Chapter 76: The Boy Who Left Home
He would become strong. Without fail.
While that resolution might have contained youthful bravado, it was no empty promise.
Leaving those words behind, Ha-il stepped out of the training ground.
Sa-hyeok muttered to himself.
“Surpass me, huh……”
Then, with a faint smile, he continued.
“That’ll be a bit tough, kid.”
[Seriously, why are you ruining such a touching ending?]
“Haha.”
[No, more importantly, why didn’t you hold onto an A-rank Hunter?! What are you doing, giving a free pass to another guild?]
“I told you. Orang Guild is better for him to grow stronger as a Sorcerer.”
[Even so! Why are you doing all the good deeds for other guilds?!]
“What’s my goal, Bang-ul-i?”
[Monster extermination. You say it every single day.]
“To achieve that, all existing Hunters need to become as strong as possible. It’s not just about strengthening our guild’s power, but strengthening the total power of all Hunters.”
[Ah, so that’s why you sent Jang Han-seo to Geomgye Guild and Seon Ha-il to Orang Guild?]
“Yes. Because those are the best places for them to become the strongest. If Ha-il had talent in Kwonmu, I would have recruited him into Kwonmu-mun.”
[I understand the intention…… but why are you thinking so big?]
“If the goal is big, the plan has to be big too.”
[Hmm……]
Bang-ul-i spun around in the air a few times, then suddenly stopped.
[But, Hyung-nim, a thought just occurred to me……]
“What is it?”
[Be honest. Besides strengthening the overall power and all that, you have another intention, right?]
“What intention?”
[Isn’t your intention to plant Hunters close to you in other guilds? Look at this kid, you sent him to Orang. You said Orang and Antenon have a close relationship, right? And you’re suspicious of Antenon. So, you’ve opened a connection route to Orang through Ha-il, haven’t you?]
Sa-hyeok neither confirmed nor denied this question.
Instead, he just gave a knowing smile.
Bang-ul-i said.
[But thinking about it, it’s a good thing for me.]
“Huh?”
[Antenon are the bastards who did this to me. It’s good to be able to open an information route related to those bastards in any way.]
“That’s true……”
[Thinking about it again makes me angry. How the h*ll did those Antenon bastards……]
Beep-
Just then, a message arrived on Sa-hyeok’s phone.
“I have to go.”
[Where?]
“Master is calling.”
══════════════════
Kwonmu-mun Vice Master’s Office.
“You went outside while you were grounded.”
“That’s right, Master……”
“Good job.”
Sa-hyeok doubted his ears for a moment.
“Good job……?”
“Saving people comes first, not punishment. It’s not like you secretly went on a raid to make money.”
“Ah……”
“Besides, the excuse to keep you grounded has disappeared.”
“Yes?”
“Didn’t you see NewTube?”
“I don’t really watch it.”
Instead of words, Jeong-kwon played a video.
The video was taken at the theme park where Sa-hyeok had caught the Septaferus.
And the protagonist of the video was……
“Me?”
It was Sa-hyeok.
The video showed Sa-hyeok fighting the King Septaferus. And it showed Sa-hyeok lifting the debris of the building and rescuing people.
Moreover, it had been uploaded only a few hours ago, but the current number of views had already exceeded 1 million.
Jeong-kwon said.
“A famous NewTuber who was there filmed and uploaded it.”
“Ah……”
“He caught a monster and saved people. If we kept the disciplinary action against such a Hunter, our guild would look ridiculous.”
“Then……”
“Your grounding is over.”
Sa-hyeok’s face brightened.
“Thank you!”
“But try to refrain from doing things like last time.”
“Yes!”
“By the way, what happened to that student? I heard he went to the hospital.”
“Well…… he said he wanted to go to Orang Guild.”
Hearing that, Bang-ul-i chimed in.
[He didn’t just ‘go’, Hyung-nim. You passed him over there.]
Of course, only Sa-hyeok could hear Bang-ul-i’s voice.
Sa-hyeok continued.
“He decided that Orang Guild would be better for his growth as a Sorcerer.”
[No, you decided that, Hyung-nim.]
“It would have been better if he had come to Kwonmu-mun, but what can we do, it was his choice.”
“Yes, that’s what happened.”
[What do you mean ‘that’s what happened’? You made it happen.]
After that, Sa-hyeok left the Vice Master’s office.
On his way out, he ran into Jeong-kwon’s secretary who was entering the office.
As soon as she entered, the secretary said to Jeong-kwon.
“Did you lift Hunter Min Sa-hyeok’s disciplinary action? I just saw him, and he looked happy.”
“That’s right.”
“That’s good. To be honest, you were just waiting for an excuse to lift his disciplinary action, weren’t you, Vice Master?”
Jeong-kwon chuckled.
It was a chuckle of affirmation.
The secretary said.
“Right?”
“Just give me the documents to sign.”
══════════════════
Meanwhile, the Orang Guild’s HR team was in an uproar.
It was because of Seon Ha-il.
An A-rank Ice Sorcerer, a mere 17-year-old mage at that, had inquired about joining.
About half of the A-rank Hunters that most guilds possessed were those who had painstakingly climbed their way up from B-rank or C-rank.
But to be A-rank from the moment of Awakening……
To top it off, he was young.
It meant his potential for growth was truly limitless.
He was the kind of talent any guild would want to s*atch up immediately.
And such a talent had walked in on his own two feet, so Orang had no choice but to rejoice.
Actually, Ha-il’s existence had been the talk of various guild HR teams ever since he underwent the rank evaluation.
However, because Ha-il was under the care of Kwonmu-mun at the time, other guilds couldn’t readily approach him.
So they were just licking their chops, but then suddenly, out of the blue, he rolled into Orang.
Naturally, Orang jumped at the chance and drafted Ha-il’s membership contract.
Thus, Ha-il became a member of the Orang Guild.
As a result, the money that rolled into Ha-il’s hands, a contract fee of 500 million won.
Ha-il immediately withdrew 300 million of it in cash.
“It’s lighter than I thought.”
It felt unreal.
The largest sum of money he had ever held in his hand in his life.
Ha-il hailed a taxi.
And headed towards his parents’ house.
“Ha-il?!”
His mother and father rushed out.
“Do you know how worried we were when you suddenly disappeared from the hospital? What happened? You didn’t even answer your phone!”
“How’s Noona?”
“She was discharged and went home. But why is that important?”
It was important to Ha-il.
It didn’t seem to be to them though.
“I joined the Orang Guild.”
His parents’ eyes wavered at his words.
“Orang…… That’s one of the Five Major Guilds?!”
“Yes.”
“Oh my goodness, honey! Orang!!”
“That’s my son! I knew you could do it!!”
Ha-il had never seen this before.
His parents making such a fuss.
And so, mother, father, and Ha-il.
The three sat around the living room table.
Ha-il looked around the living room walls.
Everywhere he looked, there were only pictures of his Noona.
But somehow, he didn’t feel that bad about it.
Perhaps noticing Ha-il’s gaze, his father spoke.
“We should hang your picture too now. Let’s go to a photo studio sometime soon and get you some weapons and equipment.”
Ha-il forced a smile and let out a bitter sigh.
We should hang your picture ‘now’?
Why didn’t you hang it before?
What was I in this family all this time?
I was Seon Ha-il before Awakening, and I’m still Seon Ha-il after Awakening.
I’ve never been anyone else.
What are these people thinking, changing their attitude towards me like flipping a palm?
It was simple.
It meant they never saw me as their son, their family, or even as a person named Seon Ha-il.
Because he Awakened, because he joined Orang, no less.
So, only now would they acknowledge him as a proper family member, that’s what it meant.
Ha-il spoke.
“Mom and Dad always said, right? Since we’ve done this much for you, you have to repay us that much. Last year, you even showed me a list of how much you spent raising me until now, right?”
“We did say that. But now doesn’t seem like the time to bring that up.”
His mother cut Ha-il off, trying to take control of the conversation.
Because she felt something unsettling in Ha-il’s words.
But Ha-il didn’t fall for it and said what he had to say.
“I saw data released by Statistics Korea. For a household with an income like ours, the average cost of raising a child to the age of 17 is about 250 million won. You spent about that much on me, right?”
“We don’t know why you’re suddenly bringing this up……”
Thud!
Ha-il flipped his bag and poured the money onto the table.
Bundles of cash tumbled over the table and onto the floor.
A total of 300 million won.
Seeing that, his parents were momentarily speechless.
“Exactly 300 million. Let’s consider my debt paid with this.”
“Ha, Ha-il……!”
“Never…… Let’s never see each other again.”
Ha-il bit his lower lip and walked out.
His flustered parents hurriedly gathered the bundles of money and followed him out.
But Ha-il was already outside the gate.
His mother urgently pushed the gate.
But no matter how hard she tried, it wouldn’t open.
Crackle-
The gaps in the gate were frozen solid.
Leaving behind the house he would never return to, Ha-il walked aimlessly.
He walked and walked and walked.
He arrived at a park and sat on a bench.
He turned on his phone, which he had turned off.
Dozens of missed calls from his parents.
Ha-il blocked their numbers.
Now, finally, completely, he was alone.
“Sigh……”
A long sigh escaped him.
Ha-il buried his face deep in his palms.
His back trembled silently.
At the same time, a chill started emanating from his body.
Rustle-
Suddenly, snowflakes began to fall in the park.
People in the park were bewildered.
“It’s snowing?!”
“It’s snowing in autumn?!”
“There was no snow forecast for today?”
Snowflakes falling, defying the season.
In the middle of this snowy landscape, Ha-il sat for a long time, letting the snow fall on him.
Something, whether laughter or tears, streamed down his face buried in his palms, for a long, long time.
══════════════════
Three days passed.
11 AM.
Sa-hyeok called Ma Gwan-ho.
Gwan-ho answered the phone with a cheerful voice.
“Oh, Min Sa-hyeok. I enjoyed the fruit you sent.”
He was talking about the Snow Red Fruit that Sa-hyeok had sent a few days ago.
Sa-hyeok had sent some of the Snow Red Fruit he had picked up from the Snow Dungeon via express delivery.
He had also sent some to his friend, Sergeant Choi, at the same time.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
“Yes, but what’s up?”
“I’d like to request a weapon crafting commission. Is that possible?”
“Oh……?”
Gwan-ho raised his tone, intrigued.
“Weapon crafting all of a sudden? Are you preparing for a new raid?”
“No, it’s more like…… my Mubuchamdo broke.”
“What?! All four of them?!”
“No, thankfully, only two……”
“What’s so thankfully about it! It’s not thankfully when my work is broken!!”
“……That’s true.”
“Sigh……”
Gwan-ho let out a long sigh and then said.
“Why did they break?”
“I’ll tell you when I see you.”
“Okay. Come over now.”
“Right now?!”
“Yes. You remember where my house is, right? See you later.”
Gwan-ho hung up the phone.
Sa-hyeok packed his things.
The remaining Mubuchamdo, the newly looted artifact ‘Silent Shadow Sword’, and the blueprint for the new weapon he had designed.
Sa-hyeok said.
“Can you drive, Bang-ul-i?”
[Aren’t you flying today?]
“I’m going to d*e after finishing my morning training. Please.”
So Sa-hyeok drove to Gwan-ho’s house.
The first thing he saw was a luxury car parked next to the wall of Gwan-ho’s house.
A super expensive car with a base model starting at 1 billion won.
Sa-hyeok muttered as he looked at it.
“What’s this? Did Master Ma get a new car?”
[Isn’t that the car of the person who came to see Master Ma?]
“Ah, is that so?”
Just then, the gate of Gwan-ho’s house opened and a man walked out.
Sa-hyeok’s eyes widened at the sight of the man.
[Hyung-nim, that man……]
“It’s Cheon Hun?!”
The master of Korea’s largest guild, DAVO.
A man with an ambiguous appearance that made it difficult to gauge his age, whether he was in his 30s or 50s.
An expression that was impossible to decipher, whether he was smiling or frowning.
And the owner of a mysterious history, known only as a ‘Regeneration Sorcerer’, Cheon Hun.
He was coming out of Gwan-ho’s house.
