Chapter 18: Secret Agent (1)
Jin-young had come to the Byeonsan contaminated zone to test whether the tentacles could absorb a Mine’s black mana the same way they had with Jeon Su-yong.
While not as dangerous as Hongcheon, Byeonsan was known to harbor high-danger-grade Mines—that was the reason for the visit.
As expected, he succeeded in absorbing the black mana, but there was an even more unexpected gain.
He had absorbed the super regeneration ability possessed by the 2nd-grade Mine.
‘Can it absorb abilities from other Mines too?’
『Depends on the level. Weak ones don’t have much to eat.』
So, at minimum, Mines of 2nd-grade or higher could have their abilities absorbed.
He could figure out the upper limit later.
Fortunately, there were also some recently turned Mines.
Jin-young approached the other Mines while leading the sandstorm.
The two Mines still bound by psychokinesis.
Judging by the mana he could sense, they weren’t particularly high-grade.
The tentacles, moving slightly more timidly than before, absorbed the mana from both Mines simultaneously.
Compared to the 2nd-grade Mine, the amount and density were laughably small.
No notable abilities were absorbed either.
Since he hadn’t expected much to begin with, he wasn’t disappointed.
More surprising was a different discovery.
The appearance of the Mines he had just absorbed from had changed slightly.
Their complexion had improved a bit, and the red in their eyes had darkened somewhat.
‘Is it because they hadn’t been corrupted for long?’
The only difference from the 2nd-grade Mine, which hadn’t reverted at all, was that these had been corrupted recently.
Still, it seemed too late to fully return them to human.
“Grrr… ugh…”
The Mine still bared its teeth at Jin-young with empty eyes.
After completely absorbing its black mana,
Crack—
Jin-young twisted its cervical spine and killed it instantly.
Having dealt with all the Mines, Jin-young compressed the sandstorm with psychokinesis and stored it in his subspace.
It would be useful as a substitute for skills in situations where using black mana wasn’t ideal.
As the raging sandstorm cleared, the Scavenger Kwon Jong-yun—who had come with him—came into view.
Kwon Jong-yun froze the moment their eyes met.
“You’re still here?”
“…Haha, where else would I go? You’re my lifesaver.”
The opponent had turned five 3rd-grade monsters into chunks of meat in seconds and subdued a 2nd-grade Mine with ease.
Just the fact that not a single grain of sand had dirtied his clean suit showed how overwhelmingly powerful he was.
Running from someone like that would be suicide.
Besides, he judged that sticking with Jin-young gave him a higher chance of survival than fleeing alone.
Kwon Jong-yun had even started speaking in honorifics.
“Where did the man and woman who were here go?”
“Ah! They went in that direction.”
Kwon Jong-yun turned and pointed.
Jin-young moved to search for the two missing Intelligence Department agents.
***
Choi Hee-yeon supported Executor—Hong Jun-su—as they moved forward.
If they didn’t escape the contaminated zone quickly, Hong Jun-su’s condition would become irreversible.
But Hong Jun-su already considered himself beyond saving.
Because of the wound on his chest from the Mine, Creep had corroded nearly half his torso.
He was barely concentrating mana around his head to prevent it from reaching his brain.
“Leave me. If you stay, you’ll die too.”
“……”
But Choi Hee-yeon stubbornly kept walking.
Hong Jun-su frowned as the headache worsened and spoke.
“Advisor. Are you going to ignore your superior’s orders?”
“If I abandon my senior here, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”
“……”
He understood exactly why Choi Hee-yeon refused to leave him.
The new drug being developed in the Intelligence Department’s secret research lab inside the National Monster Research Institute.
A drug to purify Creep toxicity—clinical trials on Mines hadn’t been conducted yet.
Choi Hee-yeon was pinning her hopes on that drug.
As a human, Hong Jun-su didn’t want to die like this either.
But he believed Choi Hee-yeon’s survival was far more important than his own life.
“Then promise me one thing. If I reach my limit, you’ll end it with your own hands.”
“…I promise.”
After that, the two walked in silence.
How many minutes passed?
The nausea surged, and Hong Jun-su realized he had reached his limit.
His energy was almost completely drained; even moving on his own was difficult.
To be precise, he was having control of his body taken away by another entity.
Before he could no longer act at all, he thought he had to get Choi Hee-yeon away from him.
Pow!
Hong Jun-su struck Choi Hee-yeon hard with his right hand.
“……”
She had been prepared for a surprise attack and blocked the punch, though she was pushed back.
Just as she tried to rush toward him again,
“Grrk…”
His eyes bloodshot red, he exhaled roughly.
Crackle—
Annoyed by the oxygen mask, he tore it apart with his blackened hand.
Choi Hee-yeon bit her lip.
Hong Jun-su’s condition was deteriorating much faster than expected.
If he fully turned into a Mine, she would never be able to handle him.
Physically or mentally.
“Guh… This is your last chance… Kill me…”
“……”
Choi Hee-yeon clenched both fists tightly.
She wore a resolute expression—until that moment.
Whooooosh—
A sudden sandstorm separated her from Hong Jun-su.
“Wait…!”
It was obvious who had summoned the sandstorm.
The Hunter Chae Jin-young who had helped them earlier.
There was only one reason he would isolate her and Hong Jun-su.
He intended to eliminate Hong Jun-su before he fully became a Mine.
Choi Hee-yeon didn’t want to leave her senior’s final moments in the hands of an outsider.
Especially after promising him she would end it herself.
She charged toward the sandstorm, blue lightning crackling from both hands.
Crackle— Boom!
But before she could even enter the storm, her body was repelled.
It felt as if she had slammed into an unbreakable fortress.
While she pondered how to break through,
Swoooosh—
The sand that had filled the surroundings suddenly rushed toward one point.
Choi Hee-yeon saw Chae Jin-young standing there, with Hong Jun-su floating slightly in mid-air.
For a brief moment, the image of the 2nd-grade Mine—whose limbs had been torn apart—overlapped with this scene.
Hong Jun-su’s body flew toward her through the air, controlled by psychokinesis.
“Take him and go.”
At Chae Jin-young’s words, Choi Hee-yeon examined Hong Jun-su with a dazed expression.
The black Creep that had covered his body was completely gone.
He was unconscious, eyes closed and limp. While running out of mana didn’t cause fainting or death, this was a contaminated zone.
Surviving long without mana was nearly impossible.
Fortunately, since Chae Jin-young had put the oxygen mask back on him, breathing wasn’t an issue.
“You… removed the Creep? How did you… purify the Mine corruption?”
But Chae Jin-young offered no explanation.
“I have urgent business. This friend will help you.”
He simply pushed the Scavenger Kwon Jong-yun toward her with psychokinesis.
Kwon Jong-yun approached Choi Hee-yeon against his will and scratched his head awkwardly.
She paid him no attention and spoke to Chae Jin-young.
“But without an oxygen mask, where are you planning to go?”
“I’m going to take down the boss monster.”
“What?”
For a moment, Choi Hee-yeon wondered if she’d misheard.
Going alone to hunt a boss monster without an oxygen mask.
She knew firsthand how powerful he was, but this was beyond reckless.
Those who gained immense power suddenly and easily often died from overconfidence.
She had seen countless such Hunters.
Chae Jin-young was someone who had stayed stuck at 9th-grade for a long time before suddenly becoming strong.
If left unchecked, they might lose a valuable asset.
“Cleaning up the contaminated zone doesn’t have to be done right now. Reorganize first and—”
But Choi Hee-yeon couldn’t finish her sentence.
Thud.
The moment Hong Jun-su—floating in mid-air—collapsed, she caught him.
Chae Jin-young had already disappeared.
Choi Hee-yeon released her mana to shield Hong Jun-su’s body.
“I’ll help.”
Kwon Jong-yun supported Hong Jun-su’s other arm.
Choi Hee-yeon found the Scavenger’s help uncomfortable, but she didn’t refuse.
It was better than having to release her mana alone.
After moving for roughly two hours, they were nearing their limit.
Their oxygen tanks had already run dry, and they were filtering the toxicity by releasing mana.
But protecting Hong Jun-su as well consumed far too much mana. The mana potions they had brought were completely depleted.
If only they had a Manastone at a time like this—but she had been too focused on carrying Hong Jun-su to pay attention.
“We’ll manage to get out on our own, so please go ahead.”
At Choi Hee-yeon’s words, Kwon Jong-yun hesitated for a moment.
If he fled alone, he could definitely survive.
But the thought of what Chae Jin-young might do if he found out terrified him.
‘Should I just run far away? Maybe even leave Korea.’
Just as Kwon Jong-yun was about to speak after agonizing,
Tzzzt-tzzzt…
The Creep on the ground suddenly began evaporating.
The two of them stared blankly at the floor.
“H-Haha, how could I leave? You’re my lifesaver, after all.”
Kwon Jong-yun muttered dumbly, but Choi Hee-yeon ignored him and trembled as she thought of Chae Jin-young.
***
Inside the director’s office of an old three-story commercial building’s private academy.
A middle-aged man with a dignified appearance and black horn-rimmed glasses sat with his chin resting on his hand.
Across from him stood an ordinary-looking man and a young woman.
This was one of the disguised bases used by the National Intelligence Service’s Awakener Intelligence Department.
The man in the horn-rimmed glasses—Intelligence Department Director Jeong Bo-hoon—spoke while holding a cigarette.
“I can’t believe it.”
“I felt the same at first.”
The ordinary man nodded.
He was the Intelligence Department’s top infiltration and surveillance agent: ‘Imposter.’
He had been monitoring Chae Jin-young for several days and was one of the few who had personally witnessed his overwhelming power.
The incident of eliminating Jeon Su-yong—a major headache even for the Intelligence Department—still gave him chills.
But Director Jeong Bo-hoon hadn’t immediately moved to recruit Chae Jin-young after receiving the report.
If anything, his concerns had only deepened.
Simply having strong combat ability wasn’t enough to make someone an Intelligence Department agent.
Hunters like that belonged in guilds.
The Intelligence Department operated in the shadows for the nation and its people.
As the person in charge, Jeong Bo-hoon had to be extremely cautious when recruiting even a single agent.
“I hesitated because his methods were too ruthless…”
No matter how much of a piece of trash Jeon Su-yong was, he hadn’t expected him to be erased from the world so decisively and without hesitation.
An incident that would cause a massive uproar if it ever became known in Korea.
Only Imposter and Director Jeong Bo-hoon knew about it within the Intelligence Department.
And it would stay that way.
“So Advisor and Executor survived thanks to Chae Jin-young as well…”
“More importantly, the biggest achievement is that he purified the Byeonsan contaminated zone.”
‘Advisor’ Choi Hee-yeon chimed in.
“How is one person even capable of that?”
What shocked Director Jeong Bo-hoon the most was the fact that Chae Jin-young had single-handedly purified the Byeonsan contaminated zone.
The government desperately wanted to eliminate contaminated zones as soon as possible, but the lack of Hunter manpower made it impossible.
Sending large numbers of Intelligence Department agents would carry too much risk.
Research related to Creep was still progressing slowly, so fully eroded contaminated zones couldn’t be approached recklessly.
Even Korea’s top guilds showed no interest in restoring them.
From their perspective, dungeon raids offered far better cost-efficiency.
In such circumstances, a Hunter capable of purifying contaminated zones would deserve medals covering their entire coat.
“We still don’t know the exact extent, but Chae Jin-young’s power far exceeds common sense. What’s most important is that almost no one knows about it.”
Choi Hee-yeon’s eyes shone as she continued.
“Of course no one knows—everyone who saw it died. With that kind of power, why is he still a 9th-grade civil servant? I don’t understand. He could live like a king in a major guild.”
“That’s something you should look into now, Director.”
At Imposter’s words, Director Jeong Bo-hoon twitched his brow.
“Me? Isn’t that your job?”
“Have you forgotten? You said monitoring Chae Jin-young wasn’t an official mission. I have to leave Korea now for actual duties.”
“You slippery bastard.”
“That’s literally my identity.”
Director Jeong Bo-hoon almost cursed, but he shut his mouth at Choi Hee-yeon’s next words.
“Chae Jin-young Hunter is an outstanding candidate for a secret agent. Of course, the final decision rests with you, Director.”
Jeong Bo-hoon exhaled cigarette smoke, deep in thought.
As both agents had said, Chae Jin-young was precisely the kind of talent the Intelligence Department needed.
“I suppose I’ll have to meet him in person.”
***
“Then, I’ll head out first.”
“Alright, thanks for the day.”
After Jin-sol left last, Jin-young remained alone in the office.
He took out his smartphone and checked the news articles.
[Shin Young Group Chairman Jeon Young-su lashes out: “What the hell is the Korean police doing?”]
[Jeon Su-yong missing for one week: Shin Young Group stock continues to rise]
[SP Guild Master Min Hae-joon: “We’ll search the entire world if necessary to find Jeon Su-yong”]
It had been a week since he dealt with Jeon Su-yong.
The police seemed to think he was laying low after causing a major incident again.
Since he’d just been released, another scandal would have been a headache.
However, after several days, there was still no trace of Jeon Su-yong or the Dark Horse villains, so the investigation made no progress.
The incident location was an abandoned industrial complex that had been left untouched for years, so there were no CCTV recordings either.
Lee Ju-hong—who had instigated the job—and the Dark Horse villains helping him had probably suspected Jin-young at least once.
But because the suspect was just a 9th-grade civil servant Hunter from the district office, they seemed to have ruled him out for now.
If no more leads surfaced, they would eventually come looking.
‘I should hit Dark Horse first. There’s some information I want to dig into anyway.’
Their headquarters had never been uncovered, so he’d have to trace them backward.
Fortunately, he had already recruited one Hunter connected to Dark Horse.
The Scavenger Kwon Jong-yun he had saved in the contaminated zone last weekend.
Once Kwon Jong-yun arranged a meeting with Dark Horse villains, Jin-young planned to go there personally and interrogate them.
Just then.
Something caught in the psionic energy Jin-young had spread around the district office.
‘Not many cars come in at this hour.’
He immediately stepped outside the building.
A black luxury sedan came into view.
A tall man got out of the driver’s seat. Oddly, he was wearing black sunglasses even though the sun had set.
Jin-young recognized him instantly.
“It’s been a while, Agent Na Ji-hwan.”
“Good to see you, Hunter Chae Jin-young.”
Na Ji-hwan gave an awkward smile as he greeted him.
He seemed to be recalling their last encounter.
Unlike before, his tone was now much more respectful.
“Sunglasses at night—quite the style.”
“It’s hard to make eye contact otherwise.”
“But what brings you here?”
Instead of answering, Na Ji-hwan went to the back door and opened it.
A middle-aged man with a fairly large build stepped out.
A man wearing black horn-rimmed glasses, with a face that vaguely resembled a bear.
‘Intelligence Department Director Jeong Bo-hoon.’
Jin-young naturally knew who he was.
While the Intelligence Department had many secret agents, some—like Investigator Na Ji-hwan—operated with their identities exposed.
The Director was one of them.
A legendary figure who had started as a low-level NIS employee before the dungeon cataclysm and risen all the way to Director of the Awakener Intelligence Department.
But the image Jin-young had of Jeong Bo-hoon was a little different.
Not just someone good at his job.
‘A man who threw his life away for the country.’
The first Monster Wave that struck Korea.
Back then, Jeong Bo-hoon had fought on the front lines and died heroically.
Without him, Seoul would likely have fallen much earlier, and Jin-young would have died before ever transferring to Renard.
“Nice to meet you, Hunter Chae Jin-young. I’m Intelligence Department Director Jeong Bo-hoon.”
When Jeong Bo-hoon greeted him first, Jin-young replied,
“Nice to meet you too. Have you eaten?”
“Not yet. But first, let’s have a quick talk…”
“Let’s eat first. There’s a place nearby with incredible jjajangmyeon.”
Jeong Bo-hoon smirked at the seemingly joking remark.
But when he saw Jin-young’s serious face, the smile quickly faded.