Chapter 30: The taxi culture in Korea is very developed, so taxi stops were commonplace.

The taxi culture in Korea is very developed, so taxi stops were commonplace.

Taylor Nine liked Korea very much.

She liked to ride around the city in a taxi.

Outside, streets and buildings quickly passed while she tapped on her phone.

[Taylor Nine: Crazy punk.]

[Taylor Nine: You immediately locked yourself in the gym after coming back from somewhere?]

[Yoo Seodam: Yes.]

[Taylor Nine: You have to tell me where you’ve been.]

[Taylor Nine: Hey!]

[Taylor Nine: Are you ignoring me?]

[Taylor Nine: Son of a bitch!]

Her phone showed a ‘!,’ which meant he didn’t read her latest texts.

She was certain that he closed his phone after saying what he wanted to say.

She knew his personality because they’ve known each for years, so she didn’t mind.

Rather, she happily smiled.

Perhaps it’s because they haven’t spoken to each other until recently.

But It was enough to keep in touch like this, and to make sure that both were okay.

“Hey…Can I get off here? I’m a foreigner.”

“Okay~ Can you pay with a credit card?”

She has the appearance of a Russian native, so people used to stutter when they saw her, but now they were quite used to it.

Wearing sunglasses that hid her face, Taylor got out of the taxi.

Recently, she has become quite a celebrity in Korea.

Every time she spoke to the media about a guild as large as Lost Day, people would cheer her on, so thanks to that, she was invited on various TV and radio programs.

And, she was simply stunning.

‘With this, it should hide my identity.’

Taylor was reluctant to make her face known.

She didn’t want to be running around like this, but she also didn’t want the incident with Lost Day to be buried.

She doesn’t know if Seodam knows that.

“Taylor Nine, hold on a minute. There’s something we need to discuss with you.”

“Huh?”

Taylor, who was heading for the broadcasting station while chewing bubble gum, smiled faintly when she saw two men in black suits blocking her way.

“You’re a little polite this time, aren’t you?”

There was a Lost Day mark on their suit.

Not long after Taylor came out to the press and started harassing Lost Day, they visited her quite often, mostly with threats, so she was furious and told them to fuck off.

At one point, four S-Rank hunters came, but in preparation for that, she only traveled in crowded places, so they were stigmatized as ‘sending hunters to threaten people.”

But this time it was different.

Instead of hunters, it was normal office workers.

One of the office workers handed her a business card that had the name ‘James Clinton’ and beside that was the title of ‘CEO.’

James, a middle aged man with fine blond hair, nodded at Taylor, then spoke.

“I’d like to make a deal.”

“A deal. Hmm, continue.”

“I’ve learned a little about you. Taylor Nine. You only had some contact with Lost Day in the past. Then the problem is your colleague, Yoo Seodam, and his grudges. Is that why you’re doing this?”

“That’s right. You know me well.”

Lost Day kicked Yoo Seodam out of the guild.

And Yoo Seodam was slowly biding his time, vowing to avenge himself.

It’s how a F-Rank hunter hunts big game.

However, Taylor Nine has the ability and does not want to wait so long.

She was just following her beliefs.

“Then.”

Taylor while grinning, spoke.

“When you ask for a deal, you know it’s rude not to treat the person to a meal first, right?”

Taylor Nine told them to head to Town Gallery, a five-star restaurant located near Gyeongbokgung palace in Jongno District.

After spending an hour driving, they arrived at the restaurant, then Taylor spoke to the waiter.

“From here to here. Please bring everything out.”

“…Ah, yes ma’am.”

As a five-star restaurant, the price was exorbitant.

This won’t necessarily scratch Lost Day’s wallet, but Taylor still wanted to pluck another penny from them.

James, who thought it would be a cup of coffee or a simple meal, was caught off guard, but soon smiled.

“I’ve been thinking.”

Taylor smiled leisurely, then continued to speak.

“There wasn’t a need to go after me, I’m only one person after all.”

“…”

James listened silently without saying a word.

“In fact, I was going to stop.”

Yes, after a certain point, this sort of scandal would naturally fade.

No matter how famous she is, if she continues, public opinion will probably swing against her.

“Did you do that even though you knew?”

“Yes. Actually, if you were trying to cover up the media, you would have done so already.”

There were a number of cases involving Kinetic Pharmaceutical Company, a recent subsidiary of Lost Day.

A few years ago Kinetic Pharmaceutical Company was active in South America.

At that time, Kinetic Pharmaceutical Company was notorious for experimenting on humans.

Of course, few knew because it was an ordinary pharmaceutical company on the surface.

Kinetic Pharmaceutical Company mainly approached ordinary F-Rank hunters and tempted them by saying they could gain superpowers.

Many who fell for such words were mutilated or killed.

Finally realizing what was going on, a union for ordinary hunters was created, and the Kinetic Pharmaceutical Company was completely destroyed.

The problem was Yoo Seodam, a member of Lost Day at the time.

Upon hearing from Yoo Seodam about Kinetic Pharmaceutical Company, Lost Day quietly handled the case, hoping to gradually absorb them into their guild by doing business with them.

Taylor knew about it, and was planning to take matters with Kinetic Pharmaceutical Company into her own hands.

But it didn’t receive much attention from the media.

“Why do you want to keep things quiet? I’ve been thinking about it.”

In fact, the reason was obvious.

Lost Day doesn’t want to turn this incident into something bigger.

So they’d rather threaten her, but since that didn’t work, they’re going to try and strike a deal now.

“…Mutation from mana poisoning. As soon as I heard about it, I thought of Kinetic Pharmaceutical Company. You guys are scared of the Kinetic Pharmaceutical Company being exposed to the media, aren’t you?”

Lee Yeonjun, mutated due to mana poisoning..

So who made the drugs for him?

It was Kinetic Pharmaceutical Company, a subsidiary of Lost Day.

“…Yes. That’s right.”

“I was wondering why you kicked Yoo Seodam from the guild. Two reasons come to mind.”

Because Yoo Seodam was ordinary?

No.

That’s what everyone thinks, but that was just damage control done by Lost Day.

Yoo Seodam was competent enough that even if he wasn’t a superhuman, his knowledge would be beneficial to the guild.

The real problem was Kinetic Pharmaceutical Company and its worth compared to Yoo Seodam.

“Hell Gate. Of the 47 people who survived, Lyton, the expedition leader, brought something back with him.”

Five years ago, elite hunters recruited from all over the world, including members from Lost Day, were sent to Hell Gate on an expedition.

A total of 500 people.

While exploring Hell Gate, where common sense did not apply, 200 people deserted during the course of the expedition.

Among them, 100 returned on the third day after entering Hell Gate, and the remaining 100 returned after less than a year.

Most became mentally disabled, and seeing them, people started to doubt the remaining 300 were even alive.

Then, a miracle happened.

Three years after the Hell Gate expedition.

47 people came out of Hell Gate.

Few people know about this matter because it has not been announced to the public.

Even between countries, information concerning the surviving members is practically kept confidential.

However, Lost Day had no choice but to be aware of Hell Gate.

Because Lyton who died was a member of Lost Day.

The expedition returned with a few materials from inside the Hell Gate, but Lyton died of a heart disease before they could claim it.

So, who’s in possession of the materials that were brought back?

“Yoo Seodam, Lyton’s right hand man. He must have it.”

However, Yoo Seodam does not know about such a thing.

As an ordinary hunter, it was already too much just getting out of Hell Gate and holding onto one’s sanity.

Even though Taylor Nine didn’t enter Hell Gate, she was able to guess the truth because she is wary of the politics around her, but she didn’t bother telling Yoo Seodam any of this.

At that time, Yoo Seodam was very unstable, both mentally and physically.

But now that Yoo Seodam has been kicked out.

She couldn’t stay still.

“You guys. You were going to hog the materials without telling Yoo Seodam, right?”

In addition, it was impossible to absorb Kinetic Pharmaceutical Company under the watchful eyes of Yoo Seodam.

So there was no reason not to kick him out.

“…Thanks for the little story. So, what do you want? For Yoo Seodam to come back? How about no? You think Seodam will go back to you scumbags?”

She held out her palm to James.

“Give me. Yoo Seodam’s share. Give me that and I’ll be quiet.”

James let out a sigh.

It’ll be hard for this to pass quietly now that she knows what happened to Seodam.

Originally, Taylor Nine wanted Lost Day to crawl by making it public to the press, but when they came to offer her a deal, she realized she didn’t have to.

The press was nothing but a ‘mean to a trade’ for her and Seodam who had nothing to offer.

Finally, James spoke.

“Just because you guys have it, what do you think you can do? We’re also investigating the materials from Hell Gate using Kinetic Pharmaceutical Company as well as cutting-edge aether science. However, all we’ve managed to figure out is…1%. That’s about it. How about you guys? You should exchange it for money. That’s my sincere advice.”

“Shut up.”

Taylor calmly looked at James and continued.

“Give me what you owe.”

James frowned.

Even James couldn’t easily make a decision on this.

They’ve gone to great lengths to protect information regarding ‘Hell Gate materials.’

However, the presence of Taylor Nine in the press is not negligible.

If she was really determined, she could expose the information about the Hell Gate materials to the public.

Rather than losing it all, it’s better to compromise.

Maybe this is the better choice.

‘Damn it. If it was just the mutant, and the deformed dungeon didn’t appear…’

It turned into a worse case scenario.

And a very good opportunity for a hunter like Taylor Nine to take advantage of.

Contrary to Taylor’s calm expression, James with a somber look, spoke.

“…We’ll discuss it at headquarters.”

As soon as Taylor heard his answer, she rose from her seat.

She just wanted to get back the share that Seodam was owed.

“I’ll see you later, friends.”

The dishes began to come out, but she didn’t touch a single one.

“Oh, you guys enjoy yourself. I’m already full from lunch.”

“…”

James Clinton and his subordinate pick up their fork, thrilled by Taylor Nine’s thoughtful consideration.

…It would be a waste to throw away all of this food.

By watching and learning a SS-Rank swordsmanship, Seodam was able to greatly improve his own swordsmanship.

His physical ability was close to D-Rank, and he was no longer far behind Celeste.

Thanks to her, if Seodam combines everything he has learned, the winner will undoubtedly be him.

“Haha…”

Seodam, sweating heavily on the floor, looked at Celeste and realized.

‘This child is a genius.’

The Client once said the rank above C is considered a genius.

What about A-Rank then?

She said the term ‘talent that comes once a hundred year’ is befitting those who have A-Rank talent.

Even if Celeste does not have A-Rank talent, it’s probably somewhere between C and A.

And her talent with the sword is at least above B-Rank.

Although Seodam earnestly watched and learned the Almus Swordsmanship, the fact is, most of it was tailored for a woman’s body.

It was Haren and Ella that he observed and learned from.

Haren has a height of 170cm, and Ella was barely over 150cm, perhaps because she hadn’t eaten properly since becoming ill.

Celeste has a height of around 160cm.

Thus, the Almus Swordsmanship fits her perfectly.

Recalling Haren’s posture, Seodam would correct Celeste’s posture.

“Why are your feet so far apart?”

“Hey. Is your arms longer than mine? Is the sword too long? Why are you swinging it like that?”

“Watch your breathing, don’t just swing randomly.”

He was now well aware of how to properly hold and swing a sword.

How the muscle should work, how the feet should move, and how to breathe.

It’s only been 30 years since the emergence of superhumans and the development of swordsmanship with superhumans in mind, so it has been relatively short.

The result of combining superhuman traits with swordsmanship that has more than hundreds of years of history was what Celeste is working towards.

She learned Almus Swordsmanship very quickly.

Although it was impossible to pass on the whole technique of the Almus family because Seodam could not get it as a skill, he could still teach her how to swing the sword more efficiently.

It’s been two weeks, and Celeste grew very fast in that time to the point where even Yoo Seodam was surprised.

‘This…When she grows up, maybe she’ll surpass her father?’

Although her father is also a genius and an outstanding swordsman, it’s safe to say that his SS-Rank was gained haphazardly.

Seodam thought that perhaps Celeste could achieve the true power of SS-Rank with her own ability.

Sunday morning, a time when no would visit the gym.

“Hey, are you still doing that?”

The two of them were wielding their swords when someone else’ voice was heard.

It was Taylor Nine.

She was wearing a white sleeveless shirt, blue hot pants, and a brown hat with striking bear ears.

Taylor glanced at Celeste and stroked her chin.

“While you’ve been playing with another woman, who do you think has been running around with blisters on her feet?”

“What is it?”

“I came to give you this.”

“That’s…?”

Taylor showed Seodam a black flower pot in her arms.

The flower pot covered by a clear tube had a mysterious white flower inside, and it appeared to be withering as if it was almost lifeless.

“Hell Gate. It’s the flower that grew inside. You remember, don’t you?”

“Well…I do.”

Among the countless things he saw inside Hell Gate, this was particularly unique, so it remained in his memory.

It was one of the few mysterious and beautiful things in that hell.

He didn’t know it was retrieved from Hell Gate and is still alive.

“This sister took it from Lost Day’s private stash…Well, it’s almost fully withered, so I can’t do much about it, but I still think it’s better than having it in their hands.”

Seodam approached Taylor and took the flower pot.

The few symbols of hope seen in that terrible hell.

He didn’t expect to see this again here, so he felt somewhat restless.

Of course, no matter how much Seodam researched, he couldn’t figure out anything about it.

Because he isn’t a scientist.

Only

Besides, didn’t she say even Lost Day couldn’t figure anything out?

He had such thoughts.

[Skill White Witch’s Library (F) has been activated.]

[Searching for knowledge on the target.]

‘Huh?’

Suddenly, a transparent book floated in the air and the pages turned until it finally stopped.

[Image search found, Silver Spiritual Flower.]

‘Spirit…?’