Chapter 21. Baeksu Guild (3)
A little before the Special Division arrived.
“Whew.”
Baeksu Guild Master Baek Hyeong-gyu was swinging his sword in the training hall when an inexplicable sense of dread crept over him.
What is this?
There were several reasons Baek Hyeong-gyu had survived the Aeso Gate.
But the greatest one was...
His beastlike instinct.
That instinct had saved his life more times than he could count.
Though it seems like it was wrong during that unrankable Gate incident.
When the unrankable Gate appeared, Baek Hyeong-gyu had instinctively sensed death.
That was why he refused the request for support.
I thought everyone who went would die, but somehow they all came back alive.
He had heard that the rankers who entered were all bedridden afterward.
But there hadn't been a single death.
That meant it hadn't been as dangerous as he'd thought.
My instincts are almost never wrong.
And today, those instincts had been ringing alarms over and over again.
At almost the exact same level as the day the unrankable Gate appeared.
Is it because of the Special Division?
The infamous Special Division.
Baek Hyeong-gyu was the master of a major Guild and an S-Rank Hunter, but even he couldn't take them lightly.
Most Hunters made a living by clearing Gates below their own rank.
The Special Division was different.
Even if a Gate was beyond what their rank should be able to handle, those lunatics charged in without hesitation.
Even I never want to enter a place like the Aeso Gate again.
The Special Division consisted of people who had survived countless battlefields and extreme situations.
But was Baek Hyeong-gyu actually afraid of them?
No.
And yet uneasiness kept crawling up from somewhere deep inside him.
“Hah...!”
His instincts seemed to be screaming at him.
Run.
Throw everything away and escape immediately.
Baek Hyeong-gyu ignored the warning and gave a faint laugh.
I must be getting old. My instincts are getting dull.
He was no longer the weak Baek Hyeong-gyu of the past.
He possessed S-Rank strength.
He was the Guild Master of Baeksu.
And this was his own Guild House.
More importantly...
He had no intention of clashing with the Special Division today.
Now that the illegal transfer of the Gate clearing rights had been exposed, the fastest solution was simply to admit fault and pay the fine.
Ding.
Right then, he heard the elevator arrive on the training floor.
Looks like the Special Division is here.
The doors opened.
“...!”
An overwhelming killing intent flooded toward him.
Baek Hyeong-gyu swung his sword toward the elevator almost entirely on instinct.
It was...
CLANG!
...the desperate struggle of a terrified beast trying to protect itself from an unavoidable threat.
CLANG!
Baek Hyeong-gyu's sword crashed into the blade Choi Ji-woong had raised on reflex.
“What the hell...?!”
Baek Hyeong-gyu had suddenly attacked the Special Division.
Choi Ji-woong was completely caught off guard.
He got caught illegally transferring clearing rights, and he's going this far?!
But there was no time to question why.
Grrrrk!
The difference between A-Rank and S-Rank was obvious.
And Baek Hyeong-gyu had launched a surprise attack.
Choi Ji-woong hadn't even had time to take a proper stance or circulate his mana.
CLANG!
Before even a second had passed, Choi Ji-woong's sword was knocked away.
The scarlet sword aura rushed toward him, the Special Division members, and everything behind them as though it intended to cut them all apart.
At that exact moment...
CLANG!
Another metallic crash rang out.
Something forced itself between Baek Hyeong-gyu's sword aura and Choi Ji-woong.
A halberd shaped somewhat like a battleaxe.
The scarlet sword aura pushed violently against it.
But the halberd knocked it away in an instant.
BOOOOOOM!
The deflected sword aura slammed into the training hall wall.
A long scar split across the wall amid an explosion of dust.
Choi Ji-woong was too shocked to speak.
That crazy bastard Baek Hyeong-gyu was seriously trying to kill me!
And through that gap...
SWISH!
The long halberd swept toward Baek Hyeong-gyu's head.
At that moment, Baek Hyeong-gyu understood.
The movement contained absolutely nothing unnecessary.
It was a trajectory created for one purpose alone.
Killing.
And beyond the swinging halberd...
Flicker.
He saw the crimson eyes of a predator.
“Urgh!”
Baek Hyeong-gyu barely raised his sword in time.
The instant the weapons collided, his eyes widened at the force entering his hands.
What kind of strength is this?!
Baek Hyeong-gyu had never lost in raw strength.
But the force inside that halberd was far beyond anything he could directly resist.
I can't block it.
Then redirect it.
He twisted his sword, trying to divert the halberd's trajectory.
But...
“...!”
The halberd changed course again.
Instantly.
Once more, it rushed toward his temple from exactly the same angle.
This is...
He couldn't avoid it.
Baek Hyeong-gyu gathered all his mana and prepared to activate a skill.
Then...
“H-Hunter Kim Si-hyeon! Wait!”
Choi Ji-woong's voice rang out.
It felt as though time itself stopped.
Drip. Drip.
A protruding part of the halberd had already pierced slightly into Baek Hyeong-gyu's temple.
Blood rolled down his skin.
Baek Hyeong-gyu was stunned again.
Before his skill could even activate, the weapon had already reached his head.
And even more shocking...
The halberd had stopped perfectly the instant Choi Ji-woong spoke.
The meaning was simple.
Gulp.
Unlike Baek Hyeong-gyu, who had been so desperate that he couldn't even stop his sword after recognizing Choi Ji-woong...
His opponent had been relaxed enough to stop whenever he wanted.
“Guild Master Baek Hyeong-gyu! What the hell are you doing?!”
Choi Ji-woong shouted again.
Only then did Baek Hyeong-gyu come back to his senses.
Or at least, he tried to.
Shake. Shake.
His entire body trembled uncontrollably.
“S-Special Division?”
“Are you insane?”
“W-Well...”
Seeing Baek Hyeong-gyu's aggression completely disappear, Kim Si-hyeon thought for a moment and stepped backward.
Even after a long time passed, Baek Hyeong-gyu remained dazed.
“...Guild Master Baek Hyeong-gyu.”
“...”
“Guild Master Baek Hyeong-gyu!”
“Huh? Ah...!”
Baek Hyeong-gyu finally reacted to Choi Ji-woong's shout.
But only for a moment.
Shuffle. Shuffle.
Baek Hyeong-gyu moved sideways like a crab and hid in the corner of the training hall.
Choi Ji-woong stared at him in disbelief.
“What are you doing? Is this some kind of joke?”
“...Please. Please.”
Baek Hyeong-gyu practically begged.
“...Can you please send that... that monster away?”
Choi Ji-woong looked between the trembling Baek Hyeong-gyu and the monster he was pointing at.
Kim Si-hyeon.
I had a feeling. So it really was because of Hunter Kim Si-hyeon.
Baek Hyeong-gyu was like a wild animal.
The price of surviving the Aeso Gate was losing part of his humanity.
He lived in modern society while acting like a beast.
Almost like a boy raised among wolves.
But right now...
He looked like a frightened puppy.
He noticed Hunter Kim Si-hyeon's true nature even though all the killing intent is suppressed. You've got to respect those animal instincts.
There was nothing else they could do.
Choi Ji-woong politely asked Kim Si-hyeon,
“Hunter Kim Si-hyeon... could you step outside for a moment?”
“No.”
Kim Si-hyeon answered firmly.
“He was genuinely trying to kill you a moment ago.”
If Kim Si-hyeon hadn't been there, Choi Ji-woong would have died.
...Honestly, I don't really want to let him live either.
Kim Si-hyeon swallowed the rest of the thought.
Normally, even if Choi Ji-woong had shouted at him to stop, he would've continued and killed Baek Hyeong-gyu.
Hesitation against a zombie was directly connected to death.
But this was his first official mission with the Special Division.
After the recent annual leave incident, Kim Si-hyeon had realized he still didn't understand workplace culture in this world very well.
So he was holding himself back.
Even now, he was actively resisting the judgment that killing Baek Hyeong-gyu would be safer.
Perhaps because of that...
A thin strand of red light leaked from inside his body.
“Aaaaaagh!”
Baek Hyeong-gyu screamed like a Goblin and twisted his body.
“I'm sorry! I'm sorry!”
He apologized again and again.
“I was scared! I attacked because I was scared!”
The Special Division Hunters couldn't hide their confusion.
Kim Si-hyeon was currently suppressing his killing intent.
Sure, maybe a tiny amount was leaking because his mood had worsened.
But compared to normal, it was no more than a raindrop falling into a river.
And yet Baek Hyeong-gyu was begging desperately.
“Please! Send that monster away and I'll do anything!”
“...”
It looks like Hunter Kim Si-hyeon really does need to leave before Baek Hyeong-gyu can think straight.
Choi Ji-woong had nearly been killed by Baek Hyeong-gyu only moments ago.
But seeing him honestly admit that he attacked out of fear made him feel strangely sorry for the man.
Still, I can't force Hunter Kim Si-hyeon to leave when he already said no.
Because Choi Ji-woong was scared too.
With everyone stuck and unable to decide what to do, Kim Si-hyeon spoke first.
“You need to cooperate before we can leave.”
“...!”
Baek Hyeong-gyu's eyes widened as though he'd only just realized that obvious fact.
“R-Really?”
“Of course. Tell us everything you know about the clearing rights you transferred.”
“T-The clearing rights were our mistake! You can fine us, punish us, whatever you want! If you need an investigation, I'll send every relevant employee to the Association!”
Baek Hyeong-gyu, normally famous for speaking little, was now firing sentences out like a rapper.
“What is your relationship with Choi Yoon-seo?”
“I barely know Choi Yoon-seo! We made him a team leader in our Guild for a short time, but that's all!”
There was barely any need to ask more.
“The one who transferred the clearing rights to Choi Yoon-seo was the former Fourth Raid Team Leader. He's already left the Guild and is no longer part of Baeksu! Apparently, he was fairly close to Choi Yoon-seo! The Fourth Raid Team Leader asked for a Gate clearing right instead of severance pay when he resigned. We gave him one. I knew it could be transferred illegally and still allowed it, so that's my fault! I'm sorry!”
The Special Division had been somewhat tense on the way here.
Baeksu was a Top Ten Guild.
Its Guild Master was an S-Rank Hunter.
And his personality was notoriously terrible.
Of course, since Baeksu was clearly at fault, they hadn't expected outright resistance.
But they had anticipated at least some struggle for dominance.
For the sake of his Guild's reputation and his own authority, Baek Hyeong-gyu should have pushed back somewhat.
But what was this?
“If you need the former Fourth Raid Team Leader, I'll put out a search order! I'll capture him myself! I'll postpone every raid and bring him in!”
The man known among Hunters as the Raging Lion was now more obedient than a neighborhood dog.
“He doesn't seem to be lying.”
Kim Si-hyeon's quiet mutter made Baek Hyeong-gyu nod furiously.
“O-Of course not! If I'm lying, I'll walk outside and die myself!”
And with Baek Hyeong-gyu practically prostrating himself in desperation...
The investigation into the Baeksu Guild came to an end.
“Haah... haah...”
A long time had passed since the Special Division left.
Baek Hyeong-gyu was still breathing heavily, almost hyperventilating.
“Guild Master! Drink some water.”
The Vice Guild Master hurriedly brought him some.
Baek Hyeong-gyu tried to drink.
“Cough! Cough!”
But he immediately choked.
Because the moment he closed his eyes, Kim Si-hyeon's face appeared.
No.
Could that even be called a face?
In Baek Hyeong-gyu's memory, Kim Si-hyeon looked more like a massive crimson mass flickering with killing intent.
Like a Grim Reaper...
“What happened with the Special Division?”
The Vice Guild Master couldn't believe the fear on Baek Hyeong-gyu's face.
Baek Hyeong-gyu had faced countless monsters inside the Aeso Gate.
To the Vice Guild Master, Baek Hyeong-gyu himself was practically a monster.
And yet that man was now terrified of someone he called a monster.
“...A monster. A monster came here...”
Baek Hyeong-gyu kept repeating the word.
The Vice Guild Master had no idea what he meant.
He had watched the Special Division arrive and leave from the entrance.
He hadn't sensed anything particularly strange.
No. There was one person who stood out.
“Do you mean the Special Division rookie?”
“Rookie? That monster?”
Baek Hyeong-gyu looked horrified.
“I'd never seen him before either, so I looked him up. He's a new Special Division recruit. It hasn't been officially announced yet, but apparently he's S-Rank.”
Baek Hyeong-gyu's expression hardened.
“...S-Rank?”
“Yes. It looks like the Association moved quickly to secure a newly awakened S-Rank.”
“Bullshit!”
Baek Hyeong-gyu shouted sharply.
“That thing is S-Rank?”
Idiot.
Moron.
Baek Hyeong-gyu barely stopped himself from cursing aloud.
The man had blocked his surprise attack and immediately counterattacked.
No.
Even putting that aside...
His mere presence made no sense.
There was no way that existence was the same rank as him.
“...What? Are you saying that rookie isn't S-Rank?”
“That's obvi—”
Baek Hyeong-gyu abruptly closed his mouth.
Wait.
If someone with that much power is officially being called S-Rank... maybe he doesn't want his true rank revealed.
An SS-Rank wasn't something the Association could control.
If they were really planning to announce him as S-Rank, then perhaps that Hunter himself wanted to hide his strength.
And what if Baek Hyeong-gyu caused trouble by talking carelessly about his true rank?
“N-No. He's S-Rank.”
“What?”
Baek Hyeong-gyu immediately changed his answer.
He never wanted to see that monster again.
“He's definitely S-Rank! Enough. Find him. Yang Chi-seok, the former Fourth Raid Team Leader!”
Baek Hyeong-gyu didn't know it yet.
But this incident would eventually force him to meet Kim Si-hyeon again.
