Chapter 95

[Im Haekyung]

For the record, Im Haekyung and I had already had one phone call not long ago.

Since we hadn’t contacted each other for quite a while, I’ll admit I was a little uneasy when I reached out to him.

After I cleared the quest-type dungeon, Im Haekyung sent me a single message.

Let’s have a proper talk next time.

I, of course, didn’t reply.

Facing Im Haekyung at all was burdensome, and it hadn’t been long since I was put under Mental Domination, so I had zero desire to answer.

So I planned to answer when it felt like I could properly handle him, but at this rate, that day probably wouldn’t come until I died.

Im Haekyung as a person was... how to put it. Like a shitty assignment you really don’t want to do.

'Or maybe more like an awkward professor.'

Anyway, on the day I decided I couldn’t put it off any longer, I sent him a message.

When are you free?

And the next evening, he called.

“Hello?”

“Hearing your voice over the phone like this... mm, I like it.”

He answered in that signature gentle voice. The content fit the softness, but considering the caller was Im Haekyung, it sounded like a pretty pointed threat.

“Yeah, I like it too.”

After that, we chatted about this and that and set a time.

“Shall we meet and talk?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm... I’m free next Thursday. Assuming a big dungeon doesn’t pop.”

“Not busy that day?”

“Flexible hours.”

Perks of being a guild master, I guess. He even had the gall to laugh after saying it.

And so, the appointment we made was for tomorrow.

'So what’s today’s message about, then?'

I checked what he’d sent. Nothing much.

Come to the Haeseong building.

Be there by eleven a.m.

Earlier than I expected. I figured we’d just meet briefly in the evening.

Okay.

I sent my reply to Im Haekyung and deleted all 166 messages from Sung Uijae.

“Let’s be on good terms” didn’t mean “please entertain every pointless line I send,” so my conscience didn’t twinge.

On that note, while one guy messaged me every day, another had gone suddenly quiet.

'No word from Ryu Taeyoung, huh.'

It wasn’t that we hadn’t talked at all—his messages just cut off sharply from a certain day. From the day his brother posted a video all over social media, broadcasting that he was a Cheonmyeonggyo believer.

'Giving him ‘education’ until he comes to his senses?'

Not just an expression—judging by his behavior, he probably needed it for real.

Ironically, though I’d stopped hearing from Ryu Taeyoung, I had established contact with his brother.

Joo Seowon approached Ryu Taejun by pretending to be a Cheonmyeonggyo believer. When I looked at what Seowon had sent, it was on a whole other level from the half-assed lies I’d been tossing around about being a believer.

'What’s all this?'

“Names of Cheonmyeonggyo executives. The organization’s more systematic than I thought. Below that is their prayer schedule.”

'Impressive. Looks like a flawless cult from any angle.'

“...Your wording is... something.”

And the way Seowon approached Ryu Taejun was the opposite of what I’d imagined.

“You said you contacted him because you wanted powers? Or was it that you wanted to receive a blessing?”

“No, the other way around. I said I’d already received many blessings, that I used to be F-rank and now I’m up to B. The conversation moved fast after that.”

There was really nothing to criticize. For a scammer with scammer instincts like him, I’d scammed my way in—of course it all comes back around.

'...What’s with your face?'

Anyway, our search of Cheonmyeonggyo was going smoothly.

I uploaded all my reports and then got ready to clock out.

'I’ll head out with Do Yehyun.'

But, of course, whenever life started to feel easy, something came along to smack me in the back of the head. Like the Infinite Guild kidnapping—useful in the end, sure, but disgusting while it was happening.

This time was no different.

***

The next day, 5 a.m.

I wasn’t exactly a fan of moving at dawn, but I had a morning appointment with Im Haekyung, and before that I needed to clear the desk work dumped on me.

I could have pushed it a day since the deadline had some slack, but lately something was blowing up every other day, so it seemed smarter to just finish everything in the morning even if it was a bit much.

So before heading in to work, I walked to a 24-hour fast-food place fifteen minutes away to grab a quick breakfast.

I didn’t take the car, since I wanted the walk to wake me up.

'Dark.'

Winter, so at this hour the sky was still midnight.

Maybe that’s why the streets felt oddly different. When I first signed the lease I’d picked a place ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) on the outskirts for security, so it was a road that didn’t see much foot traffic anyway, but today was unusual.

'Good for cardio.'

I was shuffling along with stupid thoughts like that when—

A stranger brushed past me.

'Huh?'

At first I was going to let it go, but it was weirdly... silent.

'He got that close and made no sound? How?'

I stopped dead and pulled up the Status Window behind the man as he walked away slowly.

Status Window.

Na Seokgyung was already dead and gone, but ever since I beefed up security near the house, my guard about this sort of thing had gotten sharper.

The familiar Status Window dutifully listed the guy’s info.

Name: Bae Hogyeom

Age: 27

Rank: C

Title: –

Main Skills: Regeneration (C), Reflection (C)

Growth Limit: C

'What the...'

I pull up dozens of Status Windows a day when needed, so I can’t remember every single one. But something about this one felt familiar.

Where had I seen this before?

While I was mulling it over, the guy who’d been drifting farther away suddenly stopped and turned back.

I tried to see who he was, but he wore a black cap and a white mask, so I couldn’t see his face.

In that moment, the unfamiliar passerby strode straight toward me.

He closed the distance in an instant—not to brush past, but to clamp hard onto my arm.

The moment I saw his face up close—nothing showing but the eyes—I still knew exactly what kind of bastard this was.

“Kim, faithful one.”

“......”

“Are you perhaps a heretic?”

“Faithful Kim. Lord Haedo has called for you...”

“......”

For fuck’s sake.

How did this crazy cultist fucker find me here?

I almost decked him on the spot. How the hell did he get this close without me sensing him? Item?

I pried his hand off by force. If he’d meant to keep me from running, his grip had some bite to it.

'So, a C-rank hunter, huh?'

I finally shook him off and got some space, but even half-tumbling, he clung back on and spewed crap.

“What the hell is with this guy.”

“Lord Haedo has ordered me to bring you, Faithful Kim. Faithful Kim...”

“What?”

What kind of bullshit was that? Lord Haedo told him to bring me?

“Jin Haedo?”

“Y-you mustn’t say Lord Haedo’s name like that!”

Yep. Nutjob. Obviously.

But how the hell did they know where I was?

“Did Jin Haedo feed you my location? You got a tracker up the chain?”

“I—I’m the one who found your location! I’ve been following you ever since we met at the ‘shop.’”

“......”

“I waited a very long time. Because I had the duty to deliver Lord Haedo’s words.”

If he didn’t even show up on my Status Window, he must’ve kept his distance and used a stealth item to tail me.

'Fuck me, I’m getting stalked by a cult because of bad luck.'

And what the hell did he mean by “shop.”

“What shop?”

“We crossed paths on Basement Level 2 at the hotel. You watched the blessed sparring there...”

Oh, shut the hell up.

So we’d run into each other where I’d gone with Sung Uijae. No wonder I’d felt eyes on me then—this bastard, apparently.

I let him babble while I secured an escape route.

'There’s an alley. The street’s empty.'

Not bad for a getaway.

But there were more than a few things snagging in what he said.

How did Jin Haedo supposedly know me, why did he want me brought in—

'And didn’t he call me “Faithful Kim”? Did he just pick the wrong guy?'

I stepped back to open the gap and asked,

“Jin Haedo knows me?”

“Yes. Last time, I reported that a heretic came to the sanctuary who wouldn’t recite the prayer properly, and Lord Haedo said he knew Faithful Kim would come...”

I stared at the idiot spouting nonsense. Even behind the mask, he gave me a creepy, shit-eating grin.

“Give me a break.”

I kicked him in the gut hard enough to make a thud, sent him flying, and bolted.