Chapter 178. Repayment
I stepped outside the hospital for the first time in days.
I had to get one more check-up before going out and receive a pass that required me to return before nightfall, but it was satisfying enough.
I'd already contacted Moon Surin.
A temporary investigation HQ had been set up at the party venue, and the investigation was still ongoing there.
Even after several days since the terror incident, it seemed the situation was severe enough to warrant extended investigation.
Especially considering high-ranking VIPs were involved, they were probably being extra thorough.
'I'll see Surin noona, help with the investigation... visit the dorm, meet Lucy and Lumi... I guess I won't be able to see Professor Im Sol.'
I wasn't sure if I'd manage it all, but I had a rough plan.
When I arrived at the venue, I saw people busily moving about.
"Surin noona!"
I walked over to Moon Surin, who was waiting for me.
Her shimmering platinum blonde hair made her easy to spot.
"Hoyeon! Are you okay?"
Moon Surin rushed over with wide eyes and checked me all over.
She looked like an older sister I hadn't seen in ages.
"Of course I'm fine. I came to help you out."
"Thanks. I've been moving around the venue a lot, so I have a lot of witness reports. You being here makes things easier."
Moon Surin smiled warmly, clearly happy to see me.
"Just trust me. Leave it to me."
With a confident expression, I entered the investigation tent.
Three hours later, I came out completely drained.
"Noona... I'm gonna die...."
"Aww, you worked hard. Here, drink this."
Moon Surin, as if she completely understood, handed me a drink without hesitation.
"Thank you...."
Gulp gulp.
A little hydration helped a lot.
Sure, there were a lot of casualties among VIPs, but this was also the first time so many demons had been used in a single incident in the entire pandemic.
So it had been classified as a massive event.
The manpower involved was staggering.
Because of that, I was completely drained during the questioning.
Especially the questions about the barrier. Damn.
I had to keep up the genius mage act to get through it.
'Why wasn't there an incident like this in the original story?'
It was clearly a butterfly effect, but I couldn't pinpoint the exact cause.
Click click!
Journalists were still wandering the venue, taking pictures everywhere.
"Still noisy, huh? Seeing reporters here proves it."
The fact that clout-chasing journalists were still snapping photos meant public interest hadn't died down.
"It was worse on the first day. Half were journalists, the other half investigators."
"Ugh...."
Just imagining it made my head hurt.
I'd been hounded by reporters before, so I could sympathize.
"Take a break for now. I've got a personal lead I want to follow, so I'll be going."
"Sure, see you later."
As Moon Surin stepped away, someone approached the bench where I was resting.
"Cadet Lee Hoyeon... hello."
A familiar cat-faced woman sat next to me.
"Ah, Ms. Min Yeji. Hello."
"Phew. I wonder how many times we've had a 'first meeting' greeting like this."
"I know, right? I was actually planning to come find you this time, but thanks to you, things went smoothly. I appreciate it, Ms. Min Yeji."
So she was still here.
Well, the combat personnel probably had a lot to go over, so it made sense.
She probably came and went several times to give her statements.
"If you're grateful, how about reconsidering the guild?"
"Uh... that's a bit...."
I turned her down with as polite a smile as I could muster.
No matter how I looked at it, I couldn't juggle guild activities while meeting women.
"You could at least hear the terms. You're too strict, Cadet Hoyeon."
Min Yeji spoke to me like we were old friends.
'She's more playful than I thought.'
For a team leader of the Iron-Blood Guild, she was surprisingly casual.
Still, she had a point.
Words alone weren't much of a thank-you.
"Well... maybe I could at least hear the terms. Or maybe we could work together without me joining the guild."
Joining the guild wasn't the only solution.
A win-win partnership was an option too.
"Really? Then..."
As we continued our business-like conversation, more people began to gather around.
Just as I was about to offer a different arrangement instead of joining, people started interrupting.
"Cadet Lee Hoyeon, hear out Noblesse Guild's offer too. We won't lose to Iron-Blood."
"Hey! He's negotiating with Iron-Blood right now!"
Min Yeji snapped sharply at the man who cut in.
"Give our Warrior Guild a chance too!"
"These bast— I mean, these people have no manners!"
"Please don't fight. Yeji, just a moment. Ah...."
These lunatics—how old are they to act like this in front of a cadet?
Since there were too many people watching, I couldn't even curse them out. I just waited quietly as Min Yeji handled the crowd.
*
Meanwhile, at the venue, another man was leaving after his investigation.
"Haah... fuck. Those bastards dumped everything on me and ran."
It was Park Mingyu, Guildmaster of the Buyer Guild.
Since he was used to handling the dirty work of higher-ups, he was stuck with the grunt work here too.
As a result, he'd been stuck in investigations for days.
He hadn't even touched guild matters.
As he stepped out to smoke, he saw a crowd forming.
"Damn that crazy bitch. Tries to kill anyone who interferes with her recruitment."
"Right? Hoyeon better not fall for that pretty face."
Overhearing their conversation, Park Mingyu frowned.
'What's this? Lee Hoyeon?'
There shouldn't be a reason for a crowd in the investigation area.
Feeling suspicious, he headed that way.
There he saw Min Yeji and Lee Hoyeon talking.
After a moment, Min Yeji bowed and walked away.
Watching the scene unfold, Park Mingyu caught on.
'They tried to recruit Lee Hoyeon!'
Lee Hoyeon—the hotshot genius mage.
If they could recruit him into the Buyer Guild, they'd soar instantly.
But Park Mingyu quickly gave up on that thought.
If even Iron-Blood Guild bowed out, he had no negotiation chips.
'...Wait.'
No, on second thought, he did.
A temptation no 20-something man could resist—sex.
The Buyer Guild had Nam Daeun bound by a slave contract.
She'd belong to him soon anyway.
Since she was his, he wouldn't give away her first time—but after he'd had enough fun, he could lend her to Lee Hoyeon.
They were in the same grade, so he must've seen her pretty face.
He couldn't say this publicly, but since no one was around, he could test the waters.
'Come to think of it, Hoyeon made Daeun lose first place. Tch. If he joins the Buyer Guild, I'll reward him with her.'
After confirming Min Yeji was completely gone, Park Mingyu approached Lee Hoyeon.
Lee Hoyeon looked tired, stretching his arms.
"Cadet Lee Hoyeon. Hello. We met briefly at the last party, right?"
"... Hello. You're Mr. Park Mingyu of the Buyer Guild, correct."
"Yes... you remember me."
'It's because of Nam Daeun, no doubt.'
There was no reason to remember a minor guildmaster like him otherwise.
Park Mingyu felt an irrational surge of confidence.
With a friendly smile, he continued chatting with Lee Hoyeon.
And Lee Hoyeon, barely keeping a straight face, responded politely.
'...Why is this bastard talking to me?'
Lee Hoyeon was caught off guard but didn't let it show.
"Wow, the title of genius mage really suits you."
"Ahaha..."
"And thank you again for what you did at the party. Back then..."
'What's this guy doing...?'
I was caught off guard by Park Mingyu's sudden appearance, but surprisingly, the conversation flowed well.
Park Mingyu was a really good actor.
With his kind-looking middle-aged face, his soothing smile, and a moderate tone of voice, he carried the conversation with careful consideration.
Well, I guess you'd need at least that level of social skill to handle dirty backstage work.
If I hadn't known about his filthy intentions, I might've fallen for it too.
I could've just declined the conversation politely, but I kept it going out of curiosity—what was he going to say?
"By the way, what were you talking about with Ms. Min Yeji earlier?"
And with that, the real question finally came out.
"Ah, she kindly offered me a spot in her guild."
"Oh… then I suppose we can now call you Lee Hoyeon of Iron-Blood Guild."
Park Mingyu clapped his hands with what seemed like genuine joy and smiled warmly.
"No, sorry, but I declined."
"That's unexpected. Did the terms not appeal to you? Maybe they offered too little since you're still a cadet? You're practically at active Hunter level already."
"It's not about the terms... I'm just not really considering joining any guilds."
"Ah, I see. Then again, Ms. Min Yeji is a woman, so maybe it's hard for her to offer terms that would appeal to you."
"...Excuse me?"
"In the actual Hunter world, we can offer more than just money or artifacts. Especially for male Hunters... women, for example?"
After saying that, Park Mingyu subtly gauged my reaction.
He kept his warm smile, but he couldn't fool my eyes.
When I didn't react, he quickly showed a regretful expression as if he'd made a mistake.
"Ah, sorry. That kind of talk's not really appropriate, huh? If it offended you, I apologize. I just wanted to show you the reality of the Hunter world."
'Look at this psycho pretending to be sorry.'
I was just barely 20, a newly legal adult.
And yet here was a man over 40, bowing his head and apologizing.
Park Mingyu was willing to go this far to deceive me.
'Women... women. Wait, don't tell me...'
If he meant a woman from Buyer Guild… there was only one name that came to mind.
I looked around.
I already knew no one was nearby, but I needed to act for Park Mingyu's sake.
"No... I don't mind that kind of talk."
I forced the corners of my mouth into a sly, lewd smile.
With no one around, I could get away with it.
"Haha… well, you're a guy too, after all. What man doesn't like that kind of offer?"
Park Mingyu took something out of his pocket.
A contract.
"You know the famous first-year cadet Nam Daeun, right? She's signed a lifetime contract with Buyer Guild. And… she and I have a secret agreement. Let's just call it a sponsorship."
Hearing the word 'sponsorship' sent chills down my spine.
Holding her sister hostage and calling that sponsorship?
Anyone who heard that would think Nam Daeun willingly became a whore.
How could he say that about a girl young enough to be his daughter?
"Let's be honest for a moment. If you come to Buyer Guild… we'll let you do whatever you want with Nam Daeun. Even her little sister. Here's a photo of her—she's beautiful, and in the future…"
"Enough. Just stop."
Park Mingyu even pulled out a photo of Nam Dahee to show me.
He probably thought he'd landed a real hit.
But I couldn't listen to another word.
I was about to vomit.
"Huh? Cadet Lee Hoyeon?"
"Something urgent came up. Let's continue this conversation another time."
"Wait, I just—"
Park Mingyu continued speaking behind me, but I ignored him and left the venue.
'Acceleration.'
I even used magic to get away as fast as possible, but then my heart skipped a beat.
"...Ah, right. I can't use mana."
Trying to conjure mana made my whole body ache.
I wanted to escape so badly I forgot I was still a patient.
"Didn't even get to say goodbye to noona."
I should've at least said bye to Moon Surin.
But if I went back and ran into Park Mingyu again, I might not be able to control my anger.
Not even [Steadfast Willpower] could help with this.
I mean, I could hold back my rage, but I wouldn't be able to hide it.
'Still, I didn't walk away empty-handed.'
Park Mingyu doesn't know that Nam Dahee is missing yet.
And he probably assumes Nam Daeun just went back to the academy.
So this isn't bad at all.
Even if I had to endure that disgusting conversation, I gained valuable information.
Before returning, I sent Moon Surin a quick excuse.
- Me: Noona, my hospital leave time's up, so I'll head back first. See you next time.
I waited a moment, but she didn't reply—probably too busy with the investigation.
I quietly left the venue.