Chapter 54
The reason I first set foot in the Hyeonmu Guild.
Of course, it wasn't because I was interested in celebrities or wanted to make connections with famous stars.
It all started that evening.
It was because a status window suddenly appeared before my eyes right after I escaped the assailants' attack.
[An unexpected quest has been detected.]
[13 : 59 : 59 until initiation]
[Detailed objectives will be revealed at the time of initiation.]
[Advance preparation is recommended.]
“⋯What is this?”
A countdown that had begun without any explanation.
13 : 59 : 58.
13 : 59 : 57.
The red numbers continued to decrease without pause, like a time bomb's timer.
This was the first time anything like this had happened to me, too.
So the first person I asked was Elodie noona.
A member of the Ministry of Men and Family Affairs.
Since she had been my bodyguard from childhood and, above all, was the monster who had just blown away an enemy along with an entire barrier, she had to know more than I did.
But.
“S-status window⋯?”
“Yes. Do you know anything about it?”
“S-sorry⋯.”
She already looked like she was about to cry.
“I'm not an ability user in that field, so⋯ I don't know anything⋯.”
“Ah⋯.”
“I'm sorry I'm just a cow woman who's unnecessarily huge and has nothing but mana crammed into my breasts and butt⋯.”
“Noona, please don't say things like that⋯.”
“Hwoo⋯.”
She was digging herself deeper and deeper all on her own.
I tried to pat her head, at least.
‘I can't reach.’
She was too big.
So while I settled for roughly patting whatever parts I could reach, Gaeun spoke.
“Then we can prepare in advance.”
“Prepare?”
“Yes. An unexpected quest means something will happen the moment that countdown ends, right?”
Her eyes sparkled as she thumped her chest.
“So we'll wait in the safest place possible. Hyeonmu will take responsibility for setting up a stronghold to protect Senior Jihoo!”
Like digging a trench before a war.
She certainly wasn't wrong.
And so, now, I was on the top floor of Hyeonmu Guild headquarters.
I was sitting across from two women in an office more lavish than most conglomerate chairmen's offices.
Yoon Mi-ja.
And Yoon Gaeun.
At a glance, they looked like a well-groomed woman in her thirties and her college-aged daughter.
They could easily have passed for a mother and daughter who had started a family young.
But in reality, they were a grandmother and granddaughter.
Two generations apart.
‘I still can't get used to this, no matter how many times I see it.’
Ten minutes had already passed since we sat facing each other.
Slurp.
Madam Yoon Mi-ja was leisurely savoring her tea.
I straightened my back for no particular reason.
A living history of South Korea's Hunter world.
With someone like that silently doing nothing but holding a teacup, it felt strangely like I was being interviewed.
At last.
Tap.
“I've heard all about it, our Jihoo.”
⋯Our Jihoo?
“Not only did you learn medicine as a man, but you've also awakened an ability related to status windows, I hear?”
“Yes. Though I don't know exactly how I acquired it, either.”
“Hmm⋯.”
Her narrowly curved eyes swept over me.
“What an extraordinary young man⋯”
I hesitated.
“⋯you have such power.”
“Weren't you about to say something else just now?”
“Hohoho. When one gets old, one's tongue slips from time to time.”
That wasn't something a beauty who looked barely over thirty should have been saying.
“In any case, I'm in trouble because of this ability right now.”
“Those red numbers?”
I leaned forward.
“Do you know what they mean?”
“A little.”
The hand that set down her teacup raised one finger.
“Unexpected quests generally fall into three categories.”
The first is the intervention type.
A type that draws the user into a specific incident and has them save someone or prevent a death that has already been set in motion.
The second is the variant type.
A type where something beyond conventional understanding, such as an unidentified creature or a sudden enemy, suddenly appears.
And the third and final type is the chain type.
Completing one leads to the next incident, whose result calls forth another quest.
Even after hearing the explanation, my expression did not brighten.
“But⋯ aren't all of those dangerous?”
“If you were alone, they would be.”
Her red lips curved gracefully.
“But you're our Jihoo.”
There it was again: our Jihoo.
“Where do you think you're sitting right now?”
Hyeonmu.
One of South Korea's four major guilds.
People said it ranked lower than the other three in pure combat power, but that was only because the guilds it was being compared with were monsters.
Active Hunters.
Professional security personnel.
Combat personnel working in broadcasting and entertainment.
Even retired veterans.
If they decided to protect a single person, this building housed enough strength to crush several minor guilds.
“If it's the intervention type, we'll stop it before the incident occurs.”
She lifted her teacup again.
“If it's the variant type, we'll stomp whatever appears.”
Slurp.
“If it's the chain type, we'll simply smash everything one by one until it's over.”
It was a brutally simple solution.
Yet coming from Hyeonmu's master, it was strangely persuasive.
“Above all, status-window quests usually appear according to the user's level.”
That made sense, too.
I'm a doctor.
Judging solely by combat power, I was barely at an E-rank Hunter's level.
No, perhaps I was even weaker than that.
Would something capable of laying waste to the headquarters of one of South Korea's four major guilds really be sent just to take me down?
“So put your mind at ease.”
Madam Yoon looked at me and smiled gently.
“Nothing will happen to our Jihoo while this old grandmother is watching.”
Only then did some of the tension leave me.
“Thank you. I will definitely repay this favor.”
“Hohoho. Our Jihoo is asking me for a favor, so how could I not do this much? Don't say such hurtful things.”
“That's right, Senior.”
Gaeun joined in from beside me.
“You helped me a lot at school, too. Just think of it as getting a little of what you've built up over time back.”
Beaming.
The two of them smiled side by side.
Especially Madam Yoon.
She had been calling me our Jihoo far too naturally since earlier.
Of course, having a living national cultural treasure of South Korea treat me so familiarly was an honor, if anything.
But for some reason, it kept making my spine itch.
Right then.
“By the way.”
Madam slowly traced the rim of her teacup with her fingertip.
“You came to our Hyeonmu even though you already have the Ministry of Men and Family Affairs at your side.”
A gentle smile still hung around her lips.
But.
“I wonder whether those women will come looking for me later, complaining of stomachaches. Hohoho.”
⋯Was it just my imagination?
Why did I sense something like competitiveness behind that smiling face?
“Ah, about that.”
“Yes?”
“I was originally going to ask the Ministry of Men and Family Affairs first.”
For an instant, Madam Yoon's smile froze.
“⋯What did you say?”
“Pardon?”
“Our Hyeonmu wasn't your first choice⋯ it was them?”
“Wouldn't that be obvious?”
“Obvious⋯.”
“Hyeonmu is, after all, a guild I'd only just learned about through Gaeun.”
“⋯I see.”
Her answer was calm.
Yet for some reason, it seemed there was just a little more force than usual in her fingertips as she set down her teacup.
But to me, it was the obvious choice.
Ever since I was born into this world, all sorts of crazy women had clung to me simply because I was a man.
The Life Resources Administration.
People in power.
Mysterious organizations.
The Ministry of Men and Family Affairs had always been the place that protected me among all of them.
So the moment I confirmed the countdown, I contacted Soheon noona first.
It happened to be nearly the end of Concentrated Male Birth Day, and I thought that someone who had dealt with countless special incidents would know something.
But then.
“Damn it⋯ why does it have to be now?”
It was a voice I had never heard before.
Soheon noona, who was always so self-assured, was genuinely at a loss.
“I really can't leave right now⋯.”
“Are you very busy?”
“Yes. Of course, our Jihoo is always number one to me!”
Urgent breathing came through the phone.
“But the situation at the birth center is completely out of control right now.”
From what I heard, the Life Resources Administration had decided to make a move.
They were pushing documents about guardianship, special education, and genetic preservation onto mothers who had just given birth to baby boys, trying to obtain their consent while the women were dazed and disoriented immediately after giving birth.
“So all four of us are tied up here right now. We're calling human rights organizations and lawyers, too⋯ For now, we're stopping the mothers from signing anything at all.”
“⋯I see.”
Above all, the children were the future of the country.
Especially in this world, where the moment a baby boy was born, countless organizations reached out to claim him.
As a fellow man.
I couldn't tell her to abandon those children and come save me first.
That was why I accepted Gaeun's proposal and came to Hyeonmu.
After hearing the story.
“Hmph.”
“⋯?”
Madam Yoon turned her head.
“I see.”
“Yes?”
“So we weren't number one.”
“⋯⋯.”
“Hmph.”
What was that supposed to mean?
Surely the living legend representing South Korea hadn't gotten sulky over who I asked for help first.
Come on, even if she looked young, how old was she really?
‘Could she have a bad throat?’
That had to be it.
Old people had weak throats, after all.
“Um⋯ so can I relax now?”
At my question.
Bang!
Madam Yoon sprang to her feet as though she'd been waiting for that moment and shouted.
“Of course!”
Her long hair flowed down her back.
She looked like a mature woman in her thirties on the outside.
But her voice carried the confidence of someone who had lived through many long years.
“This is Hyeonmu.”
She placed one hand on her hip.
“Who would dare touch our Jihoo under my watch?”
“Oh⋯.”
“As I said, if the unexpected quest is the intervention type, we'll stop it!”
One finger.
“If it's the variant type, we'll stomp it!”
Two.
“If it's the chain type, we'll smash every last thing until it's over!”
She certainly was reassuring.
“So don't worry.”
She grinned.
“This old grandmother will protect our Jihoo.”
“Thank you.”
“If I fail, you said Mi-ran of Geumseong performed a dogeza in front of you?”
“Pardon?”
But why had the conversation suddenly veered in that direction?
“I'll go one step further and do it stark naked.”
“No, that's completely unnecessary⋯.”
“If even that isn't enough, I'll shake my butt and perform an apology dance, too!”
“You really don't have to do that.”
“Don't be shy.”
Madam Yoon proudly thrust out her chest.
“I swear on the name of Yoon Mi-ja, if our Jihoo suffers even the slightest injury, I can crawl around on all fours right there and oink like a pig!”
The standard of her apology seemed to be getting lower and lower.
Right then.
Screeeeech──!
A sharp alarm rang inside my head.
“⋯!”
The red numbers that had been steadily decreasing before my eyes finally stopped.
[00 : 00 : 00.]
[The countdown has ended.]
‘It's here.’
I swallowed involuntarily.
[Initiating the unexpected quest.]
It's fine.
This is Hyeonmu's headquarters.
Whether it was the intervention type.
The variant type.
Or the chain type.
We'd be able to handle whatever came.
That was what I thought.
Until the next sentence appeared.
[Your current location does not match the designated quest area.]
“⋯Huh?”
[Adjusting coordinates.]
“Wait.”
An ominous premonition ran down my spine.
[The user will be forcibly transported to the quest area.]
“Eek.”
Whoooosh──!
The next moment, my vision was swallowed by a brilliant white light.