Chapter 84: HFS (4)

If someone were to pick the most frequently mentioned guild this year, it would undoubtedly be the DG Guild. At the center of it all was none other than Guildmaster Kim Ki-Rok, who had pulled off one bombshell move after another.

Honorary Chairman Yoo Jin-Man of the UK Group stepped off the red carpet and entered the lobby on the first floor, glancing around with a puzzled expression. Contrary to expectations, everything looked surprisingly normal, almost too well-grounded.

"Hmm! Secretary Lim." Yoo Jin-Man called Lim Tae-Pyung, his former chief secretary and current honorary advisor who had been serving him for the past ten years.

"Yes, Chairman."

"You said Guildmaster Kim Ki-Rok bought this land and then ordered for this building to be constructed himself?"

"That's correct, sir."

"Hmm! Were there any Gates near here?"

"It would seem that no Gates have appeared in the vicinity for the past three years."

"Hm... Guildmaster Kim Ki-Rok probably would have known this as well."

This location hardly seemed a suitable place for a guild. However, Yoo Jin-Man's thoughts didn't last long as he recognized a fellow guest in the lobby.

Yoo Jin-Man approached the guest naturally. "It's been a while, Chairman Cha Min-Sung," he said.

"Greetings, Honorary Chairman. Have you been doing well?" he replied.

"I've been enjoying myself, travelling here and there after retirement. How about you, Cha Min-Sung?"

"I'm doing the same."

"Ah, I heard you found your son," Yoo Jin-Man brought up.

Cha Min-Sung replied, "Yes. I found my son thanks to Guildmaster Kim Ki-Rok."

Honorary Chairman Yoo Jin-Man gave a faint nod. Rumors about Chairman Cha Min-Sung's son had been circulating discreetly for a while. He had wondered how on earth the Il-Sung Group had gotten involved with the DG Guild, but now it made sense.

If anything, it might actually be less of a deep partnership than he had assumed.

"But..." Cha Min-Sung started.

"Hmm?"

"May I ask how Honorary Chairman Yoo Jin-Man came to form ties with the DG Guild?"

Caught briefly off guard by Chairman Cha Min-Sung's direct question, Yoo Jin-Man responded with a practiced business smile. "I also became associated with DG Guildmaster Kim Ki-Rok because of matters relating to my son."

"Ah! I see. Our Il-Sung Group also got involved with the DG Guild because of a child, and so did the UK Group. Quite a curious coincidence indeed."

"Well, our circumstances differ a bit," Yoo Jin-Man added.

"Pardon?"

"

Hahaha!

Never mind."

Frankly, he was too embarrassed to admit out loud that his involvement had begun because of his "utterly useless son," or, as Kim Ki-Rok had put it, a "hopeless punk." No doubt Chairman Cha Min-Sung would uncover the story soon enough, given his extensive network of information. But Yoo Jin-Man had no desire to share it from his own lips.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"In any case... shall we head—" Before he could steer the conversation elsewhere, Yoo Jin-Man sensed eyes on him and slowly turned his head.

A young child stood there, hand in hand with a towering man. It was a little girl in a snowy white dress, an adorable sight. She turned slowly, then walked over to Chairman Cha Min-Sung.

"Mister," said the child.

"Oh, Ji-Hee," Cha Min-Sung replied to the little girl.

Kim Ji-Hee greeted with a polite bow, "Hello."

He couldn't help but smile at her mannerisms. Bending down to match her eye level, he asked while patting her on the head, "So, how has our Ji-Hee been doing?"

"Gooood."

"Tae-Hoon's mom misses you, Ji-Hee. Come visit us often."

"Yeeess. I will visit often," she said

At her second deep bow and that oddly formal answer, Chairman Cha Min-Sung broke into laughter. Meanwhile, Kim Ji-Hee straightened her back and turned to the next person.

"Grandpa."

"Huh? Yes?" Yoo Jin-Man replied.

"Hello."

"O-oh, right. You must be Ji-Hee."

"Yeeess. Kim... Ji... Hee! That's me."

"

Hoh hoh hoh

."

Yoo Jin-Man had met many children in his life, ranging from the granddaughters of conglomerate heads to child actors cast for advertisements. However, this child was, without a doubt, the cutest of them all.

"Oh, aren't you a sweetie. My name is Yoo Jin-Man."

"Grandpa. Yoo... Jin... Man."

"

Ha ha ha!

"

Delighted, Honorary Chairman Yoo Jin-Man gently patted her head. She accepted it with a shy smile, which only made him laugh again, voice booming with delight.

***

"I-It's the goddesses of Sky Wings."

"They're... all at this party."

"Dong-Wook, this might be our chance! A real chance!"

The Four Cardinal Guardians of DG Guild murmured as they made a mental note of the female Hunters attending the party.

"Comrades!" East Azure Dragon, West White Tiger, and North Black Tortoise turned their heads to look at South Vermillion Bird.

"Our Guildmaster is a god," said South Vermillion Bird.

The once Crazy Bastard was now revered as a god, and for more than a few good reasons.

"Comrades, do you remember what the S in HFS means?" South Vermillion continued.

"Salvation."

"That's right. Salvation. We should use this opportunity to... huh?"

Nam Dong-Wook cut his morale-boosting speech off short and whipped his head around. Naturally, the three other Cardinal Guardians also turned to look.

The elevator chimed, its doors sliding open.

"H-hey!"

"It's... it's Hunter Lee Mi-So."

"N-No way."

Emerging from the elevator was none other than Lee Mi-So of the Baekdusan Guild. She was heralded among Hunters as a peerless new talent, and among civilians as Korea's most beautiful female Hunter. Though dressed in her customary armor and carrying her weapon, she still looked dazzling.

"E-even the goddess of beauty..."

"Brother Nam, Brother Boo. Do you know what transcends even God?"

The Four Cardinal Guardians had not even acknowledged Jang Baek-San, the Guildmaster of Baekdusan Guild who had come down with Lee Mi-So from the elevator, despite the fact that he was an A-Class Hunter well known in South Korea.

While they were busy muttering to themselves and watching from afar, Lee Mi-So slowly surveyed her surroundings and made her way toward Kim Ki-Rok. It was hard to tell if she was smiling or frowning.

"Mi-So on his left, Ji-Yeon on his right!"

"If only it wasn't the Crazy Bastard between them..."

Kim Ki-Rok was instantly demoted from a god back to his normal status.

Dong Sung-Min's eyes widened in shock. "Uh, brother. The Crazy Bastard is taking his leave."

"Is he insane? Leaving his seat with those two on either side? Is he mad? Crazy?"

"No. No. This is an opportunity," Nam Dong-Wook muttered.

"Opportunity?"

"Guildmaster has left his seat. Look. Now, the only ones left are two goddesses."

As Nam Dong-Wook had said, Lee Mi-So and Lee Ji-Yeon were amidst conversation, but no one dared to approach them and watched them from a distance.

"Hyung, hyung. Should we go say hi?"

Nam Dong-Wook had been blanking staring at Lee Mi-So but snapped back to reality at Seo Lee-Ha's suggestion. "No."

"What? No?"

"Yes. They are on a higher, higher, higher, higher, level." Nam Dong-Wook faced reality. "In terms of possibility... we have about a 0.001% chance."

"Oh... I only meant we should greet them, though..."

"A-ah... right."

***

Everyone was enjoying the party in their own way. Some indulged in the food, others engaged in conversation. The Hunters who'd brought their girlfriends drifted around, following them from one corner to another.

The Four Cardinal Guardians, who had just greeted Lee Mi-So, didn't return to their original seats but headed for another group of Hunters gathered at the side.

"Oh! The Hunters from Sky Wings are fine, for sure," Kim Ki-Rok muttered.

Although their abilities were a bit lacking, Sky Wings was a diligent guild, well-known for its friendly members thanks to a Guildmaster who was a good judge of character.

Observing them from afar, Kim Ki-Rok lost interest and turned away.

"They'll be fine on their own." Kim Ki-Rok thought that if it went well, it might be good news for DG Guild. "And if not... I'll just buy them a drink."

He didn't hold out much hope for the Four Cardinal Guardians and their odds.

With another chime, Chairman Cha Min-Sung and his secretary, Honorary Chairman Yoo Jin-Man, stepped out of the elevator.

"Huh?"

That wasn't all. Kim Ji-Hee also exited the elevator, cradled in Yoo Jin-Man's arms.

"Mister!" Kim Ji-Hee cried out.

"Huh? When did you go downstairs?" Kim Ki-Rok said, confused.

"Earlier!"

"With whom?"

"Uncle Man-Kook!"

"I see. And where did Uncle Man-Kook go?"

"He said he's not taking the elevator. He's taking the stairs!" Kim Ji-Hee replied.

If this was the Jeong Man-Kook that Kim Ki-Rok knew, he'd already be halfway through a mountain of food by now. Sure enough, when Kim Ki-Rok glanced around, he spotted Jeong Man-Kook in the corner of the banquet hall, enthusiastically demolishing a pile of food. Judging by the plastic convenience store bags scattered across his plates, it was clear now that he had gone downstairs for snacks.

"All right, Ji-Hee?" Kim Ki-Rok said.

"Yeeess!"

"Ready to go eat yummy things?"

"Eat with Grandpa!" Kim Ji-Hee stretched her arms around Yoo Jin-Man's neck.

"

Ha, ha ha ha ha.

" Like a grandfather melting under his granddaughter's charm, Chairman Yoo Jin-Man said with delight, "Oh my, Ji-Hee. Shall we go eat something delicious with grandpa?"

"Yeeess!"

"Oh my, oh my." Yoo Jin-Man set off with Kim Ji-Hee in arm, scanning the buffet to pick out what might suit her best. He looked every bit the doting grandparent, fussing over his cherished granddaughter's meal.

"Guildmaster."

Kim Ki-Rok answered, "Yes, Chairman Cha Min-Sung."

"Are you sure this is the first time Ji-Hee has met Chairman Yoo Jin-Man?" Cha Min-Sung asked because she seemed so unbelievably friendly with him for a first meeting.

Kim Ki-Rok instantly had his suspicions. "Indeed, yes. But I think I know why."

"What would that be?"

"She's fond of an older grandfather figure who looks a lot like him." Kim Ki-Rok gestured to one corner of the party where spirits were gathered. In the direction he pointed toward, many spirits were gathered, playing among themselves.

"Huh?"

"If Honorary Chairman Yoo Jin-Man were a Western man, he'd look exactly like that, wouldn't he?"

Although the spirit was wearing a robe and holding a staff, his appearance and physique were indeed very similar to Yoo Jin-Man.

"I can see that... That was Mr. Kan Cho-Woo, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Kim Ki-Rok confirmed.

The great wizard Kan Cho-Woo was her first contracted spirit. With that, Chairman Cha Min-Sung roughly understood the situation.

Just then, Kim Ki-Rok took on a more businesslike tone. "Mr. Cha Min-Sung, I'm terribly sorry, but I have a favor to ask of Guildmaster Lee Yeon-Hwa. Would you mind if I borrowed her briefly for a meeting?"

"Ah, of course."

"Thank you. If you wouldn't mind waiting, I promise not to keep her long."

"Certainly. I'll enjoy the party until then."

"Much appreciated." Kim Ki-Rok bowed his head and quietly headed toward the emergency exit.

The party was being held in the lounge on the second floor, a vast space created for hosting small events within the guild. Using the emergency stairwell, he climbed to the fourth floor and slipped into a small meeting room.

Inside were Guildmaster Jang Baek-San of Baekdusan Guild, Guildmaster Lee Yeon-Hwa of Shine Guild, and the third team leader of Golden Lion Guild. The Sky Wings were excluded from this meeting, as they were relatively lacking in raw power.

"Hm? Where did the Association President go?" Kim Ki-Rok asked.

"He went to the bathroom," Lee Yeon-Hwa responded.

"I see. Ah, by the way, how is Tae-Hoon doing?"

Cha Tae-Hoon, one of the children who had been kidnapped alongside Kim Ji-Hee, was the long-lost son of Lee Yeon-Hwa and Cha Min-Sung.

"Yes. Thanks to Guildmaster Kim Ki-Rok, he's doing well now."

"That's a relief."

"Although he sometimes whines about missing Ji-Hee and his other friends."

"The other children, excluding those who found their families, are currently staying in an orphanage about five minutes away. It would be nice if you could visit with Tae-Hoon sometime."

"An orphanage?"

Seeing her puzzled look, Kim Ki-Rok explained further, "It's called the DG Orphanage, run with support from the Hunters Association and sanctioned by the government."

"As expected of you, Guildmaster Kim Ki-Rok. Always doing such good deeds."

"A good deed, you say..." Kim Ki-Rok made a weird expression but quickly hid it with a smile. "Thank you. Since everyone has left their partners back at the party, I will make this quick. On December 26th at 4 a.m., Awakened criminals will attack DG Guild."