As ti passed, public opinion grew increasingly vicious.
‘Well, there’s no one to stop it, so I guess that’s only natural.’
If I’d still had the SH Guild behind , they probably could’ve defended to so extent, but right now there wasn’t really anyone around who could steer public opinion about in a better direction.
Well, sure, if I really tried sucking up to Haeseong’s side, it felt like I could probably work sothing out, but after that day Im Haekyung hadn’t contacted recklessly either. Then again, a scandal-like ss had broken out around that side too, in a different way, so it made sense they’d be keeping their distance.
Kwon Taehan cleanly billed only for the cost of the car under the na of a settlent. He’d seed pretty pissed, so I thought he might try to throw in jail or sothing, but apparently he just didn’t want to keep dragging things out. In the first place, it seed like the reason he accepted the cost of the car was because refusing it would only make the whole thing bigger.
‘Honestly, it’d be better if we stayed tangled up.’
I did feel a little regret...... but now, well, I had the excuse of an “apology” to go see him, so it wasn’t like I was crushed with regret either.
‘Public opinion, huh.’
To be honest, even if my reputation got worse, I didn’t really feel anything from it directly. There weren’t any bastards openly blocking my path and cursing out to my face, and in any case, setting aside the friction with Kwon Taehan, a B-rank Hunter was valuable manpower, so no one stopped if I wanted to enter a Dungeon.
And since the settlent was already finished, there wasn’t really any reason for legal problems to arise either...... well, not really.
I naturally moved on to the next step. Because beyond the tips on usurpation I’d gotten from Jin Haedo, I was planning to inherit Jin Haedo’s stupid little sche exactly as it was.
As a result, I was eting the followers of the Church of Heavenly Decree in a very unique way.
‘There’s a small room prepared for the followers’ concerns. I et them there, listen to their troubles... and try to deal with them very appropriately.’
‘Understood. So it’s basically a scam, right. Easy.’
‘.......’
If I were to summarize Jin Haedo’s explanation roughly, first he’d have them spill their personal information, then vaguely listen to their worries, and like so sham shaman, casually nail a few details about their troubles to ease their guard toward the Church of Heavenly Decree. In other words, it felt like a light little con job.
It was a perfect summary, but Jin Haedo’s reaction after hearing my summary hadn’t been very pleased.
‘Not my problem!’
Anyway, to get to the point, I was sitting in the counseling room Jin Haedo had prepared, listening to the followers’ concerns and starting the groundwork for “swallowing the Church of Heavenly Decree.”
Of course, I couldn’t let anyone figure out I was Seo Jehyun, so I was wearing the identity-concealing mask Im Haekyung had used at the night market.
Outside, I was getting cursed out as so batshit insane psychopath bastard, and in here I was counseling the worries of these batshit insane cult freaks. Handling both saint and fucking bastard in a single day wasn’t exactly easy.
The mont I sat down for the first ti today, people ca pouring in as though they’d been waiting for it, eager to pour out their concerns.
I stared blankly at the middle-aged woman sitting across from , sniffling as she explained her problem.
“...So then, hhk... my son went into a Dungeon, and sothing went wrong with his power.... At the hospital, all they say is, hhk, that there’s been no improvent....”
“That’s unfortunate. Is his life in danger?”
“Khk, th-thank God, his life is....”
The first custor... no, follower, was a mother who had co to saying sothing was wrong with her son’s magic power. I pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to the mother crying in front of , offering comfort.
“It’s pretty lucky he didn’t die.”
“...Hhk!”
After comfort ca the ti for useful advice. She couldn’t see my face anyway, but I looked at her with a sincere expression and gave calm, kind advice.
“And if sothing’s gone wrong with your son’s magic power, the best thing is to give up. I an, it’s not going to work anyway, so if you keep running around here and there, all you’ll do is waste ti and money, right?”
“...What? B-but here, surely....”
“Ahhh.... Well, we’re not exactly all-powerful either. Sotis we do a bit of false and exaggerated advertising.”
“Then what are we supposed to do! Our family...! Our family lives off my son’s inco... hhk, and the child’s father isn’t even healthy....”
Leaving the mother to sniffle and finally burst into tears, I skimd her Status Window out of habit.
Na: Yang Jinsuk
Age: 61
Rank: -
Title: -
Primary Skills: -
Growth Limit: C
And there really was sothing there that would help even more.
‘Oh, nice?’
Judging by the fact that she had a Growth Limit, she was currently unawakened, but if the trigger ca along, she could absolutely awaken. And with a C-rank, as long as she didn’t wander sowhere weird, that was basically winning the lottery.
I ca to a clean conclusion.
“Do you happen to have a job?”
“...No! After I had my child, I never did anything....”
In that case, there was no reason to hesitate. Sensing the solution to her worry, I smiled brightly and said,
“Then it sounds like it would be perfect for you to beco a Hunter, ma’am!”
But the mother just stared at blankly, as if she hadn’t properly understood what I was saying.
“...Excuse ? What are you even...?”
I kindly elaborated for the benefit of this unawakened person.
“When a Dungeon breaks out nearby, don’t evacuate right away. Just stroll around slowly like you’re taking a walk. Then the energy waves coming out of the Dungeon will react with the waves in your body, and you’ll awaken. After that, go register as an awakened person and start running Dungeons. Don’t look for anywhere with too high a Rank. D or lower.”
“...What? What are you even...?”
“From what I can see, you’ve got talent as a Hunter. Why don’t you return to work as one, even now?”
“Ar-are you... are you making fun of right now?!”
Seeing the mother shoot to her feet and slam both hands down on the table, she definitely looked like she had the makings to clear Dungeons. To calm her down, I poured so water into a cup, set it in front of her seat, and kindly added,
“Once you actually get into a Dungeon, you’ll probably have a lot of fun. You’ll get a dopamine rush. Sotis if you’re unlucky during an event you might get hurt, but if you put potion on it, you heal fast.”
“Are you serious right now...?!”
“From what I can see, I think you could absolutely beco a high-rank Hunter too. You’ve got the aptitude. Please really take my words to heart.”
“Hey, you little bastard!”
“All right, next!”
As I waved at the mother leaving before she could even finish her water, the weak, sniffling woman from before was gone, leaving only soone with the makings of a Hunter.
‘This is easier than I expected?’
With a Status Window, giving concern counseling wasn’t all that hard.
I leaned back in the chair and received the next follower.
A guy in a school uniform swaggered in, dropped into the chair, stretched his body back, and said,
“How do I awaken? I wanna drop out of school and make easy money running Dungeons.”
Na: Kim Hayul
Age: 17
Rank: -
Title: -
Primary Skills: -
Growth Limit: -
“Well, who knows? From what I can see, you’ve got fuck-all talent, so I really couldn’t tell you. Hang around in front of Dungeons or sothing.”
Well, if he died doing that, I guess his problem would be solved too. I answered indifferently after glancing over the bastard’s Status Window.
“What...? Why the fuck is your answer so half-assed....”
“All right, next.”
“Fuck, what’s your na?”
“Im Haekyung.”
“You kidding? Even I know the na of Haeseong’s guild master!”
“I thought you might fall for it since we’re about the sa height. Too bad. Get out, you worthless little piece of shit.”
“What, what? What kind of—”
I waved again at the male bastard getting dragged out this ti too. I could hear him yelling sothing, but the pronunciation was so unclear it didn’t really bother .
After giving excellent advice to four people in a row like that, I calmly waited for the next follower.
“Next?”
Because the previous follower had flailed around in the seat and uselessly tried to dig into my personal information, the desk was a ss. I left the spilled water on the table as it was and called in the next follower.
Click, the door opened...... and surprisingly enough, soone familiar stepped inside.
‘Well, shit.’
Ryu Taeyoung, who had completely cut off contact after our last phone call, stood by the door with a quiet expression.
After confirming it was , Ryu Taeyoung gave a short bow and walked over with steady steps, pulled out the chair in front of , and sat down.
“Hello.”
“This is....”
Ryu Taeyoung started to return the greeting, then paused for a mont. His gaze drifted to the spilled water spread across the desk. I spoke in an even tone.
“The previous follower spilled the water, so there isn’t any drinking water.”
“...Yes, that’s fine.”
“Ah, of course, it’s also fine if you drink the spilled water.”
I’d only just poured it, so it probably wasn’t dirty. Of course, even if he drank dirty water, it wouldn’t do anything to a B-rank Hunter’s body anyway.
“...Excuse ?”
Ryu Taeyoung looked at with a baffled expression and asked again. When I just sat there blankly without any particular reaction, Ryu Taeyoung shook his head once like he was trying to gather himself, gave a dry cough, and subtly pulled his body back to avoid the water.
Then after staring at silently for a while as though asuring up, Ryu Taeyoung slowly began.
“...First, there’s sothing I need to say.”
“Go ahead.”
Everybody who cos here is so bastard here to talk anyway. What, did you co here to dance?
I nodded, taking Ryu Taeyoung’s words with mild curiosity.
Well, even though Ryu Taeyoung hadn’t started the real point yet, there was one thing I could roughly predict he was going to say. There was only one mber of the Church of Heavenly Decree connected to Ryu Taeyoung.
‘Ryu Taejun.’
Was that idiot bastard still alive? If so, that’d be impressive.
As I calmly waited for Ryu Taeyoung to continue, he spoke in an even voice.
“I am not a follower of the Church of Heavenly Decree. Nor do I believe in the doctrines of that religion.”
“That can happen. This is a country with freedom of religion.”
When I humored him with that response, Ryu Taeyoung’s expression turned even more peculiar. But though he hesitated, once he had started speaking, he finished what he ant to say.
“However, the reason I ca here is because I wondered whether soone I’m looking for might be inside the Church of Heavenly Decree....”
“Who are you looking for?”
Ryu Taeyoung fumbled with the phone in his pocket and brought up the screen. Then he pulled it close enough for to see it clearly.
The words ca right after that.
“I don’t know whether you’ll know.”
“.......”
“Is Hunter Seo Jehyun, by any chance, inside the Church of Heavenly Decree?”
The eyes of the Special Response Team captain, whom I was seeing again for the first ti in a while, seed... a little more tired than before.
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