Chapter 79: The Forgotten Island (1)

“Yes, I only found out recently. I thought he’d gone traveling abroad, but it turns out he was there all along.”

Unlike the heroes of the Great Change’s early days, who still occasionally made headlines even after retirement, Go Geonho had vanished without a trace after handing over Hwiryong to Ko Youngmin three years ago.

Media professionals in the Hunter industry would go to great lengths, even stalking, to unearth information on trending figures. I was curious how he’d managed to slip out of their radar, but now I understand.

Even the most obsessed journalists wouldn’t risk their lives to venture into a land swarming with monsters.

Moreover…

“I understand that without access rights to the Alliance Headquarters, it’s impossible to even enter the Dialogue Circuit.”

“It’s a Level 1 Hazard Zone, after all. You either need to obtain access rights in advance through Uncle, or be accompanied by someone who already has them. But I haven’t been able to reach Uncle lately. It was fine until three days ago…”

Ko Youngmin answered cautiously, glancing around as if worried I might cause trouble.

I nodded calmly.

“Understood. If you manage to contact the first Guild Leader, please let her know that I’ll visit tomorrow.”

“Phew, alright… Wait a minute. How exactly do you plan to visit tomorrow…?”

Instead of answering, I pulled out my smartphone.

And then…

Now, as Lee Taejun, I was a man who could contact any of the top Guild Leaders in the country at any time.

“Who would be the best person for this?”

I pondered briefly, but the decision didn’t take long.

When it came to making such a request, there was only one person who stood out.

“Her, of course.”

Not long after…

“You want to enter the Dialogue Forest tomorrow?” Seo Yeon-hwa asked, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow in her office at the Cheongyeon Guild headquarters.

“Yes. Would you be willing to accompany me? Two days should be sufficient.”

“Hmm.” Guild Leader Cheongyeon frowned, tapping his fingers on the mahogany desk.

He had already repaid his debt to Yoo Se-rin from the B-rank examination manipulation incident with the Lich’s Staff’s curse removal. However, he later incurred another debt by uncovering Bae Hyeon-su, the mastermind behind the Hwiryung Guild’s schemes.

Therefore, he felt justified in requesting her assistance.

She scrutinized him intently before asking, “The timing of this request suggests you have business with the Nine Heavens Bone King, am I right?”

“How did you know that?” I asked, startled.

I hadn’t expected him to suddenly appear like this.

“I know that the Nine Heavens Bone King resides on Dae Hwa Island,” he replied with a slightly mischievous grin. “If Hunter Taejun weren’t affiliated with Hwiryong, I would have offered my help immediately. There’s definitely a difference between freelance Hunter Taejun and Guild-affiliated Hunter Taejun.”

“Is that so?”

“If I’d known you’d choose Hwiryong, I might have been more ambitious. I heard Guild Leader Matthew and Guild Leader Che Soohyun spent the whole day drinking at a street stall, kicking the ground in frustration.”

Even now, the co-CEOs of Hwarang and Shinwa still seemed to harbor deep regret.

I scratched the back of my head and forced a wry smile.

“I’m a little sorry about that.”

“It’s alright. I think I understand why Hunter Taejun chose Hwiryong among all the guilds.”

I felt a little embarrassed.

After all, Ko Youngmin had indirectly colluded in the B-rank examination manipulation.

I used that as leverage to pressure the Hwiryong Guild Leader and secure my membership.

“Hwiryong is a guild with a long history, after all. They have a clear identity as a Necromancer Guild. It must have seemed quite appealing.”

Fortunately, she hadn’t caught on to the full extent of the situation.

Seo Yeon-hwa shrugged and continued.

“I’m sorry, but I have other matters to attend to and can’t accompany you. However, I’ll make arrangements for Hunter Taejun to join the Holy Conversation.”

“Can we still enter the conversation even if the President isn’t present?”

“I’ll do my best. But in exchange, we’ll need to assign one of our guild members to accompany you.”

“Thank you.”

“And there’s a debt I still need to repay. Whether Hunter Taejun is affiliated with another guild or not, I want to maintain a good relationship with him in the future.”

Suddenly, Seo Yeon-hwa pulled something from her desk drawer.

It was an elegant card with a jet-black background and gold trim.

“Take this.”

”?”

“A gift. That’s why I asked you to contact Hunter Taejun in the first place.”

A gift?

With a puzzled expression, I accepted the card and examined it.

On the back, a single word was engraved in pure gold:

My head tilted involuntarily.

Residence Town.

One of the most luxurious residential complexes in Gangnam, where numerous celebrities, including high-rank hunters, resided.

“President?”

“This is my way of thanking you for resolving the Examination Manipulation from start to finish in my stead. I wanted to give it to you as quickly as possible, but the delay was caused by paperwork and tax reporting.”

As I stared blankly at the access card, Seo Yeon-hwa spoke with a gentle smile:

“Hunter Taejun, your name has been plastered all over the media for resolving the Macheon dungeon incident, right? Your current one-room apartment won’t cut it for maintaining your privacy. Residence Town is a fortress when it comes to security, so I thought this gift would be perfectly timed. What do you think?”

What do I think?

“May I call you ‘Nunim’?” I asked with unprecedented seriousness.

“Nunim is a bit much. I’m not that old yet,” Guild Leader Cheongyeon replied with a bright smile, firmly declining.

The next morning at dawn, I stood on the waterfront of Yeongjong Island in Incheon.

“I suspect Taegoon-nim arrived here first,” I remarked.

“Seems so,” I replied, nodding as I gazed at the sea, now bathed in the pale light of dawn.

The Cheongyeon Guild member I was supposed to meet hadn’t arrived yet. Was it because it was so early? Or perhaps because this was the only pier with a single ferry service?

The place was barely deserving of the name “pier”—just a breakwater and an old fishing boat bobbing in the water. Before it sat a gaunt old man chain-smoking.

I checked the time again: 5:50 AM. We still had ten minutes until the agreed-upon meeting time of 6:00 AM. Though, to be honest, I had no intention of complaining even if he was late.

This is Seo Yeon-hwa, who casually gifted an apartment with an initial sale price of over 3 billion won.

I’m Lee Taejun.

I’m not the kind of person who would get upset if my benefactor was a Guild Member late.

Grr, that’s true.

The Manager Mi hovering above my head suddenly popped up a chat window.

Do you know how much my heart ached every time you lay down in that cramped, moldy room that wasn’t even as comfortable as our company’s dormitory?

Oh, stop exaggerating.

Truth be told, after meeting Manager Mi, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve slept in my studio apartment. If anything, I’ve spent more time in Cheongyeon’s VIP rooms.

But Manager Mi continued chattering away:

That’s why I feel such immense relief now. As of yesterday, you’ve finally bid farewell to that moldy, cramped life!

The move, facilitated by Seo Yeon-hwa’s access pass, was completed in just one day.

This was partly due to my minimalist lifestyle and the fact that I didn’t have much to move.

The residence was fully furnished with top-of-the-line appliances and furniture.

As a result, all I had to do was move in my body.

To be honest, I felt a little overwhelmed when I first saw the super king-sized bed in the bedroom.

But thanks to that, I felt lighter and stretched my limbs.

“Hey, you? The bold one who wants to enter the conversation now.”

A gruff voice cut through the air.

It was an old man smoking a cigarette in front of an old fishing boat.

“Yes, sir. My name is Lee Taejun.”

“Kim Yongsoo.”

“Are you the captain of that ship?”

“If not, you’d think I was here for some filial piety tourism,” the old man grumbled, glaring at the horizon dotted with small islands.

“Sigh, if it weren’t for Yeonha’s request, I wouldn’t be venturing onto that cursed island at this time.”

His muttered words carried a clear sense of misfortune, as if he’d chosen the worst possible moment.

Come to think of it, Seo Yeon-hwa had mentioned something about “this timing” yesterday.

I pressed him: “What do you mean by ‘this time,’ sir?”

“What, she didn’t tell you?”

“No, she didn’t mention anything.”

Captain Kim Yongsu scratched his graying temples and replied curtly: “Spawning season.”

Spawning season?

Seeing my puzzled expression, he sighed deeply and continued.

“Ah, come on! You’re a hunter, right? Don’t you know what kind of monsters lurk in the Great River?”

“There are various monsters, but I’ve heard there’s a significant number of Sirens.”

Sirens are half-human, half-fish B-Class Monsters.

“And right now, it’s their breeding season.”

Monsters in breeding season, whether carrying young or guarding eggs, become far more sensitive and stronger than usual, their danger level increasing by a whole tier.

In other words, if the Sirens inhabiting the Great River are currently in breeding season, the difficulty of entering the area has likely doubled.

This timing is unfortunate.

It’s highly likely that this is why contact with Go Youngmin and Go Geonho has been lost.

Land eroded by Dungeon Breaks…

When the monsters inhabiting an area grow stronger, the mana becomes so dense that communication signals can’t penetrate it.

“Normally, you wouldn’t even come near this place at this time of day…” Kim Yongsoo sighed deeply, his shoulders slumping. “But what can I do? Yeonha asked me to.”

It seemed Seo Yeon-hwa had a significant connection to him.

However, there was no time to delve into the details.

With a whoosh, a van designated for hunter pickup pulled up at the pier.

As the van door swung open…

“I’m so sorry! I’m terribly late!”

A hunter hurried out and bowed apologetically to us.

This was another member of the Cheongyeon Guild accompanying us on the expedition.

Her hair was bleached stark white.

Below her eyes, as clear as jewels, were tear-shaped tattoos.

She was unmistakable.

“Ah, hello.”

I calmly observed the girl fidgeting and looking around nervously.

Yoo Se-rin, the rising star of the Cheongyeon Guild.

She had once ridden the train to ruin after a poor performance in a B-rank evaluation, but after Bae Hyeon-su’s arrest and the public acknowledgment of examination manipulation, her reputation had completely recovered.

Of course, her swift image turnaround was largely due to her changed behavior after the evaluation. She had stopped making a spectacle of herself, retired from streaming and commercial activities, and focused solely on her missions. Rumor had it she was also consistently making donations.

Well, considering how she used to wrap herself around Matthew’s little finger, she seemed like a genuinely kind person. How she had transformed into such a diligent individual was a mystery to me, though. I hadn’t even been paying attention to her in the first place.

“It’s been a while, Taejun-oppa.”

“Yes. But, Hunter Serine.”

“Yes?”

“As I mentioned before, please avoid calling me ‘brother’ if possible. We’re not close enough to use such terms.”

“Ah, right. Sorry about that.”

Yoo Se-rin flinched, startled. Her slightly flushed face quickly crumpled into a dejected expression.

Well, now that we’re a team facing actual combat…

I meant to establish boundaries and clarify our respective roles.

Wondering if I had been too harsh, I softened my voice and asked, “Have you spoken to President Cheongyeon?”

“He said to prioritize protecting Bae and Sunju-nim above all else. Other than that, we should follow Hunter Taejun’s orders. Oh, and he also told us not to reveal any internal matters to outsiders.”

“Is that okay with you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not just not your superior, I’m not even a member of the Cheongyeon Guild. Might it bother you to be taking orders from me?”

Yoo Se-rin blinked, then fell silent.