoying enough that Yeonwoo Guild and Badger Guild had secretly gotten close to the crafter behind everyone else's backs.

And after all that, what had they commissioned?

Not an item.

A sculpture.

What were S-Class and A-Class guild masters of major guilds doing, meeting the world's first S-Class crafter and not asking for items?

Kim Gi-hun couldn't understand it at all.

Even when Taepyeong Guild executives told him it was fortunate the competing guilds hadn't strengthened their combat power, his twisted mood didn't improve.

It would've been better if Crafter Do had worked in some other profession before awakening...

There were plenty of jobs that involved making things besides art.

As far as Kim Gi-hun was concerned, he simply didn't get along with artists.

Before awakening, he'd spent years as a judo athlete.

He generally liked people who were polite, straightforward, and easy to deal with.

But every former artist he'd met after awakening had somehow gotten into small conflicts with him.

To Kim Gi-hun, artists were fussy.

Proud.

And people who deliberately chose inefficient ways of doing things.

A suddenly famous brat is already annoying enough. And he's an artist too.

Hunters who had been artists before awakening had a strange tendency to become arrogant once their names became famous, even if they weren't personally strong.

Maybe that had been acceptable before Gates existed.

But after Gates appeared, shouldn't things be different?

Especially for people who couldn't even protect themselves.

At least, that was Kim Gi-hun's view.

Still, he couldn't simply dismiss Do Hwa-in as some young artist who became famous overnight.

Whatever nonsense Do Hwa-in did, and however arrogant he became because that nonsense made him famous, he was still the only crafter in the world known to possess an S-Class production skill.

Kim Gi-hun couldn't afford to make an enemy of him.

Tsk...

What a shame.

Come to think of it, the vice guild master said something about Crafter Do... sculpture? Did he say the sculpture was incredible? Damn it, maybe our vice guild master is losing it too.

What the vice guild master had actually said was:

The impression given by the sculpture installed in front of Badger Guild is far from ordinary. He clearly possesses some related skill or stat. If even his sculpture has this kind of effect, then the items created through his skill are worth looking forward to.

...But very little of that had remained in Kim Gi-hun's head.

In some ways, Kim Gi-hun was just as much of a figurehead guild master as Shin Ha-gyeon.

The difference was that Shin Ha-gyeon existed as the guild members' ultimate reliable trump card while leaving internal management to Kim Sang-hyeon.

Kim Gi-hun, on the other hand, interfered with internal matters while openly making his vice guild master do all the actual work.

A subordinate's voice finally interrupted his long chain of complaints.

One of the guild members looking at a tablet beside the relief tent raised a hand high.

"Guild Master! They cleared it up ahead! Should we send in the cleanup team?"

"Yeah. Let's finish quickly and go home."

"Yes!"

The combat team could be seen approaching from the front while wiping monster blood off themselves.

They crossed paths with the waiting cleanup team like runners passing a baton.

"Korean food is fine, right?"

After asking that, Kim Gi-hun smoothly guided us to an upscale Korean restaurant.

It was the kind of Korean restaurant that served a full course meal.

He'd said we should eat first because everyone was hungry and discuss business afterward.

And he really did eat without saying a single word.

Once I confirmed that the guards sitting at the next table had also started their meal, I took my first bite.

...It was good.

Did they put something in the rice?

It tasted so good that such an absurd suspicion crossed my mind.

My eyes naturally drifted toward the neighboring table.

Chaeri was hopping between the guards, pecking grains of rice off the table.

Her puffed-up cheeks made it obvious she was extremely happy.

Watching her somehow made me feel warm inside.

My slightly tense shoulders relaxed.

Apparently this was a restaurant Kim Gi-hun was confident in.

The moment tea was served after the meal, he chuckled.

"Good, isn't it? This is my guaranteed winning restaurant. My guys say this is the best place around here too."

He raised a thumb and waved it around playfully.

The atmosphere relaxed enough that I found myself imagining Taepyeong Guild members roaming the neighborhood in search of good restaurants.

We chatted a little about the food and today's strange coincidence.

By the time the tea in our cups had been reduced by half, we finally got to the real conversation.

"I'll be direct."

The moment Kim Gi-hun said that, his entire atmosphere changed from the casual man who had been chatting moments ago.

"Crafter Do, I'm sure you've already figured out what I want. Taepyeong Guild would like to commission an item from you. Specifically, something for building defense."

"...Building defense?"

"Yes. This isn't really the place to explain the details."

Kim Gi-hun's gaze shifted toward the neighboring table.

The Yeonwoo Guild guards were sitting there.

It was obvious he didn't want to reveal internal guild matters to a rival guild.

"If you agree to accept the commission, I'll explain everything in detail when we meet to sign the contract."

Why did none of these guild masters ever explain everything in one sitting?

Still, I understood rivalry between guilds well enough, so I simply nodded.

I thought that would be the end of today's business.

But...

The expression on the Taepyeong Guild master's face looked strange.

His jaw twitched as though he were desperately holding back words that were trying to burst out.

I waited silently.

Eventually, Kim Gi-hun couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Crafter Do. Since we're already talking about you accepting a commission, let me say one thing."

"..."

"Artistic stuff? I don't have an eye for it and I don't care about it. What good is art to a Hunter? Efficiency! Strong effects! That's what matters."

"...Excuse me?"

"Honestly, who cares if an item looks pretty? As long as the status window shines, that's enough. Don't waste effort on appearance. Focus more on the skill effects."

I was still trying to process the nonsense that had suddenly started pouring out of his mouth.

Because I didn't respond, Kim Gi-hun apparently took that as encouragement.

He continued enthusiastically.

"And another thing, Crafter Do. Why don't you stop wasting time on those little sculptures from now on and focus on making items instead? Make tons of them! Pour them into the guilds. If the guilds thrive, everyone benefits, right? You know the trickle-down effect? Trickle-down effect."

...Those little sculptures?

Wow.

That was ridiculous.

I relaxed the rigid posture I'd maintained out of courtesy and looked directly at Kim Gi-hun.

He looked puzzled by the change in my posture.

So I smiled at him.

If this had been the old Do Hwa-in...

No.

Even if this had happened back when I first went to Yeonwoo Guild to sign the contract...

I probably wouldn't have been able to control my anger after hearing what Kim Gi-hun just said.

Back then, even after awakening, I'd believed the only thing I truly possessed was my love for art.

And even that love wasn't some calm mutual affection.

It was unrequited love.

Painful, foolish, stubborn unrequited love I'd clung to for years.

But not anymore.

My feelings toward art hadn't changed.

But my mindset had.

From Yeonwoo's sculpture to the recently unveiled <Pilgrim>.

I now had confidence that the path I'd chosen was right.

And that confidence gave me room to breathe.

Enough room to respond calmly even to this.

"I'm not sure I could prioritize efficiency over art."

"Why not just try? Who doesn't like efficiency?"

"And I'm not working for the purpose of helping guilds either."

I made a small sound as though considering his suggestion.

Then I slowly shook my head.

"I don't think it'll work. I'm afraid I might only cause trouble for Taepyeong Guild if we proceed like this, so I'll have to decline the commission."

"No, Crafter Do. Rather than just saying you can't or you don't want to... shouldn't you reconsider for the sake of the country?"

Kim Gi-hun tried several more times to persuade me.

Each time, I declined.

By the time he was gulping down tea with a completely drained expression, I decided to end the conversation.

"Next time you want an artistic item, let's have another meal. That time, I'll pay."

I glanced toward my guards and stood.

Chaeri fluttered over and landed on my shoulder.

I gave Kim Gi-hun a relaxed farewell.

His exhausted, dumbfounded face looked up at me.

"Thank you for the meal today. I'll be leaving first."

"Peep-peep-peep!"

Chaeri chirped loudly.

Probably her own way of saying she'd enjoyed the meal too.

Hopefully, I never have to see him again.