Chapter 17

News │ ‘Haeseong’ Guild Master Im Haekyung Clears A-rank Dungeon... “Shortest Time in History”

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△ Haeseong Guild’s master Im Haekyung holds a press conference after clearing the A-rank dungeon ‘666 Stairs’ that appeared in Gangdong-gu, Seoul.

Guild master Im Haekyung of Haeseong Guild has cleared the ‘666 Stairs’—an endlessly ascending staircase-type dungeon—in record time. The Gate had opened on the 7th at around 3 a.m.

Im Haekyung explained the secret to his speed as, “The dungeon’s nature matched perfectly with my mental-type skills.” His clear time: just three hours and thirty minutes—overwhelmingly the shortest of any A-rank dungeon clear to date.

Meanwhile, a dungeon of the same type had appeared earlier, on April 10th, in Yakutsk, Russia.

Comments

BEST Im Haekyung is definitely the strongest when it comes to mental types.

👍 Likes 1,403 👎 Dislikes 221

BEST People say mental types are weak, but think about it—mental skills are broken as hell. No matter how OP your skills are, if you’re brainwashed and can’t move, it’s game over.

👍 Likes 1,011 👎 Dislikes 419

BEST Just rename the country already. Call it Haeseong.

👍 Likes 735 👎 Dislikes 632

And in the comments, people were busy brawling over pointless shit again.

Comments

— Honestly, time to redo the Hunter rankings. Mental types get no respect, but if you lined them up fairly, Im Haekyung’s easily top 5 worldwide.

└ That’s just your opinion. Sure, he’s insane among mental types, but still just a mental type. You think he could even put up a fight against someone like Chase?

└ Why not? A mental-type fight ends before it starts. That’s the whole point.

I opened the comment section to check the public mood, but it was nothing but a Pikachu-vs-Squirtle flame war of dumb takes.

Clicked through a few more articles, but all the coverage about Haeseong was just Im Haekyung clearing dungeons or the guild’s recent moves.

'No mention of SH anywhere.'

I searched SH separately just in case—still nothing. Don’t tell me Seowon fed me bad intel?

More productive to think about how to actually get into SH.

Compared to the Big Five guilds, SH was easier to enter. But that didn’t mean they took just anyone. If I walked in waving an F-rank Hunter license, best-case scenario they’d dump me with grunt work.

'Should I just play the prophet card again?'

But there was no upside to exposing that to more people. The info I had about SH was limited, and getting into Song Hwayoung’s good graces with only that would be tough. So, then... what?

I stared holes into my Status Window and started sketching out plans. I could prove my usefulness in other ways besides knowledge....

Still, that damn thing was really starting to piss me off.

I pushed off the bed and yanked the door open. Do Yehyun jumped, staring at me.

"If you’ve got something to say, spit it out."

That flickering Status Window of his had been bugging the hell out of me.

He chewed his lip, sneaking glances at me. Seowon had warned me not to push Yehyun’s trauma buttons, but at this rate, I’d hit my breaking point before his.

Just as I was about to press him again, he beat me to it.

"...Ah, you’re not asleep yet."

"You came here just to ask that?"

He shook his head quickly, biting down harder on his lip. After fidgeting forever, he finally spoke.

"...I owe money to Infinite Guild."

"Yeah, I know."

"I’m sorry I didn’t mention it earlier. But I couldn’t just hide it forever."

"......."

"The reason I was being chased earlier—it wasn’t only because of that, but... if you can’t pay them back, they force you into contracts. I thought they’d beat me to death today...."

His words tumbled out disjointed and shaky, and his face darkened more by the second.

"Thank you for saving me. But still..."

Unbelievable. I’d just finished telling him the world was going to end, and the only thing on his mind was debt.

"How much?"

"...Huh?"

"How much do you owe?"

The papers Seowon had handed me earlier listed a ballpark figure, but who knew how accurate they were.

Yehyun hesitated, then muttered the answer in a voice barely above a whisper, face reddening as if ashamed. Why he felt embarrassed over debt he hadn’t even taken on himself was «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» beyond me.

"...Eight hundred sixty million won. The original debt was about two hundred million, but since I couldn’t pay for so long, the interest piled up...."

"Got it."

Eight hundred sixty million. From two hundred million principal. Infinite Guild’s usury was almost impressive. A real masterclass in predatory economics.

"Uh... what do you mean, 'got it'?"

Exactly what it sounded like. He stared at me, baffled.

So I spelled it out.

"I’ll pay it off for you."

"...What?"

"I said I’ll cover your debt, Yehyun. All eight hundred sixty million."

It felt a bit like throwing money into the void, but if it eliminated risks tied to dragging him around, it was worth it. A healer of his caliber under exclusive contract? You could multiply that debt by ten and it would still be a steal. And it wasn’t like I couldn’t afford it.

"...You’ll really pay it off?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Did he seriously not realize that’s what he’d been hinting at? All that hemming and hawing was just to get to this point, wasn’t it?

I was tired, and even a trivial question like that rubbed my saintly patience raw. Exhaustion really is dangerous—it makes even someone as good-natured as me turn nasty.

Leaning against the door, I asked,

"Wasn’t that what you wanted me to do?"

"N-no! I just thought... maybe going back would be safer for you."

"Really? You want to go back then?"

"......."

See? Says one thing, eyes scream the opposite. He looked like he’d do anything but go back.

'He just wants reassurance. What do I do with him?'

Looking at him, it hit me how easy it must’ve been for Im Haekyung to kill him in the novel. What difficulty was there in crushing such a kind, naive twenty-year-old?

Well, either way, I had no intention of letting him go even if he begged. I smiled softly.

"Yehyun. I told you already—I’m not sending you back."

"......."

"You don’t trust me?"

Not a bad thing, really. Better than being gullible. But in this case, it was inconvenient. Yehyun needed to trust me enough to follow me into dungeons without hesitation.

Seowon’s weakness would take time to address, but once Yehyun’s debt was cleared, he’d have no more leash. I’d need another hold on him.

"I don’t get why you’re still so uneasy. I need your skills. You need the debt cleared. Isn’t that enough?"

"But... I can’t do anything right now."

"You will. The sooner, the better."

"They say training takes a long time...."

"Work harder, shorten it."

Even after all that, he still looked miserable. What the hell more did he want? I was up at two in the morning massaging his conscience over an 860-million-won debt, and he acted like I was the bad guy.

"Yehyun. What do you want me to do for you?"

"...Tell me what I should do."

"Fine. I already told you. While we’re running dungeons, learn your skills. Heal me when I’m hurt. That’s your job."

Saying the same thing a few times wouldn’t kill me. At least he knew his place better than Seowon, who had sucked me dry of ten billion won.

'If only it weren’t two a.m., I might even call him commendable.'

Clearly he needed a carrot. If it were me, I’d have just taken the money and shut up. But for Yehyun, being this restless meant he needed to hear it spelled out.

"You’re useful. Do you know how rare healers are?"

"There are plenty of healing hunters in hospitals. I’m not more useful than them..."

"Of course you are. Why else would I bring you? And for the record, I need you badly."

"Why?"

Why? Because I was a weakling. I told him straight.

"Because I’m F-rank. If you don’t heal me, I die. There aren’t many healers with decent skills around, you know."

He blinked, nodded faintly... then snapped his head up.

"What?"

"Exactly what I said. I’m F-rank. I’ll be in dungeons constantly, getting torn up every time. If you’re not glued to me, healing me, I won’t make it to a hospital alive."

"That’s a lie... F-ranks can’t even enter dungeons."

"Wow. Prejudiced much?"

"N-no, that’s not what I meant! It’s just... earlier, you definitely didn’t feel like an F-rank."

"Skills help balance the scales a bit."

He still looked unconvinced, but eventually gave a reluctant nod.

"What, you want me to show you my Hunter license? It says F-rank right on it."

"No..."

"Then drop it. I don’t lie to you."

Well—except I did. But I didn’t count white lies as real lies.