Chapter 34: Something Unknown (8)

In fact, the reason Jiho hasn’t been taking Lim Seung Joo is because he becomes too strong with [Blessing of the Star].

With the effects of [Blessing of the Star], Lim Seung Joo is on par with an S-rank hunter. 

The ordinary private training center can’t take the hits of an S-rank hunter. If it gets destroyed, they have to pay for the damages, and No Name doesn’t have the funds to do that right now.

But seeing Seung Joo so aggrieved, Jiho feels like he should take him there for now. If he doesn’t, Seung Joo might not stop at his knees and go down to his stomach…

“Will you bring me there?”

“Yes. There is a need to get used to each other’s skills anyway. But because there’s a limit to what the barrier around the training center can handle, one wrong move can destroy the building… Will you be able to control your strength?”

“Yes, of course. I will do it perfectly!”

“Still, don’t feel too pressured…”

It seemed that Seung Joo had been quite upset these past few days because he only got up after receiving Jiho’s assurance multiple times, despite this being a good thing for Jiho too. When Jiho glanced at the clock, the hour hand was already pointing to the six. 

“I will send the location of the training center through text later. Go straight to work there tomorrow. You should get off of work now if you want to train tomorrow.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Having accomplished his goal, Lim Seung Joo left the guildmaster’s office without a hint of regret.

Jiho went back to the cafe and ordered another Frappuccino before returning to his office. He started to diligently take care of the stack of documents.

This had all once felt daunting when he first started the guild, but he was now able to take care of them very skillfully. 

Completely focused, two hours passed before Jiho straightened his back and checked the number of documents left.

“There’s still a bit left…”

He took care of all of the urgent documents. Had it been like usual, Jiho would’ve only left after he finished going through everything, but because Lim Seung Joo is joining them tomorrow, he felt like it would be a good idea to go home early and rest instead. Jiho tidied up and headed out.

Upon leaving the guildmaster’s office, the guild was unusually silent. Jiho looked around the guild for no reason.

Korean guilds have a responsibility to respond quickly whenever an unpredicted fissure or gate opens up. This is why there’s usually three or four people left in most guilds. But because today was a rare national holiday, there was no one in the guild. 

Jiho felt a little strange when he saw the dark and quiet office and training center.

Enveloped by the unique silence that night brings, Jiho stared into the empty air. Slightly nervous. 

“…”

No matter how long Jiho stared, nothing changed, obviously. Embarrassed, Jiho shrugged his shoulders and turned his head, even though he was alone.

In fact, Jiho had seen a ghost when he was young.

He didn’t have psychic powers or anything. The only ghost Jiho’s ever seen is one person.

Can that even be called a ghost? It probably was since no one else but Jiho could see it, yet, for some reason, it didn’t feel like a ghost.

That ghost had an extremely pale face, but its eyes and hair were so dark that it seemed as if they had absorbed all light. It was hard to tell if it was a male or female from its appearance.

Based on its appearance alone, there’s no doubt that it’s a ghost. But aren’t ghosts usually terrifying existences?

Instead, Jiho felt an odd sense of familiarity from the other.

That person continuously tried to tell Jiho something. But Jiho was never able to understand it. Even when Jiho, frustrated, tried to figure it out by reading its lips, it was hard to understand even a single syllable.

Although Jiho tried to start a conversation with the other multiple times, each attempt was in vain.

In the end, Jiho simply ignored it even if it appeared. Since he was busy studying in high school.

Even though he ignored it, the ghost frequently appeared and continued to tell Jiho something he couldn’t hear.

That ghost disappeared after Jiho awakened. Upon realizing that he couldn’t see the ghost anymore, Jiho felt disappointed. 

Not only was he not scared of it because he had grown used to its existence, but he also wanted to know what it was so desperately trying to tell him.

It could’ve just been an illusion from his youth.

Waving his memories away, the thing that caught Jiho’s attention was the still beautifully bloomed roses.

The supplement the bouquet of roses Joo Yiwon gave him nearly a month ago ate to grow so big was still a mystery. But, for now, the other guildmembers said that they liked the roses because they brightened the atmosphere.

Joo Yiwon is probably getting ready for a dungeon raid in Australia right now. He’ll start entering in about two or so hours…

Since he hasn’t eaten yet, Jiho decided to get something to-go and go home, wash up, and watch the news. The awakened ones corner of the news will probably show live coverage of Yiwon entering the dungeon since the times match up.1

“Perfect.”

Feeling pleased with his evening plans, Jiho turned off all of the lights in the guild and locked the office with a mana pattern lock. After checking it a few times, Jiho left the door.

When he was about to step in front of the elevator.

Step, step.

The sound of someone’s footsteps rang from the stairs. Upon hearing the sound that was coming from somewhere close, Jiho frowned.

The top two floors of this building are both occupied by No Name Guild.

No Name, by nature, doesn’t usually receive guests. Especially at this time. The only person who would visit this building at this time, Joo Yiwon, is currently in Australia. 

If they’re coming up through the dirty, narrow stairwell, there’s a high chance of them being an uninvited guest. 

‘A guild burglar?’

A guild burglar is different from a regular thief. There have been a few instances where awakened ones with the ability to break through mana locks don’t register themselves, and instead rob items from small and middle sized guilds. 

Because Jiho bought a lot of items at Chungram’s auction hall recently, he falls right into the kind of people guild burglars target. That’s why he paid extra close attention to the security system before leaving the guild today. 

If he runs into them right now, it might end up in a fight.

After thinking for a bit, Jiho sent an emergency alert through his terminal and decided to check on the other himself.

Since all of Jiho’s skills have transformed into support skills, it wouldn’t be good to get into a fight. But because he spent the past year as a combat hunter, he is still familiar with combat.

On the other hand, guild burglars usually have poor combat skills. Had they been an awakened one with combat skills, they would’ve entered a guild instead of robbing one. They’re comparably easy opponents.

There’ll be no problem in at least buying some time. 

Instead of taking his staff out of his inventory pocket, Jiho took out a weapon. It was a gun that he bought during the auction recently. The item uses bullets charged with mana instead of gunpowder. Though it isn’t that powerful, it’s perfect to use in a fight where he’s trying to restrain a person.

Jiho softened his steps and walked down the stairs. Standing in a place where he wouldn’t be easily discovered by the other, Jiho sneaked a peek down the emergency stairs.

A person was slowly climbing up from the stairs on the floor right beneath him. The person had long hair and was wearing a normal checkered shirt and jeans.

A guild burglar would’ve at least covered their face. Is it just a passerby?

Not relaxing, Jiho spoke.

“Who are you?”

The other stopped as soon as they heard Jiho’s question.

“Hello?”

One foot on the step above and the other foot still below. The other didn’t move from its awkward pose.

Sensing something ominous, Jiho lifted his gun and aimed. 

“This is No Name’s guild office, and it’s currently closed. Please turn back.”

“Found, you.”

The other mumbled somewhat clumsily and slowly lifted its head.

The two eyes that met Jiho’s were filled with avarice. As soon as it smiled, its humanlike appearance changed.

Its eyes were completely black, with not a hint of white. The skin, which was like a human’s just a second ago, reflected light like the scales on a fish does.

That is not a human.

As soon as Jiho realized the other was a monster, he shot his gun. But even though the monster was hit full-on by the gun, it received no damage. Instead of continuing to attack, Jiho instinctively ducked.

Whoosh-

Bang.

Something whizzed past his head at an alarming speed. Jiho dodged it by an extremely slight margin.

When Jiho checked after dodging, it turned out to be the other’s long-stretched arm. The arm stretched out more than the height of a human, and it was lodged in the wall after missing Jiho.

But there was no time to relax that the enemy couldn’t move.

The other was strong. The arm that pierced through the wall speedily followed Jiho as if there was nothing blocking it, despite it still being stuck in the wall. This time, Jiho aimed a punch at the monster’s arm while dodging.

“EUK!”

Jiho let out a pained yell and retracted his fist. Even though he attacked the quickly-moving arm, Jiho was the one to feel the effects of it. The arm was so tough that Jiho’s attack didn’t make a dent in it.

‘Ah. F*ck…’

He was wrong. He should’ve escaped into the guild after he reported it.

But no one would’ve expected a monster to go to a guild and attack. 

It’s nearly impossible for a monster to roam around, especially in Seoul. Korea has the highest percentage of awakened ones of any country, and it is very safe in regards to fissures and monsters.

Once the Hunter Association notices an active fissure, it’s taken care of within a couple of hours. The Hunter Association takes care of any escaped monster by following its trail of mana. Even if they fail to track its trail, monsters are easily spotted by people because of their strange appearance, so they’re killed in no time.

But this monster looked exactly like a human. Before it had mutated, there was no way to tell it apart from a human.

To think that that MeTube video Jaeun showed him wasn’t fake or fabricated but real. If a monster that looks like a human exists, then society will fall into chaos again.

‘That can’t happen…’

Jiho feels that, at the very least, he has to let people know that a dangerous monster like this is roaming the streets. 

‘I don’t think Guildmaster-nim’s luck is very good today. So please don’t overwork yourself today, and go home and rest early. Please.’

Hojin’s words hit Jiho too late. If he knew this would happen, he wouldn’t have ignored something like fortune-telling and would’ve listened carefully.

But it was already too late.

Because the monster’s long arm had already pierced through the left side of Jiho’s chest.