Free Web NovelWhen we reached the building entrance to the night market, a tall, masked figure was waiting for us.
‘Been a while.’
Black Mask (A)
An item that makes it impossible to identify who the opponent is.
Perfect for hiding your identity!
Even if you knew it was Im Haekyung, the effect was so strong that the moment you let your mind wander, the person’s very silhouette would evaporate from your memory.
Only after following my gaze did Sung Uijae seem to register that the other party was Im Haekyung.
Im Haekyung strode over and gestured, like it no longer surprised him that I recognized him.
“Follow me.”
So we followed him into another passage of the Hunter Market.
It really did look like a hallway for managers or staff—shabby, with no particular decoration.
Walking in front, he asked in a curious tone,
“We didn’t set an exact time, but... didn’t you mean you’d come right away?”
‘He’s pissed.’
When I’d checked earlier, we were about forty minutes later than I’d projected. I was about to say we were late because we were arguing, but Uijae spoke first.
“Traffic.”
“At this hour?”
“Road conditions weren’t great.”
Utter bullshit that wouldn’t convince a child... and Im Haekyung didn’t look like he believed it either. Then the masked head turned my way.
‘What... you want me to explain?’
With Uijae standing right here, I wasn’t deranged enough to correct his blatant lie with the truth, so I just lifted a shoulder.
“Yeah. Traffic.”
“It sounds ridiculous, but... I’ll let it slide.”
As expected, he dismissed the nonsense in one go.
At the end of the long corridor, we came to a door. He tapped a card, the door opened, and a hidden elevator was revealed.
Only then did he start the explanation he’d held back.
“It’s an elevator for internal staff movement. Not that you can go where the true ‘insiders’ enter. Ah—before that, Hunter Sung.”
“......”
“It’s the same as the one {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} I’m wearing, so put it on. Here, you too, Jehyun.”
“Thank you.”
Didn’t think he’d get one for me as well. Uijae and I took the masks he handed over and put them on.
They looked rigid, but once on the face they adjusted to the contours, and there was a brief, odd sensation like a veil draping over the whole body before it faded.
The notable part was the field of view—much better than a normal mask.
‘Worth the money.’
After confirming we’d masked up, he resumed.
“Very few people know I’m the one running this place. There’s some overlap with Haeseong staff... and that’s about it. Which is why I was quite surprised when you recognized me the first time, Jehyun.”
“......”
I felt Uijae’s gaze through his mask. I’d just explained that my appraisal ability didn’t come from the beast, and now, thanks to this, it was as good as admitting I had a talent for recognizing people.
‘Not that it matters.’
It wasn’t something he could pin down right now anyway.
‘Hmm...’
Come to think of it, if what he wanted wasn’t a specific artifact but info on a ‘specific person,’ there wasn’t any particular need to come into the night market today.
Thinking about it, it felt like I’d pointlessly set him up.
Then Uijae asked Haekyung,
“You’re telling me all this surprisingly easily. What are you taking as collateral?”
“Hm?” freёweɓnovel.com
When Haekyung tilted his head, Uijae glanced at the elevator and elaborated.
“You said only a few know you manage this place. For that, you’re giving it up awfully easily, no? What if I go say it elsewhere?”
“Aaah...”
“Usually you take some kind of bond before you let someone in.”
Haekyung nodded, then spoke with a smile in his voice.
“We don’t... take bonds.”
With that, the status window flashed.
Brainwashing (S) is activating.
“Because you won’t be able to go around telling it anyway.”
And a cool voice with a hint of laughter slipped into my ear.
As casually as processing routine paperwork, he cast Brainwashing and pressed the elevator button.
Ding— The car opened with a cheerful chime, but Uijae stood there for a moment like he’d been nailed in place.
“Get in.”
“If I promise not to talk, lift the skill.”
“This is the simplest way for both sides to be sure. Why bother? It doesn’t harm your body.”
“It harms the mind.”
Listening to them go back and forth, I stepped into the elevator first.
“Let’s go. Enough bickering.”
“Seo Jehyun. You’re fine with this?”
“I wouldn’t say ‘fine.’”
But if I were Im Haekyung, I’d use this method too. No need to take the long way when there’s a simple one.
When I didn’t say more, he seemed to guess my thinking, sighed, and stepped in.
The night market we entered didn’t look much different from what I remembered. After confirming I was scoping the interior, Haekyung spoke with a hint of a smile.
“I tightened security a bit.”
“Tightened security, huh...”
Pretty sure I hadn’t cracked his security before. I looked around, popped a few status windows, and checked the vicinity.
Then I heard Uijae’s voice.
“...It’s big. Honestly, I didn’t expect it to this extent.”
“If it were small, would people come?”
Ha, he gave a short laugh and swept his eyes around the noisy surroundings.
“You’re siphoning off a lot of information running this.”
“Right. Most of what circulates inside the country, we manage.”
“That level of information monopolization borders on deception. And you’re running Haeseong on top of it.”
“Hm?”
Feigning mild puzzlement, he lowered his voice and spoke softly.
“I’m not ‘monopolizing’—I’m ‘managing’...”
“......”
“It’s been what, five years since the era flipped. We’re not in stabilization yet—we’re in turmoil. In times like this, do you know how many seize chaos as a weapon?”
“Even so, what you’re doing is private sanction. Not the sort of thing a law-governed state should be doing.”
“Ahaha... Well, I have a clear set of priorities.”
“And those are?”
Instead of answering, he said something else.
“You can wander on your own. I’m not going to pry into what you buy, Hunter Sung. Just don’t cause trouble.”
“......”
“Anything that takes a lot of effort to restrain you... I’d like to avoid too.”
There was almost no smile in that last line.
Listening to them, I understood why the original had some pretty serious conflict.
‘Wow... they’re catastrophically incompatible.’
If one had inferior stats, he’d just give; but here, both of them had out-of-this-world stats, so neither would yield first—an endless pissing contest. And not just posturing; if it went sideways, a few skills would start flying.
‘Still, Haekyung’s probably got the edge?’
I did want to see with my own eyes how far a mental-type hunter’s power would hold, but it wasn’t enough to make me step in.
If they decided to kill the cause of the problem, I’d be the one screwed.
A moment later, Uijae spoke lazily.
“See you here in an hour.” fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
“Don’t get lost.”
I watched his back as he left without replying to that last jab, and then Haekyung’s voice struck like a thunderbolt from behind.
“Jehyun.”
“Yes.”
After calling me, he was quiet for a moment, then asked in a gentle, almost coaxing tone,
“Shall we move together? I think you might find something you want.”
“I don’t particularly want anything.”
Still, wander long enough and you might find something. Without further comment, I obediently followed him.
We’d passed a couple of shops when he finally brought it up.
“What did you talk about with Hunter Sung to be that late? And no, I won’t accept ‘traffic.’ Do you know how many speeding tickets you gifted me?”
Tickets from so long ago I barely remembered... I thought back to the days I joyrode his car, then asked,
“Want me to reimburse you?”
“Or you could tell me what you talked about.”
“It wasn’t about you, Guild Master. I just heard some past history from Hunter Sung.”
“How did you get close to him?”
“We’re not close.”
I’d just spent a good while calling him a monster; if I said we were close, wouldn’t he clutch his neck and faint?
After a beat, I passed over a version anchored in some truth.
“We met through Guild Master Song Hwayoung... had a few meals. He’s the one unilaterally pestering me. Though maybe not anymore.”
“Guild Master Song... Ah, right, you were friendly with her too?”
“If anyone’s my guild master, it’s Guild Master Song Hwayoung.”
“Transfer soon. I’m telling you.”
He delivered it like a joke, but there were thorns in it. I nodded vaguely and mulled my words.
“Guild Master.”
“Yes.”
“About what I said earlier, taking on appraisal work as your proxy.”
“Mhm.”
Well, best to start with the conclusion as always.
I looked him straight on and said,
“I think I need to add one more condition. It doesn’t sit right that only Hunter Sung gets something good out of it while I get nothing.”
“Then you should take compensation from him. If you’re asking me too, I’m the one taking the loss.”
Fair point. At my request he’d let Sung Uijae in and took compensation for that; me asking him to give me something on top of that would be shameless.
Even so, his interest was piqued.
“What condition did you want to set?”
“You once said you’d grant me one request. Remember?”
I didn’t wait for him to fish it out of memory.
“I’m interested in Cheonmyeonggyo.”
“Ah... I thought you’d given up.”
He finally nodded and asked again,
“You don’t mean you want to join. Is there something there that interests you?”
Something that interests me.
‘There is.’
After a brief hesitation, I answered honestly.
“I want to become the cult leader.”
