Of course… Sung Yohan’s effects were definitely amazing. Igyeol discreetly checked his status window.
[Name: Moon Igyeol
Title: Slaughterer of the Void (Hidden: Click!)
Rank: S]
[Equipped Item – Corrupted Guardian Jangdo (S+)]
[Skills – Hidden List (Click!)]
[Buffs – Last Drop (L)
Unbreakable Mental Fortitude (L)]
[Fragment of Beelzebub (Erosion Rate: 52%)]
[Debuffs – Oxidation (S)]
[Curse + Whisper of Blood]
[Curse + Hellfire’s Chlorination]
[Curse + Burning Roar]
[Curse + Desert’s Blaze]
[Curse + Ibelliden’s Last Hatred]
[Curse + Rockdrena’s Last Hatred]
[Curse + Genom’s Last Hatred]
[Curse + Frost-Bound Scream]
[Curse + Breath of Nightmare]
[Curse + Dying Flame]
[Curse + Terrible Nightmare]
[Curse + Pain of Bearing Mount Tai]
[Curse + Paimon’s Twisted Whisper]
[Curse + Worn-Out Shoes]
[Curse + Buckling Knees and Burning Fever]
.
.
[Physical Corrosion
45.2% (Danger) -> 43.8% (Stable) Entered (W!)]
‘…As expected.’
Both the erosion rate and corrosion rate had noticeably decreased. Even though it was only a few percentage points, these were numbers that had barely been maintained over the past year despite drinking honey water religiously.
‘Starting from Dumang Mountain, receiving Holy Power… how many times was it?’
After he started absorbing Sung Yohan’s Holy Power, during that brief time last night when they held hands and slept, the numbers that had been gnawing away at his body had miraculously dropped.
In Igyeol’s mind, Grandma Oksoon’s voice from a year ago flashed by.
‘Igyeol-ah, you know? Honey water is just a temporary measure. If you want to live, you need to find them. Someone who can heal you.’
‘Where would someone who can heal me even exist, Grandma?’
‘They’ll be there. Someone real clean, with good energy. Someone strong and amazing who can withstand your energy. For sure.’
Igyeol slowly raised his head and looked at Sung Yohan.
Sung Yohan sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, elegantly reading phone messages. His black hair sparkling in the sunlight and the faint yet clear white energy shimmering around him.
Someone very strong, and very clean.
“…Damn it.”
Igyeol scrunched up his face. The exact person Grandma Oksoon had talked about was right here. Right in front of his nose.
“…What are you dissatisfied with now?”
“What. Why. Mind your own business.”
Igyeol responded coldly to Sung Yohan’s words as he looked his way, shoving his phone into his pocket as he stood up. His insides were completely unsettled. He had resolved to just die when the time came, but now a miracle cure had appeared right before his eyes… and within reach at that, completely turning his stomach upside down.
Igyeol headed toward the kitchen, hiding his complicated feelings. That’s when it happened.
Bzzzzt-
Sung Yohan’s phone rang again. Sung Yohan turned his head toward his phone. Igyeol also glanced at Sung Yohan. This time the atmosphere was different from before. Because Sung Yohan’s expression had instantly hardened coldly. Igyeol stopped walking.
Bzzt- Bzzt-
The vibration continued without stopping. Sung Yohan stared down at his phone silently for a moment before finally answering.
“…Yes, I understand. I’ll head there right away.”
Sung Yohan stood up after ending the call. His expression had subtly become expressionless as he looked at Igyeol. Igyeol put his hands in his pockets and leaned his shoulder against the wall.
“Finally leaving?”
Igyeol asked, pretending not to care.
“Yes. Something urgent came up.”
Sung Yohan nodded once and approached Igyeol. Igyeol quietly observed Sung Yohan as he came toward him. As if something didn’t sit right, Sung Yohan’s expression held dissatisfaction. He stood in front of Igyeol and stared at him. His jet-black eyes met Igyeol’s gaze. Igyeol didn’t avoid his eyes. Sung Yohan just looked at him without opening his mouth for a long while before belatedly speaking.
“Today… I should get going. But I’ll come back tomorrow.”
“Is that a declaration of war? That you’ll do as you please?”
“So you knew. That I’d do as I please.”
“How could I not? Those are the eyes of someone who’s made up their mind.”
“I’ll come tomorrow.”
“Better if you don’t.”
“I will come.”
Sung Yohan bent his waist slightly. Bringing his face close to Igyeol’s nose, Sung Yohan’s lips twitched as if hesitating about something before he opened his mouth.
“Just in case.”
“…Back off, will you?”
“If anyone comes looking for you, say you’re close with me.”
“You and I are close?”
“Better if you say so. You don’t like troublesome things, do you?”
“…”
Sung Yohan smirked and straightened his back. Then he stepped back a few paces and turned around. Igyeol silently watched Sung Yohan’s back as he left the clinic.
Silence returned to the shop once more.
Just then, Yeongwon, who had been asleep, woke up rubbing his eyes.
“Boss hyung… where’s Guild Leader Yohan-nim…?”
“He went home.”
Yeongwon blinked. He tilted his head as if there was no way he’d leave without him. Igyeol smirked and gestured.
“He’s coming to pick you up. Let’s eat.”
If anyone comes looking? Who would come looking? To this old clinic. The last words bothered him, but Igyeol deliberately ignored it.
***
Peace always breaks without warning. What broke the morning at Jangchun Health Clinic wasn’t Grandma Chunja’s chatter or the deflating sound of the herbal medicine boiler, but the mail carrier’s dry voice.
“Moon Igyeol-ssi? Registered mail from the Hunter Management Bureau.”
“The Hunter Management Bureau?”
Igyeol came out with a bewildered face and received the envelope. The envelope had a bright red stamp on it.
[Summons Order]
Those five ominous letters danced before Igyeol’s eyes.
Igyeol’s fingertips trembled minutely as he tore open the envelope. When he pulled out the paper and unfolded it, the stiff writing style characteristic of government offices stabbed at his vision.
[Case Number: 2026-Hunter Management-0932]
[Recipient: Moon Igyeol (Resident Registration Number 000000-0******)]
[You are hereby summoned for investigation on suspicion of ‘unregistered hunter activities and violation of Hunter Law Article 24’…]
“Ha… what the hell is this.”
Igyeol let out an empty laugh. An unregistered hunter report. And an ‘anonymous’ informant had attached specific circumstantial evidence—records of entering and exiting Dumang Mountain dungeon and witness testimony.
His mind went white for a moment, then was colored with rage. The culprit was obvious. The person who knew this fact. The person who had been with him at Dumang Mountain. And the person who was dying to dig into his identity.
“…Sung Yohan.”
Igyeol crumpled the summons in his fist. The rustling sound of paper sounded like a scream.
“He said he’d come back but didn’t show his face at all, and pulled this crap behind my back?”
Yesterday, Sung Yohan didn’t come. It wasn’t that he was waiting (absolutely not, Igyeol repeated to himself), but since he said he’d come and didn’t, it had been nagging at him. And this summons is what arrived instead. Coming at him from the front saying ‘let me hold your hand,’ but from behind trying to put a leash on him using the law.
“That bastard… I really won’t let this slide.”
Igyeol ran his hands through his hair irritably. He had to appear at the Association by 2 PM today. If he didn’t go, an arrest warrant would be issued. A C-rank gathering hunter? Ridiculous. If he went there and had to retake the rank measurement, it would only be a matter of time before the Fragment embedded in his body was discovered.
“Hyung… what’s wrong?”
Yeongwon poked his head out from inside the shop with a worried face. Perhaps sensing Igyeol’s murderous aura, the child’s eyes were shaking anxiously. Igyeol forced his expression to relax as he shoved the crumpled paper into his pocket.
“It’s nothing. Just a tax bill that came to the wrong place.”
“…That’s the first time I’ve seen someone make such a scary face over a tax bill.”
“Money going out is always scary, man.”
Igyeol replied curtly and picked up the worn jumper hanging on the coat rack. He couldn’t run away. No, actually, it would be easy. Just bolt as is.
But if he ran, he’d become a wanted man and be chased, and then he’d lose Yeongwon, Hyungil, and even the clinic. He had to go and face it head-on.
‘Damn it, what kind of bolt from the blue is this…’
His peaceful daily life was starting to crumble bit by bit. He was absolutely furious. He’d have to properly get back at Sung Yohan for screwing him over. He was so angry his vision was turning blue. Igyeol gritted his teeth.
Just as he was about to leave the clinic, a familiar engine sound came from the alley entrance.
Vroooom-.
A low, heavy exhaust note. A sound that didn’t fit this narrow alley at all. Igyeol’s brow furrowed. A black Maybach that had been driving from far away smoothly stopped in front of the clinic.
The back door opened, and Sung Yohan got out.
Today he wasn’t wearing priest robes but a suit. His appearance with even his tie perfectly fastened was annoyingly perfect. As if he’d been working even during the ride, Sung Yohan handed the tablet he’d been looking at to a guild member in the passenger seat, giving various instructions, then turned to look at Igyeol. His face was still smooth and polished. No, it was absolutely radiant.
“Where are you going?”
At the question asked calmly with a faint smile on his handsome face, Igyeol’s reason snapped clean off.
