Chapter 93: Bounty Hunter

The notification was concise and clear, devoid of unnecessary details.

Yet I couldn’t suppress the upward curve of my lips.

“10,000 Coins?”

In cash terms, that’s over a billion won.

No, wait. Parsley Coins can only be recharged with essence stones I personally mined through hard labor.

Their actual value is at least three or four times higher.

“Manager Mi.”

“Do they usually hand out rewards this generously?”

10,000 Coins is considered low?

Well then…

“Maybe I should become a bounty hunter.”

“Just kidding.”

It was physically impossible anyway.

Unless I had the ability to traverse dimensions and possessed at least the strength of the “Deputy Leader” I’d encountered.

Still, let’s check it out.

Calming my pounding heart, I activated the Parsley Market.

“Whoa.”

An involuntary exclamation escaped my lips.

I’d instantly shattered the 10,000 Coin barrier.

As I stared at the Status Window with a look of awe, the chat window popped up.

Of course I knew.

I smiled faintly as I spoke.

“Manager Mi, can’t you manifest here like the people from the Special Security Department?”

“Why else? To give you a very enthusiastic hug.”

It’s a little disappointing to see her so repulsed.

Somewhere in this world, there must be someone who craves my enthusiastic hugs.

With my recent exploits making headlines, I’ve gained quite a few fans. Honestly, there must be more than a few who’d line up for a hug.

If I set up a “Free Hugs” sign in Gangnam, I bet at least a hundred people would line up.

Ignoring Manager Mi’s head-shaking, I closed the Market window.

Fifteen thousand Coins was hardly enough to brag about, but it was enough to buy most A-Rank Skill Books or Items in one go.

So, I decided to postpone my shopping until I returned to Seoul and could take my time.

Next…

”…They actually sent it.”

I muttered grimly, checking the information window that had been hidden beneath the Reward notification.

The “survey” my Leader had mentioned.

Tapping the window revealed…

Your feedback is invaluable to our company.

Please evaluate this service, and we will actively incorporate your feedback.

A service evaluation form with a familiar format unfolded.

Just as I was about to check the “How satisfied are you with the Temple Guard’s friendliness?” section, Manager Mi spoke cautiously.

“This seems quite important.”

“If the survey results are poor, do they get a pay cut?”

Manager Mi trailed off evasively.

If it’s worse than a pay cut, the only thing left is getting fired, right?

Of course, nothing he was worried about actually happened.

Thanks to the Special Security Department, he’d escaped a hair-trigger situation.

He’d shaken off Azazel, who kept clinging to him like a leech.

And he’d even received a reward of 10,000 Coins.

What’s more, the Leader had personally restored his Mana and physical condition as a special service.

“I’m not going to be a jerk and check ‘very dissatisfied’ here.”

He marked all five survey sections as “very satisfied.”

Just after finishing the evaluation, he asked, “Manager Mi, I have a question.”

“If Azazel is a Class 3 Wanted Criminal, does that mean there are also Class 1 and Class 2 Wanted Criminals?”

I deliberately asked an obvious question.

If I didn’t ask questions with predetermined answers like this, Manager Mi would never discuss sensitive company matters.

But once the conversation started flowing…

This guy always gave surprisingly thorough answers.

“What does someone have to do to become a Class 1 Wanted Criminal?”

Of course, even when excited, Manager Mi knew where to draw the line.

Realizing she’d gone too far, she shook the chat window with a pouty emoticon.

“What else can you do besides stop chatting when you pout?”

I brushed it off with a lighthearted joke, but my mind was racing.

I hadn’t been able to quantify Azazel’s abilities.

But I could say with certainty:

If that guy were a Hunter, his power would rival the upper-tier of even the current S-Class international rankers.

The Heavenly Bloodwood he summoned alone was a Calamity-Class being by Monster standards.

“And he’s only 3rd-Class,” I muttered under my breath.

Just how monstrously powerful are the beings wanted at higher classes?

And how strong are the Temple Guards tasked with apprehending them?

A scene replayed in my mind like a video:

The “Deputy Leader” casually disposing of a Demonic Blood Orb with the destructive power of a nuclear bomb, and capturing the manifested Azazel as easily as swatting a fly.

Had Manager Mi sensed my thoughts?

He called out to me.

I nodded vaguely.

Of course, I didn’t believe his words at face value.

But digging deeper here wouldn’t change anything.

So for now, just as before, I’d settle for having gained a little more information about the Status Window Management Company.

And, as if on cue…

“Hunter Taejun, you’re awake.”

The bedroom door creaked open as Go Geonho entered, his face showing signs of exhaustion. Yet he couldn’t hide his relief as he approached my bedside.

“How’s your condition?”

“I’m perfectly fine, thanks to your concern.”

Technically, it’s thanks to the Special Security Department’s care, I thought.

“I’m sorry. I had urgent matters to attend to and couldn’t focus entirely on you.”

The “urgent matters” likely referred to the aftermath of the Heavenly Bloodwood’s manifestation.

“Daehwa Island is completely covered in ash and demonic beast corpses. We’ve been swamped with cleanup efforts.”

“Are the Skeletons handling it now?”

“Exactly. I entrusted the orders to Miss Serin and came to check on you.”

Thankfully, Yoo Se-rin seemed to be unharmed as well.

“So, you’re still commanding skeletons?”

“At this rate, he might as well become a necromancer,” Go Geonho said with a wry smile. “Thirty years and they’re still as incompetent as ever.”

I nodded and asked, “Did Alliance Headquarters send reinforcements?”

“No. It seems the Giant Tree wasn’t detected by their monitoring systems. When I contacted them, they asked if there was any trouble on Daehwa Island instead.”

I suspected I knew why.

The Heavenly Bloodwood hadn’t emerged through a Gate or dungeon; it was a Summoned Beast summoned by Azazel.

Therefore, Alliance Headquarters, which relies on Mana Gauges from Gates and dungeons to monitor monsters, likely failed to detect the anomaly.

Considering the Heavenly Bloodwood’s colossal size, one would think it could be visually confirmed from the mainland.

From the start, Daehwa Island was perpetually shrouded in Demonic Mist, obscuring all visibility.

“Still, in a way, it’s fortunate that this hasn’t been made public.”

“Hmm.”

“If the existence of that giant tree we felled had been revealed, we’d probably be swamped by the media right now, both Lord of the Nine Heavens and I.”

”…That’s true.”

Go Geonho’s face suddenly paled.

This man…

So, settling in this monster-infested lair wasn’t solely because of Azazel.

“Indeed. It’s a fortunate thing.”

But Go Geonho, staring intently at me, added, “That is, if Azazel has truly been completely annihilated, as you claim.”

“You needn’t worry about that.”

I could answer that with certainty.

“Azazel is no longer in this world.”

“Is that so? Even that demon, who seemed destined to live forever, has met his end?”

Strictly speaking, he wasn’t dead.

But it was true that he was no longer in this world.

“I’m curious. How did you manage to defeat him while Miss Serin and I were unconscious?”

Unconscious?

Ah, now that I thought about it, Go Geonho had been completely frozen like a statue during his “Isolation.”

After breaking free from “Isolation,” everything had already been resolved.

He seemed to think that gap in time was when they had lost consciousness.

While I was scrambling to come up with a plausible explanation for how I had defeated Azazel, Go Geonho thankfully continued speaking.

“That’s not the only thing I’m curious about. Every step you’ve taken on Daehwa Island has been shrouded in mystery for me.”

”…”

“But I have no intention of questioning you about it. I’ll just say one thing.”

The Cataclysmic Hero quietly bowed his head.

“Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me. I haven’t done anything worthy of such gratitude.”

“How could I not? You’ve protected the legacy I left behind, my only nephew, and now you’ve even pulled this old man out of the mud pit.”

I smiled and replied, “It was only possible because Lord of the Nine Heavens protected this world.”

Even making a pact with the Blood Mage.

If he hadn’t thrown himself into the mud pit to defend this world,

perhaps Lee Taejun would never have been born.

Living in the present, I will never forget the heroes of the past who protected it.

Go Geonho narrowed his eyes silently.

“I never expected to be repaid like this. Not by my damned nephew, but by a complete stranger like you.”

“Haha, Guild Leader Ko Youngmin will have his chance to repay Lord of the Nine Heavens someday.”

“Hmm. It’ll be a miracle if that old fool doesn’t end up begging for scraps when he’s too old to work.”

Amidst the amicable atmosphere, a thought suddenly struck me. I cautiously asked, “Ah, Lord of the Nine Heavens…”

Well, human greed knows no bounds.

“Did you happen to find any essence stones in the Heavenly Bloodwood?”

“Unfortunately, there were no essence stones.”

”…That’s truly disappointing.”

Despite holding a substantial sum of 15,000 Coins, I felt a sudden wave of disappointment wash over me.

“Aigo, what kind of chaos has been going on here for the past three days?”

The next day, Captain Kim Yongsu returned to Daehwa Island and moored his ship at the devastated dock, remarking, “Captain, good to see you!”

“Good to see you too, Miss Serin. Come aboard quickly, both of you.”

Yoo Se-rin and I boarded the ship in turn.

Captain Kim Yongsu looked down at Go Geonho standing on the dock and asked, “Did a volcano erupt or something? Why is the whole island covered in ash? And why is your yacht smashed to pieces?”

“Hmm, let’s just say something similar happened.”

“Something similar to a volcanic eruption? Does such a thing even exist? Ah, never mind, it’s none of my business. Anyway, let’s get going…”

“Wait.”

“Huh?”

As Go Geonho gracefully climbed onto the old fishing boat, Captain Kim Yongsu stared at him with a look of utter disbelief, as if he’d seen a ghost.

“Wait, why are you getting on?”