Chapter 16
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: Don't even think of leaving until you reach Foundation Establishment.
"Huh?"
I meant to say, "What?"
But the words came out wrong.
I thought I'd misread it, so I checked again.
But the chat was pouring down like a waterfall.
Why was everyone so worked up?!
ㄴTaehyun Zhenren: Child, Ice Empress is right. We won't be able to relax until you reach Foundation Establishment, will we?
ㄴTaebaek Sword Lord: You relied on brute force without using a single sword technique, didn't you? Why not take this chance to learn swordsmanship?
ㄴFive Azure Demon King: You looked like you could use some practice. Even if you're a knockoff Foundation Establishment cultivator, being able to control only two magical artifacts at once is ridiculous.
ㄴHeavenly Secrets Pavilion Master: Let's take this opportunity to learn formation arts, artifact refinement, and talisman crafting. You only need to study the basics of spiritual runes.
ㄴBlood River Patriarch: Forget all that. Become a demonic cultivator, and you won't have to go through any of that trouble.
Ugh... The chat's on fire!
No, wait. Thinking about it, I was being crushed by a disaster I'd brought on myself!
I was the one who went to the senior center to play Go!
I was the one who'd baited the newbies!
The old men and women with real skill were getting excited!
This is that thing!
‘That's not how you're supposed to do it….’
Veterans charging in all excited after watching a newbie fight!
Besides, they weren't listening even when I said I'd only go up one floor.
At this rate, if I got caught, I'd have to make more elixirs.
Judging by the mood, I wouldn't be able to move from here.
No! I had to negotiate somehow!
I couldn't back down like this!
"Um... Can't I take it a little more slowly? There aren't any people bullying me anymore..."
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: No! Now that we know hunters are martial artists, we cannot take this lightly!
ㄴTaehyun Zhenren: That's right, child. You must be careful of martial artists while you're still at Qi Refining.
ㄴTaebaek Sword Lord: Exactly. What if that man shows up again? You could end up in serious trouble.
ㄴHeavenly Secrets Pavilion Master: You needn't worry about that. Until the child releases the spell, isn't he just an ordinary mortal?
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: What if he recovers and comes back to seek revenge?!
ㄴBlood River Patriarch: No need to worry about that. He'll be too busy trying to save his own neck now.
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: What makes you so sure?
ㄴBlood River Patriarch: People like him are the first to die in the Demon Realm.
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: Even so...
ㄴBlood River Patriarch: Want to bet? That man's about to feel like he's fallen into hell.
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: What do you mean?
ㄴBlood River Patriarch: Everyone he's trampled, looked down on, or beaten to a pulp will bare their fangs. How's he going to hold out?
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: Then... Did you tell the child to stop killing because you foresaw this situation?
ㄴBlood River Patriarch: Of course! If he'll die without us lifting a finger, why rack up killing karma?
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: Honestly. I was foolish to have trusted you, even for a moment.
From what they were saying, it sounded like that hunter named Baek Shin-hoo was in serious trouble.
Was he going to be okay?
No! I should be worrying about myself, not him!
This feels like Spartan-style college entrance exam prep, doesn't it?
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: The cultivation city you're in is unusual, so we can't be sure his inner energy has been crippled. Just in case, begin your training right now!
"Ugh... Can't I take it slowly?"
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: No! Don't even think about taking one step outside until you reach Foundation Establishment!
I could ignore them, but it was hard to brush off people who were only saying this because they were worried about me.
ㄴTaebaek Sword Lord: Our child should learn swordsmanship, too.
ㄴHeavenly Secrets Pavilion Master: You need to learn spiritual runes, the foundation of formation arts, artifact refinement, and talisman crafting!
Everyone was so fired up to teach me!
This is that thing!
Like going to four different cram schools after school!
1.
A few days later. Capital University Hospital, VIP ward.
Baek Shin-hoo lay in bed, glaring at the ceiling.
There was no one around him.
There were no bouquets or fruit from visitors, either.
There was no sign that anyone had come to see him.
He was just lying there alone in the silent room.
Just then, the hospital room door opened and his attending physician came in.
The doctor only glanced over his chart with a grim expression, without even meeting his eyes.
"How are you feeling?"
A basic question.
It felt like he was only asking what he absolutely had to.
Maybe the reason for the doctor's behavior was Baek Shin-hoo's attitude.
He was the sort of patient who started hurling curses without warning.
"Shut up! Why did my powers disappear?!"
"The hospital can't determine what has happened to a hunter's abilities."
"What?"
"We've performed an EEG, an MRI, blood tests, and even a spinal fluid test, but there's nothing wrong with your body."
"Say something I can understand!"
"In short, there's nothing physically wrong with you, Mr. Baek Shin-hoo."
"Then why can't I use my powers?!"
"At the moment, we suspect a conversion disorder caused by acute stress."
"Fuck! Didn't I tell you to explain it so I can understand?!"
"I believe it may be due to trauma."
"Ha—fuck! What a quack! You don't know anything!"
Baek Shin-hoo's repeated curses made the doctor's brow furrow.
He roughly snapped the chart shut, making sure Baek Shin-hoo could hear, and said something to the nurse.
"He seems healthy, so please discharge him."
"Fuck! I'm not healed yet!"
The doctor seemed to ignore the shouting and commotion behind him as he quickly left the room.
The nurse who remained only looked at him coldly and informed him in a businesslike tone.
"Please contact the Awakening Management Bureau about your abilities. There's nothing the hospital can do."
"Fuck!!! This fucking piece-of-shit hospital!!!"
And so Baek Shin-hoo left the hospital as if he'd been thrown out.
"When I get my powers back, I'll smash this hospital to pieces!"
He headed straight to the Awakening Management Bureau.
Even on the way, his anger slowly built.
How much tax money had they taken from him all this time?
Shouldn't they help a hunter in crisis?
And not just any hunter—an S-rank had lost his abilities!
How many S-rank hunters did Korea even have?
"The guild bastards won't get away with this once I get my powers back. Fuck."
The guild was no different.
"They're nothing without me, and they're already cutting me loose?"
He began carefully writing out a list of people he wanted dead.
Then he tried moving the arm that had nearly been torn off.
His body was his fortune, so he hadn't spared any expense.
He'd taken every potion he could get his hands on and rushed to the best hospital.
Thanks to that, his body had recovered, but...
His muscles moved normally, so there didn't seem to be anything wrong...
So why couldn't he feel any mana?
With his frustration weighing on him, he left through the hospital's main entrance to catch a taxi.
At that moment, someone stepped in front of him.
"You bastard... I wish you'd died..."
He recognized that face.
Was it on the fifth floor?
The hunter whose shins he'd kicked.
Judging by his eyes, he hadn't come to visit him in the hospital.
"You little bastard... You came here to die?"
"I worked up the courage to come, you know?"
The man clenched his fist.
"If that rumor going around the Gallery is bullshit, then I'm dead today."
"What? The fuck?"
"But if you've really lost your powers..."
Baek Shin-hoo's eyes wavered.
His throat went dry as he swallowed.
"Get ready to die today. No, I don't want to become a criminal, so I won't kill you."
The man strode toward him.
2.
At that moment, in the first-floor safety zone.
The Nebula Guild members were standing in neat rows, having their gear inspected.
Naturally, the one supervising them was Vice Guild Master Shin Eun-woo.
He'd been through this himself.
Shin Eun-woo was checking the guild members' equipment when he seemed to have a question and walked over to Yoo Se-ah.
"Se-ah."
Yoo Se-ah leaned in and whispered.
"Call me Guild Master when we're outside."
"Ah, um. Guild Master. I've got a question."
"What is it?"
"How did you know that NPC would trade bait?"
"I didn't."
"Then?"
"We had no other option, so I took a chance and asked."
"Then you gave that NPC 200 million won in cash on the fifth floor."
"I did."
"How did you know the NPC would take money? Why did you bring it in advance?"
Yoo Se-ah answered casually, as if it were nothing.
"I didn't know that, either."
"Huh? Then... why did you... bring it?"
"I originally prepared it for something else."
"Something else?"
"To seduce male hunters."
Shin Eun-woo stared at her blankly.
"What does that mean?"
"There were a lot of hunters getting bait on the fifth floor, right?"
"Right?"
"I was going to stand beside that NPC, then approach the male hunters coming out after trading for bait and offer to buy it from them. With cash."
"Ah..."
"There are plenty of pretty female hunters in the guild. I thought we might be able to make it work somehow."
"You were really going to go that far?"
"I told you. There's nothing to gain from dragging this out."
Shin Eun-woo nodded, then looked at her again with a puzzled expression.
"I understand that. But why give 200 million won? And to an NPC, of all things?"
Yoo Se-ah tapped him lightly on the chest.
She'd wanted to flick him on the forehead, but she couldn't reach.
Shin Eun-woo just looked at her with an innocent, impassive expression.
Yoo Se-ah sighed at the sight.
"Eun... No, Vice Guild Master."
"Hm? Why?"
"Have you ever seen an NPC in the Tower that sells only one item?"
"There are some... Oh!"
Shin Eun-woo stared at her in surprise.
"Right. At first, I thought it was just an event NPC that traded items."
"Then?"
"If it brought up a trade, that means it's a vendor NPC."
"Right."
"Most vendor NPCs sell several things."
"So that NPC might, too?"
"I don't know. Other NPCs ask for items, but that one asked for cash, right?"
"Uh, yeah."
"If this raid succeeds, we should investigate that child."
"So you think it might be a hunter?"
"I don't know. And even if it's an NPC, if you can raise its affinity with cash, there's no cheaper way to do it."
"That's true. But what if it's a dud?"
"It's not an amount that would burden the guild. It's not a bad idea to make that kind of investment with the future in mind."
Shin Eun-woo nodded, as if he'd finally understood everything.
"I knew I could count on you."
"Stop saying useless things. Are you done checking the gear?"
"Yeah. Everyone's ready."
"Did you test the bait?"
"Yeah. The bait we bought lasted a day, and the bait we got from the NPC lasted three days... Way longer."
"Then it's better than we expected."
"Right. Shall we get ready?"
"Yeah. Get into formation, then we'll start the briefing."
"Got it!"
After confirming everyone was ready, she began the briefing.
There were fifteen people in the raid team this time.
The Nebula raid team began to move.