Free Web NovelI stared at Im Haekyung for a moment, then spoke.
“Looks like you’re having fun. I haven’t even said a word.”
“Was I?”
At my words, Im Haekyung covered their mouth, lightly brushed around their lips, then lowered their hand.
“Something interesting always happens whenever I’m with you, Jehyun....”
“.......”
“Of course, you also often make strange or unreasonable requests, and you make rude requests a lot, too. No, it’s almost always like that, isn’t it?”
Im Haekyung started speaking casually, but as if realizing something, their voice gradually became clearer. Whether they did or not, I just kept staring at them, and Im Haekyung seemed to organize their thoughts on their own and returned to a faint smile.
“So why did you come today, Jehyun?”
Well, if we were going to prioritize things....
“The fiend merger comes first.”
“A fiend merger, huh.”
Im Haekyung neatly gathered the documents scattered across the table and moved them to one side. Only after finishing that whole sequence did Im Haekyung lift their head.
“A fiend merger.... It’s rare, but it’s not unheard of. There are people who keep up major Hunter activity even after a fiend merger, too. If you want, I can collect cases and give them to you.”
“Cases?”
“Half your body got taken over by something else overnight. Shouldn’t you at least look into how people adapted?”
Why would you?
I stared blankly at Im Haekyung, then shook my head.
“That’s fine.”
“Oh, you already adapted? That’s fast.”
“No. I haven’t, but I don’t think referencing other people’s cases would really mean much.”
“You’re confident....”
Trailing off, Im Haekyung narrowed their eyes and looked at me.
Well, whatever. There was no reason to go out of my way to look into other examples. It didn’t seem like it would help, anyway.
‘And this bastard’s the one who has to assimilate on their own, so why is it my problem?’
Yeah, it’s a merger, but this body was mine from the start, for fuck’s sake. If this bastard can’t adapt and keeps pushing back, that’s their loss—why would I give a shit?
I gave Im Haekyung, who was going off on a tangent, the conclusion.
“You don’t have to help me in that direction. I just came to tell you not to publicize the fiend merger.”
“Jehyun. You know a fiend merger is a mandatory report item, right?”
“I’m not saying I don’t know.”
“Even if I don’t say anything, doesn’t it feel like it’ll get out to the world someday?”
“I’ll think about that when it happens.” freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
When I brushed it off, Im Haekyung leaned their chair back. Then, as if lightly scolding me, Im Haekyung spoke.
“You always seem to only deal with things when they’re right in front of you. Mm.... Sure, it is more fun that way. Finding a way to break through is interesting, too.”
Only then did Im Haekyung stand up and perch on the desk again. Looking up at them while still sitting on the sofa, I could see Im Haekyung’s face slightly shadowed by the backlight.
“I won’t say anything. It wouldn’t do me any good to report it, anyway.”
“Yeah.”
“But shouldn’t you get your mana tested again? The increase was huge. Skills that can’t come out at the rank you currently have are going to show up. People will see them a lot.”
“.......”
“Lies always... have a limit.”
Saying that, Im Haekyung furrowed their brow in a strangely subtle way. They immediately returned to a calm expression, but still.
I nodded as I looked at Im Haekyung.
“I was planning to get my rank evaluated again anyway.”
“Your previous rank was F, right?” ƒгeewebnovёl.com
“Yes.”
“If you get reclassified, you’ll come out as B.”
Probably.
‘It really is a case that stands out like crazy.’
Going from F to B overnight. If it wasn’t a special case like a fiend merger, it was definitely hard to explain.
Maybe Im Haekyung was thinking the same thing, because they looked over at me with a peculiar expression.
“Wouldn’t you need a scenario to explain it? Even if Haeseong handles the mana measurement and prepares the paperwork, you still have to be able ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) to say why your rank suddenly went from F to B.”
“Yes.”
“If you explain that wrong, it’ll be a big problem. And on top of that, you said you want to hide the fiend merger, didn’t you?”
Yeah. I’d thought that part through thoroughly, too. No—more accurately, not me. Joo Seowon.
The ‘scenario’ Joo Seowon came up with was this.
‘Keeping it simple is better. Device malfunction.’
‘Hm.’
‘There’s no machine that never throws an error. Pushing it like that is easier on your head.’
‘It’s not just one or two ranks. It’s from F to B.’
‘Were you really originally F? You never looked like that at all.’
‘Seowon....’
‘...Say you were kind of weird from the start.’
In other words, what Seowon was telling me was: insist that it didn’t seem like I was actually F from the beginning.
When I told Im Haekyung exactly that, their expression turned strange.
“That’s a pretty safe story. Device errors are common. If your mana was being suppressed for some reason, people would more or less accept it.”
“Yes.”
“But... wouldn’t there be people who accept it, and people who don’t? You’d definitely draw suspicion.”
“Probably.”
“How are you going to prepare for that?”
If you jump from F to B overnight, attention was inevitable. And if attention focused on you, naturally, all sorts of doubts would surface.
But... do I need to explain any of that?
‘Do I really?’
If I went back to the original purpose, the reason I went looking for Cheonmyeonggyo wasn’t simply to raise my rank. Sure, there had been cases where someone’s rank actually rose, but I hadn’t gone there expecting that.
If anything, this—merging with a fiend and raising my rank—had drifted a bit off my intent.
What I liked was Cheonmyeonggyo’s system.
A mere D-rank Hunter gathering higher-rank Hunters, creating an easy object of worship called religion, and making even S-rank Hunters struggle... I wanted to benchmark that kind of system itself.
But copying Cheonmyeonggyo’s system piece by piece, creating something new, and preparing for what was coming was close to impossible.
The reason Jin Haedo had been able to inflate Cheonmyeonggyo to that extent probably included a first-mover advantage, too.
I answered with a light smile.
“I won’t explain.”
“You don’t think it’s necessary?”
“Yes.”
“.......”
And that was the point.
Jin Haedo already painstakingly built a cult... so why the hell would I go as far as benchmarking it to build a brand-new one?
When there was a nice-looking rice cake sitting right in front of me, lost and ownerless, wouldn’t it be better to swallow it whole?
When I answered without hesitation, Im Haekyung stayed silent and stared at me for a long time. I continued calmly.
“Let’s move on to a different topic. About Cheonmyeonggyo... we still have something to talk about, don’t we?”
“Cheonmyeonggyo.... Of course.”
“Honestly, my interest has cooled off, but I’m not saying I’m going to throw it away completely. The effort I put in would be a waste.”
“Because you didn’t finish things, I’ve been blocking it to some extent. It’d be a problem if word leaked outside.”
“Yes, thank you.”
It felt more like they did it because they enjoyed it to some degree, though.
After a brief thanks, I continued.
“I’m going to leak information to Cheonmyeonggyo.”
“How?”
“As a real case where someone’s rank went up. Cheonmyeonggyo is a place where those kinds of guys gather, anyway.”
“You’re going to scam them?”
“It’s not a lie.”
I went into a dungeon under Cheonmyeonggyo and actually came out with my rank raised. It was a story very close to the truth.
At my words, Im Haekyung let out a short laugh and shook their head.
“Sure.... It was a cult from the start, so, whatever. Whether Jin Haedo runs it or you run it, it’s all the same.”
“.......”
“So how are you going to leak the information?”
Now I needed to reference previous examples.
And I already had them. Because someone had gathered information for me outside while I was getting my ass kicked in the dungeon.
“I’ve already thought of a plan.”
“Ah-ha.... And you’re not going to tell me?”
“You’ll probably find out later.”
“‘See it when the time comes’?”
When I didn’t answer, Im Haekyung nodded like they accepted it on their own.
After a brief silence, Im Haekyung tapped the table with a finger and asked gently.
“Do you want to meet Jin Haedo?”
There was... definitely more I needed to say to Jin Haedo.
“Do you know his exact location?”
“Of course.”
This time too, the answer came without hesitation. I stared at Im Haekyung for a moment, then nodded.
“Not right now.”
“Why? Do you have something else to do again?”
“Yes.”
Im Haekyung probably wanted to hear this even more than the other topics.
I pulled up the corner of my mouth and spoke lightly.
“I said I’d join Haeseong.”
“Ahh.... Right. It’d be better to hurry.”
‘Huh?’
Im Haekyung spoke as if they were already certain of something.
“Why?”
“Ah, you don’t know, Jehyun.”
“.......”
“The SH Guild is going to disappear soon anyway.”
Their voice was completely casual. It’s not like Im Haekyung had to feel any particular way about it, of course.
But what felt strange to me was something else.
‘How do they know?’
The SH Guild collapses after Song Hwayoung dies. Even if Im Haekyung had gotten a report on Song Hwayoung’s condition, could they really say it that confidently?
I tilted my head slightly and asked.
“Do you know Guild Master Song is going to die?”
“.......”
At my question, Im Haekyung went silent for a moment, then immediately asked back.
“What are you talking about?”
