Chapter 19
A week later.
Ever since his discharge, Baek Shin-hoo had been going in and out of the Bureau every day.
ㅡ BANG!
"Fuck! So what are you going to do for me?!"
Apparently thinking the ordinary staff were easy targets, he hurled curses at them and slammed the desk.
The staffer only responded with a dry look.
In the past, the director would have rushed out to deal with him.
Now, no one paid him any attention.
"The Bureau says there's nothing we can do for you at the moment, Mr. Baek Shin-hoo. Please take some time to rest, and then we can see how things..."
ㅡ BANG!
"Don't give me that crap about resting. Fuck! I can't calm down until my powers come back!"
Perhaps because rumors that he'd lost his powers had spread, someone came to pick a fight with him almost every day.
Now he felt as though everyone's eyes were watching him.
Anxiety surged every time he walked down the street.
He'd even asked the Bureau to assign him a hunter bodyguard, but the answer he got was ridiculous.
"There are no volunteers."
"I'll pay! Who said I wouldn't pay?"
"That's not the issue. Everyone says they'd rather get fired than take on security duty for you, Mr. Baek Shin-hoo."
"How the hell does that make sense?!"
"If anyone volunteers later, we'll put you in touch right away."
"Fuck... The Bureau's a real joke. I'm reporting all of this!"
He'd ranted about everything he could think of, but in the end, he had no choice but to leave without accomplishing anything.
Now he had to step back out into a world where everyone was his enemy.
The fear of being hit from behind at any moment.
He looked around nervously, then ducked into an alley for a moment because there were too many people.
Just then.
A man blocked his way.
"Long time no see. You're still doing fine, huh?"
"Who are you?"
No matter how hard he searched his memory, he couldn't remember who the man was.
The man let out a hollow laugh at the sight.
"Fuck. How much shit have you pulled that you can't even remember the faces of people you've trampled?"
"What are you talking about...?"
"Whatever. I didn't meet you to exchange greetings. Thanks to you, our guild disbanded, and our ace became a broken wreck."
A cold sweat ran down his spine.
Revenge.
The approaching man exuded an intimidating aura.
Whatever happened, he had to get through this crisis.
Even if it hurt his pride, he had no powers right now.
"I'm truly sorry about what happened back then. I think I pushed myself too hard because I was so desperate to climb higher."
He put on the most pitiful expression he could.
The man glared at him coldly, then asked a question.
"So what's his name?"
"What?"
"What's the name of our ace who became a wreck?"
"Uh... Well..."
As Baek Shin-hoo hesitated, the man approached with a face like a demon incarnate.
Sensing danger, Baek Shin-hoo tried to run backward, but two other men had already blocked the way.
Trapped from both sides.
The man came closer and shouted, his voice full of pent-up rage.
"Our ace's name is Kang Taehyun, you son of a bitch!"
"Oh! Right! Kang Taehyun! I remember! I'll go apologize to him myself—"
ㅡ WHAM!
The man's fist slammed into Baek Shin-hoo's face.
Baek Shin-hoo's vision flashed as he tumbled across the ground.
He tasted the metallic tang of blood in his mouth.
A sense of defeat washed over him.
His body didn't even react to a punch from someone who was nothing special.
The man grabbed Baek Shin-hoo by the collar and hauled him up, eyes bloodshot.
"Apologize? You piece of shit! Taehyun is already dead!"
"What?"
"He was publicly humiliated by you, became a wreck, fell into despair, and killed himself, you bastard!"
ㅡ WHAM!
The man came at him again, his eyes bloodshot.
Fear spread across Baek Shin-hoo's face as he was knocked down again and again.
The man watching him grew colder and colder.
"No... Forget it. I know this is a shitty thing to do. I know, but..."
The man clenched his fist tightly.
"But if I'd just swallowed this, I felt like I'd go insane from rage!"
The man slowly came closer, one step at a time.
"Right now, I honestly feel like I want to bow down to GOAT-chan!"
At those words, even the hunters who'd been blocking the way joined in and started kicking him.
ㅡ Thud! Thud! WHAM!
"Gah! Cough!"
Baek Shin-hoo curled up, crying out in pain.
"P-please, spare me..."
1.
Apex Food headquarters in New York, USA.
Richard, the head of Asia operations, shoved open the door to his office.
ㅡ BANG!
Richard sat down and roughly loosened his tie.
"Haa... Haa..."
He panted as if trying to cool his burning tongue.
His pale face was flushed red, and sweat kept beading on his forehead.
"Do Koreans have no concept of moderation?"
He'd just been to a nearby Korean restaurant at the recommendation of the employee in charge of Korea.
They'd promised to serve him authentic Korean food.
Every dish that came out had been an ordeal for his tongue.
Each bite felt like his tongue was being seared.
He couldn't refuse to eat it altogether, so he'd just picked at it, barely eating.
His tongue must've been burning, because acid kept rising into his throat.
"I suppose he's trying to make a good impression, but I'm not satisfied with the result."
This performance review...
ㅡ Knock knock.
"Come in."
The employee in charge of Korea came in with an awkward smile.
He was holding an iced café latte.
"Haha... I got ahead of myself and made things difficult for you, Mr. Division Head."
"Haa..."
That slick attitude made him sigh.
He'd wanted to fire him ages ago, but the man somehow never crossed the line.
Besides, he desperately needed a drink to calm his stomach right now.
Still, the man had some sense, so he'd let it slide this once.
"Set it down and leave."
"Ah! Before that, there's something I need to report."
"What is it?"
Richard sucked down the café latte to soothe his burning insides.
"That pill that appeared in Korea. The researchers have finished their preliminary analysis."
"What were the results?"
"They say it's just an amino acid complex, a little fatty acid and polysaccharide, and a flavonoid-based saponin glycoside."
"What does that mean?"
The employee in charge of Korea shrugged.
"It seems to be no different from a nutritional supplement made by compressing protein you can find anywhere on the market."
Richard's brow furrowed.
When they brought materials out of the Tower, unknown components sometimes turned up.
The company had made quite a bit of money from that, too.
But this item didn't seem to reveal any particularly useful information, as if it were trying to hide its identity.
"For now, investigate it further. I'll approve the funding, so get more of them."
"Well..."
"What is it this time?"
"Apparently, the NPC who was trading that food in Korea has disappeared."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. I've uploaded a report on the details to the internal network."
"Understood. You may leave."
After his subordinate left, Richard opened the internal network.
It was packed with information about an NPC that had fought and defeated an S-rank hunter.
Richard's eyes grew wider and wider as he read the report.
'An NPC beat an S-rank?'
'And that S-rank became a wreck?'
'And the NPC hasn't been seen since that day?'
After reading through everything, Richard sank into deep thought.
First of all, it was good news that the NPC trading pills had disappeared.
From the company's perspective, an intractable headache had gone away.
Even if it were still around, it didn't seem likely to have much effect on the market.
But...
'Is the fact that the NPC is still alive a cause for concern?'
They didn't know its identity.
Richard picked up his smartphone and launched the TC (Trust & Connection) app.
He quickly logged in after completing fingerprint, iris, and facial recognition.
[Three Corpses Alliance]
He pressed the button to write a report.
[Investigation of Korea's irregular required / Threat level: Highest (Max)]
He had to investigate thoroughly to avoid future trouble.
All that remained was to press the send button and finish this task.
At that moment.
"Huh...?"
Suddenly, his finger wouldn't move.
No—was his whole body unable to move?
He couldn't muster any strength.
The smartphone he'd been holding fell onto the desk.
He couldn't even call for help; no sound came out.
ㅡ Knock knock
Someone knocked from outside the door.
ㅡ Click
Though he couldn't answer, the person entered without waiting for permission.
'That guy...?'
The employee in charge of Korea.
The man who'd awkwardly smiled while setting down the café latte just a little while ago.
He approached with a breezy grin.
"Wow~ Even I have to admit, I nailed the timing."
What was he suddenly talking about?
The employee looked around and chuckled.
"Top Five Sickest Videos from the Deceased's Lifetime, maybe?"
Could that man really be...?
'No... What was that man's name?'
"Man—what a shame. If you'd only made the right choice, I would've let you pass quietly."
What did he mean by making the right choice?
"If you write a report like that, you leave me no choice but to act, don't you? Well, you'd have died sometime today anyway."
Had he been watching him?
If so, were they...?
[Trinity Council]
The man chattered excitedly, as if he could read Richard's mind.
"Are you wondering whether that NPC is on our side?"
"To be honest, we don't know either. We're just giving them a tiny bit of help because your side is keeping an eye on them."
"Though this might be a good chance for us to investigate them, too."
The man, who'd been talking to himself, snapped his fingers and came closer.
ㅡ Snap!
"I almost forgot."
He lifted Richard's finger and pressed the screen of his smartphone repeatedly.
[Investigation of Korea's irregular unnecessary / Threat level: Cleared (Clear)]
After finishing the edits, he pressed the send button.
"Perfect."
Having finished what he came to do, he started chattering excitedly again.
This man seemed to talk a lot.
"Man~ Now that I think about it, your higher-ups are pretty vicious, aren't they?"
"You're not idiots, so putting a huge TC label on yourselves and walking around is practically asking someone to find you, isn't it?"
"That means you're disposable pawns, and they're using you to draw attention while they buy time, right?"
"But it's also a delicate situation, because even knowing that, you can't just ignore it and move on."
"As a model citizen, I can't rest until I clean up the trash I see right in front of me."
The man talked for a while, then suddenly seemed to remember something and picked up the home-run ball on the shelf.
That was the home-run ball he'd given Richard, saying he'd gotten it signed by the batter who hit the home run.
Had there been something inside it?
"This is company equipment, so I have to take it back. Its camera and audio-bugging capabilities are top-notch."
"And it doesn't get detected by TSCM (Technical Surveillance Countermeasures), either."
The man also removed the coffee from the desk.
He hid the baseball, then straightened his clothes.
"Well then~ My job's done, so now it's up to the people in Korea to take care of things."
"Get some rest... And if you're born again, don't let villains play you like this again."
The man grabbed the doorknob and cleared his throat.
Then he flung the door open with an urgent expression and shouted outside.
"911!!!"