Chapter 20: Secret Agent (3)
Chae So-young commuted to the SP Guild headquarters in Samsung-dong, Gangnam-gu on days without raids.
Her tasks included writing raid-related reports, requesting necessary equipment, and chatting with colleagues via messenger.
It was a boring, ordinary office worker day.
The only bright spot was lunchtime.
The assault Team 1, led by 3rd-grade Hunter Oh Jong-yeon, gathered in the company cafeteria for lunch.
“You heard we secured the raid rights for the 4th-grade gate that appeared in Chungju, right?”
At Team Leader Oh Jong-yeon’s words, the team members paused mid-bite and nodded.
“Yes, we heard.”
“Finally, an out-of-town trip.”
“Train hard until then—especially you 5th-grades. A 4th-grade gate isn’t something to take lightly.”
Oh Jong-yeon looked at Chae So-young—the only 5th-grade Hunter on assault Team 1—as he spoke.
Despite reaching 5th-grade faster than most Hunters, the looks he gave her were anything but kind.
But if she wanted to avoid getting kicked out, she couldn’t talk back to the team leader.
“Yes. I’ll train hard!”
Chae So-young answered with unusually high energy.
Oh Jong-yeon stared at her with a stony face before speaking.
“Oh, right. Chae So-young. You have a civil servant brother, don’t you? Chae Jin-young, was it?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Chae So-young, who had never been asked about her family before, tilted her head in confusion.
“Have you noticed anything strange about your brother lately? Like suddenly getting stronger, for example.”
“Hmm… I haven’t really noticed anything.”
Chae So-young shook her head as she answered.
Truthfully, she did feel something was different, but she had no intention of telling Oh Jong-yeon.
If she mentioned the bizarre tentacle monster that had appeared when she met her brother at the hospital, who knew what kind of trouble it would cause.
“I see? I heard some rumors that something’s off.”
“Rumors?”
“Don’t be curious. Rumors are just rumors.”
“Ah… yes.”
Chae So-young couldn’t press Oh Jong-yeon any further.
She didn’t want to continue the conversation anyway.
“And the list for the Hongcheon contaminated zone restoration operation has been finalized. Our entire assault team is participating, so keep that in mind. No changes to the schedule. Train hard until then—it could be the most dangerous raid yet.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Me too?”
Chae So-young pointed to herself in surprise.
Oh Jong-yeon looked at her like she had asked something obvious, his expression sour.
“Of course. What, you want to sit this one out?”
“No, it’s not that… I just have some personal circumstances and thought I might not be able to participate—”
“Hey, Chae So-young.”
Clack.
Oh Jong-yeon set his spoon down hard.
Chae So-young bit her lip.
“You think this is some club? If you don’t want to go, you just don’t?”
“No, sir. That was shortsighted of me.”
“Haa… Lost my appetite. I’m heading out.”
Oh Jong-yeon left the cafeteria without even clearing his tray.
Of the remaining six team members, three followed him out.
The other three—including Chae So-young—stayed behind.
“So-young, you okay?”
“Yeah.”
She wasn’t the type to break down or lose her composure over something like this.
Of course, her anger toward Oh Jong-yeon hadn’t subsided.
More than that, she was worried because she wouldn’t be able to keep her brother’s warning to never go to the Hongcheon contaminated zone.
If she told him she had no choice but to participate, he might demand she quit the guild immediately.
But she couldn’t just throw away a guild she was doing well in.
The Hunter world was small—any trouble inside the guild would spread like wildfire.
If she quit because she didn’t want to participate in the operation, getting into another guild of SP’s caliber would become difficult.
She didn’t want to spend the rest of her Hunter life in a mid-tier guild or as a civil servant.
Above all, there was a reason she couldn’t leave SP.
Chae So-young had frequently heard from SP’s Guild master, Min Hae-joon, that she was a high-potential talent.
That if she stayed with them, her abilities would definitely bloom.
It wasn’t just the Guild master who recognized her value.
The members of assault Team 1—except the team leader—and Hunters from other teams.
She had quite a few close guildmates, and they gave her great strength.
‘Haa… I don’t want to go home.’
At that moment, a senior guild member spoke up.
“Hey, how about we grab some grilled intestines and soju after work tonight?”
“Sure, why not.”
***
“It’s not guaranteed to kill you if you drink this. Huh? If you’re lucky, you might survive—and even awaken.”
“N-No… Please, let me go… Please…”
The woman with disheveled hair sobbed as she begged, tears streaming down her face.
She knelt on the ground, surrounded by corpses.
“Hey, just force it down her throat. Why are you trying to convince her like some counselor?”
“I’m doing it because she’s pretty, okay?”
“What a load of bullshit.”
“Just wait. If she awakens and survives, she’ll thank me, right?”
“Fuck, would you thank someone if you were in her shoes?”
“Of course not. I’d want to kill them. Heh heh heh.”
“Trash bastard, kekeke.”
The two villains cackled as they exchanged crude jokes.
In the hand of one villain was a small vial. Inside, black liquid sloshed.
Because of this poison called Black Rose, more than a dozen people had already died.
The woman was so terrified that rational thought had become impossible.
Whatever the villains said simply didn’t register in her mind.
“Please… let me go… I won’t tell anyone…”
“Drink this, and I’ll let you go.”
The villain shook the vial of Black Rose with a wicked grin.
“……”
“Who knows? Maybe this sample will suit your body perfectly. Then you could become a Hunter too.”
While they enjoyed tormenting her,
“Having fun?”
A man’s voice made both villains flinch.
“B-Branch Manager.”
Jang Ji-ho, branch manager of Dark Horse’s Dangjin branch.
Despite his small stature for a man, his charisma was overwhelming.
“Ever since Jeon Su-yong disappeared, a huge amount of Black Rose meant for sale to Hunters has been lost. And you’re still playing around?”
“N-No, sir!”
The villains answered immediately, though they had no idea how Jeon Su-yong’s disappearance related to their current situation.
“Pathetic. Hand it over.”
Jang Ji-ho snatched the Black Rose from the villain.
Then he approached the woman, grabbed her head, forced her mouth open, and poured the liquid in.
Unable to resist, she swallowed the Black Rose.
“Gack! Gah!”
She clutched her throat and coughed violently, but the liquid had already gone down.
“By the way, why hasn’t that guy who was supposed to bring the Pollutium shown up yet? It’s been over a day.”
At Jang Ji-ho’s question, the two villains exchanged glances.
No one had heard from him.
“W-We’ll go look for him.”
“Do you know the meeting place—”
Just then.
“Branch Manager!”
A villain came running, shouting.
It was the one who had been supposed to retrieve the Pollutium from the Scavenger last night.
Jang Ji-ho turned to him.
“You’re alone.”
“I’m sorry, Branch Manager. The Scavenger betrayed us… We got ambushed by some civil servant.”
“A civil servant?”
Jang Ji-ho’s eyebrow shot up.
“Yes. I’m not sure if he’s from Intelligence, but he was incredibly strong. I’d never seen that kind of ability before. He controlled sand.”
“Sand, huh.”
Jang Ji-ho had never heard of a civil servant or Intelligence agent who controlled sand.
But one person came to mind.
Jang Ji-ho turned to the villain holding the Black Rose.
“What did that rat bastard say about the civil servant’s ability?”
“He said something like a rock flew at him, then his balls exploded and he blacked out, so he doesn’t remember clearly.”
The rat bastard—who had been kidnapping delinquent teens to test Black Rose—had been knocked unconscious by some civil servant and remained in a coma for days.
An informant had been sent to the Hunter prison to ask him a few questions.
He didn’t know what happened to Lee Cheol-ho, only that he’d been beaten by a civil servant and passed out.
He didn’t know the civil servant’s name, only that he was probably from Gangseo District Office.
“So he controls sand and rocks. But there isn’t anyone like that among Gangseo District Office civil servants, right?”
“Yes. Either he’s hiding his ability, or he’s someone disguised as a civil servant. One or the other.”
“Jeon Su-yong was looking for a civil servant from Gangseo District Office, wasn’t he? Same person?”
“I don’t know that much. Both Cheol-ho hyung-nim and Jeon Su-yong are missing, so…”
“Something smells really fishy here.”
Just then.
“Ugh… Gah!”
The woman clutched her throat and groaned.
The woman who had been force-fed Black Rose suddenly convulsed, foaming at the mouth.
The reaction had finally begun.
Most ordinary people who drank Black Rose failed to survive this critical stage and died.
As the villains watched the woman,
She writhed in agony, twisting her entire body, then suddenly went limp.
Just as they thought she had died,
“Haaah!”
She gasped violently and jolted upright.
Mana could now be felt emanating from her body.
“Which sample number is that?”
“It’s number 23.”
At Jang Ji-ho’s question, the villain holding the empty vial answered.
“Record it. And prepare that woman for sale.”
“Yes, Branch Manager.”
One villain grabbed the woman by the hair and yanked her to her feet.
“Follow me.”
“P-Please… let me go!”
She had awakened, but her physical abilities and mana were weak—far too feeble to resist.
As Jang Ji-ho stepped out of the warehouse, he instinctively sensed the air inside the building felt different from before.
Whiiish—
A sudden whistle came from behind.
The moment Jang Ji-ho turned in a combat stance,
Swoooosh—
A sandstorm surged from the front and engulfed him.
***
Crack—
Villains died instantly in mid-air, their necks snapped.
With an indifferent expression, Jin-young methodically eliminated the Dark Horse villains one by one as he advanced.
Following behind him was one man.
Intelligence Department Investigator Na Ji-hwan.
He had been dragged along by the Director’s order to assist Jin-young wholeheartedly.
If it had been anyone else, he would have protested—but because it was Jin-young, he had come with gritted teeth.
“Senior Na.”
“Yes?”
“Why do you keep speaking formally? I’m your junior in the Intelligence Department now.”
“Uh…”
Na Ji-hwan hesitated, unsure how to respond.
In the meantime, the two had reached deep inside the Dark Horse hideout.
Far ahead, a small-statured man appeared.
“That’s him. Dangjin Branch Manager Jang Ji-ho.”
Thanks to Jang Ji-ho’s appearance, Na Ji-hwan narrowly avoided having to answer.
“Just catch that one and we’re done.”
“Please leave the interrogation to me. It’s my specialty.”
Jin-young didn’t reply and simply walked toward Jang Ji-ho.
Then he suddenly stopped as he heard the tentacles speak.
『There’s a rotten smell coming from in there.』
‘Rotten smell?’
『It’s something different from the mana ordinary Hunters have.』
‘Hmm.’
Before he could figure out what it was, Jin-young released sand from his subspace.
Whiiish—
He let out a loud whistle, causing Jang Ji-ho to turn around.
Slaaaash—
The sandstorm surged toward the man who had turned.
It seemed to bury him for a moment—then he vanished.
In his place, the remaining villains charged.
“Intruders!”
“Sound the alarm!”
But the sandstorm that had passed through Jang Ji-ho swept over them instead.
The last villain to emerge saw the sand and his eyes widened in shock.
“I-Insane! How the hell did you get in here…?”
Crunch—
The three villains caught in an instant had their necks twisted and died on the spot.
Next up was Jang Ji-ho.
He had vanished again, but thanks to the psionic energy Jin-young had spread throughout the building, there was no way to miss him.
The now-invisible man accelerated in a burst, escaping the sandstorm.
He moved stealthily to get behind Jin-young.
Na Ji-hwan had already informed him about the man’s ability, so dealing with it was no trouble.
Even without the warning, it wouldn’t have mattered.
Either way, Jin-young pretended not to notice and looked around as if searching.
Finally, Jang Ji-ho—who had gotten behind him—swung his dual blades.
The attack targeted not only Jin-young but Na Ji-hwan as well.
But the man’s body froze solid.
“……!”
Though his face was hidden, the panic was palpable.
He must have been wondering how Jin-young had done it when not even a speck of sand had touched him.
“Drop the invisibility when I tell you to talk.”
Jang Ji-ho remained stubbornly silent.
Crack—
Then his wrist snapped.
“Argh!”
For the first time, the man cried out.
“Ah, sorry. I meant to break just a finger, but since I couldn’t see, I missed. Next time, who knows what’ll break.”
At Jin-young’s words, Jang Ji-ho’s form finally became visible.
His face was filled with venom.
“So you’re that Gangseo District Office civil servant, huh?”
“Oh, you know me?”
Jin-young asked with interest.
“Figures. Seeing Na Ji-hwan next to you, you’re with Intelligence, aren’t you?”
“You know Senior Na?”
“There aren’t many villains who don’t know my face. That’s why I live on edge.”
Na Ji-hwan gave a wry smile.
Because of that, he mostly handled cases involving guilds or civil servant Hunters rather than villains.
Getting into frequent clashes with villains would make him a prime target for retaliation killings.
“Alright then. Let’s take a look at Senior Na’s arm.”
At Jin-young’s words, Na Ji-hwan rolled up his sleeve.
***
Jang Ji-ho’s eyes were completely vacant, as if his soul had left his body.
Jin-young snapped his neck without hesitation, killing him.
He had already obtained all the information he needed.
The reason Dark Horse was trying to expand the contaminated zones with Manastones was for Pollutium.
The larger the contaminated area, the more Pollutium they could harvest.
The purpose of increasing Pollutium production was Black Rose manufacturing.
Jin-young’s earlier suspicions were proving correct.
But he didn’t believe that was the only reason for the contaminated zone expansion.
In the future he knew, intentional contaminated zone expansions happened across the world.
There might be something else besides Black Rose.
However, Jang Ji-ho didn’t know anything about that.
Perhaps the boss of Dark Horse did.
“There probably aren’t more than a handful of people in the country who know the location of Dark Horse’s headquarters. Even the branch manager didn’t know, so we’ll have to interrogate higher-ranking core executives.”
Jin-young nodded at Na Ji-hwan’s words.
The Intelligence Department was also continuously tracking Dark Horse’s headquarters, so he thought he’d help out later.
More importantly.
“Please… let me go. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
A woman with a pitiful appearance who looked like she had just awakened.
She had apparently been forced to drink Black Rose.
But Jin-young couldn’t simply walk past her.
Out of pity? No.
This woman had left a significant mark in the future he knew.
Her alias: “Mad Witch.”
One of the worst villains, on par with Jeon Su-yong.