Retire 472

472 A Working Man (1)

I don’t like mirrors.

Because they are the most ordinary means by which I have to face myself.

Other things are fine. No, in truth, they’re not fine, but at least I can fool myself since I don’t have to see them.

“I—I’m sorry…”

A voice, thick with tears, clings to my ankles like mud, but even so, I can deceive myself.

But not in front of a mirror. Eyes shining gold—no one could mistake them for human.

To others, perhaps, they might not stand out so much. After all, the things you most want to hide from others are always the ones you see most clearly yourself.

But any hunter who’s ever met a fae would notice at once. Of all the monsters, only the fae had those glittering golden eyes. Even among monsters with hundreds of eyes sparkling in every color, like Christmas tree lights, there was never any gold.

So I hid my eyes. Sunglasses bought off the street. At first, it was so people wouldn’t recognize me. Then, so I wouldn’t have to see myself.

Relying on such a shoddy method, something that could be taken off at any moment. Never able to cut myself off completely.

“…?”

Han Taekyung, rummaging through his phone, straightened at a strange sensation.

Beeeep.

Before he could even figure out what was happening, a ringing filled his ears. A sharp sound, as if it would swallow all other noise.

“What’s wrong?”

Alex’s voice, sprawled on the sofa watching a drama, overlapped with it.

The actors on TV whispering love to each other—he could hear that too.

No sound was swallowed; everything was clear.

Han Taekyung narrowed his eyes and lowered his sunglasses halfway. Colors of high saturation flickered before him, like heat haze rising in the blazing summer sun.

“What is it?”

Han Taekyung curled up, bracing himself for the shock he felt coming.

The old scar on his abdomen twitched. His throat felt tight. His shoulders prickled. His knees, his ankles ached.

“Are you hurt?”

He heard a rustling sound. Surprisingly, this guy paid attention to those around him. Not what his first impression had suggested.

Han Taekyung exhaled slowly. The pain vanished in an instant. It hadn’t been real pain anyway.

In the past, he would have been bewildered, not even knowing what was happening. But now, he understood what this false pain meant.

Han Taekyung followed the faint, aurora-like shimmer with his eyes.

“Junior.”

“Don’t say weird stuff like that!”

“Let’s go out.”

“…Didn’t the Master tell us to stay quietly at the hotel?”

“When have I ever listened?”

Alex blinked. Normally he would have followed with a mischievous grin, but perhaps because of what had just happened, he only looked at Han Taekyung with suspicion.

But Han Taekyung gave a faint smile. Alex pouted, then pulled on a hat, sunglasses, and a mask.

“If we get in trouble, I’m blaming you for everything!”

“I doubt we’ll get in trouble.”

Getting into the Cactus Mirage office was surprisingly easy.

Even if the guild was in chaos over the mole dungeon incident, it was almost too easy, enough to make him worry. Though, that was partly thanks to Alex’s abilities.

At first, Alex had followed along without knowing why, but once they arrived at the Cactus Mirage office, he realized what had happened. Han Taekyung didn’t even have to explain; this cocky junior’s enthusiasm was actually convenient for once.

After that, everything went smoothly. There were a few other hunters in the Cactus Mirage office, but none of them knew what had happened in the inner guild master’s room. It was obviously suspicious, but in a way, it was also a stroke of luck.

“What do you see?”

“Water. And… worms? No, not quite. There are things like roots.”

“Roots?”

“Yeah. And yellow flowers.”

“Ugh. Ugh, wait. I know what that is.”

Hope stammered as he explained about the monster he’d seen back home. Worried he might be misremembering, he even checked with Sandra in Korea.

“We get a lot of weird monsters in our country. My mom’s a guild master, so I’ve picked up a few things.”

—You probably just remember because you’re sulking about not being with your aunt.

“That’s part of it!”

Hearing Sandra’s exasperated voice over the phone, Alex laughed it off. Normally, he’d have teased Hope for it, but this time it was actually helpful. Not that Hope would even realize he was being teased.

“So, we know what it is… What do we do now?”

“Well, since no one else got caught up in it, I guess they’ll try to find the gate.”

“Can they find it if it’s underwater?”

“With Mr. Kim there, they’ll manage somehow.”

“But going into the water is dangerous!”

Han Taekyung thought it over.

“They’re not new to dungeons. They’ll manage. Still….”

“Should I go in?”

Alex asked abruptly.

“The gate?”

“No.”

“…You can enter the dungeon that way?”

“Not normally, but with the magic this messed up, I can. Just give me the coordinates.”

He hesitated for a moment, but in the end, it was decided that Alex would go in.

If the gate’s range had been wider, more people would have been caught up in it.

In a big American city like this, with so many tourists, anything could have happened. Maybe the people who would have been caught by the gate were lucky enough to avoid the water, but there’s no way the authorities would just stand by and watch a dungeon appear in the middle of an American city. Not after what happened in San Francisco.

There would have been rescue attempts. Through the gate.

And then the damage would have been catastrophic.

It was better to clear it quickly.

The warped magic showed Han Taekyung more than usual. He couldn’t say what other monsters might be in the water, but knowing Alex’s skills, he wouldn’t die easily. As long as he stayed alive, he could run and find the Masters.

Daniel would be inside the dungeon too. He’d definitely gone in with the others—he wasn’t answering his phone and wasn’t in the office.

“I’ll be back!”

“Hey, wait…!”

Han Taekyung awkwardly raised his hand as Alex vanished into thin air.

He’d meant to say that, with the gate blocked, they had to destroy the core now….

But Han Taekyung just shrugged and lightened his heart.

As I said, the people inside the dungeon weren’t just random rookie hunters.

There was a hunter even Americans respected, an archmage, and, though less famous, a notoriously ill-tempered hunter whose skills were beyond question.

Once Alex told them the gate was blocked, those three—and the American healer, making four—would quickly realize that, even if they managed to get out, re-entry would be impossible.

If the dungeon broke, the branches would cover the city. Outside the water, they’d quickly wither and become unresponsive to external stimuli, but the gate was submerged. Not only branches, but water would come out as well.

Once they realized that, it would be obvious.

I didn’t know how responsible that American would be, but the other three weren’t the type to shirk their duties. The dungeon would be cleared. As long as they could find the core.

Now, then.

“…….”

He heard people moving outside the office door.

The place was still in chaos from the investigation into the mole dungeon, but it wouldn’t stay this quiet for long.

Han Taekyung looked around the thoroughly ransacked office and at the blue glow of the gate. His nose stung. He wasn’t so naïve as to not know what was making a mess of the office. He stared for a moment at the red stains on the wall, then turned his gaze back to the door.

Unless those people came out through the gate right away, someone would try to go in.

To explain what was beyond the gate, he’d have to explain how he knew in the first place….

Han Taekyung scratched his head.

---

“So if you go into the dungeon, what, do you think a solution will just fall from the sky? Are you going in there because you don’t know who’s inside? If you’re just going to get in the way, don’t bother! Do you think I’m asking because I doubt our Master can clear it?!”

A voice rang out, echoing through the building.

The sharp, irritated voice was so full of annoyance that even if it wasn’t directed at you, you couldn’t help but shrink back.

A few remaining Cactus Mirage staff, hiding in a corner and watching the commotion, craned their necks to watch the Korean hunter shouting at the top of his lungs, then frowned.

“At this point, our guild’s as good as finished, right?”

“We were finished the moment the investigation started a few days ago. What’s a failed guild got left to lose anyway?”

“Ugh… I was so happy to join a successful guild.”

“I just hope we don’t get caught up in this.”

Fortunately, that Korean hunter was yelling in the Cactus Mirage office, but his target wasn’t the staff. If it had been, they might have reported him for harassing civilians.

But all that anger and frustration was being directed at men in suits and soldiers claiming to be from the government. They didn’t look like ordinary people either, but what could you do?

Through the half-open office door, the faint glow of the gate and red stains were visible.

“Can’t you see what’s right in front of you?! Anyone can tell this was an attack!!”

“W-well, about the dungeon…”

“Our Master didn’t come here for fun! He came to protest, to investigate. And now, what? You’re pulling this crap again?”

“We’ll take responsibility and enter the dungeon ourselves—”

“Our Master will save them!”

There was some Korean mixed in that they couldn’t understand, but it was clear what the hunter was protesting.

“I used to think we were just unlucky… but this means there really was something illegal going on, right? I never thought our Master was like that.”

“You never really know someone from the outside.”

“But weren’t we in danger too?”

At that, everyone else fell silent.

“I heard the area sucked in by a gate is usually pretty wide…”

“What if the office staff had been caught up too?!”

Right on cue, the Korean hunter shouted again.

“O-of course, we have to protect our own citizens…”

“Yeah, right, like that’s what it looks like!”

One of the hunters caught up in the dungeon was famous enough that even the office staff knew who he was. Even if he was a foreigner, anyone working at a guild should know. Hong Seok-young was that kind of hunter.

“Don’t just talk—come up with some real solutions! You didn’t even know the gate had opened! What if I hadn’t come because I couldn’t reach our Master?!”

It might be unfortunate for the government official on the receiving end of that shouting, but the hunter wasn’t wrong. If such a renowned hunter couldn’t clear the dungeon, who could? And there was even a famous archmage with him.

“Nothing’s working right. Are you even doing this investigation properly? Honestly, I think our Master would do a better job…”

The hunter’s voice slowed.

The man opened his eyes wide, then ran into the guild master’s office. The door swung wide, revealing the mess inside.

The office staff were on the verge of screaming at the sight.

“Master!”

The man raised his voice again.

“Han Taekyung, for once, earned his paycheck, didn’t he?”

“What are you talking about, Principal?!”

As if all that ferocious shouting had been a lie, the man answered playfully, voice sly with a grin.

“That Han Taekyung—he’s always a man who earns his money!”