Chapter 29
I considered leaving, but decided to stay for now.
It wasn’t because the living room sofa was more comfortable than my bed at home, and it wasn’t because the drama on his 100-inch TV—something I didn’t have at home—was so entertaining.
At the clunk of the front door opening, I looked toward the entrance and saw Zephyros return with a smile.
“You’re late... What is that?”
He was carrying something in both hands. What was it?
“You haven’t eaten dinner, right? Come to think of it, I don’t think we’ve ever had a drink together. Since you’re at my place, we might as well.”
“......”
What was with this guy?
He’d rushed out all of a sudden just to buy that?
As I wondered what it was, the smell of fried chicken was already filling the air.
“Is that chicken?”
“Yeah. You don’t like it?”
“I love it. I can never get enough.”
It was expensive, after all.
So when I was working, I’d only have it as a rare treat, but now I didn’t have to worry about money and ordered it now and then.
Not often enough to get sick of it, though. It was still delicious.
“You drink, too, right?”
“I do, but I drove here...”
“Stay the night. How many rooms do you think I have?”
“Haha. Then I’ll have a drink.”
“What do you want? Wine? Whiskey? Soju?”
“Anything’s fine.”
“Then let’s have what I feel like drinking tonight.”
What he brought back from the room was... champagne?
“Is that champagne?”
“Yeah. It’s a champagne called Jacques Selosse.”
“It’s not expensive, is it?”
“Not especially.”
For you and me, anyway.
I must have imagined that barely audible addendum.
“There’ve been plenty of things to celebrate lately, so we should do it properly. This stuff is perfect for a celebration.”
“You’re right. Here, let me open it.”
“Kid, you don’t open champagne like a country bumpkin.”
A small blue aura of sword energy immediately bloomed around Zephyros’s index finger.
With it, he sliced right through the neck of the bottle.
A little foam bubbled up from the bottle neck as it dropped away, cork and all.
“It’s a way of opening wine called sabrage. It comes from Napoleon’s cavalry opening wine with the sabers they carried.”
“Ooh.”
That was badass.
We emptied the first bottle in no time.
Was champagne always this good?
Even this country bumpkin, who usually drank nothing but soju, thought it was delicious. If it wasn’t too expensive, maybe I should buy some myself.
Zephyros silently brought out several more bottles of champagne.
He even made an ice bucket and set them in it.
Was he saying we should drink ourselves to death tonight?
Then I stopped Zephyros as he tried to open the second bottle with sabrage again.
I’d had a good idea.
“Let me open it.”
“You? Be careful. If you do that wrong, you’ll break the bottle.”
As he said that, he took a small dagger from his inventory and offered it to me, but I shook my head and declined.
Instead, I called on No. 1.
I ordered it to break down only the glass around the neck, and the bottle’s neck cleanly popped off on its own.
Zephyros’s eyes widened.
“It never stops being amazing to watch. I can’t even feel any mana.”
What should I call this? It wasn’t sabrage. Since it was bacteria, maybe... se-brage?
Only after we’d finished the second bottle did Zephyros finally get to the point.
“The doctor says I can return.”
I froze with my champagne glass halfway to my lips.
“Who does?”
“The doctor.”
I listened to the rest of Zephyros’s story for quite a while.
To sum it up, as long as he had a good healer to keep an eye on him and could keep receiving the same treatment, he could return—and might even perform better than he had in his prime.
“That’s great! Don’t worry about the treatment. Now that I’ve gotten the hang of it, I think I can do it even better.”
“I’m still a little dazed. I keep wondering if this is really okay.”
“Why? You don’t want to return?”
“Of course I do.”
I’d figured as much.
Honestly, now that I’d made this much money, I didn’t need to risk my life in dungeons.
I could quit everything and live happily, spending the money I had.
So why couldn’t I let go of life as a Hunter?
Because I was getting stronger, and I could keep seeing the rewards of that growth.
It was a different kind of magic from money, which lost its very threshold once you crossed it.
If even a rookie like me could feel it, how could Zephyros not?
“Because I’ll keep having to rely on you. That bothers me.”
“Come on, don’t say that.”
“Listen to me seriously.”
Zephyros’s expression as he said it was truly grave.
“If you disappear or decide to stop helping me, I’ll have to retire again for now. My life as a Hunter will be in your hands. That makes us bound together in a one-sided relationship where I’m the only one benefiting. That’s not a healthy relationship.”
“Come on, what are you saying? And...”
I told you, didn’t I?
“We’ll be dungeon partners soon. Don’t say things that’ll make me feel bad.”
He’d been sitting there with his mouth open, momentarily stunned by my words, but soon let out a hollow laugh and shook his head.
“...You’re insane.”
It was only natural that it seemed absurd for someone like me, barely in the double-digit levels, to say that so confidently to a top-level Hunter.
But Zephyros lifted his champagne glass again and said,
“Keep climbing, too. Start by clearing out the uncleared Gates down below.”
“Of course.”
Our champagne glasses clinked, and the golden liquid shimmered.
Somehow, it felt like it was going to be a night of drinking a little too much.
**
We polished off all the champagne Zephyros had stored away overnight.
Who the hell said expensive alcohol didn’t give you a hangover?
My head feels like it’s about to split apart.
“Zephyros!”
I came out of the guest bedroom and called for him, but there was no answer.
When I went into the living room, I found a pot and a note on the dining table.
“Had something to take care of, so I left first. Heat this up and eat before you go?”
I lifted the lid and found hangover soup.
There was even a bowl of rice.
I heated it up, poured the soup over the rice, and finished eating. I felt a little more human afterward.
Ugh, I was an idiot. I’m never drinking this much again.
That was when I got in my car and drove home.
“...Who are you?”
Three men in suits were standing outside my home.
With three hulking men, their muscles practically bursting out of their suits, the narrow hallway of my Gangnam apartment looked even narrower.
The one in front looked Korean, but the two behind him were a Black man and a white man.
Nice job keeping the racial quota.
“Mr. Kim Segyun?”
So they were here for me.
The man in front, who looked Korean, spoke to me.
“What is this about?”
“Someone would like to see you, Mr. Kim Segyun.”
“It’s not like a law’s been passed saying I have to go with anyone who asks for me.”
Taking a step back, I opened my inventory as naturally as could be and took out my scepter.
Naturally, I also activated every bacterial army I had, from No. 1 through No. 5.
At my reaction, they looked awkward and raised both hands.
“We have no intention of harming you, Mr. Kim Segyun.”
“How did you find my address?”
They said nothing.
So that’s how it is, huh?
I may not have learned much, but I did learn one thing from martial arts novels.
The good don’t come; those who do aren’t good.
Good people don’t come looking for you in the first place, and the ones who do aren’t good.
There was no way men who’d tracked down my address and come here were good.
That was when, just as I was staying on guard,
“May I give you a business card?”
“A business card? Let me see.”
One of the muscular men in suits pulled a card from his breast pocket and tossed it to me.
Thankfully, it wasn’t some kind of concealed weapon, so Athena didn’t react. It spun around and landed in my hand.
“Kaiser Corporation?”
“I’m Team Leader Shin Seongho, with the head office.”
“...You mean that Kaiser’s company?”
“If you’re asking whether Hunter Kaiser founded the company, then yes.”
Had that old man already sent people to harass me?
How could someone who was supposed to be the world’s strongest Hunter be so petty?
“Would you accompany us?”
“And if I refuse?”
“Our team always carries out the orders it receives.”
“You mean you’ll take me by force?”
“......”
He didn’t say a word. He simply took one step closer to me.
Well, why else would they send lunatic hulks like those?
“You’d better not move.”
The men who’d tried to approach despite my warning got their feet tangled up and tumbled to the floor.
No. 2 had bound their feet.
Three hulking men all tangled up together in the narrow hallway... It wasn’t a pretty sight.
“If you found my address, I’m sure you can find my phone number, too. Tell the person who wants to see me to call me. I’ll choose the place.”
“You can’t treat someone like Kaiser...”
“I don’t care if Kaiser himself comes... Hell, even if Grandpa Kaiser himself comes. If I see you people outside my home like this again, don’t expect to leave as unscathed as you are now.”
He stared at me for a long while, his face twisted in a scowl, then slowly stood up and said,
“Let’s go.”
But he didn’t move. He just stood there, staring at me.
What do you want me to do?
Oh, I hadn’t released No. 2 yet.
“Leave your shoes here. They look like an expensive brand. I’ll sell them on Carrot Market as compensation for emotional distress.”
I shrugged as I said it. They sighed once, took off their shoes, and trudged away in their socks.
Those punks, acting all tough.
But who was this guy that he was making such a big deal about wanting to see me?
Could it really be Kaiser?
As soon as I got inside, changed clothes, and turned on the TV, my phone rang loudly.
It was a number I didn’t recognize.
“Hello?”
─You told me to call, so I’m calling. Are you able to talk?
It was a woman’s voice, with a faint rushing, windy sound in the background. My translation necklace lit up.
Since the translation function had activated, she was a foreigner.
But seriously, is South Korea’s personal information security really okay like this?
I’d told them to look me up if they wanted, but this fast...?
How much of my information had they dug up?
I set aside my slight unease and spoke as calmly as possible.
“I’m a little busy right now. I have three new pairs of shoes to sell on Carrot Market.”
─There was no need to humiliate them.
“You didn’t need to choose that way to meet me, either.”
─I admit that. I apologize.
What? That was surprisingly straightforward.
─It was wrong of us to approach a Hunter like you through conventional recruiting methods.
“Recruiting?”
─Team Leader Shin Seongho is the head of the head office’s recruitment team.
That hulking guy?
“...What, he’s not the head of security or riot control?”
─He recruits Hunters. We create unexpected situations to assess potential recruits—their actual ability compared to their reputation, personality, ability to handle things, temperament, and so on.
Huh. Was this company insane?
“I don’t remember getting any kind of offer from your company.”
─I’m making one now. For the record, you passed the recruitment test. If Recruitment Team One couldn’t even put up a fight, that says it all.
Wow, that was the least exciting acceptance notice of my life.
“Forget it. I’m hanging up—”
─Why don’t you at least meet me once before you decide?
“My answer will be the same.”
─I’m Sophia Heinrich, the granddaughter of Alexander “Kaiser” Heinrich, founder and honorary chairman of Kaiser Corporation.
...It wasn’t Kaiser himself, but his granddaughter.
“So?”
─I’m not just an employee of Kaiser Corporation. I’m a member of the owning family with a stake in the company. The offer I can make is on a whole different level, too.
“I’m hanging up.”
─W-Wait a moment.
Persistent, aren’t you?
─Just once. One meeting. After that, I won’t contact you again.
“That sounds like you’re saying you’ll make my life difficult if I don’t meet you.”
─Our company’s Human Resources Department has quite a reputation.
“...There’s a café I go to often near my place. I’ll text you the location. Meet me there in an hour. This really is the first and last time. Keep your promise.”
─All right.
**
She said we’d meet in an hour, but I arrived at the place ten minutes later, and someone was already seated, waving at me.
Had she been nearby to begin with?
Her looks were incredible.
She could hold her own against most Hollywood actresses.
Long, flowing blonde hair and teal eyes.
She drew everyone’s attention, and she seemed to enjoy it.
Even more surprising, I could see the Kaiser of old in that beautiful face.
She really was his biological granddaughter.
“Hello, Hunter Kim Segyun.”
“I’m not doing well, Ms. Sophia. Let’s get straight to the point.”
“Yes, let’s. I know an ordinary amount of money won’t make you bat an eye, so how about I help your company instead?”
Did she know how much money I’d made from this incident?
But what did she mean by helping the company?
“I’ll help your company enter the U.S. market. From FDA approval onward, we’ll support you in every way, using all the influence Kaiser Corporation has. If necessary, we can even acquire a decent pharmaceutical company and give it to you. Isn’t M&A the foundation of business expansion?”
“...You know money won’t work, but you’re trying to solve this with money?”
“Because money alone isn’t enough to acquire a perfectly healthy company.”
Her beautiful face curved into a smile, and I felt a chill run down my spine.
Did she mean she’d make it unhealthy?
“I can grow my business on my own. Unfortunately, I don’t think your company has anything to offer me.”
“Then shall we move on from carrots to sticks?”
“Sticks...”
“Even someone like you will inevitably need teammates once you get past Stage 30. After Stage 50, there’s no avoiding it.”
Lower-level Gates were mostly instanced dungeons designed for solo play, but most higher-level Gates were standard Gates.
Some Gates only refilled after a group of about five people entered and cleared the dungeon, while others were raid-type Gates that allowed up to thirty people to enter.
As a result, the higher you went, the more you needed teammates.
There were exceptions like Ahmad, who soloed everything, but they were few and far between.
Even Ahmad had party members, even if he used them like tools.
“I guarantee you this: if you reject our offer, there won’t be a single person you can recruit as a party member after Stage 50—not in East Asia, not even in the world. Think about your future.”
Not a single person?
I suddenly burst out laughing.
“Why are you laughing?”
“I think there’ll be at least one person.”
“...You don’t mean Hunter Zephyros, do you?”
“I do.”
“I already know that you and Zephyros are close. So I prepared for that.”
She took a tablet out of her bag, set it on the table, and showed me a report filled with graphs.
“This is Zephyros’s physical performance report. His prime is long behind him, and his decline is accelerating. If he spends just one more year raiding dungeons like this, he might never be able to wield a sword again.”
“...Impressive, I have to admit. Where did you get this kind of information?”
“Because we’re Kaiser.”
Her proud words were delivered with an air of haughtiness.
“But that information... seems a little old.”
About a day old.
“...What did you say?”
How was I supposed to explain this?
Wait, did I even need to explain?
As I hesitated for a moment, someone’s voice rang out from across the café.
“Whoa! No way! Zephyros is back! Is that a new record for the Stage 53 Gate at Namsan?”
So that’s where he’d gone first thing in the morning. He must’ve been so restless that he couldn’t hold back.
I smirked and opened a portal site on my phone. The Hunter tab was full of articles like ‘Zephyros Returns,’ ‘Zephyros Reverses Retirement,’ and ‘Zephyros Sets New Record at Stage 53 Gate.’
I clicked an article titled ‘Video Interview: Zephyros Reverses His Retirement’ and played the video.
─Why did I reverse my retirement? There’s a friend I need to wait for up there, so I have to stay in shape. I don’t think I can retire until he and I reach even higher stages together.
He paused for a moment, then continued, wearing his trademark mischievous grin.
─He’s a friend who nags me a lot.
I was watching with a smile on my face without even realizing it, and when I raised my head...
The smile on Sophia Heinrich’s face—the mask of pretense—had shattered completely.