“Couldn’t clear this up so I could at least sleep in peace.”

The waiting room floor was littered with items. The used Bellare venom, the broken sword, the spent bullets—all had returned to their original pristine state. These were genuine dungeon items, not worthless junk. He switched off Poison Resistance, picked up the venom vial first, and stowed it in his inventory.

“How did he manage to lie down right in that spot?”

Had he been awake the whole time, pretending to sleep? The system message flashed in his mind:

[Winner: Han Yujin]

Right, I won. Then three golden coins clinked into his lap. Huh? He hadn’t heard any announcement.

[Victorious teams receive additional benefits when entering a party. These benefits stack.]

“…I don’t know what for, but thanks.”

Wait—so the four of us could form teams, win or lose, and it would still count?

[Team compositions have no restrictions, but you cannot fight the same opponent twice. You cannot take the same invitation twice.]

So it’s not possible. But there were other Hunters on the island with invitations. No need to be greedy—he’d claim just what he needed.

The system message vanished, and a door like the dungeon entrance opened in one wall. After pocketing the three coins, he approached Seong Hyunjae.

“Time to get up.”

He spoke, but there was no response. Sound asleep, perhaps. To be sure, he crouched down and placed a fingertip under Seong Hyunjae’s nose. He was breathing steadily.

“Why won’t you wake? Still B-Rank, maybe?”

He pinched Seong Hyunjae’s cheek. It felt softer than before. Even S-Rank Hunters weren’t stone-skinned without concentrating mana—yet there was a clear difference. Unawakened flesh was pliant; higher-rank flesh was denser. He had to press harder to pinch his cheek. Clearly a difference in baseline mana reserves.

“Hey, Seong Hyunjae.”

He pinched both cheeks and tugged. For someone in his late thirties, the skin was surprisingly smooth. Of course, not as good as Yuhyun or Yerim or Noah—but still, S-Ranks varied in age too. Even so, that complexion would match most people in their twenties.

“I wonder if your skin was always this nice—even before Awakening. Or did it improve afterward? Never had teenage acne? Yuhyun’s skin was spotless too. Seong Hyunjae in puberty—that’s funny. But you must have gone through it once.”

Childhood and adolescence—was that boy he’d glimpsed in the lake dungeon real?

“Still, it’s B-Rank quality; no lasting marks. Slightly pink now, though. Honestly, you must have been cute. Just look at the texture. And your hair—it’s faded now, right? Maybe it was pink once. Diarma’s a dragon, yet no hint of pink in its name or species.”

Of course, he himself preferred pink—could that be an unconscious trace of a forgotten past? Pink hair at thirty or forty would be odd… or maybe that world treated pink hair like black hair. They had blue hair, green hair too.

“I only know the Seong Hyunjae here. But ages ago, there was the first Seong Hyunjae and the second Seong Hyunjae…”

He stopped himself. Numbering the same person felt… strange.

“They’re all Seong Hyunjae. If you must differentiate, label by place, not number.”

That made sense. Just Seong Hyunjae.

“Seong Hyunjae of the first world. Seong Hyunjae of the second world. Or Seong Hyunjae of the lake world. Seong Hyunjae of the twin-sun world. The world with blue clouds. The world with delicious cake. The world that learned fishing. The world with joyful festivals. I don’t know much, and neither do you—but such worlds must have existed.”

And here…

“There are too many here. In less than a year. So—yikes!”

Their eyes met. When did he wake up?

“Kind of hurts.”

“Whatever—still F-Rank. You got shot.”

Han Yujin gave Seong Hyunjae’s cheek a final strong pinch, leaving a faint red mark.

“Let’s pack up and leave.”

“Did Han Yujin win? The message said the winning team gets benefits.”

“Of course I won. This is mine, and this is mine, and this—”

“That was mine, I think.”

“Mistakes happen.”

“Even that glove.”

“Sure, could’ve mistaken it! Laying everything out all at once is confusing. Why did you sneak off with the spatula? Wait—where’s the laundry basket?”

“I tossed it in because it fit the yarn. We’re low on potions.”

“Miscounted, probably.”

“Chocolate flavor—”

“Don’t know, didn’t see.”

They finished tidying up and stepped outside.

“Daddy!”

Gyeol ran up, clinging to him.

“You okay? They didn’t shoot you, did they?”

“I’m fine,” he said, though he’d taken a beating. Yuhyun approached, and Director Song—

“….”

Averted his gaze. Seong Hyunjae’s eyes glittered as he watched every reaction from Song Taewon and himself.

“Yuhyun, you weren’t hurt, right?”

“No. I woke up in the waiting room and saw the exit open. What happened to you?”

“I, uh, just fought.”

“But Director Song avoided my eyes. You sure you’re okay?”

Yuhyun asked suspiciously. Well… yeah. Looking back, he felt a bit embarrassed. Good thing they’d defeated Seong Hyunjae. To outsiders it must have looked like a brawl.

“We talked… and I won.”

“I wanted to watch, but Han Yujin shot my head.”

“I shot him in the chest. Then he bit me.”

…Why was Yuhyun bragging like that?

“I should’ve bitten back. Regrettable. How about you, Director Song?”

“….”

Director Song evaded Seong Hyunjae’s gaze. Seong Hyunjae sashayed over to Song Taewon.

“You must’ve enjoyed being speechless.”

“Don’t tease Director Song. I hit him with the bicycle—okay?”

Yuhyun and Seong Hyunjae exchanged expressions of “you both saw that, right?” More importantly, what time was it? Checking, they still had time before the riding-beast breeding info presentation. But not much.

“Seong Hyunjae, how long until you’re back to normal?”

“With this condition… late tonight or by tomorrow morning, I should be okay. At least so I won’t lose to an average S-Rank.”

“Then I can’t leave you alone. Today…”

Song Taewon caught Director Song’s eye. His dark pupils rolled sideways—more lively than usual. He was someone who stifled emotion; now his expression was stiff but bore an uncertain, embarrassed tinge.

Someone so controlled letting that slip was kind of cute.

“…I’ll stay with him for now.”

“Are you sure?”

“Hwanglim Hunter has left the island, so it’s fine.”

“No—Haeyeon Guild Leader. She’ll pester us. Ask too many questions.”

Even Yuhyun looked eager to hear about their fight.

“I’m used to it.”

“Don’t worry; I’ll behave.”

For leaving Seong Hyunjae in non-soil hands, Director Song was the best choice.

“Then let’s finish up and discuss Hwanglim and the Transcendent tonight. I’ll ask around for Hwanglim’s contact info.”

Richard Hwang hadn’t invented that persona entirely—finding him would be easy. He’d surely spread his number for trading tobacco. They might have exchanged business cards.

After admonishing Seong Hyunjae to behave, they left the room.

“Daddy, did you shoot that guy?”

“Yeah. I shot him.”

“Daddy win?”

“I won.”

Gyeol fluttered with delight.

“I want to learn to shoot too.”

“That’d be fine—guns only need mana.”

Even I, a mere scavenger, could seriously injure mid-rank Hunters with a rifle. Though S-Ranks were tricky to hit.

“I want to learn too. Teach me, hyung.”

“Huh? Better to invite an expert. I only know the basics.”

“I like you, hyung. Basics are enough.”

True—he’d rarely need firearms outside this context. On their way to the conference room, they ran into Yerim. She blurted to Yuhyun:

“You killed Hwanglim?”

“No.”

“What? He sent me away, saying he’d watch out for me!”

No wonder she wasn’t around. If that bastard hadn’t fled, Yuhyun might have cut his throat before I could stop him.

“Then he ran away? Fine?”

“Probably. Instead, my brother killed him.”

Yuhyun bragged; Yerim’s eyes went wide, and Gyeol added:

“Daddy killed Director Song too.”

“I don’t know what…but everyone except me! I don’t want to be killed.”

“It’s not real. There’s a duel using the Chatterbox invitation.”

He briefly explained the invitation duel to Yerim, omitting details about Director Song and the Puppeteer—they’d hear those tonight.

“I want to join too!”

“Alright. Yerim, you deserve the extra benefit too.”

Among us, Yerim had the worst conditions—but a gun is a gun to a fifteen-year-old. This time, they’d prepare thoroughly.

Tired from it all, he rested briefly while finalizing his presentation. Most Hunters here for the riding-beast breeding info had returned on time. Shishio was among them. As an assistant organizer, she sat front row and smiled brightly at him. Yes, yes.

‘Please don’t say anything weird.’

Any nonsense here would go global. He donned his new suit; Peace wore a bow tie. Onstage, speakers usually stood—but he had a comfortable chair. As he sat, all eyes turned to him.

Their gazes were serious—no more light dismissals. A slight smile touched his lips. He could safely disable Fear Resistance—though no need to flaunt it.

“Shall we begin? Peace.”

“Graaah.”

Peace leapt from the floor to his lap. Stroking under his chin, he continued:

“At Dodam Ranch, the most renowned riding beast is the Grade-2 Unicorn subspecies, the Flame Horn Lion. Able to reach S-Rank at maturity, its growth condition requires an adult’s assistance.”

He stated clearly, though the audience bristled.

“So only Director Han Yujin can raise it?”

“Yes. Such cases are common: higher grades demand stricter conditions.”

He clicked the remote. The screen behind him showed a pair of black-and-white unicorns, then their matured forms in images and video.

“The Grade-3 Unicorn Shadow Unicorn: an A-Rank steed whose speed rivals S-Ranks. For a mount’s purpose, it may surpass many S-Rank monsters.”

The scene shifted to a flat plain—photos from a dungeon-item camera.

“The Shadow Unicorn’s growth condition is residing in a dungeon inhabited by Unicorn species.”

Faces lit up. Although not trivial, it wasn’t overly difficult. Bring a young unicorn along ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) on every Unicorn-species dungeon run. Some hurried off to text, others pulled out phones and dashed outside.

The value of shadow unicorn spawn and unicorn dungeons would soar.

Next, the Golden Griffon filled the screen, soaring powerfully. An S-Rank flier: unmatched in speed or combat. As Peace was limited by element, many Hunters coveted the Griffon even more. Eyes gleamed anew.

“From here on—”

He smiled.

“Paid information. Hint: difficulty far below grade.”

A short silence.

“What do you want?”

An eager Hunter leapt up. Others shifted eagerly. Soon they’d be hooked on S-Rank auctions.

“Early access is advantageous. I’ll sell to three people under NDA, then release it free on the ranch website in one month.”

Golden Griffon breeding required high-grade Chimera Lions’ flesh. Guilds with dungeon rights to those bosses would prosper. Even secret bids would be discovered soon enough.

“Bidding is private. Write your bid on the provided paper and submit to the box. Also, tomorrow I’ll release A-Rank breeding info for free—attendance encouraged~”

Originally he’d end today, but he gained reason to extend. Naturally:

“My team consists of myself and Guild Leader Haeyeon.”

After the Golden Griffon auction, he’d called in the Hunters who reacted strongly to the Chatterbox sigil. They made a secret contract and explained the invitation duel. The Hunters exchanged puzzled looks between him and Yuhyun.

“Director Han Yujin will participate.”

“Yes. My brother can handle it alone. I’m just here for the extra benefits.”

The two Hunters before them scowled—annoyed at being underestimated. He perched on the large box in sunglasses.

“If you’re serious, produce your invitation.”

“Of course.”

The two invitations on the table glowed.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep