Igyeol strode forward and grabbed Sung Yohan by the collar in one swift motion, yanking him close. Sung Yohan’s eyebrows twitched, but he didn’t push Igyeol away. Igyeol spoke with an incredulous expression.
“Was it you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t play dumb. You reported me, didn’t you? You’re the one who tipped them off about suspecting an unregistered Hunter, aren’t you?”
Igyeol shook his hand free and pulled out a summons from his pocket, throwing it at Sung Yohan’s chest. Sung Yohan picked up the paper that had fallen to the ground. His eyes grew cold as he skimmed through the contents.
“……A summons?”
“So now you want to do things by the book? Huh? I take care of a dying bastard and this is how he repays me.”
“It wasn’t me.”
Sung Yohan said firmly, frowning.
“Why would I report you? When I don’t even want anyone else to know.”
“What?”
“If I had reported you, they wouldn’t have sent a mere summons—they would’ve brought you in. I don’t use such cumbersome and sloppy methods. And most importantly.”
Sung Yohan smoothed out his disheveled suit with a sharp tug and took a step closer to Igyeol.
“I don’t want you catching the Association’s attention. Why should you be shared with them?”
Sung Yohan’s gaze was sincere. Faced with those eyes dripping with possessiveness, Igyeol was momentarily speechless, his mouth opening and closing.
“……You… anyway, you really say the weirdest things… No, never mind. Then who reported me? The only ones who know about Dumang Mountain are you, me, and Yeongwon.”
“……It seems there are more rats than I thought.”
Sung Yohan neatly folded the summons and put it in his jacket’s inner pocket.
“Get in.”
“Where?”
“The Association. I’ll accompany you.”
“What? Why would you go? You’ll just make things more suspicious!”
“Because I don’t want to send you alone. This report might not be a simple tip-off. Someone is specifically targeting you, trying to catch your tail. I’ll moni— I mean, protect you from the side.”
Sung Yohan opened the car door and gestured with his chin. Seeing his expression, he looked sincere. Igyeol scratched his head. Wait, is it even okay to go with the Sanctum Guild Leader? This is really…
Sung Yohan let out a small sigh, grabbed Igyeol’s arm, pulled him close, and pushed him into the car.
“Hey—”
“Why are you thinking so much? Do you have all the time in the world?”
“Oh, seriously—!”
“Let’s think about it on the way.”
Igyeol had no choice but to get in the car. Yeongwon waved from inside as if to wish them well. He was worried about leaving Yeongwon alone, but seeing Sung Yohan attach Sanctum Guild members to him, he smacked his lips. This bastard is completely thorough.
“Haa, fine. Let’s go. Let’s see who did this.”
Igyeol settled into a comfortable position and closed his eyes. I’ll figure it out when I get there. He couldn’t even guess who it might be if it wasn’t Sung Yohan, and worrying about it now would only give him a headache. Sung Yohan, who had been staring intently at Igyeol, pulled out his phone with a serious expression and sent a text. It was a message to Vice Guild Leader Cha Taeju.
[Check this out.]
A reply came immediately to the brief message.
[Fast. I’ll look into it right away.]
Sung Yohan glanced at Igyeol, who had turned his gaze to the opposite window, then turned his own head toward the window as well. He felt terrible. This isn’t just a simple report. He could smell it. A really foul smell.
***
The Hunter Management Bureau building was bleak. As government offices tend to be, it was packed with people coming and going, and the lobby had an atmosphere that somehow made people feel intimidated the moment they entered. But today was a bit different.
“Wh-whoa, it’s Sung Yohan……”
“S-Sung Yohan……!”
“Guild Leader Sung Yohan?”
“Oh my god…! Why is Sung Yohan here?”
People whispered among themselves, staring blankly at someone with sparkling eyes. Everyone was so entranced they couldn’t close their mouths. It was a sight they’d never seen before in their lives.
Igyeol was truly dumbfounded and let out a bitter laugh. Staff members jumped to their feet and openly gawked, while people came running from far away just hearing the name, their mouths hanging open as they stared at Sung Yohan as if viewing a masterpiece. The funny thing was, they didn’t approach. They kept a certain distance or more.
“This way.”
Sung Yohan, as if completely accustomed to all of this, even escorted Igyeol as he led him to the investigation room. Thanks to that, everything from reception went extremely smoothly.
When they opened the door to the investigation room, a strict-looking investigator wearing horn-rimmed glasses was sitting there. Igyeol thought he too would be surprised to see Sung Yohan, but he only pushed up his glasses and didn’t forget his duties. Oh, how reliable. Igyeol smiled faintly while thinking thoughts that weren’t in his favor.
“Are you Mr. Moon Igyeol? Please have a seat.”
The investigator gestured. Igyeol quickly sat down with a respectful posture. The investigator was flipping through documents when he looked up and frowned at Sung Yohan, who was about to sit down next to him.
“Guild Leader Sung Yohan? What brings you here…?”
“I came as a witness. I’m also someone who can vouch for Mr. Moon Igyeol’s identity.”
Sung Yohan naturally pulled out a chair next to Igyeol and sat down. The investigator made a “hmm” sound and stroked his chin.
“Guild Leader-nim, according to regulations, outsiders cannot observe an investigation.”
“Isn’t this about a report on the Dumang Mountain dungeon? I’m a party involved in that site. Without me, the investigation won’t proceed properly.”
Sung Yohan crossed his arms and responded stiffly. It wasn’t wrong, but the other party was the great Guild Leader of Sanctum. A natural hierarchy that looked down was inevitable. The investigator cleared his throat and glared at Igyeol.
“Ahem… Then let’s begin the investigation. Mr. Moon Igyeol, according to the report, you used abilities beyond your rank in the Dumang Mountain dungeon. What is your currently registered rank?”
“……C-rank. I specialize in gathering.”
Igyeol went with shamelessness. If I back down here, it’s over.
“A C-rank gathering Hunter survived a mutant dungeon equivalent to B-rank? And even went all the way to the boss room?”
“I was lucky. And Guild Leader Sung here handled everything. I just… tagged along like a porter.”
“A porter, you say.”
Sung Yohan interjected.
“He was an excellent supporter. Perfect item usage, outstanding crisis management. I, an S-rank, acknowledge this.”
“……”
Igyeol kicked Sung Yohan’s shin under the desk. Is this bastard trying to help me or feed me to the wolves? He couldn’t tell. Sung Yohan frowned as if asking why. Igyeol made a zipping motion to tell him to shut up.
The investigator’s eyes became even sharper. An unknown Hunter that the #1 ranked is covering for this much? It was perfect for suspicions of favoritism.
“Guild Leader Sung, please be quiet for a moment. Mr. Moon Igyeol, I’ll check your combat records. It seems we’ll need to retest your mana wavelength as well.”
“Look, I’m a gathering Hunter. What kind of mana wavelength would I even have?”
Igyeol held firm, but the atmosphere was growing increasingly hostile. The investigator had already marked Igyeol as a ‘prime suspect’ and was interrogating him.
The report even included the phrase [Suspicious companion in Dumang Mountain mutant dungeon, suspected of illegal magic stone trade]. Whoever reported it, they had definitely done so with serious intent.
As time passed, the atmosphere in the investigation room grew endlessly heavy. The corners of Igyeol’s mouth trembled. It wasn’t because he was scared.
‘This bastard is really not helping at all.’
It was because of the guy making things worse beside him.
“So, you’re saying it’s true that you went together all the way to the boss room in the mutant dungeon?”
“It’s true we went together, but I was huddled in a corner—”
“Thanks to this person’s great help, I was able to go to the boss room and face the boss directly.”
Thud—
He stomped on his foot under the desk, but Sung Yohan’s expression didn’t change as he looked at Igyeol as if asking why. His eyes insisted it was the truth. Igyeol smiled through gritted teeth. He waved his hand back and forth at the investigator.
“What Guild Leader Sung is saying is just that I~ was standing by with a hoe, haha, hahaha.”
The investigator’s expression changed to look even more suspicious. Igyeol tried to maintain his smiling expression. Sung Yohan, you son of a bitch! There was no way to break through this difficult situation.
That’s when it happened. Cutting through the heavy air of the investigation room, someone cheerfully burst open the door without even knocking. The man who entered humming a tune greeted them with a bright face, waving his hand.
“Excuse me~ What’s this, why is the atmosphere so tense here? By any chance, do you have any instant coffee left?”
“Who are you? We’re currently conducting an important witness investigation.”
The investigator frowned and pushed up his glasses. But the man who opened the door didn’t care at all and strode right in. Ripped jeans, a flashy printed t-shirt—only the employee ID hanging around his neck proved he was on official duty.
“Aw, I was going to have some coffee while doing this. The atmosphere is so stiff~ I’m Gi Taeyeon from the UNP Special Investigation Team. The cooperation notice should have come down, right? The Dumang Mountain case overlaps with our jurisdiction.”
Gi Taeyeon. At the name UNP, Igyeol glanced at Sung Yohan. Sung Yohan had an unconcerned expression as if it was nothing, exchanging greetings with Gi Taeyeon through eye contact. Do they know each other? Igyeol felt slightly relieved.
He looked Gi Taeyeon over. From his flashy outfit, he was no ordinary person. For someone affiliated with the police bureau to have such radical fashion.
“……!”
While examining his brilliant hair color and equally flashy pierced ears, Igyeol froze completely. Because he discovered something familiar there. The silver earring hanging from his left earlobe.
A teardrop-shaped, piercingly blue sapphire. The delicate vine pattern engraving wrapped around it.
Igyeol’s pupils contracted slightly. For a moment, he felt the blood drain from his fingertips with a chill. No, wait… why does that bastard have it?
