After that, things proceeded smoothly. Both Leila and James were immediately handed over to the police in front of the dungeon. Han Jaeyeong seemed rather pleased about that.
“The Hunter Association dispatched that many people, and in the end the police get the credit. The Association President’s pride is going to take quite a hit.”
Just like in Korea, there was a subtle tension here between the existing public authorities and the Hunters. Humans can’t survive alone, yet the moment they live together, they’re too busy fighting each other. Truly a bizarre species.
As the kidnapping victim, I also had to give a brief statement to the police. I handed over the file containing recordings of James Chen’s various remarks. Of course, Han Jaeyeong kept the original.
“It’s always best to have backups of files like this. I’ll send a copy to your email too, Daon.”
“When did I ever give you my email address?”
“You’re practically a prospective guild member at this point. Don’t act like this is new. Once we’re back in Korea, I’ll send dungeon strategy guides by email before raids, so don’t mark it as spam.”
…Had I spent more time with Han Jaeyeong than I realized, or were they simply that perceptive?
As I glanced around, my eyes suddenly met James’ through the window of the police car where he was waiting. Startled, he immediately ducked his head.
“That’s James?” Standing beside me like some kind of guard dog, Lee Pyeonghwa frowned. “Why does he look so scared? He’s the criminal. Unbelievable. Is he feeling guilty or what?”
Well, rather than guilt, he was probably just terrified of me.
Of course, unaware of that, Lee Pyeonghwa huffed indignantly. “Should I go over and say something to him? Tell him to act his age.”
I wasn’t sure if the translator would even convey that properly.
“Leave it. Han Jaeyeong beat him up so badly he probably gets weak in the knees just seeing them.”
“Excuse me? Me? How could someone as delicate as I am possibly… Wouldn’t that be Yu Hanul instead?”
“…I laid a hand not on James Chen, but on his subordinates.” Though he had been sitting quietly, Yu Hanul responded calmly despite being suddenly singled out. “And if they work under James Chen, they would have been prepared for this kind of situation.”
That sounded like something you’d have to ask them directly to know. In reality, James Chen’s subordinates, whom Yu Hanul had thoroughly wrecked, were groaning inside ambulances, not police cars. Even the ambulance that had come for me, the kidnapping victim, merely checked me briefly before being reassigned to transport other injured people. Judging by how neatly each of them had broken bones, it was easy to imagine how efficiently Yu Hanul had beaten them.
“Anyway, now that James or whatever his name is will be going to prison, we won’t have to see him again, right?”
“He probably won’t go to prison.”
"Huh?"
At Lee Pyeonghwa’s innocent question, Han Jaeyeong let out a scoff.
“Embezzlement, framing someone… at the end of the day, it’s still internal Association business. He’ll lose his position and his reputation within the Hunter Association…”
For someone like Leila Lopez, that might be more terrifying than death or prison, but perspectives differ.
“But actual jail time? Probably not. At most, probation.”
Han Jaeyeong’s explanation wasn’t particularly surprising. Leila Lopez herself had said that even if she reported James Chen, it would likely end this way.
That’s why I fed him the gu. Since he wouldn’t end up in prison anyway.
Even if James Chen were expelled from the Hunter Association, his network and wealth wouldn’t simply disappear. Which meant he could still be useful. If he were locked away helplessly in prison, there would be no use for him. Why waste a precious item then?
Honestly, not a bad outcome for being kidnapped for just two days.
After all, I had secured not only Leila Lopez, who would be returning to the Hunter Association, but also James Chen, who still had his own uses. On top of that, since they had targeted me first, I hadn’t even triggered that ridiculous “do good deeds” quest. To think I had gained two chess pieces I could move as I pleased; I almost felt like getting kidnapped for a few more days.
“B-but because of those embezzled items, didn’t people suffer during the Gwanghwamun Dungeon Break?! There were even casualties.”
Unlike me, Lee Pyeonghwa looked genuinely shocked. The idea that a criminal like that might stand trial and still not go to prison clearly astonished her.
“To prove that James Chen bears responsibility for this incident, the prosecution would have to establish his connection to Lee Manbok in court… and that’s difficult.”
Even in a world where monsters erupt across the globe and awakened individuals wield supernatural abilities, some things never change.
“Even if a relationship is proven, did James personally hand the item to Lee Manbok? Or, if he transferred it indirectly, was there intent to cause the Gwanghwamun Dungeon Break? Those are the issues.”
Systems created by humans always have more loopholes than the desires humans possess. No matter the framework, humans are creatures that immediately look for ways to slip through it.
The quest "Doing Good Deeds Will Bring Blessings¿" is in progress.
Well, thanks to that, as a demon, I had managed to avoid getting caught by that system quest even once.
“But still… you said you recorded him. If you use the recording as evidence—”
“James Chen is a Hunter with twenty years of experience,” Yu Hanul, who had been listening quietly, interjected. “And… Hunters with that level of experience often receive psychiatric counseling or take medication.”
The public tends to envy high-ranking Hunters for their money and status, but there is always shadow behind the light. No ordinary human can become numb to fighting for their life against monsters. And in the process of those battles, all sorts of things happen. It’s true that many end up relying on psychiatric treatment or medication.
“What does that—”
“It means there’s a high chance his lawyer will argue that he made those statements without proper judgment while under medication. And it would probably work in court.”
At my explanation, Lee Pyeonghwa’s mouth fell open. “No… They use mental illness as an excuse like that?”
“He did seem like he had some issues.”
Even if he hadn’t before, it wouldn’t be strange for him to develop PTSD after this incident.
“But still… that’s just awful. It only makes real patients look bad.”
“You’re going to become a Hunter now too. You should read up on a few legal precedents involving Hunter trials.”
“That’s just terrible…”
Is that what real twenty-year-old innocence looks like? If she ever heard that among veteran Hunters it was practically a trend to accumulate a few psychiatric diagnoses, she’d probably faint. I can barely remember my own real twenties—they’re that far in the past—but I don’t think I was ever that naive.
“…There’s no need to be so negative. That’s just how things have gone so far; we don’t know how this trial will turn out. We’ll do our best to make sure everyone receives proper punishment.”
Yu Hanul… I feel like he really was like that at twenty. I glanced at him as he tried, in his own way, to comfort Lee Pyeonghwa.
Come to think of it, he’s speaking to me normally now.
Before the kidnapping, he had avoided me as if I carried some contagious disease. If he had simply continued to turn his back on me regardless of whether I was kidnapped, I wouldn’t have cared… but this shift was harder to ignore.
“Once things settle down here, we’ll head straight to the airport.”
“Is that okay?”
“Yes. Since you were kidnapped during a pre-departure interview, the U.S. side should at least grant this much courtesy.”
Courtesy, or perhaps they simply wanted to usher us out before we caused any more trouble on American soil. From the U.S. government’s perspective, having two S-rank Hunters of foreign nationality inside the country must be something of a burden.
Come to think of it, several staff members from the Korean embassy had also arrived and were speaking with the police.
“I’ll go talk to them for a moment.”
“Ah, I’ll check whether the staff brought my luggage.”
And, as if by coincidence, both Han Jaeyeong and Lee Pyeonghwa left at the same time. It almost felt deliberate.
In the end, only Yu Hanul and I were left standing there, an extremely awkward pairing.
“Ah-choo.”
Not from awkwardness, I genuinely sneezed because it was cold. Though spring was giving way to summer, the evening wind still carried a chill. Or perhaps the place itself felt gloomy.
“Just wear this, at least.”
A thick scarf was suddenly draped around my neck.
Yu Hanul scrunched up his nose as he spoke. “You just got discharged not long ago, so you’re supposed to be taking care of yourself. If you catch a cold on top of that, it’ll be a big problem.”
I stared at him. …Is he actually in his right mind?
Yu Hanul has always been kind to others by nature, but he used to avoid me as if I were some kind of germ, so why was he suddenly being so attentive?
“…Sorry.”
Now he was apologizing out of nowhere? For what, exactly? I eyed him suspiciously.
“You’re not still out of your mind, are you?”
At least on the outside, he looked fine.
“Hahaha… I was a liability in the dungeon.”
“…You remember?”
This was the first time I’d directly asked Yu Hanul about what happened inside that dungeon. I’d kept putting it off because there hadn’t been any way to deal with it before…
But I can’t just leave it like this forever.
Before returning to Korea, it was something we’d have to confront at least once.
There are plenty of people around. He won’t kill me here.
“I do… have memories of what happened in the dungeon.” Yu Hanul began carefully. I listened without interrupting. “You didn’t look like Jeong Daon. You looked like someone else. And I… I didn’t feel like myself either. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience.”
If he’d recalled memories of a past life, that much would be natural. The real question was whether he recognized them as his own past life or not. And whether he had seen through my soul and treated me accordingly or simply mistaken me for some other woman around the same age.
While I was listening in tense silence—
“…Actually, I received a pretty significant quest from the system.”
The subject shifted abruptly.
“What are you suddenly talking about quests for?”
Of course, I already knew exactly which quest he meant.
Would you like to participate in the quest “SAVE THE WORLD”?
A quest with a grandiose name, one that literally tells him to save the world. He’s the main character of that, isn’t he?
Yu Hanul smiled awkwardly. “It’s hard to explain exactly what the quest is, but ever since we came out of that dungeon, the system’s been acting strange. I think it’s connected somehow…”
“Stop dragging it out and just say it clearly. It’s frustrating.”
“Honestly, part of why I avoided you, Daon, was because I wanted to keep it hidden.” He let out a sigh, as if I were some kind of troublemaker. “But I don’t think I can keep it a secret anymore. You get caught up in incidents way too often.”
“If you keep stalling like this—”
“The system keeps giving me a sub-quest whenever it sees you. It says I should recruit you as a companion for my quest.”
“…What?”
I questioned my ears. What the hell did he just say?
“And if I agree to the sub-quest… it says you’ll become my companion by force. No right to refuse.”
…You insane bastard of a system!