“Should I grab some herbs too? Oh well, whatever.”
I was too lazy to go through the selection process, so I just grabbed everything in the office.
Herbs, experimental tools, and hundreds of small mana stones. This will be quite a haul. I’ll use it to help pay off Yeon-hee’s debt.
The ones who check the CCTV later will freak out.
Just imagining it made me feel good.
“Let’s bounce.”
As I went down the emergency stairs, I sneakily glanced at the 16th floor.
“I thought I’d have to fight at least once, but luck’s on my side.”
It seems the moving guy hadn’t arrived yet, and people were chatting in small groups.
“… Should I try one more time?”
I felt a greedy urge.
If the boss was A-rank, then the guy in charge was probably a higher-ranked hunter, but then again, just because they have a corporate title doesn’t mean they’re strong.
“I might get some useful information.”
Finishing my thoughts, I intended to enter the 16th floor when, at that moment, I sensed an immense presence rapidly approaching the building.
───!
“Crazy!”
[Lightning Step]
“Go!”
(I’ve already set it up!)
[Acceleration]
The moment I felt the presence, I leapt and slid out of the building.
Then, just in case, I bolted toward the café on the opposite side where Yeon-hee was waiting and briefly scanned the situation.
“Ugh- Phew- That was close.”
That enormous presence definitely emanated from an S-rank hunter. I must have lost my mind for a moment. If there was any chance that such a being was coming, I should have pulled out without hesitation.
Even now, I was narrowing my senses, afraid that I might get noticed by that guy.
“It seems like he sensed what I felt.”
It was definitely like that.
The moment I recognized that being, he reacted as if he sensed something out of place.
After all, if even a red-haired elf noticed, surely a being much stronger would catch on.
Since I quietly came down the stairs, he might still be unsure, coming in at the same speed. If he had rushed in trying to break the building apart to find me, he would have killed me in an instant.
I slowly circled around and wandered for about 30 minutes before entering the café where Yeon-hee was. I immediately sent her a sign to get out.
We could only talk after we had put some distance from the building.
“What? They say non-awakened ones can use abilities now? What the?”
Nodding-
Looking at the vial filled with evolved essence that I’d stolen, Yeon-hee frowned.
“This… doesn’t even have an explanation?”
“Clap, Clap, Clap.”
Usually, the system provides explanations for ordinary items, but for some reason, this one didn’t show any information. It seemed that the development was incomplete.
“So I can’t even use it carelessly. Not that I was planning to anyway.”
I wondered if there was a way to pacify the children’s souls.
That day could come someday, so I had to keep it safe.
“There are children who sacrificed themselves here…”
Yeon-hee couldn’t finish her sentence and stared blankly at the vial.
“I revived their spirits, but now they’re stagnating again. Anyway, it’s late, and we should head back to the hotel.”
I decided to visit Cha Jin-hyuk tomorrow before we leave this place and get some rest today.
“Should we go to a different place than where we went yesterday?”
Nodding-
There was no need to bum around a place where the three of them stayed.
For now, we moved to another hotel that we had pre-selected and decided to examine the items related to the evolved essence.
* * *
At the same time.
On the 16th floor of the building where Il-wol had infiltrated, a burly man resembling a discus thrower wore a serious expression.
“So… it was that bastard. I should have dashed over immediately.”
The man in a white jumper with the letters DOH printed on his left bicep muttered while resting his chin on his hand.
In front of him stood dozens of high-ranking hunters, bowing their heads and waiting for their fate.
One of the rare branches that simultaneously conducted research, development, and sales had been silently raided.
And right before a senior executive’s visit, no less.
The posture of the hunters, stretching their necks, resembled chickens preparing to be slaughtered.
Among them, the top officer, Chief Bang, shut his eyes tightly as he recalled several grim rumors about being caught while trying to steal confidential information and being turned into test subjects.
Though he had been with the organization since its early establishment, building up many contributions, he felt increasingly uneasy in front of the monster before him.
While Chief Bang trembled in fear, Eom Sang-wook was lost in another thought.
“… The chairman said dinner, didn’t he? Why has the time been moved up?”
He had arrived a few hours earlier than the time he had heard from the chairman, but it made no sense that he had come to nothing.
DOH (Defenders of Humanity).
A grand name for a group known as the guardians of humanity.
Since the chairman’s predictions had never been wrong, S-rank hunter Eom Sang-wook couldn’t help but feel more serious.
Moreover, the chairman had predicted a major battle with a formidable enemy and had prepared accordingly, yet the intruder had simply snuck in like a rat to steal things and escape, which was puzzling.
“A sense ability user… I thought there were hardly any revealed sense ability users, except for a few early awakened ones…”
The aura he had felt earlier clearly had the qualities of a sense ability.
He could tell because he had had some encounters with sense ability users before.
‘From the building to my location is over 3 kilometers. Is that even possible?’
And logically, that guy must have been the one who sneaked in and took the items.
‘A hunter with sensing, stealth, and a storage ability to hold a large amount of items… Can such a person exist? Their capacity must be overflowing…’
It was widely known that rare abilities had limitations on how many a person could possess.
“Hah, what a joke.”
No matter how he thought about it, it made no sense.
He temporarily set the unexplainable aside and looked at the trembling hunters who had their heads bowed.
‘What should I do about the punishment? Chief Bang has contributed significantly to the organization. The others might not care, but given his temperament, if I were to punish the lower members harshly, I’d risk losing him as well.’
Eom Sang-wook, gently stroking his beard, wrapped up his thoughts and spoke with an even tone.
“Hmm- well, it’s already happened. Nothing we can do. Everyone here was half-baked job anyway, right?”
Eom Sang-wook said this to the long-serving Chief Bang who had worked hard for the chairman over the years, as if it were nothing serious.
“Yes, yes! We only adjusted the raw essence to less than 1% concentration. The D series was all sold by several hunter teams at lunchtime.”
What they referred to as the D series was a product made by mixing the essence obtained from the sacrifice of children at a high ratio.
“How did the customers who bought it at lunchtime get that?”
“Well, uh, through ‘non-hunters’…”
“I see. It’s rotten that the country’s leeches are acting as brokers. Not cool at all.”
“Y-yes… But it seems it’s quite effective in enhancing trust.”
“Just a simple observation, so don’t mind it. Just keep the buyer list safe and manage it well. Collecting information is our top priority now.”
“Yes, yes! It’s registered on the server. Since the buyers seem to be a bit sensitive today, I plan to attach someone starting tomorrow.”
“Good. Hmm- just in case, let’s stay here together today. Can you explain the mixtures that have been made so far?”
“Yes!”
Chief Bang thought there would be heavy penalties, but he felt greatly relieved by Eom Sang-wook’s unexpectedly cool demeanor.
“Phew- it’s a relief. Even if the financial loss is significant, it would be hard to find replacements for us.”
He contemplated this internally. However, Eom Sang-wook didn’t forget to give a cautionary note.
“Chief Bang. If that stealth user sold everything they took from us at full price, it would total over 200 billion. That’s equivalent to about 20 high-grade artifacts. I understand that you all are struggling, but you won’t be able to escape punishment. But I’ll try to keep it to just a pay cut.”
The hunters who were gathered around finally began to smile at Eom Sang-wook’s statement that the punishment wouldn’t be severe.
Of course, Eom Sang-wook had ulterior motives in gaining favor, but seeing the immediate rise in goodwill among the staff, it was certainly successful.
“If we were just trying to make money, it would have been much better to just set up a guild. Everyone knows that, right?”
“Yes!!”
The exuberant response echoed the room as if it shook, and Eom Sang-wook nodded in satisfaction.
“However, we won’t pursue just fame. We will protect the safety of the world while not neglecting our own benefits. The current efficiency isn’t great, but just wait. One day, we will be running the world.”
At those words, the hunters smiled even more broadly.
“Alright. I heard there are quite a few products left on the 16th floor. Let’s start cleaning that up. Also, make sure the place is completely cleared within an hour.”
“Understood, Director.”
As soon as Eom Sang-wook wrapped up his words, he leaned back on the sofa.
His posture was relaxed, but the magic energy surrounding him was sharper than ever, causing Chief Bang to feel goosebumps as his hair stood on end.
‘It’s a monster… This is no longer human.’
S-rank hunter Eom Sang-wook, known as one of the top 200 body enhancement hunters in the country.
He firmly believed that no matter who came, no one could escape from his grasp.
* * *
“Evolved essence and the stones presumed to be evolution stones. Nothing else special.”
Once we entered the hotel and took out what we had stolen, we realized we weren’t experts and couldn’t tell what we were looking at. We could only guess.
“Sigh-”
“……”
Yeon-hee sighed deeply as she stroked the stone.
I didn’t really want to know about the generation process of the stone. The method I heard from Kang Yeon-su was definitely the basis, but I thought there could be various processing methods afterward.
Last time, the red hooded mutant said it was like they directly consumed the children. Now, I was confused about what was what.
But the conclusion remained that children were being sacrificed.
“Since they even talked about automation, there must be enough materials. But there must be limits to kidnapping children. Could it be that there’s some other method?”
“How pitiful… I’m going to report this right away! If it’s the special department of the management office, they’ll surely catch everyone and punish them.”
“……”
Yeon-hee didn’t hide her anger and picked up her smartphone as if she was going to report it immediately.
But my thoughts were a bit different.
There couldn’t just be one strong guy like the director I sensed earlier. In the end, it meant that several S-rank hunters were involved in this operation. Would an organization of that size go undetected by the management office or the association? They’re organizations that believe they have their country firmly in their grasp.
Moreover, it wasn’t the special department that always had the power to oppose the S-rank hunters.
‘In this situation, they might very well be involved… If not, at the very least, they must have been complicit.’
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
