The memory dragged Igyeol in an instant to the middle of the hellish Demon Realm.
‘Oh Moon Igyeol~ Don’t you ever dress up? Always so gloomy~’
‘Why would I dress up when I came here to fight? Think about going home, ahjussi.’
‘Ahjussi, you punk, I have a disciple your age. That kid loves wearing all sorts of accessories.’
‘So what do you want me to do about it?’
‘You should take care of your emotions too. Just because you’re in a bleak place doesn’t mean your heart has to be bleak too, does it?’
The person with neatly slicked-back hair, tattered clothes fluttering everywhere from flying around in the wind, yet looked cool doing it. The earring that dangled from his ear. An earring as bright blue as his eyes that shone bright blue.
‘Igyeol-ah, if… we all die, and by any chance only you survive and meet that guy…’
‘Don’t say such unlucky things.’
‘Still, you punk.’
‘…’
‘If you meet him…’
The voice that whispered softly.
That person’s last voice struck his ear like tinnitus. Igyeol bit his lip hard. Hard enough for blood to seep out. The words he asked to be delivered. The dying words never delivered. The very person concerned was right in front of his eyes now. When he was searching, they were nowhere to be seen, but why is it that when he gives up on life, they appear before his eyes one by one like this?
And of all things, to meet like this?
‘…Is this man that ahjussi’s disciple?’
Igyeol swallowed dry saliva. He couldn’t tear his gaze away even if he tried. His vision was spinning. At that moment, Gi Taeyeon sharply turned his head and made eye contact with Igyeol.
“Mm?”
Gi Taeyeon’s eyes widened as he felt his own face.
“Why? Is there something on me? Or…”
He grinned mischievously and leaned his upper body forward.
“Did you fall for me? It’s troublesome if you stare holes through me like that. You know an investigator and investigation subject can’t be together, right?”
“…Ah.”
Igyeol snapped back to his senses and withdrew his gaze.
“No. I just… your earring is unique.”
“Ah~ this? Pretty, right? My treasure number one.”
Gi Taeyeon giggled as he fiddled with his earlobe. Igyeol managed his expression with effort and lowered his head. His fingertips were freezing cold.
“By the way, Sung Yohan, what are you doing here? Playing guardian?”
“Mind your own business. Just do your job.”
Sung Yohan shot back coldly with his arms crossed. Gi Taeyeon shrugged his shoulders and arbitrarily picked up the thick file folder on the investigator’s desk.
“Let’s see. The report content was very interesting. Let me see the materials, Mr. Investigator.”
Gi Taeyeon’s fingertips tapped rhythmically as he flipped through the papers. Igyeol clenched his fists tightly under the desk. His heart beat irregularly.
***
“Now, since Investigator Gi is here too, let’s get back to the main point.”
The investigator took control of the atmosphere and held out a tablet PC. His attitude had become more hardline than before.
“Mr. Moon Igyeol. The report content includes not only your ‘unregistered hunter activities’ but also circumstantial evidence that you attempted ‘illegal magic stone trading.'”
“Magic stone trading? I haven’t even seen a magic stone.”
Igyeol raised his voice as if wronged. It was obviously acting, but it was true that real injustice was heavily melted into it. His insides were burning up. Illegal magic stone trading? This was a serious crime. The level of framing was extraordinary.
“According to the informant, you attempted to distribute high-grade magic stones obtained from Dumang Mountain dungeon to the black market. To prove your innocence, precise magical wave inspection, account inquiry, and tracking of your movements over the past year are essential.”
The investigator’s eyes gleamed.
“Especially combat records. A C-rank gathering hunter surviving in a B-rank mutated dungeon means there’s hidden power or you used illegal artifacts. Let’s move to the measurement room right now. One wave inspection will reveal everything.”
The investigator stood up from his seat. The moment he was dragged away and placed his hand on the machine, there was a high possibility that [Measurement Impossible] would appear or demonic energy would be detected. Then naturally a disaster would occur. Igyeol’s eyes shook, lost. At that moment, Sung Yohan raised his hand to block the investigator.
“Wait.”
Sung Yohan’s voice lowered.
“I agree to the measurement. But not now.”
“What do you mean? Guild Leader Sung, if you keep doing this, it’s obstruction of official duties…”
“Mr. Moon Igyeol is a victim of the dungeon collapse accident and the only on-site survivor. There’s a high possibility that his magical contamination level hasn’t stabilized yet.”
Sung Yohan shamelessly brought up regulations.
“If we measure him in his current state, the machine could malfunction. Association Regulation Article 4, ‘Prioritize the victim’s physical stability.’ Don’t you know that? At least 48 hours of stabilization period is needed. Let’s do the inspection the day after tomorrow. I’ll guarantee his identity.”
“Ha… Guild Leader-nim. This isn’t a simple investigation. Higher-ups are also keeping a close eye on this. More than anything, it’s been well over 48 hours now…”
The investigator made a troubled expression. But Sung Yohan didn’t back down. He stared at the investigator with sharp eyes.
“Higher-ups? Who? You mean the upper line that ordered this investigation?”
“Hmm…”
“Right now, investigator-nim, your words sound like there’s a separate upper line. Is that correct?”
“No, that’s not it, we’re principally-“
At that moment, Gi Taeyeon, who had been reading the documents carefully, let out a strange groan.
“This is kind of strange?”
Gi Taeyeon waved a sheet of paper fluttering.
“This report. Who wrote this? Anonymous tip?”
The investigator cleared his throat with a hmm and answered with a sour face.
“Yes, it was submitted through Huntranet’s secret bulletin board…”
“Look at this. The sentence structure is too clean. ‘The distribution route of the magic stones is unclear, and there is a high possibility of connection with a third organization.’ Is this the way of speaking an ordinary citizen would use?”
“But…”
“Wait, be quiet for a bit. This, this… it’s too elaborate for a tip-off. This isn’t a report, it’s a well-written report. It’s like someone determined to get someone locked up and fed prison food.”
Gi Taeyeon tossed the papers onto the desk and looked back and forth between Sung Yohan and Igyeol.
“Did you hit someone from behind on a dark road or something? Or a love quarrel? Whatever the reason, you seem to be caught up in a pretty awkward situation right now.”
Gi Taeyeon grinned and looked at the investigator.
“Mr. Investigator. This smells fishy. It’s not simply catching an unregistered hunter, but rather someone deliberately laid a trap and is pushing from behind saying ‘catch that guy for me,’ doesn’t it?”
The investigator’s face flushed with confusion. Gi Taeyeon had hit the nail on the head regarding the sense of incongruity he had been feeling internally.
“B-but we have to follow procedures…”
“Of course we have to follow procedures. But looking at this report content, it doesn’t seem like the purpose is to reveal Mr. Moon Igyeol’s identity.”
At that moment, vibration rang from inside Sung Yohan’s jacket pocket. Sung Yohan frowned and checked his phone. It was a message from Vice Guild Leader Cha Taeju.
[Our audit team confirmed the source. It went through a proxy server but we caught the tail. It’s ‘Baekya.’ Pressure has already been applied to the Association’s Management Bureau side too. They’re saying to definitely detain Moon Igyeol.]
Sung Yohan’s eyes sank coldly.
“Baekya…”
As Sung Yohan muttered softly, Gi Taeyeon tilted his head.
“Huh? Baekya? Why does that place suddenly come up? Why would the underworld big brothers try to sink this ordinary, clueless, upstanding young man?”
“Kang Yeongwon.”
Sung Yohan let out a small sigh.
“It must be because of that child. You know well what they’re after.”
“Ah, what? Is this person connected to Yeongwon?”
“Due to circumstances, Yeongwon is temporarily staying at Mr. Moon Igyeol’s place.”
“Oh my, goodness.”
Gi Taeyeon let out a short sigh and nodded.
Baekya.
One of the ‘Five Apostles’ who returned alive from the Gate of Reversed Heaven, one of the large Korean guilds established by Hyeon Myeongsik, and also a fearsome group that was a massive criminal organization dominating the underworld. After the Gate of Reversed Heaven incident, they had been illegally collecting and controlling interests and relics related to Gates, colluding with political and business figures, and committing numerous illegal acts – a guild beyond the heavens.
When that name came up, Igyeol’s expression hardened stiffly.
‘Baekya?’
Baekya was a name he couldn’t not know. Wasn’t it one of the places he investigated as soon as he returned? Igyeol bit his lip tightly and squeezed his eyes shut.
When he closed his eyes, the last moments at the Gate of Reversed Heaven were vividly drawn.
Demon King Beelzebub. The traitors who killed all his few remaining comrades and ran away before facing that bastard.
Those bastards had tried to kill him too. One of them established that place.
‘Was that bastard’s name… “Viper”?’
The Apostles inside the Gate of Reversed Heaven called each other by various names. The codename called there was Viper. Igyeol also had a codename he was called separately. Those bastards weren’t on good terms even back then.
That persistent bad blood, the past he tried so hard not to think about and cut off, keeps chasing and tormenting him.
‘…They couldn’t have recognized me, right?’
His heart went thump, thump. It began to beat slowly. If they found out that he was the returned ‘Moon Igyeol,’ if they knew and reported him.
Igyeol’s eyes darkened.
Then it would be the start of the hunt that had been stopped.
