Chapter 40: 40

While Seo Jin-wook Disappeared

“What do you mean? It’s been four days, and does it make sense that you still couldn’t find him?!”

A harsh shout rang out at the office of Seo Gyu-cheol in Celestial Dragon Guild’s company house. His hot face showed anger and agitation, instead of his usual cold expression.

Those who were vented of his anger were the hunters hired privately to guard the house.

Seo Gyu-cheol instructed them to look for Seo Jin-wook because he could not mobilize the guild members to find his son for the reason of ‘finding a runaway child.‘

“You couldn’t even stop him before he went out. Now, you couldn’t even find him when he’s out there! What the hell are you guys doing?”

When Seo Jin-wook disappeared a few days ago, Seo Gyu-cheol seemed a little surprised, but he was not very shaken. He was sure that he’d be back in a day.

He did not report his disappearance so that it wouldn’t leak to the media or other guilds. Over time, however, his confidence turned into suspicion, and suspicion into shock and anger.

“How many Awakened guards are there, and none of you saw him go out in the first place?”

It was not surprising that Seo Jin-wook, who had lived his life in this house, moved only within the blind spot of CCTV. However, it was a problem that he was not found by anyone in the house in the process.

Being an E-class, Seo Jin-wook, who had only learned [Sword Mastery] and [Mana Barrier], would not have been able to use some specialized hunters in hiding and infiltration. Nevertheless, the fact that there was no sign of him leaving made him angry beyond recognition.

Hunters, whose faces turned shitty, bowed their heads.

“There’s really no sign of anything? Even if he leaves, he’ll have to spend money to eat and sleep!”

The secretary then spoke, “As you instructed, I left his account as is. As of three days, he doesn’t have any electronic payments or cash withdrawals.”

They wouldn’t have known that Seo Jin-wook cashed the items unbeknownst to the guild and deposited them into a separate account.

The secretary spoke cautiously, “If there is no trace up to this point, I wonder if he has already gone abroad.”

Seo Gyu-cheol shook his head. “We have already looked into it through the Ministry of Constitution. Immigration records are clean.”

No matter how Seo Gyu-cheol may be a father, he could not merely obtain an adult’s immigration records with no report of missing persons and no letter of attorney. It was illegally processed by pulling a string on the side of the Ministry of Constitution.

Seo Gyu-cheol’s eyes went back to Kim Byeong-ho, who has been called together with the others.

“You haven’t heard anything? You had no idea when you followed him around the whole time?”

Secretary Kim bowed his head, “I’m sorry. The day before he disappeared, as you’re aware… He was so agitated about the incident that he didn’t even want to face me.”

‘The incident’ referred to the disturbance in Seo Gyu-cheol’s room the day before he left the house.

Seo Gyu-cheol grunted and bit his lips.

If there were no signs to this point, they could suspect a kidnapping, but the situation was too clear before he headed out. He couldn’t hold back his anger and shouted again.

“Everyone, get out of here! Go and get him, even if you have to put a leash on him!”

*

Secretary Kim left Seo Gyu-cheol’s room with the other hunters.

It wasn’t until he was far enough from being heard that the hunters began to grumble.

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“Oh, it’s shitty to make a living.”

“Is it such a big thing to be bullshitting that he can’t find his son that ran away after fighting him?”

“Damn, I should find another job or something… Honestly, how can you find a person who’s wearing a Mask Slime? He’s an E-class but also an Awakened Hunter.”

“What’s the use of being an S-Class. It’s a waste of the Guild Master’s title. What a look, being sullen and breathing out steam… Is it true that the number of people supporting the Assistant Guild Master is increasing in the Celestial Dragon Guild? It’s understandable. No wonder.”

Secretary Kim, who had been walking at a distance from them, was also thinking about Seo Gyu-cheol.

‘Come to think of it, he’s famous for getting angry with cold expressions, not like that, but as if he was going to kill someone with his glare.’

However, whenever Seo Jin-wook was involved, he acted like a person who lost control of his emotions like that. In the past, Seo Gyu-cheol played a substantial role when something was broken or shattered, rather than Seo Jin-wook having the sole responsibility.

When Secretary Kim was about to turn the corner, thinking about those things, after splitting up with the hunters…

“Secretary Kim?”

“…Hi, hello.”

He looked at the person waiting for him with a slightly stiff look.

“Assistant Guild Master.”

It was Han-seol.

“You must be on your way out from being scolded by the Guild Master.”

Secretary Kim did not respond. Instead, he spoke as if trying to send Han-seol away.

“The Guild Master is in his office now.”

“No, I can visit him later.”

There were usually two reasons why she would visit the company—Seo Gyu-cheol or Seo Jin-wook.

Secretary Kim’s eyes slightly widened on the suggestion that it was a business apart from the two. Perhaps…

“Secretary Kim, can we go to a quiet place and have a word?”

*

The two went to a deserted place and sat face to face.

Secretary Kim observed Han-seol’s expression with nervousness.

Unlike the hunters a while ago, Secretary Kim belonged to the Celestial Dragon Guild, and although he was not directly related to Han-seol, she was a distant superior. It was their first time having such a private meeting.

And of all things, it happened now when he almost believed Seo Jin-wook’s reasoning because he witnessed various circumstantial pieces of evidence. This situation was uncomfortable.

It was Han-seol that broke the silence and spoke out first, “I’m sure the Guild Master has already questioned you many times, but I’ll ask you one as well. Jin-wook had no friends. Secretary Kim is the one who has been with him for the longest time. Was there really no hints?”

Secretary Kim shook his head determinedly. “There was no mention of such.”

After talking, Secretary Kim felt odd. Han-seol’s expression changed while looking at him.

Just as Seo Gyu-cheol broke his usual icy expression today and vented his anger, Han-seol was also different from usual.

Han-seol always had a gentle smile on her lips and treated everyone with a friendly expression. However, now, there was no smile on her face.

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She just completely wiped emotion from her face, but Secretary Kim felt a sense of unknown threat.

‘Is she going to show her true colors here?’

Han-seol spoke again after a moment of silence, “So far, Jin-wook has made a mess inside the house if he couldn’t control his emotions, but he has never left the house. Even before Secretary Kim was with him. Do you know why?”

He had a guess, but he waited for her next words without saying anything.

“Jin-wook once confessed to me. That he was scared, he was afraid of what he’s going to do if he goes outside with his anger rising to the top of his head.”

It was just as Secretary Kim had expected. He nodded with a firm expression.

Seo Jin-wook had caused a series of chaotic releases of potential manas even before his Awakening. It all happened inside the house, mostly in Seo Jin-wook’s room.

When that happened, the non-Awakened employees evacuated, and the hunters in charge of security held Seo Jin-wook down. The reason for hiring private hunters in homes where S-class hunters lived was not to guard the Guild Master’s safety but to protect other employees and suppress Seo Jin-wook in an emergency.

“That Jin-wook left home this time. Do you know why?”

Secretary Kim murmured inwardly, ‘Because he knew that this guild was no longer a safe fence.’

Seo Jin-wook did not explain everything but confessed that someone put on a ‘curse’ on him and even Park Chang-hee has it, too.

In some way, when Jin-wook confirmed that there was no sign of curse on Secretary Kim, he decided to tell him.

‘He doesn’t know how many people have been cursed in this guild, so he said he would meet someone who will be able to help him in the future and come back after looking for artifacts that will be a secret weapon.’

However, Secretary Kim was keeping it secret from all the other guild members.

“I’m not sure either. He didn’t say anything to me this time. Actually, Jin-wook was a little weird for the past two months. The amnesia and the sudden relapse of symptoms. It’s clear that something has changed.”

Han-seol’s gaze was sharp while muttering.

As the gaze struck him as if it were to pierce him, Secretary Kim struggled to hide his agitated expression. He muttered inwardly.

‘Yes, there has been a change.’

Now they had to worry about what they haven’t had to worry about.

That was Seo Jin-wook’s change. Secretary Kim thought so. Then, Han-seol opened her lips again.

“By the way, by any chance. What if the reason why Jin-wook went out is that he no longer had to worry about what he had been worried about before. What if that’s the reason?”

A rough silence filled the gap between the two.

It took some time for Secretary Kim to understand the meaning of Han-seol’s words, which were completely opposite to his guess.

“No way.”

He spat out what he understood. The contents of “Seo Jin-wook’s worries” he thought of and “Seo Jin-wook’s worries” that Han-seol just mentioned were different.

“You think that his paranoid disorder has gotten worse, don’t you?”

He turned angrily, knowing that this was because of a curse, yet Secretary Kim held back.

“Yes. What if the symptoms are worse than before? He used to hesitate on the possibility of venting his anger outside and sacrificing innocent people by his own hands, and what if he no longer hesitates?”

“What if he didn’t have the fear that his illness might hurt innocent people?”

“Also, Jin-wook is already Awakened. It’s spilled water.”

Han-seol closed her eyes for a while. She looked like she was contemplating something. She opened her eyes again and added, turning her gaze to Secretary Kim.

“The Mana rampage before the Awakening might have been better. Now Jin-wook is a Hunter. Even an E-class person is much superior physiologically to a normal person. If Jin-wook goes on a rampage outside in that state···!”

Secretary Kim cut her words, “No! I trust Team Leader. He’s completely different since the incident two months ago.”

“But what happened a few days ago? And why do you think he left home now? Secretary Kim, please. Let me know if you know anything. If Jin-wook doesn’t come back like this, and if he continues to build up his strength outside the fence of the Celestial Dragon… It can lead to irreversible results.”

“I feel sorry and regret that I failed to fulfill my responsibility as a secretary to the Team Leader. But I can’t come up with something and tell you something I don’t know. I’ve already told the Guild Master about everything I know.”

Secretary Kim stood up. It was rude in front of his superior, but he could not suppress his rising anger.

‘If I didn’t know anything, I might have let it pass. But not now.’

After leaving work, he organized the conversation with her and sent it to a burner account.

It was Seo Jin-wook, of course.

*

“If you wait a minute here, he’ll be here.”

I was led to contact the Black Market of Washington D.C.

It was in a villa in Maryland, just off of Washington, D.C.

I was escorted to a spacious living room full of expensive furniture. The employee who guided me was an ordinary person, not an Awakened person. I sat down and looked around. It looked like a typical villa, with a green pasture on the front and a quiet forest with a lake on the back from the outside.

‘How many guys are hiding on the first floor?’

The lights of Mana were proving that Awakened people were lurking everywhere. As I waited for a while, I saw a person I was meeting today nearing outside the door.

The door then opened.

“You’re looking for me?”

An 80-year-old man with a whiskey glass in one hand approached.

“Let’s skip the handshake.”

He sat on the sofa in front of me and faced me. It would prove that one had that much confidence to come in front of someone and faced him one-on-one as an unidentified Awakened.

I thought so. However, the guess was only half right.

The old man spoke as he lit up the cigar.

“I’ll give you five minutes. It’s just five minutes to satisfy my curiosity. So, why did the heir of Korea’s No. 1 guild come all the way to the U.S. without even letting his guild members know? It should be fun, clever, and beneficial to each other. Five minutes is a long and worthwhile time to spend trying to figure out why to kill an Awakened.”

Tsk, I clicked my tongue inside.

Oh, Jin-Hwa, that woman must have known who I was from the beginning.

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