Chapter 18
“I know about your mother’s condition.”
A café in broad daylight.
Sunlight poured through the huge windows, and people were drinking coffee as though nothing was wrong.
In the middle of that peaceful space, Han Sora heard the sound of her everyday life collapsing.
Yoon Mija sat across from her.
A relaxed expression, as always.
A kind, grandmotherly smile, as always.
But the envelope she had placed on the table was anything but kind.
“The Saengjachang said that unless I devoured you two, they would hand this information over to the other two guilds.”
Han Sora opened the envelope without a word.
The moment she checked the papers inside, the tips of her fingers froze.
“How⋯.”
The top-secret treatment records from Baekho Guild’s underground infirmary.
That wound had returned in the form of a neatly organized stack of documents, prepared by someone.
Her voice failed to come out properly.
How had the Saengjachang found out?
How much did they know?
Even the location of the treatment room?
Even the names of the medical staff?
Even the reports they had falsified to hide her mother’s condition?
Questions rose without end.
But there was only one conclusion.
Baekho had been exposed.
“So⋯ you’re planning to bring down Baekho?”
Yoon Mija did not deny it right away.
That silence alone was answer enough.
“Yes.”
There was no sympathy or excuse.
Only the coldest judgment a Hunter who had survived for so long could make.
“Geumseong is still the strongest guild in South Korea. If Baekho’s information network is added to that, no one will be able to keep them in check.”
“⋯⋯.”
“And Cheongryong goes without saying. As you know, they’re still a pack of thugs whose own ranks reek of blood. If Baekho falls into their hands, the guild members may survive, but they won’t remain human beings.”
Yoon Mija quietly set down her teacup.
“So I’ll swallow it myself.”
The words were cruel.
But Han Sora could not deny that a very faint mercy was mixed into them.
“I’m going to acquire Baekho Guild the day after tomorrow.”
“!!”
“Quietly stamp the transfer documents. If you resist, I’ll have no choice but to mobilize Hyunmu, and if that happens, all of Baekho’s weak points will be exposed to everyone.”
“⋯You mean the other two guilds will move while we’re holding Grandma back?”
“That’s right.”
Yoon Mija’s eyes narrowed.
“And the executives of a guild forced into complete submission and brought under someone else’s thumb never end up well.”
The reason Baekho had managed to hold out until now was that everyone believed Han Yura was alive.
One of only three S-rank Hunters in Korea.
A monster said to possess the military strength of a legion at minimum, or even a small Hunter nation at most.
That one person was Baekho’s shield.
But in reality, Han Yura was not there.
More precisely, there was no Han Yura who could fight.
The moment that fact came to light, Baekho was no longer one of the four great guilds.
Information warfare?
Public opinion warfare?
Threats and negotiations?
Of course, Baekho was skilled at those kinds of fights.
But what ultimately proved a Hunter was force.
When a dungeon break erupted, who could stand at the scene?
When a higher-ranking guild pushed in, who could stop them?
Before those questions, Baekho had already lost its answer.
Even if they miraculously stopped Hyunmu’s acquisition, Geumseong, Cheongryong, or the countless enemies whose weaknesses Baekho had uncovered in the past would come next.
If they all attacked at once, the guild members would not be able to hold out.
And Mother⋯ Han Yura, lying in the underground treatment room, would become the best hostage of all.
After that day.
Baekho Guild headquarters.
In the middle of grounds resembling a massive traditional Korean village stood the only modern building—the main building.
Deep underground.
Inside an infirmary whose very existence was not even recorded outside the guild, Han Yura still lay unconscious.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Only the machine’s sound rang out at regular intervals, like proof that she was alive.
Han Sora sank down beside her mother’s bed.
“Mom.”
There was no answer.
“What do I do?”
She reached out and took hold of her mother’s hand.
It was warm.
She was still alive.
But that warmth made it even crueler.
“You told me to hold on until you woke up⋯.”
Han Sora’s voice crumbled.
“You told me to take care of Baekho⋯.”
Memories from her childhood surfaced.
Before becoming Baekho’s guild master, her mother had belonged to Hyunmu.
More precisely, she had been the sole cherished disciple of Yoon Mija, who was called Korea’s first S-rank Hunter.
Once, she had worked as a famous Hunter-turned-TV personality, smiling brightly in front of the public.
But Mother had not stayed in that position for long.
Because she knew.
Grandma Yoon Mija was a good person.
She was strong enough to be called a pillar of the nation, and a beautiful figure who embodied an ancient tradition.
But perhaps because of that, she was too good a person.
She could punish the wicked, but she was inept at stamping out evil at its roots.
In those days, Korea was still a place where Hunters were not seen solely as heroes.
In the shadows left behind by war and poverty, powerful Awakened people were used as enforcers by political thugs, ruled like provincial warlords, and were seen as people whose fists moved faster than the law.
Before they were shields protecting humanity, they were uncontrolled superhumans.
Unable to stand by and watch, Mother was the one who rose up then.
“I’ll crush them thoroughly.”
The War on Crime.
Under that name, as the country swept away criminal organizations one by one, Baekho was established in Seoul.
If Hyunmu was the mother of Korea’s Hunter community, Baekho was the knife that cleaned up its shadows.
Gathering information.
Seizing weaknesses.
Dragging down Hunter criminals who slipped through the law one by one.
Transforming the image of Hunters from powerful monsters into a force that protected citizens.
Turning them into a shield recognized by the state.
That was the Baekho Mother had built.
But now that name was coming to an end.
Of course, being absorbed by Hyunmu might not be the worst outcome.
Grandma Yoon Mija cared for us, mother and daughter.
It might be better than being torn apart and devoured by another guild.
But the problem was what came after.
The Saengjachang.
Those white masks knew Baekho’s secrets.
Her mother’s condition, the existence of the underground infirmary, and perhaps even deeper weaknesses than that.
At that moment, Sora realized.
As long as she was alive, Baekho would continue to be shaken.
Han Yura’s daughter.
Acting guild master of Baekho Guild.
The last pillar supporting the fallen guild.
Until now, those names had been shields, but now they would become the leash the Saengjachang could pull.
“Shouldn’t Hunter Han Sora be protected?”
“Cooperation is necessary to continue Hunter Han Yura’s treatment.”
“Hyunmu needs to move to manage Baekho’s remaining forces in a stable manner.”
Her name and her mother’s would continue to be traded around.
In the process, Grandma Yoon Mija would cast herself as the villain, Hyunmu would be cursed for swallowing Baekho, and the guild members would be left somewhere between traitors and defeated soldiers.
And the Saengjachang would only laugh behind it all.
She couldn’t bear that.
She could bear being cursed herself.
She could endure people pointing fingers at her for failing as acting guild master.
But she could not bear her mother becoming a bargaining chip.
She hated Grandma being dragged around by the Saengjachang, and she hated the guild members of Baekho becoming prey for another guild.
“I⋯.”
Han Sora swallowed a trembling breath.
“Even so, I’m an A-rank Hunter representing South Korea.”
She was saying it to herself.
“I can’t become a burden holding someone else back.”
So she thought she had to cut them all off.
The leash the Saengjachang could pull.
The name of Han Yura’s daughter.
Her position as acting guild master of Baekho.
And the hostage called 'herself.'
Because Mother had no hope of coming back now.
Baekho had already fallen.
If that was the case, it would be better for her to disappear instead.
“I’m sorry, Mom.”
Tears fell.
“I⋯ can’t do this.”
It was the moment she tried to strangle herself and end her own life.
Clack.
Someone snatched her wrist.
Smack!
A sharp sound rang out inside the infirmary.
“⋯!”
Her head jerked to the side.
Her cheek stung.
It hurt.
Yet strangely, the pain was not unfamiliar.
It resembled the pain she had felt when her mother scolded her back when she was still alive.
The pain that had mercilessly brought her to her senses whenever she tried to give up on her own⋯ whenever she pretended to shoulder the burden alone and wore the most miserable expression in the world.
Han Sora stared blankly ahead.
The person standing there was not her mother.
“What are you doing right now?”
It was Seo Jihoo.
His breathing was ragged.
His hair was disheveled as though he had run all the way there, and he was clutching a crumpled access pass in one hand.
“Jihoo⋯?”
“Is it because you don’t know how precious life is? Even right now, so many people are clinging to life—people who want to live and don’t want to die, no matter what!”
“⋯⋯.”
“Why would someone who’s perfectly alive try to die like that!”
This was the first time.
The first time a man had ever scolded her like this.
In this world, men were supposed to be the ones she protected.
They were not supposed to get hurt.
They were not supposed to be angered.
They were supposed to be protected unconditionally.
And a man like that was holding her by the shoulders now.
With enough force that she could not pull away.
And with enough desperation to make her tremble.
“Don’t ever do that again.”
Seo Jihoo gritted his teeth.
“Do you understand?”
“But⋯.”
Han Sora’s voice burst out.
“But it’s all over now!”
All the emotions she had been suppressing collapsed at once.
“I couldn’t save my mother⋯ I couldn’t protect Baekho⋯ and now the Saengjachang will use me until the day I die!”
“⋯!”
“Wouldn’t it be better if I disappeared? If I’m gone, at least they won’t be able to threaten Grandma using me as an excuse! They won’t be able to force her to swallow Baekho, take my mother hostage, or use my name as leverage!”
Seo Jihoo did not answer.
Han Sora grabbed his collar.
Like a person grasping at a straw.
“I wanted to live, too.”
Those were the most wretched words of all.
“I thought I just had to hold out until my mother woke up.”
Tears fell one after another.
“But now, no matter what I do, someone gets hurt. If I keep holding on, the guild members get hurt. If I step down, my mother gets sold off. If I stay alive, the Saengjachang will keep using us.”
“⋯⋯.”
“That’s why I thought it would be best if I disappeared⋯.”
After saying that, Han Sora lowered her head.
This man wouldn’t understand.
The politics of the four great guilds.
The Saengjachang’s threats.
The weight of the name Baekho.
So once he heard all this, he would be fed up.
He might even think it was frightening.
He would decide that this was not a problem a weak man should get involved in.
That would be natural.
And yet.
“Enough.”
Seo Jihoo was different.
“Go outside.”
“⋯What?”
“And keep everyone under control. I’m starting surgery now, so don’t let anyone come in here.”
Han Sora stared blankly at him.
Those were not the eyes of the man who had been angry with her moments ago.
They were the eyes of a doctor looking at a patient.
And the eyes of a hero who wouldn’t back down even before death⋯ eyes like her mother’s.
“From now on, I’ll make sure nothing like that happens.”
“⋯!”
“You won’t have any reason to die, either.”
Could she really be allowed to feel this way about a man?
Especially when she herself was an A-rank Hunter representing South Korea.
It was ridiculous, embarrassing, and absurd.
And yet, in that moment, she truly felt as though she had been saved.
Because to someone searching for a reason to die, he seemed like the first person to tell her she was allowed to live.