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Chapter 10
“Haah, this is driving me crazy…….”
Ian, who had received a special order from Jinseo, was naturally working overtime again today.
Since Jinseo—his roommate and superior—had told him not to even think about going home until they found that hunter, Ian had been sleeping and showering at the office.
Empty energy drink cans were scattered messily across his desk.
“Where on earth did she go…… Did she vanish into the sky or sink into the ground…… No, is she even a real person……?”
Dark circles stretched heavily beneath Ian’s eyes as he stared at the monitor.
But Ian wasn’t the only one looking like a wreck.
Most of the staff in the association president’s office and the Hunter Association were being forced to work overtime as well.
People who had fallen into maze gates in twenty-two countries—and their families—were all looking to Seoul for help.
But what if it came out that the real hunter who had cleared the Seoul Gate was currently missing, and that her identity was even unclear?
The entire world would fall into chaos, and Korea could become a traitor to the world.
“This is seriously insane…….”
Because everyone understood the gravity of the situation, they were all still working late into the night—yet the mysterious hunter hadn’t revealed even a single strand of hair.
No matter how much they reviewed CCTV footage, news videos, internet broadcasts, dashcams, or eyewitness accounts, they couldn’t find any image of the woman.
“If we don’t find her today…… just how badly are we going to get torn apart…… I’m sick of being cursed at in every language imaginable…….”
On top of that, representatives from various countries and guild masters were gathered in the large conference room, clamoring for countermeasures.
If today, once again, they tried to stall by citing Kang Jinseo Hunter’s poor condition and maintenance time, they would be torn apart with sharp insults, accused of mocking the entire world.
“Saying Kang Hunter is undergoing maintenance to buy time… we’re at our limit now…….”
At that moment, the employee sitting next to Ian—who had overheard his muttering—spoke to him with a hollow expression.
“Shhhhlurp—.”
The employee sucked down an iced coffee until his cheeks hollowed out, then spun his chair around absentmindedly.
“Yeah…… there’s no way anyone could be sane right now…….”
Ian spun the employee’s chair even harder, then logged into the hunter community that employee managed.
He had already read every post twice, but there was still something he hadn’t checked yet.
Posts that had been deleted by their authors or removed under operating policies.
If he restored even those, he might have to read hundreds of thousands of posts—but what choice did he have?
“…I have to do it.”
Ian gulped down another energy drink and fixed his eyes back on the screen.
He began reading from the post with the highest number of views.
“…Huh?”
She predicted a gate? That’s possible? Something even Kang Jinseo can’t do?
Ian enlarged the photo attached to the post.
Long straight hair tied high and hidden under a hat, tall height, slender build.
‘No way……?’
If she was a powerhouse who cleared a maze gate in one go, could she also possess an incredible skill like predicting gates?
Ian sprang to his feet and shouted,
“I’m ending this overtime!!!”
After sending Nara-unnie off, I immediately got ready to go out.
“Mimi, I’m going to Seong Hospital.”
“At this hour in the morning? You don’t even need your nerve hypersensitivity meds anymore, so why the hospital?”
“To tell Professor Seong. He’s worked so hard developing my medication all this time.”
“That devoted guy, you mean.”
As Mimi said, Professor Seong was someone who fit the description “devoted” perfectly.
He wasn’t a hunter, and I didn’t have any money, yet he had taken care of me wholeheartedly for years—my benefactor.
If it weren’t for him, the me of today probably wouldn’t even exist…….
“And while I’m there, I’ll ask if he knows anyone suitable as a part-time candidate. Every case of magical power addiction, domestic or overseas, passes through Professor Seong.”
The most attractive clause in the employment contract was, without question, the alleviation of magical power addiction.
It was an ability that had never existed before—one that any hunter would want.
If I presented this contract to a hunter suffering from addiction? They wouldn’t be able to refuse easily.
No, if their symptoms were severe, they might cling to me, saying they’d do anything I asked.
Now, twenty years after gates first appeared, hunters retiring or suffering severe aftereffects due to magical power addiction were overflowing all over the world.
If I could use this ability to treat not just one person, but many, humanity might even conquer the gates.
That was how much power I believed this contract I held possessed.
I carefully tucked the employment contract into my clothes and hurried toward Seong Hospital.
Even at this very moment, the time limit was ticking down.
There was no time to take it easy.
After staying up all night, Ian hurriedly drove his car toward Seong Hospital.
He had heard that Jinseo, after turning the meeting hall into chaos, had gone to the hospital for treatment.
Ian rushed his car to the hospital.
“Hey! You can’t just park your car here!”
“I’m sorry! I’m really in a hurry!”
Ian parked haphazardly right in front of Seong Hospital’s main entrance and ran without looking back.
The parking attendant chased after him, but Ian couldn’t stop.
In his hand right now was a single photograph that could determine the fate of the world.
He had to show this photo to Jinseo even one second sooner.
“Huff, huff.”
Ian ran straight to the hospital director’s research office and spotted Jinseo sitting there, waiting in a chair.
“Hyung! Hyung!”
Ian shouted so loudly that his voice echoed down the hallway.
At the ruckus, Jinseo had no choice but to turn his head.
“Ian?”
Judging by his expression, it seemed Ian had accomplished the task he’d been given.
Otherwise, he wasn’t the type to make such a fuss.
Jinseo uncrossed his legs and rose leisurely from his seat.
“This! Look at this! Is this her? Is this the woman?”
Ian, breathing hard, shoved his phone right in front of Jinseo’s face.
Jinseo took the phone and checked the woman on the screen.
Tall height, slender build, long straight hair tied into one.
Jinseo immediately recognized her as the hunter he had seen inside the gate.
The vague afterimage of her back that had lingered in his mind became clear in an instant.
“…….”
At the same time, the suspicion that had followed him since he exited the gate turned into certainty.
Jinseo’s once-calm heartbeat began to falter.
“Hyung?”
When Jinseo didn’t respond, a flustered Ian stomped his feet and pressed him.
“Is it her? Is this the woman? Huh? Or not?”
“…Her identity?”
At Jinseo’s words, Ian’s expression brightened beyond measure.
So I really found her! I did it!
Unable to hide his rising grin, Ian nodded vigorously.
“I confirmed it.”
He glanced around, then whispered in a very small voice.
“Her name is Yebitna, twenty-six years old, runs a shop in Mapo-gu……”
At that moment, the door to the hospital director’s research office opened.
The two men standing there naturally stopped talking and looked over.
“Ms. Bitna, thank you for the mist gift.”
The hospital director stepped out through the open door, followed by a woman with long brown hair tied up into one.
Tall, slender build……
“Ye, Bitna……?”
Ian murmured the name blankly.
At that, Bitna and the director turned their heads and looked at Ian and Jinseo.
As the four of them faced one another, silence fell.
The one who broke it was the hospital director, Seong Heera.
“Oh? Mr. Jinseo, you came earlier than your appointment time?”
“…….”
“Mr. Jinseo?”
The director tilted her head. Despite her question, Jinseo looked like someone possessed.
Jinseo’s vacant gaze was fixed somewhere—and when followed, it led to Bitna.
