Chapter 22

Informer (2)

Anyway, the informant’s plan failed. I, who had no seal in my body, was accepted to the Altar of Trials and Awakened on my 19th birthday.

“The Guild Master thought this was an act of retaliation from another guild.”

“Retaliation?”

“If it meant the Team Leader was dragged away, I wonder if they were thinking of spilling such news to the media regardless of the results of the investigation. To say that it turns out that the renowned Celestial Dragon Guild Awakened a minor and was performing illegal training…”

“It’s to ruin our reputation.”

“It’s logical that they would do such. These days, we are taking all the good stuff.”

However, I had a different idea from what Secretary Kim was thinking due to the difference in the information we each had. I had already witnessed Park Chang-hee, who had tried to see through me. Now that I had seen it, was it his master plan to check the Seal of Awakening in my body? For what reason did he guess that I had Awakened? Was it because of the too frequent mana rampages, even as a non-Awakened person? I wasn’t sure of it yet.

“I guess he doesn’t have any suspicion that it’s an inside job…my father.”

“No way. Do you think this is also an act of our guild member? By any chance…”

“Well, how is Team Leader Park Chang-hee?”

Secretary Kim shook his head as if he were sure that he wasn’t the one.

“Even if he’s also one of those who were reported? The report itself stated that Park Chang-Hee himself was also involved in illegal activities.”

“It’s perfect to avoid doubts.”

“To the point that he leads himself to self-destruction?”

“Rather than self-destruction, what about sacrificing oneself? He may have been moved by receiving orders from a superior.”

He spoke with a glance that showed that he disagreed.

“Are you still suspicious of the sub-Guild Master?”

Secretary Kim regarded my suspicion about Han-seol as a mental illness symptom that even amnesia couldn’t resolve.

“It’s very strange. Until you lost your memory, you only trusted the sub-Guild Master, even if you doubted everyone else, but now you’re obsessed with doubting her.”

He shook his head as if he had given up.

“A plan to take the position of the next Guild Master? The person she loved so much? If you, Team Leader, were in that position, would you do so?”

Looking at the guild’s in-depth circumstances, I couldn’t sympathize with the motive to take over the Guild Master’s position, but because of Park Chang-Hee’s actions, I couldn’t resolve my doubts about Han-Seol.

“I wouldn’t do that. But since everyone thinks differently. In the first place, in the current situation, the Celestial Dragon Guild Master’s position is a little…”

I chose an appropriate expression.

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“In an analogy, isn’t it like Madeleine? The smell as it bakes is amazing, but when you eat it, the taste isn’t as good as you expect.”

“How do you know of that? Anyway, I’m not suspicious of the sub-Guild Master, but everyone would desire to be the head of Celestial Dragon Guild.”

Secretary Kim admitted the motive yet didn’t doubt Han-seol. I couldn’t sympathize with the motive, but I was still suspicious of Han-seol. Our thoughts conflicted.

‘Well, it’s just that I cannot sympathize, but I understand.’

For Han-seol, the Celestial Dragon Guild might be a guild that was so juicy it was worth being desperate for. First of all, it was the number one hunter group in Korea by current standards. But would it be in the future? In my opinion, it was impossible to stay ‘just like this.’

The reason why the Celestial Dragon Guild’s momentum had exponentially declined in the future was due to the deaths of Han-seol and Seo Jin-wook at the same time in the previous life, and the reason that Seo Gyu-cheol’s growth stopped, but to mention one more, it was because the future planning was all wrong.

‘If you look at the aspect of the hunters, they are excellent attackers at the current level, but there are fewer rookies to lead in the future than other guilds.’

Although the hunters that Han-seol brought in stood out, they all left the Celestial Dragon after Han-seol died in the previous life. Moreover, there weren’t many support hunters relative to the guild’s size because they scouted with too much focus on attack power. For now, most dungeons were cleared by killing the monsters, and even if it were a little tricky, one could find and destroy the nucleus. However, in types of dungeons would appear, and the importance of support type skills would increase. However, I couldn’t tell him all this, so I reasoned it out well.

“The power is good, but there is a problem with the balance.”

“So for you, Team Leader, if the position only smelled good and tasted bad…what? Are you going to give up being the successor of the Guild Master? And hand it over to the sub-Guild Master?”

“No. In the future, I will bake it to taste delicious.”

It wasn’t as attractive as it was, but the story could change once I handled it. Most of all, I didn’t want to die a year later.

“Why must you be this way?”

Secretary Kim complained.

*

It was said that during the training period, I was reported as taking a leave of absence from the guild. In fact, only in name was I the support Team Leader. I was there since I had the connections, and there was already a person who was the acting Team Leader, so they didn’t lack the resources. I heard that the members had a party-like atmosphere, hearing that the crazy bastard Team Leader Seo took a leave of absence.

After that, during the day, I received training from the instructor attached to me by my father, and I pretended to proceed at an appropriate pace while keeping Secretary Kim’s mouth shut. At night, I picked a good dungeon that I had remembered and went in. Unlike the dungeons where I encountered the old Optimus bastards, the state was ‘very stable,’ so there was no risk of collapse, and the field was wide. The monster level was just right as well, making it a perfect hunting ground.

So, instead of attacking and closing it, the Mana core supply continued steadily. Finally, after several of those monotonous days, I checked my condition.

-Active Mana: 5,640 (+3,440 )/2,200

-Potential Mana: 73,000

The mana tank was at the level of 2,000, but because of the mana that I was focused on absorbing, I could contain the 5,000 mana available for a while. I temporarily met the conditions for a C-class hunter. But now, what was more important than the rating was the amount of mana. I tried to reconstruct a skill I had witnessed in my previous life. I was emotionally resentful, but there was a real reason to try it.

[The Controlling Hand!]

This was the skill Angelica used to kill our colleagues. I followed her Mana control that I saw before dying. Only 5,000 mana was needed to activate the skill, but the skill wasn’t activated.

‘Of course, it doesn’t work.’

I confirmed it again with this experiment. No matter how precisely the mana was moved, a unique skill couldn’t be copied. Of course, in the first place, one couldn’t replicate a passive skill that didn’t use mana. Even if I moved the mana in the same pattern as the active skill, the mana remained blue, not turning red like a unique skill.

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‘I was wondering if copying this skill would help in interrogation.’

According to the explanation, it was possible to freely control the opponent when it was activated and peek into their memories. If it could be activated, I thought of collecting enough mana to sustain this skill for a few seconds and using it on Ma Sang-Hyun.

‘I have the benefit of the doubt to point out Park Chang-hee and the sub-Guild Master as the culprit, but unfortunately, there is no physical evidence yet.’

Ma Sang-Hyun would provide the physical evidence.

‘A peaceful interrogation through brainwashing seems impossible.’

It seemed like some blood had to be spilled to get the answer I wanted from him.

*

The building where the picture of Ma Sang-Hyun was taken from was a low-rise commercial building in an area that wasn’t crowded during the day. Each floor window was covered with a cover or blinds so that the interior couldn’t be seen. Perhaps they were using the entire building.

‘The moment I step in there, I can assume that all of them are enemies.’

While observing the building from the outside with a disguise on my face, I activated a skill instead of entering right away.

[Penetration (Rank: B)!]

Thanks to the increase in available mana, I was able to use a higher rank Penetration vision skill. The Mana consumption was much higher than the E-rank version, which Park Chang-Hee used when he peeped inside my clothes, and when I looked at the internal structure of a small terminal, but the effect was convincing.

Thanks to this, the building’s entire internal structure could be seen clearly as if the blueprint were laid in front of my eyes as soon as it was activated. With Penetration and The Successor’s Eyes activated simultaneously, even the mana possessed by anyone that came and went was identified.

‘It’s a good thing. Even considering that that isn’t the headquarters, there aren’t as many people as expected. It must still have been this size in this period.’

The name of the organization to which Ma Sang-Hyun belongs was called the ‘Gangdong Reconstruction Association.’ It was like an alliance of hunters in charge of various dirty and illegal tasks, as pointed out by external companies.

What happened to the existing criminal organizations after the Cataclysm happened and society overturned? They had lived off violence in the first place, and they reacted very swiftly to the emerging need for more powerful means of violence. The criminal organizations of the Awakened quickly absorbed and merged with other organizations. In Korea’s case, they were divided into two major forces: the ‘Gangdong Revival Alliance’ and the ‘United Clan.’ The fact that both were named like ‘union’ or ‘alliance’ meant that they had merged so many organizations.

At this point, they were pressed down by the major guilds and were moving in the shadows, but they had been growing in numbers and marking their names in infamy.

‘But it’s still impossible to go head-on and turn it over.’

There were about twenty hunters in there now. There were people with higher levels than those who had struck us before, and above all, there was Ma Sang-Hyun, a C-class hunter.

I hid and waited for someone to come out and open the front door of the building.

[Stealth (Rank: C)!]

I sneaked through the gap when the automatic door opened for a moment. The building’s internal structure, which I had already seen from the outside, had been saved like a picture in my head. Instead of going directly to the office on the third floor, where most crowds were gathered, I once again used a skill in front of the vents in the blind spot of the CCTVs.

[Body Transformation (Rank: E)!]

Crack! Crrrack!

After the sound of twisting bones and muscles, I opened the iron lid and put my body into a vent that was too narrow originally for my body to enter. My body, which became flexible like a snake, went inside without difficulty. In that state, I quietly crawled through the narrow vent passage. Following the map in my head, I saw a hole connected to the third-floor office. Faintly, interior lighting seeped through. Once again, I used a skill.

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[Penetration!]

They each took their seats one by one and were sitting idly. Normally, it seemed to be a waiting system for dispatching when the mission came out. Each of them had a hologram on their terminal, and they giggled whilst watching videos or playing games. There was no tension in the air. Even though ten members of the organization had recently gone missing, there was such an atmosphere.

Oh, only one was different. Ma Sang-Hyun was sitting at his desk, frowning and reading something, as if he were uncomfortable.

‘He had prepared all kinds of artifacts just in case he dies.’

There were unique mana patterns all over Ma Sang-Hyun’s body. Among them, there were also counter-spell-like artifacts, although disposable. There were protective equipment pieces that could neutralize magic that was shot at him.

‘It’s impossible to take down all at once with magic skills.’

To break that, I have to use a high-grade magic skill, but the mana and runestone consumption would both be too heavy. That, and I had a much more economical means.

‘Ah, fortunately, there is no such kind of protective equipment.’

I found a blind spot and quickly took out Lorto’s dagger. I saw a poison gland spilling paralysis poison, flowing down the blade that shone even in the dark.

[Haze (Rank: F)!]

The activated skill absorbed moisture in the building through the vent. After waiting for a little, a cloud of misty water vapor formed around the dagger.

“···Ah, Shit. Why is the office so dry?”

I heard someone complaining from below. I waited for the poison to seep into the fog around the dagger. After enough time had passed…

‘Go.’

Very slowly, the water vapor seeped into the air and traveled in the direction I pointed. Intangible and colorless paralysis poison spread throughout the 3rd-floor office. I waited again in that state. The effect didn’t appear immediately, unlike when I sliced and cut someone myself.

“Oh fuck, what is this…?”

One of the gang members noticed the abnormality. However, it was already too late.

Thump!

Gradually, one by one, they began to fall to the floor with paralyzed limbs. Feeling that something was wrong, they tried to run through the door, but they couldn’t even make it a few steps, and everyone gradually fell to the ground. After confirming that no one was standing on their feet, I stepped out of the vent.

The sudden flow of air in the room drove out the remaining poison. Among everyone who was shivering on the ground, Ma Sang-Hyun barely raised his head and looked straight at me.

“You…bastard…where did you come from?!”

Perhaps it was the diluted poison, but his pronunciation was quite clear. There would be no difficulty in holding a conversation.

“Are you…from a clan?”

Bloody veins protruded in his eyes. He suspected me as a member of the United Clans. The war between the two criminal organizations was at the stage right before the start of a full-scale war. The two criminal organizations had been invading each other’s areas and keeping up the tension.

“Fuck… you’re over the line now.”

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The line was crossed first on their side. Instead of Lorto’s dagger, I took out another artifact. This was the sword obtained from a dungeon monster.

“Shall we create a good environment for a conversation with each other?”

I wandered between the fallen gang members and cut their ligaments one after another. Overall, it was laborious and repetitive work.