Chapter 434: Uninvited Guest (4)

Hunters’ Autonomous Union, Gangdong District Branch.

While they’re treated as Rank A or higher hunters in other guilds, this includes not only hunters who participate in union activities as a hobby, but also rookie hunters who are just starting from the bottom to become hunters, despite having only recently manifested their awakened abilities.

It’s a guild where various hunters come and go by the hundreds every day.

In one corner of that guild’s lobby, a red-haired woman had been stationed for almost a week, meticulously observing the faces of the hunters passing by.

‘…That’s not him. …And that’s not him either.’

She scanned the faces and appearances of almost every hunter entering and leaving the guild, trying her best to recall past memories.

However, no matter how hard she thought, she couldn’t grasp any distinct features from the completely unremarkable faces, causing Do Yehee to frown.

‘Sigh…. Why on earth am I wasting my time here….’

Do Yehee, a candidate for the next successor of the Dokyung Group.

As the young lady of a major conglomerate group, Do Yehee should have been living a busy life day by day. At least as busy as her half-sister, Do Sihee.

But the current Do Yehee was squeezing every bit of time she could, taking a week-long vacation, and using that precious time to visit the union guild.

The reason? To find the hunter she met a while ago in the black mud swamp.

To find the hunter who defeated her with an attack style wielding a greatsword and shield, and subsequently subjected her to unspeakable humiliation.

‘How did I even make this time, I can’t possibly go back with no results like this.’

Normally, the very fact that Do Yehee herself was moving to find a mere union hunter was nonsensical.

She already had dozens of informants skilled in finding people under her, and she had always collected necessary information through them.

Moreover, more than half of them were part of a private organization created by Do Yehee herself, not affiliated with the Dokyung Group, allowing her to operate without even Do Sihee or others from the Dokyung Group knowing.

Despite all this, the reason Do Yehee personally took the arduous steps and even showed her face at the union guild was none other than this:

No matter how she tried to recall her memories to create a composite sketch, for some reason, she couldn’t imagine his appearance at all.

Using the method of describing features to others to find someone was impossible in her current situation.

‘Seeing as even I can’t remember him clearly enough to form a lasting impression, he must have used some kind of special artifact. But considering Sihee and Nari recognized the hunter instantly, it’s probably an item that allows people who already know each other to recognize one another.’

Do Yehee, who had instantly grasped the function of the ‘mysterious mask’ Sungchul had used, now had only one method left.

It was to hide her identity in a place where that particular hunter was likely to appear, wait for the target, approach discreetly, and definitively ascertain the identity of the human named Sungchul.

Even setting aside all the other bothersome aspects, the act of loitering around Do Sihee while using an artifact to conceal his identity was something she absolutely could not tolerate.

She already knew how Sihee felt about her, but nevertheless, Sihee was a precious younger sister to Do Yehee.

Even though their relationship had been irrevocably damaged during her successor training.

She had hoped that perhaps by using this duel incident, she could regain even a little of their original relationship.

But of all things, everything had gone wrong because of that man….

‘…Wait, why was I thinking of that hunter as a man just now?’

Although his gender was unclear due to the identity-concealing artifact he used, his movements and expertise were undoubtedly those of a hunter with awakened abilities.

And in this world, only women could wield awakened abilities.

She had recently received information about a male awakener appearing at the company, but he seemed to possess healing abilities, not close-combat ones.

He was definitely a completely different person from ‘her,’ who was from the union, fought with a sword and shield.

‘This isn’t like me; I must have gotten anxious and made a strange mistake.’

It was understandable, given she had been wasting time all week without any results.

In any case, Do Yehee needed to meet the hunter named Sungchul, whom she encountered that day, at least one more time to gather information.

As things stood, she would be leaving this dangerous individual of unknown identity near her younger sister.

Even if the hunter wasn’t actually as dangerous as Do Yehee thought, she was the type of person who wouldn’t rest until she confirmed the danger with her own eyes.

Just like when she tested all those people who had come after Do Sihee.

‘What I saw that day isn’t enough to be certain; I need more material to make a judgment.’

At first, upon hearing she was associating with a common hunter from the union, she had intended to separate them without hesitation.

Recalling the battle in the black mud swamp, Do Yehee was able to organize her thoughts.

First, the boldness and power that didn’t flinch even against an A+ rank hunter like herself.

Since the duel started abruptly, she hadn’t prepared a high-output staff, she had depleted some of her mana from a duel with Sihee prior to fighting him, and she was aware of the basic type-matchup issues between swordsmen and mages, but…

The fact that she had been defeated so disgracefully, unable to mount any defense, was undeniable.

Thinking things like ‘If only I had enough mana,’ ‘If I had prepared a better staff, I wouldn’t have lost,’ or ‘The type-matchup difference between swordsmen and mages is unavoidable.’

She knew better than anyone how foolish it was to make such trivial assumptions after the duel had ended.

Not having a high-output staff meant she hadn’t prepared thoroughly.

Accepting the duel while depleted of mana meant she hadn’t assessed the opponent’s skill.

And claiming defeat due to ability type-matchups between hunters was such a trivial mindset that it couldn’t even be used as an excuse in a duel.

Besides, it was laughable for her, who had gained many benefits through duels until now, to deny this point.

Therefore, around the night the duel ended, Do Yehee had inwardly acknowledged her defeat to the union hunter.

She had also made a preliminary, simple assessment of the union hunter named Sungchul.

‘His power… seemed like at least an A-rank hunter, so he won’t hold Sihee back, at the very least. Though he seems a bit lacking in common sense, considering he didn’t even recognize me as Do Yehee.’

‘His relationship with Sihee seems good, and he seemed to already be acquainted with Nari. Is his personality decent? Though he seemed quite lacking in manners.’

‘And he particularly showed anger towards the violence I used against Sihee during the duel. He was a base human who didn’t understand the honor of a duel, but conversely, it seems like he’s someone who could risk his own honor for Sihee.’

After summarizing a few pros and cons regarding the hunter she met in that manner, Do Yehee ultimately concluded that she needed to meet him once more.

From then on, she relied solely on the single clue that he was from the union, setting up camp alone and waiting for Sungchul to show his face at the union.

Having already spent a week in endless, unpromising waiting, it was difficult to expect the hunter to show up for work today, but…

‘Maybe I already passed him by, but didn’t recognize him, so he just slipped by my notice. I don’t know the exact extent of that artifact’s effect. Or perhaps, by chance, that hunter is also on vacation like me. No, perhaps there’s even a possibility that Sihee herself is mistaken about him being a union hunter….’

Thus, Do Yehee stared blankly at the entrance of the union guild, where hunters came and went, lost in all sorts of trivial thoughts.

Just as the thought, ‘Could it be another wasted day today?’ fleetingly crossed her mind, the voice of a guild receptionist suddenly reached her ears.

“Hello, Hunter Kim Sungchul! It’s been a while!”

‘Kim… Sungchul?’

“Yes, it has been a while.”

‘……!!!’

The guild receptionist’s voice calling out the name Sungchul, the very name she was looking for.

And then, immediately following the greeting, came the familiar voice from that day.

Do Yehee could never forget the voice of that hunter who had pinned her to the ground, twisted her fingers, pressed on her solar plexus, and subjected her to all sorts of torture.

The moment she saw the hunter talking to a union guild employee in front of the request desk, Do Yehee could be certain.

‘…Finally, I found him.’

That this hunter, Kim Sungchul, was the very hunter from that day she had been searching for so desperately.