Chapter 51

51 Recovery Business

Yeom Jeong-hwa.

Byeong-gap exclaimed slightly. Yeah, that was the name.

Yeom Jeong-hwa laughed as if his reaction was funny.

“There is no such thing as a coincidence. I never thought I would see you again, Mr. Byeong-gap.”

“I know, right. I was surprised, too.”

“I guess so because you forgot my name.”

“No, that’s…”

“Just kidding. What are you so embarrassed about?”

Yeom Jeong-hwa waved her hands, speaking in a playful voice. Byeong-gap had a bitter taste in his mouth. He looked at Jeong-hwa’s chest with a passing gaze. She had the characters j-3 written on her nameplate.

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“Did you apply for the attack squad, Mr. Byeong-gap?”

“Huh? No, I applied as a porter. What am I gonna do in the attack squad?”

“Why, Mr. Byeong-gap…?”

Jeong-hwa’s words faded. She looked around, grabbed Byeong-gap, and began to drag him outside.

“Can I talk to you outside for a minute?”

“Well, sure.”

Ko Byeong-gap and Yeom Jeong-hwa. The two left the auditorium and went out into the wide hallway where it was quiet and there were no ears to hear them.

Jeong-hwa started in a hurry, speaking in a low voice.

“I’ve been wondering ever since.”

“What?”

“About who you are.”

Byeong-gap felt his heart pounding, but he kept his poker face because he didn’t want to make it obvious.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to back out. I saw it with my own eyes.”

“What?”

“Do you remember the three people who went into the dungeon with us?”

“I remember them vaguely.”

“They concluded that Mr. Byeong-gap was a top awakener who has hidden his rating. An assassin type, so he’s good at hiding Karma.”

“……”

“But I can tell. Mr. Byeong-gap didn’t hide his rating. However, I think you are hiding your actual power. It is a strange power unknown to the public.”

‘This woman…’

Byeong-gap gulped. Yeom Jeong-hwa almost saw through his facade.

Of course, she wouldn’t have found out that he was the Goblin Lord, but she seemed convinced that he was different from any other awakener.

“That day, I saw something before I lost consciousness. The way Mr. Byeong-gap fought alongside something… unknown.”

“Huh?”

Byeong-gap caught his breath for a moment.

‘Did the Goblins get caught?’

He felt a chill go down his spine. If he were caught fighting alongside the Goblins, it would be hard to make excuses. His mind scrambled to think of a way to shut this woman up.

However, Jeong-hwa said something ridiculous.

“I kept thinking to myself what it was, and I came to a conclusion. Mr. Byeong-gap, can you summon spirits by any chance?”

“…What?”

‘What is this woman talking about? Like summoning a ghost who passed away because of some unfinished business?’

The poker face that he had been trying to maintain was broken. There was a sense of bewilderment on his face.

On the contrary, Jeong-hwa looked more serious than ever.

“What, a ghost?”

“Oh, stop using words that are familiar to the general public. We call it the Heroic Spirit.”

She brought out the necklace she had hidden underneath her top. It was a star-shaped pendant commonly called a six-pointed star, and in the center was an eerie eye.

Byeong-gap recognized it at once.

‘This woman, is she in Six-rays?’

Six-rays Bridge was one of many cults founded after the Deep Impact. Its difference from other beliefs was that its following was quite large in number.

The members of Six-rays Bridge, like any other pseudo-religion, believed in some transcendent existence that might be behind the Deep Impact. There were a total of seven ‘transcendental beings,’ consisting of one absolute god and six apostles who assisted him.

They hid somewhere in the back world and showed up occasionally.

When you meet them, you can master the truth of the world, know the truth of the universe, and realize the principles of all things.

‘I can just say yes…’

Byeong-gap also agreed on the existence of some transcendent being. However, he doesn’t swear on anything. He held the same views now, even as a Goblin Lord. To him, God was no different than a flying spaghetti monster.

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Whether she knew his thoughts or not, Jeong-hwa kept mischievously asking questions.

“Maybe you can summon spirits or contact them?”

“That’s…”

“When did you first meet them? Have you seen what they look like?”

“Excuse me, Ms. Jeong-hwa.”

“Yes. Please speak.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but it’s not what you think.”

“No…?”

Jeong-hwa looked a little shocked.

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Byeong-gap decided to pretend to be innocent by driving up the momentum.

“I don’t know what you saw. There was no one but us in the dungeon that day. You must have seen something wrong, or maybe it was the monster.”

“No…”

“And when it comes to my strength, let’s say it’s physical. I don’t want to say anything specific about this.”

“Your physical strength? Seriously?”

“Yes, and I don’t want you to brag about it.”

“I won’t do that, but…”

“But?”

“Are you sure you’re only physically fit? Or are you just trying to avoid it because it’s hard to talk about? Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone even if Mr. Byeong-gap came into contact with the Heroic Spirit. I won’t tell anyone. I have something I want to ask you personally. Any clues about where or when you met…”

“No, whether it’s the Heroic Spirit or a ghost, I’ve never seen anything like them.”

Byeong-gap dismissed the topic. Yeom Jeong-hwa’s shoulders dropped, looking depressed.

“If you have nothing more to say, I’ll go in first.”

“Wait a minute, Mr. Byeong-gap!”

Jeong-hwa called him urgently. She took a business card out of her wallet and held it out to him. It was their religion card.

‘Oh my God.’

“If you have anything you want to say later, please contact me. Anything is fine. We… are not the weird people that you think we are.”

She nodded and ran ahead into the auditorium.

“What the…”

Byeong-gap was not egalitarian. He had some preconceived notions, and his thoughts were biased to some extent. He obviously didn’t like cults either.

He looked at the business card with empty eyes.

Six rays and an eerie eye, symbolizing the six apostles and the one absolute god.

“What in the world is this?”

He shoved the business card roughly into his pocket.

“I’m glad I was able to cover it up, though.”

He went back into the auditorium with a deep smile.

***

People gathered one by one in the auditorium on the fourth floor. When a strong S-class person entered the room, the back part of the auditorium became chilly.

Whenever a new person entered, Byeong-gap craned his neck and looked around like a meerkat.

‘I look a little pitiful.’

Feeling embarrassed, he gently looked ahead instead. There were strangers on either side of him. This was because he deliberately chose a seat far away from Yeom Jeong-hwa.

Byeong-gap discreetly rolled his eyes and glanced at the person next to him. It was hard to say, but he wasn’t much of a big deal. That meant he was just a low-level hunter. Come to think of it; there were only low-level hunters around him.

‘Are they deliberately avoiding sitting next to the top hunters?’

He was bitter because they felt like a bunch of mutts who had entered a tiger’s cage.

Pot!

The dark conference room brightened up for a moment, and a man walked out to the podium.

It was a tall and handsome, somewhat disingenuous-looking man. He patted the microphone to check the sound and opened his mouth.

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“Good evening. I’m Jeon Min-sik, the person in charge of the overall team for the first North Korean Peninsula Expedition operation. It’s nice to meet you all.”

There was no response even though Jeon Min-sik bowed his head to greet them. All the hunters had their arms or legs crossed, looking up at him as if to say, ‘Let’s get on with it.’

Jeon Min-sik didn’t seem to care and continued talking.

“There are currently six hundred hunters here. We would like to thank all of you for attending. From now on, we will proceed with the orientation in earnest.”

‘Here we go.’

Byeong-gap concentrated and began to listen well. He had a vague feeling that this orientation would be similar to that of the orientation for freshmen in college, like students introducing themselves one by one followed by a talent show. Afterward, they might go to a bar and have an afterparty. Well, that sort of thing.

But of course, this was completely different. The orientation took place with a serious and heavy atmosphere.

Jeon Min-sik discussed the overview of the operation that would last for three months, the goals of the expedition, various precautions, and important things to know. It was content that might be considered boring, but, of course, no one listened halfheartedly. It was a serious matter that was directly related to their lives. He even wanted to take notes if he could.

“I’m sure you’ve all checked the nameplates I gave you. The letter written at the beginning corresponds to the team you belong to. Please look at the screen for a moment.”

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A large screen popped up with a visual representation of the group formation. Byeong-gap immediately found his team.

‘C… C… What?’

A few seconds later, he let out a silent outcry.

The whole expedition consisted of a total of fifty teams. Ten of those were teams comprised of S-class hunters and their porters. They would be deployed to the deepest places of the operation to perform special missions.

By the way…

‘The teams from A to J are a special commission, so am I a special agent?’

Byeong-gap, who was in team C-7, was teamed up with S-class hunters.

Oh my God!

‘I’m on a team with S-class hunters. Should I like it? Are you crazy? It’s obvious that I’m going to be doing dangerous missions, right?’

Was this a good thing, or should he be discouraged? He was at a loss for emotion. Couldn’t he change the groupings by protesting?

Byeong-gap wanted to raise his hand and ask questions right away, but he was not in the environment to do so. He could see that a lot of people felt similar to him. Either way, the orientation continued, and he could only stamp his feet silently.

“Departure is next Tuesday at 10 am. We’re going to move in batches here in the Ancient building. We’ll notify you of any additional information through your personal contact information.”

“I have a question!”

Byeong-gap raised his hand and shouted. For a moment, all eyes in the auditorium were on him.

“Yes, what is it?”

“Can’t we change teams?”

“It’s difficult. The groups consist of the most synergistic combinations based on the association’s database. It is the position of the organizers to make sure that there are as few changes as possible.”

Jeon Min-sik answered immediately. Byeong-gap had no choice but to quench his bitter feeling.

“This is the end of the orientation. Thank you all for your precious time. I’ll see you again on Tuesday.”

With that, the orientation ended. Byeong-gap left the auditorium with complicated thoughts.

‘My head hurts. I was just trying to act as a porter, but what kind of special squad am I in?’

Smoking was the only thing that soothed his restless mind, so he left the building and went out to find a smoking area. Fortunately, there was a smoking area right in front of the building.

It was crowded with hunters from the orientation. He placed a cigarette in his mouth and stuck it in between his lips. There were many famous hunters in the smoking area. Standing side by side and smoking with them, he felt strange yet again.

Suddenly, someone tapped his back.

“Hmm?”

“You were the one who asked earlier, right?”

“Ah…”

Byeong-gap opened his mouth in surprise. The person who approached him was Song Han-gil, an S-class hunter. He was a man who started hunting at the age of 18 and had only just turned 20. There was still a youthful look on his face.

He stared intently at Byeong-gap’s chest. He had forgotten to take his nameplate off.

Song Han-gil held out his hand and spoke.

“Nice to meet you. I’m in Group C, too. My name is Song Han-gil.”

“Oh, it’s an honor. I’m Ko Byeong-gap. I’m a fan of yours.”

“Really? Huhu.”

Byeong-gap quickly gave up his cigarette and shook the man’s hand.

Song Han-gil showed off his unique smile. As he said, he was a fan.

“Don’t worry too much, there won’t be anything dangerous. I took a peek, and all the hunters in Group C are amazing.”

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“Oh, I’m not really worried about anything like that.”

Byeong-gap responded politely.

To be honest, what would he do if he said it to his face?

“Whew, that’s a relief. Anyway, we’re a team, so please take good care of us.”

“I look forward to your kind cooperation.”

“Hurry up and finish your smoking.”

“Han-gil, don’t you smoke?”

“I don’t smoke. I just followed you here because I wanted to say hello to you.”

“I see.”

“Yes, see you on Tuesday.”

With a brief farewell, Song Han-gil left.

‘I shook hands with an S-class hunter.’

Byeong-gap looked down at his right hand and was immersed in a strange feeling.

‘If I do this well, I can make S-class friends, right?’

He chuckled and placed his cigarette in his mouth.

The time went by aimlessly.

The weekend and Monday passed in the blink of an eye, and before he knew it, it was the day of the expedition.