“Hah, hah….”
Eunseong returned to the executive office, and the moment he shut the door, he sank down right where he stood and drew ragged breaths. That brief time spent with Kang Mujin had felt like a decade.
“Hah… I thought I was going to die of nerves.”
He massaged his trembling legs and managed to crawl up onto the sofa.
Still, it went well enough. Gave him the items, got to hold his hand once. And he accepted them straight away this time, so maybe I can just hand things over without making a big deal of it going forward?
Eunseong grinned and kicked his feet. At this rate, he was sure Kang Mujin’s future would become a little easier — and that he himself would make it through with his life intact.
Kang Mujin had only accepted the items because it seemed like no answer would come even if he asked for a reason — but Eunseong mistook it for Mujin lowering his guard toward him a little.
Alright then. I cancelled tomorrow’s dungeon schedule too, so let me get things organized.
Eunseong hummed to himself and picked up the smart pad on the table. He meant to go over the original story.
But the moment he turned the screen on, he couldn’t help but let his jaw drop. What was open on the pad was the logged-in page of the national Hunter anonymous community board, Hunters Blind.
One post in the trending section caught his eye.
[BES’s dungeon form today was insane lol (added more details)]
“……What is this.”
BES.
Only the consonants, but the feeling said it was his name.
Eunseong swallowed hard and cautiously tapped the post.
Author: Zenith · WantToQuit
Hot fresh story I heard from my friend who went in with the cleanup crew today
You all know BES has severe mysophobia right? But today he just appeared out of nowhere even though everything was a mess lol
The wild part is what happened next
Apparently he grabbed some half-dead C-Rank Hunter and personally poured a potion straight into his mouth lol
That Hunter got up totally fine afterwards
Now here’s why this gives you chills…
The potion he used was an Elixir of Dawn lol and S-RANK at that!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I didn’t believe it either? But my friend confirmed they saw the empty vial and said it’s true lol
He threw something worth tens of billions at a C-Rank, not even a ranker….. is BES out of his mind?
+Update
Apparently someone there heard BES say this while looking after that Hunter
Watch your mouth about my Hunter
Said his face was absolutely terrifying at the time lol
BES has genuinely lost it. Is Zenith going to go under at this rate? Do I need to start job hunting lolol?
Likes: 489 Comments: 312
└ Hunter Association · PensionDreamer
Wow, look at Zenith throwing money around on that scale
└ Freelancer · DungeonGrinder
“My Hunter” lol that’s crossing a line lol who’s the C-Rank? Is that BES’s secret kid or something lolololol
└ Zenith · Slave#1
The secret kid joke is wild lol but is BES actually out of his mind? The scheduled A-Rank Thorn Valley raid for tomorrow also just got scrapped entirely
└ Zenith · iliiilililiiil
The C-Rank is apparently KMJ? But tbh he’s actually good tho
└ Valhalla · PotionPriceGoingUp
Maybe he healed him with the elixir so he wouldn’t die, then cancelled the schedule because he didn’t want to waste that on someone he’s about to throw into the meat grinder?
└ Zenith · WantToQuit (OP)
Yeah it’s KMJ. The guy who used to grind him into the dirt is suddenly taking care of him — that’s what gives me chills. Does KMJ have some kind of hidden skill or something?
└ Titan · IronAddicted
Look at that wealth tho
└ Mimir · FactChecker
Isn’t this just grooming a secret weapon? There’s a ranking match coming up. The big picture is actually insane;
└ Zenith · SalarySlacker
We don’t even have an S-Rank in our guild storage.
That was 100% pulled from his personal vault.
└ Freelancer · DungeonGrinder
That makes it even more insane??
└ Aegis · OldManPolishingShields
Wow Zenith’s benefits are crazy;; our guild master gives us B-Rank potions and acts like he’s doing us a massive favor. I’m seriously thinking about transferring to Zenith
└ Hunter Association · AnalysisAddict
Let me break it down for you
- BES gives S-Rank Elixir of Dawn to a C-Rank
- “My Hunter” statement
- Then officially cancels the schedule
└ Freelancer · DungeonGrinder
lolololololololol
hey, this smells like something
└ Zenith · WantToQuit (OP)
What kind of smell? Zenith going bankrupt smell? lol
└ Freelancer · DungeonGrinder
Not the going bankrupt smell
Because of one person
The smell of the whole board flipping over
“…….”
Eunseong’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head.
“Secret kid my foot! What is this nonsense!”
He burst into hollow laughs and kept exclaiming “Ha! Ha!” over and over. Things had been so chaotic in the dungeon when he was trying to save Kang Mujin that he had completely forgotten there were other Hunters around.
“And since when did I pour it straight into his mouth! I just handed it to him!”
He stomped his feet and blew repeated exasperated breaths. Then, with bleary eyes, he flipped the pad face-down and sprawled out on the sofa.
“Haah….”
The post was already up — there was no stopping the rumor now. The problem was that the association would be reaching out.
There was no way the association would just sit and watch a scandal involving the head of the country’s number one ranked guild. Above all, even if it was a personal item, using an S-Rank Elixir of Dawn had considerable fallout. Exactly like this.
…I gave him the best thing I knew of because I wanted to.
On top of that, if it had made it onto Hunters Blind, the press would know about it too. It wasn’t the kind of issue that would affect civilians, but it was undeniably a compelling topic among Hunters.
Above all, Baek Eunseong was famous even among civilians. Though it was his face and wealth rather than his skill that made him known….
“Haah.”
Eunseong scrubbed his face roughly with a look of sheer exhaustion. It was obvious there would be talk about the dungeon cancellation too.
Reading the post had made everything feel like a bother. The plan to go over the original story was put aside for now — sleep felt like the more pressing priority, so he stretched out comfortably on the sofa and settled in.
There was actually a bedroom inside the executive suite that Baek Eunseong used, and he could simply go in — but for some reason he had no desire to sleep in there. He had briefly stepped inside earlier to change clothes and taken a look around, and it had been enough to make his eyes ache.
The entire room was white. The floor, ceiling, furniture, every decorative piece. Aside from the faintest hint of cream mixed in, it was all pure white. He simply could not bring himself to sleep in there.
I’ll just sleep out here tonight, and tomorrow I’ll either get a hotel or find an apartment.
He was just beginning to drift off in a light sleep on the sofa when it happened.
BANG! BANG!
A heavy, thunderous knocking that rattled the executive office jolted Eunseong upright.
“Wha — what is it!”
Eunseong blinked with eyes still foggy from sleep and turned to look toward the door where the pounding was coming from.
“Sir. It’s Chief Choi. I have an urgent report — I’m coming in!”
He had usually waited for Eunseong’s response, but this time he opened the door right away. In stark contrast to the rough sound from just before, Chief Choi’s expression was dry and composed without the slightest crack.
Chief Choi, who had been heading toward the bedroom, paused briefly at the sight of Eunseong sitting in an awkward position on the sofa. There was a small moment of friction — but he quickly moved toward the sofa.
“Sir. An anomalous wave has been detected at the Black Thorn Valley gate.”
“The raid was cancelled.”
Eunseong rubbed his gritty eyes with the back of his hand and replied as if not seeing the problem.
As long as no guild had been assigned to raid the dungeon, all responsibility fell on the association. The Black Thorn Valley dungeon raid had been cancelled yesterday, so it was no longer something Zenith needed to be involved in.
Chief Choi was well aware of that. Which meant the fact that he had come at this hour meant something had gone seriously wrong. Eunseong pushed his disheveled hair back roughly and looked up at Chief Choi with a furrowed brow.
“We immediately notified the association of the schedule change. During the process of reassigning it to another guild, the association discovered an anomaly in the gate — and after re-measuring the grade… it has reportedly been upgraded from A-Rank to S-Rank.”
“……S-Rank?”
Sleep vanished from him in an instant.
“Yes. As it occurred during the reassignment process, the authority over Black Thorn Valley is currently still with us.”
He said authority — but the meaning was responsibility. In other words, whatever happened as a result of Black Thorn Valley right now fell not on the Hunter Association, but on Zenith Guild.
“Sir.”
“……Hold on.”
Eunseong raised a hand and cut Chief Choi off. His mind was tangled. Having Baek Eunseong’s memories intact, he knew exactly how catastrophically bad this situation was. He needed a moment to collect himself.
Chief Choi’s eyes were sharp as he watched Eunseong, his expression fixed and only his pupils moving. He quickly swept over Eunseong’s state — sleeping on the sofa instead of the bedroom, shoes still on, the usually immaculate hair disheveled and going unnoticed. He registered that the sense of incongruity he had been feeling since yesterday was not a simple mistake.
Eunseong, unaware that Chief Choi was observing him, chewed on the inside of his lip.
An S-Rank dungeon. The highest-threat-level gate — called a calamity upon humanity. What if he hadn’t cancelled the schedule yesterday?
They could have walked straight into an S-Rank dungeon without knowing a thing.
A wave of goosebumps rippled down his spine.
Oh, damn! Why did I forget about this? Black Thorn Valley wasn’t a problem because of the traps — it was because it upgraded to S-Rank!
Eunseong clenched his fist. His nails dug into his palm. Only now did the details of the original story surface clearly in his mind. He had been so focused on Kang Mujin that he had missed a crucial detail.
Han Jia — the healer who had been sent in as part of the advance team alongside Kang Mujin before the regression. She had been pierced through the abdomen by a boss monster’s poison spike in Black Thorn Valley after it mutated to S-Rank. She barely survived, but the venom destroyed her mana circuits entirely, leaving her with a crippling wound that would prevent her from ever rising above B-Rank for the rest of her life.
Fortunately, the regressed Kang Mujin managed to save Han Jia safely. But in taking the poison spike in her place, Kang Mujin was left with a large scar on one of his arms.
It’s through this episode that Han Jia becomes a companion! And I nearly wiped it out entirely!
