NOVEL WEB Chapter 29 - The End (1)
Chapter 29: The End (1)
TL: SHW
An old, worn-out sign with the light of the middle letter turned off.
A door that makes an unpleasant creaking sound every time it’s opened. Songs that went out of style long ago. Even the occasional fly buzzing through the air.
In the small, old beer house, there was only one table with customers sitting.
A party consisting of two men and one woman.
“Here’s the chicken you ordered.”
Ignoring the somewhat gloomy atmosphere at the table, the owner, wearing an apron stained with grease, placed the plate of chicken down. He glanced at a few scattered photos on the table, but the dim lighting of the beer house made it hard to see what they were.
The owner looked at the three people with curious eyes for a moment, shook his head, and returned to the kitchen. The beer ordered a long time ago remained untouched. It seemed like something serious was going on, but if you want to run a business in the neighborhood for a long time, you have to mind your own business.
After confirming that the owner had gone into the kitchen, Hong Seok-young spoke in a bland voice.
“Hm? Don’t you have anything to say?”
The young man sitting across from him picked up the photo again. Seeing him even looking at the blank back of the photo, Hong Seok-young clicked his tongue.
“I helped you in every possible way. And this is what I get? You don’t know? There’s a limit to being ungrateful.”
“……”
“Ah, fine. Let’s ask a more fundamental question.”
Hong Seok-young shouted at the young man, Woo Hwijae.
“Who are you?”
“……”
Woo Hwijae sighed. He roughly placed the photo back on the table, almost throwing it.
“Hey, let’s stop this.”
“Stop what? I’m just getting started.”
“So….”
Woo Hwijae sighed again.
“That person is a woman. Don’t mess me up with some unknown guy.”
Hong Seok-young sneered.
* * *
I’ve said it a few times, but I was a cunning child.
Do you know what happens when a cunning child grows up?
They become a cunning adult.
Would I have really done nothing after deciding to borrow the identity of a man I didn’t even know?
Did you think I would leave my conversation with Mr. Kim to chance and luck, and just bluff my way through?
I’m not that stupid.
If I really had nothing, I might have left it to the heavens. Because there wouldn’t have been a way to get information no matter what I tried.
But I have the Mana Watch. An item that holds the entire 17-year history of the Ability Management Agency.
In 2021, there was a department dedicated to Awakeners, though it was small and cute in size. The Awakener Crime Investigation Unit was also part of that department.
The agency has records from that time as well. There are some gaps, but at least the list of missing and deceased is thorough.
You know, sometimes there are those who fake their deaths in a dungeon and escape overseas.
If I have the list of missing and deceased, then it’s just a matter of sacrificing my time and effort.
First, I look for those with the surname Kim among the Hunters who died or went missing around 2021. This is easy.
Next, I pick someone who might be related to Hong Seok-young. This was a bit harder. Still, I managed to find three potential leads. However, one was overseas, and another died stopping a Dungeon Break in Gyeongsang Province in early 2021.
The remaining one was a woman named Kim Yoo-hwa.
Before Awakening, she was a police officer. After Awakening, she worked in the Awakener Crime Investigation Unit. The only records left about her are in the list of missing persons and the Awakener Crime Investigation Unit’s duty log. There are records of her investigating cases with the old man several times. Nothing else.
It’s too obvious, isn’t it? A unfortunate hunter who dreamed of justice, whose records disappeared due to undercover work, and who never returned.
The old man is such an old-fashioned person that he even referred to female juniors as ‘Mr.’ Back in the day, they say they used it regardless of gender…. That’s proof he’s an old-timer.
“So, who is this man? You didn’t kill someone just to test me, did you?”
Look at that sneering face.
If he weren’t the best Hunter in South Korea, I would have punched him.
The mana creeping up my ankle disappeared instantly. This was proof that I had given the correct answer. If I had said something wrong, my ankle would have been cut off in an instant. It was my ankle without a mana control device, of course.
“Of course not. We found him in the Songpa District Dungeon.”
“The corpse?”
“Yes.”
Hong Seok-young pulled out a few more photos from his pocket.
Look at that. He deliberately hid them to test me.
Yu Ji-eun said I grew up without any cuteness, but it’s all because of this old man. With an adult like him to learn from, growing up this straight was actually commendable.
“How long has he been dead?”
“Three to four days. Four days ago, when the Hunters of Daseon went in, there was nothing. We still don’t know if they were killed here or brought in after being killed outside.”
“Wasn’t Daseon guarding the dungeon entrance?”
“Of course they were. 24-hour watch. Hunter Lee Mi-seon is furious because she can’t figure out how they got in.”
I nodded understandingly.
“Worried there might be a traitor in the guild?”
“Wouldn’t go as far as calling them a traitor… but roughly speaking, yes.”
“Hmm…. Hunter Lee Mi-seon will take care of that. Are these runes?”
I pointed to one of the photos Hong Seok-young had just taken out. It was a photo of the inside of the clothes the body was wearing.
Complicated symbols were intertwined. Unless some long-time psychopath killed someone and doodled meaningless symbols, it was a rune.
“Yes, I was going to ask you about this.”
Hong Seok-young confirmed.
“Um…”
“There is a rune, but I don’t know what it’s doing. It must have some meaning if it was drawn like this. Do you know what rune it is?”
“Uh…”
“Is that why you asked if this was Mr. Kim, to test me?”
“Isn’t it important to be frugal?”
“Do you usually call this frugality?”
“Hey!!!”
Kim Chae-min was not particularly quiet, but it was the first time since seeing the mana concealment rune that she had raised her voice like this.
Both Hong Seok-young and I, who were discussing the rune on the body, looked at Kim Chae-min with wide eyes.
“I can’t follow any of this conversation!”
Kim Chae-min shouted.
“Who is Mr. Kim, and what does her gender matter?!”
Finally, Hong Seok-young laughed awkwardly.
The poor archmage, who had been too intimidated by Hong Seok-young to even breathe properly, now cried out with a wronged expression.
I didn’t know how much Hong Seok-young had told Kim Chae-min about me. But judging by that reaction, he hadn’t explained much.
Even though she knew about the Ark and had been taken to the training center, I still didn’t know how Kim Chae-min got involved with the Ark….
Since Hong Seok-young brought her here, it must not be irrelevant.
“Teacher Kim, you know I’m from the Ark, right?”
“Yes! You never said it outright, but if I couldn’t notice from the talk at the training center, I’d have to be an idiot!”
…So he didn’t explain anything at all?
I glanced at Hong Seok-young and opened my mouth. Cleaning up was always my job. Nothing new.
“When I tried to leave there, there was someone named Mr. Kim who helped me. It was an undercover investigation.”
Hong Seok-young didn’t stop me. Instead, he rested his chin on his hand and watched Kim Chae-min and me, as if telling me to continue.
Kim Chae-min was smart. Even with that brief explanation, she seemed to understand the situation and her mouth hung open in realization.
“We lost contact with him halfway…. The same goes for Mr. Hong Seok-young here.”
“Hey, don’t be so cold and call me Mr. Hong Seok-young. Are you upset?”
“Since he barely had any information about me, he doubted whether I was really the internal informant Mr. Kim mentioned.”
“You’re upset.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Yes. That’s how it is.”
Kim Chae-min picked up her beer glass and started gulping it down. After emptying the 500cc glass in one go, she slammed it down with a bang and wiped her mouth.
…Was she that stressed?
“So, are all suspicions about Teacher Woo resolved now? It looks like this was a sting operation.”
“Uh… I wouldn’t know about that. It depends on Mr. Hong Seok-young.”
Kim Chae-min glared at Hong Seok-young.
“Mr. Hong.”
“Hmm?”
“It’s all done now, right?”
Kim Chae-min frowned. She glared at Hong Seok-young for a long moment before speaking bluntly.
“Then apologize.”
Hong Seok-young scratched his head. Despite the younger woman’s words, he bowed his head slightly and apologized without much comment.
“I’m sorry.”
“You shouldn’t be saying it to me.”
“Right. I’m sorry.”
Hong Seok-young also bowed his head to me.
“Now, it’s not much, but as a token of apology…”
He started rummaging through his pockets again. Did that coat have a subspace pocket or something? What’s he always pulling out?
This time, he took out a crumpled document envelope.
“What is it?”
“It’s yours.”
I received the envelope with a suspicious look. The contents inside were sparse compared to the envelope, which was why it was so crumpled. Inside was…
Thud.
I blinked.
What fell onto my palm was a card. More precisely, a card-sized… resident registration card.
Woo Hwijae.
920930-1xxxxxx.
“The other personal information was based on what you told me when you were at the investigation office. If that was a lie, there’s nothing we can do. You’ll have to live with it as it is. And…”
Hong Seok-young waved his hand. There was still something left in the envelope.
Following the ID card was a Hunter License.
“It’s also temporarily issued.”
Woo Hwijae, Rank D.
“You should renew it later.”
But there was still something left in the envelope. When I tipped it upside down, nothing came out, so I reached in and pulled it out.
Thud.
…A bankbook.
“Coincidentally, payday just passed. I also issued a check card.”
There was a card slipped between the pages of the bankbook. My name was on that, too.
“You now have a legal status in South Korea, so you know you have to pay taxes, right? So, tax was deducted…”
For some reason, my hand trembled. Maybe because I sensed what was coming.
“I’m not an exploitative employer, so of course, I included the four major insurances. If you work somewhere else in the future, make sure they provide insurance. If they don’t, it’s suspicious, so quit immediately.”
What does a Hunter need the four major insurances for…!
“Originally, I should have deducted the miscellaneous costs you incurred over the past month…”
“Hey, Principal, that’s too much.”
“Oh, now I’m Principal?”
“You apologized, didn’t you?”
“Well, if I want to keep being called ‘teacher’, I guess I’ll have to live kindly.”
Hong Seok-young chuckled.
“Like teacher Kim said, I thought that was too much as well, so I’ll just treat it as my treat. How about that? Is that okay? It’s the rightful compensation for your hard work.”
“……”
“Alright, I get it. I understand. We’ll discuss the serious stuff a little later, but for now, let’s celebrate. Boss! Bring us more beer, please!”
“……”
A fair reward? This is a fair reward?
I gripped the bankbook, my hand trembling.
My salary got cut to a quarter, and now, what?