You Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds¿

I turned my head.

The person who approached from behind and touched my cheek with their finger… was someone whose gender was hard to determine.

With their tall figure, they looked like a graceful, pure beauty, but their deep voice made them seem like a man.

Their glossy red lips parted, revealing white teeth.

"You're Jung Da-on, the Hunter, right? Nice to meet you. Wow, you look even better in person than in the videos?"

A wave of irritation surged through me.

It was obvious the person was aware of my anger, yet they were joking around like this?

What was more infuriating was the fact that I didn’t even sense their presence, and that really pricked my pride.

No matter how low my stats were, I should have at least been able to detect their approach. The system holding my leash and restricting my abilities was so frustrating.

It was humiliating.

I frowned and glared at the person, unable to discern if they were a man or a woman.

"You're being rude, considering it's our first meeting."

"Haha, you're right. I hear that a lot. I'm Han Jae-young."

He extended his hand for a handshake, but I didn’t bother to shake it.

Han Jae-young's eyes lit up.

"You’re cautious? I like that. You know, physical contact is actually quite frowned upon between Hunters. Especially for S-rank Hunters like myself."

"And why are you trying to lecture me from the get-go?"

Han Jae-young laughed, clearly embarrassed by my words.

"Don’t know me?"

"I know you, but what’s your deal?"

I did know him.

The moment I saw his face, I realized he was also a famous Hunter in South Korea, just as well-known as Yoo Han-ul.@@novelbin@@

Han Jae-young.

Among the 11 S-rank Hunters currently active in South Korea, four were retired, and out of the seven still working, Han Jae-young was considered the most powerful magician. While he didn’t have the same level of fame as Yoo Han-ul, he was certainly a well-known figure.

But so what?

"Does your rank give you a reason to be rude?"

"Haha, you speak like you're quoting Shakespeare. Is that why your magic chants are so old-fashioned?"

I frowned at his comment. Han Jae-young’s meaning was clear.

"You watched the video of me using magic, didn't you?"

In the video, the reporters’ screams were so loud that my magic incantations weren’t audible.

Han Jae-young laughed loudly, as if reading my thoughts.

"Haha, technology’s amazing these days. Once something’s recorded, you can reduce the surrounding noise and restore the audio. Of course, I couldn’t hear everything, but… if you ever have the chance, could you tell me the full chant?"

"…"

I felt a headache coming on. This… honestly wasn’t what I expected.

'I was hoping I could just pass it off as luck when I later get questioned about acquiring items.'

I didn’t think he’d be able to recover my voice.

Now I understood why someone like Han Jae-young came all the way here. If my voice was recorded in the video, it made sense. If I were in his position, I would have rushed here too. It didn’t make sense for anyone to use a self-created independent magic on the very first day of awakening. No matter how much of a genius you are, a butterfly can’t swim, right?

Magicians are naturally creatures who can’t hide their curiosity, so I’m sure he couldn’t help but come rushing over.

It didn’t look like he was going to brush it off like Yoo Han-ul either.

I carefully observed Han Jae-young.

‘He probably doesn’t plan to attack me right away…’

Among magicians, when they spot a more talented genius, they either want to kill them or drag them to their own lab, so it was impossible for me not to be on guard.

Han Jae-young still kept smiling, as if he didn’t mind me scrutinizing him.

Even up close… I couldn’t tell if he was a man or a woman. He could have easily been mistaken for a cool, elegant beauty, and with his voice, he sounded like a fine-featured handsome man. Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen the media mention his gender much either.

Was this intentional?

"Oh, are you staring because you’re curious whether I’m a man or a woman? I’ve never really revealed that in the media."

Han Jae-young, noticing my gaze, fluttered his eyelashes and smiled.

"I’ll adjust to your preferences, Da-on. Which do you prefer?"

"…Hey."

"Yes?"

"First, make up your mind whether you're going to speak casually or formally."

"I’ll adjust to your preference. Which do you like?"

"…Speak formally."

Yoo Han-ul, who had been observing, chuckled.

"Da-on, that guy’s about ten years older than you."

I raised an eyebrow.

"So what?"

"Wow, your personality is something else."

The last comment came from one of the junior Hunters in the office who had been watching us. He seemed to have blurted it out unintentionally, and when our eyes met, he quickly covered his mouth.

It seemed like they all thought my behavior was so unreasonable.

I sighed.

I had lived in South Korea for 19 years, but I could never get used to this kind of thing.

‘Maybe it’s because of the lingering influence of Confucianism, but people are obsessed with age.’

It was exhausting enough when people judged your worth based on money and power, but having to distinguish who to show respect to based on age... Shouldn’t we just respect each other as different individuals? Were they telling me I should respect someone just because they were older, even though they didn’t respect me?

Humans are creatures that you can't like the more you get to know them.

Han Jae-young, still smiling brightly, added.

"Oh, by the way, Da-on, I don’t think extending your mandatory service period will be easy."

"What?"

"Once you finish your training and start official activities, you’ll realize that you’ll want to finish your mandatory service as quickly as possible and become a freelancer."

After saying that, Han Jae-young looked up and down at the person who had been glancing at me, trying to figure out what to do next.

"But really, for something so trivial…"

By "trivial," he was referring to the rookie Hunter who had picked a fight with me.

The disdain in his gaze was clear.

He looked at the person like they were dust.

The moment his condescending stare shifted from me to the rookie Hunter, all the junior Hunters in the office froze.

"I don’t think it’s worth extending your leash for something so insignificant. These amateurs don’t matter, but someone like you, Da-on, is too precious to be wasting your time serving the government."

"Han Jae-young."

Yoo Han-ul interjected.

It seemed like they were familiar with each other, as Yoo Han-ul gave Han Jae-young a look of disgust.

Even Yoo Han-ul could look like that sometimes.

"They just registered as Hunters. Be kind."

"I don’t want to."

"Sigh..."

Yoo Han-ul sighed deeply, shaking his head, and moved between Han Jae-young and me to distance himself. Then, he turned to the embarrassed rookie Hunter, his face turning red as if he had been offended.

"What’s your name?"

"Uh? I… Lee Yun-seok."

"Lee Yun-seok, Hunter. You don’t just go around badmouthing others. Especially not those stronger than you or people you might have to team up with in the future. It’s not a good strategy."

Strangely enough, when Yoo Han-ul spoke, it didn’t feel like a scolding or a lecture, but rather sincere advice. Lee Yun-seok seemed unsure, opening his mouth.

"Uh, thank you…?"

"Do you think that’s the kind of advice that deserves gratitude?"

Han Jae-young grinned at Lee Yun-seok, who stood there with a confused expression.

"He’s indirectly telling you that picking a fight with someone you’ll likely team up with is a bad idea."

"…Huh?"

"Newbies really have no sense. It’s not like I’m a wizard who needs a meat shield, so why are you drawing aggro in front of a warrior who rushes in like a chunk of metal?"

Unable to hold it in, Yoo Han-ul cut in.

"Don’t say stuff like that, Han Jae-young. It’ll make people question your character."

"I get that a lot."

"You’ve got good luck with people."

"Yeah?"

"Mm?"

When Yoo Han-ul and Han Jae-young both looked at me at the same time, I shrugged my shoulders.

"There’s no one who lies about having a good personality."

"Uh…"

"Hahaha!"

Compared to the awkward Yoo Han-ul, Han Jae-young laughed it off brightly. It was a generous attitude, but it didn’t hold much weight.

He had obviously come all the way here because he was curious about my self-created magic, so my personality or reactions weren’t important to him.

‘Everything’s gone wrong.’

I glared at Lee Yun-seok, who was standing behind Han Jae-young and Yoo Han-ul.

Feeling my gaze, he flinched.

• The result calculation is paused.

• Quest “You Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds?” is ongoing.

I still planned to deal with him later, whether it was at the training camp or in the dungeon… but the atmosphere wasn’t right.

‘I really don’t want to use magic in front of Han Jae-young again.’

Yoo Han-ul, being a warrior, probably hadn’t recognized the awkwardness of my magic, but Han Jae-young was a different story. He was a magician, so he’d certainly notice how irregular my magic was. I knew better than anyone how much of an anomaly I was.

And that’s why I didn’t want to show him. Especially now, when Han Jae-young was right behind me and I hadn’t even sensed his presence.

It was better to leave this place as soon as possible.

I asked Yoo Han-ul.

"…Is this the last procedure for today?"

"No, next we go to the 18th floor for another ability test..."

As Yoo Han-ul was answering my question, both his eyebrows and Han Jae-young’s eyebrows shot up at the same time.

"Hmm?"

Yoo Han-ul and Han Jae-young both turned their gazes toward the office's glass door.

There was smoke seeping from above the door.

In fact, I hadn’t noticed it until after I was knocked to the floor.

Thud!

Yoo Han-ul grabbed my head and shoved me to the ground.

It really hurt.

But before I could protest, Yoo Han-ul’s hand covered my nose and mouth while his other hand grabbed something and threw it toward the office window.

Crash!

The glass shattered.

As the window on the high floor of the building broke, the wind blew into the office.

Through the glass door, I could see the smoke being blown out by the wind.

"Nice judgment… but a bit late."

While I was still stunned, Han Jae-young spoke leisurely.

"I’ve already inhaled it."

-[Warning!] Comprehensive level temporarily decreases.

Before I could even comprehend the system message.

Bang!

The fluorescent lights in the office suddenly went out.

At the same time, screams erupted from all over the building.

"Monster!"

"A monster appeared!"

The scream was punctuated by the system message.

A collective intelligence that operates for the survival of humanity.

• Dungeon Break has occurred.

"…"

Am I dreaming or having a nightmare?