Chapter 281

The limousine sped down the road without the slightest jolt.

Park Ji-hoon, who was seated inside, retrieved a bottle of water from the built-in refrigerator and offered it to the middle-aged man sitting across from him.

“Would you like some?”

“In this situation? And where did you learn the habit of offering someone else’s property as if it were your own?”

“Well, then it’s fine if I drink half of it. After all, I played a part in making the Myeongdong Guild what it is today.”

Park Tae-seop, the middle-aged man and the head of the Myeongdong Guild, glared silently at Park Ji-hoon as he tilted the water bottle and drank half.

“You seem rather carefree.”

Park Ji-hoon, leaning back against the plush seat, responded calmly, “Is there a reason I should be worried?”

“Are you saying that after all that’s happened, nothing concerns you?”

“It’s just a minor incident.”

“A sandcastle can collapse with just a drop of water.”

“That’s because it’s a sandcastle.”

“And the Myeongdong Guild is different?”

“Five hundred hunters belong to the Myeongdong Guild. Among them, twenty are A-rank hunters. I wouldn’t call that a sandcastle but rather a tower of steel. And besides…” Park Ji-hoon’s lips curled into a gentle smile.

“You can’t really count the Myeongdong Guild out. After all, *he* is here.”

“…That’s true,” Park Tae-seop nodded reluctantly, though his expression remained dissatisfied. Noticing this, Park Ji-hoon asked,

“What is it? What’s making you so uneasy?”

After a brief silence, Park Tae-seop spoke up.

“It’s a feeling.”

“Pardon?”

“When you reach my age, you develop a certain intuition.”

Ha. Park Ji-hoon couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. He wondered what the man was going to say, only to hear the whining of an old man past his prime.

‘Just a feeling? How ridiculous.’ His thoughts were clear on his face, and Park Tae-seop, with his years of experience, didn’t miss it.

“You might think it’s nonsense. I understand. It’s something young, inexperienced people like you wouldn’t comprehend.”

“Oh, I apologize if that’s how I made you feel.”

“The insincerity in your apology is something only a young chick like you could manage.”

“I just don’t understand. What exactly is it that’s troubling you?”

After a short pause, a name was uttered.

“Jin Tae-kyung.”

It was a name released like a sigh. Since communication with Team 11 had been cut off, that name had been circling in his mind.

At first, he thought it was just a fleeting worry, but it wasn’t.

His intuition, which had weathered even the Great Cataclysm, provided the answer to his concerns.

“He’s a siege weapon. Not a sandcastle, but something that can crack a tower of steel.”

Without waiting for a response, Park Tae-seop reached out and grabbed the water bottle Park Ji-hoon had left, gulping it down in large swigs. His throat burned as he finished speaking.

Meanwhile, Park Ji-hoon, watching him, frowned deeply.

‘Has this old man lost his mind…?’ He acknowledged that there were some hiccups in the process, especially with the unexpected issues involving the Black Hunters and Team 11.

But even taking those into account, Park Tae-seop’s reaction seemed overly excessive.

Given that Park Ji-hoon held an unwavering belief in *him,* it was only natural for him to be disturbed by this.

“I didn’t expect you to rate Jin Tae-kyung so highly.”

“He’s shown results.”

“Jin Tae-kyung hasn’t been in the spotlight for very long.”

“True, but in that short time, he’s shown a lot.”

“Shown a lot?” Park Ji-hoon responded with a sneer.

“Won Myung-hoon was trash. Barely clinging to the rankings. He only made a name for himself during the Hallyu wave, like a charity case. You know that too, Guild Leader.”

“I’ve heard he was not only stupid and greedy but also someone who hid his lack of skill behind his fame.”

“And as for the so-called ‘named monster’? That Black Drake was the weakest among all the named monsters that have appeared in the last 20 years. Even the magic stone extracted from its corpse wasn’t much different from those of A-rank monsters.”

“Then, are you saying you could take down that weak named monster on your own?”

“I could, indeed.”

Park Ji-hoon answered confidently. He took great pride in his abilities.

It was thanks to his innate talent that he was granted the honor of being chosen by *him,* and despite not yet reaching thirty, he could sit across from the head of the Myeongdong Guild and meet his gaze in conversation.

However, the next question made him pause.

“Then, if you were to fight Jin Tae-kyung? Would you be confident in your victory against him?”

“…Of course.” This time, his response was a beat too slow. Realizing this, he bit his lip as Park Tae-seop remarked,

“That hesitation just now tells me what kind of person Jin Tae-kyung is.”

Park Ji-hoon retorted coldly, “I was just thinking of the past, that’s all.”

“Ah, wasn’t he a friend?”

“I’d rather not discuss that. What I want to emphasize is that this situation isn’t as serious as you think, Guild Leader.”

“We still don’t know the status of Team 11, and one of the most prominent figures in the country right now has stormed into the Myeongdong Guild’s headquarters. You think that’s not serious?”

“The fool. That’s why, in a fit of anger, he recklessly invaded the Myeongdong Guild’s headquarters without any sense.”

About ten minutes ago, while on the phone with the leader of Team 1, Park Ji-hoon was startled to suddenly hear Jin Tae-kyung’s voice. But at the same time, he was relieved.

‘This will be easier than I thought.’

The Myeongdong Guild had over five hundred hunters. Even with half of them out on raids, a massive number were stationed at the headquarters.

Of course, that included the Guild’s elite Team 1.

“Jin Tae-kyung has walked right into the tiger’s den. All we have to do is detain him, sort out the situation, and it’ll be over.”

Even if the reporters caught wind and showed up, there was nothing to worry about.

*He* had the power to render cameras and microphones useless.

“I’ll have this wrapped up cleanly by the end of the day.”

With an increasingly aged face, Park Tae-seop murmured, “Something’s not right. Maybe it’s my age, but this is starting to feel beyond my control.”

“It’s just a passing breeze. It wouldn’t do for someone who’s weathered the Great Cataclysm to start shaking now.”

Noticing the reprimand rather than encouragement in Park Ji-hoon’s words, Park Tae-seop fell silent. Just then, a simple phone alert rang from somewhere.

“That’s not my phone.”

“It’s mine.”

“Who is it?”

“My head of security, Chief Kim. I asked him to check on Team 11. It seems he’s just arrived.”

“Good. First, tell him to erase all traces of Team 11.”

“Are you giving me orders now?”

Park Tae-seop frowned as he answered the call.

“It’s me. What’s the situation? Mm? Ah, I see.”

His brow furrowed, then smoothed out, his pupils dilating and contracting repeatedly. As his expression grew increasingly strange, he pulled the phone away from his ear.

“What happened?”

“Take it.”

Park Tae-seop handed his phone to him. A bulging vein was visible on his forehead.

“Pardon?”

“Hurry!”

With a perplexed expression, Park Ji-hoon took the phone and placed it to his ear.

Then, a voice as soft as a cat’s paw invaded his ear.

– Hunter Park Ji-hoon of Myeongdong Guild’s Team 1?

Park Ji-hoon immediately realized that the caller was not Chief Kim, whom he had encountered a few times.

The voice was young, polite, and yet carried an aura that was hard to approach.

“It’s me. Who is this?”

Feeling an instinctive sense of unease, Park Ji-hoon’s question was answered by the unfamiliar voice.

– My name is Choi Min-woo.

“Who?”

– Ah, I’m from the Peace Guild. I’m a team leader there.

“…Peace Guild?”

– Yes.

You’ve got to be kidding me. Park Ji-hoon’s lips twitched.

A few words were enough to grasp what had happened. They had fallen perfectly into the trap set by the Peace Guild.

It was obvious what had become of Chief Kim, the phone’s rightful owner. He was likely either tied up and unconscious or bitterly watching his phone being used.

‘Damn idiots at the Myeongdong Guild.’ The voice of Team Leader Choi on the other end of the line sounded leisurely, like that of a victor.

– I called because I wanted to have a conversation.

“Well, that is to say—”

As Park Ji-hoon gritted his teeth, his mind raced. Then, a vibration came from his chest.

It wasn’t from the phone he was holding, which belonged to Park Tae-seop.

– Hunter Park Ji-hoon?

“Just a moment. Hold on.” Park Ji-hoon used his free hand to pull out his own phone from inside his suit jacket.

He had received a text, and the sender was…

[Team Leader 1]: It’s done.

A smile of relief appeared on Park Ji-hoon’s face. Jin Tae-kyung, who had entered the Myeongdong Guild’s tiger den, must have finally been subdued.

The scales that had tipped to one side were now balanced.

But then,

“Huh?”

The smile vanished from Park Ji-hoon’s face as he checked the text.

The six-inch phone screen was filled not with a report from Team Leader 1 that Jin Tae-kyung had been captured but with an image file.

‘What is this…?’

The faces were familiar.

The young man in the photo, grinning widely with blood splattered on his face. And the middle-aged man, clinging to him with a deathly pale complexion as if he were addicted to some drug.

‘Jin Tae-kyung, Team Leader 1?’

That wasn’t all. The background behind the two was also familiar.

His own nameplate, which read “Myeongdong Guild Team 1 Hunter Park Ji-hoon,” was a crucial clue to their location.

And there was one more thing.

‘No way… Did no one manage to stop him? Not a single person could handle Jin Tae-kyung?’

A reality he didn’t want to believe.

At that moment, Park Ji-hoon’s gaze, lost and trembling, was interrupted by another vibration. The new text was brief but powerful.

Just five words shattered Park Ji-hoon’s composure.

[Sender: Team Leader 1] Bring Melona when you come.

“W-what the hell…?” Crunch. The phone in Park Ji-hoon’s hand crumpled like paper.

Watching this, Myeongdong Guild Leader Park Tae-seop muttered quietly,

“We’re screwed.”

[We’ve captured the personnel dispatched from the Myeongdong Guild.]

It was a text from Team Leader Choi.

A few hours ago, after burning down the safehouse used by the Black Hunters, we split into two groups.

An ambush squad to secure solid evidence.

And me, who was instructed to act independently.

It was at Team Leader Choi’s insistence that we must secure something—evidence or a witness.

‘He was right.’

Due to meticulous management, all the Black Hunters, including Lim Young-jun, had already undergone complete identity changes. There was no link between them and the Myeongdong Guild.

Team Leader Choi had pinpointed this accurately.

‘Always calm and composed.’

In hindsight, he never lost his way.

Although the wise advice of Kim, the butler, an exceptional mage, played a role, his innate talent was undeniable.

‘With this, we’ve got a solid weak point in our hands.’

On top of capturing the Black Hunters, we now had official employees of the Myeongdong Guild.

This would serve as an excellent shield.

‘Or maybe a dagger.’

With a message of thanks, I sent the photos I had just taken.

As expected of an adult’s phone, the pictures turned out well even if they were taken carelessly.

“Maybe I should get a new phone.”

I muttered to myself, and someone flinched. It was the security team hunter I had hired as my photographer for the day.

Of course, without pay.

“What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing!”

“Feel free to relax. Don’t just stand there; you can sit on the couch or something.”

“I’m comfortable like this!”

“No matter how I look at it, you don’t seem comfortable at all.”

“I’m fine, sir!” Was it just my imagination? His voice seemed to tremble, almost like he was about to cry.

Well, it made sense. After all, as a mere security team hunter, he had witnessed the annihilation of the elite Team 1 right before his eyes.

‘The others who arrived later were similar.’

The other Myeongdong Guild hunters who arrived late were too stunned by the sight to even think about attacking me.

Of course, there were a few who were so loyal to the Guild that they attempted it.

But unfortunately for them, their skills were lacking, and every one of those who charged at me ended up being stretchered out.

After taking down around fifty of them, no one dared approach me anymore, and Park Ji-hoon’s office became a forbidden zone.

I sank into the chair the guy had been using and thought,

‘He must be rushing over here like mad right now.’

Just thinking about him made my heart turn cold.

A coincidence after ten long years, running into my middle school classmate on the street.

How much of what I’d seen was the real Park Ji-hoon?

‘Hurry up. Before I get even angrier.’

Snap.

The armrest of the chair broke under the pressure of my grip.

“He’s here!”

“The Guild Leader!”

The murmur outside the office spread like wildfire.

At the same time, I sensed two massive presences heading this way without hesitation.

‘So, you’ve finally arrived.’

And in the next moment, the door exploded with a thunderous sound.

Boom!